Here is an organic and natural food update, giving you some some food for thought...

·      Slippery Politics Put The Squeeze On Olive Oil http://huff.to/O0nIrs

·      Our Microbes, Ourselves: Billions of Bacteria Within, Essential for Immune Function, Are Ours Alone http://bit.ly/MJINm5

·      The Belo Monte Dam: An Environmental Crime http://goo.gl/3T1fw

It will change the face of the Amazon basin forever; it will devastate lives and destroy the cultural identity of many indigenous tribes.

·      Hip-Hop Foodies: When Rappers Turn to the Kitchen http://goo.gl/gJSUk

What hip-hop’s cooking boom could mean for the next generation.

·      EWG’s 2012 Shopper’s Guide http://bit.ly/MLvyDn

·      Film: Seeds of Freedom http://seedsoffreedom.info/

·      Cultivating an agricultural revolution http://bit.ly/Ohb9Ih

·      Farmscape Brings Urban Agriculture to los Angeles http://bit.ly/Lws8ow

·      St. Francis of Fukushima http://bit.ly/Mq8WYD

Farmer Naoto Matsumura, and the surviving animals he tends to…

·      Former BPI Employee Plans to File Suit Over LFTB (lean finely textured beef, aka think Pink Slime) Backlash http://bit.ly/Lx5xYI

·      Grass linked to Texas cattle deaths http://cbsn.ws/LIh8SY

·      Whoever Controls the Food System Controls Democracy: Vandana Shiva’s Take on the Profit –Driven Food System http://goo.gl/wm8Zw

·      Destined to Serve My Country: How One Wounded Warrior Finds a New Mission on the Farm http://bit.ly/LNF1XW

·      Riding across the US, Hazon bikers are spokespeople for food justice http://bit.ly/OmHihT

·      After the Rio Earth Summit: Will agriculture really get any greener? http://goo.gl/GD8dO

·      Wyoming Drought Forcing Ranchers to Look Elsewhere for Grazing Land http://goo.gl/Iv8Qy

·      Futureproofing California Farmland http://bit.ly/IdiLIF

·      Let’s Stop Big Meat From Manipulating Prices http://goo.gl/j2G0P

·      Eating Invasive Species to Stop Them? http://bit.ly/JeqRDs

·      New hybrid berry: Waitrose reveal the pineberry http://goo.gl/Rdgte

The pineberry could be the world’s newest oldest most least tart sweet pineapple that’s a strawberry. Or it could just be a good day to berry old news…

This is a great looking berry, like a strawberry with white with red seeds

·      Supreme Court health care ruling meets criticism from restaurant industry http://goo.gl/gkwo5

Industry leaders are disappointed by the ruling to uphold the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

And remember, in many states they can’t afford to pay wait staff more then $2.13 an hour…

·      Scientists Create Healthiest Menu Ever http://bit.ly/PvOeHq

·      Report: Global Beef Demand Leading to Deforestation, Global Warming http://bit.ly/QBoVo3 and the report from UCS http://bit.ly/OJ5vAc

… the inefficiency of producing beef: it uses 60 percent of the world’s agricultural land yet provides less than two percent of the global calories consumed.

·      There Is an Alternative to Capitalism: Spanish City Mondragon Shows the Way http://bit.ly/LaEuQo

·      China’s Other Sleeping Giant Is the Other White Meat http://bit.ly/LB29wd

Labor

·      Some Employers and Republicans Want to Lower the minimum Wage – Here’s Why They’re Completely Out of Touch http://goo.gl/QuCB2

·      Ag workers stage strike (Gonzales, CA) http://goo.gl/alyyT

One-day protest a call for higher wages, benefits

·      Corporate Profits Just Hit An All-Time High, Wages Just Hit An All-Time Low http://read.bi/Monbv8

·      Poisoning Workers at the Bottom of the Food Chain http://bit.ly/OiZYQA

·      In LA Walmart Protest, Thousands of Angelenos March on Chinatown In Anti-Walmart Action http://huff.to/N4tJBz

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill

·      Food Sovereignty Ordinances: Towns Loosen Reins On Direct –To-Consumer Food Producers http://goo.gl/Xc5Qk

Residents in Livermore and Appleton, Maine, approved so-called local food and community self-governance ordinances at town meetings this month, joining six other Maine towns that did the same thing last year. Residents in Fayette, however, turned down a similar proposed ordinance…

o   Raw deal: Maine Residents’ fight for unregulated food draws crackdown

·      It’s All About the Farm Bill

o   Congress side with Monsanto over GMO battle http://goo.gl/9SGwM

The Center for Food Safety said that (the inclusion of Section 733 in the

Farm Bill) is a “Monsanto profit assurance provision.”

o   Farm Bill Passes the Senate: Now What? http://bit.ly/MuMqPl

o   The Human Cost of Corruption in the US Senate: Cutting Food Stamps While Giving the Sugar Lobby Billions http://bit.ly/LaEwYx

·      Patenting Staple Foods (Bremer’s Order 81) Is Ruinous to Iraq’s Agriculture http://goo.gl/33wfv

I was wondering when this would popup again; the legacy of the US occupation of Iraq…

·      Rhode Island Bans Gestation Crates for pigs and (veal crates) calves http://goo.gl/qMNs7

·      A Mediocre Farm Bill http://goo.gl/R8JxR

·      Top secret: $80B a year for food stamps, but feds won’t reveal what’s purchased http://bit.ly/Lt6FN6

·      USDA AMS NOP: Amendments to Pectin on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances http://goo.gl/yhh1z

·      On June 5, the National Organic Program notified you about a draft solicitation for Technical Report development. The official solicitation is now live, and proposals are due by August 9, 2012 at 3:00 PM Central Time. 

Official Solicitation http://bit.ly/OIMtsy

While this solicitation is active, NOP cannot answer contracting-related questions. All questions must be submitted via email no later than July 31 to Leah Schultz at leah.h.schultz@aphis.usda.gov

Background 

A key activity for NOP is supporting the National Organic Standards Board's (NOSB) evaluation of substances for the National List. This solicitation is a contracting opportunity for organizations interested in developing Technical Reports for NOP and NOSB. NOP intends to establish a five-year Blanket Purchase Agreement with multiple contractors. Contractors awarded Blanket Purchase Agreements through this solicitation will subsequently compete for individual Technical Report projects.  

·      WTO Not So COOL: Rules Against Popular US Meat Labeling Law

GMOs/Cloning/Nanotechnology/Poisons

·      The Agribusiness Coup in Paraguay: Monsanto’s latest assault on democracy http://bit.ly/MZE5Pk

·      Would you eat lb-grown meat? http://goo.gl/lQKQx and

o   Fake meat: is science fiction on the verge of becoming fact? http://goo.gl/OZg0C

The race to make fake meat just got interesting. Two scientists on opposite sides of the world both claim to be on the verge of serving up the first lab-grown hamburger – and saving the planet in the process. The new reality is so close, you can almost taste it…

·      Monsanto Trumps Food Safety and Democracy (Again) http://bit.ly/LQikDX

·      Cornucopia Institute: The Anti-GMO Labeling Crowd in California http://bit.ly/L2RVQy

Most of these are of no surprise…

·      ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ would keep GMO crops in the ground during legal battles http://bit.ly/MZujwP

·      Genetically engineered pigs killed after funding ends http://bit.ly/Llv5Kc

·      The Anti-GMO Labeling Crowd in California http://bit.ly/L2RVQy

·      The arguments for GM:

o   Time for a re-think on GM corps? (UK) http://bbc.in/Mq9pKb

o   Smithsonian: Food, Modified Food http://bit.ly/KIy1e0

o   Cows genetically modified to produce healthier milk http://bit.ly/N4rhLT (for the lactose intolerant) and milk that is purported to be equivalent to ‘human’

o   GM Bananas Currently Under Development (increased vitamins and minerals) http://bit.ly/Ivl1tD

Healthy/Humane/Safe Food & Water?

·      Cereal Ads Focus On Unhealthiest Products, Study Finds http://goo.gl/29GqP

·      Injection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us http://goo.gl/7F2UY

o   Trailer Park (PA) Evicted to Make Room for Fracking http://bit.ly/NW6v2p

·      History of Supersizing: How We’ve Become a Nation Hooked on Bigger Is Better http://goo.gl/KHHDk

NYC’s recent ruling limiting the size of sugary drinks has spurred a lot of controversy. Is it Stupid? Not if you know the history of supersizing.

·      B.S. is Fattening: Pizza Edition http://goo.gl/3jHj9

The nation’s pizza chains are lobbying to keep calorie counts off menus…

·      Climate Change is degrading marine habitats and threatening fish supplies worldwide http://bit.ly/ML37St

·      Meatfest destiny: How Big Meat is taking over the Midwest http://bit.ly/Oj4Cy5

CAFOs are taking over the heartland…

·      Too Big to Chug: How Our Sodas Got So Huge http://bit.ly/LVBsU9

7-Elleven: Team Gulp 128 oz… A full gallon?

·      First Fukushima Seafood Since Nuclear Disaster Goes On Sale http://goo.gl/YMTVz

·      Ontario College of Family Physicians Report on Pesticides: 2012 Systematic Review of Pesticide Health Effects http://goo.gl/f0ZZV

·      Salmonella Escapes from Clark College Lab http://bit.ly/Qea3M7

·      Study challenges the notion that a calorie is just a calorie http://bit.ly/MSNAU7

Reducing refined carbohydrates may help maintain weight loss better than reducing fat.

·      Fix Food http://www.fixfood.org/

o   Fix Antibiotics http://bit.ly/NQloDr

o   Fix GMOs http://bit.ly/wjqBtV

·      Which Baby Foods Contain the Most Pesticide Residue http://bit.ly/MvqQpf

·      Spray kills food-borne bacteria (salmonella) http://bit.ly/NvozA3

·      Could this 5-by-5 inch piece of paper reduce food waste by 25 percent? http://bit.ly/LgHyKS

·      US Water Policy Still All Wet http://bit.ly/Oy9yyb

·      WTO doesn’t want you to know where your meat was born http://bit.ly/MXXfsz

·      BPA Linked to Brain Tumors for the First Time http://bit.ly/OvoDSc

o   What Can We Learn From Mennonites’ Pee Samples? (less BPA) http://bit.ly/MYABwc

·      Can ‘veggie prescriptions’ really make people healthier? http://bit.ly/Mqhlxc

·      Date with disaster: Adventurers sail through wave of tsunami debris http://bit.ly/OEEDjK

Education

·      California Culinary Academy In San Francisco Under Investigation http://goo.gl/l4Tvr

This is not the first time Career Education Corp. (CEC) has been investigated. Additionally CEC have also been sued by students for lot living up to their promises…

Events

·      National Conference for Women Veterans and Agriculture, UC Davis California, July 7-8, 2012 http://bit.ly/LdGIi7

Other

·      Cornucopia Institute: Midwestern Farmers Needed

We are looking for a few good farmers in the Midwest to stand-up over the growing of genetically engineered (GE) crops in the region’s federal wildlife refuges. The Fish and Wildlife Service claims GE seed is the only seed farmers can obtain.

The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Food Safety (CFS), Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Beyond Pesticides, has been joined by Cornucopia. Individual farmers are also needed for the legal effort. The potential for trespass of novel genes from GE crops and the growing epidemic of “superweeds” are among the threats posed by the federal wildlife refuge practices.

Any Midwestern organic farmer concerned by the prospect is urged to email cultivate@cornucopia.org or call 608.652.2042 by July 15 to add their personal voice to the lawsuit. Attorneys from CFS will record their concerns and act on their behalf.