Did you know?  There are so many advantages to organic farming.  Take a few minutes to digest some of these headlines:

·      Are Olive Oil and Canola Oil Interchangeable? http://bit.ly/KHUUhs

To look at many cookbooks, you’d think olive oil and canola oil were identical twins separated at birth. But here are some differences…

Start with hexane and bleaching agents, try Rice Bran Oil… Good luck finding vegetable oils that are not chemically extracted, i.e. expeller pressed …

·      New Orleans school cultivates a generation of forward-thinking farms http://bit.ly/HAUNpx

·      Shop Smart Poll: 57% of women say cost of food keeps them from eating healthy http://on.mktw.net/JdCrIo

·      California Cook: The return of the butcher http://lat.ms/IOLuQH

The art of meat cutting is being revived in LA. It’s part of the know-your-food trend.

How did we get here? Do they no longer teach butchery at culinary schools, and do restaurants and hotels no longer butcher their own meats and poultry? No they don’t…

·      Schools (Kalispell, MT) switch to local beef suppliers http://bit.ly/KhUuip

·      The Lexicon of Sustainability: The Story of an Egg http://to.pbs.org/KnCMwr

·      Oh no! The food industry could go under! (AU/NZ processed foods health claims) http://bit.ly/JxMhbQ

Industry frontman, Geoffrey Annison: The food industry might go out of business if these standards are imposed!

Like the US they want ‘self regulation’. We know where that leads…

·      New agtivists: Young filmmakers take an urban farm adventure http://bit.ly/MfDrlu

·      Gross Ingredients in Processed Foods http://huff.to/KmPSdu

·      The City of Oakland’s Mobile Food Vending Group Site Pilot Program is under way…we are excited to announce that several Mobile Food Vending Group Sites or “Pods” are launching this month!

These Food Pods will be providing a variety of delectable options including specialty sandwiches, hearty burgers, falafel, Korean, Filipino, Indian food and more! Thanks to all of the people who contributed to make the Food Vending Group Site Pilot Program a reality!

You can find information regarding locations and operating times of Mobile Food Vending Pods at the City of Oakland Mobile Food Vending website: www.oaklandnet.com/mobilefoodvending

·      MO Senate Panel stops bill that would have allowed advertisements on school buses http://bit.ly/Jgw7Xo

·      Goya Foods: 75 Years of Providing Latino Food Staples to Hispanic Families Across the Country http://huff.to/Jwdpe6

·      WWF: Living Planet Report 2012: Biodiversity, biocapacity and better choices http://bit.ly/KwzEQk

·      The Secret Life of California’s World-Class Strawberries http://n.pr/KED824

·      Catch Shares Are The Wrong Kind of Regulation (fisheries management) http://bit.ly/JjyNT2

·      Ag Gag: Safeguarding Industry Secrets by Punishing the Messenger  http://bit.ly/JjBqEg

·      Ag Dept. study concludes eating a healthy diet is less expensive than junk food http://wapo.st/K7EmAp

·      Food Industry Named World’s Worst http://bit.ly/KAdwV5

·      In Argentina, factory farms replacing grass-fed beef http://bit.ly/KsQuQ5

Labor

·      Some Alabama farmers plant fewer crops, say immigrant crackdown drove away workers to pick them http://wapo.st/JSygUc

We keep seeing this… California: pears, 2006; New Jersey: tomatoes, 2008; Michigan: asparagus, 2011; Georgia: blackberries, 2011… do you want me to keep going?

·      Tampa Bay Times: Florida farm workers tell how drugs, debt bind them in modern slavery http://bit.ly/Kyy2DN

·      Immigration regs for migrant farm workers need to be streamlined http://wapo.st/IStwN2

·      A Fair Deal for California’s Farm Workers http://bit.ly/HuqdzY

·      Field Notes on Food Justice: Why Your Local Grocery Store Makes Farmworkers Poor http://bit.ly/K71DT2

·      Report says female farm workers suffer sex abuse http://bit.ly/JgShc3

·      Farmers struggle with visa (H2A) program http://bit.ly/JM0Atf

Occupy & Anonymous

·      Nine Arrested After Early – Morning Police Raid at Gill Tract, One in Tree Remains on Site http://bit.ly/Kmfpn5

·      Food Writers Issue Statement of Support After Gill Tract Arrests http://bit.ly/JsrkQl

·      Occupy Protesters Target Bayer for Declining Bee Population http://cbsloc.al/KFkTcL

·      Occupy The Farm Highlights Issue of Food Sovereignty http://bit.ly/K1LsZi

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill/Public Institutions

·      USDA Grants to Increase Farmers Market Participation in SNAP Wireless http://1.usa.gov/JBGhwP

Technology Funds to Broaden SNAP Beneficiaries’ Nutrition Opportunities, Spur Local Economies

·      One in 5 Kids Is Obese, Yet Congress is More Concerned with Protecting Profits than Kids’ Health http://bit.ly/KhubfY

Food and media corporations use campaign donations, attacks on science and the threat of smear campaigns to kill voluntary food marketing guidelines.

With both the food industry and the healthcare industry gaining from our health crisis and purchasing our elections… How about having government funded election campaigns?

·      How It's Made - Canola Oil http://bit.ly/K7KN7e

Hexane, YUM!

·      How Your (Public and/or Land Grant) College is Selling Out to Big Ag http://bit.ly/J59eD4

·      Reps. Markey, Slaughter Press FDA on Antibiotic Use in Ethanol Production http://bit.ly/JQ4e2R

o   American livestock get extra dose of antibiotics from spent ethanol grain, report says http://trib.in/JqJqEk

Lawmakers press FDA on this unregulated practice

o   Bugs in the System: How the FDA Fails to Regulate Antibiotics in Ethanol Production http://bit.ly/IJMMvo

·      Judge upholds Minnesota’s wild rice protection http://bit.ly/K3aq6m

·      ‘Do Pass’ Recommendation Added to Missouri Ag-Gag Bill http://bit.ly/IU5Ms2

·      Connecticut’s GE Foods Bill Eviscerated by Lawyers http://bit.ly/J4OKJq

Connecticut’s Genetically Engineered Foods bill may still be alive, but it is no longer a bill requiring the labeling of GE foods. As of last night, the labeling provision was removed. Why was this bill eviscerated?

·      The Organic Watergate: Alarming Report Reveals USDA’s Cozy Relationship with Corporate Agribusinesses in ‘Organics’ http://bit.ly/JVgMbV

o   Cornucopia Institute: The Organic Watergate – White Paper

Connecting the Dots: Corporate Influence at the USDA’s National Organic Program http://bit.ly/JVgMbV

·      The 2012 Farm Bill and the Real Obesity Lobby http://bit.ly/KCkMwb

·      Obama to Announce Africa Farm Plan to Relieve Poverty http://bit.ly/JqavB6

Brining ‘agricultural technologies’ to Africa to increase profits…

o   Obama’s ‘Poverty-Relieving’ Plan for Africa a Profit Boon for Giant Agribusiness http://bit.ly/KvAskC

o   Cash-strapped G8 looks to private sector in hunger fight http://reut.rs/JlCuZn

(Reuters) - Buffeted by the euro zone crisis and distracted by political problems at home, the leaders of the world's industrial powers turned to the private sector on Friday to help fight hunger and malnutrition for up to a billion people struggling with shortages, droughts and rising food prices.

GMOs/Cloning/Nanotechnology/Poisons

·      PANNA: GM corn & sick honey bees – what’s the link? http://bit.ly/HUzcdP

o   Multiple Routes of Pesticide Exposure Living Near Agricultural Fields http://bit.ly/yL0qMy

o   PANNA: Pesticides and Honey Bees: State of the Science http://bit.ly/JhRB1P

o   Bee Kills in the Corn Belt: What’s GE (GM) Got to Do With It? http://huff.to/JJ0f9T

o   90% of Corn Seeds are Coated with Bayer’s Bee-Decimating Pesticide http://bit.ly/Jx7W6R

o   Beekeepers Win Ban on Monsanto’s GMOs in Poland http://bit.ly/J4oMDv

·      Jim Hightower: Monsanto, Dow and Genetically Modified Trouble http://bit.ly/K01hzP

·      The dangers of GM – Europe must learn the lessons from America http://bit.ly/K9k6w9

o   MPs urge Government caution on GM crops http://bit.ly/JNtc2Z

·      Burlington Free Press: Despite GMO-labeling failure this year, advocates ‘hopeful for the prospects’ http://bfpne.ws/JqmBk2

·      Superweeds: A Long-Predicted Problem for GM Crops Has Arrived http://bit.ly/MgdTEW

·      Report: The Cost to Mexico of U.S. Corn Ethanol Expansion http://bit.ly/JIUpFt

·      Global and national resistance to GMOs (Africa) http://bit.ly/JpuUNi

Healthy/Humane/Safe Food & Water?

·      Turlock CA: Animal rights groups seek justice for 50,000 starved hens http://bit.ly/LheJSI

This is what factory farming is…

·      Pending Pasteurization Policy Could Alter Eggs Forever http://bit.ly/KngGvo

We won’t require egg producers to produce safe eggs, so we will require that all eggs be pasteurized? We need to fix our food system!

·      Is “Meat Glue” as Gross as it Sounds? http://bit.ly/IBwbup

This stuff has been around for some years, with much debate in the restaurant/food services/food R&D industries. After ‘Pink Slime’ we are now talking about it. It’s about time.

·      WTF Is Going on with Peru’s Dolphins and Pelicans? http://bit.ly/JMkxMv

·      To Kick Climate Change, Replace Corn with Pastured Beef http://bit.ly/JrKd2O

·      China rejects US pork due to ractopamine http://bit.ly/JbqzXs

·      ProPublica: The Best, Most Disgusting Reporting on Food Safety http://bit.ly/KVnonO

·      Environmentalist group laud Supreme Court (Philippines) move to look into country’s GMO approval system http://bit.ly/JbeE2p

·      Salmonella Outbreak Tied to Dog Food http://bit.ly/KGGTTW

At least 15 individuals in 9 states have been infected with Salmonella Infantis linked to dry dog food, according to an outbreak update by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

·      How Vegetable Oils Replaced Animal Fats in the American Diet http://bit.ly/IRCL1H

In this excerpt from The Happiness Diet, discover how Procter & Gamble convinced people to forgo butter and lard for cheap, factory-made oils loaded with trans fats.

·      ‘Weight of the Nation’ takes a realistic look at a looming crisis http://bit.ly/K9Tqew

·      Fracking Fluids Could Contaminate Freshwater Aquifers, Says Study http://bit.ly/Mt38zi

Isn’t this what we have been saying all over the country?

o   Study: Potential Contamination Pathways from Hydraulically Fractured Shale to Aquifers http://bit.ly/JodTvK

o   New Yorkers Against Fracking Group to Hold Rally, Concert In Albany http://huff.to/KX07SA

o   Feds Punt on Leadership Over Fracking Rules, Experts Say http://bit.ly/LhAH1J

“Released earlier this month, the proposed rule is now open for public comment. While the regulations it contains are a significant step forward, they've disappointed environmentalists and watchdogs who hoped that the Obama administration would lead by example.”

·      Farmed Salmon May Harm Wild Salmon, Say 23 Recently Published Studies http://huff.to/L3u4zN

Yup, we have been saying this for a looooong time…

·      Truck crashes on (upstate) NY highway, spills (18) tons of yogurt http://apne.ws/JGWa6r

·      This is your brain on sugar: UCLA study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory http://bit.ly/IWt7ZT

Events

·      Occupy the Land: Unconference 2012, NYC http://bit.ly/bgAMuF

June 1^st – 2^nd – 3^rd, 2012

·      Delegation to Venezuela: Food Sovereignty, Human Rights, and Community Power; July 16 – 26, 2012 http://bit.ly/HPnrXg

Other

·      Nature’s Path Plants it Forward with Gardens for Good Grant Program http://bit.ly/KFYH3g

North Americans Invited to Apply and Vote for 1 of 3 $15,000 Grants.

There are so many advantages to organic farming.  Get to know the farmers in your neighborhood, so you can know your food!