Organic Consumers Association
The best daily news about organics, consumer issues, the environment, agriculture, fair trade, globalization and health.
Updated: 51 min 44 sec ago
Organic House? Hemp Concrete Used for Carbon-Negative Construction
A house built with hemp makes a green alternative to standard construction. WLOS' Karen Wynn reports.
Square Lohkoh - French Hip Hop Against Monsanto
Video from French Hiphop group that talks about Monsanto.
Genetic Engineering: A Worldwide Experiment on People, Agriculture and Nature
Video on Genetic engineering and how it is a threat to food security, especially in a changing climate. The introduction of genetically manipulated organisms by choice or by accident grossly undermines sustainable agriculture and in so doing, severely limits the choice of food we can eat.
Co-op Grocers to Stop Organic Cosmetics Fraud
This week, after receiving 6,000 letters from OCA members, the National Cooperative Grocers Association alerted their 134 retail coops that, as of June 2011, they expect all "organic" claims on body care products to comply with USDA National Organic Program standards for products that are "USDA Organic" and "Made With Organic Ingredients," and NSF/ANSI 305 standards for products that "Contain Organic Ingredients." NCGA's organic cosmetics integrity policy is essentially the same as the one announced by Whole Foods Market earlier this summer.
A Call for Direct Action in the Climate Movement
God, what a summer. Federal scientists have concluded that we've just come through the warmest six months, the warmest year, and the warmest decade in human history. Nineteen nations have set new all-time temperature records; the mercury in Pakistan reached 129 degrees, the hottest temperature ever seen in Asia. And there's nothing abstract about those numbers, not with Moscow choking on smoke from its epic heat wave and fires, not with Pakistan half washed away from its unprecedented flooding.
Meat Eating Can be an Environmentally Friendly Choice
As a meat-eater, I've long found it convenient to categorize veganism as a response to animal suffering or a health fad. But, faced with these figures, it now seems plain that it's the only ethical response to what is arguably the world's most urgent social justice issue. -George Monbiot, "Why vegans were right all along," Dec. 2002
Who Dares Question the Industrial Food System Over GM Salmon?
With fish stocks around the world depleted by overfishing and disrupted by climate change, farm-raised salmon stands as a viable if not entirely appetizing alternative.
Farm Land Grabs in Poor Countries Set to Increase
After weeks of rumors sparked by the leaking of a draft World Bank position paper on so-called land grabs in poor countries, the international financial institution has officially released its report on the surge in farmland purchases and leasing which have elicited controversy for over two years.
Children's Products Contain Hazardous Metals
Childrens products contain hazardous materials
Will Trader Joe's Finally Do Right by Farmworkers?
Before you head over to Trader Joe's to stock up on cheap snacks for your Labor Day weekend festivities, stop and consider shopping somewhere else. Labor Day was enacted not as a general holiday to rest in honor of laborers, but in response to the tragic deaths of striking workers. And good old cheap Joe -- which just agreed to stop selling eggs from Jack DeCoster's vile operations -- is one of the remaining holdouts in this decade's most high-profile, life-or-death farmworkers' rights campaign.
Chemical Lawn Care Products Face Ban in NJ
Lawns may turn more brittle and yellow, but lakes, bays and marshes could become a lot cleaner under a bill making its way through Trenton that would ban many lawn care products on the shelf today. A bill in the Legislature would limit the nitrogen in turf fertilizers to a level exceeded by nearly every product on the market. It also would regulate when and where fertilizer could be used. A bill in the Legislature would limit the nitrogen in turf fertilizers to a level exceeded by nearly every product on the market. It also would regulate when and where fertilizer could be used.
Drought Tolerant Crops - Organic, Not Monsanto or Dupont's GMO's
Last year chemical ag behemoth Monsanto trumpeted the yield possibilities of a drought-tolerant, genetically engineered corn variety. And DuPont recently touted drought-tolerant crops as the next “big thing” in the good fight to feed the world. According to DuPont’s press materials they feel the “productivity…must be accompanied by an intense and innovative effort to enhance the environmental imprint of farming to be sustainable.”
Organic or "Natural" by the Rodale Institute
A defined system vs. a "feel-good" claim In the United States, only farms and businesses that meet federal U.S. Department of Agriculture standards of the National Organic Program can market their products using the word "organic." What does "USDA certified organic" mean?
Why Bother? Activists for a Better World
We must unite in spirit, but be independent in action because when those in power feel threatened with any real change they will takeout any leaders, denigrate any group and activities with accusations and criticisms. They will call them anti or un-American even when they stand up for the rights of the people.
Ecuador Government Accepts a Binding Agreement to Leave Fossil Fuels Underground
After years of intense local and international campaigning and lobbying by environmentalists and indigenous peoples, the Ecuador government finally signed on to the Yasuni-ITT Initiative (link) on August 2. Thus for the first time in history a nation state accepts a binding agreement to leave fossil fuels underground.
California Pot Legalization Could Stop the Murderous Drug Cartels Waging War in Mexico
The Mexican drug war that has taken the lives of 28,000 people over the past four years could conceivably come to an end if California votes to legalize marijuana, say prominent American and Mexican policy makers.
Not Crying over Spilt Soymilk
It’s not often that family-scale farmers can go toe-to-toe with a $12 billion agribusiness and come out victors. But organic soybean producers, and a modestly scaled but powerful ally, The Cornucopia Institute, are claiming victory over Dean Foods in the organic marketplace.
Meat Back on Menu for Animal Feed 20 Years After BSE Crisis
Meat could once again be fed to animals under plans to relax rules introduced to prevent the transmission of BSE more than 20 years after the emergence of "mad cow disease" caused a public health and political crisis.
Study Links Thyroid Problems in Iowa Women with Farm Chemicals
A study involving Iowa women who live on farms finds exposure to some common farm chemicals may bring a greater risk for developing thyroid disease. Dr. Whitney Goldner, a researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, says they studied more than 16,000 women who are married to farmers who were licensed to apply pesticides in Iowa and North Carolina.
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