26
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 26, 2007) The United States’ largest dairy company, Dean Foods, has adopted a policy statement rejecting milk from cloned cows. The decision, which joins those of the organic dairy community to reject animal cloning, reflects the publics’ demand for foods free of genetic manipulation and chemicals. The food giant’s policy comes in the midst of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) open comment period on its evaluation of the safety of animal cloning. While FDA is expected to determine animal products from clones are as safe as those from naturally produced animals, Dean Foods’ stance is a clear message that the market is not interested in purchasing them. The statement reads: “Based on the desire of our customers and consumers, Dean Foods will not accept milk from cows that have been cloned. If the FDA does approve the sale of milk from cloned cows, we will work with our dairy farmers to implement protocols to ensure that the milk they supply to Dean Foods does not come from cloned cows. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to conclude that milk from cloned cows is safe. Our decision not to accept this milk is based […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Genetic Engineering | 2 Comments »
23
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 23, 2007) The National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns is pleased to announce our Organic Land Care Basic Training for Municipal Officials and Transitioning Landscapers. This three-part teleconference starts Wednesday, February 28, and there are only four days left to register! The training will explain the Simple Steps to start an organic turf program and will cover the basic concepts, methods, and materials you need to get started. It is geared toward school, and park and recreation officials. However, landscapers interested in transitioning are welcome to attend. The market demand for organic land care and availability of organic land care products is following the path of organic food into the mainstream. However, there is still a lack of understanding about what organic land care is, and there are many myths about cost and feasibility. As you will see from the local success stories featured in our Grassroots Action Supplement, organic land care is both a socially responsible and fiscally responsible approach to land management. To continue the strong trend towards pesticide-free land care, we need municipal officials and landscape professionals who are knowledgeable. Organic land care training opportunities are increasing in pockets of the country, but in general […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Events, Lawns/Landscapes | No Comments »
13
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 13, 2007) As Valentine’s Day approaches, dozens of roses and bouquets are being stocked at stores nationwide. The intentions may be sweet but many of the flowers are not — most of them have been treated with toxic chemicals. Pesticides are used on most conventionally grown flowers. A good portion of this use takes place in the waterlogged savannah surrounding the capital of Colombia, which has the world’s second-largest cut-flower industry after the Netherlands, producing 62 percent of all flowers sold in the United States. With 110,000 employees — many of them single mothers — and annual exports of US$1 billion, the industry provides an important alternative to growing coca, source crop of the Andean nation’s better known illegal export: cocaine. But these economic gains come at a cost to workers’ health and Colombia’s environment. Colombia’s flower exporters association has attempted to respond by launching the Florverde program, but with limited success; its members have reduced pesticide use by 38 percent since 1998, to an average of 97 kilograms (213 pounds) of active ingredient per hectare (2.4 acres) per year. However, 36 percent of the chemicals used by Florverde farms in 2005 were still listed as “extremely” […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Disease/Health Effects, Holidays, International | 1 Comment »
02
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 2, 2007) Joshua Grabowsky, a chef and CEO of busypeople inc., a suburban organic catering firm serving the Chicago area, is starting a business serving organic school lunches. Max’s Organic Planet, which he’ll run from within busypeople, is an effort to provide healthy, organic lunches to public and private schools in the city and on the North Shore. Mr. Grabowsky and busypeople, inc. will also be providing 100% certified organic meals at the upcoming 25th National Pesticide Forum convened by Beyond Pesticides in Chicago and co-sponsored by the Chicago-based Safer Pest Control Project. For many children, including Mr. Grabowsky, school lunch was a thing of dread, often reviled and discarded by unappetized students. With two kids of his own, Mr. Grabowsky is turning his long-lived school-lunch fear into a business that he hopes will help both parents and kids banish the concept of cafeteria mystery meat from their collective memories. Mr. Grabowsky is gearing up for the 2007—08 school year, gauging interest and offering pilot programs and weeklong taste tests, so that school administrators, parents and students will sign on for organic eats in September. One such test at Lake Forest Montessori resulted in kids eating double […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Children/Schools, Illinois, State/Local | No Comments »
26
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 26, 2007) With an annual introduction of 200 to 300 new anti-microbial products, scientists are saying that the most effective way to fight germs is the old fashioned way””soap and water. Amid a national trend of increasing germophobia, experts are saying soap and water are a better option than alcohol-based disinfectants and antibacterial soaps. In 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration led a panel of experts and industry representatives to weigh and analyze different germ killing methods. The panel found “no firm scientific evidence that the flood of antimicrobial products we observe has any discernible benefit over the use of regular soap and water.“ Few people are aware that plain soap is an anti-microbial. It kills bacteria by making their cell membranes leak fluids. This coupled with the motion of scrubbing the hands together””which loosens microbes and makes them fall into the soapy solution and wash away””creates “one of the most critical control strategies” for germs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to Mike Richardson, an industry analyst at the Freedonia Group in Cleveland, consumers spend more than $200 million on anti-microbial products every year. With sanitizers being used on shopping […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Antibacterial, Chemicals, Triclosan | No Comments »
22
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 22, 2007) When the staff at The Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog group, surveyed Wal-Mart stores around the country last September, analyzing the giant retailer’s announcement that they would begin selling a wide variety of organic food at just a 10% mark-up over similar conventional products, they were surprised to discover widespread problems with signage misrepresenting nonorganic food as “organic.” Now, four months after informing the company of the problems, which could be interpreted as consumer fraud, and two months after filing a formal legal complaint with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), many of the deceptive signs at Wal-Mart stores are still in place. “It is unconscionable that rather than correct these problems, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. instead responded to our concerns by attacking our comparatively modest public interest group in an effort to discredit our organization in the media,” said Mark Kastel, co-director of the Wisconsin-based Institute. “It is not as if a product recall or store remodeling would have been required to correct Wal-Mart’s deceptive consumer practices. They could have simply sent out an e-mail to store managers and corrected the problem instantly.” New store inspections throughout Wisconsin have found that Wal-Mart stores are still selling […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Corporations, Wal-Mart | 4 Comments »
