Tag Archives: food

Does Senate Bill 510 Put Raw Milk in Real Danger?

Graphic courtesy Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund . Today the U.S. Senate passed Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act. After the recent scandal with eggs , and all of the other food safety issues of recent years ( meat , peanut butter , s… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Does Senate Bill 510 Put Raw Milk in Real Danger?

Despite massive protests, US Senate passes S 510 Food Safety Bill

(NaturalNews) The new Food Tyranny Act — called the “Food Safety Modernization Act” in the U.S. Senate — has been passed by the senate today. It would give the FDA vast new powers to criminalize and imprison farmers and food producers while doing absolutely nothing to address to real root of the food contamination problem: Factory animal farm operations (which are regulated under the USDA, not the FDA). The bill passed 73 to 25, with Sen Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) emerging as the greatest “voice of reason” in the debate. His last-ditch amendment to reduce the scale of the bill was defeated this morning. Here's the official vote record:http://www.senate.gov/legislative/L… Notably,there wasn't a single Democrat who opposed the bill. This bill, as originally written, would have outlawed most nutritional supplements through “harmonization” with European laws. It also would have authorized ten-year prison sentences for farmers sellingraw milkto their neighbors. Both of those provisions were eventually stripped out of the bill thanks to some last-minute amendments, but it gives you an idea of the outright police state mentality of the original bill authors who attempted to put in place completegovernmentcontrol over food, gardens, rawmilkand more. To give you an idea ofhow cluelessU.S. Senators are aboutfood, the New York Times is reporting that whenSenatestaff members met to discuss this bill, they would eat Starburst candies and jellybeans. As the NYT reports, “In the midst of negotiations, the negotiators — nearly allwomen– took a field trip to a nearby food market so that a Republican staff member could teach theDemocratshow to buy high-quality steaks.” So what we have here is a new foodtyrannylaw that was essentially negotiated by a group of women who eatdeadfoods, animals products and candy. No wonder they still don't get it. Thecontaminationof lettuce and other fresh produce is caused byfactory animals farms, not by produce farms. (E.coli can only thrive in the digestive tracts of animals, not plants.) The “small farms” exclusion will soon be meaningless The Tester Amendment of the bill did manage to excludesomesmallerfarmersfrom the more tyrannical provisions of the bill. As currently stated, this would exclude small farms that sell less than $500,000 worth of food and which sell most of their food locally. However, Senators failed to consider what's going to happen when theFederal Reservekeeps printing counterfeitmoney, devaluing the dollar and causing massive food price inflation. A farm that right now produces merely $100,000 worth of food (which could be a small, two-person farm) will soon find itself producing $500,000 worth of food (or more) due to the rapidly falling value of the U.S. dollar. This is how the Federal Reserve's money counterfeiting actions will further destroyAmericaand place small family farms under the tyranny ofthe FDA. What's next: Defeat the bill in committee The Senate version of the bill must now be reconciled with the House version that was passed last year. This reconciliation committee must hammer out the differences between the two bills. Democrats are urgently rushing to do this during their “lame duck” session in order to avoid moreRepublicansgetting involved who would seek to scale back thepowerand size of the federal government. Some House Democrats are even suggesting they would support passing the Senate version of the bill as it is written, without requiring any changes whatsoever, just to rush it through before the end of the year.NaturalNewsand other health freedom organizations intend to fight this effort, hoping to stall the bill until the newCongresscan enter the picture and hopefully interject some common sense into the negotiations. Please don't feed the monster If signed into law by the President (who is sure to sign it), this Food Safety Bill would provide yet more power and funding to one of the most dangerous monsters our nation has ever known: TheFDA. This is the agency responsible for the death of more Americans than all the wars our nation has ever been involved with — combined! ( http://www.naturalnews.com/030461_S…) The idea that we're going to save a few lives from food poisoning while subjectingeveryoneto yet another layer ofBig Governmenttyranny is so abhorrent and downright evil that if our country's founding fathers saw all this going on, they would be stunned into silence that it's happening in “the land of the free.” Fresh milk being criminalized? You've got to be kidding… Only they're not kidding. The FDA is the agency that has raided vitamin companies ( http://www.naturalnews.com/021791.html ), arrestednutritional supplementmanufacturers and ordered the destruction of books containing stevia recipes. This is the agency that censors the scientific truth aboutnaturalfoods like cherries and walnuts ( http://www.naturalnews.com/029698_c…) while promoting the outright fraud and quackery of the pharmaceutical industry. And now the FDA is to be rewarded for its malfeasance with yet MORE power andauthority? This is how Washington works, folks. The government always thinks it's here to save you, and the Democrats want Big Government to be your nanny and “take care of you.” (The Republicans, for their part, just want to bail out the wealthy banksters with your money.) And yet, when it all comes down to it, these people are justtyrantswho have forgotten American history and abandoned the Constitution and its founding principles. Mark my words: Five years down the road, when the FDA's armed “food police” are running rampant across America, arresting farmers and imprisoning lettuce growers, people will be appalled, and they'll wonder, “How could we have let this happen!?” The answer is right here: You let it happen because you allowed Big Government to rule overthe food supply. And if there's one thing we know about Big Government, it's thatit always wants to get bigger. It always wants more power. More authority. More funding. And more excuses to function as a dictatorship that rules over the American people. The Food Safety Modernization Act is to thefood supplywhat the Patriot Act is to the Bill of Rights. We must make every effort to prevent this from becoming law, lest we find ourselves living under afood dictatorshipwhere only dead, fumigated or irradiated food will be allowed to be sold to the public. The “food irradiation plot” has been the plan from the very beginning of all this ( http://www.naturalnews.com/023015_f…) . Of course, once the real food is all criminalized and outlawed, there's alwayssoylent green. That might not be too far off, come to think of it. Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/030576_Food_Safety_S_510.html#ixzz16nMK85q5 ARTICLES RELATED TO THIS ARTICLE: •The Honest Food Guide empowers consumers with independent information about foods and health •Interview with “Kevala” Karen Parker, master raw foods chef •Cigarettes, Lies, and Pet Food Advertising •The true horrors of pet food revealed: Prepare to be shocked by what goes into dog food and cat food •Interview: Raw food guru David Wolfe explores the healing energy of living foods •Boku Super Food: An Astonishing New Premium Superfood Product Reviewed by the Health Ranger Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030576_Food_Safety_S_510.html#ixzz16nNAqgn4 added by: GLOBALPOLITICAL

Enter the Void: The Dark World of Sex, Money and Power

“Enter the Void” is an award-winning film by French filmmaker Gaspar No

FDA will Ban Food Makers from Telling the Truth about Non-GMO Foods

(NaturalNews) In case anyone had any doubts about who the FDA really serves, the latest news should prove once and for all whose side they are on – and it isn't yours or mine. The Washington Post has reported that, in addition to ultimately approving genetically modified “Frankenfish” salmon without requiring a GMO label, the FDA will also be banning the inclusion of any references to not containing genetically modified content on food items which are GMO free. The FDA, which has been under intense pressure from GM interests to approve the modified salmon without requiring any labeling, stated that it could not require a label on the salmon because the agency determined that the altered fish are not “materially different” from other salmon. Apparently, the agency is using even the same, and even flimsier, justifications to force food companies to hide the truth if their products are GM/GMO free – much to the delight of the multi-billion dollar GM industries. We should have seen such an outrageous decision coming, given the FDA's past record and continued turn away from protecting consumers' health in favor of industry profits from drug and food companies who are obviously its true clients and masters. In 1994 the agency warned the dairy industry that it could not use “Hormone Free” labeling on milk from cows that are not given engineered hormones. It claimed all milk contains some hormones. The FDA told one canola oil maker that it could not use a label that included a red circle with a line through it and the words “GMO,” saying the symbol suggested that there was something wrong with genetically engineered food. It has also recently sent a flurry of enforcement letters to food makers telling them they could not use phrases such as “GMO-free” on their labels, including a food maker which produces an all fruit strawberry spread. In the case of the strawberry spread, the FDA reasoned that the label would be incorrect because GMO refers to genetically modified organisms and strawberries are produce, not organisms. “This to me raises questions about whose interest the FDA is protecting,” House Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) told the Washington Post. Kucinich has repeatedly introduced bills in the House that would require the labeling of genetically modified food but has been unable to overcome the money and influence of the GMO lobbies and companies. The FDA's anticipated actions come at a time when consumers increasingly want to know the content of their foods. In fact, polls consistently show that more than 80% of Americans want genetically engineered foods to be labeled. It also comes at a time when more and more studies are demonstrating the health and environmental dangers of GMO foods. “The public wants to know and the public has a right to know,” New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle told the Post. “I think the agency has discretion, but it's under enormous political pressure to approve [the salmon] without labeling.” Not surprisingly, the GM industry agrees wholeheartedly with the FDA. As one director of animal biotechnology said, “Extra labeling only confuses the consumer. … It differentiates products that are not different [and] makes it harder for consumers to make their choices.” In other words, make it easier for consumers to make choices by limiting their information. Forget about health dangers, our right to know, or the constitutional rights to free speech (which the Supreme Court has ruled includes commercial free speech in anti-FDA decisions). The FDA simply wants to protect us poor consumers from being confused. Who do you think the FDA is really protecting? ~~~ Here's more about the man who is now, thanks to Obama and his debt to Monsanto, in charge of your food safety http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-monsanto-FDA-taylor added by: samantha420

DEA bans K2, other ‘fake pot’ products

WASHINGTON — The DEA used its emergency powers Wednesday to ban K2 and other “fake pot” products that mimic the effects of marijuana. The action by the Drug Enforcement Administration makes it illegal to possess or sell the five chemicals used to make the products for at least one year. The agency and the Department of Health and Human Services will determine whether the chemicals should be permanently added to the federal list of controlled substances considered unsafe, highly abused and without medical use. 'SPICE' DRUG: States, cities race to outlaw K2 The herbal blends coated with synthetic chemicals are marketed under brands such as Spice, Red X Dawn and K2. They are usually sold as packets of incense or potpourri at convenience stores, herbal and spiritual shops and online. The packets can sell for as much as $35 an ounce and have become popular as a legal alternative to marijuana among teenagers and college students. The chemicals are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for human consumption, the DEA said in its federal notice. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-11-24-k2-ban-dea_N.htm added by: TomTucker

Hip Holstee Greeting Card Sends Motivational Message On Elephant Dung

We’re big fans of Holstee’s hip ethical products at TreeHugger, but also love their upbeat positive messaging. The Holstee manifesto focuses less on the worthiness of sustainability, thank goodness, and more on being passionate about what you do, huzzah! After our recent interview with Holstee founder David Radparvar over at Planet Green we spotted their ace new manifesto greetin… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Hip Holstee Greeting Card Sends Motivational Message On Elephant Dung

Now From Ponoko: The Laser Deli And Printed Turkey

Ponoko just keeps moving from idea to idea, creating a marketplace for CNC designs and recently into 3D printing. But just in time for the holiday season you can now see everything from 3D printed turkey to laser etched ham. You can even get laser-etched meat jerky business cards that are extremely practical: Should you find that your corporate team building dog sledding exercise through the snowy wilderness has gone awry, DO NOT eat your teamm… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Now From Ponoko: The Laser Deli And Printed Turkey

Music And Food Are Inseparable at Localmotive Farm

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Music And Food Are Inseparable at Localmotive Farm

Farmageddon, the movie: Protect your right to food sovereignty!

The choice of healthy food and to grow food as you see fit is a human right. Access to food is a human right. I am a firm believer in food sovereignty and the right to farm sustainably and am appalled to see how it is slipping away in America, a land that claims to be about freedom. FOOD RAIDS? When we have bankers and government agencies robbing us blind daily in collusion with companies like Monsanto that toxify this planet with disease and death going scott free? As you celebrate your Thanksgiving this year in whatever way you do, not only be thankful for your food, but aware that the freedom to grow, process, distribute, and eat what you want is being sacrificed to industrial agriculture and factory farms in collusion with food chains looking to make big money from eroding the very principles that made this country what it once was. Farmageddon is hopefully going to be released next year. It is a 90 minute documentary on the dwindling food sovereignty we see in America and the extreme measures being implemented to attack farmers who are growing healthy food. All I can say about this is: What the hell happened to our country? added by: JanforGore

Solving the Smashed Tomatoes Problem, Crowdsourcing the Perfect Shopping Bag

Darya Pino relates her farmers market experience. You remember your reusable shopping bags and schlepp them to the farmer’s market, only to have some of those precious perishables crushed or damaged by the time you get home. Just last week, I lost part of a beautiful head of Romaine when the dog bolted, the bag twirled, and the already twist… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Solving the Smashed Tomatoes Problem, Crowdsourcing the Perfect Shopping Bag