Frankencorn, Fluoridation, Monsanto Protest, Green Polka Dot Box

#289, August 11, 2011

In this issue:

Quote of the Week: Retaking the USA Titanic
Alert of the Week: Stop Monsanto's New Sweet Corn, Another Unregulated, Unlabeled Frankenfood
Protest at Monsanto HQ in St. Louis
The Green Polka Dot Box - A New OCA-Endorsed National Distribution System for Households and Buying Clubs
Video of the Week: Beware of Fluoridated Water
Little Bytes

QUOTE of the Week

Retaking the USA Titanic

"...[W]e no longer control our own democratic system. Puppet candidates have rigged themselves into office and manipulated our government to hand corporations the keys to the kingdom. We the People are now the rabble outside the gates, reduced to begging the rulers within to please be just a little less ruthless...

"Our elections have been bought or stolen for decades, but the People are only now waking up...But whether elections - or politicians - are literally stolen, or simply bought (including Barack Obama), the outcome is the same.

"The democratic system itself is rigged against us - and this rigging is not just another Progressive issue, like ending the Wars on Terror and Drugs, or securing universal healthcare, or getting the 100,000 toxic chemicals out of our bodies, or preventing Monsanto from taking over our food and seed supply...

"We must first outlaw the use of riggable computerized voting machines and institute a public paper ballot count with appropriate procedure and oversight. We must demand full media access for candidates. And we must threaten a full-blown Egypt-style revolution if Citizen's United is not immediately overturned."

"The Icebergs Cometh: Retaking the USA Titanic Before the 2012 Elections,"
- by Victoria Collier and Ronnie Cummins, August 8, 2011

Read more

ALERT OF THE WEEK

Monsanto's New Sweet Corn, Another Unregulated, Unlabeled Frankenfood

Government regulation of genetically engineered crops, already weak, is increasingly non-existent. The latest example of this new hands-off policy is the commercialization of Monsanto's first flagship product for the produce aisle: genetically engineered sweet corn, containing the Bt toxin and herbicide-resistant genes.

Monsanto's new sweet corn produces Bt toxin, a genetically modified version of an insecticide from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. Until now, Monsanto's Bt corn and cotton crops have mostly been used in animal feed and highly processed ingredients. Even with this limited exposure, Bt toxin has already been found in the blood of pregnant women and fetuses. No one knows what will happen to people who eat Monsanto's new Bt sweet corn, but Bt crops have proven deadly for grazing animals from livestock to monarch butterflies.

Monsanto's new sweet corn is also "RoundUp Ready," meaning it can tolerate unlimited amounts of Monsanto's herbicide RoundUp. Roundup causes endocrine disruption, damage to DNA, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and cancer, as well as birth defects. Many of these effects are found at very low doses, comparable to levels of pesticide residues found in food and the environment. Monsanto's new sweet corn will have a lot more RoundUp on it than non-genetically engineered varieties.

This is outrageous! We've got to fight back against unregulated, unlabeled genetically engineered foods!

Take action

Support the OCA

Stop Monsanto and Move the Organic Revolution Forward

For 13 years, OCA has been "growing the revolution" - fighting against genetically engineered foods, preserving strict organic standards, expanding the organic market, and spreading the good news that organic agriculture can sustainably feed the world while reversing global warming. The time is right to step up our efforts and move the Organic Revolution forward, but OCA needs your financial support to do so.

Please donate

MIDWEST RISING

Protest at Monsanto Headquarters in St. Louis on August 15

OCA activists are helping to organize a protest at Monsanto corporate headquarters in St. Louis on August 15. If you would like to participate in the planning of this action, you can attend a meeting at the Midwest Rising Convergence conference on Saturday August 13 at 3:30 pm. For details on the meeting or the August 15 protest contact mikedvegan@gmail.com.

Join the OCA-Endorsed National Buying Club for Organic and Non-GMO Foods: The Green Polka Dot Box

OCA is happy to announce the formation of a new national distribution service for home delivery of organic and non-GMO foods, at 30-50% below the cost of retail, with free shipping on orders of $150 or more. The new national distribution club is called the Green Polka Dot Box (GPDB).

When GPDB opens in late September it will be offering annual "Club" ($50) and "Reward" ($125) memberships. Prior to launch, however, the OCA, OCA Director Ronnie Cummins, and hundreds of allies are purchasing "Founding Trust Memberships" (essentially pre-paying for the first $2000 worth of purchases) to provide initial operating capital before the GPDB formally opens for business.

After several years of asking Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and other natural food stores to stop selling so-called natural foods tainted with genetically engineered ingredients, or at least to voluntarily label these products, we're tired of waiting. OCA is joining NaturalNews.com, the Institute for Responsible Technology, and Citizens for Health in calling on our members and subscribers to join the Green Polka Dot Box, where you can buy organic and non-GMO foods without wondering whether or not they are properly labeled.

As we pointed out in our featured essay last week, Whole Paycheck and Organic Food Deserts: The Challenge, it's time to step up the pace and qualitatively expand the sales of organic foods and products across the U.S. Two major obstacles to buying more organic food for many Americans are cost and accessibility. Many of us need to budget our food dollars more carefully in order to purchase more organic foods. Others of us live in Organic Food Deserts, where the closest co-op or natural food store is a long distance away. The Green Polka Dot Box represents a step forward to solving these problems and expanding the organic market.

For details about the GPDB and Founding Trust Memberships, please go here and watch the 30-minute video.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Consumer Alert on Water Fluoridation: 41% of American Teenagers Have This Disease

The CDC, ADA, and local health officials continue to promote fluoridation even though just this January, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended a nation-wide reduction in fluoride levels after it learned that 41 percent of American adolescents, ages 12-15, have dental fluorosis, a clear sign of overexposure to fluoride, and that the rate is continuing to increase steadily.

Only now is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water reviewing the allowable amount of fluoride in drinking water, more than four years after the National Research Council reported to Congress that the current allowable fluoride levels (MCL/MCLG) were too high.

In the face of lax federal regulation, health activists are acting locally. More than 250 communities that have rejected fluoridation.

This year in New Hampshire and Arkansas, citizen groups got legislation introduced at the state-level which would require notices on all municipal water bills warning parents not to feed infants fluoridated water. Citizens in Tennessee, led by the Lillie Center were successful in getting a prominent team of bi-partisan legislators to call for an end to the promotion of fluoridation by the state. In Alaska, Fluoride Free Fairbanks along with many concerned citizens urged their city council to review fluoridation, and in March the city council's task force charged with studying the issue recommended that the city stop adding fluoride to their water. Clearly, a small group of educated and dedicated citizens can accomplish a lot when they organize locally against fluoridation.

Watch this video from the Fluoride Action Network to learn more.

Learn more about the dangers of fluoride by reading, "The Case Against Fluoride: How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water and the Bad Science and Powerful Politics That Keep It There." Called a "painstakingly researched exposé of fluoridation's overall ineffectiveness and toxicity", it is a must read for anyone interested in fluoride issues, and provides a complete science-based analysis of the entire practice of fluoridation.

Read more about this book