Showing posts with label journalists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label journalists. Show all posts

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Warning: This is your brain on toxins | Opinion | The Seattle Times

Warning: This is your brain on toxins | Opinion | The Seattle Times:

“Lead helps to guard your health.”
That was the marketing line that the former National Lead Co. used decades ago to sell lead-based household paints. Yet we now know that lead was poisoning millions of children and permanently damaging their brains. Tens of thousands of children died, and countless millions were left mentally impaired.
One boy, Sam, born in Milwaukee in 1990, “thrived as a baby,” according to his medical record. But then, as a toddler, he began to chew on lead paint or suck on fingers with lead dust, and his blood showed soaring lead levels.
Sam’s family moved homes, but it was no use. At age 3, he was hospitalized for five days because of lead poisoning, and in kindergarten his teachers noticed that he had speech problems. He struggled through school, and doctors concluded that he had “permanent and irreversible” deficiencies in brain function.
Sam’s story appears in “Lead Wars,” a book by Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner published this year that chronicles the monstrous irresponsibility of companies in the lead industry over the course of the 20th century. Eventually, over industry protests, came regulation and the removal of lead from gasoline. As a result, lead levels of U.S. children have declined 90 percent in the past few decades, and scholars have estimated that, as a result, children’s IQs on average have risen at least two points and perhaps more than four.
So what are the lessons from the human catastrophe of lead poisoning over so many decades? 

Alarm about endocrine disruptors once was a fringe scientific concern, but increasingly has moved mainstream. There is still uncertainty and debate about the risk posed by individual chemicals, but there is growing concern about the risk of endocrine disruptors in general — particularly to fetuses and children. There is less concern about adults.
These are the kinds of threats that we in journalism are not very good at covering. We did a wretched job covering risks from lead and tobacco in the early years; instead of watchdogs, we were lap dogs.
Andrea C. Gore, the editor of Endocrinology, published an editorial asserting that corporate interests are abusing science today with endocrine disruptors the way they once did with lead: for the “production of uncertainty.”
She added that the evidence is “undeniable: that endocrine-disrupting chemicals pose a threat to human health.”
When scientists feud, it’s hard for the rest of us to know what to do. But I’m struck that many experts in endocrinology, toxicology or pediatrics aren’t waiting for regulatory changes. They don’t heat food in plastic containers, they reduce their use of plastic water bottles, and they try to give their kids organic food to reduce exposure to pesticides.
So a question for big chemical companies: Are you really going to follow the model of tobacco and lead and fight regulation every step of the way, once more risking our children’s futures?

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

I-522 Google News Article Stream (60+)

The battle lines on food labeling

Politico - ‎2 hours ago‎
Just like in California, the opponents to I-522 are lining up late in the game in Washington with campaign
donations. As of the latest disclosure reports filed with the state Sept. 30, the opposition campaign
 had raised almost $17.2 million — roughly four times ...

I-522 Will Finish Job We Started in California, Mother of GMO Labeling Initiative ...

Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog) - ‎16 hours ago‎
In the last two weeks of September Larry toured Washington state to support the state's grassroots
effort to pass I-522, the labeling initiative whose fate will be decided by voters November 5. We spoke
with her in Seattle. Clarissa asked our first question.

GMOs in I-522 debate

The Seattle Times (blog) - ‎8 hours ago‎
It is not surprising that Monsanto is a big supporter of the “No on I-522” campaign, since they are the
supplier of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. The Food & Water Watch found that the
 “total volume of glyphosate applied to the three biggest GE ...

Science: The Missing Ingredient in the GMO Food Labeling Debate

Xconomy - ‎1 hour ago‎
Residents of Washington State are currently being buried in an avalanche of ads regarding
 a citizen's initiative that would require the labeling of genetically engineered foods sold in grocery stores.
Estimates for the percentage of items that contain genetically ...

Advocacy group's new study says I-522's GMO labels won’t add to consumer ...

TheNewsTribune.com - ‎13 hours ago‎
An initiative requiring labeling of genetically modified foods would not add costs to Washington residents'
food bills, a new study by an Emory University professor claims. The report was released Monday
by the Alliance for Natural Health USA, an advocacy ...


Monday, September 16, 2013

GMO Fishy Tomato Car In Port Townsend - Videoblogging 206

GMO Fishy Tomato Car In Port Townsend - Videoblogging 206:


Today, at a press conference held in the parking lot of the Port Townsend Food Coop, Fishy Tomato Car driver Nancy Metcalf talked about the Fishy Fleet, GMOs, the misinformation campaign conducted by corporations in California last year to defeat a GMO labeling proposition, I-522, the Washington State initiative to label GMO foods that is on the November ballot and GMO health concerns.


Kathie Meyer, outreach coordinator for the Port Townsend Food Co-op, explains the research she has conducted on GMOs.
GMOs: The Trust Issue By Kathie Meyer


Rick Doherty, coordinator for the Jefferson County Grassroots Volunteers YES on I-522, explains a couple of the I-522 issues in the November election.


Lies, Dirty Tricks and $45 Million Kill GMO Labeling in California



Deceptive mailer mailed to California voters last year by Pro-GMO front group: Californians Vote Green

NOTE: The Fishy Tomato Car will return to Port Townsend on Friday, September 20 to promote the screening of the new film, "GMO OMG" at the 14th annual Port Townsend Film Festival (PTFF). The PT Coop is a co-sponsor of the PTFF screening of the film.


Charlie Bermant, Peninsula Daily News snaps a picture for his article: Port Townsend organic food outlets support GMO labeling

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Weekly Womens GMO Free News



Weekly Womens GMO Free News
A weekly Google Hangout for women who want to know what is in their food


Co-Hosts 
Leslie Stoddard (Idaho) 
Facebook
Photo

"I'm very excited to be part of Weekly Women GMO Free News and Information Hangout in conjunction with other passionate female activists across the nation!

In the fall of 2009 I heard the term GMO for the first time and my life has never been the same. Out of anger, frustration, and because I felt betrayed, I co-founded GMO Free Idaho and started to educate those who are not aware that our food supply has been genetically altered with foreign DNA by corporations who are notorious for having a totally lack of respect for humanity and our planet.

As I travel down this road, I have come to meet many other activists and passionate consumers who have the same goals in sight....to see GM foods pushed off our grocery store shelves, and the corporations responsible for poising our planet and potentially the human population, put to justice.

GMO Free News and Information is going to be an excellent resource and a great place for all of us to learn and grow! It's exciting to watch the women I will be working with create positive changes in their own communities. This is an opportunity for us to come together and share our experiences, ideas, interviews, and calls to action to further assist in the changes we are all seeking."

"Genetically modified foods have never been human safety tested. As a person who has suffered from food allergies and digestive disease, I cannot help but wonder if GM foods are responsible. That's why I believe consumers have the right to know when they are eating GM foods. The corporations that create GM seed need to honor consumers by providing transparency about their practices and when our food contains their modified ingredients."

"The issues surrounding GMOs are vast. Cross contamination is by far one of the most disturbing aspects of genetic modification. 50% of heritage corn varieties in Mexico have become contaminated with Monsanto's GMO traits and this corporation is not being held responsible for what I call bioterrorism. Nor are enough consumers standing up and saying we will NOT tolerate the reduction of the biodiversity of our food supply. This is partly because most consumers are not aware of GMOs and partly because the consumers who are aware do not understand the consequences of such contamination.

In short, if we do not stop GMO production.....cross contamination, we will be dependent on only a few varieties of seed, provided by only a handful of multi-national corporations. In my opinion, GMOs are the biggest threat to the survival of humanity and our planet.

The only way to create change is by using our purchasing dollars as a vote. It it critical that we make this current paradigm obsolete by purchasing organic, local, grass-fed, and non-GMO foods."
 
Zen Honeycutt (CA) 
Bio:
Photo:

The Dalai Lama said :Western Women will change the world". That time is now. Women all across America are coming together, speaking out and causing change through grassroots movements, legislation, ballot initiatives and reaching out to their neighbors and friends to share with them about Genetically Modified foods and their health risks. 

Every human needs food and the way it is raised and grown effects every one of us. In the United States, what we allow or don't allow impacts the rest of the world. 

I am honored every, day to meet other women who care enough share about GMOs and change the world." -Zen Honeycutt Mom of 3 and Moms Across America founder

Laurie Olson (WA)
Bio:
Photo:


Learning about Genetically Modified Food is very isolating, especially if you are the only one you know who has ever heard of it.  In March of 2010, I was fortunate enough to have two friends who helped me along in those first weeks.   

I got on the web, found answers, more people and groups who connected me to information and solutions.  What I found out is that our government is pushing Genetically Engineered Seeds on other countries in our name.  They say that we have been eating them for years and while that is true, we need to take a good hard look at what it has done to the people in our country.   

No matter what happens in the political arena we need to remember that we vote three times a day and we need to think about that every time we go to the grocery store. 

Laurie Olson: Wife, Mom to 3, Volunteer with WA State Tipping Point Network, GMO Free USA and Label It WA.

Andrea Frostad (WA) 
Bio
Photo

Hippocrates stated, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

I know firsthand how food is our medicine and can heal.  Food is our way to vibrant health, and it is my duty to protect my health, the health of my family, and the food that will provide that.
   
I believe that the world’s living systems have evolved over millennia into highly organized systems. It is a simplistic and arrogant view to think that we can tinker with the system at this stage of our knowledge and not face serious consequences.

I have never felt as connected to a cause as I have since I began campaigning on the issue of genetically engineered food. Millions of people around the globe are joining together in shedding light on the agenda of the bio-industry. How has labeling, our right to know, come to be perceived as a threat to our economic and political sanctity?  I think Godwin Ojo from Africa states it best: "Hunger has become a political tool for manipulating people and nations, a situation which has devastating impacts on the poor..."  Why are Mexican peasant farmers on hunger strike protesting the threat of 6 million acres of GM corn being grown on their soil, and what does this have to do with labeling?  Apparently everything!  Join us as we discuss the many layers of this issue.

Women have an instinct and a power to follow it.  We are a force to be reckoned with.

I am a mother of three growing boys and a lover of food.

Rachel Linden (AZ)
Video Interview
Bio
Photo 
Website
PPT 



Press Release: (February 19)

Headline:

GMO Free News and Information Weekly Women Google Hangouts Show To Focus On Washington Food Label Initiative I-522

Sub Headline

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Argentina activists rally against US Monsanto expansion in Latin America



Argentinians have said no to what they call Monsanto´s "deadly" business in Latin America.

In Buenos Aires, the action group "Millions against Monsanto" has led a protest at the House of Cordoba, a province located in the center of Argentina where the US multinational company is developing its biggest regional factory.

According to activists, the construction of the facility has been approved by provincial authorities but no official report on environmental damages has yet been conducted.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto: The Story of a Canadian Farmer's Fight to Defend the Rights of Farmers and the Future of Seeds

Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto: The Story of a Canadian Farmer's Fight to Defend the Rights of Farmers and the Future of Seeds



PERCY SCHMEISER: It started in 1998, when Monsanto laid what they call a patent infringement lawsuit against my wife and myself, and they charged us that we were growing their genetic altered, or GMO, canola, as we call it in Canada. And that was the beginning of it. And as GMOs were introduced in North America in 1996, so this was two years after the introduction.

AMY GOODMAN: Explain what a GMO is.

PERCY SCHMEISER: Genetic modified organisms. And what that really means is that they took a gene from another life form, put it into canola, which made it resistant to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.

AMY GOODMAN: And explain what canola is.

PERCY SCHMEISER: Canola is — well, here — in most parts of the world, we call it rapeseed. But canola is an oil-based crop, and primarily it is used for making cooking oil. And the meal from it, after it’s pressed, is good animal feed, both for cattle and for pigs.

AMY GOODMAN: And explain how it ended up on your property.

PERCY SCHMEISER: My neighbor had grown it in 1997, and the following year it had true cross-pollination. But at that time, we believe it was primarily the contamination came from seeds blown in the wind, transportation by the farmer to the market, to his field, and from his field to his granaries.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013