Food Rights Network

News

Three California Democrats Team Up with Monsanto

by Rebekah Wilce — August 2, 2012 - 7:35am
  • Topics: Food Rights Network, Politics

    • In California, the battle over Proposition 37, which would require the labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food products, is heating up. In late July, pro-labeling groups obtained a flier sent out by a group opposed to the proposition containing the endorsements of three Democratic California Assemblymembers, even though the Democratic Party of California (and over 90 percent of consumers) supports GMO labeling.

    Guest Contributor

    Fighting GMO Labeling in California is Food Lobby’s “Highest Priority”

    by PRW Staff — August 1, 2012 - 11:06am
  • Topics: Genetic Engineering, Corporations, Food Rights Network, Lobbying

    • - by PRWatch guest contributor Michele Simon

    In case you had any doubt that California's Prop 37 -- which would require labeling of food containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) -- is a significant threat to industry, a top food lobby has now made it perfectly clear.

    Guest Contributor

    Monsanto’s Quiet Coup: Will Congress Limit Scope and Time for GMO Reviews?

    by Jill Richardson — August 1, 2012 - 7:32am
  • Topics: Genetic Engineering, Corporations, Food Rights Network, Politics

    • After a series of court defeats over the past few years, Monsanto and friends are trying to use Congress to make an end-run around the courts and current law. Lawsuits brought by opponents of genetically engineered (GE) crops resulted in the temporary removal of two products -- Roundup Ready Alfalfa and Roundup Ready Sugarbeets -- from the market. If the biotechnology industry and the legislators they support have their way, future GE crops will not suffer the same fate.

    News

    WTO Not So COOL: Rules Against Popular U.S. Meat Labeling Law

    by Rebekah Wilce — June 29, 2012 - 3:17pm
  • Topics: Food Safety, Agriculture, Food Rights Network, International

    • The World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a final ruling today against the U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law. This popular pro-consumer policy, which informs shoppers where meat and other foods were raised or grown, enjoys the support of 93% of Americans, according to a 2010 Consumers Union poll. Now Congress must gut or change the law to avoid the application of punitive trade sanctions.

    News

    Farm Bill Passes U.S. Senate

    by Rebekah Wilce — June 22, 2012 - 8:52am
  • Topics: Agriculture, Food Rights Network, Politics

    • The farm bill S. 3240, passed the U.S. Senate on June 21. The bill, which is renewed approximately every five years, dictates congressional spending on not only farm issues such as crop subsidies, but nutritional programs like food stamps and the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), and conservation programs. Total spending controlled by this one bill is in the billions of dollars each year. In 2010, farm bill spending amounted to $96.3 billion, according to the Environmental Working Group.

    Guest Contributor

    How the US Sold Africa to Multinationals like Monsanto, Cargill, DuPont, PepsiCo and Others

    by Jill Richardson — May 25, 2012 - 7:30am
  • Topics: Agriculture, Genetic Engineering, Corporations, Food Rights Network

    • This story was first published by Alternet and is being cross-posted by the Center for Media and Democracy's Food Rights Network.

    Driving through Ngong Hills, not far from Nairobi, Kenya, the corn on one side of the road is stunted and diseased. The farmer will not harvest a crop this year. On the other side of the road, the farmer gave up growing corn and erected a greenhouse, probably for growing a high-value crop like tomatoes. Though it's an expensive investment, agriculture consultants now recommend them. Just up the road, at a home run by Kenya Children of Hope, an organization that helps rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families, one finds another failed corn crop and another greenhouse. The director, Charity, is frustrated because the two acres must feed the rescued children and earn money for the organization. After two tomato crops failed in the new greenhouse, her consultant recommended using a banned, toxic pesticide called carbofuran.

    News

    Media Coverage of Mad Cow: USDA Calls "Misleading," Columbia Journalism Review Calls "Sane"

    by Rebekah Wilce — May 14, 2012 - 9:21am
  • Topics: Mad Cow Disease, Food Safety, Journalism, Food Rights Network

    • A downer cow at a California dairy was recently found to be infected with an "atypical" strain of "bovine spongiform encephalopathy" (BSE), or "mad cow" disease. There has been some significant media coverage of the case, and the USDA wants the media to know they are not pleased.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) press secretary, Courtney Rowe, issued a memo saying there were an, "unfortunate amount of misleading articles meant for our public."

    Guest Contributor

    America's Mad Cow Crisis

    by John Stauber — April 27, 2012 - 10:31am
  • Topics: Mad Cow Disease, Food Rights Network

    • Americans might remember that when the first mad cow was confirmed in the United States in December, 2003, it was major news. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had been petitioned for years by lawyers from farm and consumer groups I worked with to stop the cannibal feeding practices that transmit this horrible, always fatal, human and animal dementia. When the first cow was found in Washington state, the government said it would stop such feeding, and the media went away. But once the cameras were off and the reporters were gone nothing substantial changed.

    News

    Death by Delay: Obama Team Stalls on Chemical Regulation

    by Rebekah Wilce — March 26, 2012 - 8:29am
  • Topics: Environment, Food Rights Network, Health, U.S. Government

    • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has drafted a "chemicals of concern" list to restrict the use of certain chemicals and alert the public to their possible dangers. But the list remains secret and dormant because it's stuck at the Obama administration's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review.

    OIRA is a division of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). According to Katie Greenhaw, Regulatory Policy Analyst at the government watch-dog group OMB Watch, OIRA has 90 - 120 days to review rules from a regulatory agency, before releasing the rule back to the agency to open it up for public comment. Rules then go back to OIRA for additional review before being published as final rules. This rule has been stuck at OIRA for almost two years. That means the public hasn't even laid eyes on it.

    News

    USDA to Serve Kids More "Pink Slime"

    by Rebekah Wilce — March 13, 2012 - 7:00am
  • Topics: Food Safety, Children, Food Rights Network, U.S. Government

    • A product made by grinding up connective tissue from cows and beef scraps that used to be made into dog food is too disgusting to serve at McDonald's, Burger King or Taco Bell, which have all dropped it due to public pressure, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) thinks it's fine to serve in school lunches. The USDA plans to buy seven million pounds of the "Lean Finely Textured Beef" (LFTB) from Beef Products Inc. (BPI) and serve it to school children this spring.

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