Bush Junta Allows Antibiotics and Pesticides in "Organic" Foods
AlterNet.org
In
their latest why-are-you-messing-with-my-life outrage, the Bush junta
'reinterprets' the organic label to include antibiotics and pesticides
without consulting the National Organic Standards Board or the public.
The Bush
administration is giving Americans new reason to watch what they eat --
and it has nothing to do with carbs. Over the course of 10 days in
mid-April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued three "guidances"
and one directive -- all legally binding interpretations of law -- that
threaten to seriously dilute the meaning of the word "organic" and
discredit the department's National Organic Program.
The
changes -- which would allow the use of antibiotics on organic dairy
cows, synthetic pesticides on organic farms, and more -- were made with
zero input from the public or the National Organic Standards Board, the
advisory group that worked for more than a decade to help craft the
first federal organic standards, put in place in October 2002.
The USDA
insists that the changes are innocuous: "The directives have not
changed anything. They are just clarifications of what is in the
regulations that were written by the National Organic Standards Board,"
USDA spokesperson Joan Shaffer told Muckraker. "They just explain
what's enforceable. There is no difference [between the clarifications
and the original regulations] -- it's just another way of explaining
it."
But Jim
Riddle, vice chair of the NOSB and endowed chair in agricultural
systems at the University of Minnesota, argues that what the USDA is
trying to pass off as a clarification of regulations is actually a
substantial change: "These are the sorts of changes for which the
department is supposed to do a formal new rulemaking process, with
posting in the federal register, feedback from our advisory board, and
a public-comment period. And yet there is no such process denoted
anywhere."
Organic
activists suspect that industry pressure drove the policy shifts. They
point out that the USDA leadership has long-standing industry
sympathies: Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman served on the board of
directors of a biotech company, and both her chief of staff and her
director of communications were plucked right out of National
Cattlemen's Beef Association.
"Even
though it evolved as a reaction against large-scale American
agribusinesses, the organic food industry has seen tremendous growth,
roughly 20 to 24 percent a year for the past 10 years," said Ronnie
Cummins, founder and national director of the Organic Consumers
Association. "That, not surprisingly, has brought with it investments
from big business and demands for conventional farming practices more
favorable to mass production."
(more)
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Monday, June 14
Bush Junta Allows Antibiotics and Pesticides in "Organic" Foods
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 14 Jun 2004 04:58 PM CDT
Iowa in the News: Education
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 14 Jun 2004 10:51 AM CDT
Iowa among the best in providing advanced placement for students
The Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs America's schools are failing the most talented students by holding them back, failing to provide adequate college credit courses in high school and slowing their entry to college which in turn adds to their higher education costs and leads to years of lost income that would come with an earlier entry into the work force. Many of those students are being denied access to challenging courses that can lead to careers in areas like math and science at a time when the nation is losing its advantage over other counties in those areas. The claims are included in a national report to be released this fall called, "A Nation Deceived ... How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students." Nicholas Colangelo, director of the University of Iowa's Belin-Blank Center is the lead author of the national report. (more) UNI to pick up tuition for some Des Moines Register The University of Northern Iowa will offer full-tuition scholarships beginning this fall to Iowa students who can't afford to attend the school, officials announced Friday. The Tuition Opportunity Plan aims to reach out to low-income students, whose numbers fell as tuition increased in recent years, university officials said. "Tuition has been rising faster than financial aid," said President Robert Koob. "We think there are people choosing not to even apply because they are afraid of the costs." Qualifying Iowa students are those who can't afford to contribute anything to their education, equivalent to about 100 to 200 UNI students each year, said Roland Carrillo , executive director of enrollment management. The program will serve only incoming freshmen beginning this fall. (more)
Connie Wilson: The Star Spangled Banner?
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 14 Jun 2004 06:19 AM CDT
The Star Spangled Banner?
(Original lyrics Sept. 20, 1814 by Francis Scott Key) 5/28/2004 by Connie Wilson Jose, can you see? By Iraq's early light What so sadly we hail, as our country's last gleaming. In days of yore in our land, we would give folks a hand, We would help feed and teach. Our grasp then matched our reach. Oh, the things that we did, were to share,…. not be hid, We could hold up our heads; there weren't thousands left dead. O say, does our Star Spangled Banner still stand…. For the free and the brave and a democratic land? On the shore, dimly seen, lay the enemy foes. While the foe's haughty chief, in isolation reposed. What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering ash, As it fitfully blew, now concealed, now disclosed? Now it catches the gleam of the plane's dipping wings. The full horror displayed on the world's TV screens. Our Star Spangled Banner: Oh, long may it wave! But I fear for our land of the free and the brave. Oh, where is that group, which would formerly swear, 'Gainst the havoc of war and 'gainst battle's confusion? Defending country and home, not for oil and dissolution. Their blood has been shed in foul footstep's pollution. No refuge did save Iraq's evil leaders and slaves, From the terror, misdirected, of that flight; or the gloom of the grave. And our Star Spangled Banner: Oh, long may it wave! But I fear for the land of the free and the brave. Oh! Thus be it ever that freemen shall stand In defense of their loved homes, NOT Iraq's desolation! Cursed with violence and graft; claims of a heaven-rescued land… When the powers-that-be dealt a very different hand. They've mislead us all now, with revenge and with greed, A mockery is made of our longstanding creed: If our motto remains, "In God is our trust." Then restore our country's honor In November's voting thrust. |
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