• 2002:
  EPA releases draft report highlighting widespread water contamination
  of a toxic rocket fuel byproduct known
  as perchlorate. The report indicates that most of the pollution is coming
  from U.S. military sites [Source]
• January
  2003 : Courtroom proceedings reveal that aerospace and defense contractor
  Lockheed Martin was concealing documents for several years indicating
  the company knew about toxic levels of percholate contamination in the
  nation’s vegetable produce. [Source]
• March
  2003: California’s
  Senator Feinstein demands the military clean up perchlorate pollution
  as a matter of public safety. The Department of Defense responds by
  saying it must be exempt from perchlorate liability, as a matter of
  anti-terrorist "readiness." [Source].

• April
  2003:
  Bush Administration puts gag order on the Environmental Protection
  Agency, mandating complete silence regarding military perchlorate
  pollution and human health impacts. [Source]

• November
  2004:
  FDA finds perchlorate in 93% of lettuce and milk samples across the
  nation. Bush Administration requests no regulatory action take place
  until the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concludes investigation
  of human health implications. [Source]
• January
  2005:
  NAS announces perchlorates are as much as ten times as toxic as what
  the Department of Defense had been claiming. Senator Feinstein of California
  announces forthcoming bill proposal to create federal perchlorate regulations
  and to allocate funding for cleanup of existing contamination. [Source]

MORE AND MORE
AND MORE MAD COWS
A third case of Mad Cow Disease has been found in Canada. The discovery
has prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider their
plan to reopen trade bans on Canadian beef. North America was considered
free of the fatal brain wasting disease until the first discovery
in 2003, after the disease had raged through the UK. The disease prevails
in factory farm settings, and no cases have ever been found in organically
raised cattle. /old_articles/madcow.htm

A new study has found that organic milk has higher levels of nutrients
and antioxidants than conventional milk. According to research spearheaded
by the UK’s Soil Association, dairy cattle raised on an organic diet
produce milk with 50% more Vitamin E and 75% more beta carotene than
conventionally farmed dairy. The organic milk is also two to three times
higher in zeaxanthine and lutein, which are powerful antioxidants. Jill
Eisberg, chief executive of The Dairy Council said the research is "an
interesting new development for the dairy industry". /old_articles/organic/milk011005.cfm

Monsanto, a leading global producer of genetically engineered seeds
and pesticides, has been fined $1.5 million for bribing the Indonesian
Ministry of Environment, as the company made efforts to bypass environmental
regulations that restrict the sale of their genetically modified crops.
Bribery does not seem to be as necessary for Monsanto to have its controversial
products approved for sale in the U.S. The corporation kept its firm
grip on U.S. policymaking last week by getting one of its former lobbyists,
Martha Scott, appointed as Staff Director of the Senate Agriculture
Committee. Other Monsanto key leaders in the U.S. government include
Secretary of Agiculture Anne Veneman (formerly Monsanto Board of Director),
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (formerly a Monsanto pharmaceutical
Board of Director) and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (formerly
a Monsanto lawyer). /old_articles/monlink.html

ENVIRONMENTALLY
FRIENDLY PLASTIC?
Cargill Dow has been contacting consumers in a marketing survey to find
out how to better advertise their biopolymer products to people with
environmental concerns. Striving for a green image is an interesting
endeavor, given that Dow is the world’s largest chemical company, responsible
for creating such wonders as Agent Orange, napalm, and byproduct dioxin
and CFCs. Cargill is the original creator of genetically engineered
corn, upon which Dow’s popular pesticides are applied. The two companies
joined forces to take advantage of a new market of plastics made from
corn cellulose. Their hope is to take command of the plastics market
with what they are advertising as "environmentally friendly plastic,"
thereby creating a massive new market for their GE corn and pesticides.
As an example, a single Cargill Dow biopolymer production facility in
Nebraska is going through 40,000 bushels of GE corn per day, requiring
millions of gallons of pesticides. It’s up to consumers to decide whether
or not the true "environmentally friendly plastic" will be
made by biopolymer companies sourcing organic crops.

"ORGANIC"
FACTORY FARMS?
The Cornucopia Institute has filed a formal complaint with the USDA
National Organic Program against an "organic" dairy farm in
Colorado. The industrial sized feedlot, Aurora Dairy, claims its milk
is organic, despite the fact the facility houses 5,600 dairy cows in
a factory farm setting with no access to pasture (which is required
by the National Organic Standards). A similar factory farm in Idaho
supplies Horizon with "organic" milk. Mark Kastel, Cornucopia’s
Senior Farm Analyst, said that such factory style operations go against
the spirit of the organic standards and threaten the livelihood of truly
organic family farmers. Almost immediately following the complaint submission,
the USDA issued an internal memo, asking the National Organic Standards
Board to develop strict policies on the pasture requirements.

California’s Sonoma County has successfully placed a referendum on the
ballot that proposes a ban on genetically engineered (GE) crops. After
acquiring a record 45,387 petition signatures, proponents of the referendum
are optimistic the vote will turn out in their favor. The proposal is
considered more moderate than bans that passed in Mendocino and Marin
counties last year, as it entails a ten year moratorium on commercial
farming of GE crops, but allows genetically modified organisms in human
food and livestock feed. /old_articles/ge-free.htm