Massachusetts Know Your Milk Campaign

Let's ban rGBH...

2011-12-30T07:36:00.000-05:00

Other countries are banning rGBH. Why isn't the US doing it? Learn more: http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/rbgh/

2011-11-03T12:37:00.002-04:00

Victory for Voluntary GMO-Free Labels!

Monsanto and Eli Lilly have successfully blocked consumers' right to know about factory-farm dairy production by concealing the use of their genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, a.k.a. rBGH or rBST.

Still, when it comes to voluntary labels on non-GMO food, consumers are winning!

The first blow to biotech was in 2010 when a Sixth Circuit court ruled that milk produced with synthetic hormones is different than milk produced without it and struck down a Ohio rule that would have removed "rBGH-free" labels from dairy products. The court found:

- A compositional difference does exist between milk from untreated cows and conventional milk.

- The use of rBGH (rbST) in milk production has been shown to elevate the levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a naturally occurring hormone that in high levels is linked to several types of cancers, among other things.

- rBGH (rbST) use induces an unnatural period of milk production during a cow's "negative energy phase." Milk produced during this stage is considered to be low quality due to its increased fat content and its decreased level of proteins.

- Milk from rBGH-injected cows contains higher somatic cell counts, which makes the milk turn sour more quickly and is another indicator of poor milk quality.

The final blow to the Ohio rule came this week when the state agreed that, instead of revising the rule to comply with the court's opinion, it would abandon it altogether.
Read more

2011-05-17T10:28:00.000-04:00

What's in your milk? Hundreds of dairies have been breaking laws designed to keep antibiotics and other drugs out of our food supply. Indianapolis- WTHR, Indiana. http://www.wthr.com/story/14656493/whats-in-your-milk

The real price of Cheap Food

2010-03-01T08:09:00.001-05:00

Food Med 2007 Downloads Changing our Cheap Food Mentality Hugh Joseph, PhD Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University Food Med 2005 Downloads Time Magazine: Getting Real about the Cheap Price of Food http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1917458,00.html. FoodMed 2009 Downloads
		What is a CAFO? Cheap Meat and Poultry Public Health Issues with Industrialized Beef, Hog and Poultry Production Doug Gurian-Sherman, Union for Concerned Scientists Monday, March 8, 2010 at 11:00 AM EST http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/03/protecting-the-global-food-chain Protecting the Global Food Chain A quarter of the calories that feed the planet come from wheat. It’s going to take a lot more wheat to feed the world as its population moves toward 9 billion. But keeping that vast hunger fed is a constant race against pathogens that can wipe out a harvest, climate change that can strangle a crop. It takes non-stop breeding and new hybrids. Breeding that can depend on some very old and out-of-the-way strains. On seeds you’d never think of. In the most exotic locations. Seeds that keep your family fed. This hour, On Point: the staff of life, and the wild story of how bread stays on your table.

We Won: Schools Can Serve rBGH-Free and Organic Milk!

2009-12-09T17:26:00.000-05:00

School Milk Campaign Victory!

This is a victory for consumers, parents and kids across the country, schools can now source better milk.
Help Spread the News

Great news! We just won our campaign to make sure schools can source organic milk or rBGH-Free milk! We've been working over the last year to pressure Congress and the USDA to make it clear that schools can purchase better milk for their students. The USDA got the message and has made it clear schools have the choice. Help us spread the word so all schools know they can serve better milk!

Thanks to folks like you who contacted your members of Congress, participated in our School Milk Days of Action, and contacted your local schools, our nation's schools will not become the dumping ground for milk produced with artificial growth hormones. Here are a few highlights from our School Milk Campaign:

- Over 30,000 petition signatures were delivered to Congress
- School Milk Campaign activists made over 2,000 calls to Congress
- Hundreds of schools across the country were contacted about their milk, directly influencing three schools to go rBGH-Free
-Our Healthy School Milk or Bust road trip hit seven key states, raising visibility of this issue with the media, consumers and congressional staff

Now that it's clear schools can buy organic milk or milk that's produced without artificial hormones, we need to make sure schools know they have this choice. Can you tell your friends and family the great news, and ask them to spread the word?

We've been working to make sure that schools have the opportunity to purchase organic milk and milk that's free of artificial growth hormones because of the serious health concerns associated with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). The artificial hormones are injected into cows to make them produce more milk, which can cause health problems for the cows, and may be linked to cancer in humans. We're proud that schools will now have the clear choice to offer milk that's produced without artificial growth hormones. Please help us spread the word.

Thanks for taking action,
Sarah Alexander, Senior Food Organizer
Food & Water Watch
goodfood(at)fwwatch.org

Organic Bytes #180

2009-07-01T18:04:00.000-04:00

July 1, 2009

Organic Bytes #180

Health, Justice and Sustainability News

from the Organic Consumers Association

In This Issue

Breaking News of the Week: Horizon Sells Out Organic Farmers With New "Natural" Milk
Alert of the Week: Whole Foods Market Undermining Our Organic Future
Alert Update of the Week: Stop Big Brother's NAIS
Political Plunder of the Week: Who is Spending What on Lobbying?
Sustainability News of the Week: Some Resources for Getting Started with a Backyard Chicken Coop
Web Video of the Week: Bill McKibben on U.S. Climate Politics
Other Headlines of the Week

Organic Dairy Family Farmers Need Support

2009-06-03T13:30:00.000-04:00

Alert Update of the Week

The OCA has called for a boycott of bogus organic dairy brands such as Horizon and Aurora (suppliers to Wal-Mart, Safeway and other giant chains), who have inundated the market with misleadingly labeled "organic" milk produced on factory farms. Recently, the situation has worsened as organic feed prices have increased and recession-pummeled consumers have cut back on the amount of organic milk they are purchasing. The result is a surplus of organic milk, depressed milk prices, and an increasing number of organic dairy farmers across the U.S. being driven into bankruptcy. Consumers can support ethical organic dairy farmers and preserve organic integrity by boycotting Horizon and Aurora products and instead supporting local organic farmers and dairy cooperatives like Organic Valley and others.

Learn More

Eliminate rBGH milk from school meal programs

2009-05-13T18:55:00.000-04:00

As you know, Breast Cancer Action works to eliminate the causes of cancer in our environment. This year, the focus of our Think Before You Pink campaign will be to rid the entire dairy market of rBGH--the cancer-linked artificial growth hormone.

As part of the 2009 Think Before You Pink campaign, we're partnering with Food and Water Watch to eliminate rBGH milk from school meal programs. As consumer demand increases for hormone-free milk, many schools don't have a choice. School kids are drinking milk we refuse to drink ourselves!

Everyone deserves rBGH-free dairy. Keep the pressure on. Sign the Petition to Congress at
http://bcaction.org/index.php?page=school-milk-petition.

Breast Cancer Action
55 New Montgomery St. #323
San Francisco, CA 94105

Toll-free at 877-2STOPBC (278-6722)
www.bcaction.org
www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org

Jamie Harvie, HCWH, NRDC Thought Leader

2009-05-11T11:51:00.001-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 2009
Contact: Jamie Harview, 218-525-7806 harvie@isfusa.org
Eileen Secrest, 866-998-0007 esecrest@hcwh.org

Jamie Harvie, Founding Member of Health Care without Harm, Named 2009 “Thought Leader” by National Resources Defense Council

Honored for Work in Sustainable Food in Healthcare

Jamie Harvie, founding member of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), and director of the Institute for a Sustainable Future, has been named a “Thought Leader” by the National Resources Defense Fund (NRDC). The honor was bestowed as one of the inaugural NRDC Growing Green Awards. Harvie was honored for his work on sustainable food production and especially for his work in sustainable food in healthcare.

“How we produce and distribute food has a profound impact on ecological health, and by obvious extension, human health,” stated Harvie. “As places of healing, hospitals have a natural incentive to provide food that is healthy for people and the environment in which they live. But they must go further. They must use their purchasing power to move markets, their moral authority to garner support, and their voices to effect a change in procurement policies.”

An independent panel of sustainable food experts selected the award winners from a pool of 140 impressive candidates that included diverse growers, entrepreneurs and business leaders across the country. In a statement announcing the awards, NRDC said, “Harvie has helped catalyze a national campaign to encourage the inclusion of social and environmental awareness in hospital food service.” Harvie is the co-chair of HCWH’s Food Work Group. More than 200 hospitals around the country have signed Health Care Without Harm’s “Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge,” most recently by the Cleveland Clinic and Boston Medical Center.

Hospitals signing the pledge agree to work to increase the availability of locally-sourced food, encourage vendors to supply pesticide-, hormone- and antibiotic-free foods; implement a step-wise sustainable foods programs; ask Group Purchasing Organizations to supply local, certified foods; educate the community about nutritious, socially just, and ecologically sustainable healthy food practices; minimize food waste; support ecologically sound packaging; and promote and source from producers and processors supplies that uphold the dignity of family, farmers, workers and their communities and that support sustainable and humane agricultural systems. While this seems a large undertaking, many hospitals and health care facilities are making tremendous strides in meeting all of the pledge elements.

“What if around the globe hospitals and clinics became recognized in their communities for providing some of the most affordable, nutritious, tasty, local and sustainably produced food,” said Harvie. “What if these same hospitals and clinics provided clean drinking water and hosted farmers markets and became a community gathering point? Perhaps then we could say we have truly developed a global health care system based in primary prevention.”

Harvie and other Growing Green Award winners were honored at NRDC’s 2009 benefit, “Food for Thought,” an event that also honored Michael Pollan for his contributions to the field of sustainable food. The event took place at San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences on May 9.

“Health Care Without Harm is very proud to have Jamie working with us,” stated Anna Gilmore Hall, co-executive director of HCWH. “He is an invaluable resource and committed to sustainable food production, one of our fastest growing and most successful initiatives. Jamie also led the organization’s highly successful global effort to eradicate the use of mercury in health care and is an invaluable member of the international sustainable health care community.”

ISF is a not-for-profit organization working to support and improve ecological health, through advocacy, research and education. ISF works to build, support and replicate models of success. Consistent with its ecological approach, ISF engages in campaigns which foster relationships and collaboration. ISF recognizes science and the arts as equally important in building a healthy, sustainable world. www.isfusa.org

HCWH is an international coalition of more than 430 organizations in 52 countries, working to transform the health care industry worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. For more information on the rBGH and the role of healthcare see http://www.noharm.org/us/food/resources#rbgh.

HCWH has an ambitious healthy food agenda, which includes buying fresh food locally and/or buying certified organic food; avoiding food raised with growth hormones and antibiotics; encouraging group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to support healthy food in healthcare; supporting local farmers and farming organizations; introducing farmers markets and on-site food box programs; reducing food waste; and establishing an overarching food policy at each health facility. More than 200 hospitals have signed the HCWH “Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge.” Signers pledge to work toward developing sustainable food systems in their facilities. To learn more about HCWH’s work on food and other issues related to health care www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org.

Celebrate Breast Cancer Action Victory

2009-04-23T07:31:00.000-04:00

We recently celebrated a major victory over General Mills (GM) in the name of women's health. GM (the parent company of Yoplait) committed to making yogurt without the use of the cancer-linked recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH).

General Mills operates globally with 29,500 employees. Breast Cancer Action has 10 employees. With your help, we pulled together as a community and persuaded this major US food manufacturer to put breast cancer before profits. Now that's what I call working together.

This victory has inspired us to take a bold next step to eradicate rBGH from the entire U.S. dairy market. We need all the people we can to support this effort. Share this email with 3 of your closest friends and tell them why you support us.

Your donations enable us to protect women's health. Please, send this E-alert to 3 of your dearest friends. Urge them to make a donation. If you received this email from a close friend, join us and keep the momentum going. Donate today.

With thanks,

Our publication The Source is online 4 times a year. We preserve trees,avoid toxins in ink, save costs and still keep you up to date. It's easier than ever to access. Go online and read the latest issue.

Write Sebelius

2009-04-09T11:40:00.001-04:00

Tell the future HHS Secretary you want accurate labels on your milk!

Last week the Kansas state legislature passed a bill restricting how much information consumers get about the milk they buy. The state legislature of Kansas wants to restrict dairies' ability to label their products as rBGH-free. Tell Governor Sebelius to protect consumers' right to know and veto this bill.

The artificial hormone rBGH has been linked to increased rates of cancer in humans, and consumers have increasingly rejected milk produced with the artificial hormone. So why does a bill in Kansas matter to you? It is part of a national effort to prevent consumers from knowing whether their milk was produced with rBGH.

It's not too late, though, because Governor Kathleen Sebelius can still veto the bill. The governor is President Obama's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, the agency that houses the Food and Drug Administration. Let's make sure that she doesn't give in to big agriculture.

The FDA already has national rules for rBGH-free labeling, and they've worked fine for years. This bill would harm consumers and water down existing national labeling rules by requiring a misleading disclaimer on all rBGH-free labels. Tell Governor Sebelius we don't want her to water down FDA's rules right before she comes to Washington.

This legislation would place a financial burden on small dairy producers. It would also force national producers to have different labels for Kansas than the rest of the country - which could mean many bigger producers simply stop using any rBGH-free labels at all.

Contact Governor Sebelius now to let her know we want our future HHS Secretary to protect consumers' right to know.

Thanks for taking action,

Sarah, Alex, Noelle and the Food Team
Food & Water Watch
goodfood(at)fwwatch.org

Can you meet with your Member of Congress?

2009-03-22T21:11:00.000-04:00

Sign up to attend a district meeting.

March 20, 2009

Can you meet with your member of Congress to ask them for better school milk?

Last week on National "Know Your Milk" Day, you and fellow activists made over one thousand calls to Congress. We've already heard that this made a huge impact and now members of Congress are ready to listen. Can you meet with your member of Congress to help get better milk into the National School Lunch Program?

From April 6-17, members of Congress are going to be in their home districts for Easter recess. This is the perfect opportunity for you to meet with your member of Congress to ask them in person to support better school milk.

Attending a district meeting is easy and important. We know that milk that has been produced using the artificial hormone rBGH makes its way into the School Lunch Program every year. About one out of five pints of milk distributed through the school nutrition programs in fiscal year 2005-2006 may have been from rBGH-treated cows.

Kids deserve the best nutrition, parents deserve a say in what their kids are fed, and schools need the tools to be able to purchase the best food for their students. Can you ask for a district meeting with your member of Congress?

The more meetings we have, the better chance we'll have to get healthy milk for schools.

Thanks for taking action,
Sarah, Noelle, Alex and The Food Team
Food & Water Watch
goodfood(at)fwwatch.org

Got rbST?

2009-03-16T12:13:00.000-04:00

http://www.usatoday.com/money/ industries/food/2009-03-15- dairy-growth-hormone-ban_N.htm

Companies cut synthetic hormone from dairy products

USA TODAY March 15, 2009 By Bruce Horovitz

Got rbST? That's not the latest space critter in a George Lucas film. It's a synthetic growth hormone (recombinant bovine somatotropin) used to spur cows to produce more milk. Many dairies and retailers - including General Mills (GIS) , Dannon and Wal-Mart (WMT) - are nixing it from dairy products in a world of rising food fears....

Hospital Leaders Help Shift Dairy Market

2009-03-13T14:30:00.000-04:00

Yoplait, Dannon, & Cabot announce their move to eliminate hormone rBGH

Across the country nurses, hospital food service directors, and administrators have sent letters to dairy producers asking them to eliminate rBGH from the dairy supply chain. The supply chain is beginning to respond.

The controversial industrial animal hormone (rBGH) also called rBST is known to cause adverse health effects in cows leading to the increased use of antibiotics and the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria according to the recent statement released by the American Cancer Society in February 2009. Healthcare systems across the country have been switching their dairy products away from those produced with rBST due to these implications. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and all 27 countries of the European Union have banned its use.

New England's largest dairy cooperative, Agri-Mark , has officially banned rBST from its products setting a cut-off date of August 1, 2009. One of its most popular brands Cabot, is local to Vermont. Nationally, big dairy brands Yoplait and Dannon both announced their intentions to provide only dairy products produced without rBGH.

If your facility is interested in this issue, you can use the Purchasers Guide to Dairy Produced Without rBGH

General Mills announces No rBGH in Yogurt

2009-03-09T18:25:00.001-04:00

Yoplait goes rBGH free! We did it!

General Mills announced that they are taking the rBGH dairy out of Yoplait yogurt, something that just four months ago they assured us was impossible.

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who wrote General Mills, made a contribution or took any action to support this effort.

See BCA's press release.

Dannon follows suit! No rBGH by 2010

Two weeks after General Mills announced they were going rBGH free, Dannon responded to public pressure and made the same promise to consumers.

These two companies represent two-thirds of America's dairy products and their policy change shows a cultural shift.

This is a tremendous acknowledgment of grassroots activism and a victory for all of us.

Give rBGH the Boot from our Nation's Schools

2009-02-26T15:28:00.000-05:00

rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) is a genetically engineered variant of the natural growth hormone produced by cows. Formerly manufactured by Monsanto, it is sold to dairy farmers under the trade name Posilac. Injection of this hormone forces cows to boost milk production by about 10%, while increasing the incidences of mastitis, lameness, and reproductive complications.

The federal nutrition programs are a major provider of milk to our nation’s school-age children. According to the National Milk Producers Federation, nearly 430 million gallons of milk were distributed through the National School Breakfast, Lunch, and Special Milk programs during the 2005-2006 school year. Unfortunately, a significant amount of this milk may have been produced with artificial growth hormones.

Take action today and tell Congress to mandate that schools purchase artificial hormone-free milk and organic milk.

>>Learn More

Dannon will drop rBGH

2009-02-26T15:22:00.001-05:00

Dannon (or Danone), the French-based multinational that owns Activa and the popular organic brand Stonyfield Farm, has announced it is committed to eliminating rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) by the end of 2009. This controversial genetically engineered growth hormone was originally developed by Monsanto and is injected into cows to force them to produce more milk. Dannon joins a host of other companies, like Starbucks and Yoplait, that have also recently responded to your emails and pressure by removing rBGH from their products.

We and our allies are making progress driving rBGH off the market and educating the public about the health and environmental hazards of genetically engineered foods, and the benefits of organics. Unfortunately, hazardous rBGH-tainted dairy products are still force-fed to our children and low-income consumers as part of the national school lunch program and federal nutrition programs such as Food Stamps and the WIC program. But you can change that. Tell Congress to mandate that school lunch and other taxpayer-funded federal nutrition programs purchase only rBGH-free milk and instead supply our children and low-income communities with certified "USDA Organic" milk.

Learn more and take action

For more information on the rBGH and the role of healthcare see http://www.noharm.org/us/food/resources#rbgh

Yoplait Eliminates rBGH Milk from Products

2009-02-09T19:40:00.000-05:00

Hospitals and Healthcare Leaders Shift Dairy Market

Yoplait has announced to its hospital customers that it will stop using milk from cattle injected with the growth hormone rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) to make its yogurt products, beginning in early August 2009. Yoplait is among the first major manufactures to totally eliminate rBGH from their product line, a move widely seen as a response to demands by the health care sector and consumer groups to provide rBGH-free products.

The health care system purchases approximately $12 billion worth of food and beverages annually. In their drive to serve safer, more sustainable foods, major health systems across the country are switching to rBGH-free (also called rBST) milk and milk products, due to the evidence showing the hormone’s adverse effects on animals and potential to harm human health. The use of rBGH in banned in Canada, the European Union, Australia and Japan.

“This speaks to the collective buying power of hospitals to shift the marketplace,” said Jamie Harvie, Health Care Without Harm Food Coordinator. “Now we need Dannon and other milk and milk product producers to show the same leadership.”

“This is great news for the health of consumers, communities and the planet,” stated Pat Burdullis, R.D Administrator, Non Clinical Contracts, Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) Supply Chain Management, one of the many hospitals across the country that have initiated steps to eliminate their use of dairy produced with rBGH. “To date we are approximately 90 percent rBGH-free in our liquid dairy.” CHW is the largest Catholic health system in the United States and was among many healthcare organizations that sent letters to their suppliers requesting products produced without rBGH.

Upon receiving the news, Diane Imrie, Director of Nutrition Services, Fletcher Allen Health Care, Burlington, Vermont, stated, “This is a major act by Yoplait, one which we have asked for and totally support. It is a large step that will help hospitals reach their goal to provide safe, healthy foods to their patients, staff and visitors. I hope that other major brands, like Dannon, will follow their lead.”

The American Nurses Association also supports the development of national and state laws, regulations and policies that specifically reduce the use of rBGH or rBST in milk and dairy production in the United States and has called on nurses and hospitals to purchase dairy produced without rBGH. In 2008 HCWH nurses work group developed a rBGH free toolkit and initiated a letter writing campaign demanding that Yoplait and Dannon change their practice.

HCWH has an ambitious healthy food agenda, which includes buying fresh food locally and/or buying certified organic food; avoiding food raised with growth hormones and antibiotics; encouraging group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to support healthy food in healthcare; supporting local farmers and farming organizations; introducing farmers markets and on-site food box programs; reducing food waste; and establishing an overarching food policy at each health facility. More than 200 hospitals have signed the HCWH “Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge.” Signers pledge to work toward developing sustainable food systems in their facilities.

In 2008, Catholic Healthcare West sent a letter to Health Care Without Harm discussing their Sustainable Food Vision and other food-related positions. View the letter at http://www.noharm.org/details.cfm?ID=2134&type=document.

Heath Care without Harm, an international coalition of more than 473 organizations in 52 countries, is working to transform the health care sector, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. For more information on the healthy food pledge see http://www.noharm.org/us/food/pledge. To learn more about HCWH’s work on food and other issues related to health care www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org.

###

Expel Hormones from School Milk

2009-02-06T17:00:00.000-05:00

The food kids eat today will have a lasting impact on their health in the future. Unfortunately much of the food kids eat today is produced with harmful chemicals and artificial hormones. We've got a great opportunity to affect what kind of milk is in the National School Lunch Program. Can you take action now to get better milk into school lunches?

This spring we have a great chance to bring milk free from artificial hormones into our schools as Congress takes up legislation on the National School Lunch Program.

We are asking Congress to clarify that schools do have the option to purchase milk from cows that are not treated with artificial growth hormones. With nearly 430 million gallons of milk distributed through national school milk programs, we have to take action now to get artificial hormones out of our school milk!

Can you sign our petition to ask Congress to clarify that schools can purchase artificial hormone-free milk and organic milk?

Food & Water Watch is on the ground all across the country launching our School Milk Campaign, and this petition is the first step. Through town hall meetings, school board and city council bans, and other grassroots organizing, we can improve the health of America's schoolchildren by eliminating artificial hormones from school milk programs.

Take the first step in expelling the hormones from school milk by signing our petition and joining our action team.

Thanks for taking action,

Sarah, Noelle, Alex and The Food Team
Food & Water Watch
goodfood(at)fwwatch.org

P.S. Watch for alerts coming soon to find out how you can be involved in our National Day of Action on March 11, 2009!

Victory in New Englanbd

2009-01-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

rBGH/rBST Victory
With the last major dairy in the Northeast finally banning rBGH, the New England dairy industry will be free of Monsanto's controversial Bovine Growth Hormone by the end of summer 2009...

One Man One Cow One Planet

2009-01-26T10:53:00.000-05:00

Join us for the start of the 2009 Slow Food Boston Film Series. We are thrilled to be able to screen three amazing documentaries this year, starting off with a bang on Sunday, February 8th at 3:30pm.

One Man One Cow One Planet Screening
Location: Theordore Parker Church, West Roxbury
Cost: $5
When: Sunday, 02/08/2009 3:30PM

An 80-year-old farmer from New Zealand has made it his mission to help the people of India produce better food in safer ways more in tune with their environment and the health of their soil... Peter Proctor has been called 'the father of the modern biodynamic movement,' and Barbara & Tom Burstyn followed his travels through India for a year in order to produce 'One Man, One Cow, One Planet: How to Save the World.' Check out their website for more information. http://www.cloudsouthfilms.co.nz/films/onecow/about.html

Directions:
Theodore Parker Church is located at 1859 Centre Street, on the corner of Corey Street, in West Roxbury. There is parking on the street and in local lots. It is accessible by MBTA bus (check out www.MBTA.com for maps).

Slow Food Boston http://www.slowfoodboston.com/
http://slow-food-boston-misc.blogspot.com/

BPA Journal Sentinel

2008-12-04T10:48:00.001-05:00

Chemical Fallout: A Journal Sentinel Watchdog Report

Warning: Chemicals in the packaging, surfaces or contents of many products may cause long-term health effects, including cancers of the breast, brain and testicles; lowered sperm counts, early puberty and other reproductive system defects; diabetes; attention deficit disorder, asthma and autism. A decade ago, the government promised to test these chemicals. It still hasn't.

BPA leaches from 'microwave safe' products

Products marketed for infants or billed as "microwave safe" release toxic doses of the chemical bisphenol A when heated, an analysis by the Journal Sentinel has found. »Read Full Article

How The Story Was Reported: Putting the products to the test
PDF: How to avoid bisphenol A
BPA results
Responses: E-mails from companies whose products were tested
Statement: American Chemistry Council
Video: Meg Kissinger talks about her reporting on JSOnAir

The Series

Are your products safe? You can't tell.

Congress ordered the federal government in 1996 to begin testing and regulating certain chemicals suspected of causing cancer and a host of developmental problems. Eleven years later, not a single compound has been put to that test. »Read Full Article

Audio slideshow: A chemical home audit
Graphic: Room by room chemicals abound (pdf)

Warning: Bisphenol A is in you

The federal government's assurances that a common chemical is safe are based on outdated U.S. government studies and research heavily funded by the chemical industry. »Read Full Article

Guide: What you can do to minimize your chemical exposure

EPA drops ball on danger of chemicals to children

The Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to evaluate compounds in products such as flame retardants in mattresses and car seats to see if they are especially harmful to children. But it doesn't. »Read Full Article

Hazardous flame retardant found in household objects

A flame retardant that was taken out of children's pajamas more than 30 years ago after it was found to cause cancer is being used with increasing regularity in furniture, paint - even baby carriers and bassinets - and manufacturers are under no obligation to let the public know about it. »Read Full Article

EPA fails to collect chemical safety data

A few blocks from St. Josaphat Basilica on Milwaukee’s near south side, a company called Milport Enterprises makes more than a million pounds a year of a chemical that no one knows much about, not even the company executives. This is despite a decade of promises by the federal government to provide safety information about just such chemicals. »Read Full Article

Donation raises questions for head of FDA’s bisphenol A panel

A retired medical supply manufacturer who considers bisphenol A to be "perfectly safe" gave $5 million to the research center of Martin Philbert, chairman of the Food and Drug Administration panel about to make a pivotal ruling on the chemical's safety. »Read Full Article

Plastics industry behind FDA research, study finds

A government report claiming that bisphenol A is safe was written largely by the plastics industry and others with a financial stake in the controversial chemical, the Journal Sentinel found. »Read Full Article

Latest Updates

Following is additional Journal Sentinel news coverage and updates on the chemical Bisphenol A

Chemical Fallout | Watchdog Update

Bisphenol A opponents, Obama team to meet

A coalition of health advocates, looking to seize the momentum of a new administration, will meet with members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team next week in Washington, D.C., to push for a ban on bisphenol A.

More Headlines

HCWH rBGH Food Work Group

2008-10-29T14:33:00.000-04:00

Nurses working with Health Care Without Harm's rBGH Food Work Group have created three short videos to help nurses understand how the use of rBGH, a synthetic hormone found in dairy products, impacts human health. Nurses play an important role to protect and prevent harm to patients, health care workers and visitors. Also, the videos will help guide nurses to advocate for healthier food choices in their health care facilities.

Human & Animal Health - Part 1
Learn about the health problems associated to recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) or rBST and how to apply the Precautionary Principle and the ANA's Precautionary Approach to protect health. This clip also discusses countries where rBGH is banned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6pDvnoT_l0

rBGH & Nursing - Part 2
rBGH & Nursing: This clip discusses what nurses can do about synthetic hormones in dairy products. Learn about the American Nurses Association's resolution, American Medical Association's position, what you can do today, and how to engage others to promote the use of rBGH-free dairy products in your personal and professional life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sicQXOhXpUU

rBGH Nurse Toolkit - Part 3
rBGH - Nurse Tool Kit at http://www.noharm.org/us/nurses/rBgh will provide nurses with tools to advocate for patients, employees and visitors to have healthier food in health care facilities. Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition is transforming the health care sector to prevent harm to patients, public health and the environment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbvfJYRkg2k

To learn more about this topic and others, join Health Care Without Harm's Healthy Food in Health Care Listserv at http://www.noharm.org/us/food/listserv

Why Cancer is Gaining on Us

2008-10-27T08:09:00.001-04:00

By Rita Arditti | Boston Globe, October 27, 2008

http://www.boston.com/ bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/ oped/articles/2008/10/27/why_ cancers_gaining_on_us/

FOR ALL the pink ribbons, breast-cancer awareness events, fund-raisers, and celebrations of "survivorship," the facts remain grim. In this country, a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer is one in eight. In 1975, the risk was about one in 11.

Evidence for Organic Milk

2008-10-01T11:10:00.001-04:00

Is Organic Milk More Nutritious than Conventional?

According to the USDA, there isn't much difference between regular and organic milk. We don't agree. Increasingly, studies show that organic milk is more beneficial to our health in many ways.

http://healthychild.org/

Solutions for a Healthy Economy

2008-09-13T07:28:00.000-04:00

Rachel Carson Legacy Conference Investigates Green Chemistry
Then second annual conference focuses on Solutions for a Healthy Economy.

“In the United States, supermarket giants Wal-Mart and Kroger have pledged to have rBST-free milk, which is milk free of genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, because of consumer preference,” DeMarco said. “Two of the major cleaning product companies, Clorox and S. C. Johnson, have introduced green choices to their product lines.”

The World According to Monsanto

2008-09-09T10:23:00.000-04:00

Individuals, businesses, and organizations are encouraged to host house parties and free public showings of The World According to Monsanto, which has generated intense concern in every audience that has seen it around the world. We have prepared a companion guide that can be downloaded at, www.MonsantoFilm.com , This guide includes press tools, facts and proven outreach strategies to help channel the heightened audience motivation into effective action.

Bonus material packaged with the DVD includes What We Can Do, a brief introduction to the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America, a practical plan to end the genetic engineering of the food supply by achieving the tipping point of consumer rejection.

The package also features a brochure, a free-to-copy audio CD on GMO health risks, and the new film, Your Milk on Drugs--Just Say No!, a short documentary by Jeffrey Smith about Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. It exposes fired whistleblowers, manipulated research, and a corporate takeover at the FDA, and includes footage prepared for a Fox TV station -- canceled after a letter from Monsanto's attorney threatened "dire consequences."

Victory: Monsanto to divest of rBGH business!

2008-08-07T15:41:00.000-04:00

From: Filmona, Food & Water Watch
Date: Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 3:38 PM
Subject: Victory: Monsanto to divest of rBGH business!
To: ellie.goldberg@gmail.com

Dear Ellie ,

We're pleased to share that Monsanto, the maker of rBGH, announced yesterday that it will sell off its dairy hormone business! After years of trying to stifle consumer rejection of its artificial hormone, even Monsanto has now gotten the message: Consumers don't want rBGH in their milk.

Thank you for all your efforts in advocating against the use of this harmful hormone! In the last year, you've helped stop rBGH-free labeling bans in seven states and encouraged Starbucks to go artificial hormone-free. Here's yet another victory for you to celebrate!

Help us maintain the momentum. Please ask three of your friends to sign our petition encouaging more companies to go rBGH-free.

And stay tuned for further actions on how you can ensure kids get rBGH-free milk in school lunches.

Filmona and Sarah
The Food Team
Food & Water Watch
goodfood(at)fwwatch.org

Table Matters

2008-07-15T13:06:00.000-04:00

How Industrial Farms Impact Health and the Environment

Background Information / Resources

Pew Report on Industrial Animal Production

Potentially fatal bacteria found in pigs, farmworkers
Andrew Schneider, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
June 8, 2008

Keep Antibiotics Working: The Campaign to End Antibiotic Overuse in Agriculture
www.KeepAntibioticsWorking.org

Food and Health Program, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
www.HealthObservatory.org

Dr. Wallinga's presentation at FoodMed 2007, titled Industrialized Meat and Poultry Production: An Ecological System Approach
www.FoodMed.org/downloads.html

To learn what many hospitals are doing to buy meat and dairy products from farms raising animals sustainably, without antibiotics or rBGH, visit Health Care Without Harm.
www.HealthyFoodinHealthcare.org

Say 'No' to Artificial Hormones in Milk!

2008-07-07T15:32:00.001-04:00

Sign the Petition

July 7, 2008

Dear Ellie,

PUT US OVER THE TOP
We need 10,000 signatures by July 15 to present to companies (with our thanks) that have gone rBGH-free.
Sign the Petition
or
Share it with three of your friends

5,483 people have signed our petition thanking companies that have gone rBGH-free and encouraging others to do the same.

THANK YOU!

Because of your growing demand, several major retailers have recently switched to rBGH-free milk and dairy products.

THANK YOU, AGAIN!

To have the most influence, we need to deliver 10,000 signatures. If you haven't already, please sign our petition and send it to others you know and who care about safe milk.

If you have signed it, please send it to three of your friends and get them on board with rBGH-free milk.

We've had good news recently, companies such as Chipotle, Kroger, Safeway, Publix and even Wal-Mart have begun providing more rBGH-free milk and/or dairy products in their stores. Unfortunately, it's the states that are doing some regressive legislating with Ohio going so far as to pass very restrictive labeling laws.

Help us grow the momentum against the use of this artificial hormone with the retailers. A strong show of support for healthier milk and dairy products will be invaluable in our future advocacy efforts. Sign our petition and spread the word to your friends and family.

Thanks for taking action,

Filmona Hailemichael
Food & Water Watch
goodfood(at)fwwatch.org

Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

Tools to Educate Your Families and Community

2008-06-26T13:57:00.000-04:00

YOUR MILK ON DRUGS - JUST SAY NO

part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GpqwZDbMHU

part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMBHNKhlw9M

From ORGANIC BYTES #137: Health, Justice and Sustainability News Tidbits with an Edge! 6/26/2008

Please forward this publication to family and friends, place it on web sites, print it, duplicate it and post it freely. Knowledge is power!

For more information go to http://knowyourmilkma.blogspot.com/

Puleo's Dairy

2008-06-23T14:20:00.000-04:00

From: Paulette Puleo
Date: Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 7:54 PM
Subject: No rBGH
To: ellie.goldberg@gmail.com

Dear Ellie,

Please add my company's name "Puleo's Dairy" to your list of dairy's not using rBGH. My family has been in the dairy business in Salem MA for the past 80 years and our milk has always been free of rBGH. You can visit our web site at www.puleosdairy.com.

Regards, Chuck Puleo

Healthy Food in Health Care Report

2008-05-29T09:12:00.001-04:00

Healthy Food in Health Care Report

http://www.noharm.org/details.cfm?type=document&ID=1942

REPORT OUTLINES LEADING TREND IN HEALTH CARE SECTOR: HOSPITALS NATIONWIDE PURCHASING LOCAL, SUSTAINABLE FOOD

This Pledge Report details the concrete food purchasing steps these facilities are making. For example:
-- 80 facilities (70%) are purchasing up to 40% of their produce locally
-- Over 90 facilities (80%) are purchasing rBGH-free milk
-- 100% have increased fresh fruit and vegetable offerings
-- 50 facilities (44%) are purchasing meat produced without the use of hormones or antibiotics

Heath Care without Harm , an international coalition of more than 473 organizations in 52 countries, is working to transform the health care sector, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. For more information on the healthy food pledge see http://www.noharm.org/us/food /pledge .

To learn more about HCWH's work on food and other issues related to health care www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org .

Jamie Harvie, HCWH Food Coordinator, (218) 340-6442
Marie Kulick, HCWH Purchasing Coordinator, (612) 870-3422

INVESTIGATION OF HORIZON "ORGANIC" FACTORY FARMS

2008-05-22T18:16:00.000-04:00

CONSUMER GROUPS PRESSURE USDA TO LAUNCH INVESTIGATION OF HORIZON "ORGANIC" FACTORY FARMS
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) filed a letter with USDA this week supporting a legal complaint that calls for an investigation of the two factory farms that the Horizon organic dairy company manages and sources for a significant portion of their "organic" dairy products. As discussed in previous issues of Organic Bytes, since 2006, the OCA has called for a boycott of Horizon's (Dean Foods) dairy products, due to the corporation's practice of packing as many as 8,000 cattle onto feedlots, with little or no access to pasture, and then misleadingly labeling these products as "organic". OCA's ally, The Cornucopia Institute has filed several legal complaints with the USDA, demanding an investigation of the factory farms, but such requests have, thus far, fallen on deaf ears. Serving as a representative for our 850,000 members, volunteers and subscribers, the OCA is putting heat on the USDA to investigate and sanction the Horizon factory farms.
Learn more: http://wwww.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm

Keeping Rachel Carson's Legacy Alive in 2008

2008-05-22T10:27:00.001-04:00

Last year, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Rachel Carson's birthday, May 27, 2007, communities, schools and organizations all over the world held commemorative events and created expanded websites dedicated to promoting Carson's legacy and her most controversial book, Silent Spring, that was a call to action for ecological awareness and responsibility.

Silent Spring is as relevant today as when it was published in 1962. Carson exposed the extensive harm caused by the reckless use of modern chemicals and eloquently explained the intimate connection between our health and the quality of our environment. To a public dazzled by chemical industry marketing and government complicity, Silent Spring detailed the assault on the essential elements that sustain life: clean air, clean water, and safe food. Chapter 14, "One in Four," explains the link between the environment and cancer.

Although Carson died of cancer on April 14, 1964, less than two years after the publication of Silent Spring, Carson still inspires citizens and policy makers to make sustainability and public health a priority, especially to reduce pollution (such as pesticides) that contribute to asthma, cancer, and other environmentally-related illnesses.

Speaking at a 1962 graduation ceremony Carson said, "Your generation must come to terms with the environment. Your generation must face realities instead of taking refuge in ignorance and evasion of truth. Yours is a grave and a sobering responsibility, but it is also a shining opportunity. You go out into a world where mankind is challenged, as it has never been challenged before, to prove its maturity and its mastery -- not of nature, but of itself. Therein lies our hope and our destiny. In today already walks tomorrow." (Scripps College Commencement, 6/12/62).

Films, Links, Lesson Plans

This year, the play A Sense of Wonder, based on Carson's life and her writings by acclaimed actress Kaiulani Lee, has been filmed! The film's website, http://www.asenseofwonderfilm.com includes information and a trailer of the film .

Bill Moyers Journal (9/21/07) features the life and legacy of Rachel Carson and the start of the modern environmental movement. The show includes an interview with Kaiulani Lee and excerpts from the play, A Sense of Wonder.

Go online to Watch the Video: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09212007/watch.html

Read the Transcript: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09212007/transcript1.html .

Teachers can find Lesson Plans: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/educators/rachelcarson.html (activities for science, English, and civics classrooms, grades 6-12.)

Find "Rachel Carson 2008 events and "Legacy Resoucres" at the the Rachel Carson Homestead website at http://www.rachelcarsonhomestead.org. Find links to more videos, websites and resources about Rachel Carson online at the Rachel Carson Institute at http://www.chatham.edu/RCI/rclinks.html, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at http://www.fws.gov/rachelcarson/, The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson at http://www.rachelcarson.org, and What Would Rachel Say? at http://journal.rcn.net/RachelCarson2007.

-- Ellie Goldberg, M.Ed. www.healthy-kids.info

Real Food Challenge

2008-05-14T19:53:00.001-04:00

http://www.realfoodchallenge.org/

Slow Food Nation
http://slowfoodnation.org

Think Before You Pink

2008-05-14T08:25:00.000-04:00

Yoplait's fall campaign, Save Lids to Save Lives, continues to urge consumers to buy pink-lidded cups of Yoplait yogurt. For each pink lid mailed back to the company by December 31, Yoplait donates ten cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, up to $1.5 million. Sadly, a woman would have to eat three containers of Yoplait every day during the four-month campaign to raise $36 for the cause--and the yogurt is made from cows treated with rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone). Recent studies show that rBGH dairy products may be linked with an increased risk of breast, colon, and prostate cancer.

Cost Savings

2008-05-12T13:06:00.000-04:00

http://www.cc.nih.gov/about/news/newsletter/2008/mar08/newsletter.html#6
See great article on NIH Nutrition Department. ...rBGH-free milk
vendor happens to provide cost savings...

Jamie Harvie, Food Coordinator HCWH
Institute for a Sustainable Future
32 E. 1st Street, Suite 206, Duluth, MN 55802
218-525-7806

Avoid rBGH Milk

2008-05-09T18:41:00.000-04:00

AMA President Suggests Hospitals Avoid rBGH Milk, Host Farmers Markets
Ronald M. Davis, MD, president of the American Medical Association, reports that many conditions linked to toxic pollutants are on the rise. He urges hospitals to stop using devices made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic (also known as the "poison plastic") because of the toxins released when they are incinerated and the phthalate DEHP used in manufacturing them.
He then goes on to say: ³Using alternatives to PVC and DEHP is one way for hospitals and health care facilities to become 'greener.' Another is by serving fresh, local, or organic foods to patients, staff members, and visitors. Hospitals should buy meat and poultry raised without non-therapeutic antibiotics, use milk produced without recombinant bovine growth hormone, and replace unhealthy snacks found in many vending machines with healthy choices. Hosting farmers markets, either on hospital grounds or nearby, is another appealing option.²
source: AMA eNews, April 24 edition

Sign the petition for Food and Water Watch

2008-05-07T19:03:00.000-04:00

May 6, 2008 Every day we get a little bit closer to an rBGH-free milk supply as more and more major retailers are responding to the growing consumer demand for healthier milk. Chipotle, Kroger, and Wal-Mart are the most recent stores to join the trend. We're collecting 10,000 petition signatures to thank companies that have gone rBGH-free and to encourage other companies to do the same. Will you sign our petition?

In January, Chipotle began serving only rBGH-free sour cream and cheese in its restaurants, and Kroger and Wal-Mart both announced that they will only source rBGH-free milk for their store brands. The artificial growth hormone rBGH is known to increase infections in cows and there are ongoing questions about its links to cancer in humans.
Sign the petition thanking these companies for making the switch to healthier milk and dairy products.

While certain retailers are responding to consumers' rBGH concerns, unfortunately some states are not. Currently, five states are considering legislation or regulations that would restrict consumers' right to know whether their milk was produced with rBGH. These five states are Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New York, and Utah.

And two states -- Pennsylvania and Ohio-- both recently passed regulations that restrict 'rBGH-free' labels and require an FDA disclaimer stating there's no difference between milk produced with or without the artificial hormone. Research, however, disagrees with this disclaimer-- that's why rBGH's use is prohibited in over 30 other countries.

Please spread the word and help us collect 10,000 petition signatures thanking the above companies for making the switch. A strong show of support for healthier milk and dairy products will be valuable in our future advocacy efforts with other dairy retailers who have yet to go rBGH-free.
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/t/5915/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1197

Thanks for taking action,
Filmona Hailemichael
Food and Water Watch
goodfood(at)fwwatch.org

NURSES TAKE ACTION

2008-05-03T10:21:00.000-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 1, 2008
Contact: Jamie Harvie, (218) 525 7806 (W) (218) 340 6442 (Cell) ;
Barbara Sattler, DrPH, RN, FAAN , (410) 706 1924 ;

Also see:
Nurses rBGH-free Dairy Toolkit

NURSES TAKE ACTION ON UNNECESSARY HORMONE RBGH IN DAIRY PRODUCTS

(5/1/08 – Arlington, VA). Today, the Nurses Work Group of Health Care Without Harm, announced the release of an rBGH-free Dairy Toolkit in conjunction with National Nurses Week, May 6th – May 12th. The rBGH-free Dairy Toolkit is a collection of resources to help nurses across the country advocate for rBGH-free dairy products in their hospitals, for their patients and in their homes.

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH or rBST) is an artificial hormone given to dairy cows to increase milk production. “There are growing concerns that the use of rBGH may pose unnecessary risks to human health,” stated Karen A. Ballard, MA, RN, the Nurses Work Group’s Chair. “Precaution is a principle of our profession, so especially when our health is concerned, it is logical to avoid the use of dairy produced with this unnecessary hormone.” The use of rBGH has been banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and all 27 nations of the European Union.

Hospitals and health systems that have reduced or eliminated their use of rBGH dairy include:

• The National Institutes of Health, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center
• Catholic Health Care West Health System
• Fletcher Allen Medical Center, Vermont
• Oregon Health and Sciences University Medical Center
• Children’s Hospitals of Minnesota
• St. Luke’s Hospital, Minnesota

“The toolkit is a great collection of resources to help nurses promote healthy choices by encouraging our hospitals and our patients to purchase rBGH-free dairy,” stated Barbara Sattler, DrPH, RN, FAAN, nurse and Director of the Environmental Health Education Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. “Since many of our hospitals are already purchasing rBGH-free milk, I hope that companies such as Dannon and Yoplait will support our interest in health by eliminating the use of rBGH in their products, especially yogurt.”

HCWH encourages health care providers to purchase non-rBGH dairy products from suppliers. There are two categories of non-rBGH milk, organic and conventional. Organic is available in most parts of the country, usually at higher prices than conventional. Non-rBGH milk, often similarly priced to rBGH milk, may sometimes be labeled as containing "no artificial (or added) hormones." Buyers should ask their dairy suppliers for their policies on availability and verification methods for non-rBGH dairy products.

Across the country hospitals and healthy systems are adopting practices and policies to minimize the ecological health impacts from food production. Currently, 119 hospitals nationwide have signed Health Care Without Harm’s Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge (www.noharm.org/us/food/pledge).

HCWH is an international coalition of more than 470 organizations in 52 countries, working to transform the health care industry worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. HCWH includes over 30 national and international nurse organizations.

The Nurses rBGH-free Dairy Toolkit is available at www.noharm.org/us/nurses/rbgh. To learn more about HCWH’s work on food and health see www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org. HCWH’s position on rBGH can be found at: http://www.noharm.org/details.cfm?ID=1104&type=document.