"Bisphenol A (BPA) will continue to be a part of the US diet.
Today the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would not ban the chemical from food and beverage containers.
BPA is a ubiquitous chemical that has been linked to a range of conditions, including heart disease, reproductive problems, behavioural problems and breast and prostate cancers. Scientists believe that it produces such a wide range of health effects in low doses because it mimics the hormone oestrogen, disrupting human development and making it particularly potent for infants."
"Walmart is set to sell a new form of genetically-engineered (GE) sweet corn as early as this summer. Monsanto’s Bt sweet corn contains three GE traits that have never before been consumed directly by humans, and have not been subjected to thorough safety testing. There will be no labeling whatsoever indicating that the corn is a genetically modified organism.
Most GE corn is not fit for human consumption unless it is heavily processed into products like high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, or corn oil. This means that consumers can avoid consuming GE corn simply by choosing not to eat processed foods with corn-derived ingredients. However, Monstanto’s Bt sweet corn will be sold to consumers as whole ears on the cob and will be found in the produce section."
"As reported in the journal BioScience, increased use of herbicide is leading to more species of weeds that also are resistant to the chemicals. The researchers note that 21 different weed species have evolved resistance to several glyphosate herbicides, 75 percent of which have been documented since 2005, despite company-sponsored research that the resistance would not occur. “Several species have developed amazing biochemical ways to resist the effects of the herbicide,” says J. Franklin Egan, doctoral student in ecology. “If weed problems are addressed just with herbicides, evolution will win."
"The Southern Nevada Health District has raided an organic farm picnic destroying the organic produce, which was classified by them as bio-hazard material.
The raid at the highly regarded and reputable Quail Hollow Farm, which sits in the picturesque Moapa Valley of Southern Nevada took place place after a tip off of the event because some of the food was not ‘certified’ in the correct state." via The Economic Voice
"Apparently all the natural food served from farm must be certified by the United States Department of Agriculture so the owners had to dispose of all food including vegetables because of their ‘bio-hazard potential‘.
This meant the owners of the farm had to pour bleach on the produce in order to safely render the dangerous organic healthy potatoes safe and prevent them from being eaten by the farm owners as private citizens or by livestock such as the pigs on the farm.via The Daily Kos
please read the farm owners' response viaftcldf.org
"As hard and demanding as this work is, I KNOW that this is what we are meant to do.
I KNOW that it is imperative that we stand up for our food choices.
I KNOW that local, organic, sustainable food produced by ourselves or by small family, local farms is indispensible to the health and well-being of our families and our communities now and in the future! If this work were not so vitally important, the “evil forces” would not be working so hard to pull it down.
I am reminded of the passage written so forcefully by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence:
“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”
The same battle continues. I pray the result of the battle will be the same, that we have been “endowed by our Creator with … life and liberty”.
We love you all, and thank you with all our souls for your continued love and support! We will stay in touch.
Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey Ultra-filtering Removes Pollen, Hides Honey Origins
"More than three-fourths of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores isn't exactly what the bees produce, according to testing done exclusively for Food Safety News.
The results show that the pollen frequently has been filtered out of products labeled "honey." The removal of these microscopic particles from deep within a flower would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world's food safety agencies.
The food safety divisions of the World Health Organization, the European Commission and dozens of others also have ruled that without pollen there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources."
See also the in-depth story "Honey laundering: The sour side of nature’s golden sweetener"
"As crime sagas go, a scheme rigged by a sophisticated cartel of global traders has all the right blockbuster elements: clandestine movements of illegal substances through a network of co-operatives in Asia, a German conglomerate, jet-setting executives, doctored laboratory reports, high-profile takedowns and fearful turncoats.
What makes this worldwide drama unusual, other than being regarded as part of the largest food fraud in U.S. history, is the fact that honey, nature’s benign golden sweetener, is the lucrative contraband..."
