| Friday, June 3, 2005 |  |
| Word Play | 0 comments |
| 3 Jun 2005 @ 19:13 Or should I say Wyrd Play The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's [link] winners: 1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period. 2. Ignoranus (n.): A person who's both stupid and an butthole. 3. Intaxication (n.): Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. 4. Reintarnation (n.): Coming back to life as a hillbilly. 5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future. 6. Foreploy (n.): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid. 7. Giraffiti (n.): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high. 8. Sarchasm (n.): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it. 9. Inoculatte (n.): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late. 10. Hipatitis (n.): Terminal coolness. 11. Osteopornosis (n.): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.) 12. Karmageddon (n.) : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer. 13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you. 14. Glibido (n.): All talk and no action. 15. Dopeler effect (n.): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly. 16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web. 17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out. 18. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating. |
| Organic No More--Lotions, soaps won't carry "USDA Organic" label | 2 comments |
| 3 Jun 2005 @ 02:31 Associated Press Covers the Organic Body Care Controversy Organic No More--Lotions, soaps won't carry "USDA Organic" label By LIBBY QUAID Associated Press Writer 06-01-2005 WASHINGTON (AP) _ If you want a lotion, soap or lip balm free of chemicals and synthetics, you'd better read the fine print. The Agriculture Department is taking its round, green "USDA Organic" label off personal care products and cosmetics. When it created the seal in 2002, the primary intent was to certify the organic claims made by food producers, such as meat from animals that free of antibiotics and not confined indoors, or vegetables grown without pesticides. But the department also opened the door to making a wide range of other products eligible for the label: cosmetics and personal care items, pet food, dietary supplements, textiles like cotton T-shirts and fish. "The feeling was, if your product was composed of agricultural ingredients, and you thought you could get certified, you were welcome to try," said Barbara Robinson, head of the department's National Organic Program. Three years later, the department decided it had gone too far. In April, it began telling companies their cosmetics and other personal care products can't be government-certified as organic, after all. Fish and pet food are also off the table, but only for now. The department is creating task forces to make rules for certifying them. Still being decided is whether dietary supplements can use the seal. "As time went by, and legal counsel in the department and senior policy officials took a closer look, they determined that wouldn't really stand up in a court of law," Robinson said. That's bad news to Nancy Piersel of Finland, Minn. She looks for the organic seal because she has a disorder called multiple chemical sensitivity, which causes allergy-like symptoms when she's exposed to many substances. The seal "gave me more confidence to try that product," said Piersel, 48. She makes her own lip gloss and, before the seal became available, would call companies to find out more about ingredients before buying something new. "I have to be very careful about what I use, because my skin reacts to a lot of things. I get rashes and burning, itching _ the same kind of thing you'd get if you had a bad skin reaction to any product," Piersel said. "Now that I won't have those labels, I'll have to do more digging." The department's reversal also is frustrating to companies that spent money and time to put the seal on their products. An Agriculture Department-authorized agent must certify a company before it can use the seal or label something "100 percent organic" or "organic." David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, said his company spent some $100,000 to ensure that his soaps, lotions and lip balms met the standards for using the seal. Bronner said consumers are confused by the myriad products that claim to have "organic" or "natural" ingredients. The USDA seal guaranteed his products are free of chemicals and synthetic ingredients, he said. "Everyone in the world's making an organic claim," Bronner said. "We're not doing tricks. We actually work really hard to make real, organic ingredients. The National Organic Program is what consumers trust." Organic means a product contains all-natural, non-synthetic substances that are grown without using conventional pesticides or fertilizer, biotechnology or radiation. And it means meat and dairy products have come from animals raised on organic feed, given access to the outdoors and never given antibiotics or growth hormones. The Organic Consumers Association, to which Piersel belongs, is asking the Agriculture Department to take another look at removing its seal from personal care products. The association says the reversal hurts small companies in particular, because the seal is part of a marketing program that gives them an edge. Bigger companies can't find the volume of organic ingredients they would need to make certified organic shampoo or other products, the group says. Beyond that, the group argues that personal care products use the same ingredients as those in organic food. "Certified organic olive oil does not magically become non-organic if it is used as a massage oil instead of on a salad," said Ronnie Cummins, executive director of the association. Robinson, however, said the department won't change its mind again without an act of Congress. The 1990 law creating the organic program _ the Organic Foods Production Act _ was not intended to cover products besides food, she said. "This is USDA _ I don't know anything about the cosmetics industry, or toothpaste, or body lotions and hand cream," Robinson said. ___ On the Net: National Organic Program Organic Trade Association Organic Consumers Association More > |
| Certified Fair Trade Products Spreading Across USA | 0 comments |
| 3 Jun 2005 @ 02:27 Certified Fair Trade Products Spreading Across USA Spring 2005 FAIR TRADE HAPPENINGS Coffee Ice Cream Brings Fair Trade Label Into Frozen Foods Ben and Jerry's, a well-known US ice cream company, continues its 27-year commitment of supporting positive social and environmental change by recently introducing three ice cream flavors made with Fair Trade Certified coffee extract. Ben and Jerry's is the first ice cream maker in the US to introduce coffee flavors made with Fair Trade Certified coffee. This AP story ran in newspapers across California, Nevada and Vermont. New Product Launch - Saaaa-weet! We are proud to announce that TransFair USA has officially started to certify sugar for the US market. In Europe, demand for Fair Trade Certified sugar expanded by roughly 220% in 2003, from 650 tons to 1430 tons. In the US, the launch of Fair Trade Certified sugar represents a new direction in the growth of Fair Trade products and relationships. Fair Trade Certified sugar is available from Costa Rica, Malawi, Paraguay, Peru, and the Philippines. We have three sugar licensees: Alter Eco (boxes of sugar), Equal Exchange (sugar packets), and Wholesome Sweeteners (packets, bulk, and boxes). You can expect to see the product on retail shelves in the US this June. Shop Otil you Drop Costco is currently offering three Kirkland Signature Fair Trade Certified coffee blends. Look for House Blend, Decaf or Espresso at a Costco near you! Target Stores has launched four FTC coffee blends under its Archer Farms label. Over 1350 Target stores will carry one or more of these FTC coffees. Also, look for FTC coffees in the following grocery chains: Giant Eagle (150 stores in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, W. Virginia and Maryland), Farm Fresh (40 stores in Virginia) and Gordmans (190 stores in the Midwest) Additionally, in the first quarter of 2004, TransFair added 20 new coffee roasters to our ever-growing list of licensed partners. Peru goes Bananas Aproeco, a Peruvian Fair Trade coffee and mango producing group, has just completed it's first harvest of organic Fair Trade bananas, to be shipped to the East Coast and Midwest. This is the first time members of Aproeco have planted, harvested and packed bananas. Bravo, APROECO! FRIENDS OF FAIR TRADE Kickin' Campus Campaigns: Do YOU know of a campus Fair Trade campaign? Let us know! We'll be happy to highlight it in the next edition of the Fair Trade Beat. * The Students for Peace and Justice at Suffolk University in Boston, MA are proud to announce that the largest and most frequented cafeteria on campus will serve only locally roasted 100% Fair Trade Certified coffee from the worker-owned Equal Exchange roaster starting 4/05. In the words of one student leader, "Though this is a small victory for our world community and us in general, we feel as though it's just one small step forward toward that greater realization of a more just world we all strive to achieve." * Efforts to raise awareness and get more Fair Trade on campus are also underway at St. Norberts College in De Pere, WI, Northeastern University in Boston, MA, Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, American University in Washington, DC, and Luther College in Decorah, IA. * At California Polytechnic State University in CA, students in the Food Science and Nutrition Department have developed Fair Trade Certified chocolates for sale on campus and in local grocery stores and markets. For details, click here Catholic Relief Services Expands Fair Trade Coffee Program The CRS Fair Trade Program now partners with 14 Fair Trade coffee companies throughout the United States to connect more than 67 million Catholics to the growing Fair Trade movement. These 14 unique companies are all united by their deep commitment to the farmers who grow the coffee they sell. They are also united by their commitment to CRS for every pound of coffee purchased through the CRS Fair Trade Program, participating companies will donate a percentage to support CRS's Fair Trade work on behalf of low-income farmers overseas. CRS has also announced it will launch the CRS Fair Trade Chocolate Program in September 2005! The program will be designed to support school and parish fundraisers, and will feature Fair Trade Certified Divine chocolate bars already available through the Work of Human Hands catalog. Visit www.crsfairtrade.org for more information. United Students for Fair Trade, Presente! 35 students from 20 different schools and 10 states turned up for the Specialty Coffee Association of America Conference in Seattle this April. In the words of one USFT organizer, "On the SCAA exhibition floor we were able to meet and talk with many people about what we do and why we do it. Students reported that the weekend was very motivating and provided them with lots of new information and ideas that they will take back to their campuses. It was a great chance for students new to the Fair Trade movement to meet other students and get a good inside look at the heart of the movement - its successes as well as obstacles. Plus, we had a lot of fun and built many new relationships that will be assets as we further our individual and communal work." |
| Food Crisis in Zimbabwe Threatens Millions | 1 comment |
| 3 Jun 2005 @ 02:23 Food Crisis in Zimbabwe Threatens Millions of Lives By Marceline Ndoro BUHERA, Zimbabwe, June 1, 2005 (ENS) - Signs of despair and looming starvation are evident almost everywhere in Zimbabwe's countryside, which is suffering from the government¹s destruction of commercial agriculture and a third successive year of drought. Normally at this time, as the short southern winter begins, people would be completing the harvest of maize, the staple food, and be preparing to deliver their produce to the sole legal grain buyer, the government's Grain Marketing Board. However, driving down the dusty roads of Buhera, Chivhu and Chihota - some 100 miles south of the capital Harare - the grim sight is of formerly rich commercial farms overgrown by weeds, dotted by occasional peasant plots of maize that have wilted for lack of rain, fertilizer, machinery and fuel to till the soil properly. Undernourished child stands in the midst of a ruined grain field that will yield no food. (Photo courtesy FAO) Millions of people will be lucky to harvest more than a few cobs. Normally, at times of past shortages, people turned to international food aid for survival. Mbuya [Grandma] Matizamusha of Buhera district says her only hope lies with food aid, and she hopes distribution will start soon. Dressed in what could easily be mistaken for rags, leaning against an unused cart for support and looking at the withered maize on her tiny plot, Matizamusha opened her dry lips, but at first nothing came out. She paused, looked up and shook her head in resignation. Tears swelled in her eyes as she pointed her bony fingers at something else that in the past would have been her salvation. She was pointing at seven graves. Her children had all died of AIDS-related illnesses. "Who do I turn to now?" she asked. "All my children are lying there in their graves. Those are the only people who would have helped me. At my age, where do I go? I think I am going to die from hunger. Please tell President [Robert] Mugabe to help us. We don't have anything to eat. We are suffering." But before the March parliamentary election, Mugabe said - despite all the evidence to the contrary - that the country possessed abundant food reserves and did not need international help. Zimbabweans would "choke" on any food that was "foisted" upon them, he claimed. Mugabe's ZANU PF government had promised a record grain harvest of 2.4 million metric tons. The result is expected to be scarcely 600,000 tons, a shortfall of some 1.2 million tons from what is needed to provide minimal food requirements for the next 12 months. Map of Africa with Zimbabwe shown in gold. (Map courtesy USAID) With the general economy in freefall, there are no foreign exchange reserves to buy food. Mugabe recently had to pay debts to the South African electricity giant Eskom in gold bars to prevent the cutting of power supplies. CLICK TO READ More > |
| New Zealand Organic Movement Slams Government for Siding with US | 0 comments |
| 3 Jun 2005 @ 02:21 New Zealand Organic Movement Slams Government for Siding with US on GMO Issue Press Release: Soil and Health Association June 2, 2005 Soil & Health Association of New Zealand (Est. 1941) Publishers of ORGANIC NZ The Soil and Health Association of New Zealand wants to know when the government is going to stop suppressing New Zealand's organic producers. Not only is the government holding back serious support to the environmentally sustainable organic sector, but it kicks it in the guts with its attack on the international GE liability provisions of the Cartogena Protocol, said Soil & Health Co-chair and spokesperson Steffan Browning. Strong liability provisions are essential to safeguarding organic production from GE contamination. Soil & Health had submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade ahead of MFAT¹s destructive trip to the Montreal Cartogena talks. "It is embarrassing to know that the USA puppeteers have the New Zealand knowledge wave government¹s support for limited to zero liability for GE. So much for our Clean Green image." The Soil and Health Association of New Zealand and BioGro are members of IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements), the principle international organic umbrella group. IFOAM calls for strict liability to be imposed for the introduction of GMOs. To insure that the costs of injuries resulting from defective products are borne by the manufacturer that put such products on the market rather than by the injured persons who are powerless to protect themselves, strict liability for GMOs is warranted. Strict liability ensures that organic farmers and consumers receive protection from problems of proof inherent in pursuing negligence, placing the burden of loss on manufacturers rather than injured parties who are powerless to protect themselves. IFOAM applauds the inclusion of a GMO liability regime in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, an idea that originated from African nations and other Third World nations, and is opposed by the USA and Canada. [ May 30, 2005 ] New Zealand has added to a list of liability options under consideration at Montreal, ranging from legally binding agreement to a combination of binding and non-binding agreement. "NZ Foreign Affairs added a number 6 no instrument, that is no agreement, and that has to be one of the biggest pokes in the eye to any non GE producer, organic or conventional," said Soil & Health¹s Steffan Browning. Environment Minister Marian Hobbs' knows full well that there are gaps in liability provision and New Zealand has already suffered from GE contamination. Added to this poke at organic viability is Government's lack of progress in the funding of the new organic sector organisation Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ). OANZ is to be the sectors collective voice, something that the government has supported in concept. Now that the structure is resolved, Government money is nowhere to be seen and appears to have been continually tagged to the progress of State Owned Enterprise, Agriquality¹s level of involvement in OANZ and the sectors meeting purely commercial models. Soil & Health had looked to the budget in hope that the government would do something meaningful for the organic sector as an example of government commitment to sustainability in NZ. Clearly Governments commitment to sustainability is veneer thin, according to Steffan Browning. "While the dairy giants call for even higher production from over exploited animals and soils, our rivers and lakes are becoming increasingly polluted, yet organics has solutions. Government knows this and pays lip service to the sustainability problems but ignores the real solution. By giving the new organic sector organisation, OANZ, a real boost, New Zealands primary production can begin to address sustainability problems while maintaining economic viability." To operate in a truly sustainable way with out fear of GE contamination is surely the desire of most of New Zealand producers and the sooner the better that organics is supported to show the way, said Soil & Health spokesperson Steffan Browning |