1. BIOENGINEERED PANDORA'S BOX

If consumers were shocked a few weeks ago when genetically modified corn not approved for human consumption was found in Taco Bell Taco Shells they are now likely to be outraged.

According to a press release by Friends of the Earth dated Oct.12th the same biotech corn, "Starlink" by Aventis, has now been discovered in Safeway brand taco hells as well - and this may be the tip of the iceberg. As agricultural columnist Alan Guebert pointed out in his weekly "e-farm and food file" "Sources report that StarLink, the only GMO corn not approved for human consumption, was grown in 98 of Iowa's 99 counties this year. That means elevators in every corn-growing Iowa county likely have StarLink corn commingled with approved varieties."

2. TRADING THE TRUTH

Calling themselves the champions of farmers, an agribusiness "front group" with the misleading name "Truth about Trade" is busy campaigning throughout rural America’s heartland. As reported in he Oct. 3rd Peoria, Illinois "Journal Star" ex-Farm Bureau National President Dean Kleckner is "on the stump" to discuss a new organization, Truth About Trade, (TAT) which he said looks to promote both trade and biotechnology." Using inflammatory rhetoric Truth About Trade states boldly on their website that "thousands of children around the world starve every day...because of a WORLDWIDE SHORTAGE OF TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY!" In addition to Kleckner, several board members for TAT are also officers in various Farm Bureau enterprises with investments in, and business partnerships with, major trans-national biotech corporations. See TAT’s web at http://www.truthabouttrade.org.

3. SPILLS AND KILLS REPORT RELEASED

On September 20, the Clean Water Network along with NRDC and the Izaak Walton League, released "Spills and Kills". The report looks at manure spills and intentional manure dumping at factory farms in 10 states that killed 13 million fish in the late 1990s. The report also analyzes more than 1,000 manure spills and 200 fish kills from 1995 through 1998. The data from this report comes from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Washington and Wisconsin. 

For a copy of the report, go to the Clean Water Network's web site at http://www.cwn.org and click on Reports or call CWN at 202-289-2390 and order a $5 copy.

4. FARM BUREAU PRESIDENT TRAVELS ABROAD

While most farmers struggle to make ends meet at home, the new American Farm Bureau president Bob Stallman is busy traveling the globe promoting trade liberalization. In a Farm Bureau press release dated October 11th, it is reported that Stallman just returned from "informal meetings with WTO and foreign trade officials in Geneva, Switzerland." Discussing important changes in agricultural trade policy Stallman cited normal trade relations for China and Cuba as important steps. While the benefits to the agri-chemical industry from increased trade are obvious, Stallman did not articulate how removing trade barriers would help US farmers compete against China's 400 million farmers. Nor did he discuss details of Farm Bureau's joint venture with Archer-Daniels Midland and how they might be positioned to profit from increased trade with Cuba.

To sign on to a call for an investigation into the business holdings and conflicts of interest within Farm Bureau go to: http://www.defenders.org/rural3.html.