1. ACTION ALERT: TWO SIGN ONS

Two sign-on letters circulating this week need your support. The first, from the Keep Antibiotics Working Coalition, seeks the reintroduction of House and Senate bills from the 107th Congress.

These bill would phase out routine, non-therapeutic feeding of eight specific classes of medically important antibiotics to food animals in two years, unless the Food and Drug Administration concludes that such use does not contribute to antibiotic resistance affecting humans. 242 human health, consumer, animal protection, environmental, religious and farm organizations have already endorsed the reintroduction of these bills. The second sign on request, put out by R-CALF, involves country of origin labeling.

This letter asks members of Congress to urge the USDA to move forward with implementation of country of origin labeling (as mandated by the farm bill), and stop using inflated cost estimates and flawed assumptions about food industry practices.

2. IRRADIATING SCHOOL LUNCHES

The New York Times this week profiles some of the issues involved with a little-known provision in last year's farm bill, which directs the USDA to purchase irradiated beef for the school lunch program. While food treated with gamma rays to kill bacteria is not radioactive, some research indicates that carcinogenic compounds form when fat is irradiated. Irradiation is touted as an answer to food safety concerns by the beef industry, which is less supportive of other measures to keep contaminated meat out of the food chain -- such as extensive bacterial testing or improved slaughterhouse conditions. Carol Tucker Foreman, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America, said: "There is nowhere in the world where a large population has eaten large amounts of irradiated food over a long period of time. It makes me queasy that we are going to feed it to schoolchildren."

3. FARM BUREAU DROPS BAN - SUPPORTS PACKER OWNERSHIP

Reuters is reporting that the American Farm Bureau Federation voted during its annual national convention to drop its opposition to meatpackers' raising hogs and cattle in competition with farmers.

The news comes as a shock to many Farm Bureau members who see this as a conflict of interest with the Bureau's non-profit mission of supporting farmers. Packer ownership is one of the most divisive issues in US agriculture, where one-third of all livestock are raised by mammoth factory animal farms. The issue raised heated debates at the national convention and the measure passed by a narrow 207 to 185 vote. According to Reuters, "Defenders (who supported eliminating the ban) say growers get a more stable income when they cooperate with packers in raising animals.

4. VERMONT DAIRYMAN CHAMPIONS THE NEW ORGANIC ERA

Vermont dairy farmer Travis Forgues, a member of the Organic Valley Family of Farms cooperative's Vermont pool, is calling on Vermont "to become a champion of the new organic era." In testimony he prepared for the Vermont House and Senate Committees on Agriculture Forgues said, "Consumer demand for organic milk is booming and Vermont should step up to the plate to meet this demand." The market statistics support his claims.

According to Organic Valley, a local milk distributor, consumption of organic milk grew 28% to $10 million in the Boston market and 20% to $3 million in the Hartford, Connecticut/Springfield, Massachusetts market, the two major markets in the region.

Similarly, Organic Valley grew 75% to $1.8 million in the Boston market and 40% to a 7.6% share in the Hartford/Springfield area.

The organic category has been growing steadily at 20%, and organic milk, with a greater than 27% annual growth, is driving the growth of the category.

If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this list, visit our
Rural Updates Subscriber Center

Read previous issues by visiting our Rural Updates Archive.