1/7/05

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1. Organic Milk: It Does A Body Better 
2. Defenders of Wildlife Releases Incentives Report
3. Vermont Food Fight
4. Bush Signs Technical Assistance Fix

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1. ORGANIC MILK: IT DOES A BODY BETTER 

Organic milk may be better for you than its conventional counterpart, say researchers at Aberdeen University in Scotland. The scientists found that "organic milk is an excellent source of omega 3, which is important in maintaining a healthy heart, supple and flexible joints, healthy growth, strong bones and teeth." Organic milk, they found, contains up to 71% more omega 3 fatty acids than ordinary milk, "due to the higher proportion of clover forage in the diets of organic cows." The study also suggested that organic cheese has even higher levels of omega 3. The head of Britain's Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative welcomed the news: "This research confirms the potential health benefits of switching to organic milk and cheese, particularly for those of us who don't consume the recommended amount of oily fish."

2. DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE RELEASES INCENTIVES REPORT

Defenders of Wildlife has just released a report entitled, "Status and Trends in Federal Conservation Incentives Programs 1996 - 2001. The report's overall objective is to provide a baseline by which to measure conservation program activity subsequent to the passage of the 2002 Farm Bill. Written with U.S. wildlife in mind, the report serves three purposes: 1) To provide a quantitative and qualitative assessment of federal programs that directly, or indirectly, impacted wildlife habitat; 2) To provide conservation practitioners with a deeper understanding of past implementation of programs; and, 3) To provide contact information for various programs. The report complements two previous incentive publications by Defenders.

3. VERMONT FOOD FIGHT

Last year Vermont activists started a national trend by being the first state in the nations to ban GMO crops. Now, according to the Vermont Guardian, anti-GMO activists in that state are gearing up to present new bills "to temporarily halt the growth of genetically modified crops on Vermont farmland, and to curb farmers' liability for GM contamination of crops." With a quarter of the state farmland in organic production, Vermont has the highest percentage of organics in the nation – and farmers and residents there want to keep it that way. Jim Molton, an organizing member of GE-Free Vermont, said, "The rest of the world is way ahead of us in scrutinizing this technology, and voters are facing a federal government that is actively fostering the technology. We are not alone. Vermont is simply leading in the United States." 

4. BUSH SIGNS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FIX!

Early in December, the House of Representatives voted for a bill, passed in the Senate in October, to fix a legislative diversion of funds from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Farmland Protection Program, and the new Grasslands Reserve Program. Though these programs were fully funded in the last farm bill, they had been subsequently tapped to pay for technical assistance for the Conservation Reserve Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program. On December 27, President Bush signed the fix into law redirecting about $150 million per year back into the four programs mentioned above and sending a message that support for farm bill conservation programs enjoys broad-based political backing in Washington. The bill, which is retroactive to the beginning of fiscal year 2005, states that funds, "(1) shall be available for the provision of technical assistance for the programs for which funds are made available, and (2) shall not be available for the provision of technical assistance for conservation programs. . .other than the program for which the funds were made available."

You can view the full bill text by visiting http://thomas.loc.gov and searching on "S. 2856" under the 108th Congress.

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 to ensure abundant family farms, healthy critters, clean water and a wild Earth.  

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Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
sjohnson@defenders.org