6/5/05

**************************************************************************

1.   Alaska Anti-GMO Bill Passes Unanimously 
2.   Conservative Attacks Factory Farms on Moral Grounds 
3.   Autopsy Into Possible Mad Cow Death Delayed 
4.   Increased Soy Production Destroying the Rainforest

***************************************************************************

ALASKA ANTI-GMO BILL PASSES UNANIMOUSLY 

Just weeks ago Alaska became the first state in the nation to require the labeling of GMO foods.  Senate Bill 25, also known as the "Frankenfish" bill, sailed unanimously through Alaska's House and Senate and will require labeling for all genetically engineered fish or fish products.  The bills sponsor, Senator Gary Stevens, R- Kodiak, said, "The message that Alaska seafood is more natural than seafood that has been engineered in a lab is a highly important marketing tool. This bill helps highlight Alaska seafood as distinct from genetically modified seafood, doing away with any vagueness that may exist to the consumer when purchasing seafood without labeling, and reinforcing the natural message."  According to Hal Spence writing for the on-line Global Healing Center, Alaska's bill was prompted by the fact that the, "U.S.  Food and Drug Administration is considering an application by an aquaculture company to sell a genetically modified, growth-enhanced salmon." Read more: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press_release5.12.2005.cfm Read the text of the bill: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill_text.asp?hsid=SB0025A&session=24 

CONSERVATIVE ATTACKS FAMILY FARMS ON MORAL GROUNDS 

The May 23, 2005 issue of The American Conservative featured a cover story called, "Torture on the Farm: Why Conservatives Should Care About Animal Cruelty."  The article rails against factory farming and asserts conservatives should care about the factory farmer based on moral grounds.  The author, Matthew Scully, served as special assistant and speech writer to President Bush until last fall.  His recently released book Dominion is an expose of factory farming.  Moving beyond the morality issue, Skully exposes how these mega-farms are also propped up via the "tens of billions of dollars in annual federal subsidies that have helped mega farms undermine small family farms" and denounces "the collateral damage to land, water, and air."  He states bluntly, "Modern farming practices are a predatory enterprise, unnaturally propped up by political influence and government subsidies."  He also dishes out some criticism to President Bush saying progress could be made if Bush were to begin actually addressing the issues in his speeches "instead of endlessly flattering corporate farmers for virtues they lack". You may still be able to find the issue on store shelves.  But if not, go to http://www.newsstand.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=archives&zone_ ID=768&pub_ID=774&mediaFormat=1 to buy an electronic copy for $3.00. 

AUTOPSY INTO POSSIBLE MAD COW DEATH DELAYED 

In a shadowy news story now unfolding, the family of a deceased man is troubled that the federal government may be delaying evidence that might link his death to Mad Cow Disease.  Last November, Patrick Hicks, 49, of Riverside, California, died from sporadic Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (CJD) according to a diagnosis by the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center.  But Hicks' family and doctor wanted a second opinion because they thought his symptoms looked more like variant CJD, which is the form of the disease caused by eating beef infected with mad cow.  Hicks' family received confirmation from the Center that a sample would be sent to a research facility in Paris that had agreed to conduct additional tests.  But the sample never arrived, and Hicks' family received conflicting messages from the Center, one saying they would be happy to send the sample to Paris and another saying the sample was already in transit.  On top of that, the original autopsy, conducted by the company 1-800-AUTOPSY was not done properly and the brain was not frozen to preserve the tissue.  As a result, it will be impossible to conduct additional tests. Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article =UPI-1-20050602-13141700-bc-us-madcow.xml Read more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/GregerCJDkills.cfm  

INCREASED SOY PRODUCTION DESTROYING RAINFOREST 

Destruction of the Amazon rainforest is fueled by several factors, including both legal and illegal logging, mining, cattle ranching, and road construction.  But the Amazon has a new foe that is steadily gaining strength – soybean production.  Deforestation in the Amazon reached its second highest rate last year, clearing 10,000 square miles, about half of which was in the state of Mato Grosso, whose governor Blairo Maggi also happens to be the owner of the largest soy producing company in the world. In 2003, Maggi's first year as governor, deforestation in his state doubled.  Much of the demand for soy is being driven by its use as cattle feed, and with mounting concerns over genetically engineered food, Brazil's GE-free stance gives them a competitive edge.  Europe now imports 65% of its soy from Brazil, and China is steadily increasing their imports as well.  Production of soy in Brazil is not expected to slow.  Agriculture is now the country's number one export, and President Lula is promoting soy production as a means to pay down foreign debt.  Governor Maggi has called for a three-fold increase in soy production in Mato Grosso in the next decade. Read the full article: http://www.independent- media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=10980&fcategory_desc=Under%20 Reported

Cultivating a vision where rural and urban communities join together
 to ensure abundant family farms, healthy critters, clean water and a wild Earth.  

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.

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