The Institute for Responsible Technology reports that U.S. negotiators at an international conference on Codex Alimentarius are currently pushing an agenda that could make it difficult to label foods as genetically modified (GM) or even make non-GM claims on a product label.

If you care about keeping food sources good, clean, fair, and HONEST, you should care about food labeling! Please visit the Institute for Responsible Technology’s petition site and sign the petition TODAY. As many signatures are possible are needed before Wednesday, May 5, but the Institute for Responsible Technology suggests that the public should continue support in opposition to this agenda until the desired result is achieved.

Are you concerned about nutrition in America’s schools?

Do you want America’s children to eat “real food” in school lunches?

Last year, Slow Food Seacoast participated in Slow Food USA’s Time for Lunch: National Day of Action by planting greens for school lunches at Dover High School. (See the evidence here!) Please join the Time for Lunch campaign by contacting legislators before Wednesday, March 24, when the Agriculture Committee will begin marking up the first draft of the Child Nutrition Act.

For a list of relevant contacts in Congress, please click here.

Forwarded from Food for Maine’s Future, whose mission is “to help build a just, secure, sustainable, and democratic food system to the benefit of all Maine farmers, communities, and the environment”:

5th Annual Local & Sustainable Food Conference: Building Urban/Rural Alliances
April 10 & 11, St Mary’s Nutrition Center, Lewiston, Maine

Presented by Food for Maine’s Future, Lots to Gardens, Healthy Oxford Hills, Lewiston Public Library, and WERU

JOIN US FOR FOOD, FUN, ENGAGING DISCUSSION, MUSIC, & SHARING SKILLS

Register Today!

Registration is now open for the 5th Annual Local and Sustainable Foods Conference: Building Urban/Rural Alliances and Mud Season Dinner taking place in Lewiston April 10 & 11. This year’s conference will explore key issues facing Mainers working for positive change in local and regional foodsheds. Through discussion and facilitated planning sessions conference participants will help create a set of Action Plans to guide our growing movement towards an equitable food system with justice and dignity for all. Conference tracks include:

RURAL FOOD FOR RURAL PEOPLE
What are the principal barriers to rural Mainers’ feeding their own communities a diverse diet? How do we help rural producers sell locally first?

CULTIVATING MAINE’S FUTURE FOOD LEADERS
Creating a sustainable food system involves investing in our youth. How can youth and adults work together to better the food system? What role does farm-to-school and school gardens play in this? How do youth get a seat at the table for decisions that affect them?

WE CAN GET THERE FROM HERE: GRASSROOTS FOOD DISTRIBUTION
Maine has a number of successful grassroots models for getting food from farm or sea to our plates. How do we support and expand what is working? How do we create what is needed?

GROWING FOOD EVERYWHERE: THE HOME ECONOMY & FOOD SECURITY
What support and resources exist for homesteaders, subsistence farmers and fisherman, community gardeners? How can we help each other build a food economy based on bread labor, interdependence, and self-reliance?

Don’t want to sit in meetings all day? Take part in one of eight Skill Shares:

Seed Saving - Will Bonsall, Scatterseed Project
Sheet Mulching & Permaculture Principles - Jesse Watson, Mid-Coast Permaculture
Making Kombucha - Gail Wartell, Winter Cache Project
Starting a Community Garden - Shelby Childs, Stone Soup Garden
Raising Backyard Poultry
Starting a School Garden
Starting a Buying Club
Season Extension

or take a self-guided tour of Lots to Gardens‘ community gardens!

End the day with our Mud Season Dinner, a (nearly) all-Maine meal & a enjoy vaudeville revival with over a cardboard sea!

One day not enough? Join us on Sunday for a round table discussion:

Whose Rules? Balancing Food Safety, Food Traditions & Food Policy
Opening remarks by Mark Silber, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, USM
10:00am - 2:00pm St. Mary’s Nutrition Center, Lewiston
**Please note: Registration for this round table is limited. Please contact Bob St. Peter to register. There is no charge for the event and lunch will be available for a small donation.

Registration for the Saturday, April 10 conference is $15-50 sliding scale, suggested donation is $25. Members of Food for Maine’s Future receive free admission to Saturday’s conference. Sign up today!

Mud Season Dinner is $15-150 sliding scale, suggested donation is $20. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Registration for Saturday, April 10 conference and Mud Season Dinner is required and space is limited.

Register Today!

The World Affairs Council of Northern California presents the WorldAffairs 2010 Live Webcast on March 11 and 12, 2010: “The world that the Obama administration inherited a year ago is already a very different place. From global economic crisis to climate change, from international security dilemmas to development challenges, the path forward will require innovation from all sectors. Governments, non-governmental organizations, private sector initiatives and individual actors must all contribute.”

Topics include environment, economy, development, and security—all global issues. (Download the Webcast agenda in PDF format here.) Both days end with a session entitled Local Solutions to Global Problems, and Josh Viertel (president of Slow Food USA) will be speaking at this closing session on March 12.

The webcast is free, and no log in or registration is required! Simply go to the WorldAffairs 2010 Live Webcast page on March 11 at 12:45 PST and begin watching!

In December, the USDA determined that Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa met the Obama Administration’s standards, despite the risk of contaminating organic crops … and acknowledgment that GE alfalfa is virtually certain to contaminate normal seeds. Cross-contamination is the number one concern with GE crops.

The USDA is accepting public comments on Monsanto’s application through February 16. Credo Action provides this link to learn more, then quickly and easily (customize and) submit a form message to USDA. Please act now!

This week, Slow Food Seacoast has posted twice about NH policy related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs): Your chance to speak out against GMOs in NH and Attend GMO hearings today. Elizabeth Obelenus (info@nofanh.org), program coordinator at the Northeast Organic Farming Association, NH Chapter (NOFA-NH), provides a brief report of yesterday’s hearings here:

The hearings were delayed till 2 pm and we finished at 5 pm.  The morning’s hearing on a study committee to ban pesticides went from 9am to noon (it was an excellent hearing too) which was a problem for us because we had at least 60 people show up all anxious to be a part of the hearings.  However, our hearings went very well, and even better, biotech’s lobbyists were in DC digging out from the snow so could not show up and their substitute lobbyist was a joke.  Rich Bonanno from the NE Veg & Berry Growers though showed up against (I was surprised) but after all the people signed in (not including the 150+ emails sent) we out numbered the opposition by what, 30-1?

The interim results sound promising … but the game is still on! If you haven’t yet, please urge your NH legislators to support the labeling of GMO seeds and protect NH farmers whose non-GMO crops are contaminated by GMO crops by February 15. Use the following link to quickly send (or customize)  a form email to the members of the NH House Environment and Agriculture Committee and your own representative: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1221/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2253. Suggestion: Write the message on your own computer, SAVE IT, then copy and paste it into the window provided. If the website doesn’t work properly, please send your message to the following addresses, provided by Elizabeth from NH House of Representatives, Environment and Agriculture Committee, website (http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/committeedetails.aspx?code=H06):

Tara A. Sad, (d) Chairman (tara.eric@gmail.com)
Jane E. Beaulieu, (d) Vice-Chairman (jane.beaulieu@leg.state.nh.us)
Suzanne J. Smith, (d) Clerk (zanne1@metrocast.net)
Derek Owen, d (owen31@juno.com)
Leigh A. Webb, d (leigh.webb@leg.state.nh.us)
Roger R. Beauchamp, d (roger.beauchamp@leg.state.nh.us)
Steven W.Lindsey, d (steven.lindsey@leg.state.nh.us)
Brian D. Poznanski, d (bpoznanski@anselm.edu)
Susan E. Wiley, d (stephmwv@ncia.net)
Robert H. Haefner, r (bobhaefnerjp@comcast.net)
J. David Knox, r (jdknox@worldpath.net)
Laura J. Gandia, r (laura.gandia@leg.state.nh.us)
Warren J. Groen, r (warrengroen@gmail.com)
Stephen J. Palmer, r (spalmer_peanuts@msn.com)
Pamela Z. Tucker, r (pamzt@comcast.net)

And finally, here are some GMO-related facts and resource links from Pam, to inform and motivate you.

• Geneticist Marcello Buiatti says, “From a scientific point of view GMOs are a total failure.” He adds that they “use out-dated technology, do not increase production of useful food crops, do not help fight famine and do not do what their patents claim” and “serve only to make their owners rich as farmers have to pay royalties to the multinationals to use their seeds” (http://www.slowfood.com/sloweb/eng/dettaglio.lasso?cod=D5D7F482190d022CD4RxY105A0A2).
• Monsanto is a U.S.-based multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It calls itself an agricultural company yet was founded as manufacturer of agricultural chemicals, then expanded to include molecular biology, biotechnology, genetic modification, and pharmaceuticals (http://www.monsanto.com/who_we_are/history.asp).
• Monsanto sells 90% of genetically engineered or GMO seed worldwide. It started to acquire existing seed brands in 2004 and has continued to do so almost every year since (http://www.monsanto.com/who_we_are/history.asp).
• Monsanto also is the world’s leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate (active ingredient in the Roundup family of brands). Its broad-spectrum, nonselective herbicide products “are registered in more than 130 countries and are approved for weed control in more than 100 crops” (http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/content/products/productivity/roundup/back_history.pdf).
• GMO farming encourages monoculture (growing one single species or crop), which decreases ecosystem diversity and is not a sustainable approach to agriculture. “Monocultures deplete the soil, and fruits and vegetables become more susceptible to pests and disease than those grown in a diverse crop environment, thus requiring larger amounts of chemical sprays” (http://www.sustainabletable.org/intro/dictionary/).
• Farmers growing GMO crops are prohibited from saving seeds (i.e., collecting and drying seeds from one crop to use the following season) because GMO seeds are patented (http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstryc657.html?recid=505).
• Many GMO crops are genetically modified to either be tolerant of or contain (directly in the seed) pesticides or herbicides. Examples include Roundup Ready varieties of soybean, cotton, canola, and corn (which require the application of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide) and YieldGard Rootworm corn (with “in-seed insect-protection against the corn rootworm”) and Bollgard II insect-protected cotton (http://www.monsanto.com/who_we_are/history.asp). Both kinds of seed increase environmental exposure to pesticides and herbicides, which has implications for the health of water, plants, insects, and humans as well as other animals.
• The use of pesticide-tolerant GMO seeds has been implicated in the widespread decline in the populations of honeybees and other plant pollinators (http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4557.cfm). Without pollinators, plants cannot bear fruit or vegetables.
• The results of a recent study indicate an alarming effect of GMOs on human health: Monsanto’s GMO Corn Linked to Organ Failure (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html).
• Because of nature (in the form of wind, birds, and other animals), GMO seed and pollen inevitably “drift” into non-GMO crops. And in cases of GMO drift, liability usually falls on the farmer (http://www.caff.org/publications/aa/02_Fall/gmo_threat.shtml).
• GMO drift and cross-pollination spell economic loss or ruin for farmers whose valuable non-GMO crops have been contaminated by GMO crops. What’s more, Monsanto has a history of criminalizing small farmers who have been unwitting victims of the forces of nature (e.g., Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser, http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/schmeiser012004.cfm and http://www.percyschmeiser.com/).

Thanks in advance for sending your written statement!

On Monday, we posted about Your chance to speak out against GMOs in NH. Today, we’re forwarding an action alert from Northeast Organic Farming Association, NH Chapter (NOFA-NH), requesting your presence or written testimony at tomorrow’s hearings. (Note: A link to democracyinaction.org in the original newsletter from NOFA-NH did not work, so it was deleted; we will post an update ASAP if we get a working link!)

GMO Action Alert

We need your support at the public hearings

Thursday, February 11

in the Legislative Office Building (LOB)
33 North State St., Concord NH
Room 308

11 am for the GMO liability bill
1 pm for the GMO seed labeling bill

Monsanto is coming with their expensive propaganda and expensive lobbyists.  There is nothing locally grown or heirloom about biotech - show the legislature that traditional and organic agriculture and gardening is our choice.

Or, email NOFA for two handouts info@nofanh.org that can help you compose testimony - the more people that speak the better.  Or just come with friends and colleagues and sign in to support the bill, and stay to hear both sides.

We believe consumer-farmers and consumer-gardeners have a legal right-to- know if their seeds contain GMOs.  And we want to protect traditional, organic and small farmers from cross-contamination that occurs with GMO crops.

Please forward this alert to all your networks and get promises to attend the hearings.
And to make it even better, please email Elizabeth at NOFA-NH info@nofanh.org with your RSVP that you or others will be offering testimony.

More people than ever are growing food for their own families, or for sale.  Organic agriculture continues to grow.

Did you know that there are at least six transgenic varieties of yellow summer squash, crookneck and zucchini that are available to consumers, and are not labeled?

Did you know that a farmer can buy transgenic seed without knowing it? It has happened!

Biotech is only getting bolder with their plans to own all seed in the world.  And to pollute our soils with pesticides and herbicides while creating super weeds and super pests.

No state has yet been able to get seeds labeled for GMOs.  Aren’t we still first in the nation?  Let’s be the leader!

Recommended websites for info and for studies to support your statements:

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/geneticeng.pdf is an excellent (32 pg) summary of all that has been happening with transgenic crops. http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/Home/index.cfm is the website of the author of Seeds of Deception and other books on GMOs, Jeffrey Smith. http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/usda-releases-organic-production-survey-results/

You can also write Op Ed pieces about this issue.

How to testify: You will sign in at the hearing and wait till you are called. You will have only 3 minutes, maybe much less depending on the number of people who are signed up to testify.  Written and oral testimony do not have to be diatribes. Keep it simple, polite and to the point.  Thank the committee when you are done. Short statements about complex points are more memorable than long dissertations.

Please try to arrive by 10:45 am for the GMO liability bill (HB 1388) and 12:45 pm for the GMO seed labeling bill (HB 1172).  And plan to spend some time.

Thank you!

NOFA-NH recognizes that farmers, gardeners, and consumers of organic products share a “community of interests:” a common need to grow and consume safe, healthy, nutritious, great-tasting food; and a common interest in preserving a healthy environment that nurtures all of us. In an age of industrial agriculture, we’re working to re-establish a shared sense of pride and participation in a community-based food system that links local farmers with local consumers, and rewards them both equally.

Contact: Elizabeth Obelenus, Program Coordinator
info@nofanh.org
(603) 224-5022

The ramifications of the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture are varied—some have slowly become evident over time, and some remain unknown. Hearings for HB 1172 “GMO Labeling Bill” and HB 1388 “GMO Liability Bill” are scheduled to be held this Thursday in Concord, NH, and the Northeast Organic Farming Association–NH Chapter (NOFA-NH) invites the public to help build support for these bills. If you can describe why GMOs are bad for our health, are concerned about GMO seeds contaminating organic crops, or simply believe in the right-to-know in seed labeling, then your oral testimony—or written statement—is requested!

WHAT: Public hearings for HB 1172 “GMO Labeling Bill” and HB 1388 “GMO Liability Bill” (read more in ADDITIONAL INFO below and in links)

WHEN: Thursday, 2/11/2010, at 11 am (HB 1388) and 1 pm (HB 1172)

WHERE: Legislative Office Building (LOB), Room 308, 22 North State Street, Concord, NH

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW: If you can’t attend the hearings on Thursday, submit your written statement for the record. Comments to the House received by email are not included in the permanent record, so please email statements to Elizabeth Obelenus of NOFA-NH (info@nofanh.org), and she will print out the required copies and submit them in person at the hearings on Feb. 11 as official testimony.

• HB 1172 (GMO Labeling Bill) “defines genetically modified seeds and organisms and requires that genetically modified seeds be labeled as such.” (More and more people raise their own food in NH to ensure quality and purity—and to save money. How do they know if their seeds contain GMOs if the seeds they buy are not labeled? This bill asks that the time-honored consumer’s right-to-know be extended to seed labeling.)
• HB 1388 (GMO Liability Bill) “defines genetically modified seed or organism” and “establishes a cause of action for farmers sustaining damage from the use of mislabeled or genetically modified seeds or organisms.” (Genetic drift is proving to be a huge problem for farmers that do not purposefully raise GMO crops. If a farmer’s crop becomes contaminated with GMOs through pollen drift, this bill gives the farmer the right to seek damages.)
• If you wish to testify in person or want more information about how you can participate, contact Elizabeth Obelenus of NOFA-NH at 603-224-5022 or info@nofanh.org.
• Slow Food Seacoast posted about a February 3 meeting related to these bills.
• Read an interesting recent article about GMO policy in NH in Front Door Politics.
• The House Environment & Agriculture Committee is set to make recommendations 1 week later, on Feb. 18.

On February 5, the New York Times reported that the USDA was scrapping the National Animal Identification Program (NAIS), “a national program intended to help authorities quickly identify and track livestock in the event of an animal disease outbreak” that has been in the news for at least 4 years. This much-maligned proposal treated all levels of producers similarly, from Big Ag’s concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to homesteaders raising meat for their families. As proposed, NAIS raised serious questions, including confidentiality and privacy, but the biggest concern was the high cost and low feasibility of implementation for producers smaller than factory size, because they would have to tag and track every animal owned. Many small producers effectively would have been put out of business, thereby removing an important link in the local market chain that allows us all access to good, clean, and fair food.

Secretary of Agrigulture Tom Vilsack made the announcement while the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a factsheet explaining plans to create the Animal Disease Traceability Framework. In this FAQ, the USDA admits that “the vast majority of participants were highly critical” of NAIS and promises to include “representatives from States, Tribal Nations, industry groups, local farms, organic farmers, and underserved communities” in the new effort. What’s more, it promises to allow “maximum flexibility” and to “reduce the burden on producers.”

Of course the reality remains to be seen, but for now, saying “no” to NAIS is a victory for small farmers, because “producers who raise animals and move them within a State, Tribal Nation, or to local markets, as well as to feed themselves, their families, and their neighbors are not part of USDA’s framework’s scope and focus.” Thanks to all the people who signed petitions, wrote to lawmakers, and generally made noise about NAIS—and hoorah for all of our local livestock farmers!

Via Streetsblog Capitol Hill (with thanks to Joy!):

A new budget proposal is aimed at developing new food outlets in urban neighborhoods that policymakers call “food deserts”: White House Pitches $400M for Healthier Neighborhood Food Outlets