Burger King promoting violent movie to children

Last September, as part of its commitment as a member of the Council of Better Business Bureau’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, Burger King pledged to not “approve, pay for, or actively seek the placement of BURGER KING® food or beverage products in the program/editorial content of any medium in the United States primarily directed to children under 12 years old.”

But now they've gone back on their word by planning promotions of kids meals (which are aimied at children 3 years and up) for the PG-13 movie "Iron Man" which contains violence inappropriate for young children.

For more information, check out the press release at: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/ironman.htm

An entire village growing its own food!

This is so cool - the people in Martin (a village in England) have come up with a project for "weaning" villagers off of supermarkets. They're working together to grow their own food and raise their own livestock for meat and eggs. Of the 164 families who live in Martin, 101 have signed up as members of Future Farms for an annual fee. Read the article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=559580&in_page_id=1770

Book Review: Vegan Express

Check out my review of Nava Atlas's great new book Vegan Express at http://www.vegfamily.com/book-reviews/vegan-express.htm

Walmart Brand Milk soon to be BGH Free!

Walmart and Sam's Club brand milk will soon be free of bovine growth hormones. This change is due to customer demands. Looks like Monstanto's BGH hormone will soon be off the market.

Read the full article here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080322.RMILK22/TPStory/Business

slave labor in U.S. fields

I just read the book Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy by John Bowe. I had no idea slave labor could be happening the in US - the land of the FREE! Many tomato and citrus pickers are are paid poverty wages that have barely changed in 30 years; forced to work long hours without overtime; subjected to physical abuse by supervisors, denied benefits such as sick days, paid leave, and health insurance, and are punished for organizing. Some of these workers are also forced to endure modern-day slavery. There have been six successful federal prosecutions of farm labor operations for servitude in Florida over the past decade, and a seventh was just initiated.

Some food companaies like Yum!Brands, Taco Bell, and McDonalds have been working with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to improve farm labor conditions -- but Burger King and others still have not signed on. If they would agree to pay just 1 cent more per pound, they could make a huge difference in the lives of these workers.

To sign a petition, go to: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=947

Are you an Angry Mom?

Are you fed up with the offerings for school meals in your district? I know for me, I would love not to have to pack my kids a lunch every day - but as long as our school continues to feature processed, frozen and reheated foods high in sodium, hydrogenated oils, and high fructose corn syrup (not to mention chemicals, preservatives, and pesticides), I don't feel I have a choice. I am on the wellness committee for my district but change is painfully slow.

There are places where things are happening however. If you haven't seen the excellent movie Two Angry Moms which is shaking up the public school lunch community, I highly recommend it -- I've already seen twice! These moms traveled around the US to find schools radically changing their lunch programs. For more info, go to http://angrymoms.org/ .

On March 24, the producers will be featured on The Rachael Ray Show - go to their web site for more info: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/ and the movie will be shown on March 30 at the Kent Film Festival in Connecticut, for times go to: http://kentfilmfestival.org/ .

Demand for raw milk on the rise

There's an interesting article in the Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/23/more_dairies_go_raw/) about more dairies selling raw milk.

It says that demand for raw milk is growing in the United States. In Massachusetts, the number of dairies licensed to sell raw milk has grown from 12 to 23 in the past two years. Also, according to the Northeast Organic Farming Association, dairies are selling more raw milk than they were just five years ago, and consumers call in every week looking for advice on where to find it.

Raw milk advocates say raw milk is healthy because it contains good bacteria, enzymes and raw fats that help to boost your immune system and aid digestion. Anecdotal and scientific reports support the health benefits. For instance, a study by researchers at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Basel in Switzerland found that children who drank raw milk had a lower risk of asthma and allergies.

The FDA warns that raw milk can carry disease-causing bacteria and says that drinking it is "like playing Russian roulette with your health." That's probably true if you drank raw milk from factory farmed cows living in filthy dry lots, but milk from pasture-fed cows on clean, well-run farms is full of things that your body will thrive on, like good bacteria, raw fat, cancer-fighting conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and much more.

Raw milk can be sold for human consumption in 28 states, but only eight states allow it to be sold in stores. As a result, many people have begun to form buying clubs that buy raw milk directly from the dairy.

To find a source for raw dairy in your area, go to http://realmilk.com/where.html