Factory Farmed Meat - How does it affect your health?

I will be on Dave Congalton's show (am 920, KVEC in SLO, California) on Monday, June 26th at 4 pm. I will be discussing the health and safety of factory-farmed meat and fish -- what the animals are fed and how they are raised. I'll also explain the difference between organic, vegetarian fed, antibiotic and hormone-free, wild and farm raised choices. This show can be accessed on the web live or downloaded after the show at www.920kvec.com/cc-common/podcast.html.

Here are some great books to help you make your own decision about factory farmed meat and fish:

"Mad Cowboy" by Howard F. Lyman
"What to Eat" by Marion Nestle
"The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason
"Meat Market" by Erik Marcus

I haven't read this yet but have heard good things about it: "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

Also - a web site to help you make the best fish choices in terms of contamination and sustainability: www.seafoodwatch.org

Help Save Community Rights Threatened by Biotech Industry

In order to protect their crops from being contaminated by drifting pollen from genetically engineered crops, last year, farmers and citizens in Mendocino County California voted to become the first county in the U.S. to ban genetically engineered (GE) crops. Since then, two more California counties and two cities have followed Mendocino's example.

In response, the biotech industry is working to remove these democratic rights. In the past several months, 14 U.S. states, prodded by the Monsanto Corporation and the Farm Bureau, have made it illegal for local communities to ban GE crops.

Two recently introduced bills (AB 1508 and SB 1056) in the California legislature would make California the 15th state to eliminate local communities' rights to ban or otherwise regulate genetically engineered seeds.

This "preemption" bill would overturn GE-Free victories in Mendocino, Trinity, and Marin counties, as well as the cities of Arcata and Point Arena, and prohibit local communities from banning or regulating genetically engineered crops in the future.

Take action today to stop the biotech industry from taking away our democratic rights in California! Send a message to your state legislators! For more information and to take action, go to http://www.organicconsumers.org/ca.htm

EPA Allowing Toxic Pesticides

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is supposed to protect our health and the environment - so why do they continue to allow the use of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides without conducting adequate safety and risk assessment tests?

The EPA has until August 3, 2006 to issue a final tolerance approval for 20 organophosphate and carbamate pesticides which were derived from WWII nerve agents. Organophosphate and carbamate pesticides are banned in many industrialized countries, including England, Sweden and Denmark. These agents are considered by most scientists to be particularly dangerous for fetuses, infants and children.

Let the EPA know what you think of that. Write the EPA at U.S. EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105 or through their web site at http://www.epa.gov and tell them to adopt maximum exposure protections for these dangerous agents or take them off the market permanently. In the meantime, it's more important than ever to buy organic.

For more information or to have a predrafted letter sent, go to http://www.organicconsumers.org/epa7.htm.

Marketing to Children

If you're concerned about the agressive marketing being targeted to children, here is a great organization to check out: www.commercialalert.org.

They're fighting against advertising to children being done in our schools - and soon if the new company BusRadio has it's way, children will be listening to ads on their way to school.

Check out the web site for great articles and ways to get involved.

Canned Tuna

There's an interesting article in the July, 2006 issue of Consumer Reports. While canned "light" tuna has been recommended as the safer, lower mercury choice over white or albacore tuna, FDA tests have shown that in 6% of tested samples light tuna contained at least as much or more mercury than white tuna.

Consumer Reports' Chief Medical Adviser recommends pregnant women to avoid eating canned tuna at all, and that women of childbearing age and young children limit consumption.

According to the article, other fish that can be high in mercury are:

Tilefish, shark, swordfish, king mackerel, Chilean bass, halibut, America loster, Spanish mackerel.

Here is what they list for safe (low-mercury) fish:

Salmon, shrimp, clams, tilapia are okay to eat every day.

Oysters, hake, sardines, crawfish, pollock, herring, flounder, sole, mullet, Atlantic mackerel, scallops, crab, Atlantic croaker once a week.