new review of The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook

If you're wondering whether "The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook" is for you, check out this informative review on www.godairyfree.org. Here's the direct link: http://www.godairyfree.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1084&Itemid=73&mosmsg=Thanks+for+your+vote%21

Independent Testing for Mad Cow Disease May Be Allowed

Remember last year when Creekstone Farms, a meatpacker in Kansas, wanted to test all of its cows for mad cow disease at its own expense. Then the Department of Agriculture, who currently administers the test to less than 1 percent of all slaughtered cows, threatened them with prosecution. It seems that larger meat companies were afraid that given the choice between tested beef and untested, the consumers might chose the safe beef.

Well, on Thursday, a federal judge ruled that the federal government must allow meatpackers to test their animals for mad cow disease if they so choose and does not have the authority to regulate the test. Robertson put his order on hold until the government can appeal. If the government does not appeal by June 1, he said the ruling would take effect.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Britain.There have been three cases of mad cow disease in the U.S. The first, in December 2003 in Washington state, was in a cow that had been imported from Canada. The second, in 2005, was in a Texas-born cow. The third was confirmed last year in an Alabama cow. After the first case of mad cow disease heightened concern about the disease, the department increased its testing for the disease to about 1,000 tests each day. Last July, the department cut its testing by about 90 percent.

No more labeling of rBGH-free milk

Monsanto issued a press release asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to punish dairies that label their milk "rBGH-free." Monsanto has a history of trying to intimidate independent-minded dairies and bottlers who do not want use their growth hormones. Obviously, Monsanto feels threatened by increasing consumer demand for rBGH-free milk, the increasing number of dairies that label milk "rBGH-free", and the increasing number of farmer who have rejected rBGH, and is attempting to use the Federal Government as tool of intimidation.

Find out more information and sign a petition demanding that Monsanto:

- Stop intimidating small family farmers.
- Stop force-feeding untested and unlabeled genetically engineered foods on consumers.
- Stop using billions of dollars of US taypayers' money to subsidize genetically engineered crops - cotton, soybeans, corn, and canola.

Go to: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

Beef consumption during pregnancy may affect children

According to a study by Dr. Shanna H. Swan of the Universtiy of Rochester Medical Center, men whose mother’s ate a lot of beef during pregnancy had a sperm count about 25% below normal and three times the normal risk of fertility problems. They think it’s because of the hormones found in beef.

Six growth-promoting hormones (one of which are steroids) are routinely used in cattle production in the US and Canada and at the time of slaughter not all of them have been metabolized. Although the FDA limits the amount of hormone residue allowed, the limits may need to be reexamined based on this study.

In the meantime, if you eat beef – stick to grass-fed or organically-fed beef.

Mixing food and medicine

The USDA has given preliminary approval for Vetreia Bioscience to plant up to 3,200 acres of the modified rice in Geary County, Kansas. If the approval stands, Ventria will begin by planting 450 acres this spring. The GE rice contains immune proteins that have been shown to help children recover faster from severe diarrhea. It is seeking FDA approval to add the protein to foods such as yogurt and granola.

My first question is - why do we want to add this drug to a food? Why not just give the children who need the it the drug in medicine form? Those who are not sick would not want to (nor should they) consume this drug but once it is incorporated into a plant, the potential for contamination of other rices is practically assured.

Previously, Ventria had sought to grow the rice in Missouri, but Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. (the country's foremost rice buyer) threatened to boycott all rice from the state. Anheuser-Busch had the same concern as many critics of genetically engineered plants, which is that genes from engineered varieties may spread to and "genetically pollute" non-engineered or even wild relatives of the plants. In fact, the same day that the USDA gave the new rice the green light, it announced that rice seed in Arkansas had become contaminated by a different genetically engineered strain not approved for consumption. This was discovered while investigating the widespread contamination of rice in the U.S. with yet another genetically modified strain.

So what is the USDA thinking? In whose best interest was this decision made? Certainly not the farmer or the consumers.

Where's the fruit?

Here's an interesting study done by the Prevention Institute. They studied 37 products that pictured or referenced fruit on the packaging and found that the majority of products actually contained little or no fruit at all.

Think Strawberry Splash Yoplait Go-Gurt Yogurt sound like a healthy snack for your kids? Not only does it contain NO fruit, it is full of sugar and high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and colors, and for you vegetarians - be warned - it contains gelatin. Other products found to have no fruit at all included: Trix Strawberry Kiwi Yogurt, Tang products, Berry Berry Kix, Froot Loops, Post Fruity Pebbles, Fruity Cheerios, Starbursts, and more. Juice drinks like Sunny Delight contain only 5% juice, Hi-C and Capri Sun Strawberry juice drinks contain only 10% juice.

Read the full study here: http://alerts.organicconsumers.org/trk/click?ref=zqtbkk3um_1-8ex3110x3327218&

Don't judge your meat by its color!

If you - like most consumers - think you can judge the freshness of your meat by its pink color, think again. Chances are your non-organic U.S. beef has been injected with carbon monoxide to make it appear fresh and pink. Carbon monoxide injection makes even rancid meats appear fresh. The FDA approved this process without any public comment period, ignoring overwhelming evidence that artificial meat coloring is blatantly misleading to consumers.

For more information, check out this short video: http://hightowerdownload.com/node/26