This has been a big news week for me... and not just because Obama decided to beat up on McCain FINALLY and Paris Hilton did something useful for a change.
Here are the big, huge, screaming headlines that have been dominating my world:
Monsanto's Giving Up - I've spent the past year engaged in a fight against Monsanto's rBGH that activists with far more stamina than I have kept up since the early '90s. It seems like we've come to the end: Monsanto's divesting from rBGH. Yay!
USDA Smacks Down Chinese Organics - Yup, there are "organics" in this country from China. That's the bad news. The good news is that the USDA is doing something about it. Pardon me while I die of shock.
Meatpackers Busted for Undocumented Workers - Again... that meatpackers hire and abuse illegals isn't news. The fact that they got busted AND the media covered it... THAT is news.
And MY news... I was published on Alternet!!!!
Judith2007 and I had a conversation over the past week about our idea food policy and we agreed that if current laws were actually enforced we'd be over halfway there to our ideal system. It's sad when our government doing its job is such huge news but, well, it is. One more reason for regime change at home I guess.
Story #1: rBGH is Going Bye-Bye
Monsanto announced yesterday that they are getting out of the GM cow growth hormone business. It's a shock... but not really. What kind of business with any sort of intelligence would keep a product that is almost universally hated by consumers, a source for horrible PR, and losing business from even mainstream companies??
In the past year or so, Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Kraft started moving towards "rBGH-free" products (at least partially). Before those dominoes fell, Starbucks caved. And before Starbucks, many, many others. The list is LONG. Of course, Monsanto claims that this isn't why they are doing it, but... well, whatever. Like anyone believes them.
Story #2: USDA Actually Does Something Regulatory-ish
The USDA isn't exactly known for harshly enforcing its organics laws. How can they? The National Organics Program has about 9 employees and a small budget. And yet... they just did. Out of 30 federally accredited organic certifiers, 15 are on probation. They have 12 mos to get their acts together.
Among other issues going on here are Chinese organics. No, that isn't intended as an oxymoron. A big problem with Chinese organics is that China prohibits foreign companies from inspecting Chinese farms. Organic certifiers subcontract with Chinese companies who then inspect the farm... and... riiight. You get situations like this - contaminated ginger on US store shelves, labeled organic.
See more details in this article by me: Is Your Organic Food Really Organic?!
Story #3: Meatpackers Busted For Miserable Labor Conditions and Undocumented Workers
From the liberal bastion known as the Wall Street Journal:
According to the Times, the immigration agents also "found more than 20 under-age workers, some as young as 13." One young worker told investigators "he worked 17-hour shifts, six day a week."
The details of the poor working conditions - and lack of ANY government enforcement of laws beyond a slap on the wrist here and there - are as follows:
The Des Moines Register noted in March that "the Iowa Division of Labor Services said it was citing the plant for 39 violations of safety rules." By comparison, according to union officials, "in 2007, Iowa OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] issued 19 violations for all meatpacking plants" in the state.
The fines levied against AgriProcessors, however, were eventually reduced to $42,750 from $182,000. The same pattern holds true in the case of the only federal Labor Department fines against the company that I have been able to discover, which were levied in 2006, and which set the company back a grand total of $2,250.
In 2006, the Jewish Daily Forward reported on AgriProcessors workers' complaints about low wages -- between $6.25 and $7 an hour -- and about receiving almost no safety training before starting jobs that are, statistically, among the most dangerous of jobs in the work force.
The article then tells WHY the meatpackers can get away with this. They hire undocumented workers. The workers have no rights, and they live at the mercy of their employer who threatens to turn them into border control agents and have them deported if they complain.
The conclusion of the article?
Conservatism didn't create these hellish conditions, but it has strained to preserve them.
Amen to that.
Smaller Stories
- Scientists Are Using rBGH on Fish - Hmm, consumers don't want it in cows so let's try it in tilapia. Can you say "yuck"?
- Judge Rules No Class Action Suit over salmonella in peanut butter (that happened late 2006 if I remember right... but the judge's ruling was this week). This is why we don't want conservatives appointing judges for crying out loud!
- 93% of Kids Meals Have Too Many Calories for Kids - Keep in mind though that the restaurants they surveyed were all fast food joints. I say file this under "duh."
- NYT Gets Lots of Letters over an article from last week by a "farm boy" talking about slaughtering animals on the farm as a kid.
- What Would You Eat On Food Stamps? - Here's an Excel tool that helps you figure out the healthiest way to survive on food stamps. Now if only the govt provided each food stamp recipient with a computer and MS Office so they could use this.
For regular coverage of headlines like these, join the party over on La Vida Locavore.
UPDATE: I just saw a great diary go up by Michele Simon. Check it out! It's about last week's FTC report on $1.6BIL in marketing to kids, but Michele (unlike every other reporter and journalist in this country) read the whole report and she gives us the details!