Saturday, October 24, 2009

Label Reading 101 TELLY AWARD WINNER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrdCBqFYDyo#
(copy and paste to address bar)
Starring Stephen Michael Young

Thursday, October 22, 2009

NO! TO PATENTING LIFE ON EARTH- TAKE ACTION!

I'M LOVIN' ME SOME MICHAEL MOORE!

(excerpted from): "Michael Moore's Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now"
You've Seen the Movie (If not, treat yourself! -My plug, not Michael's -Clean Food Earth Woman) -- Now It's Time to ACT!
Thursday, October 22, 2009

Friends,

It's the #1 question I'm constantly asked after people see my movie: "OK -- so NOW what can I DO?!"

You want something to do? Well, you've come to the right place! 'Cause I got 15 things you and I can do right now to fight back and try to fix this very broken system.

Here they are:

FIVE THINGS WE DEMAND THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DO IMMEDIATELY:

5. Save this fragile planet and declare that all the energy resources above and beneath the ground are owned collectively by all of us. Just like they do it in Sarah Palin's Alaska. We only have a few decades of oil left. The public must be the owners and landlords of the natural resources and energy that exists within our borders or we will descend further into corporate anarchy.

FIVE THINGS WE CAN DO TO MAKE CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT LISTEN TO US:

1. Each of us must get into the daily habit of taking 5 minutes to make four brief calls: One to the President (202-456-1414), one to your Congressperson (202-224-3121) and one to each of your two Senators (202-224-3121). Take just one minute on each of these calls to let them know how you expect them to vote on a particular issue. Let them know you will have no hesitation voting for a primary opponent -- or even a candidate from another party -- if they don't do our bidding. Trust me, they will listen. If you have another five minutes, click here to send them each an email. And if you really want to drop an anvil on them, send them a snail mail letter!

C'mon people -- we can do this! I expect nothing less of all of you, my true and trusted fellow travelers!

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com "

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

WORLD TO: UN General Assembly Olivier de Schutter: NO TO SEED PATENTS!!!!!

Global alert against 'Monsantosizing' our food
(THIS ALERT REFERS TO DECEMBER 31, 2009 CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION'S PATENT DECISIONS)
UN General Assembly to discuss patents on seeds and right to food

No Patents on Seeds, 21 October 2009

Today a global alert is being filed by farmers and development and environmental organisations warning about a new class of patents covering plants and animals and endangering innovation and food security. It is being presented on just the same day as the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier de Schutter, is presenting his new report in front of the UN General Assembly, warning that seed patents might increase food crises. New rules to restrict patents on seeds and animals therefore have to be enacted urgently.

The global appeal is being filed by the international coalition "no patents on seeds", organised and supported by farmers and development and environmental organisations. The alert is directed at governments, parliaments and patent offices like the European Patent Office, and warns about a new class of patents covering plants and animals derived from conventional breeding. These patents even claim harvests and derived food products such as milk, butter and bread. By speaking of 'Monsantosizing' the signatories are warning that the whole chain from seed to food production might be controlled by a few big international companies like Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta, leading to a process of oligopolies and increasing concentration.

"A radical change in both patent legislation and the practice of patent offices is needed to eliminate patents on plants and farm animals," says François Meienberg of the Berne Declaration. "Corporations should not be allowed to continue to misappropriate and monopolise seeds, plants and farm animals via patent law. If they are, these patents will become a major threat to global food security, food sovereignty and innovation."

The alert was initiated by the organisations Berne Declaration, Swissaid, Misereor No Patents on Life , Greenpeace and The Development Fund (Norway), and is supported by farmer organisations from Europe, South America and Asia. They include Coldiretti in Italy, COAG in Spain, dairy farmers from Germany, Federacion Agraria Argentina and Bharat Krishak Samaj, an Indian farmer organisation. "The big companies are about to control seed, harvest, trade and even food production," warns Luis Contigiani at Federación Agraria Argentina. "We can see how Monsanto tries to license fees on soy production , imposing embargoes on European importers of Argentinian soy and derivatives based on patents that are not valid in our country. This is an example of the consequences when genetic resources are subjected to the logic of monopolisation by patent rights."

In a vein very similar to the global alert, the background report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food (A/64/170), Olivier de Schutter, raises concerns that seed patents might increase food crises. As it explains: “The oligopolistic structure of the input providers’ market may result in poor farmers being deprived of access to seeds, a productive resources essential for their livelihoods, and it could raise the price of food, thus making food less affordable for the poorest.”

The No Patents on Seeds coalition and its supporting farmers' organisations welcome the UN report. “We will keep on fighting against patents on seeds and animals,” says Miguel López Sierra, General Secretary of COAG , one of the biggest European farmers’ organisations. “We are urging the European Union and the European Patent Office to stop granting these patents, which steal the common goods of farmers and traditional breeders. The concerns as raised by farmers, NGOs and the report of the United Nations no longer can be ignored.”

Download of the global alert: www.no-patents-on-seeds.org, http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=56&lang=en
Download of the UN Report “Seed policies and the right to food” http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N09/424/73/PDF/N0942473.pdf?OpenElement
or: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/food/annual.htm
Further contacts: François Meienberg, Berne Declaration, +41 44 277 70 04; food@evb.ch, Christoph Then, expert for Greenpeace, +49 15154638040

THE COMMISSION NOBODY'S EVER HEARD OF

Here they are, hiding in plain sight. Ready to patent what's left of the world's plants and animals, alllllllll in the name of "food safety." NOT! Read and seach
their site and TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW! CAN YOU SAY, "FOOD IN," boys and girls???
-Clean Food Earth Woman

DECEMBER 31, 2009 THIS GOES INTO EFFECT!


The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by FAO and WHO to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The main purposes of this Programme are protecting health of the consumers and ensuring fair trade practices in the food trade, and promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

NEWS (FROM SITE: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp)

Codex Trust Fund application deadline 31 October 2009

The FAO/WHO Project and Fund for Enhanced Participation in Codex (Codex Trust Fund) is now accepting applications for support for developing countries and countries with economies in transition to participate in Codex meetings scheduled for 2010.
Information concerning these applications and eligibility of countries can be found on the Codex Trust Fund website at:
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/codex/trustfund/en/index6.html.
All applications and queries must be sent by the official Codex Contact Point in the country to the Codex Trust Fund Secretariat using the Trust Fund e-mail (codextrustfund@who.int). Applications sent through other channels may fail to meet the deadline and will not be receivable.
Deadline for submitting applications: 31 October 2009.

Final version of CAC32 report

The final version of the report of the 32nd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in English is available here.

Call for expressions of interest for a mid-term review of the Codex trust fund

The FAO/WHO Codex Trust Fund is seeking a private consultant/consulting firm, academic institution, or specialized center to conduct a mid-term review of the Codex Trust Fund.
Deadline for applications: 9 October 2009
For application information, please go here.

Biotechnology (GM food)

The application of modern biotechnology to food and food production (GM food) presents new opportunities and potential benefits, as well as challenges in ensuring consumer protection. Recent developments have posed concerns, both real and perceived, about the safety of these technologies.

Member Countries, especially developing ones, look to FAO to provide sound and unbiased advice on the safety of GM food, and AGNS, in collaboration with international bodies such as Codex, has been involved in a wide range of biotechnology related issues, including:

* Science-based safety evaluation and risk assessment systems to objectively determine the benefits and risks of GM food
* Recommendations for the labelling of foods obtained through biotechnology
* Assessing nutritional aspects of food derived from modern biotechnology;
* Detection of protein and/or DNA in GM food

In 1999 the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), established an Ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology to consider the health and nutritional implications of such food. It is tasked with developing standards, guidelines or recommendations, as appropriate, for foods derived from biotechnology or traits introduced into foods by biotechnology.

The scientific basis for the work of Task Force is provided by FAO and WHO through a series of scientific expert consultations on the safety and nutritional aspects of GM food. These expert consultations, while addressing issues which are closely related to the work of the Task Force, are completely independent from the inter-governmental negotiation process, and treat the subject from a purely scientific perspective.

Welcome to New Codex Member

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Somalia as a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Region: Africa). This brings the membership of the Commission to 183 members (182 member countries and one member organisation).
(FULL TEXT: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/members.jsp?lang=EN)

Having spent the past twelve months investigating Codex Alimentarius, I am deeply disturbed by the almost total lack of awareness (or even interest) with regard to the implications of this pernicious global Commission, particularly amongst those most affected by the excesses of this restrictive legislation.

In the words of the National Health Federation[i], the aims and objectives of Codex Alimentarius are as follows:

* Only low-potency, “me too” supplements available that will do nothing for your health.

* All or most foods genetically-modified.

* Beneficial supplements unavailable or sold by prescription only.

For many people, this agenda is so outrageous, they cannot believe such goals are achievable; yet this may well be the reality as soon as 31st December 2009, if the Codex Alimentarius Commission continues to disregard input from those who offer a counter perspective to the combined forces of Big Farmer & Big Pharma.
(site: http://www.foodfreedomnetwork.com/2009/10/video-explaination-of-codex.html )
MEMBERS OF CAC (CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION):
A
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
B
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
C
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
D
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
E
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
European Community
F
Fiji
Finland
France
G
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
H
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
I
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
J
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
K
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
L
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
M
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives (Republic of)
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia (Federated States of)
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
N
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Norway
O
Oman
P
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Q
Qatar
R
Republic of Korea
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
S
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syrian Arab Republic
T
Tajikistan
Thailand
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
U
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United Republic of Tanzania
United States of America
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
V
Vanuatu
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Viet Nam
Y
Yemen
Z
Zambia
Zimbabwe