May 26, 2006 · Issue 82
ORGANIC BYTES
www.organicconsumers.org
Alert: 
Boycott
Organic Dairy
Feedlots and Tell USDA not
to Lower Standards
The Organic Consumers Association’s (OCA) call
for a boycott of Horizon and Aurora organic
milk is resonating among consumers across the
country and generating significant media cov-
erage. Horizon Organic (owned by food giant
Dean Foods) and Aurora are currently taking
advantage of loopholes in organic regulations
by purchasing the majority of their milk from
intensive confinement dairy feedlots where
the cows have little or no access to pasture.
At their recent shareholders meeting in Dallas,
Dean Foods executives expressed alarm over
the public relations and investor fallout they
are currently facing. Besides recommending
that conscientious shoppers boycott Horizon
and Aurora products, OCA is asking consumers
to keep flooding the USDA with email letters call-
ing for mandatory pasture access for cows on
organic farms, as well as an end to the uneth-
ical practice of continuously importing calves
from conventional farms to organic dairies. The
USDA is accepting public comments on this issue
until June 12. Over 40,000 OCA members and sup-
porters have already taken the time to comment
on this important issue, but we need thousands
more to turn up the heat.
Please take action now:
www.organicconsumers.org/nosb2.htm
Donate to the OCA:
www.organicconsumers.org/donations.htm
Written and edited by
Craig Minowa & Ronnie Cummins
Health, Justice, & Sustainability News Tidbits with an Edge… From the Organic Consumers Association
Please forward this publication to family and friends, websites, print it, & post it. Knowledge is power!
Starbucks Under Fire
A National Week of Action pressuring Starbucks will take place June 19-25. The OCA
and its allies are calling on Starbucks, the largest coffee distributor in the world, to
discontinue serving milk from cows injected with Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH)
and ensure that at least 5% of their coffee is certified Fair Trade. Global coffee prices
have plummeted, pushing millions of small coffee farmers into desperate poverty. Fair
Trade coffee guarantees farmers are paid a fair price for their crops. While Starbucks
plasters their store walls with photos of Fair Trade coffee farmers, Fair trade &
organic represents only a very small percentage of their total coffee sales (about 3.7%).
Starbucks continues to post record annual profits by exploiting the world’s coffee
farmers. Starbucks rarely offers certified Fair Trade coffee as their coffee of the day,
nor has it followed its own policy of brewing Fair Trade coffee, on demand. Join OCA
and its allies to leaflet Starbucks cafes in your neighborhood.
Take Action: www.organicconsumers.org/Starbucks/
Milk From Cows Injected with GE Hormones Makes Twins
New research shows that consumers of hormone-tainted dairy products are five times
more likely to have fraternal twins than vegans. In a report published in the cur-
rent issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, researchers linked recombinant
bovine growth hormone (rBGH) with this rise in twin birth rates. The study shows
how rBGH, a synthetic growth hormone used
to increase milk production in dairy cattle,
increases ovulation in humans and persists in
the body after entering via digested food, partic-
ularly milk. Monsanto’s controversial hormone has
been banned in almost every industrialized country
in the world, due to scientific evidence indicating that
the milk from injected cows contains more pus, antibi-
otic residues, and IGF-1, a potent cancer tumor promoter.
Consumers can avoid dairy products that contain rBGH by purchasing organic dairy
products or by looking for labels on natural products that say rBGH or rBST-free.
Learn more: www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_512.cfm
EPA’s Scientists Condemn EPA
In an unprecedented move, EPA’s own scientists are lashing out against the agency,
saying the profits of the pesticide industry are taking priority over measures to pro-
tect public health. A union of over 9,000 EPA scientists has submitted a letter to the
EPA’s Administrator, Stephen Johnson, indicating that due to industry pressure, the
“integrity of the science upon which agency decisions are based has been compro-
mised.” In particular, the scientists are concerned about a group of organophosphate
pesticides they believe should no longer be allowed on the market due to their harm-
ful effects on children, infants and fetuses. Specifically, the letter references 20 toxic
pesticides that were developed from nerve gases after World War II, many of which
are still available for purchase at most gardening centers. The EPA has not responded
to the letter. Learn more: www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_540.cfm

Quick Tidbits
g Scientists have screened more than
16,000 varieties of soybeans and have
found two non-genetically engineered Chinese
breeds that do not contain the protein linked to
allergies. Nearly ten percent of children have
allergies to mainstream soybean products,
including infant formulas. Crop scientists at the
University of Illinois and the USDA believe these
allergy-free soybeans will have a major benefi-
cial impact on the food market. “We are releasing
this information with no patents so that compa-
nies and breeders involved with soybeans can
incorporate these two lines as quickly as possi-
ble,” said lead researcher Theodore Hymowitz.
www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_526.cfm
g The largest study ever conducted on the
relationship between sleep and weight
gain was presented yesterday at the American
Thoracic Society International Conference. In
the report, scientists analyzed the sleeping pat-
terns of nearly 70,000 women over the course
of 16 years. The study revealed that women who
sleep too little (5 hours or less per night) are
at risk of major weight gain. In comparison to
sound sleepers, women who sleep only 5 hours
per night are 32 per cent more likely to experi-
ence major weight gain - defined as an increase
of 33 pounds or more. www.organicconsumers.
org/2006/article_545.cfm
Organic Bytes is a publication of the
Organic Consumers Association
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www.organicconsumers.org/log.html
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Organic Bytes #82· May 26, 2006 · page 2
Congress Ponders Legislation Requiring ID Chips in All Farm Animals
Congress is debating a controversial program called the National Animal Identification
System (NAIS). The system would require tagging or implanting all farm animals with
radio frequency devices and registering those animals with a federal government
tracking system. The plan would require every owner of even a single livestock ani-
mal to register their home with a national tracking system, including Global Positing
Coordinates (for satellite tracking)
and implant or tag every animal
with a radio frequency device
(RFID). Large-scale livestock
producers say NAIS would help
them control an outbreak of disease
by allowing individual animals to be
tracked to their origins. Small-scale farm-
ers say the registration fees, RFID expenses
and administrative bureaucracy of the system
would drive them out of business. OCA supports
the principle of being able to track animal dis-
eases back to the source in order to protect public
and animal health, but any national program needs to be designed so as to not harm
small farmers and must insure the privacy of farmers and animal owners.
Take action: www.organicconsumers.org/rd/nais.cfm
The Things They Didn’t Tell You About Ethanol
In the wake of ever-escalating gasoline prices, the ethanol craze has officially taken
hold. Congress has approved $5.7 billion in federal tax credits to support the ethanol
market, in addition to the $10 billion US corn farmers annually receive in subsidies.
While the corn-industry-lobbying-machine has President Bush predicting ethanol
will replace gasoline, the science behind corn-based ethanol seems to suggest this
alternative fuel may be more about politics than an actual solution. According to the
US Department of Energy, it takes the equivalent of three barrels of oil to create four
barrels of corn-based ethanol. Couple that with the fact that ethanol gets lower miles
per gallon than gasoline, and the corn-based solution begins to show its true colors.
But other nations are demonstrating that plant-based ethanol fuels can help meet our
energy needs. Brazil makes ethanol from sugar-cane, which is almost eight times
more energy efficient to produce than the US corn-based fuel. Crops with high cellu-
lose or sugar content that can be easily grown in the US, such as sugar beets, hemp or
switch grass, make much more efficient fuels. But, in the US, where special interests,
not the public seem to govern federal policy, it appears the immediate future of US
automotive fuel is going to the highest bidder: genetically engineered corn.
Learn more: www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_461.cfm
Funding for Organic Farmers vs. the Cost of a White House Party
Congress has passed an amendment to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill that will
increase federal funding for organic agriculture research from $1.8 million per year
to $5 million (as a reference point, eight times that amount was spent on Bush’s last
inaugural party). Although this allocation is better than nothing, organic subsidies
and program funds are ridiculously small, given the USDA’s annual $90 billion bud-
get and the $25 billion in annual crop subsidies allocated to chemical intensive farms
and genetically engineered crops. According to OCA’s National Director, Ronnie
Cummins, “Since organics represent 2.5% of all grocery sales, $15 billion in annual
sales, we deserve at least 2.5% of all USDA program monies.”
Learn more: www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_534.cfm