[Video] The Future of Food

TAKE ACTION Against The NJ Fluoridation Bill!

1.) If you are a NJ resident and would like participate in the fight against
fluoridation, contact FAN's state coordinator, and visit No Fluoride New
Jersey.

2.) Call the offices of the Senate President and Speaker of the House. Tell
them not to ignore Assembly rules, the $5 billion dollar price tag, or the
health risks associated with fluoridation:

Here are the top people to call:

Senate Majority leader Loretta Weinberg (201) 928-0100
 she signed on as a primary sponsor of the bill S959

Senate President Steve Sweeney (856) 251-9801
  he promptly scheduled the final vote

Assembly Majority leader Louis Greenwald (856) 435-1247
  he signed on as a primary sponsor of the bill A1811

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (973) 395-1166
  she scheduled the final vote without having the Appropriations committee
hold a hearing


Democrats have a majority in both the Senate and the Assembly. They can pass
this without any Republican votes. In the Senate Health Committee hearing,
the three Republicans who stayed for the entire hearing did not vote for the
bill. One voted NO and the other 2 ABSTAINED. (Wow, they actually listened.)


At a Governor's town hall meeting in Westfield, vaccine choice activist (Sue
Collins) asker Christie about fluoridation. Christie expressed skepticism
about it. He may be our best shot at stopping this travesty. We should call
him to encourage him to veto this bill if the Democrats ram it through.

Governor Chris Christie  609-292-6000


The final vote is scheduled for March 15 in both the Senate and the
Assembly.

Mike Barrett - New Bill to Mandate Flu Vaccine for New Jersey Health Care Workers

Thanks to a new bill currently going through New Jersey legislature, employees working at health care facilities such as general or special hospitals, nursing homes, or home health care agencies may be ‘mandatorily’ required to receive the flu vaccine. The bill, recently approved by the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee, may be voted on this week.

New Bill to Mandate Flu Vaccine for New Jersey Health Care Workers

Needless to say, this bill is not the first to call for mandatory flu vaccines. Previously, a federal advisory committee has called on hospitals and healthcare clinics to make the seasonal flu shot mandatory for all employees. What the advisory committee fails to mention is that there is a shocking lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of the flu vaccine — especially regarding certain healthcare workers in particular. The Cochrane Database Review, the gold standard within the evidence-based medical model for deciding the potency of common medical interventions, does not lend clear scientific support to the theory that flu vaccines are safe or effective.

Read More:

http://naturalsociety.com/new-bill-to-mandate-flu-vaccine-for-new-jersey-health-care-workers/

Mike Barrett - Cadmium Exposure Could Be Damaging Children’s Health more than Lead

Recent research shows that cadmium could very well be more dangerous to children’s health than lead. While heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and mercury are often the first to pop up when discussing or thinking about heavy metals and human health, cadmium remains the lesser mentioned metal compromising the health of many — especially children. Current and future research will likely continue to make the dangers of cadmium more well known.

Is Cadmium More Dangerous for Children than Lead?

“One of the important points of the study is that we didn’t study a population of kids who had very high exposures. We studied a population representative of the U.S. That we found any [effect] suggests this is occurring at relatively low levels…It does certainly point to the fact that we need more attention paid to the neurotoxic effects of cadmium in children”

Read More:

http://naturalsociety.com/cadmium-exposure-could-be-damaging-childrens-health-more-than-lead/

Rady Ananda - ‘No Food Rights’ Judge quits to work for Monsanto law firm

As courts and bureaucrats continue to assert that citizens have no fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice, we find Monsanto lurking nearby.  The Wisconsin judge who recently ruled that we have no right to own a cow or drink its milk resigned to join one of Monsanto’s law firms.

Former judge Patrick J. Fiedler now works for Axley Brynelson, LLP, which defended Monsanto against a patent infringement case filed by Australian firm, Genetic Technologies, Ltd. (GTL) in early 2010.

GTL had sued several biotechnology firms, a medical lab and a crime lab that had used its patented methods for analyzing DNA sequences. Though a federal case, the district court which heard the matter sits in Dane County, Wisconsin, where Fiedler coincidentally served as a state judge.

In that case, the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) “upheld Genetic Technologies Ltd.’s patent for noncoding DNA technologies, giving more firepower to the Australian company’s patent infringement suit against Monsanto Inc., Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. and a slew of rival laboratories,” reports Law360.

Read More:

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/%E2%80%98no-food-rights%E2%80%99-judge-quits-to-work-for-monsanto-law-firm/

Fifty Medical Doctors for Single Payer Urge Supreme Court to Strike Down Individual Mandate

Fifty medical doctors who favor a single payer health insurance system today urged the US Supreme Court to strike down the individual mandate.

In a brief filed with the Court, the fifty doctors and two non-profit groups – Single Payer Action and It’s Our Economy – said that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate is unconstitutional.

The individual mandate is the provision of the ACA that requires Americans to purchase health insurance from private insurance companies if they do not otherwise have coverage.

The doctors are challenging the government’s claim that the individual mandate is necessary to reach Congress’ goal of universal coverage.

Read More:

http://www.singlepayeraction.org/blog/?p=3178

Oregon Research Institute Tai Chi program helps Parkinson's disease patients

An Oregon Research Institute (ORI) exercise study conducted in four Oregon cities has shown significant benefits for patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease. In an original article published in the February 9, 2012 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), ORI scientist Fuzhong Li, Ph.D. and colleagues report that a tailored program of twice-weekly Tai Chi training resulted in improved postural stability and walking ability, and reduced falls in the participants.

"These results are clinically significant because they suggest that Tai Chi, a low-to-moderate impact exercise, may be used, as an add-on to current physical therapies, to address some of the key clinical problems in Parkinson's disease, such as postural and gait instability. Since many training features in the program are functionally oriented, the improvements in the balance and gait measures that we demonstrated highlight the potential of Tai Chi-based movements in rehabilitating patients with these types of problems and, consequently, easing cardinal symptoms of Parkinson's disease and improving mobility, flexibility, balance, and range of motion," noted Dr. Li.

Read More:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/ori-ori020612.php

Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez - If You Want To Fight Cancer, Turn Those Pink Ribbons Green

I'm going to make a confession. I never could stand those pink ribbons. I've never done a "Walk for the Cure" or bought daffodils for cancer victims or even picked a cancer-cure-themed postage stamp.

I'm glad to hear that the Komen Foundation has bowed to pressure and is restoring funding to Planned Parenthood, a worthwhile organization if there ever was one. But in general, the idea of putting the energy and effort of well-meaning citizens behind "the search for a cure for cancer" just irritates me, because let's face it, we know what causes cancer, and therefore we can do better than cure it, we can prevent it! Maybe not 100%, but we can take it back to the modest rates that previous generations of human beings enjoyed.

For my grandparents' generation, a diagnosis of cancer was frightening because it was so often a death sentence, but it was rare. Not one of my four grandparents came down with cancer, and I don't believe their parents did either. This isn't due to some genetic serendipity, it's just a fact that cancer rates in the first half of the 20th century (and every century before that) were way lower than they are now.

Read More:

http://countercurrents.org/hernandez060212.htm

Ethan A. Huff - FDA monopoly enforcement goes after Google for $500 million in online pharmacy ad profits

(NaturalNews) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently snagged a hefty $500 million forfeiture, one of the largest in history, from search engine giant Google for running advertisements on its AdWords service for Canadian pharmacies. The agency claims these ads, which were also viewable by Americans, facilitated the illegal shipment of prescription drugs into the U.S. in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, as well as the Controlled Substances Act.

A trophy in the FDA's trophy case of strong-armed regulatory enforcement actions, the $500 million forfeiture demonstrates the agency's intolerance for the sale of any drug that is not officially FDA-approved. But what it also embodies is a whole new level of government reach into private business practices, which in this case did not necessarily constitute a violation of the law on Google's part.

Read More:

http://www.naturalnews.com/034930_FDA_Google_online_pharmacies.html

Dr. Andrew Weil - Can Poison Be Good For You? Understanding Hormesis

Hormesis is a little-known term with huge implications. It refers to a fascinating phenomenon: a favorable biological reaction to low doses of chemical toxins, radiation or some other form of stress that is damaging, even fatal, in higher doses.

It was first scientifically noted by German pharmacologist Hugo Schulz in 1887, who found that disinfectants -- which, in large doses, kill yeast -- actually stimulate yeast growth when administered in small doses. Of course, many had observed it anecdotally, and poetically, before that. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously observed, "What does not destroy me makes me stronger," which gets the gist, but overstates a bit -- a more precise phrasing might be, "What stresses me within certain parameters makes me better adapted."

The mechanism of hormesis appears to be overcompensation to re-establish homeostasis -- which is a technical way of saying that an organism, or group of them, responds to small stresses by becoming more robust, or numerous, to adapt to a challenging environment.

Read More:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/hormesis_b_1214355.html?ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=012012&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

Chemical in Personal Care Products (Phthalates) May Contribute to Child Obesity

Researchers from the Children's Environmental Health Center at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York have found an association between exposure to the chemical group known as phthalates and obesity in young children -- including increased body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference.

Phthalates are human-made, endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can mimic the body's natural hormones. They are commonly used in plastic flooring and wall coverings, food processing materials, medical devices, and personal-care products. While poor nutrition and physical inactivity are known to contribute to obesity, a growing body of research suggests that environmental chemicals -- including phthalates -- could play a role in rising childhood obesity rates.

This study was the first to examine the relationship between phthalate exposure and measurements used to identify obesity in children.

Read More:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120120182729.htm

Lifestyle blamed for 40 percent of cancers

Forty percent of cancers in women and 45 percent in men could be prevented by a healthier lifestyle, British researchers say.

A Cancer Research UK report found more than 100,000 cancers each year in Britain are caused by four lifestyle factors -- smoking, unhealthy diet, alcohol and being overweight -- and the number rises to around 134,000 a year when 14 lifestyle and environmental factors are taken into account, the Guardian reported.

The research showed that in Britain:

-- Smoking accounts for 23 percent of all cancers in men and 15.6 percent in women. It causes lung cancer as well as bladder, kidney, pancreatic and cervical cancer.

-- One-in-25 cancers is linked to work-related exposure to chemicals or asbestos, while one in 33 is linked to infections, such as the human papillomavirus, which causes most cases of cervical cancer.

Read More:

http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=12182&Section=Disease

Heidi Stevenson - Neotame, New Neurotoxic Sweetener: FDA Says No Label Needed, Not Even in Organics

Monsanto developed Neotame as their Aspartame patent was expiring, and had no trouble in gaining FDA approval in 2002. They added 3-dimethylbutyl, a chemical listed as hazardous by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to Aspartame, making it both sweeter and more toxic.

Toxicity

Both Aspartame and Neotame contain substances that are metabolized into formaldehyde, a highly toxic poison, and an excitotoxic amino acid that agitates, thereby damaging, nerves.

At the time Neotame was originally approved by the FDA, Feingold.org, which battles the addition of many dodgy food additives, stated:

We did a search of MedLine to find studies of adverse effects or side effects of Neotame. Only four studies appeared, two of which were not studies, and the other two of which were actually a single study done by NutraSweet company researchers.

Read More:

http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-acidic-neurtoxic-sweetener-from.html

Deborah Kotz - Vaccine effectiveness reduced by common environmental toxin, Harvard study finds

Vaccines, we’re told, aren’t 100 percent effective. That’s why some of us come down with the flu after getting a flu shot. Sometimes, our immune system doesn’t mount a strong enough response to an immunization, so defenses are down when a pathogen invades.

Now a new Harvard School of Public Health study suggests this may sometimes be due to exposure to certain environmental toxins. The researchers measured levels of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) -- found in food packaging, stain-resistant carpets, and nonstick pans -- in nearly 600 children who lived in the Faroe Islands in the Norwegian Sea and found that those who had the highest levels of PFCs had a 50 percent lower reaction to tetanus and diphtheria vaccines, according to the study published in yesterday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

Read More:

http://www.boston.com/Boston/dailydose/2012/01/common-environmental-toxin-may-reduce-vaccine-effectiveness-harvard-study-finds/yhkee76GRgyBZ6hX4uUtdK/index.html

Steve Connor - No way of stopping leak of deadly new flu, says terror chief

The bioterrorism expert responsible for censoring scientific research which could lead to the creation of a devastating pandemic has admitted the information "is going to get out" eventually.

Professor Paul Keim, chairman of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, controversially recommended that researchers be stopped from publishing the precise mutations needed to transform the H5N1 strain of birdflu virus into a human-transmissible version.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, he argued it had been necessary to limit the release of the scientific details because of fears that terrorists may use the information to create their own H5N1 virus that could be spread easily between people.

Professor Keim said that it was necessary to slow down the release of scientific information because it was clear that the world is not yet prepared for a strain of highly lethal H5N1 influenza that can be transmitted by coughs and sneezes.

Read More:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/no-way-of-stopping-leak-of-deadly-new-flu-says-terror-chief-6660997.html#

Monsanto, Agent Orange Creator, Returns To Vietnam

Multinational agricultural biotech corporation Monsanto, known as the creator of chemical weapon Agent Orange, is attempting to infiltrate Vietnam once again -- this time as GMO dealer.

Agent Orange, used for chemical warfare in the Vietnam War, is estimated to have killed 400,000, deformed 500,000 and sickened another 2 million. "Between 2.1 to 4.8 million Vietnamese were directly exposed to Agent Orange and other chemicals that have been linked to cancers, birth defects, and other chronic diseases during the war that ended in 1975, according to the Vietnam Red Cross," Thanh Nienn News writes.

30 years after the war, three generations have suffered from the effects of Agent Orange.

Now, as Monsanto seeks to reap profits in Vietnam once again, this time through agribusiness, many are speaking out against the corporation as well as the potential effects of the GM seeds and herbicides that Monsanto seeks to sell.

Read More:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/07-5

Food Herbicide Residues Set to Rise As Much As 150 Times

*Proposed new level already breached 100 times over

Monsanto has applied to increase the EU’s permitted Maximum Residue Level (MRL) for its best-selling herbicide glyphosate in lentils. Proposals before the EU would mean increasing the current legal residue level by 100-150 times. [1] The chemical is widely used on GM crops and elsewhere for weed control and to dry crops prior to harvest.

The current EU MRL for glyphosate in lentils is 0.1 mg/kg. The proposal aims to raise this level to 10 mg/kg, or even 15mg/kg. [1] Rather than being based exclusively on safety grounds, the proposed new MRL appears to be partly based on levels already likely to be found in lentils as a result of the weedkiller being used close to harvest.

The proposed new level was recently breached by a shipment of Canadian lentils for human consumption. The Czech Republic withdrew the cargo from the market when it discovered glyphosate residues exceeding both EU and Canadian MRLs (tested at 10.5 mg/kg [2], more than 100 times the EU MRL; the current Canadian MRL for lentils is 4 mg/kg [3]).

Read More:

http://www.gmfreeze.org/news-releases/180/

Mike Barrett - Lobby Group Formed to Remove Alternative Medicine, Chiropractic Courses from Universities

Who needs alternative or natural treatments when there is already a fantastic medical system put in place aiming to ‘better’ the world? At least that’s what more than 400 doctors, medical researchers, and scientists who want to shut down all alternative medicine degrees seem to believe.

The mainstream medical practitioners in Australia seem to think that alternative medicine has no place, and chose to form a powerful lobby group to pressure universities to get rid of any alternative medicine degrees. The group, comically calling themselves ‘Friends of Science in Medicine’, have even openly denounced alternative medicine as ‘quackery’. They specifically stated that universities offering these alternative degrees are ruining their reputation by giving “undeserved credibility to what in many cases would be better described as quackery” and by “failing to champion evidence-based science and medicine.”

Nearly one in three Australian universities offer some kind of alternative therapy or complementary medicine, whether it be chiropractics, homeopathy, naturopathy, aromatherapy, or Chinese herbal medicine. But a co-founder of Friends of Science in Medicine, who is also a government adviser on consumer health fraud, says that universities like these are offering “degrees in pseudo science”.

Read More:

http://naturalsociety.com/lobby-group-formed-to-remove-alternative-medicine-chiropractic-courses-from-universities/

Anthony Gucciardi - Lawsuit Slams “All Natural” Snack Makers for Containing Harmful GMO Ingredients

Does the term ‘all natural’ really mean anything when it comes to food labeling? Increasingly, the evidence says absolutely not. A new lawsuit launched from New York highlights the real lack of meaning behind the ‘all natural’ marketing stunt, stating that Frito-Lay’s popular ‘all natural’ snack foods like Tostitos and SunChips are actually made with genetically modified ingredients.

Chris Sakes leads the suit against the mega snack corporation, filing a class-action lawsuit that sheds light on the ‘all natural’ labeling scam. Shake said that Frito-Lay products are not natural at all, as they contain corn oils and genetically modified plants. What is this phony ‘all natural’ claims worth? About 10 cents more than competing brands that do not claim to be all natural, which contain virtually the same ingredients. The lawsuit reported that independent testing actually confirmed the presence of corn and vegetables oils as well as GMOs within the popular snack brands.

In response, a Frito-Lay spokesman stated that the ‘all natural’ statement on its packaging “complies with all regulatory requirements.”

Of course genetically modified ingredients are quite far from natural. The suit states:

Read More:

http://naturalsociety.com/lawsuit-slams-all-natural-snack-makers-for-containing-harmful-gmo-ingredients/

Ronnie Cummins - The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto

In the wake of a 12 year battle to keep Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America's organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it's time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for "coexistence" with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.

In a cleverly worded, but profoundly misleading email sent to its customers last week, Whole Foods Market, while proclaiming their support for organics and "seed purity," gave the green light to USDA bureaucrats to approve the "conditional deregulation" of Monsanto's genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant alfalfa. Beyond the regulatory euphemism of "conditional deregulation," this means that WFM and their colleagues are willing to go along with the massive planting of a chemical and energy-intensive GE perennial crop, alfalfa; guaranteed to spread its mutant genes and seeds across the nation; guaranteed to contaminate the alfalfa fed to organic animals; guaranteed to lead to massive poisoning of farm workers and destruction of the essential soil food web by the toxic herbicide, Roundup; and guaranteed to produce Roundup-resistant superweeds that will require even more deadly herbicides such as 2,4 D to be sprayed on millions of acres of alfalfa across the U.S.

Read More:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/01/28/the-organic-elite-surrenders-to-monsanto/