food democracy now

Dear Santa:

Obama campaigning in Iowa, January 2008.

While the debate over healthcare reform continues to rage in Washington, other political news can get lost in the cracks.

Case in point, did you know that President Obama recently nominated two "Big Ag" executives -- with connections to Monsanto and CropLife -- to key posts in the U. S. Department of Agriculture? The story wasn't covered by the mainstream news organizations, so I didn't hear about it until I received an action alert from Food Democracy Now.

Here's the full text:

Dear Friends,

Recently, I wrote about Food Democracy Now's campaign against the new Smart Choice labeling system, the large, green check mark appearing on packaged processed foods -- such as Froot Loops, Keebler Cookie Crunch, Lucky Charms and other products containing "as much as 44% sugar" -- intended to lead consumers to make "healthier" food choices.

Now, a new labeling system is making the news, though the purpose of this one is to teach food buyers how their choices affect the health of the earth.

Let’s say you’re the CEO of a factory pork producer. Your top priority is squeezing profits out of pigs. But there’s a downturn in the market. There’s more supply than demand for pork products, which means prices have fallen so low that you can’t charge enough to make the profit you promised your board of directors and shareholders.

Is it time to worry?
Sign FDN's petition and help stop government pork for factory pork
Not likely. Because under the current system, sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are two things you can do to boost your business:

So you shop at farmer’s markets and your local co-op. You buy local, organic, sustainably grown and harvested food. Your coffee is grown in the shade, your chocolate is fair-trade, and your bread is homemade.  How else can you can declare your support for the cause of "local, sustainable, organic foods and the people who produce them?”

It's so nice to see that sometimes a little bit of activism works. Shortly after posting last night's blog In Defense of Michael Pollan, I received this (form) letter from Elson S. Floyd, President of WSU. Nice job! Here's the letter:

This is from the site Food Democracy Now, via my friend Shari (thanks Shari!):