Showing posts with label Food Democracy Now. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food Democracy Now. Show all posts

Monday, February 27, 2012

Demand an organic farm bill

Join me in telling Congress, "I want an Organic Farm Bill" to help meet the serious challenges of the 21st century. It's time that U.S. agricultural policy in the farm bill shift from its focus of creating cheap commodities and artificially propping up income for farmers toward implementing best agricultural practices for sustainable and organic production. Share your ideas of how to make the Farm Bill better serve farmers, eaters and the environment!

Farmers need your voice today. Please spread the word.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/your_organic_farm_bill/?referring_akid=.92252.M13cg7&source=mailto

Sunday, March 27, 2011

End the Monsanto monoply

Last year, the Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Agriculture held a series of five hearings investigating anti-competitive practices in the food and agricultural sectors. The hearings were historic and gave a vital opportunity for hundreds of thousands of America’s farmers, agricultural workers and citizens to call for an end to agribusiness’ excessive monopoly power. 
Last December, Food Democracy Now! delivered more than 200,000 citizen comments to Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney with your demands to break up the worst abusers.
Nowhere are these abuses more prevalent than in the extreme market share enjoyed by the seed and chemical company Monsanto, which has a virtual stranglehold on seed supplies in crucial sectors that has severely limited farmers' choice in what seeds they can buy. Monsanto’s control of the seed market is so high that 93% of soybeans, 82% of corn, 93% of cotton and 95% of sugarbeets grown in the U.S. contain Monsanto's patented genes.
Not only is this level of market share allowing Monsanto to jack prices up on farmers because there’s no competition, but it also threatens our democracy as Monsanto uses their corporate power to influence our regulatory agencies, like the USDA, EPA and FDA, as well as Congress and the White House.
It’s time to fight back, and the only way to do that is to make sure that the Department of Justice continues their investigation into Monsanto’s anti-competitive business practices.