Tag Archives: Food

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Climate Reality …


What I Love -- Share it with your friends

climatereality

“It starts out like a good trip, then ends with a jolt of reality. Warm and fuzzy, beautiful, manipulative, and disconcerting all at once. This is brilliant.”

We launched our new digital experience, What I Love, last week, and within hours, users like the one above were sharing their excitement.

Around the world, thousands of people have been visiting the site to encounter the things they love — whether it’s a steaming cup of coffee to wake you up in the morning … a long walk surrounded by trees in a nearby forest … the smell of a pie or freshly baked cookies — and to learn about their uncertain futures.

Most of all, users keep telling us that the experience transforms how they see climate change. Renee W., a Climate Reality supporter, wrote “this is a very valuable site … to see what you love and how the climate changes are affecting what you love” is so important. Helen D. says that What I Love “brings it all home.”

So many others are discovering the experience … but we noticed that you haven’t quite yet. Perhaps you’ve been outside raking newly fallen leaves, or have had your nose buried in a good book. No matter what you’re up to, something you love is being affected by climate change.

Remember what’s most important and find out how those things are being affected by climate change … and how you can protect them.

It’s not too late. But without you protecting the things you love … one day it could be.

Thanks for your help,

The Climate Reality Team
~ Recent Post

Pass the Farm Bill


Tell Congress to Pass a Healthy Farm Bill
Farmers growing healthy food items such as organic milk often face hurdles that others do not. Congress is past overdue in passing legislation that would address these imbalances. Tell Congress you want a Farm Bill that invests in organic dairy & healthy-food farmers, NOW!

A Farm Bill for Organic Dairy & Healthy-Food Farmers

Imagine this: billions of taxpayer dollars support the production of unhealthy processed foods and sugary drinks, while farmers supplying healthier items such as organic milk are overlooked or even penalized. Worse, despite an overdue and ticking timeline, Congress is sitting on its hands instead of passing legislation to address these imbalances.

Sound like a bad dream? Unfortunately, it’s reality—but it doesn’t have to be.

Recent reports from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) showed how smarter agriculture policies can help farmers grow more of the healthy fruits and vegetables we need and boost local economies along the way. Now, a new UCS study, Cream of the Crop: The Economic Benefits of Organic Dairy Farms, reveals that public investment in organic dairy farmers would pay off in multiple ways. In addition to producing a healthier product and safeguarding the environment, organic dairy farms generate greater economic opportunity and more jobs in rural communities compared with conventional dairies.

But current agriculture policy favors big polluting CAFOs (confined animal feed operations) over organic dairy farms. And because Congress has failed to act on the now-overdue 2012 Farm Bill—the 5-year legislative package that shapes U.S. agriculture—the limited programs that currently help organic dairy farmers are at risk.

We can change this, but we need quick action. Tell Congress: pass a Farm Bill—one that calls for investments in organic dairies and other healthy-food farmers—NOW.

Sincerely, Ashley Elles Ashley Elles National Field Organizer UCS Food and Environment Program

~ FDA/USDA ~~ Alerts & Safety, ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

FDA allows cancer chemicals in food


Ask the FDA to ban cancer-causing chemicals in all of our food.                       
      Sign Susan’s Petition

FDA: Get cancer-causing chemicals out of ALL food packaging now!

Started by: Susan, Portland, Oregon

The FDA just announced that baby bottles and sippy cups can no longer contain bisphenol A (BPA), a controversial hormone-disrupting chemical that studies show is linked with cancer, obesity, heart disease, and other life-threatening diseases.

This is a huge step towards getting dangerous chemicals out of our food supply. BPA isn’t just found in baby products — routine tests have found BPA in more than 80% of Americans’ bodies. It’s used in packaging food, lining cans for soups and sodas, and more.

Protecting my kids doesn’t stop when they graduate from bottles and sippy cups. I am counting on the FDA to help regulate this dangerous chemical so the people I care about most in the world are safe — no matter how old they are.

I know that together we can make a difference. Last year, I helped pass a ban on BPA in children’s products in my own community in Oregon. Doctors, researchers, and medical experts testified about the risks of this chemical and the importance of keeping BPA out of our children’s bodies. I was moved to tears by the hundreds of people who signed my Change.org petition in support of that campaign, and I hope this petition will make the FDA take notice, too.

Major brands have already begun distancing themselves from BPA due to consumer outrage. These companies have shown great leadership, but moving company by company and product by product is taking too long. BPA will continue to make people sick until it’s out of our food supply for good. We need strong action from the FDA now to protect us, and our kids, from these dangerous chemicals.

Tell the FDA to ban BPA now.

 

Click here to sign Susan’s petition, “FDA: Get cancer-causing chemicals out of ALL food packaging now!”.

You can also check out other popular petitions on Change.org by clicking here.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Trader Joe’s sells meat fed with drugs …Change.org


Trader Joe’s: Stop selling meat fed with drugs!                       
      Sign Melissa’s Petition

 

Trader Joe’s: Stop selling meat fed with drugs!

Started by: Melissa Lee

The night we rushed my 10-month-old daughter Ruby to the hospital is a night I will never forget, especially the terror of not knowing what was making her sick.  It took doctors a very long week to figure out that it was Salmonella, and another two months for us to determine that it came from some ground turkey we ate.

Ruby spent 7 days in the hospital, one of 136 victims of a Salmonella outbreak last summer that led to a massive ground turkey recall.  To make matters worse, that strain of Salmonella was resistant to several kinds of antibiotics, which made it more difficult to treat.

That’s why I’m urging you to sign my petition to Trader Joe’s asking them to sell only meat raised without antibiotics.

Like over 86% of Americans, I want to buy meat raised without antibiotics at my local grocery store. Big supermarket chains can play a critical role in changing the food system.

Trader Joe’s is a progressive grocery store with high standards for the food they sell (and is not where the meat came from that made Ruby sick).   But in my community, many people shop at Trader Joe’s for products that are good for their health and good for the environment. Help me tell my story to Trader Joe’s, and encourage them to sell only meat raised without antibiotics.

I’m grateful every day that the doctors saved Ruby’s life, but we can’t take for granted the antibiotics that allow us to successfully combat serious infections.

80% of the antibiotics sold in the US are going to farm animals–used to make them grow faster and prevent disease in crowded, unsanitary conditions. In such an environment, “superbugs” can develop– and they can get into our food, as Ruby found out.

Whole Foods has already made the commitment to only selling meat raised without antibiotics.  We need more grocery stores to step up to the plate.

Tell Trader Joe’s to be a leader in saving our antibiotics and making food safer.