A farmer's fight against GMO contamination
- added August 6, 2008
- 22 responses
-
-
-
- JanforGore
- added this
-
-
- related topics
-
- News and Politics (39507)
- Earth and Science (12544)
- Environment (5590)
- California (708)
- Democracy (513)
- Ethics (201)
- Monsanto (123)
- Citizen Activism (114)
- Organic (103)
- Farmers (68)
- GM Seeds (35)
- livestock feed (2)
- food quality (1)
A Northern California farmer and dairyman is on a mission to make food safer for all of us. He is Albert Straus and he runs his family creamery, the first organic creamery west of the Mississippi.
The Straus Family Dairy Farm was established up in Tomales Bay in 1941 with just 23 cows! Now there are more than 300. While the family always followed sustainable land practices, Albert began his quest to become certified organic in 1993. It takes a dairy heard one year to become fully certified to produce organic milk and in 1994, the farm became the first certified organic dairy west of the Mississippi River. Also that same year, Straus opened Straus Family Creamery to produce organic milk, yogurt, butter and ice cream under the family name.
Another thing happened on the way to becoming certified organic. Straus came across animal feed that was contaminated with genetically modified organisms, or GMO's.
"GMO contamination of organic feeds could threaten consumers' safety, as well as my dairy's organic certification," said Straus. "Close to 70% of our food supply has it."
Last year, Straus began testing his purchased certified-organic feeds. He found that one out of every three batches of certified organic corn had some contamination from GMOs, ranging from trace levels up to 6 percent contamination.
Straus decided to act, starting a non-GMO program , that requires all feed and ingredient suppliers to submit the results of a strip test analysis prior to shipment of the feed or ingredient.
"I started this program in order to safeguard my livelihood as an organic farmer," said Straus. "Our requirements are causing other companies to sit up and take notice."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are companies sending out bands of thugs to deliberately contaminate organic crops? The pervasiveness of it seems to be too coincidental to just be the wind blowing. Good to see farmers standing up to this.
The Straus Family Dairy Farm was established up in Tomales Bay in 1941 with just 23 cows! Now there are more than 300. While the family always followed sustainable land practices, Albert began his quest to become certified organic in 1993. It takes a dairy heard one year to become fully certified to produce organic milk and in 1994, the farm became the first certified organic dairy west of the Mississippi River. Also that same year, Straus opened Straus Family Creamery to produce organic milk, yogurt, butter and ice cream under the family name.
Another thing happened on the way to becoming certified organic. Straus came across animal feed that was contaminated with genetically modified organisms, or GMO's.
"GMO contamination of organic feeds could threaten consumers' safety, as well as my dairy's organic certification," said Straus. "Close to 70% of our food supply has it."
Last year, Straus began testing his purchased certified-organic feeds. He found that one out of every three batches of certified organic corn had some contamination from GMOs, ranging from trace levels up to 6 percent contamination.
Straus decided to act, starting a non-GMO program , that requires all feed and ingredient suppliers to submit the results of a strip test analysis prior to shipment of the feed or ingredient.
"I started this program in order to safeguard my livelihood as an organic farmer," said Straus. "Our requirements are causing other companies to sit up and take notice."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are companies sending out bands of thugs to deliberately contaminate organic crops? The pervasiveness of it seems to be too coincidental to just be the wind blowing. Good to see farmers standing up to this.
-
-
-
-
- JanforGore
- 2 months ago
-
This area is not far from where I live and it is incredibly beautiful, rich in wildlife and it shows how humans have the ability to work and produce goods while also sustaining the environment.
-
-
-
-
- MeganMcKenzie
- 2 months ago
-
-
Awesome, it's great to know that there are farmers and food producers willing to stand up for the safety of what they're putting out for us to consume. When more consumers are made aware of the dangers of GMOs and support producers like Mr Straus, more producers will get the picture and it won't be as difficult to find contaminant free food in the marketplace.
-
Hooray for GMO's!
-
-
-
-
- PWNtheVOTE
- 2 months ago
-
-
VOTE WITH YOUR FORKS!!! =D
Q: Why does it matter?
A. It matters because consumers have been guaranteed by federal law that products sold as "organic" have been produced to specific standards. In many cases consumers have paid a premium for this label ["USDA ORGANIC"], are" voting with their fork" and have the right to get what they pay for. In the case of consumers with chemical sensitivities, mislabeling can threaten the consumer's health. It also matters because organic farmers have paid a significant amount of money to get certified organic and have done a lot of extra work in terms of practices, inspections and record-keeping. It simply isn't fair for producers who have not done the work to pass themselves off as the same as those who have. It's also against the law.
FOR PRODUCERS in New Mexico:
If a grower wishes to sell a product as "organic," what to do?
Call the New Mexico Organic Commodity Commission ( NMOCC) at (505) 841-9070 to find out how to certify or register.
The NMOCC is an agency of the state of New Mexico, and is accredited by the USDA's National Organic Program to provide organic certification services. We [NMOCC] also provide education and marketing assistance to organic producers and processors, and supply consumer information. The NMOCC has a regulatory role to protect consumers: making sure that the word "organic" is only used as allowed by state and federal law and that organic products are handled in a manner that does not compromise their organic integrity. Please call the Organic Commodity Commision with any problems or questions... (505) 841-9067.
***most excellent**** post Jan' thank you!!!! -
"He found that one out of every three batches of certified organic corn had some contamination from GMOs..." -- it's terrifying to think that even farmers are often unaware of what is going into their feed. It makes me wonder... WHO is in control of what goes in feed, in food?
I recently came across another story about GMOs: Farmers in Africa that have been taught safe, sustainable farming practices are being pressured (forced?) into planting GMO seeds. Corporations are making ties with African governments and using monetary incentive (increased production/increased trade) to increase pressure on these poorer countries.
We need more farmers like Albert Straus who are willing and can stand up to the power structure to make food safer for us all. With enough support and action against corporate practices, farmers can take back their rights to safe and sustainable practices.
Thanks for posting this story!-
-
-
-
- whocontrolstheworld
- 2 months ago
-
-
And now we see the difference between a family farm and corporate agribusiness. Who do you think is more concerned about your health? Who do you think is more concerned with profit margin? We are all in business to make a living but there's a difference between profit and carpetbagging. Cutting corners at the risk of our health should never be part of the equation.
-
-
-
-
- bluestranger
- 2 months ago
-
-
endearingly dedicated to Monsanto...
"[you] mferz deSERVE ta die...die SLOW mfer! ...hit 'em up! hit 'em up!"--tupac
you farmers are the NEW bad boys...best hit 'em up! like the song says before we ALL owned and there's no turning back...but if you down with that GMO SHIT, FUK U2! -
to Monsanto:
———-/´¯/)——--(\¯`\
———/—//———--\\—\ \
——--/—//————-\\—\ \
—-/´¯/—/´¯\———/¯`\—\¯`\
-/-/--/—/—/-|_—-_|-\---\—\—\-\
(-(—(—(—/-)--)--(--(-\—)—)—)-)
-\————\/--/—\—\/————/
--\———— /——\-————/
—\-———-(———)———-/
and all you GMO producing phux
(stand up! if you want your balls back!) -
.jpg)
Here is the link for the Straus Creamery. Even their dairy is sustainable. These are the farmers we need to be supporting with our business...the ones who really care about people and product quality. -
Milk % Cancer: Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, IGF-1,& Cancer Risk-
-
-
-
- JanforGore
- 2 months ago
-
-
it sucks that we are eating gmo's without our knowledge
-
I love this. The more of this information that gets out, the better.
-
thank-you!! thank-you!! There's a store not 3 miles from me that has their products. I have bookmarked their website. I love supporting those who make a product you can trust!! And even more so, when they go out of their way to ensure that the public is aware of the choices out there.
-
I hope he makes a windfall profit. Wonderfull to see capitalism at work.
-
Hats off to Mr. Albert Straus. This story is great. It just hows there is no way to know what you are eating. Even if it says organic. I know there are a lot of good farmers out there but if they aren't checking every little thing there is no way of truly knowing.
It's going to be a never ending battle to get things changed when the beef, pork, chicken, and dairy industries are larger than the automotive companies. They have so much power it's hard to get a platform to say anything. Even Monsanto had enough money and power over Fox to have them completely gut a story that was explaining the dangers of Posilac.
I wish things weren't always in the interest of big business. -
Now THAT is an American Farmer!
-
this is awesome .. we need everyone to see this.. way to go..
Login/Registration is required to add a response.
