Washington lobbyists have been enjoying a multi-million-dollar sugar rush from the food industry.
Soft drink makers, supermarket companies, agriculture and the fast-food business have poured millions into campaigning against what they fear could be a burgeoning national movement to raise money for health care reform by taxing sweetened beverages.
During the first nine months of 2009, the industry groups stepped up their lobbying in Congress. They have spent more than $24 million on the issue of a national excise tax on sweetened beverages and on other legislative and regulatory issues, according to an examination of lobbying reports filed with the Senate Office of Public Records. The review shows that 21 companies and organizations reported that they lobbied specifically on the proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages - which among other things would include sodas, juice drinks and chocolate milk.
About $5 million of the money was spent on a national advertising campaign aimed at Capitol Hill lawmakers and promoting a newly formed coalition called Americans Against Food Taxes . The group bills itself on its website as a coalition of "responsible individuals, financially-strapped families, [and] small and large businesses" but its 400-plus membership list is dominated by industry heavyweights such as Burger King Corporation, Coca Cola, Pepsico and Domino's Pizza.
Many health officials and advocacy groups have argued for years that sugary drinks, particularly those with high-fructose corn syrup, have been key contributors to a rise in obesity rates in the United States, especially among children. Some argue that the time is right for a soda tax, which they say could not only cut consumption but also generate revenue to close state budget gaps and pay for new health care programs.
A proposal for a national excise tax on soft drinks surfaced in a May funding policy options paper during the Senate Finance Committee's deliberations on health care reform. Food lobbyists attacked then and continued their efforts in July when President Obama raised the possibility of a soda tax in an interview with Men's Health magazine. The proposal has not emerged in any of the health care reform bills still in play on Capitol Hill.
But the issue may be gaining traction in some key states. This week, California lawmakers are holding a high-profile hearing in Los Angeles to examine the link between childhood obesity and sugary drinks. In New York, Gov. David Paterson has revived the idea of a sugared beverage tax after a previous proposal was shot down by the legislature earlier this year in the face of industry opposition.
The corporation now threatens every aspect of human life as it gains more control over us. Watch Food inc, get informed.
Post comments about the movie if you wish.
C.D.
Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."The corporation now threatens every aspect of human life as it gains more control over... more
I loves me some corn. Well, I AM from Iowa. No, that's not where potatoes OR the Buckeyes come from. Corn, yo. Here's a quickie I shot while on the road drumming for What Made Milwaukee Famous last summer in between festival gigs.. Honey habanero garlic buttered corn. You can NOT resist. If you can, get checked, you're broken.I loves me some corn. Well, I AM from Iowa. No, that's not where potatoes OR the... more
Where is the SCANDAL?
Where is the news?
"Now it has come to light the real reason".
Monsanto prohibits any testing on its Gmo and it is backed up by the law:
APPALLING!
Excerpts:
"One of the great mysteries surrounding the spread of GMO plants around the world since the first commercial crops were released in the early 1990’s in the USA and Argentina has been the absence of independent scientific studies of possible long-term effects of a diet of GMO plants on humans or even rats. Now it has come to light the real reason. The GMO agribusiness companies like Monsanto, BASF, Pioneer, Syngenta and others prohibit independent research.
An editorial in the respected American scientific monthly magazine, Scientific American, August 2009 reveals the shocking and alarming reality behind the proliferation of GMO products throughout the food chain of the planet since 1994. There are no independent scientific studies published in any reputed scientific journal in the world for one simple reason. It is impossible to independently verify that GMO crops such as Monsanto Roundup Ready Soybeans or MON8110 GMO maize perform as the company claims, or that, as the company also claims, that they have no harmful side effects because the GMO companies forbid such tests!
That’s right. As a precondition to buy seeds, either to plant for crops or to use in research study, Monsanto and the gene giant companies must first sign an End User Agreement with the company. For the past decade, the period when the greatest proliferation of GMO seeds in agriculture has taken place, Monsanto, Pioneer (DuPont) and Syngenta require anyone buying their GMO seeds to sign an agreement that explicitly forbids that the seeds be used for any independent research. Scientists are prohibited from testing a seed to explore under what conditions it flourishes or even fails. They cannot compare any characteristics of the GMO seed with any other GMO or non-GMO seeds from another company. Most alarming, they are prohibited from examining whether the genetically modified crops lead to unintended side-effects either in the environment or in animals or humans.
The only research which is permitted to be published in reputable scientific peer-reviewed journals are studies which have been pre-approved by Monsanto and the other industry GMO firms."
More excerpts:
"In the United States a group of twenty four leading university corn insect scientists have written to the US Government Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanding the EPA force a change to the company censorship practice. It is as if Chevrolet or Tata Motors or Fiat tried to censor comparative crash tests of their cars in Consumer Reports or a comparable consumer publication because they did not like the test results. Only this deals with the human and animal food chain. The scientists rightly argue to EPA that food safety and environment protection “depend on making plant products available to regular scientific scrutiny.” We should think twice before we eat that next box of American breakfast cereal if the corn used is GMO ."
Saturday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on CURRENT TV on Tues, Thurs & Sats.
From the seaside - Hove, West Sussex.
I spy.
Excellent cat TV show with Joanna Lumley.
Tom thinks we all eat baked beans. www.tomharrisusa.com
Interrupted by the phone.
Unpleasant comments.
10 feet away from the sea.
Someone just doesn't get it.
Is it going out, or coming in ?
Ear of corn.
It's just "so strange".
I miss family holidays.
Awful fake tans.
More people have cats than any other pet.
Someone else has trouble with tomato plants.
A teeth cleaning music gadget.
Listening to conversations.
Maureen is in hot water again.
How did Carl cope ?
More large spiders.
TEXT the show : UK - 078... Int - +44... chris@unitedkingdomtalk.co.uk
WWW.UNITEDKINGDOMTALK.CO.UKSaturday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on CURRENT... more
Curtis Allis and Ian Cheney were two men on a mission to discover the truth behind America's corn empire. With video camera in hand, the two began a journey to create "King Corn," a film that starts with a single acre of corn and exposes the grit of the industry, and what really happens to all of those acres when everything is done. In their adventure to Iowa (a place where corn reigns supreme), the men begin to see how profit is made off corn, and how it affects the economy around them. They portray the evolution of corn from seed to harvest, and then what happens after. Statistical data shows us where the corn goes after it has been reaped and processed. The film also shows that even our animals consume corn, and in turn, how that changes people who then eat them.
When Curtis and Ian start their one acre of corn, they quickly find that they will be awarded $28 per acre. If one were to farm a large quantity of acres, a substantial amount of government subsidies would be paid merely for producing corn. Corn is revealed to be a profitless industry, where costs don't weigh out sale value. The only way corn is actually surviving is through the subsidies the government pays. In 1973, Earl Butz was the head of the Department of Agriculture. He moved to have the government begin paying for the over-production of corn so that future generations would be able to live a "dream of plenty." Since then, little farmers have gotten bigger and smaller farmers have disappeared slowly. They even witness an old silo, or corn elevator, that had become so useless for its small size that it was being burned down. Corn is bigger now than it ever has been before.
When Ian and Curtis interview an agronomist from Iowa State University, they find that the corn we know now that was once from Mexico isn't the same, protein-packed delight it once was years ago. Now, because corn has changed over the years, it contains more starch than ever before. More starch over protein renders the corn a less healthy version of what was consumed by our founding fathers. Because corn must be processed before it can be consumed, many people do not even eat the suitable, fresh corn that is a better option. Instead, this "commodity" corn is used to produce mostly corn syrup, and occasionally ethanol or fed as scraps to beef cows.
The wholesome idea of corn being good for America is subjective. The corn syrup that farmers are paid to over-produce in this country is causing problems amongst its citizens. Sodas parade as thirst-quenchers that packs an unhealthy sweetener, yet sells off the shelves. When Ian and Curtis attempt to make corn syrup, they divulge that it is a highly processed, very complicated chemical concoction of sulfuric acid, enzyme protein, and of course- corn. Drinking soda sweetened with corn syrup per day doubles an individual's chance of getting diabetes. Upon their visit to a cow farm, the team unveils the dark side of that market. The beef that is fed the scraps from the corn aren't fed some high-quality, cafeteria prepared dinner. The beef Americans eat is that of cows which have been chowing on torn-up, bacteria-infested piles of damp husks. These cows then must be put on medicines (no doubt also not good for the meat) and slowly die because of it. The cows are jammed in small containers and not allowed to move. The fat in their body takes over and muscles deteriorate. This is what hamburgers are made out of: unhealthy animals, antibiotics, mostly cholesterol. But yet, we did dream of plenty... only to forsake quality for quantity.
Jill Abruzzio, 2008Curtis Allis and Ian Cheney were two men on a mission to discover the truth behind... more
I ran into this on HULU. It's a history channel documentary on the history and uses of industrial corn. It's pretty basic, but it seems fairly balanced to me and provides some background in both directions for the genetically modified crop and Monsanto debates that seem to rage across this site. It's an hour show. I found it interesting.I ran into this on HULU. It's a history channel documentary on the history and uses... more
"King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation. In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, andpowerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat-and how we farm." http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/kingcorn/
High Fructose Corn Syrup derived from genetically engineered seeds is feeding and killing our Nation.
I must mention the overused statement: "We are what we eat" because it is true.
Most people still do not know about this appalling reality.
Join ORGANIC to fight for a better and green World, discuss alternatives, imagining and creating solutions: http://current.com/groups/organicgreen/"King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the... more
The Häagen-Dazs brand is urging consumers to grab a friend and "Do the Honey Bee" dance in August to celebrate National Honey Bee Awareness. The brand worked with a team of recent high school graduates, concerned about the serious situation facing honey bees, to create their own interpretation of the instinctual honey bee waggle dance to share with others.The Häagen-Dazs brand is urging consumers to grab a friend and "Do the Honey Bee"... more
This is a video I made last year when corn prices were reaching a record high point influenced by the rise of ethanol and bio-diesels.
The response to this increase in crop prices was an explosion in crop dusting or "aerial application" in order to protect the valuable crops from fungus and insect damage.
Since last year, ethanol does not seem to have as promising of a future as once believed and as a result corn prices have leveled off at a much lower price per bushel.This is a video I made last year when corn prices were reaching a record high point... more
In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising-and often shocking truths-about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.
A new development in genetic engineering could be the next step in helping to tackle global starvation and poor diets in developing countries.
Scientists have gained success in genetically modifying African corn, to enhance it nutrition. The corn's vitamin C has been boosted by six-times its regular level, as well as an increase in beta carotene -- a precursor of vitamin A.
This achievement separates itself from previous forms of genetically engineered crops, as it is the first time that scientist have produced multiple vitamins in a single plant.A new development in genetic engineering could be the next step in helping to tackle... more
The recent increase in the production of bio-fuels has skyrocketed the demand and price of corn. This heightened demand for corn is helping to drive a revitalization of the aerial application industry which has been in decline for decades.
With prices for corn soaring ever higher farmers are more willing to apply insecticides and pesticides to protect their most valuable crops. In 2008 the number of acres to be crop dusted jumped dramatically and so did the demand for dusting pilots.
I had the chance to interview a pilot (Steve Schaler) and managed to gain some insight into the life of a crop dusting pilot and the associated hazards.The recent increase in the production of bio-fuels has skyrocketed the demand and... more
Tuesday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch or listen to the show on Tues, Thurs & Sats here at WWW.UNITEDKINGDOMTALK.CO.UK
In today's show :
Chicken.
Tomato plants.
Bed & breakfast.
South London English.
A date set for decorating.
Seal.
Coffee.
Thank you Ivona.
Tick news.
Adams diet advice.
My niece & nephew on the phone.
Carpet ordered.
Duck.
Bug bombs.
A new shirt.
Something for Tom in Chicago.
Become a regular correspondant.
Let me be your virgin.
The Union Jack was fine.
A kind old sort.
Knocking the tea over.
Out of date.
A vase of flowers.
Pigeon impressions.
I hope they don't look in my cupboards.
How to destroy a creme egg : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrCb_fNmSTA
Faster broadband is here !
A good teacher.
Seeds have been purchased.
Plastic.
How do you have your corn ?
Easter eggs.
A stain.
Fleas in the bed.
Seagull.
Hi to Roway in China.
I wonder, did Tom Vilsack of this Dept. Of Agriculture meet with their agriculture secretary?Monsanto is licking its chops to get into Mexico because they are being frozen out of Europe. Don't wonder now why Obama won't bother reworking NAFTA. This is one reason why. The only good thing about this is that individual Mexican states can still ban it, and based on the rightful opposition to it and its threat to the biodiversity of the corn varieties there I hope that happens.
_____
From the article:
NOTE: For what's really happening in Mexico, see the video of the interview with Silvia Ribeiro
*Agriculture secretary says genetically-modified varieties of this ubiquitous crop may be used in experiments.
Mexico has revised its biosafety law to reverse a nationwide ban on genetically-modified corn, the country's most important crop and the centerpiece of the Mexican diet, and allow the varieties to be used in experiments.
In a press conference, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, said that the government would fight any illicit planting of genetically-modified corn, of which Mexico is the birthplace.
Elvira Quesada added that the changes to Biosafety and Genetically-Modified Organisms would not prohibit individual states from instating bans on transgenic corn, and under those circumstances, experiments would not be an excuse.
Mexico's agriculture secretary said there are 25 requests to plant experimental transgenic corn in the country.
Genetically-modified corn has been a contentious issue in Mexico, where there are some 200 native varieties of the staple crop.
In February, a study by scientists from the Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States found that genetically-modified corn strains did contaminate native corn varieties in southern Mexico.
The study, led by Elena Alvarez-Buylla of the National Autonomous University in Mexico, backed findings a contentious 2001 study published in the journal Nature that said the genetically-engineered corn had been detected in some of these varieties, sparking a heated debate over the study´s research methods and findings.
On Feb. 25, Mexico City's government issued a declaration that seeks to protect native corn varieties and promote ecologically-friendly and organic agriculture.
The decision was lauded by Greenpeace Mexico as a sign of commitment to protecting "Mexicans' most important grain." - Latinamerica Press.I wonder, did Tom Vilsack of this Dept. Of Agriculture meet with their agriculture... more
The real price of fruits and vegetables between 1985 and 2000 increased by nearly 40 percent while the real price of soft drinks (AKA Liquid Corn) declined by 23 percent.
The Farm Bill essentially treats our children as a human disposal for all the unhealthful calories that the Farm Bill has encouraged American farmers to overproduce.
The public health community has come to recognize it can't hope to address obesity and diabetes without addressing the Farm Bill.The real price of fruits and vegetables between 1985 and 2000 increased by nearly 40... more
Now that this year's Oscar nominations are out, debate will rage about which films deserved it, which actors should have received a nod, and who should (or shouldn't) win. While these food films flew under the Academy's radar, at least when it came time to nominate, that doesn't mean they all didn't deserve a nod, or at least a closer look.
If you watch all of these films you'll understand where our food system stands today, a little bit about how it got that way, and you'll have some insight into what it might look like in the future. There's a scary, uncertain future built on greed and there's a bright, progressive future built on community. I reckon we end up with the latter, and I hope these films help you make choices to become a part of that future.
Follow link for the list, including a clip from each film.Now that this year's Oscar nominations are out, debate will rage about which films... more
Many common foods made using commercial high fructose corn syrup contain mercury as well, researchers reported on Tuesday, while another study suggested the corn syrup itself is contaminated.
Food processors and the corn syrup industry group attacked the findings as flawed and outdated, but the researchers said it was important for people to know about any potential sources of the toxic metal in their food.
In one study, published in the journal Environmental Health, former Food and Drug Administration scientist Renee Dufault and colleagues tested 20 samples of high fructose corn syrup and found detectable mercury in nine of the 20 samples.
Dufault said in a statement that she told the FDA about her findings but the agency did not follow up.
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Should anyone be surprised?Many common foods made using commercial high fructose corn syrup contain mercury as... more
For years there's been buzz, both positive and negative, about generating ethanol fuel from corn. But thanks to recent developments, the Bay Area is rapidly becoming a world center for the next generation of green fuel alternatives. Meet the scientists investigating the newest methods for converting what we grow into what makes us go.For years there's been buzz, both positive and negative, about generating ethanol... more
The endless supply of junk food in our society creates untold amounts of waste and causes health problems like obesity and diabetes but it’s not simply sugar and fat doing the damage. There’s a common ingredient found in almost everything sold on supermarket shelves from fatty beef to sugary soda - it’s corn.
Curt Ellis, one of the creators of the documentary film, King Corn.
Corn is the basis for fast food. When we go to McDonald’s, the hamburger is fed corn, the soda is almost completely high-fructose corn syrup, and the french fries are fried in corn oil or soybean oil.
The overproduction of low quality corn as a commodity is a huge problem but there’s a lot you can do to combat it. Buy locally produced vegetables, switch to grass fed beef, and avoid high-fructose corn syrup. These easy steps will help you right the wrongs of the American food industry and live well.
For the full interview podcast with Curt Ellis, click above.
Photo by Joeri van Veen.Is corn killing us?
The endless supply of junk food in our society creates untold... more
