U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis Unites Diverse Groups Around a Campaign to Build a Just and Sustainable Food System

Every person can fight the food system and reach these goals:

• Stabilize prices for farmers and consumers globally.
• Rebalance power in the food system.
• Make sustainable agriculture the standard
• Guarantee the right to healthy food by building local and regional food systems and fostering social, ecological and economic justice.

You can take action in many ways!

1. Contact your elected officials to demand policies that support a fair food system.
2. Write op-eds and letters to the editor of your newspaper.
3. Host an event to educate and mobilize your community.
4. Join local or government organizations working for a fair food system.
5. Get involved with the US Working Group on the Food Crisis.

You can make the food industry a better place for everyone, but especially for YOU, the consumer.

Organic is not always the right choice

Too often, especially in organic agriculture, we focus all of our attention on the animal's diet and miss the big picture. Not only does the animal's diet have to be good, but they should be expected to give the animals a good life. In today's agriculture, a chicken that's been caged it's whole life but is fed all organic feed is worth more than one who has had the freedom to roam, but not eat organic feed.

So keep in mind when you're buying products that are labeled a certain way that 'organic' isn't always better.

Time to Use the 3 R's !

Refine, Reduce and Replace!

Refine: Purchase animal products made from humane systems by looking for the 'Certified Humane' label or buy from local or organic producers.

Reduce: Reduce the amount you consume.

Replace: Replace meat with vegetarian foods such as fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, etc. The options may be easier to find, tastier and cheaper.

Center for Food Safety Announcement

The Center for Food Safety today announced that it will lead a coalition of concerned farmers, consumers and enviornmentalists to hold USDA accountable in it's responsibility to protect all consumers and farmers against genetically engeneered food.

Slick advertizing and atractively packaged meat and dairy products in the supermarket five no hint of the ordeal animals face while on their way to the breakfast, lunch or dinner table. Here's a glimpse of this reality:

• Dairy cows are kept continuously pregnantm causing their overworked udders to frequently develop mastitis, a painful inflammation.


• Pigs are reared in mass-confinement buildings of several thousand animals or more. They lie on concerete slats, never seeing the outdoors until transported to slaughter.


• Pregnant sows spend years confined in tiny crates that are barely larger than their bodies and do not even allow them to turn around.


• Hens used for egg production are crammed into cages where confinement is so severe that their feathers are worn off from scraping against the metal wire. Their skin becomes covered in bruises and sores.


• At slaughter, a stunner is supposed to render an animal unconsious before it is killed. Eyewitnesses and industry reports indicate there is a significant failure rate in the correct use of this equipment.

Chickens

Imagine being hung upside down, shocked into paralysis, having your throat cut, then drowned in hot water...while you’re conscious. That’s the stuff of nightmares, and it’s the tragic reality for billions of birds each year. These animals have virtually no protection from the worst slaughter abuses.

Less than 50 years ago, it would take a chick about 90 days to reach it's full size. Now, because of genetic engeneering, it takes about 40 days for them to grow double that size. Growth hormones cause the chicken to grow larger breasts, because the breast is the most favorable part of the chicken. Since the chicken's body grows incredibly fast, it's bones aren't strong enough to support it's heavy body. Because of this, the animals are lucky if they can even walk a few steps before falling.

More convinience, but at what cost?

Food manufacturing has become increasingly efficient with manufacturers applying calculated supply chain methods to produce ever increasing surplus. Larger amounts of produce or meat per acre of land are produced at a lower cost than ever before due to better farming equipment, fertilizer, antibiotics, breeding and genetic engineering. Increased efficiency has resulted in overproduction and driven prices down. Food companies have responded by finding new ways to make more money. In addition to reducing prices to sell more product, manufacturers have found creative ways to add value, primarily by making food more convenient. Engineered additives, processed ingredients, pre-cooking and packaging give food a longer shelf life. Consumers no longer have to prepare and cook meals at home, instead preferring the instant gratification from eating pre-cooked, processed and single serving snack foods.

The biggest change to food has been flavor enhancement. The addition of fat, sugar and salt in almost everything you eat magnifies the flavor intensity and sensation a person experiences, much like a drug. Rather than creating a feeling of being full, the body keeps craving that good feeling, becoming addicted to it. The food industry is well aware of this and salt, sugar and fat are now in almost all packaged supermarket and fast foods.

Processed foods are the most profitable and are the most heavily advertised in America. Candy, soft drinks, cereal and snacks receive over 50% of food advertising dollars. This is where obesity is coming from. At a time when fewer calories are needed to support the lifestyle of an average American, people are consuming far more calories than ever before.