Like most Americans not involved in agriculture, the massive 2013 Farm Bill falls into the realm of ho-hum government business that’s a) complex beyond belief and b) is going to happen with or without your input.
And Monsanto — the world’s biggest pesticide maker and owner of seeds (and by extension food) — is counting on that.
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Fair Trade USA, a major third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the US, reported today that sales of Fair Trade certified goods grew by about 75 between the first and last quarters of 2011. Mainstream grocery, food and drug items grew even faster, recording a 95 percent increase in fair trade sales, a boom that was largely driven by the adoption of Fair Trade labels by major food brands like Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Honest Tea, which have increased their Fair Trade commitments.
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[caption id="attachment_61629" align="alignright" width="186" caption="SFI's label called into question."]
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Seven companies, including four from the Fortune 500, have agreed to stop using the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s (SFI) ‘eco-label’ on branded paper products or company publications, according to the nonprofit group ForestEthics. Aetna, Allstate, Garnet Hill, Office Depot, Performance Bicycles, Symantec and United Stationers each made separate commitments or took actions.
Green Right Now Reports
Annie Leonard is back at it. The creator of the witty Story of Stuff, which broke through the fog of denial on how we are consuming our planet by over consuming stuff, has taken on Cap and Trade, the market-based plan that supporters say will save the planet but that others (like Leonard) believe will miss the mark, with tragic consequences.
The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project on Vimeo.
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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now
Palm Oil, an ingredient found in most processed food, has been the subject of much environmental debate in recent years over its role in deforestation. It is commonly found in cooking oil and as an ingredient in cosmetics, soaps, detergents, and some plastics. Palm oil also has been considered for use in the production of biodiesel.
There have been many attempts to make palm oil sustainable. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was even established in 2003 to do just that. Unfortunately, six years later, there is still no system that can effectively trace palm oil beyond the processor to the plantation level. Companies that manufacture products using palm oil have little way of knowing where the controversial substance originated — which leaves the question of whether and to what degree palm oil is sustainably farmed up in the air.
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
Just in time for the new school year, an environmental watchdog group has issued a report card on paper retailers with forest-friendly policies.
ForestEthics, a Canadian-US non-profit founded in 2000, and the Dogwood Alliance, a defender of Southern US forests based in Asheville, N.C., collaborated on the third annual Green Grades report, which placed FedEx Office and Office Depot at the top of their class.
FedEx Office received an A- and Office Depot a B. Staples got a B- and Office Max a C in the group’s evaluation of the office retail sector.
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