Sludge Watch ==> Update from Beyond Factory Farming

[Maureen Reilly]

>From :  Glen Koroluk
glen at beyondfactoryfarming.org



FEED - Food & Environment Electronic Digest
February 2007
Read FEED online at: http://ucsaction.org/ct/P7Mf-Fn1OXlx/

Contents

1. Good news for pigs: Gestation crates being phased out
2. Good news for rural communities: Manitoba limits hog farms
3. Victory in engineered bentgrass case
4. Cloned food can't be sold as organic
5. What you can do: Attend a hearing on factory farming

1. Good news for pigs: Gestation crates being phased out
Both the world's largest pork producer, U.S.-based Smithfield
Farms, and Canada's largest pork producer, Maple Leaf Foods, are
phasing out the use of gestation crates for pigs over the next
decade. These metal cages confine pregnant sows for months at a
time in an area so small that they cannot turn around, causing
the animals physical and mental distress. Both companies will
transition their sows to group housing in pens instead.
Smithfield's decision came after Arizona and Florida passed
ballot initiatives banning gestation crates, and corporate
customers pressured it to adopt more humane practices. Sows will
still be confined in the small crates for a time after they give
birth. Read more in The New York Times at
http://ucsaction.org/ct/PdMf-Fn1OXls/ (free reg. req'd.).

2. Good news for rural communities: Manitoba limits hog farms
The Canadian province of Manitoba has placed a moratorium on
construction of new hog farms until it has determined whether it
is environmentally safe to expand hog operations. Read more at
http://ucsaction.org/ct/Q1Mf-Fn1OXle/.

3. Victory in engineered bentgrass case
In a landmark case, the U.S. District Court ruled that the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) failed to enforce rules
governing the cultivation of genetically engineered bentgrass, a
lawn and golf course grass that contains a gene for herbicide
resistance. The USDA improperly waived environmental assessments
under the National Environmental Policy Act and failed to assess
the potential for bentgrass to become a noxious weed, as
required by the Plant Protection Act. Bentgrass in Oregon test
plots interbred with wild grasses and established colonies of
hybrid plants that carried engineered genes up to 9,800 feet
beyond the 900-foot containment recommended by the USDA. The
ruling eliminates the USDA's current practice of waiving
environmental assessments of experimental engineered crops. The
USDA reviews about 1,000 such field trials each year. Read more
from the Center for Food Safety at
http://ucsaction.org/ct/P1Mf-Fn1OXlw/.

4. Cloned food can't be sold as organic
The National Organic Program says that even if cloned animals
are approved for sale as food, they cannot be sold as organic.
Read more at http://ucsaction.org/ct/Q7Mf-Fn1OXlc/.

5. What you can do: Speak at a hearing on factory farming
The National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production is
holding a series of public hearings around the country on
factory farming. The task of the Commission, an independent
entity launched by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health, is to examine the impact of factory farming on public
health, the environment, rural areas, and animal welfare. Its
final report and recommendations could be very influential, so
it is important for the Commission to hear from family farmers,
citizens in communities affected by factory farming, and others
who have particular knowledge of the issues. Visit
http://www.ncifap.org/meetings/ to see hearing locations and
dates, and to sign up to speak.