Do people actually eat deep-fried Mars bars?

Take a normal chocolate bar, place in batter, put in deep-fat fryer and a few minutes later you have a dubious treat

They surveyed hundreds of fish and chip shops in Scotland to find out if "the delicacy" was available and if people were actually buying them.

It found 66 shops which sold them, 22% of those who answered the survey.

David Morrison, senior lecturer in chronic disease epidemiology at the University of Glasgow, was one of the experts who did the research.

The deep-fried Mars bar is seen as a "totem" for something which is a significant driver of ill health, obesity and high-fat diets, he says.

Morrison doesn't want to "demonise" a single food stuff but notes that it is well-known that high-fat and high-sugar foods lead to health problems.

Annie Anderson, from the Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research at the University of Dundee, used to send her medical students out into the city to see if they could find somewhere that sold deep-fried Mars bar.

Joan Bakewell on older drinkers

Joan Bakewell presents Panorama: Old, Drunk and Disorderly? BBC One, Monday, 10 September at 19:30 BST Then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer I have just returned from holidaying in France with a car boot rattling with the sound of a very nice Muscadet. So, yes, I am a sure fire target for the health police.

I was put through my paces. This meant keeping a record of my own drinking patterns for a month.

It was during July - a season of chilled white wine, sunny days with a glass of something refreshing in hand, parties in gardens, on terraces, by the sea.

Government guidelines for women allow a daily limit of 3 units a day.

But I didn't always refuse a top-up or even the second drink that would take me to that limit.

And when comparing my habits to the advice handed down, it did make me query who the people are who draw up these rules. And what do they know of our real lives?

More seriously what do they know of the dilemmas of older people and the problems they confront as they face old age?

Loneliness, isolation

The loss of friends, personal bereavement, sudden redundancy or retirement, loneliness and isolation can all feel like good reasons to reach for the bottle. I met several such people and heard their stories.

There is 73-year-old Barbara Smith who told me how the death of her husband played a big part in causing her drinking to spiral out of control.

Her drinking reached as much as a bottle of wine every day - around four times the government's recommended limit.

And Barbara, who is now getting support to help her cut down her drinking, is not alone. Experts advise that people refrain from drinking on at least two days a week, yet more over-65s are drinking six or seven days a week than any other age group.

Continue reading the main storyUnits of alcohol Bottle (75cl) of wine - 10 units Small (125ml) glass of wine - 1.5 units Standard (175ml) glass of wine - 2.1 units Large (250ml) glass of wine - 3 units Pint of weaker (3.6%) beer - 2 units Pint of stronger (5.2%) beer - 3 units Bottle (330ml) of beer - 1.7 units Can (440ml) of beer - 2 units Alcopop bottle (275ml) - 1.5 units Small (25ml) shot of spirits - 1 unit Large (35ml) shot of spirits - 1.4 units

Source: NHS

Alcohol units guide I also met a number of qualified professionals who are helping snatch older problem drinkers back from the brink, and add years to their lives.

In Hampshire, the local Primary Care Trust has the highest number of hospital admissions of over-65s in England for alcohol-related problems.

They have responded by setting up a specialist alcohol team at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth to help identify and tackle the issue.

For many elderly people drinking at home, it is quite easy to drink more than they realise and to creep above safe limits says Dr Richard Aspinall, a consultant hepatologist in Portsmouth.

"We think of a very visible social disorder, consequences of young people binge drinking on a Saturday night in our town centres, but what's much more hidden is quiet, below the radar drinking at home."

He and others are both wise and sympathetic to the issue of older people and drinking. They do not disapprove of social drinking, but don't want it to become an addiction.

I'll be keeping their phone numbers to hand. You just never know what the years will hold!

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How do children cope with trauma?

There is a strong immediate psychological risk to Zeena of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and this could manifest itself in a number of ways, according to Ms Citron.

Recurrent flashbacks, reliving the incident in her mind like a film, sleeplessness and bed-wetting are among symptoms seen in children suffering from PTSD.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteIt will take years and years of trained professionals helping her”

End QuoteEmma CitronConsultant clinical psychologist Ms Citron also said that, later in life, children who have witnessed violent events can also underachieve academically and feel they live in a "different sphere or world" from everyone else.

She may struggle in friendships and, Ms Citron said, traumatised children have tended to report later on that people do not understand them.

The loss of her parents, and the realisation of the significance of this as she grows older, will also complicate her trauma.

"It will take years and years of trained professionals helping her. She's at a very formative age where she's very dependent on her loved ones for her care and personality," she said, adding that having family members near to her will be crucial to her recovery and care.

"Even for a young baby, to go through such an awful thing traumatises them. With any developed concept of mortality, as they grow up, more and more, they realise all the loss as they piece it together," Ms Citron said.

Ultimately every child's experience of an atrocity is different, Ms Citron said, and very personal.

Zeena's ability to cope will depend on a number of factors, including her resilience and her genetic disposition.

"As she grows up it would be very much down to her own resilient personality, her genes, whether her family were or weren't copers - all of that has a part to play for how the future pans out for a child."

Couple's services for lost babies

Exeter Cathedral is the first of a series of national services across the UK

Saying Goodbye has invited three charities -The Miscarriage Association, Bliss and Tommy's - to partner it so people can access the support they need.

Mrs Clark-Coats contacted Professor Lord Robert Winston who agreed to become Saying Goodbye's ambassador.

The organisation also has the support of the Association of Early Pregnancy Units and a host of high-profile people such as Nigella Lawson, Jools Oliver and Gabby Logan.

The Clark-Coates said they have been overwhelmed by the messages of support they have received.

"We've been on Twitter for about 12 weeks now and have more than 10,000 followers," Mrs Clark-Coates said, adding that about 30% were men.

"There are so many fathers who need support."

The messages included one from Jamie Oliver, keyboardist with Welsh rock band Lostprophets, whose partner is expecting a baby and who wanted to pledge his support.

The services will include secular music, poetry readings and messages of hope and will be open to people "of all faiths and no faith".

"We hope that finally being able to say goodbye and standing in a room with hundreds of others who have been through a similar experience will be life changing," Mrs Clark-Coates added.

Although no formal counselling will be on offer, people will have an opportunity to speak to representatives from Saying Goodbye or the partner charities after the hour-long services.

Services have also been planned at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, York Minster, Birmingham Cathedral, Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Bristol Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral in London.

The Clark-Coates said at least 20 services will take place across the UK next year and they are also planning international services.

Caves key to fighting superbugs

Horizon: Defeating the Superbugs

This complex structure make them almost impossible for chemists to design or synthesize, which is why we often turn to nature for their discovery.

Of the myriad of antibiotics that have come on the market over the last 60 years, 99% are derived from other microorganisms, primarily bacteria and fungi in the soil.

But this source of compounds is starting to run out and we must turn our attention to more exotic and extreme environments.

Caves are isolated environments, formed by water eroding rock over millions of years. In such isolation, without the input of sunlight or nutrients from the surface, microorganisms have had to adapt to a life of perpetual famine.

Through my work in caves, I have learnt that such microbes are so well adapted to starvation, that regular laboratory growth conditions are too rich.

With many of these microorganisms trapped in an unending search for food, they are unable to turn off their scavenging systems, and stuff themselves to the point of death.

Others are so adept at making a living from what little energy is available that they can survive by eating the plasticizers that leach out of plastics in our laboratory dishes.

Some cheat, learning to hunt down and prey upon other bacteria to obtain the resources they need to survive. Of the over 4,000 bacterial species we have grown from cave environments - 1,000 of which are new species - most behave unlike their surface counterparts.

Smokers urged to quit for a month

Smokers across England are being urged to quit for a month in a government campaign.

Research has shown that people who manage to stop smoking for that length of time are more likely not to start again.

"Stoptober" takes place for 28 days from 1 October.

England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said it was the first time that the government had launched a "mass quit attempt".

The campaign will involve TV and radio advertising, a daily messaging service and roadshows around the country. There is also a Stoptober app and a Facebook page.

Health Minister Norman Lamb, who said he quit smoking last week, told BBC Breakfast the campaign was "a good investment in health promotion".

"I think it's well worth trying this approach," he said.

"And if we can get people working locally together collectively to give up we can have a real impact."

'Social animals'

Robert West, director of tobacco studies at University College London, meanwhile, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that smokers tended to stop "in clumps".

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
It's key that smokers don't give up trying to give up”
End Quote
Jean King, Cancer Research UK
"We are social animals, we are herd animals and we are influenced by each other," he said.

He added: "So I think there's good reason to believe setting it up as a mass movement, if you like, would give you a bit of extra bang for your buck."

Jean King, director of tobacco control at Cancer Research UK, which is backing the campaign, said: "Smoking accounts for one in four cancer deaths and nearly a fifth of all cancer cases so it's vital that work continues to support smokers to quit.

"Breaking the addiction is difficult, so new and innovative campaigns such as this are hugely important."

She added: "It's key that smokers don't give up trying to give up."

Warning of right-to-die law 'row'

"Any new right-to-die legislation will be rigorously fought by MPs from across the House.

Continue reading the main storyRight-to-die cases

Diane Pretty was terminally ill with motor neurone disease. She wanted the courts to give her husband immunity from prosecution if he was to help her die. In November 2001 the House of Lords refused her application.

Ms B was left a tetraplegic by a brain condition. She went to court because doctors refused to stop her artificial ventilation. The High Court ruled in 2002 that her request was valid and treatment was stopped.

Mrs Z, who had an incurable degenerative disease, wanted to go to Switzerland to die and Mr Z arranged it. An injunction to prevent the travel was granted to the local authority. The order was overturned in 2004.

MS sufferer Debbie Purdy challenged the lack of clarity on the law on assisted suicide. She wanted to understand how prosecutors would make a decision on whether or not to prosecute her husband if he was to assist her to get to Switzerland to be helped to die. Ms Purdy won her case and guidance was issued.

"This is a slippery slope, which incrementally and over time, will reduce the 'right to life'."

BMA president Baroness Hollins also criticised moves to re-open the debate, and made it clear the medical profession did "not support a change in the law".

Speaking to Sky News, she said: "To change the law would be to change the boundary between life and death altogether. That's a journey I just don't want us to even start out on in this country."

The Department of Health said the views expressed by Ms Soubry were her own, and the Ministry of Justice said there were no plans for the government to change the law.

It was a matter for Parliament to decide, the justice ministry added.

Campaign group Dignity in Dying said it was currently consulting - along with the all-party parliamentary group on choice at the end of life - on a proposed draft bill.

In January, the Commission on Assisted Dying - led by Lord Falconer and set up and funded by campaigners who want to see a change in the law - said there was a "strong case" for allowing assisted suicide for people who are terminally ill in England and Wales.

But the report had a mixed response, with critics calling it biased.

Paul Tully, of campaign group SPUC Pro-Life, warned that if assisted dying was legalised people with disabilities would be faced with "the sickening prospect that if they struggle with suicidal feelings they will be given help to die instead of care and support".

"Such a move would allegedly save huge amounts of public funds in the costs of caring for disabled, elderly and supposedly unproductive people," he added.

"Disabled people must speak up now before the minister starts trying to legislate against their equal right to exist."

The debate over assisted suicide has resurfaced after Tony Nicklinson, a man with locked-in syndrome, died a week after losing a legal bid to end his life.

Diabetes cholesterol risk warning

The majority of people with diabetes are not controlling cholesterol levels effectively - putting them at increased risk of heart disease, a charity warns.

Diabetes UK says 90% of people with the disease are having annual checks which will show up problems.

But it says the most recent national diabetes audit found many are not then addressing high cholesterol.

Chief executive Barbara Young said it meant the health of thousands was being put at unnecessary risk.

'Easy to control'

About 3.7 million people in the UK have diabetes. The majority - about 90% - have Type 2 diabetes, where the body makes too little insulin or where it fails to make it properly. In those with Type 1 diabetes, the body cannot produce any insulin at all.

The audit includes data on 1.9 million people in England with diabetes.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
It is an issue that is putting the health of hundreds of thousands of people at risk. ”
End Quote
Barbara Young

Diabetes UK
People with both types of the condition have a higher risk of heart disease than the rest of the population.

Cardiovascular disease is linked to 44% of deaths in people with Type 1 and 52% with Type 2.

Diabetes UK says that because of the existence of statins - cholesterol-lowering drugs - it is relatively easy to control high cholesterol.

People with Type 2 diabetes also have twice the risk of stroke within the first five years of diagnosis compared with the general population.

Barbara Young said the findings were worrying, adding: "It is not clear why the high number of people having their annual cholesterol check is not translating into better cholesterol control, but it is an issue that is putting the health of hundreds of thousands of people at risk.

"It will often be appropriate to prescribe medication such as statins, but it is no good doing this without explaining the importance of taking the medication regularly and the potentially devastating consequences of not doing so.

"Other ways people can help improve their cholesterol levels include losing weight, exercising daily, reducing alcohol consumption, stopping smoking and eating a healthy diet, low in fat."

Middle-aged men at suicide risk

1.5m for research into how to tackle suicide in at-risk groups.

Aside from middle-aged men, these include people with mental health problems and those with a history of self-harm.

Strategies to reduce the risk of suicide include reducing access to suicide-related internet sites for children and reducing the opportunity for suicide for people in prisons or mental health facilities.

The government has also promised better information and support for those bereaved or affected by suicide.

'Everyone's business'

Care minister Norman Lamb said: "Over the last 10 years there has been real progress in reducing the suicide rate, but it is still the case that someone takes their own life every two hours in England.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteAs with all strategies, the real value comes with implementation”

End QuotePaul FarmerMind "We want to reduce suicides by better supporting those most at risk and providing information for those affected by a loved one's suicide."

Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, welcomed the strategy, but said: "As with all strategies, the real value comes with implementation.

"The funding pledged for research is a vital contribution. However, at a time when there are cuts to health services, we would strongly urge the government to invest in the services it expects to deliver this strategy.

"In addition, as our new health minister has today acknowledged, suicide prevention is everyone's business, so we need to see a real commitment from all government departments in supporting those at risk."

Crippling viruses 'cause asthma'

Early growth’ linked to asthma Viral infections in newborns "cripple" part of the immune system and increase the risk of asthma later in life, US researchers studying mice have said.

They showed infections by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) stripped immune cells of their ability to calm down inflammation in the lung's airways.

They say their findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, will help develop ways of preventing asthma.

The charity Asthma UK said the study had "really exciting" potential.

When something irritates the airways of a patient with asthma, the airways become tightened, inflamed and produce too much sticky mucus. All of this can make breathing difficult.

Previous studies have shown a link between repeated lung infections with RSV and developing asthma later in life.

One Swedish study showed showed 39% of infants taken to hospital with RSV had asthma when they were 18. However, only 9% of infants who were not ill developed asthma.

How the virus might be able to do this was, however, unknown. Now a team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine believe they have an explanation.

Their experiments on mice showed the virus impaired the ability of a specific part of the immune system, called regulatory T cells, to calm inflammation.

Funding for 9/11 cancer victims

Continue reading the main storyRelated StoriesDeal over New York's 9/11 museum9/11 zoomable image'Freedom Tower' is NYC's tallest The US federal government has added about 50 types of cancer to the list of illnesses to be covered by a 9/11 health treatment programme.

The decision entitles 70,000 surviving emergency service workers and other survivors to free care.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety announced the change on the eve of the attacks' 11th anniversary.

Some 1,000 deaths have been linked to illnesses caused by toxic dust issuing from wreckage at Ground Zero.

New approach to hay fever vaccine

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Patrick Sachon explains how the Met Office counts pollen from the roof and labs of King's College London

Dr Till said: "If this approach proves to be effective it would define a new scientific and clinical principle that could also be applied to other allergic diseases such as asthma and food allergies.

"This could be a pivotal study in immunological research."

Maureen Jenkins, the director of clinical services at the charity Allergy UK, said this was a "very exciting development" which "offers hope for sufferers".

She added: "The proposed vaccine, if successful, is much quicker and more straightforward than current immunotherapy treatment for hay fever, which takes years. It also has the potential to offer cost savings.

"If this series of injections proves effective in combating hay fever, it will be a wonderful step forward in tackling this common, but often underestimated allergy."

A separate vaccine would have to be developed to help people with allergies to tree pollen.

Ashland Oregon Takes Stand Against GMO Crops

Daily Tidings, September 5, 2012
The Ashland City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to send a letter asking Jackson County commissioners to take whatever action they deem necessary to protect organic farming in the county from genetically modified crops.

Organic food cannot contain genetically modified organisms according to national organic standards.

Organic crops could be contaminated by pollen drifting in from fields of genetically modified crops, causing organic farmers to lose their ability to sell their crops, according to residents who testified at a City Council meeting on Tuesday.

One local farmer said he had to dump $4,400 worth of seed that he would normally sell to seed packet companies because his crops had been potentially contaminated by genetically modified chard growing less than three miles away.

A United States Department of Agriculture standard calls for genetically modified crops to be at least four miles away from other crops, residents said.

"This is not only a health issue, but an economic issue," said City Councilor Carol Voisin.

Through its Natural Resources Advisory Committee, the Jackson County government has been exploring the feasibility of adopting an ordinance that would ban the use of genetically modified seeds in the county.

The earliest that committee is likely to make a recommendation to county commissioners is January 2013, said Ashland City Administrator Dave Kanner.

The issue of genetically modified food continues to be debated around the world, with some saying the crops could harm the environment, the organic food industry and people's health.

12 New GM Crops Up For USDA Approval

USDA Fast-Tracks GMO Crop Approval Process
By Melinda Suelflow, Campaigns
Stop the New "Birth-Defect Ready" GMOs!

Stop Bayer's New GMO Herbicide-Addicted Soy!

Stop Syngenta's New Bt Corn!

Stop Dow's Agent Orange Soy!

Stop GMO Apples!

Stop Monsanto's Dicamba Tolerant Soybean!Earlier this summer, the USDA posted twelve new GE crops for public comment with a September 11 deadline, and nine are under the new fast-tracked process. That's twelve new GMOs to review and issue comments on in two months!

Here's the lowdown. Three of the new crops are under the old petition process. Under the old process there is only one 60-day public comment period. Here are the three crops under the old process:

--- Dow 2,4-D and Glufosinate Tolerant Soybean (APHIS-2012-0019)

Since the introduction of GM crops, the US has seen herbicide use increase by over 300 million pounds.  Big Biotech originally claimed that weeds would not develop resistance to glyphosate (RoundUp), but they have and these new "superweeds" have become the driving force behind new crops engineered for stacked, or multiple, herbicide tolerances. Adoption of these new crops will lead to dramatic increases in the use of higher risk herbicides such as 2,4-D and dicamba, perpetuating the herbicide treadmill that is already in place.

2,4-D is already the third-most-used US herbicide, after glyphosate and atrazine, and as a leading source of dioxin pollution, it's one of the most deadly.  As of yet, however, it's hardly used on soy at all. Just 3 percent of total US soybean acres were treated with 2,4-D in 2006. Not only will this percentage skyrocket once Agent Orange Soy hits the market, the amount used per acre may triple, according to the USDA.

Take Action!

---Bayer Glyphosate and Isoxaflutole Tolerant Soybean (APHIS-2012-0029)

Bayer's petition to force its new controversial herbicide (isoxaflutole) tolerant soy on the market conceals crucial information on potential allergenicity and toxicity that came to light when EU experts examined the GMO soybean.

Take Action!

---Syngenta Corn Rootworm Resistant Corn (APHIS-2012-0024)

Syngenta's genetically engineered Bt crops have been banned in many countries because of the documented harm they cause to people, animals and insects. Bt corn produces its own insecticide that kills bad bugs and good bugs alike, Bt corn pollen has reportedly killed peasants in the Philippines, Bt livestock feed harms animals, and the Bt toxin is now found in the blood of over 80% of women and their unborn children.

Take Action!

Under the new process, USDA has also opened nine additional new crops for public comment. This initial comment period applies to the petitions for nonregulated status which include information submitted by the petitioning company. Once USDA has the completed their environmental analyses they will open a final 30-day comment period for the decision-making documents.

Here are the 9 crops under the new process with the same September 11 deadline:

---Okanagan Non-Browning Apple (APHIS-2012-0025)
Take Action!

Okanagan's "Arctic" apple would be the first genetically engineered version of a food that people directly bite into. According to the latest study by the Environmental Working Group, conventionally grown apples are the most pesticide contaminated fruit or vegetable on the market. Conventional apples are dangerous, and GMO apples are just a dumb idea - one not even supported by many in the apple industry itself!

---Monsanto Dicamba Tolerant Soybean (APHIS-2012-0047)
Take Action!

According to the Institute for Science in Society (ISIS), "dicamba is actually an old herbicide that served alongside "agent orange" in Vietnam, and has been resurrected as an environmentally friendly chemical through the magic of public relations."   

---BASF Imidazolinone Tolerant Soybean (APHIS-2012-0028)

---Monsanto High Yield Soybean (APHIS-2012-0020)

---Monsanto Hybrid Corn (APHIS-2012-0027)

Four of the nine are genetically engineered with a soil bacteria that keeps them alive even when they're sprayed with massive doses of the herbicide glyphosate (Monsanto's RoundUp). More of these so-called "RoundUp Ready" crops mean more RoundUp sprayed on our food. This is horrible because Monsanto's RoundUp causes birth defects. Instead of "RoundUp Ready" we should call these GMOs "Birth-Defect Ready"!

According to a report published by Earth Open Source, industry's own studies -- including one commissioned by Monsanto -- showed as long ago as the 1980's that RoundUp's active ingredient, glyphosate, causes birth defects in laboratory animals.

---Dow 2,4-D, Glyphosate and Glufosinate tolerant Soybean (APHIS-2012-0032)
Take Action!

---Monsanto Glyphosate Tolerant Canola (APHIS-2012-0035)

---Pioneer Glyphosate Tolerant Canola (APHIS-2012-0031)

---Genective Glyphosate Tolerant Corn (APHIS-2012-0046)


USDA Fast-Tracks GMO Crop Approval Process

Despite massive public opposition, last year the USDA announced plans   to streamline its genetically engineered petition process under the  Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Earlier this year these controversial changes were implemented, speeding up the approval process for new genetically engineered seeds and crops. The new process will cut in half the time it takes for new GE seeds and crops to enter the market.

USDA claims that the new fast-track process allows for earlier input from the public to improve the quality of its environmental analyses. But according to a USDA press release,  the new process is a part of efforts by the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, to "transform USDA into a high-performing organization that focuses on its customers." The customers that USDA is so keen on assisting are none other than Monsanto, Dow, Dupont, BASF, Syngenta, and the rest of the Biotech bullies!

We Are Writing the Epilogue to the World We Knew

By John Atcheson
The data continue to roll in, and they are telling us we are in the process of bringing an end to the world we evolved in, and creating a new, harsher world. We will be forced to devote more and more of our resources trying to adapt to this new world, and less on development.

While politicians fiddle, the world burns.  While the press plays he-said, she-said, the ice melts, the seas rise.

In 1990 we could have averted this disaster and saved money doing it. As late as 2010 we still had a shot at avoiding it.  But now, the die is cast, the future foretold.  What follows will be an epilogue to civilization, as we knew it.

Organic Food Debunker was Tobacco Institute Researcher in 1976

By Michael Collins
A widely publicized study claiming that there is no demonstrated difference in nutritional value between organically and conventionally grown foods just appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Broad mainstream media coverage produced headlines like Stanford Scientists Cast Doubt on Advantages of Organic Meat and Produce. The media failed to mention one point that may be of major interest.

The study relied on a statistical technique called meta-analysis. Over 200 plus scientific journal articles were combined as the data set for the study. The article co-author with recognized expertise in meta-analysis, Ingram Olkin, applied for a grant from Council of Tobacco Research (CTR) in 1976.

CTR was part of the infamous Tobacco Institute, an industry group of cigarette manufacturers. Ingram was on the faculty of Stanford University at the time. The authors of the current study diminishing the value of organic foods are also from Stanford University, with Olkin listed as a professor emeritus.

Olkin applied to the CTR to conduct a project on the statistical methods used in the Framingham Heart Study, the landmark project linking cigarette smoking with increased risk of heart disease. From publicly available tobacco industry documents, we find this from cigarette manufacturer lawyers.

The New Face of the American Farm

Review of 'Surviving Ourselves' by Eric Herm
By Ed Conroy
He clearly aims to inspire young people to join him as farmers, to re-populate rural America with new families in sustainable farming operations and new small communities - despite all the forces of mega-agribusiness and federal policies that have long told farmers to, in effect, "get big or get out."

While still passionately critical of worldwide commercial agriculture's increasing reliance on genetically modified organisms and glyphosate-based pesticides such as Roundup, Herm returns to his strengths as a former journalist to tell the stories of organic farmers and programs for educating a new generation of farmers who are succeeding in their work.

Delegate's Front-Row Seat A Bully Pulpit On What We Eat

By Meredith Somers
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Vani Hari had a tube of lipstick, a front-row seat and a message.

Amid the sea of blue and white signs waved by thousands of delegates at the Democratic National Convention, the 33-year-old North Carolina delegate stood with her "Forward" sign held high, crowned by the words "Label GMOs!" written in lipstick red.

As a delegate from the convention's host state, Ms. Hari has a seat near the stage each night. On Tuesday, armed only with her lipstick, a shade called True Blood, Ms. Hari said the sign alteration, intended to highlight the concerns about foods produced from genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, came as a spur-of-the-moment idea.

"I thought, whoa, here's an opportunity to spread awareness about labeling GMOs, which street-corner protests couldn't even compare to doing it right in front of the first lady," she said Wednesday, as she revealed a large bag of permanent markers from her purse, planned for the night's speeches.

"I am not afraid to tell people what's in their food," she said. "Every American needs to know that 90 percent of the processed foods they eat are genetically modified."

Food Companies will go Non-GMO if CA Labeling Law Passes

By Ken Roseboro
Ingredient suppliers say it would take two years for supply to meet non-GMO demand

Major food manufacturers are likely to switch to using non-GMO ingredients in their products sold nationwide if California's initiative to label GM foods-Proposition 37-passes this fall, according to food industry experts.

Food manufacturers fear that a label saying Genetically Engineered on their products would scare off consumers. When GM food labeling became law in Europe food manufacturers stopped buying GM ingredients to avoid the GM label.

California's big impact

California, which is the world's eighth largest economy and consumes 12% of the food eaten in the US, is such a major market that it could lead companies to switch to non-GMO nationwide.

"A strong GMO labeling law passed in California would certainly influence all manufacturers of nationally distributed foods to try to go total non-GMO," says Clyde Boismenue, owner and general manager of Basic Foods Company.

"If labeling passes in California, most food producers will look at changing production on a regional and possibly on a national level," says Steve Peirce, president of RIBUS, a manufacturer of non-GMO and organic rice ingredients. "I don't think you can just change production for one state unless you are a small producer."

Pledge to Resist Fracking: Writer-Biologist Sandra Steingraber Issues a Call for Action and a Warning to the Gas Industry

By Sandra Steingraber
The following was a speech given by Sandra Steingraber for the Don't Frack New York Rally in Albany, August 27, 2012.

On this day, 53 years ago, a pregnant college student walked into a hospital in rural Illinois and gave birth to a child.

And then she walked out. By herself.

The baby she left behind became a ward of the state. Three months later a family was found for it.

That child was me.

This story carries three messages. The first is for Governor Cuomo. At the Democratic Committee Policy Conference last week, the governor affirmed his belief in the essential value of government, calling it "the vehicle for the community." I am Exhibit A for that noble idea.

Sometimes the vehicle for community means finding a home for an abandoned child.

Sometimes the vehicle for community means saying NO to a carcinogen-dependent industry that seeks to use our towns as their factory floor, offering temporary riches for a few and permanent pollution for all.

Governor Cuomo: The state of Illinois once protected me. Now I want you to protect my two children. Governor Cuomo, say NO. 

Food Co-ops Brace for Arrival of Giant Rivals

By John Miller
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The Boise Co-op eliminated thousands of slow-selling items, sweeping away the claustrophobic effect that accompanied too many offerings. The Wheatsville Food Co-op in Texas is opening its second store after 40 years.

And in California, the Davis Food Co-op turned to a designer to revamp its look.

It's no coincidence food cooperatives across the U.S. are making big changes. Many are preparing for the arrival of a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, two organic- and specialty-food industry giants that are opening new stores nationwide.

Some co-ops are even dispatching camera-toting, intelligence-gathering crews to poach ideas from the big guys.

With demand for organic, natural and specialty food continuing to outpace other segments in the grocery industry, co-ops say they must improve their stores, identify trends and appeal to a changing audience as the competition moves in.

Dr. Mercola Interviews OCA's Ronnie Cummins: The Fight For GMO Labeling In California

By Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com
The largest opportunity to give people the right to know if their food is genetically engineered will occur with the California ballot initiative - officially known as Proposition 37. Your support before the November 6 vote can make all the difference between winning and losing.

The California ballot initiative will require labeling of genetically engineered foods, and end the routine industry practice of labeling and marketing such foods as "natural."

In the interview above, Cummins expands and gives an important update on the status of this extremely important initiative, and the upcoming vote.

Encouraging News from California

     "The ballot initiative to label genetically engineered food - or now the official Proposition 37 - is quickly gathering momentum," Cummins explains. "Earlier this year in May, we turned in a million signatures of California registered voters, which enabled us to get on the ballot. We've raised approximately four million dollars so far in cash and hard pledges from organizations and businesses. We are getting very good coverage in the press, both the alternative media (online social media) and the corporate media."

     The industry is worried; they're starting to pour in more and more money. They haven't yet started their advertising campaign, but we're expecting this TV and radio ad barrage to begin any day now.

      They're starting to panic. They're doing everything they can at the federal level, but the bottom line is that the lobbyists and the large agribusinesses and biotech's' special interest, they don't really have much control over the voters in California. Come November 06, people are going to go into that voting booth. If six or seven million of them vote 'Yes' on Prop 37, this will become a law not only in California, but across the entire United States."

According to Cummins, Canada is watching this issue closely, and if California passes this law for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food, it looks like Canada will do so as well.

Resistance Grows as Monsanto Invests Heavily in the Sacramento California Region: Proposition 37

By Anne Hart
An expanding network of concerned individuals known as Occupy Monsanto has emerged over the past 8 months staging numerous protests at companies connected to the global trade of genetically engineered foods, also known as GMOs. The network announced on August 27, 2012 in a news release, "Press Release for the Occupy Monsanto Global Week of Action," that on September 17, 2012 protests will begin for an entire week in St. Louis, home of the Monsanto Corporation, and across the US including California where voters will decide if they will label GMOs this election and worldwide in Argentina, Canada, Germany, India, Philippines, and other countries where concern over GMO impact on the environment and human health is growing.

In Sacramento you can check out the website on what's happening in the local area. See, Occupy Monsanto to Gain Support for Proposition 37 in Davis. The Anti-Monsanto Project is looking for help from the public to spread the word, get involved and educated by joining. There is a Facebook site called the Anti-Monsanto Project.

The protests will vary in size and nature but are unified in pushing back GMO food into the lab from which it came.

Can Antibiotic Residues in Non-Organic Food Make You Gain Weight?

By Ari LeVaux
It's been known since the 1950s that feeding low doses of antibiotics to livestock increases their weight gain. The practice, dubbed subtherapeutic antibiotic therapy (STAT), lowers feed costs while increasing meat production. Nearly 80 percent of the antibiotics purchased in the United States are used for this purpose. The practice is suspected of facilitating evolution of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" like MSRA, which infects both pigs and people and is known to be especially common at pig factory farms. Meanwhile, it's finally coming to light that antibiotics can do to people what they do to livestock: make us fat.

Data has supported this hypothesis since a 1955 study in which antibiotics and placebos were given to three groups of Navy recruits. The placebo group showed the least weight gain, significantly lagging behind the two groups given different antibiotics. In general, the rates of obesity have risen with antibiotic use since their discovery, but as they say in science, correlation does not equal causation. Recent research, however, is turning up evidence that this correlation might not be a coincidence. The basic idea is that bacteria alter the body's microbial communities, also known as the microbiome, and this disruption changes the way our bodies metabolize and store food.

A study published August 27 in Nature looked at how antibiotics impact the microbial balance in mice, and how this might affect weight-gain patterns. One group of mice was exposed to STAT, the other not. Bacteria from the guts of mice from these two groups was compared, and the researchers found antibiotics altered the microbial ecology in the guts of the exposed mice, changing their metabolism.

The Great Riches of Our Seas Have Been Depleted and Forgotten

By George Monbiot
Researching the history of ecosystems, it is not long before you make an arresting discovery. Great abundance of the kind that exists in the tropics - or existed until recently - was once almost universal.

With a very few exceptions, every major ecosystem had a megafauna; every major ecosystem witnessed vast migrations of mammals, birds or fish; every major ecosystem possessed an abundance of animal life orders of magnitude greater than current abundance in the temperate nations. In some cases the ecosystems these life forms created were a world apart from those we now know.

Take, for example, the North Sea. Olsen's Piscatorial Atlas of the North Sea, English Channel, and St. George's Channels, published in 1883, marks an area of the North Sea the size of Wales as oyster reef. (I am indebted to Prof Callum Roberts, whose magnificent book The Unnatural History of the Sea reproduces this map). This area is far from any coast: it would have been among the least exploited regions.

By then, trawling in the North Sea had been taking place for at least 500 years (the first written record in England dates from 1376). Given that there is no obvious difference in habitat between the region marked on the map and many other parts of the North Sea, the most likely explanation for the distribution mapped in 1883 is that the oyster beds had been fished out and broken up throughout the more accessible areas.

Nearly All Conventional Food Crops Grown with Fluoride-Laced Water, then Sprayed with More Fluoride

By Ethan A. Huff
The average American today is exposed to a whole lot more fluoride than he or she is probably aware. Conventional produce, it turns out, is one of the most prevalent sources of fluoride exposure besides fluoridated water, as conventional crops are not only irrigated with fluoride-laced water in many cases, but also sprayed with pesticide and herbicide chemicals that have been blended with fluoride, and later processed once again with fluoridated water.

This fact may come as a surprise to many who have bought into the idea that eating more fresh produce is automatically beneficial for health, regardless of how that produce was grown. Thinking that they are doing their bodies a favor, millions of Americans have incorporated conventional fruits and vegetables into their everyday diets, not realizing that the resulting cumulative effect of fluoride exposure from these foods could be harming their health.

Many food crops uptake fluoride chemicals from water, soil

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 75 percent of the U.S. population is being forcibly medicated with fluoride chemicals via their water supplies. This means that a significant percentage of U.S. crops are also irrigated using this same fluoridated water, particularly in the "Bread Belt" states, many of which are almost entirely fluoridated. (http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/statistics/2010stats.htm)

While not all crops uptake fluoride from water in the same amounts, many absorb significant amounts of fluoride through their root systems every time they are watered. Tea plants, for instance, are among the worst when it comes to absorbing fluoride from soil and water, and storing it in their leaves (http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/tea/). Grapes are another crop that tends to accumulate fluoride in high levels as well.

Congress Has Three Choices on the Farm Bill: Pass, Renew, or Flake

By Twilight Greenaway
As members of Congress return from their August recess, they have three options when it comes to the farm bill, the multi-billion-dollar bill that shapes everything from food assistance to farm subsidies to farm conservation. They can pass, renew, or flake.

Congress may still pass a new farm bill before the current bill runs out in September, but, frankly, the odds of this happening are awfully low. Though highly flawed, the Senate version of the bill - with its significant but fairly equal cuts to farm subsidies, food stamps, and conservation programs - has begun to look like an impossible dream. And, in the eyes of most sustainable food advocates at least, the version written by the GOP-controlled House is a straight-up nightmare.

As the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) - the organization whose job it is to track every detail of this now-comically cumbersome process.