I would like to see that movie "Food Inc."

[Francie]

does anyone want to go with me?

It's at:
Regal Park Terrace 6
4289 Park Road, Charlotte, NC
12:30 2:50 5:20 7:40 10:00pm

and I'm not sure yet, but I think those times might work for each day this week

cheers, francie

[Missy]

very much want to see this movie! If anyone else is interested in hooking up to go, let me know! Missy

Anna said:

Well, we saw the movie. It was well worth the drive. Though, I wasn't able to eat for a while!

I wish it was being shown at more theaters.

~Anna

[Pat]

Ok. Ladies, I'm going to slip in this dissertation (of mine) and see how many of you are fumed!?!?

We saw "Food, Inc." It was astounding the level of crap in our food supply. And the degree of silencing of food safety activists. They mentioned a "Veggie Law" which I have now researched for the past hour, also called "The Food Disparagement Laws". Basically, media sources are being sued left and right to keep them silent about food safety concerns, ie GMO, chemicals, etc.

How about this opening line in the following article, "Consumer advocacy can be hazardous to your health, or at least your pocketbook and career." http://www.organicconsumers.org/disparg.html

The "defense", "When you say something you can prove to be true, you shouldn't have to worry about the sky falling in on you." However, this lawyer indicates, "in contrast to traditional libel law, the food disparagement laws ''shift the burden of proof to the defendant. " http://www.organicconsumers.org/disparg.html

civil liberties advocates like Bederman are worried about. ''The mere fact that the law is on the books serves the interest of those who want to deter speech,'' he suggests. ''They are tailor-made to keep people quiet.''


Now I see why there are no 'Consumer Reports' of Food Safety. What a freaking legal mess of the First Amendment.


"With Alar, food disparagement laws were born. Within seven years, several states had considered or passed laws that would allow agriculture interests to sue for damages-New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, and California among them. The laws all share much the same language, and that's no coincidence. The statutes are based on a model law drafted by the Animal Industry Foundation (AIF), a nonprofit trade group funded by Purina, Cargill, assorted chemical and pesticide companies, and various agriculture associations." (just go read the whole article.) http://www.organicconsumers.org/disparg.html

"''The food, pesticide, and agribusiness industries have a common vested interest in silencing criticism of their products.'' " ~funded by "Animal Industry Foundation"

Check out this activist organization, "Food & Water" (maligned by big agriculture, that sounds promising, lol) http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/

More legal history of the 'veggie laws'. http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/En...gie_Libel.html


OMG~! " In states with food-disparagement laws, comment on the health dangers of bacteria in meats and poultry, the threat of bacterial infection from raw oysters, sulfites in salads, nitrites in bacon and other processed foods, cholesterol in eggs, fat in milk and meat, food dyes, polluted fish, Alar-sprayed apples, pesticide-treated foods, non-pasteurized juices and contaminated grapes, among many other examples, could subject the speaker to a lawsuit.

Food disparagement laws invite industry "libel" litigation against food critics-including critics such as the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council. In veggie-libel states, food critics must prepare themselves for costly litigation whenever they speak, regardless of the truth of their claims. The mere threat of such litigation could silence many would-be critics. The first Oprah case (there is now a second action in addition to the first case which is on appeal) cost nearly a million dollars to defend at the trial level alone."

What a freaking mess, "The scientific evidence standard of the veggie-libel laws further stands to discourage many critics, reporters and publishers from saying virtually anything about food absent current and documented scientific evidence, which quite often is impossible to determine or in the sole possession of the industry being criticized."

****
**** " The chilling effect of food-disparagement laws may extend well beyond the immediate jurisdictions of the 13 states in which they exist. These laws have a national impact insofar as they subject internet users to runaway liability. For example, if a public interest group made statements on its web site about food and toxic waste, it might well be sued in any or all of the 13 states with these laws, even though the group may have no other contact with these states. Similarly, insofar as book publishers sell books in a national market, food-disparagement laws affect their decisions as to how robust an author's statements may be." ****
****

AND it keeps getting worse: "The cumulative effect of the veggie-libel laws will be most severe in deterring expression of new and controversial ideas about which the scientific community has not yet reached consensus. On this point Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, has noted that "one of the pioneers of the movement toward healthier eating-----Adelle Davis-----raised many food safety and health issues based on her own research. Her views were not accepted by the scientific community at the time. Now the weight of medical evidence- including former Surgeon General Koop's Report on Nutrition and Health-has vindicated her views.""


:::sigh:::


Oh, my. There is a contra-coalition. "To "reclaim the First Amendment," the Center for Science in the Public Interest has organized a coalition of some 30 groups to oppose food disparagement laws. The Foodspeak Coalition consists of a variety of public interest, health and nutrition, civil liberties, environmental and media groups, including Public Citizen, ACLU, United Farm Workers, Society of Professional Journalists, Publishers Marketing Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Environmental Working Group. The Foodspeak campaign plans to contest food-disparagement laws on legislative, judicial and public information fronts." http://www.cspinet.org/foodspeak/

A summary viewpoint: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill...eggieLibel.htm


You all protect yourselves, drink homemade kefir. ;-)


Go see Food, Inc.



Anyone know of other food safety activist organizations?

[/rant]

Pat

[Francie]

That's worse than I thought! It's sickening!! I can see if someone says something about a certain brand name, but if it's just "apples" or "CAFO beef" that's ridiculous, as if someone or some company in particular can lay all claim to a BASIC FOOD ITEM!! I will look into signing on to one of those anti-veggie law groups!

Pat said:

Ok. Ladies, I'm going to slip in this dissertation (of mine) and see how many of you are fumed!?!?

We saw "Food, Inc." It was astounding the level of crap in our food supply. And the of silencing of food safety activists. They mentioned a "Veggie Law" which I have now researched for the past hour, also called "The Food Disparagement Laws".

[Pat]

No, even much worse than you thought. http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2009/7/28/were-still-in-b...


Pat

[Pat]

Ladies, I want to promote this new site. Please post a link on your Twitters, Facebook, MySpace, blogs etc. to increase visibility. They are fighting for freedom of information about REAL FOOD.

Real Food Media is a network of blogs about whole, natural, nutrient-dense food.

We believe food should be:

* Organic
* Humanely raised (animals on pasture, not in factories)
* Grown locally when possible
* Whole and unrefined (real maple syrup instead of high-fructose corn syrup)
* Processed as little as possible (raw milk instead of pasteurized and homogenized)
* Nutrient-dense (enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics)
* Free of additives and preservatives
* Free of synthetic and chemical ingredients
* Not genetically modified
* Traditionally produced and prepared

We publish stories about food and cooking, food politics, farming and producing food, health and nutrition, and green living.

View the list of Real Food Media blogs here.

http://realfoodmedia.com/


Thanks, Pat