By Betsy Keller, MS, RD

In the summer of 1996, my first child was born, TWA flight 800 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and genetically engineered ingredients were introduced into our food supply.  I was too distracted by the birth of my first child and the tragic CNN images to be aware that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were approved for the Flavr Savr tomato and being introduced indirectly into my breast milk.

Where’s the GMO?  The New Label Game

I am a registered dietitian and have spent countless hours teaching the workshop “How to Read a Food Label.”   It is inconceivable that I never once included information on GMO ingredients in my lectures.  There is a simple explanation for this-GMO ingredients are not listed on food labels. I did not become aware of the controversial issues surrounding GMOs until I purposefully became involved in the green food movement.

WHAT- GMOs can be simply explained as plants that contain genes transferred into their DNA from another living organism. Plant genes can be changed with DNA taken from bacteria, viruses, insects and animals.For example, genes from an arctic flounder which has an “antifreeze” property can be placed into a tomato to prevent frost damage.  I wonder what Watson and Crick would have thought about their DNA research being used to scientifically alter the world’s food supply 50 years later.

WHO- Four major players-Monsanto, DuPont, Dow, Bayer, and Syngenta – lead the way with bioengineering and marketing of four principal GM crops –soybeans, corn, rice canola and cottonseed.

WHY-These companies manipulated plants to either resist herbicides (like Monsanto’s RoundUp) or produce their own internal pesticides to protect against pests. The claims and chief selling points have been and remain, despite growing evidence to the contrary,  that GMO crops require fewer chemicals while producing a greater yield.

WHERE- As my son was growing into a young man, GMO crops were multiplying exponentially and being processed into several hidden ingredients used in packaged foods.  According to the Institute for Responsible Technology, GMO crops in the U.S. include soy (91%), cotton (88%), canola (88%), corn (85%), Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%), zucchini and yellow squash (small amount), and tobacco (Quest® brand). About half of the sugar beets grown for sugar in 2008 were GM and current projections are that about 90% grown in 2009 will be GM. The GM potatoes and tomatoes were taken off the market.

NO TRANSPARENCY – Today, at least one GMO ingredient is found in 90% of packaged food products in US grocery stores, but you’d never know it because they aren’t labeled. Despite efforts to pass state or federal mandatory GMO labeling laws, none have succeeded. Just yesterday California failed to pass legislation mandating the labeling of GE salmon.

UNFETTERED GROWTH -The majority of GMO corn and soy is routinely fed to farm animals and studies show that GMO material can appear in the resulting food products. In addition, GMO wheat and vegetables are being developed.

Issues

Change in DNA- Like other novel ingredients such as Trans fats, it has taken decades to realize they may be harmful to our health.  Change to DNA may ultimately affect the organism (humans included) in ways that scientists may not be able to predict.

Allergies- Many genes being introduced into GMO plants have not been part of the food supply so we may not know if they cause allergies. In one case, soy beans blended with a gene from a Brazil nut caused allergic reactions.

Change in gut bacteria- Preliminary studies show unexpected changes in gut bacteria in animals fed GMO feed.

Genetic Pollution - Genes engineered into plants can be transferred to other plant species, and seed and pollen can drift to non-GE farms, thereby contaminating them. The introduction of GMOs into complex ecosystems, like our oceans, may bring effects that we can’t predict or control. The USDA approved a strain of Monsanto’s GMO sweet corn that will be incorporated into the food supply with no ability to track safety. Chances are this corn is being planted this season in our state and will be sold to you as fresh ears of corn this summer.

GMO Crops Show Resistance- As weeds adapt to herbicides systematically sprayed on them, they develop resistance and evolve into what are called “super weeds.” With the rise of Round-Up resistant ‘super weeds’ the company is simply telling farmers to go on the offense and spray even more potent toxic herbicides. New generation GM corn varieties are being created to resist not only Round-Up, but older more toxic herbicides that fell out of use but are now being reintroduced to fight off super weeds.

More pesticide use- a next generation GMO corn from Dow has been created to better resist the poisonous herbicide 2, 4-D, a key ingredient from Agent Orange used to defoliate forests and croplands in the Vietnam War. While the USDA tries to assure the public that 2, 4-D is safe, scientists have raised serious concerns about its effects on human health including increased cancer risks especially for soft tissue sarcoma and malignant lymphoma. According to the Cornucopia Institute, the approval of a crop resistant to 2, 4-D will cause an exponential increase in use of the herbicides.

What do the Europeans and Peruvians understand that we don’t? In Europe, GMO labeling laws first came into effect in 1997 and were updated in 2004 to include all food products that utilize GMOs during any point in their production. GMO crops have been rejected by consumers in Europe, possibly due to balanced media coverage of the including health issues. In Europe, at least 174 regions, more than 4,500 councils and local governments have declared themselves GMO free. Peru recently declared a 10-year ban on genetically modified foods.

FDA and GMO- Two acronyms to be wary of.

In 1992, the FDA declared that GMO food ingredients need not be labeled based on industry sponsored research showing that GMO ingredients are nutritionally equivalent to non-GMOs.

The FDA did not conduct its own research or hire third party researchers and to this day continues to rely on GMO industry findings. One Monsanto study involved a nutritional analysis of non-GMO soybeans vs. GMO “Roundup Ready” soybeans, which were created to be resistant to Monsanto’s “Roundup” herbicide. The nutritional content of the two soybeans were found to be similar in composition and amount. It’s important to remember that there are 1000’s of plant substances we are still unaware of that protect our health  (i.e polyphenols – more than 8,000- were discovered in the last 20 years).  We need to look beyond the Dietary Reference Intakes on food labels – established originally as the RDA for only 30 + nutrients in 1941- by the Institute of Medicine as a baseline to determine good nutrition for our armed forces. http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=3&tax_subject=256&topic_id=1342&level3_id=5140

We are Confused-A recently published Neilson Survey of global healthy eating trends, found that 6 out of 10 people in the US don’t understand why a food is healthy or not. Interesting to note that three of the top five foods purchased for their apparent health benefits – whole grains, bread fortified with calcium, and yogurt with probiotics – all contain GMOs in some form or another.

Consumers are being encouraged to move away from packaged, processed food products and get back to the basics – preparing meals at home from scratch with fresh ingredients. But that advice becomes a labeling Tower of Babel as even basic ingredients will contain GMOs unless the product is Certified Organic.  Even then,  a small amount of non-organic ingredients are allowed in organic foods.

What can you do?

Educate yourself and avoid GMOs in your diet using these resources:

A GMO  primer by Analiese Paik, founder and editor of the Fairfield Green Food Guide

The Institute for Responsible Technology- Founded in 2003 by international author and GMO expert Jeffrey Smith, IRT has worked in more than 30 countries on 6 continents, and is credited with improving government policies and influencing consumer-buying  http://www.responsibletechnology.org/ Smith’s Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to “end the genetic engineering of our food supply quickly” through consumer rejection rather than through “politics and government.” IRT’s Executive Directory, Jeffrey Smith, will be the keynote speaker and a workshop leader at CT NOFA’s annual winter conference on March 3. Click her for more information and to RSVP.

The Center for Food Safety – works to protect human health and the environment by curbing the proliferation of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. Their recent claim to fame- a California court case halting the planting of GMO alfalfa.  Monsanto appealed twice and lost. http://truefoodnow.org/about/. Join the CFS effort and link here- http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1881/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5440

Read Food Labels- Ignore marketing hype and look for three items on the package label- the nutrition label, the ingredient list and the certified organic logo. Take a mental picture of your pantry- the canola oil, the soy lecithin in every bakery product…all from soy crops, 80% of which are GMO.Whole Foods Market and 365 brands are non-GMO and all of Trader Joe’s store brand products are Non-GMO! According to Jeffrey Smith, founder of the Institute for Responsible Technology, the 5-digit PLU code on produce does not tell you what is genetically modified or natural. This can now be classified as an urban legend. http://www.responsibletechnology.org/blog/24

Check out the Non-GMO Shopping Guide-http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/

Email a letter- Write your legislators and encourage them to support laws and policies that protect our food supply from GMO industry pressure. A group of Connecticut legislators will be once again be introducing legislation mandating package labeling of products containing GMOs. According to the Institute for Responsible Technology, the industry pressured USDA to let GMO products pass as organic. During the public comment period, the USDA received more than 275,000 angry letters from citizens. Thanks to this public protest, GMO products cannot be labeled organic.

Join the Pro-Labeling Movement-A pro-labeling movement has been gaining momentum and a coalition of sustainable-food NGOs and organic businesses has launched a campaign to raise awareness both at the government level and publicly to support GMO food labeling.  Major print and broadcast media-CNN, Time and Grist- have taken on the topic and are helping to raise awareness about GMO content in foods and halt Monsanto’s monopoly on seed crops. Gary Hirshberg recently stepped down from his position as CEO of Stonyfield Farm to lead the Just Label It campaign. Join the CFS effort and link here- http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1881/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5440

Food Democracy Now (from website)- On January 31 (today!), family farmers will take part in the first phase of a court case filed to protect farmers from genetic trespass by Monsanto’s GMO seed, which contaminates organic and non-GMO farmer’s crops and opens them up to abusive lawsuits.

“Like” and follow tweets by Adam Eidinger, the GMO protest poster child who organized last October’s a 100 person, 313 mile “Right2Know March” from New York City to the White House for federally mandated GMO food labeling.  On January 24, 2012 he presented to Monsanto officers and shareholders a proposal to create a study of “material financial risks or operational impacts” associated with its chemical products and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monsanto-attempts-to-lockout-socially-responsible-shareholder-at-annual-meeting-137783058.html

Say No To GMOs! The Non GMO Project verifies and labels processed food products using a trustworthy standard. Right now there are efforts underway for an industry wide effort to create labels for non-GMO foods.

Betsy Keller, MS, RD is a nutrition marketing and communications consultant specializing in sustainable food, nutrition and health-related issues. She is a freelance writer and also lectures in Fairfield County, CT.

CT NOFA’s Winter Conference Welcomes Families, Farmers and Foodies

March 3, 2012

8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Manchester Community College

Manchester, CT

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut (CT NOFA) announces its 30^th Annual Winter Conference, an important day or learning and sharing for farmers, gardeners, locavores, homesteaders and anyone interested in sustainable living. The conference features workshops (listed in detail below), internationally-celebrated speakers, and the largest local-sustainable food potluck lunch you’ve ever seen. (Yes, attendees are expected to bring a dish to share. No stress; we’ll be posting recipes.)

The 2012 Winter Conference’s keynote speaker is Jeffrey Smith, noted author and speaker on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the leading consumer advocate promoting healthier, non-GMO choices. He is the author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette, and will share insights on the real threats that GMOs pose to local food production as well as to consumers’ health.  A second workshop on GMOs will be hosted by Daniel Ravicher, legal counsel representing CT NOFA and 80 other plaintiffs against Monsanto to legally protect small farms and farmers.

In this video Jeffrey Smith succinctly (2 minutes!) explains why corporate science is wrong when they say GMOs are safe.

If you’re in the mood to be entertained while learning more about GMOs, Rob Herring’s rap video is excellent!

All workshops are taught by Connecticut professionals bringing expertise from the farm, kitchen, government, or non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable living. Learn to grow fruit, garlic, honey, nuts, and mushrooms. Classes on pollination, nitrogen management and soil microbiology are among those that will provide more technical instruction. Sustainable home-life classes include seminars on root cellars, food storage, cooking, household products as well as well as how to make healthy choices in cosmetics. For activists and community organizers, the conference offers workshops in climate change, starting food co-ops, and establishing winter farmers’ markets.

The Winter Conference is a celebration of local foods and farms.  In keeping with this theme, attendees are asked to bring a favorite food dish for the potluck feast.  Local, organic vendors including Sweet Sage Bakery of Madison, CT and Bean & Leaf of New London, will be selling delicious, sustainable treats.  Children are welcome to spend time in the Family Play ‘n’ Chill room.

The CT NOFA 30^th Annual Winter Conference will be held at Manchester Community College, on Great Path Rd in Manchester, CT, on March 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration is $50 for NOFA members, $60 for non-members ($35 for students or seniors).  This is a bargain considering the value your receive- a keynote address plus multiple workshops that would easily cost $25 each elsewhere. There is a $5 discount for early registration (before  February 18^th) and an additional $10 discount for those interested in volunteering.  For more information and registration online, visit  http://ctnofa.org/events/CAOC/2012/2012_Winter_Conference.html,  or call the office at 203-888-5146.

WORKSHOPS

Organic Seed vs. Monsanto: The Lawsuit Challenging Patents on Seed – Attorney Daniel Ravicher, NYC

Certified Organic Nutrient Dense Small Fruit – Julie Rawson & Jack Kitteredge,  Many Hands Organic Farm, MA

Wild Bees and Pollination – Dr. Kim Stoner of CT Ag Experiment Station

Root Cellars & Food Storage – Chris Chaisson, Whole Farm Services, VT

Public Act 490 - Joan Nichols, CT Farm Bureau

Nitrogen Management on Farms – Tom Morris, UConn Plant Scientist

Science and Principles of Soil Microbiology – Joe Maggazi, Green Earth Agriculture

Pasture Raised Laying Hens – Brianne Casadei, Exec. Director Terra Firma Farm

Better Choices in Rx, Cosmetics, Household Products – Valerie Cookson-Botto

Raising Garlic – Farmer Wayne Hansen, Wayne’s Organic Gardens

Honey Bees – Marina Marchese, Red Bee Honey

Growing Nuts in Connecticut – Dr. Sandra Anagnostakis, CT Agricultural Exp. Station

Mushroom Growing on a Small Scale – Carol Brzozowy & Jim Peppin, Maggie’s Farm

Biotech Threats to Organic Agriculture – Ed Stockman, Summit Farm

Animal Welfare Approved Certification – Brigid Sweeney, Animal Welfare Approved

The Dynamic History of the Connecticut Forest - Jeffrey Ward, CT Agricultural Exp. Station

Collards & Other Cold Weather Greens for Health & Flavor – Chef John Turenne, Farmer Wayne Hansen and Naturopathic Physician Leigh White

Winter Farmers’ Markets Are Hot! - Winter Caplanson, Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market

Worm Composting Simplified – Nick Mancini, Organic Gardening Simplified

Co-ops Build a Better World: Co-operatives and Food Security - Erbin Crowell, Neighboring Food Co-op Association

How You Can Easily Grow Fresh Greens All Winter - David Zemelsky, Starlight Gardens

Climate Change In Connecticut: What Can We Expect and Do – Jennifer Pagach, CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Raising Dairy Goats and Making Cheese - Paul Trubey, Beltane Farm

Soil Management Techniques – Bryan O’Hara, Tobacco Road Farm

Food as Medicine – Dr. Leigh White, Natural Family Health, LLC

Transition Movement Workshops:

• First:  Transition Success Stories – Tina Clarke & Terry Halwes
• Second: Permaculture and Transition – Cynthia Rabinowitz & Joan Spear
• Third:  Transition: Lighting the Fire for Action – Coleen Spurlock

Lead in Soils – Concerns and Corrections – Dawn Pettinelli, UConn Soil Nutrient Analysis Laboratory

Edible School Gardens – Dan Levinson, Green Village Initiative (GVI)

and more to come…

VENDORS & EXHIBITORS

Interested in being a vendor or promoting your organization at our event?  Last year’s conference attracted over 400 passionate organic-minded individuals, and at least the same number are expected this year.   Email CT NOFA for details, print and mail this form, or call 203-888-5146.

Confirmed exhibitors:

Animal Welfare Approved - Alexandria, VA
Barefoot Books - East Granby, CT
Green Earth Agriculture – North Branford, CT
Healthy Cleaning Solutions- Tolland, CT
Land for Good – Keene, NH
Lancaster Ag Products – Ronks, PA
Natureworks – Northford, CT
Progressive Asset Management – Wellesley, MA
Sunlight Solar Energy – Milford, CT
Sweet Sage Bakery – Rockfall, CT
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service – Tolland, CT
USDA-New England Agricultural Statistics – Concord, NH

FAMILY PLAY AREA

Music, storytime, children’s workshop, hanging out. CT NOFA provide pillows, books, and comfy places for kids to just shlump down and read!

POTLUCK

Chef John Turenne of Sustainable Food Systems and an impressive staff of kitchen volunteers will once again be on hand to pull it all together, making sure hot dishes are hot and salads are dressed.

Please bring a dish to share with everyone—it need not be local food or even organic—do what you can. Email info@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com if you need help with a recipe or ingredients or just have a questions. Thanks! Put a label on the bottom of the container and claim it at the end of the conference. Please bring a plate and utensils as this event is committed to avoiding waste.

RAFFLE

CT NOFA is accepting raffle donations. Gently used treasures, duplicate garden tools, gift baskets, unused gift certificates or gift certificates for your business (=great advertizing!) are all welcome. CT NOFA Board member Janet Heller will be coordinating this year. Call the office at 203-888-5146 or email.

When news of the passage of Public Act 10-103, An Act Concerning Farms, Food, and Jobs, began to spread last year, I put in a call to the CT Dept. of Agriculture’s legal expert to get an interpretation. Was it true that farms certified by a CT State Poultry Inspection Program created under the law would now be able to process their own birds and sell them to restaurants? That would mean poultry farmers would be spared the inconvenience and expense of taking their chickens, turkeys and ducks to the only USDA slaughterhouse in the state for processing. Processing their birds themselves, in the farm’s facilities, would indeed be legal I was told, but only after jumping through the necessary hoops to become certified. I wasn’t holding my breath.

I’m thrilled to report that this law is working to strengthen the local food movement in Connecticut. Connecticut Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky announced today that two farms have been approved by the state Department of Agriculture through this new Poultry Slaughter Inspection Program, making more Connecticut Grown poultry more available to consumers, restaurants, and hotels. MarWin Farm in New Hartford and Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm in Sterling are the first two Connecticut poultry farms to be inspected and approved through the new state program. MarWin Farm is raising approximately 2,500 chickens, 125 turkeys, and 200 specialty birds such as guinea hens and ducks. Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm, the state’s largest grower of pastured turkeys, has 3,000 turkeys and 1,200 chickens in production this year.

Commissioner Reviczky said the new program “opens a new door for restaurants looking to serve Connecticut Grown turkey, chicken, and duck on their menus because they are no longer limited to using USDA inspected poultry in order to comply with the public health code.” This is music to the ears of chefs who have been frustrated by limited availability of local poultry. “I just served my first Connecticut Grown turkey from Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm last week,” said Wayne Kregling, executive chef at Brownson Country Club in Shelton. “The quality and flavor were superb, and I am excited to now be able to offer this delicious poultry to my customers.”

Shortly after the law passed, Jonathan Hermonot of Ekonk Hill was asked what it would mean to their farm.

Anyone who’s purchased a chicken from a farm in Connecticut knows that the only way to legally obtain one that’s not USDA certified is to order the bird directly from the farmer and ask them to do you the favor of processing it. This custom slaughter exemption does not apply to restaurants, however, significantly impairing the growth of poultry farms. This new state program allows poultry producers who successfully comply with requirements, pass inspection, and become approved to sell their poultry to an expanded customer base. To comply with the state program’s strict sanitation requirements, which are comparable to those of the USDA program, both Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm and MarWin Farm made improvements to their existing facilities and developed written Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and recall plans. Ekonk Hill applied and was approved for $10,000 in matching funds through the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s Farm Reinvestment Grant to help pay for the facility upgrades.

Note: Ekonk Hill turkeys are available through two sources in Fairfield County. Visit our 2011 Guide to Local & Heritage Turkeys for more information.

In Celebration of

Fairfield Green Food Guide & Slow Food Metro North Present:

Overcoming Obstacles to Improving School Food

With Nationally Recognized Experts Amy Kalafa and John Turenne

Join nationally recognized experts Amy Kalafa, author of Lunch Wars: How to Start a School Food Revolution and Win the Battle for Our Children’s Health, and John Turenne, Founder & President of Sustainable Food Systems, for a high impact workshop that teaches attendees successful approaches for overcoming common obstacles to making school meals more healthful and sustainable. This workshop is designed for all stakeholders in our children’s health and wellness.

“We really cannot rely on the federal government to fix school food; the government provides a baseline and it is up to each individual school district to determine the quality of each school’s food environment. This is a grassroots issue and there are any number of local solutions. The solutions are found when members of the school community start paying attention and taking action.” – Amy Kalafa

“As long as school food is provided limited funding, cost will always be a factor.  However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t simple ways to overcome inadequate  food.  We can start by step by step substituting real, whole and fresh ingredients for processed.” – John Turenne

Choose from Two Sessions:

Greenwich at Audubon Greenwich, 12:00 noon-1:00 pm. $10 admission includes a Slow Food Metro North $5 Challenge lunch catered by Concierge Foods of Bedford Hills. RSVP required.

Fairfield at Pequot Library, 7:00-8:00 pm. $10 admission includes light refreshments. RSVP required.

Both events will be followed by a Q&A session and book sale and signing.

To RSVP:

Greenwich only:

Tickets must be purchased online in advance so we can obtain an accurate lunch count. This is a working lunch. Vegetarian and vegan lunch options are available. Walk-ins cannot be guaranteed a seat or lunch. Click here to register and pay online by October 23.

Admission: $10 per person fee includes a  local farm-to-fork lunch which celebrates Slow Food Metro North’s $5 Challenge.

Time: 12:00 noon until 1:00, followed by a Q&A session, book sale and signing of Lunch Wars, and networking.

Important: Kindly arrive at 11:45 to register, pick up your lunch and beverage and be seated. This is a working lunch.

Location: Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, CT. Please call event organizer Analiese Paik at 203.520.3451 with any questions.

Fairfield only:

Admission: $10 per person fee includes the workshop and light refreshments.Click here to register and pay online by October 23.

Time: 7:00 to 8:00 pm, followed by a Q&A session, book sale and signing of Lunch Wars, and networking.

Important: Kindly arrive at 6:45 to register and be seated.

Location: Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Avenue, Southport, CT. Please call event organizer Analiese Paik at 203.520.3451 with any questions.

This event is organized by Fairfield Green Food Guide, LLC and Slow Food Metro North and made possible through the generous support of Audubon Greenwich, Pequot Library and Concierge Foods.

About Our Guest Presenters:

Amy Kalafa

Amy Kalafa has produced award-winning films and television programs, and has written magazine articles related to health education for more than twenty-five years. The producer/director of the acclaimed documentary film Two Angry Moms: Fighting for the Health of America’s Children, she has been featured on Good Morning America, Rachael Ray, and Fox News Live, and in USA Today and The New York Times. Kalafa lives with her family in Weston, Connecticut. http://angrymoms.org/

LUNCH WARS: How to Start A School Food Revolution and Win the Battle for Our Children’s Health (Tarcher/Penguin, August 2011) not only exposes the scary, hidden truth behind school lunches, but also gives parents the tools to do something about it. After author Amy Kalafa produced and directed the acclaimed documentary, Two Angry Moms, she was flooded with questions from parents who saw the film and wanted to know how to rid their own children’s schools of unhealthy—and sometimes dangerous—food. LUNCH WARS is Kalafa’s definitive response and an all-inclusive guide to help parents stage their own cafeteria coup.

LUNCH WARS is an invaluable reference. From First Lady Michelle Obama and her Let’s Move! campaign against childhood obesity to the average parent who’s struggling to instill good habits in their children, every American family has a stake in the book’s message. The next—and most crucial—step is to learn what LUNCH WARS teaches and integrate it into every school in America, on every day of the year.

John Turenne

John Turenne, founder and President of Sustainable Food Systems, is a nationally recognized leader and innovator in sustainable food practices. In his role as Executive Chef at Yale University and in the creation of the Yale Sustainable Food Project, John recognized the impact of food service decision-making on the world around us. His consulting company is on the cutting edge in developing best-practices tailored to benefit both the planet and the bottom line for clients. Turenne led the behind-the-scenes team that made Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” work in the Huntington, West Virginia school system.

John and his team at Sustainable Food Systems have worked with visionaries across the country who have had the desire to make positive changes to the way they do business. Sustainable Food Systems brings those ideas and desires to reality through careful assessment, planning, teaching and development.

Sustainable Food Systems’ client list includes The Culinary Institute of America; Yale University; Harvard Medical School; The East Harlem School; Jamie Oliver Ltd.; Cabell County, WV Public Schools;  St. Lukes Wood River Medical Center as well as multiple other public hospital and school systems.

John Turenne and Sustainable Food Systems were also instrumental in working with the Obama Administration in the development of the USDA’s Chefs Move to Schools initiative and continue to harvest national and international recognition. http://www.sustainablefoodsystems.com/

Resources:

Amy Kalafa: http://angrymoms.org/, http://www.tarcherbooks.net/?tag=lunch-wars

John Turenne: http://www.sustainablefoodsystems.com/

Fairfield Green Food Guide: http://fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com/

Slow Food Metro North: http://slowfoodmetronorth.org/

Food Day: http://foodday.org/

What is Food Day?

Aimed at promoting healthy, sustainable, affordable, and just food systems in America, Food Day is a national grassroots mobilization backed by some of the most prominent voices for energizing the food movement. On October 24, 2011, people will gather at events big and small and from coast to coast in homes, schools, colleges, churches, city halls, farmers’ markets, supermarkets, and elsewhere to raise awareness about food issues and advocate for change. Think of it as an Earth Day for food!

Spearheaded by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Day is organized around six main policy goals:

1. Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods

2. Support sustainable farms and limit subsidies to big agribusiness

3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger

4. Protect the environment and animals by reforming factory farms

5. Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids

6. Support fair working conditions for food and farm workers

Who is partnering with Food Day?

Food Day’s advisory board is co-chaired by Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and includes such members as Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Marion Nestle, David Kessler, and Professor Walter Willett. Partners include the American Dietetic Association, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, UNITE Here, Humane Society of the U.S., Sierra Club, and Slow Food USA. A full list of advisors and partner organizations can be found at www.FoodDay.org.

By Analiese Paik

Visit any grocery store and you’ll find the meat case packed with cuts from our nation’s four biggest beef producers: Cargill Beef, JBS SA (US subsidiary owns Swift and Smithfield Beef), National Beef Packing, and Tyson. Read the package labels carefully and try to find any mention that the steer were raised in confinement on factory farms, fed a diet of genetically-modified (GM) corn and soy to fatten them up quickly and cheaply, then routinely supplemented with antibiotics and growth hormones to kick the meat-making machine into high gear. You won’t find anything. Factory meat production is Big Business and it’s not in their best interest to tell you what’s in your food.

Nowhere is obfuscation of facts more troubling than with genetically modified foods (GMOs). In the early 1990s large, multinational biotechnology companies including Monsanto, DuPont, Dow, Bayer, and Syngenta began producing and selling seeds whose DNA they had engineered to either resist herbicides or produce pesticides to protect that plant from viruses and insects. Classified as Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), these seeds contain portions of DNA from another organism that was inserted into their genetic material in a lab to confer the desired traits. In the case of transgenic GMOs, the inserted DNA was derived from another species, and not always from the plant kingdom.

Processed foods sold in the US commonly contain ingredients made from the “Big Four” GM crops: soybeans, corn, canola and cottonseed, yet they carry no labels declaring “contains GMOs.” The bottle of canola oil innocently sitting in your pantry is likely GM, since eighty percent of the canola grown in the US is genetically modified. “It’s being carefully hidden” explains Bill Duesing, an organic farmer and Executive Director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of CT ( CT NOFA). “The US food industry will do anything they can to make this stuff seems the same.”

GE seeds are unique enough to be patented as intellectual property (they meet the “usefulness” requirements of patent law), yet were likewise granted generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status in 1992 by the FDA after being deemed “substantially equivalent” to their non-GMO counterparts. GMOs considered GRAS require no long-term, independent animal, human and environmental studies to determine their safety. Wait. We’re eating plants that can produce their own pesticides and contain DNA from other species that was forced into their genetic makeup, yet they’re not being tested and require no labeling? This is a real head-scratcher. Jeffrey Smith, Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, and an internationally recognized expert and author of two books on the health dangers of GMOs, Genetic Roulette and Seeds of Deception, weighed in on the topic. “It’s Monsanto’s unprecedented influence on this and previous administrations. It’s hard to know where they end and the government begins. The entire foundation of this technology is based on rhetoric, manipulation, and lies.”

“The number of crossover people from Monsanto to the FDA is phenomenal” adds Duesing. “It’s a revolving door.” The documentary film, The World According to Monsanto, spotlights a few individuals who swung back and forth through the now-famous revolving door between Monsanto, the FDA and the USDA. Perhaps the most salient example is that of Michael Taylor, a former Monsanto attorney appointed by President Obama as Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of the FDA in 2009. Outrage over his appointment from critics of genetically engineered food centered on Taylor’s service between 1991 and 1994 as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Policy, a time when the agency eschewed unnecessary regulation and drafted biotech industry-friendly policies despite warnings by some of its own scientists.

There is growing concern among scientists, watchdog groups, members of the organic agriculture community, and consumers that GMOs pose threats to humans, animals and the environment. Jeffrey Smith said “claims that GM crops will feed the world are not based on reality. They decrease yields and increase the use of agricultural chemicals.” Duesing shares his views. “Genetic engineering is giving pollution a life of its own. It’s a food system that’s built around agricultural chemicals and herbicides designed to kill all green plants, except the GM plant.”

Adding to the unease is the industry’s less-than-stellar track record on environmental stewardship. “These biotech companies have a history of creating long-lived pollutants that damage the environment and then we have to control it” Duesing pointed out. “We can’t eat fish from the Hudson, Housatonic or Quinnipiac Rivers because they’re contaminated with Monsanto’s PCBs dumped in there by GE.”

One instance of cross-contamination vividly illustrates the potential threats GMOs pose to human health. “StarLink [a GM corn approved for animal use only, but which accidentally contaminated human food in 1990 and sickened at least 35] may be part of the collective genome forever and there’s a high probability that it’s an allergen.” recalls Jeffrey Smith. “What we have now is really dangerous technology.”

Jeffrey Smith’s claims are the product of years spent traveling the globe to research and immerse himself in the world of biotech foods. Smith visited Fairfield, CT in April as part of his 2011 lecture tour designed to inform citizens about the dangers of GMOs and teach strategies to identify and avoid them at points of sale. Buying organic and choosing processed foods carrying the Non-GMO Verified seal are among the helpful options outlined in his free publication, The Non-GMO Shopping Guide. Smith’s Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to “end the genetic engineering of our food supply quickly” through consumer rejection rather than through “politics and government.” Buoyed by Europe’s tipping point of consumer rejection of GMOs in 1999, and the US rejection of artificial bovine growth hormone (rbGH) in 2005, Smith is confident that food companies will respond to GMO rejection by a mere five percent of US consumers. “Manufacturers won’t wait for a substantial drop in market share. They won’t lose customers by eliminating GM ingredients either.”

Due to growing concern about the safety of GMOs, lawmakers in 14 states, including Connecticut, have introduced legislation that would mandate, in some form, the labeling of genetically modified foods. Jeffrey Smith explains that “labeling exists in most developed countries with varying levels of thoroughness and enforceability. Europe is the most thorough and .9% is the threshold for labeling.” Duesing believes that it will help if foods containing GM ingredients are labeled, and will be one of the things that drives change, but isn’t convinced it’s the only or best answer. “Energy and the environment would be more important. I’ve been working 30 years to try to influence consumers.”

State Representative Richard Roy (D-Milford), House Chairman of the Environment Committee, recently introduced an amendment requiring products containing GMOs to be labeled in the state of Connecticut. Roy is clearly well-educated on the topic of GMOs and takes a refreshingly consumer-oriented approach to mandatory labeling. “The producers of GMO foods gush their support for what they say is a superior product. If the product is as good and safe as they claim, they should be happy to promote the product” explains Roy. “Instead, they refuse to tell the consumer that a product contains GMOs. What are they hiding?”

Representative Roy attended Jeffrey Smith’s lecture in Fairfield this past April, and briefly shared with the audience his position on GMO labeling and track record of getting difficult legislation passed. “I’m the guy that got the [hands-free] cell phone law passed after a seven-year battle and the pesticides off school grounds.” Undeterred by the GMO labeling amendment’s removal in early May by the General Law Committee, Roy optimistically pointed out that “it can be called again as a proposed amendment on another bill. Support is a growing from a number of legislators, along with environmental groups, especially those involved in toxics legislation and healthy living habits.”

Resources:

Center for Food Safety

CT NOFA

Institute for Responsible Technology

Non-GMO Shopping Guid

Non-GMO Project

By Jeffrey M. Smith, Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology and the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America

Click here to buy tickets to Jeffrey Smith’s lecture about Genetically Modified Foods on April 28 in Fairfield

Non-GMO is quite the buzz in the food industry.

• “GMO-Free” was the fastest growing claim for store brands in 2009; it’s now the third fastest overall Health & Wellness claim.
• Supermarket News predicted that 2010 would see an unprecedented upsurge in consumer concern about GMOs.
• Over 600 retailers and manufacturers participated in last October’s Non-GMO Month.
• And the FDA’s attempt to fast-track Frankenfish, and the court cases and approvals of GM alfalfa and sugar beets, has resulted in unprecedented coverage in mainstream media.

If you think all this awareness will finally get the government to do something, don’t hold your breath. The FDA is pushing for GE salmon by ignoring the 91% of Americans who don’t want genetically modified (GM) animals. The agency doesn’t require GMO labeling in spite of the 95% of us who want it. President Obama packed top positions at the USDA with pro-GMO people. And he actually put Michael Taylor back in the FDA as the US Food Safety Czar.

Taylor had been an outside attorney for Monsanto in 1991 before being recruited by the FDA to be the man in charge of policy. According to formerly secret FDA documents, the GMO policy that Taylor presided over ignored repeated warnings by agency scientists about the health dangers of GMOs. Instead, it waives unlabeled genetically modified (GM) foods onto the market without a single required safety study. Taylor later became Monsanto’s vice president.

Consumers can kick out GMOs

Don’t let the marriage between our government and the biotech industry get you down. There’s a much easier way to stop GMOs than trying to arm wrestle biotech lobbyists to change government policies. Consumers are at the top of the food chain. Since GMOs don’t offer a single consumer benefit, if even a small percentage of shoppers stopped eating them, they’d be kicked out by food companies trying to save market share.

This is precisely what happened in Europe. In January 1999, the biotech industry was still projecting a 95% replacement of all commercial seeds within 5 years. But three weeks later, a gag order was lifted on Dr. Arpad Pusztai, a top scientist who had discovered profound health dangers related to GMOs. A media firestorm ensued; 10 weeks and 750 GMO articles later, most European food companies had committed to stop using GM ingredients.

Likewise in the US, consumers booted GM bovine growth hormone (rbGH) out of most dairies, including Wal-mart, Starbucks, Dannon, and Yoplait.

Starting a revolution in the natural products store

Although the condemnation of rbGH is now institutionalized by medical organizations such as the American Public Health Association and American Nurses Association (they denounce the milk’s higher levels of a cancer promoting hormone, IGF-1), it didn’t begin with them. The tipping point against rbGH was jump-started by health-conscious shoppers, especially parents, who shop at natural products stores.

It is this same demographic that can push out all GMOs. Many people estimate that only about 5% of committed non-GMO shoppers are needed in the US to achieve the tipping point. Already 28 million Americans, 9.3%, buy organic products regularly. That’s more than we need.

Although the vast majority of these folks say they would avoid GMOs if they had a choice, most are still a bit vague about which products are genetically modified, and how dangerous they can be. The retailers can fill in the missing information here, and empower this trend-setting force to launch the non-GMO tidal wave. Here’s the missing pieces:

Which products are GMOs and how to avoid them

The vast majority of soy (91%), corn (85%), cottonseed (93%) (used for oil), canola (85%), and sugar beets (95%), are GMOs. Their derivatives are found in more than 70% of foods sold in the supermarket. All five crops have varieties that are spliced with bacterial genes to allow them to withstand deadly weed killers like Roundup. Some corn and cotton varieties are engineered to produce an insect killing poison called Bt-toxin (for the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis). Some corn and cotton do both.

Most Hawaiian papaya is engineered to resist a virus, as are some zucchini and yellow crook neck squash. Popcorn is not yet modified.

There’s also milk from cows treated with rbGH, and all dairy and meat from animals fed GM feed. Aspartame is made from a GM micro-organism. And there are GM enzymes used in food production that aren’t even on the label.

Organic products don’t allow the use of GMOs, and plenty of products are labeled as non-GMO. Although organic products have always been a trusted oasis for finicky non-GMO eaters, they don’t require any actual testing for at-risk ingredients. And generic non-GMO labels don’t guarantee testing either.

The Non-GMO Project third-party verified non-GMO claim

Fortunately, there’s a nonprofit organization called the Non-GMO Project that has sparked a major shift in non-GMO claim-making. They offer the nation’s first uniform standard. It does require testing of at-risk ingredients, as well as third-party verification. This program was originally started by retailers, and now includes participation from manufacturers, distributors, and consumers as well.

Our Institute’s Campaign for Healthier Eating in America, publishes the popular free public service reference, the Non-GMO Shopping Guide (see www.NonGMOShoppingGuide.com) which features products enrolled in the Non-GMO Project.

Why avoid GMOs?

Although most natural products shoppers say they would avoid GMOs if given a choice, it helps to give them compelling reasons to switch brands. That’s easy. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine cites animal feeding studies linking GMOs to reproductive, immune, gastrointestinal, organ, and aging disorders. They are urging all doctors to prescribe non-GMO diets. For more detailed information on the health risks, visit www.responsibletechnololgy.org for articles, videos, audios, and a free electronic newsletter.

Take charge and change the world

There are now more than 100 local and national Non-GMO Action Groups forming in order to help get the word out and promote the tipping point of consumer rejection against GMOs—to force them out of the market. People are warmly invited to join the Non-GMO Tipping Point Network to find their group, and we also offer GMO speaker training, either online or in one-day workshops. The next one-day training in the Northeast is Sunday May 1^st, at Columbia University in New York.

Help plant the seeds for a non-GMO future.

Jeffrey M. Smith is the leading consumer advocate for promoting healthier non-GMO eating. His first book, Seeds of Deception, is the world’s bestselling and #1 rated book on the subject. His second, Genetic Roulette, documents 65 health risks of the GM crops Americans eat everyday. Mr. Smith has spoken in more than 30 countries, and has been quoted in hundreds of media outlets including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine. He is the Executive Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology and the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America, which produces the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, Health Risk Brochures, Non-GMO Education Centers, and other consumer education tools. He lives with his wife in Iowa, surrounded by genetically modified corn and soybeans.

Please join us for two very special events in Greenwich and Fairfield featuring guest speaker and author Jeffrey Smith

“DON’T PUT THAT IN YOUR MOUTH”
Lecture + Q&A + Book Signing

WHEN: Wednesday April 27th  @ 7:00pm
WHERE: Audubon in Greenwich  613 Riversville Rd  Greenwich, CT
CONTACT:  Jeff 203-869-5272 x239
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WHEN: Thursday April 28th  @ 7:00pm
WHERE: Community Film Institute 1424 Post Rd. Fairfield Ct.
CONTACT: Catch A Healthy Habit Cafe 203 292 8190
www.catchahealthyhabit.com/gmo

Read More or Purchase Tickets Now
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Jeffrey Smith is offering a special day of

SPEAKER TRAINING
WHEN: Sunday May 1st  @  9:30am-5:00pm
WHERE:Columbia University, Uris Hall (business school), Room # Uris 301.
CONTACT:  margherita@responsibletechnology.org 641-209-1765
www.responsibletechnology.org/

Cost: $80
Columbia University students: Free (donations gratefully accepted)

Spend a day with international bestselling author and filmmaker Jeffrey M. Smith to learn how to speak about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and to organize effective activism on the issue. Help achieve the tipping point of consumer rejection to force GMOs out of our food supply!

Whether you want to be a leading anti-GMO campaigner or simply help out when you can, don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn from the leading spokesperson on GMO health dangers. Jeffrey has presented in 32 countries, counseled world leaders on every continent, and written the world’s bestselling book on the topic—Seeds of Deception.

You will learn:

The five components of a GMO presentation, and the studies, quotes, statistics, and concepts to convey.

Why genetically engineered foods are dangerous for our health and environment. How to customize PowerPoint slides (provided) for desired length and focus.

Proven ways to motivate people to change their diets on-the-spot.

During the workshop you will:

Receive a scripted PowerPoint, sample recorded lectures, a facilitators’ guide, and comprehensive list of reference materials.

Practice presenting in small groups; and

Have plenty of time for questions and answers, to gain confidence in the material.

On February 12, 2011, Chef Michel Nischan, CEO, President & Founder of Wholesome Wave,  will speak at TEDxManhattan “Changing the Way We Eat” in New York City.   This one-day TEDx event aims to explore the US food system — from what happened, to where we are, to what we are doing to change to a more sustainable way of eating and farming.  In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.  The Glynwood Institute for Sustainable Food and Farming is the lead sponsor for “Changing the Way We Eat.”

“It is possible to create real change in our nation’s food system by establishing healthy food commerce where ‘food deserts’ now exist,” says James Beard Award-winning chef and author Nischan, whose nonprofit’s mission is to empower historically excluded urban and rural communities to make better food choices by increasing access to and affordability of fresh, locally grown food.

The day includes a world-class line-up of inspiring speakers from all disciplines of the sustainable food world, including:

• Lucas Knowles, USDA Coordinator of “Know Your Farmer Know Your Food”
• Laurie David, Environmental Author and Activist
• Professor Frederick Kaufman, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
• Curt Ellis, Filmmaker and star of the Peabody Award-winning film King Corn, co-Founder FoodCorps
• Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food USA
• Cheryl Rogowski, Small Family Farmer & the first US farmer awarded a MacArthur Genius Award
• Kenneth Cook, President of the Environmental Working Group
• Dr. William Li, President of the Angiogenesis Foundation
• Karen Hudson, President of the Dairy Education Alliance
• Britta Riley, Windowfarms creator and artist
• Brian Halweil, editor of Edible East End, publisher of Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan, senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute and Co-Director of the Nourishing the Planet project
• Barbara Askins, President of the 125^th St Business Improvement District [Harlem
• Ian Cheney, founding Board member of Food Corps, filmmaker [Truck Farm, The Greening of Southie, King Corn], urban truck farmer
• Michael Conard, Asst Director at the Urban Design Lab & Adjunct Assoc Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University.
• John Fraser, Chef/Proprietor of Dovetail restaurant and What Happens When, NYC
• Kathy Lawrence, Program Director of the national collaborative School Food FOCUS
• Elizabeth Ü, Executive Director of Finance for Food, a solutions-oriented innovator at the intersection of sustainable food systems and social finance
• Entertainment by ETHEL

Please click here for a complete WebCast schedule.

In an effort to have as many people as possible participate in TEDxManhattan, the day will be webcast live, with over 60 ‘viewing parties’ already confirmed around the world.  To find out if there is a viewing party near you, visit www.TEDxManhattan.org/viewing-parties.  And there’s still time to organize an event in your area – details can be found on the website.

You can also watch the event live from your home on February 12^th from 10:30am – 6:00pm EST at www.livestream.com/tedx.  Nischan is scheduled to speak at 5:30pm EST.

For more information about TEDxManhattan, visit www.TEDxManhattan.org ; media can contact geralyn@resourcescommunications.com, telephone 281.980.6643.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like* experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.

Find a Viewing Party in your Area to Listen to the Live Webcast

TEDx is encouraging everyone to set up viewing parties or attend one in your area. Visit the TEDxManhattan MeetUp Everywhere page to register your event and to see events around you. If you are planning an event, please email TEDxManhattan@gmail.com to have our event registered on the site.

If you find you can’t attend a local viewing party, you can watch TEDxManhattan live on your computer at http://livestream.com/tedx.

How to Host a Viewing Party

Please adhere to the following rules:

• Viewing parties must be held in a non-commercial venue. This means in a home, office, school, library, nonprofit organization, or community center. You cannot hold a TEDx in a commercial venue such as a restaurant or coffee shop.
• TEDx viewing parties must be free of charge to all attendees.
• Events cannot hold more than 100 people without prior approval. Please email TEDxManhattan@gmail.com if you think your event will exceed 100 people.
• You cannot attach any type of advertising or sponsor messages to the webcast.

Dear friends of the Fairfield Green Food Guide,

I just called my Senators today to help protect family farmers, farmers markets and the local food movement. I’m writing to ask if you will please join me.

This week U.S. Senate is posed to vote on the full controversial Food Safety Modernization Bill (S.510) and small-scale and organic farmers urgently need two important amendments attached that will protect them from inappropriate regulations meant to curtail the largest and most likely culprits of food safety outbreaks in the U.S. – giant, consolidated agribusinesses and their massive processing partners.

The first and most important provision is the Tester-Hagan amendment, which provides an exemption for family farmers who gross less than $500,000 and sell direct to farmers markets, restaurants, customers and local stores within 400 miles of their farm/processing facility. As the only organic farmer in the U.S. Senate, John Tester has made sure that this amendment protects the growing local food movement and allows small and beginning farmers the opportunity to grow the most economically vibrant part of agriculture.

In addition, the Manager’s Amendment, which includes 5 vital amendments, would protect small-scale farmers from burdensome paperwork, offer farmers competitive grants for food safety training, allow them to engage in co-mingling of products from multiple farms in processing, reduce paperwork and excessive traceability requirements, and protect wildlife and wildlife habitat

As this new food safety bill goes to a vote in the Senate, it’s vital that we send a strong message to your Senators that they need to protect family farmers from regulations meant to prevent the worst food safety outbreaks from happening again. Remind them that the cause of these outbreaks come from an overly concentrated food system and not family farmers. This could be our last best shot to save the local food movement.

Join me at Food Democracy Now! here.

I have been a member of Food Democracy since they were formed and they always take a very educated, well-thought out approach to their advocacy efforts.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Analiese Paik

Founder & Editor

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YWCA Greenwich, Greenwich Library Peterson Business Program Series, and J.P. Morgan Private Bank present Women and the Sustainable Food Revolution: Transforming the Way We Eat on Thursday, October 14, 2010 from 6-8 pm at YWCA Greenwich.

A very special guest panel of notable women leaders in the sustainable food revolution will educate, inform and inspire you as they discuss what’s wrong with the way we eat and how their initiatives are helping to pave the way for change, plus share practical advice for eating more sustainably each and every day.

Please join Jayni Chase, Founder, Green Community Schools and the Center for Environmental Education; Annie Farrell, Farm Activist and Advisor, Millstone Farm; Betsy Fink, Owner of Millstone Farm and President of the Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation; and Amy Kalafa, Documentary Filmmaker, Certified Health Counselor and Partner, Trainer’s Table as they discuss why the choices we make every day about the foods we eat matter.

Among topics to be discussed are how the way we we eat impacts human and environmental health and threatens biodiversity, how climate change is impacting agriculture, why food security is a matter of national security, how energy figures into the  food production equation, how food policies and food marketing influence food choices everywhere from school lunch to grocery store shelves, and why establishing Community Supported Agriculture programs and backyard, school, community and urban gardens are practical solutions to the problems we face.

Location: YWCA Greenwich, 259 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich

Program Schedule:

6-6:45 Open reception with Local Food and Sustainable Wine

6:45-7:30 Moderated Panel Discussion

7:30-8:00 Open Discussion & Networking

This event is free and open to the general public, but seating is limited and registration is a required. You may register by calling Tiffany Metti at the YWCA Greenwich at 203-869-6501, ext. 106 or online at www.ywcagreenwich.org/sustainablefood.

Do you have a question for the guest panelists?

Please submit your questions in the comments section below or email them to info@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com for consideration during the panel discussion. Audience questions will also be taken during the moderated panel discussion.