4th National Integrated Pest Management Symposium:
Building Alliances for the Future
April 8 - 10, 2003, Indianapolis, IN

This national Integrated Pest Management event, first held in '92, invites participants from disciplines including public health, weed science, plant pathology, vertebrate management, entomology, nematology, horticulture, agronomy, communications, economics, and sociology to share IPM expertise.

The opportunities available at the meeting will be invaluable for all working toward pesticide risk reduction, producing healthier food, improving community health and safety, making farms more profitable, and raising awareness about highly effective, least-risk pest management practices.

To learn more visit their website:
nautilus.outreach.uiuc.edu

Wes Jackson to Present The 5th Annual
Edward and Nancy Dodge Lecture
Sponsored by The Center for a Livable Future
Wolfe Street Building W1030, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
April 1, 2003, 4:00 - 6:00 PM

Lecture is entitled: A FALSE HYPOTHESIS? IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE AND SOCIETY IF IT'S TRUE "The hypothesis is this: Beginning with agriculture 10,000 years ago, humans have produced no technological product or process without drawing down the earth's capital stock. By stock, I mean that which is necessary for plants to capture carbon using contemporary sunlight. This utterly dismal hypothesis is not being offered to suggest that we stop all science and technology, but to encourage our thinking about an ecological rather than technological baseline for sustainability".

WES JACKSON, PhD President and founder of THE LAND INSTITUTE, Salina, Kansas http://www.landinstitute.org/ is widely recognized as a leader in the international movement for a more sustainable agriculture. In 2000 Wes Jackson received the Right Livelihood Award (called the "alternative Nobel prize"). To register and for more information, please email clf@jhsph.edu or call Kelly Hoban Green at 410-502-7578.

Organic Standards Under Attack

On February 13th, a tiny last-minute provision attached to the huge omnibus spending bill passed by congress, seriously undermined the new organic standards, just recently instituted last October after 12 years debate, public comment and legislation. The provision which allows "organic" livestock to be fed conventionally (chemically) produced grain was added by Nathan Deal, a republican representative from Georgia, at the behest of Fieldale Farms who, along with their employees, contributed $4,000 to Deal's campaign. If you are a member of our Garden Help Forum, you received our frantic message, prompted by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), calling for all to contact their representatives. While the bill passed, pressure from consumers, environmentalists, and industry activists, has stimulated a broad coalition to overturn the provision . Now is a good time to contact your representative and let them know that you support strict enforcement of organic standards. To learn more about this issue contact the OCA at http://organicconsumers.org/

You can also voice your support through the Organic Trade Association. Just click on the chicken.

Study Links Ubiquitous Chemical Additive to
Sperm Damage in Men

A study published in last December's Environmental Health Perspectives, a governmental journal, confirms what other researchers have warned: Everyday exposure to phthalates, common chemical preservatives used in cosmetics and fragrances as well as to soften plastics like baby toys and food wrap, may contribute to sperm damage in men. Conducted at a Massachusetts fertility clinic, the study analyzed semen and urine samples from 168 men. Phthalates have been linked in previous studies to birth defects in animals. They were banned by the European Union for use in some products, including baby toys, in 1999.

Tests conducted in May, 2002, by an independent U.S laboratory, found phthalates in nearly three quarters of 72 name-brand beauty products such as deodorants, fragrances, hair sprays and gels that were tested.

In November 2002, the industry-sponsored U.S. Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel, angered health and environmental lobbyists by voting that three types of phthalates can continue to be used in perfumes and beauty products, saying they were safe in their current uses.

A recent study conducted by the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the Environmental Working Group of Oakland and Washington, and Commonweal revealed that, on average, each of nine people tested had 50 or more chemicals linked to cancer in humans and lab animals, considered toxic to the brain and nervous system or known to interfere with the hormone and reproductive systems. (The Environmental Working Group's Web site www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden/ features biographies and toxic profiles for each person as well as the kind of products that contain such chemicals.)

As more studies point out the ubiquity of toxic chemicals in our environment and bodies, the case for organic agriculture and organic food continues to grow.