My name is Sharon Jackson. I have built a website called www.vancouverislanddiet.com

In answer to the 100 Mile Diet, this website is designed to promote Vancouver Island farmers, food producers and value added. There is a search form where people can look for local producers by product. There is a sign up form where food producers can enter their information in order to be found, as well as information about where their products are sold- whether at the farm gate, a farm market or a local store.

I warmly invite you to enter your information at

SALT SPRINGERS FOR SAFE FOOD, GREENPEACE AND
THE SOCIETY FOR A GE FREE BC
present
PERCY SCHMEISER

Meaden Hall July 7, at 7.00 pm

ALSO FEATURING

COLIN PALMER, Chair, Powell River Regional District

TOM RUDGE, Leader Campaign For a GE Free Yukon

JOSH BRANDON, Agricultural Campaigner, Greenpeace

More than 8 out of 10 Canadians want GE foods labelled. Our politicians are not listening. Come along and hear what Percy, Colin, Tom and Josh have to say and add your voice.

Featuring Songs By Phil Vernon and Bill Henderson

ENTRANCE BY DONATION

Spilling the Beans, January 2008
Institute for Responsible Technology
http://www.seedsofdeception.com

The US sugar beet industry is threatening to venture into the world of genetically modified (GM) crops, hoping to introduce a new gene-spliced variety by Monsanto as early as spring 2008. But if the experience of the last decade is any indication, such a move will lead to huge economic losses for the sugar industry and even for US food companies who use sugar as an ingredient. Moreover, the timing for such an introduction couldn’t be worse. GM sugar would be dispersed through the food supply in early 2009, just as the new president is sworn in. If he or she is a democrat, which is likely, then mandatory labeling of GM foods will soon follow. And more than 50% of Americans have said they would reject GM foods if given a choice. But even without mandatory labeling, there is a significant industry and consumer effort underway to remove all remaining GM ingredients from the natural food industry, and to provide consumers with handy non-GMO shopping guides. And if that weren’t enough, the recent evidence confirming that GM foods are dangerous to health,[1] is inspiring more and more physicians to prescribe non-GM diets to their patients. With all this, how the can sugar beet industry be serious about GM sugar beets? It appears that they are relying on Monsanto and the biotech industry for critical information. Oops.

29 Oct 2007

Early results of a 12 million pound, 4-year EU study on the benefits of organic food suggest that some of them, such as fruit, vegetables and milk, are more nutritious than non-organically produced food and may contain higher concentrations of cancer fighting and heart beneficial antioxidants.

The results were released to the press but there is no mention of a of a journal publication as yet. The research team said its findings will be published in full within the next 12 months.

Organic Bytes 10/18/2007
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7558.cfm

A new study in the recent issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that a toxin in genetically engineered Bt corn is contaminating waterways near farm fields. The toxin is killing caddisflies which is a valuable food resource for higher organisms like fish and amphibians.