Brews and Stews by Nicole Feliciano Inter Has Still Got a Firm Grip on New York City
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2.24.11 p01-12_Layout 1 2/23/11 8:22 PM Page 1 OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE PARK SLOPE FOOD COOP Established 1973 Volume FF, Number 4 February 24, 2011 Brews and Stews By Nicole Feliciano inter has still got a firm grip on New York City. For W many of us, it’s a perfect time to tuck into a hearty winter stew. There’s ample inspiration at the Coop thanks to a plentiful selection of root vegetables and dark leafy greens. But there’s more than just vegetables to generate excitement in the kitchen. To spice up your cooking, consid- er a secret ingredient—beer! The Magic Ingredient vegetables, carrots and The Coop has a wide onions, in this chili. assortment of craft beers that can liven up winter meals. Chefs, Take Note Thanks to the Coop’s intrigu- In a dish like this chili PHOTO COURTESY OF STONYFIELD FARM ing selection, your cooking (recipe to follow), don’t Gary Hirshberg, “CE-YO” of Stonyfield Farm. can get livelier without hav- dump in any old brew: the ing to rely on spices. Sim- A Crisis for Organics ply add beer to a recipe in lieu of broth, The Movement Against water or wine and you’ll change the Engineered Alfalfa character of your favorite By Hayley Gorenberg dish. rganics advocates have raised a chorus of objections following the Beer can enhance fla- U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision on January 27 to allow vors, add O PHOTO BY KEVIN RYAN nuance to deregulation of genetically engineered alfalfa, the hay many grass-fed cows Ingredients for a hearty winter stew. eat. Genetically modified hay is designed to withstand applications of your dishes and increase the richness of more the beer is cooked weed-killing pesticides, and voices from many quarters have objected that your cooking. Beer’s delight- and reduced, the stronger deregulating alfalfa will result in contaminated feed for organic cattle. ful bitterness makes it a per- its flavor will be. Because fect partner for the sweet CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 As Stonyfield Farm’s Presi- not have to be labeled, mak- that Whole Foods Market, dent and “CE-YO” Gary Hirsh- ing it difficult for consumers Organic Valley and Stonyfield Next General Meeting on March 29 berg pointed out in an email to identify and avoid.” Farm had capitulated by not The General Meeting of the Park Slope Food Coop is held on the alert, “This means GE alfalfa Conflict sparked internally pressing harder to ban Mon- last Tuesday of each month. The next General Meeting will be can be planted without any in the organics movement, as santo’s “Roundup Ready” on Tuesday, March 29, 7:00 p.m. at the Congregation Beth Elo- federal requirements to pre- well. Hirshberg’s email fol- engineered alfalfa. Organics him Temple House (Garfield Temple), 274 Garfield Pl. vent contamination of organ- lowed a public accusation by organizations that had been The agenda will be available as a flyer in the entryway of the ic and non-GE crops. It also the head of the Organic Con- meeting with the federal gov- Coop on Wednesday, March 2. For more information about the GM means that GE alfalfa does sumers Association (OCA) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 and about Coop governance, please see the center of this issue. IN THIS ISSUE Thu, Mar 3 • Food Class: Healthy Sweets 7:30 p.m. Puzzle . 2 Fri, Mar 4 • Film Night: Pray the Devil Back to Hell 7 p.m. Board of Directors Election . 3 Checkout Assistant . 4 Coop Sat, Mar 5 • Coop Kids’ Variety Show 7 p.m. From Plow to Plate: King Corn . 5 Event Tue, Mar 8 • Safe Food Committee Film: King Corn 7 p.m. Oprah Went Vegan, Should You? . 5 Coop Calendar, Workslot Needs Fri, Mar 18 • Coffeehouse: Annie Keating, Jean Rohe & Governance Information, Mission Statement. 7 Highlights Rogerio Boccato 8:00 p.m. Letters to the Editor . 10 Classified Ads . 11 Look for additional information about these and other events in this issue. Community Calendar . 12 2.24.11 p01-12_Layout 1 2/23/11 8:22 PM Page 2 2 February 24, 2011 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY Organics contamination in there,” he into effect.” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 continued, adding that cont- Hirshberg suggested the amination, if not from seeds, battle would continue, urging ernment responded that the could originate from storage supporters of organic agricul- USDA had taken a complete in contaminated silos or ture to log on to the Organic ban off the table and that it trucks. Trade Association‘s website had therefore pushed for Testing proposals have (http://ota.capwiz.com/ota/ “conditional deregulation” also triggered concern issues/alert/?aler- with important limits—but in among organic producers, he tid=24747501) and press the the end even that partial con- said. “A lot of the producers federal government on a vari- trol failed. are very anxious they’re not ety of points, as follows: As a result of the decision, going to get the certification. • This damaging decision, said OCA, genetically modi- If they fail the test, it will be under your leadership, to fied alfalfa would be “guaran- horrible for their marketing. permit commercial planti- teed to spread its mutant So a lot of companies have ng of Monsanto’s genetical- genes and seeds across the been dancing around worried ly engineered Roundup PHOTO BY ROD MORRISON nation; guaranteed to conta- they won’t make the grade.” Ready alfalfa was made at Greg Todd, advocate for GMO-free foods, weighing his corn minate the alfalfa fed to Meanwhile, organic pro- the expense of agricultural purchase at the Coop. organic animals; guaranteed ducers of animal products diversity, farmer liveli- to lead to massive poisoning like meat and dairy “pay a big hoods, and my ability to ed with a court order direct- alfalfa is not expected to of farm workers and destruc- premium to get organic-certi- choose. ing the government to assess adversely affect plants and tion of the essential soil food fied corn or soy for their live- • There are compelling scien- the environmental impact of animals, including threat- web by the toxic herbicide, stock,” Todd said. “Now it’s tific and economic reasons engineered hay prior to ened and endangered Roundup; and guaranteed to increasingly hard to maintain to question why Americans deregulating. The U.S. species. RR alfalfa is not produce Roundup-resistant that GMO-free status.” should put all of our eggs in Department of Agriculture’s expected to become more superweeds that will require According to Coop policy, the biotech basket. The Animal and Plant Health invasive in natural environ- even more deadly herbicides.” PSFC will “Sell no products unconditional release of Inspection Service (APHIS) ments or have any different Longtime PSFC Environ- that are genetically engi- GE crops threatens farmers released a draft environmen- effect on critical habitat mental Committee member and consumers who seek to tal impact statement in than traditional alfalfa….RR Greg Todd (originator of the avoid seeds and food con- December 2009, held four alfalfa has no adverse Coop’s EcoKvetch column) effects on human health and explained that this move and worker safety.” similar deregulation of sugar “Deregulation of genetically Food and Water Watch has beets, for example, has made reported that the biotechnol- the task of ascertaining engineered alfalfa means that GE ogy has spent $572 million whether products are free of lobbying Congress since 1999. genetically modified ingredi- alfalfa does not have to be labeled, Said Hirshberg, “The ents “one hundred percent problem with the unrestrict- harder.” making it difficult for consumers to ed deregulating of GE crops “’It’s a tragedy for organic is that the dangers of conta- growers,’ seems to be every- identify and avoid.” mination are permanent and one’s response,” he said. irreversible. Whereas Con- Allowing crops to grow adja- Gary Hirshberg, gress has enacted other leg- cent to each other practically CE-YO of Stonyfield Farm islation to correct and guarantees cross contamina- reverse past transgressions, tion, he pointed out, using for instance the Clean Air corn plants as a case in point: taining these substances. public meetings and a year Act and clean water legisla- ILLUSTRATIONS BY CATHY WASSYLENKO “Silk and pollen from corn But instead you relied on later, in December 2010, tion, a ‘clean crop act’ would travels miles!” Todd supports neered or contain products of Monsanto’s research alone released a final environmen- never be able to undo the a proposal which the com- genetic engineering, except to evaluate if my family and tal impact statement effec- damage and losses caused mittee hopes to bring before that sales of genetically engi- the environment are at risk. tively supporting “Roundup by GE crops. Therefore, the the General Meeting within neered products shall not be • The government’s own Ready” alfalfa. time to fight for these the next year to require on- discontinued unless there is Environmental Impact According to APHIS, “RR restrictions is now.” ■ shelf labeling for packaged a similarly priced equivalent Statement on GE alfalfa products, though he said the product that is not genetical- revealed that the crop will result would be “90 percent ly engineered.” increase the use of toxic we don’t know, five percent Stonyfield Farms’ website weed killers. There is no Sudoku definitely, five percent no. has become one locus for justification for ignoring “Officially, according to tapping into opposition to science that shows that USDA standards, organic the deregulation of alfalfa. genetic engineering results foods cannot contain GMO (See www.stonyfield.com in the increased use of toxic ingredients,” Todd said.