Signature
The time for organic is now!
PHOTO: LEANDRO CHAVIRA
After diving deep into dozens of revealing, powerful scientific studies while working on this issue’s cover story and talking to inspirational global
leaders of the organic movement, including activist Dr. Vandana Shiva (in-
terviewed in this issue’s Dialogue, page 46), I believe this more than ever.
Consciousness is rising, and the link between disease and toxins in our envi-
ronment can no longer be ignored. The system is broken.
We need organic farmers to help fix things—and they can.
I, like most of you, believe organic farming can help create a better world, but now we don’t have to rely just on beliefs or even just common sense—there is mounting
science that proves the benefits. Our cover story summarizes many of the top scientific findings in the last 12 years
that show how critical organic farming is to the future
health of the planet and the people living on it.
While many of you in the industry have likely seen at least some of these
studies before, the sad fact is that most of the world has not. Most of our
local and federal governmental leaders have not, most schoolteachers and
administrators have not. Even most doctors haven’t. Your neighbors, your
sister and cousins and many of your friends might not even know. In fact,
most of the general population outside this choir of natural food leaders
has not heard about most of these studies.
The most powerful thing about this cover story is that it has so many
studies in one place. Commit some of these to memory and start sharing
the science! I challenge each one of you to pass the cover story on to at
least ten people and Tweet/Facebook about some of the findings. The IQ
study (starting on the bottom of page 30) is one that everyone should
share, especially with any mothers-to-be.
Also, I encourage everyone to spread the word about genetic engineered (GE) food labeling initiatives, both the federal ( www.justlabelit.org)
and the California ballot ( www.labelgmos.org). Time is short, so do everything you can to raise awareness—create contests for your employees to see
who can get the most people to sign the petition, post it on websites, Facebook and Twitter. If your company is in California, consider letting your
employees leave work a couple hours early sometime to gather signatures
in your community (there are trainings on how to do this and anyone is
welcome to join me in the Bay Area for a signing session, send me an email
to find out when). As Dr. Shiva discusses in Dialogue, the right to know what
is in our food and the right to non-GE seed is a justice issue, and we need
to start approaching it this way and demand that our rights are no longer
infringed upon.
It’s time to change agriculture into a force for good. Time to occupy the
food system and demand organic!
Chief Executive Officer Don Meeker
Publisher Stacy Atchison
Advertising Manager Bobby Meeker
Editorial Director Kathryn Schuett
Art Director Craig Van Wechel
Circulation Manager Andrea Karges
Administrative Manager Allison Demmert
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Stacy Atchison 424.298.8542
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Printed on recycled paper.
Kat Schuett
Editorial Director
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Organic Processing
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