globalbriefs


News and resources to inspire concerned citizens to work together in building a healthier, stronger society that benefits all.


Economic Security Buying at Home Keeps America Strong


Poll after poll points to Americans’ preference for locally produced goods, according to msn.com; the real question is if we are willing to look for them and pay more. A 21st-century grassroots website, StillMadeInUSA. com, provides a helping hand with an online shopping directory of American brands. Categories range from personal apparel, handcrafts and household goods to tools, sports and entertainment, and include special occasions and shop-by-geography menus. “I try to buy American products whenever possible, but as a working


mother of three boys, I don’t have time to drive from store to store or search for hours online,” says founder Stephanie Sanzone, explaining her website’s genesis. The Made in USA label represents a heightened concern for guarding American manufacturing jobs, worker and environmental health, product quality, consumer safety, national competitiveness and security while defending against an increasing trade deficit.


Worse and Worse Use of Chemical Dispersants on Oil Spills is No Answer


Within the first month of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, British Petroleum (BP) had already released more than 600,000 gallons of a chemical dispersant into the Gulf of Mexico, with more to follow. While preventing leaking oil from surfacing, it may do far more to hide the true magnitude of the disaster from public scrutiny than to save the beaches. Dispersants are classified


by the Environmental Protection Agency as bioaccumulators, which are known to drive toxic hydrocarbons from crude oil directly into marine life, while distributing toxins throughout the water column, where they can do the most harm to the widest range of species. The public already has seen how use of chemical dispersants has accelerated the oil’s entry into the loop current and Gulf Stream, where it now poses a significant threat to the health of the world’s oceans. Experts explain that accelerating the biodegradation of the oil by ocean bacteria using dispersants causes oxygen depletion and animal death. Making the problem worse, dispersing the problem this way also hinders the recovery of the


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oil through siphoning, and enables it to slip more easily under protective booms into beaches and wetland habitats.


OilSpillTruth.wordpress.com details the issue. Sign the petition at ThePetitionSite.com/25/stop-the-use-of- dispersants-in-the-gulf or contact your state representatives (via USA.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml).


Lunch Box Funding Debate Slows Upgrade of School Nutrition


For the past year, Slow Food USA has led a consumer campaign now exceeding 100,000 emails asking Congress to improve school nutrition. “We cannot, in good conscience, continue to make our kids sick be feeding them cheap byproducts of an industrial food system,” states Josh Viertel, president of Slow Food USA. “It is time to give kids real food, food that tastes good, is good for them, is good for the people who grow and prepare it and is good for the planet.” President Obama has proposed


investing an additional $1 billion a year to help schools serve healthier food, but Congress is hesitating to approve the full amount. This change to the five- year Child Nutrition Act, now up for renewal, would add 20 cents to the $1 allocated for ingredients in each school lunch. School nutrition directors say an additional $1 is needed to serve sufficient vegetables, fruits and whole grains, making the ultimate goal $4 billion a year. Meanwhile, the viable farm-to-school movement is seeking just $50 million of the total to link local farms with schools. Vending machines also must be subject to stronger nutrition standards. “Kids have the most at stake


here,” remarks Emily Ventura, of Slow Food Los Angeles. “This is their future, their health, their quality of life. But it’s also America’s future.”


Support the Time for Lunch campaign at SlowFoodUSA.org.


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