Wicked Cool World of Organics - Edition 34 | Use Celsias.com

This week's dose of organic headlines, updates, resources, goodies, and recipes courtesy of Doug Snodgrass...

If you're compelled to take action based on the following, here is the online petition.

Pesticide-Industry Rep Picked for Trade Post Draws Fire

A coalition of advocacy groups launched a campaign today opposing President Obama's choice of a pesticide industry official to represent U.S. interests in agricultural trade negotiations.

The 85 groups -- including Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, the Organic Consumers Association, th e National Family Farm Coalition and dozens of state farm worker groups -- sent a letter today to the Senate Finance Committee opposing the nomination ahead of a scheduled confirmation hearing tomorrow for Islam Siddiqui.

[...]

Siddiqui is currently vice president for science and regulatory affairs at CropLife America, a trade group that represents some manufacturers of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.

CropLife America has been behind lawsuits challenging federal efforts to restrict pesticides and helped secure an exemption for U.S. farmers from a 2006 worldwide ban of methyl bromide, a chemical that depletes the stratospheric ozone layer.

The environmental and farming groups oppose statements that Siddiqui made during his previous tenure at USDA and as a lobbyist for CropLife. For instance, while at USDA in 1999, Siddiqui bashed the European Union's ban on hormone-treated beef and opposed a push for more stringent international labeling requirements for genetically modified crops, according to the groups.

On the net positive side...

To meet rising demand for organics, USDA awards $19M to organic research

Organic agricultural research in the United States is getting a boost from the Departmentof Agriculture (USDA) with a $19 million investment into the initiative "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" and that's to be awarded to research programs in universities around the country.

The move, announced Monday, comes in response to rapidly increasing demand for organic foods, according to the department.

"These grants are an important part of USDA's new ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food' initiative, which will help develop local and regional food systems and spur economic opportunity by assisting organic producers with new production and marketing practices to meet rising consumer demand," Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan said in a statement.

According to USDA figures, organic food sales in the United States have increased more than fivefold since 1997 while organic acreage has only doubled in that same period.

The market research firm Mintel has said that organic food purchases now account for about three percent of total US food sales, and those figures are expected to rise steadily by 19 percent to 2013. More than two-thirds of US consumers buy organic products at least occasionally, and 28 percent buy organic products weekly, according to the firm.

Buyer beware, there are even a couple of organic brands on this list.

Are contaminants lurking in your canned veggies?

A new study finds that a range of common canned goods contain measurable levels of the chemical additive BPA -- even in products whose labels assured they were "organic" or "BPA- free."

The study by Consumer Union, the nonprofit that publishes Consumer Reports, included a wide range of canned goods and showed elevated levels of BPA, known as Bisphenol A. Top among the list included such products as Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup and Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans. You can read the full list of products tested here.

Celeb/organic news. Yup, I just jumped the shark.

Liz Hurley launches healthy snack range

Not content with her own beachwear range, model and actress Elizabeth Hurley has created her own organic healthy snacks to help you fit into the bikini too.

The former actress and face of Estee Lauder was at Harrods in London on Tuesday to launch her new range of health foods.

Having moved to the English countryside and set up a farm in Gloucestershire last year, the mother of one, who is married to business man Arun Nayar, said she wanted to try an alternative to conventional farming:

"I realised that I wanted to do more than just normal farming, by which I mean sheep, pork, cows, wheat, oats, we were doing that anyway and selling locally at farmers markets but I realised that I wanted to do something that had a wider appeal. So we put these bars into development and the beef jerky, and this is it. Today's the day of reckoning where everyone's going to taste them and hopefully, hopefully say they like them."

With some ingredients sourced from Hurley's own 400 acre organic farm, the low calorie snack range, includes oat bars, beef jerky and fruit bars for people on the go.