Political Health

The United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, recently met with high-ups at Monsanto and other companies to discuss agricultural ‘advances’ for 2016. But was this really a ‘forum,’ or a way for Vilsack to promote Monsanto? And why were Monsanto insiders ever appointed to protect the safety of our food?
Vilsack’s meeting sounds more like a master conflicts of interest group get-together for the biotech and industrial agricultural model, especially when you consider who was leading the discussion:

In the massive spending bill unveiled Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill, 2 small paragraphs contain language that may force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to finalize guidelines for the labeling of the recently-approved genetically modified (GM) salmon, or “Frankenfish.”

The Dow Chemical Company is ranked the second largest toxic waste producer in the United States. In an average year, it dumps more than 600 million pounds of toxic chemical waste on the nation.

Zahara Heckscher, a breast cancer patient who was wearing a t-shirt that read, “I Have Cancer. I Can’t Wait Years,” and holding a hospital drip pole that read “TPP: Don’t Cut My IV” was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia after allegedly ‘disrupting’ negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the probable drug price gouging that will occur should certain provisions in the trade deal pass through legislation.

A Manhattan judge has tossed out a New York City Health Department mandate that preschoolers must get flu shots.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez called the requirement “invalid and unlawful” in his decision, adding that the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene “lacked the statutory authority” to mandate the vaccines because they are not required under state law.

HR Bill 1599, also known as the DARK ACT (Monsanto’s favorite bill that would effectively ruin the food supply and halt GMO labeling initiatives) has been stopped cold in Congress. After thousands of letters and activists railing against this dangerous legislation, no anti-GMO labeling provisions were allowed in the must-pass Omnibus spending bill.

The University of Vermont is offering a course on medical marijuana, but professors say they are struggling to teach on the subject, citing a lack of science on the drug. [1]
The school is not the first to offer classes on medical marijuana law and policy, but Vermont’s is likely the first one to offer a full course on the topic, the Association of American Medical Colleges and Universities says.

Rhona Applebaum, a senior executive at Coca Cola, had been arranging to give donations amounting to $1.5 million to ‘charities’ that published propaganda telling people that sugary drinks have nothing to do with their weight problem, diabetes, and multiple other health issues associated with obesity.
Rhona Applebaum likely didn’t count on the trial (so clearly proving that Coca Cola is contributing to America’s obesity epidemic) being unveiled through her personal emails. Now she is taking ‘immediate retirement.’

What will it take for the agriculture industry to stop feeding antibiotics to livestock for non-medical purposes? Will it take an all-out crisis for these farms to wake up, and will it be too late by then?

A whistleblowing nurse who used to work at a Kaiser hospital says that she was fired for looking after patients’ health. After voicing concerns over cost-cutting initiatives that might jeopardize patient safety and complaining about state labor violations she observed at the hospital, she was let go.