Organic Freedom Farm Call to Action Safeway Corporation
Frank Fernandez and Cherri Rodriguez established the Organic Freedom Farm www.organicfreedom.com in 2006 with the dream of creating an environmentally friendly sustainable community. It is a work in progress, but we are making headway. Approximately 80% of what you see on the farm is recycled in some way. Gray water is recycled, old school buses and campers serve as housing rather than pre-fab trendy so called "eco-friendly" homes. The Organic Freedom Farm has a commitment to do our part in the prevention of making America one big landfill. We are located approximately 15 miles east of Holbrook. Holbrook is a small town in northeastern AZ with only one grocery store...Safeway.
Since the farm began purchasing dairy goats in the spring of 2007 we have made numerous attempts to retrieve Safeway's non-saleable, non-aesthetically pleasing produce. Keep in mind, Safeway is spending millions, if not billions of marketing dollars in an effort to please the masses with the appearance of being a "green" organization, but visit their produce section and you will find peaches from Chile and mangoes from Guatamala. In fact, most of Safeways produce is not local at all! How can this be from a company who goes to such great lengths to offer "O" Brand and "Eating Right" products?
Further more, it has been brought to our attention that our small town Safeway tosses out at least 40 pounds of perfectly good produce daily. "It is Safeway'es policy" according to store employees, the store manager, and the Safeway Corporate Office.
Just when we were about to give-up the fight with Safeway, we stopped by last week to pick up a few things, and low and behold...There he was! A suit and tie corporate district manager holding a meeting. What happened next is the reason I have chosen to contact you today. I introduced myself to the very nice gentleman, gave him my card and voiced my concerns, his response, "Yes this is an issue with alot of farmers, it keeps coming up, farmers don't understand that it is just our policy" That type of callous response has fueld a fire you cannot imagine!
My reply to him, "I am a small farm, yet I feed my animals at least 300 pounds of grains a month in the midst of a wheat, corn, and rice shortage, do you know how absurd this policy is?" The man politely agreed and said he would pass on my card to his supervisors...I am still waiting to hear from them.
Now take a moment to try to conceive of all the Safeway stores in America sending at least 40 pounds of perfectly good food to landfill each and every day, while Americas farmers continue to use our precious grain stores for farm animal consumption. If the thought of this disturbs you as much as it does us, I would ask that you take a few more minutes of your time to voice this to Safeway.
I have provided the link to Safeway's comments page on the internet and would ask that you mention the Organic Freedom Farm call to action. If you are able to send your comments starting Saturday May 31 we can together create a greater impact when Safeway's customer service department has numerous comments when they arrive on Monday.
http://shop.safeway.com/superstore/default.asp?brandid=1&page=corphome
Once on this page scroll down to the bottom and click on "contact us"
Click on "comments and suggestions"
You will be provided with a template which will allow you to send your comments
Support your local farmer and help us squash the corporate facilitated food shortage!
Since the farm began purchasing dairy goats in the spring of 2007 we have made numerous attempts to retrieve Safeway's non-saleable, non-aesthetically pleasing produce. Keep in mind, Safeway is spending millions, if not billions of marketing dollars in an effort to please the masses with the appearance of being a "green" organization, but visit their produce section and you will find peaches from Chile and mangoes from Guatamala. In fact, most of Safeways produce is not local at all! How can this be from a company who goes to such great lengths to offer "O" Brand and "Eating Right" products?
Further more, it has been brought to our attention that our small town Safeway tosses out at least 40 pounds of perfectly good produce daily. "It is Safeway'es policy" according to store employees, the store manager, and the Safeway Corporate Office.
Just when we were about to give-up the fight with Safeway, we stopped by last week to pick up a few things, and low and behold...There he was! A suit and tie corporate district manager holding a meeting. What happened next is the reason I have chosen to contact you today. I introduced myself to the very nice gentleman, gave him my card and voiced my concerns, his response, "Yes this is an issue with alot of farmers, it keeps coming up, farmers don't understand that it is just our policy" That type of callous response has fueld a fire you cannot imagine!
My reply to him, "I am a small farm, yet I feed my animals at least 300 pounds of grains a month in the midst of a wheat, corn, and rice shortage, do you know how absurd this policy is?" The man politely agreed and said he would pass on my card to his supervisors...I am still waiting to hear from them.
Now take a moment to try to conceive of all the Safeway stores in America sending at least 40 pounds of perfectly good food to landfill each and every day, while Americas farmers continue to use our precious grain stores for farm animal consumption. If the thought of this disturbs you as much as it does us, I would ask that you take a few more minutes of your time to voice this to Safeway.
I have provided the link to Safeway's comments page on the internet and would ask that you mention the Organic Freedom Farm call to action. If you are able to send your comments starting Saturday May 31 we can together create a greater impact when Safeway's customer service department has numerous comments when they arrive on Monday.
http://shop.safeway.com/superstore/default.asp?brandid=1&page=corphome
Once on this page scroll down to the bottom and click on "contact us"
Click on "comments and suggestions"
You will be provided with a template which will allow you to send your comments
Support your local farmer and help us squash the corporate facilitated food shortage!
2008-05-30 04:29:58 GMTComments: 1 |Permanent Link
Germany in Call for Ban on Oil Speculation
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Last Updated: 12:53am BST 27/05/2008
German leaders are to propose a worldwide ban on oil trading by speculators, blaming the latest spike in crude prices on manipulation by hedge funds.
It is the most drastic proposal to date amid escalating calls from Europe, the US and Asia for controls on market forces, underscoring the profound shift in the political climate since the credit crunch began. India has already suspended futures trading of five commodities.
Uwe Beckmeyer, transport chief for Germany's Social Democrats, said his party would call for joint measures by the G8 powers to prohibit leveraged trading on energy contracts. "It's an extreme step but it has to be done," he told the Berlin media.
Mr Beckmeyer said the last 25pc rise in the price of oil to $135 a barrel had nothing to do with underlying supply and demand. “It’s pure speculation,” he said.
# George Soros: rocketing oil price is a bubble
Oil has doubled in price over the past year and the concerns are echoed on Washington’s Capitol Hill where irate Democrats want rules compelling traders to take delivery of crude oil, a move which would paralyse the market.
There is now broad support in Germany for a clampdown on “locust” funds. President Horst Köhler said modern capitalism had turned into a “monster”, bringing the entire financial system to the brink of collapse this spring.
The Social Democrats form part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition. Her own Christian Democrat Party shares concerns that funds are causing a fresh bubble in commodities, risking further havoc for the real economy and society.
In the long run, any scheme to ban futures trading would be extremely hard to enforce as the markets would tend to move offshore. Hedge funds are probably not the culprit in any case.
Speculators are split, with some betting that oil will fall. The mass of money coming into the commodity indexes is mostly from pension funds and long-term investors.
Oil markets are likely to shrug off the moves as political posturing, instead focusing on Norway’s suspension of crude output at three platforms, cutting supply by 138,000 barrels a day.
The news comes as Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence reported Opec oil shipments fell by 1m barrels per day in the four weeks to May 4, confirming suspicions that the market has been chronically short of supply.
SOURCE:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/05/26/cnoil126.xml
Last Updated: 12:53am BST 27/05/2008
German leaders are to propose a worldwide ban on oil trading by speculators, blaming the latest spike in crude prices on manipulation by hedge funds.
It is the most drastic proposal to date amid escalating calls from Europe, the US and Asia for controls on market forces, underscoring the profound shift in the political climate since the credit crunch began. India has already suspended futures trading of five commodities.
Uwe Beckmeyer, transport chief for Germany's Social Democrats, said his party would call for joint measures by the G8 powers to prohibit leveraged trading on energy contracts. "It's an extreme step but it has to be done," he told the Berlin media.
Mr Beckmeyer said the last 25pc rise in the price of oil to $135 a barrel had nothing to do with underlying supply and demand. “It’s pure speculation,” he said.
# George Soros: rocketing oil price is a bubble
Oil has doubled in price over the past year and the concerns are echoed on Washington’s Capitol Hill where irate Democrats want rules compelling traders to take delivery of crude oil, a move which would paralyse the market.
There is now broad support in Germany for a clampdown on “locust” funds. President Horst Köhler said modern capitalism had turned into a “monster”, bringing the entire financial system to the brink of collapse this spring.
The Social Democrats form part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition. Her own Christian Democrat Party shares concerns that funds are causing a fresh bubble in commodities, risking further havoc for the real economy and society.
In the long run, any scheme to ban futures trading would be extremely hard to enforce as the markets would tend to move offshore. Hedge funds are probably not the culprit in any case.
Speculators are split, with some betting that oil will fall. The mass of money coming into the commodity indexes is mostly from pension funds and long-term investors.
Oil markets are likely to shrug off the moves as political posturing, instead focusing on Norway’s suspension of crude output at three platforms, cutting supply by 138,000 barrels a day.
The news comes as Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence reported Opec oil shipments fell by 1m barrels per day in the four weeks to May 4, confirming suspicions that the market has been chronically short of supply.
SOURCE:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/05/26/cnoil126.xml
2008-05-27 13:32:45 GMTComments: 0 |Permanent Link
Don't Eat the Goat!!
It's not because I'm a vegetarian, it's just plain wrong. On our farm we raise happy dairy goats and we have our fair share of little bucks born each season. But you can't have too many boys hanging around, so you place them up for sale. Now a traditional dairy farm ( we sure ain't one ) will castrate the boys that aren't sold off for meat so the farmer can fatten them up for a summer of BBQ's.
We had three handsome lads for sale for a while now, but not any more. We were telling folks they would be great pets or breeders. But all we heard was, "When he matures how much will he dress out at?" Then we would have people mention how tasty they are when their cooked right. "NO SALE!!" I would get the weirdest looks when I tell them that.
Out here there is no regard for the well being of animals. The attitude people have here is that they are "just animals" and why should I care what they do after buying them. Well I do care very much! Trying to get someone around here to at least see my point of view, whether or not they agree, is like having an enviromental debate with someone who drives a Hummer and kills little prairie dogs for sport ( my nieghbor, another story about a bonehead ).
So what we have decided to do is make postings in places where like-minded animal lovers and advocates can adopt for FREE one of our boys. On a farm it's normal to sell livestock, that's what we were doing at first. But it's not about the money anymore, it's about their happiness and well being. Giving them to someone with a small farm, homestead, intentional community; ect... this would give us peace in our hearts. These goats are raised with a lot of love and attention and would make excellent pets. If you can provide one of these boys a loving and positive enviroment please send your inquiries to organicfreedom@earthlink.net If this works out well hopefully we can continue adoptions in the future.
Frank
We had three handsome lads for sale for a while now, but not any more. We were telling folks they would be great pets or breeders. But all we heard was, "When he matures how much will he dress out at?" Then we would have people mention how tasty they are when their cooked right. "NO SALE!!" I would get the weirdest looks when I tell them that.
Out here there is no regard for the well being of animals. The attitude people have here is that they are "just animals" and why should I care what they do after buying them. Well I do care very much! Trying to get someone around here to at least see my point of view, whether or not they agree, is like having an enviromental debate with someone who drives a Hummer and kills little prairie dogs for sport ( my nieghbor, another story about a bonehead ).
So what we have decided to do is make postings in places where like-minded animal lovers and advocates can adopt for FREE one of our boys. On a farm it's normal to sell livestock, that's what we were doing at first. But it's not about the money anymore, it's about their happiness and well being. Giving them to someone with a small farm, homestead, intentional community; ect... this would give us peace in our hearts. These goats are raised with a lot of love and attention and would make excellent pets. If you can provide one of these boys a loving and positive enviroment please send your inquiries to organicfreedom@earthlink.net If this works out well hopefully we can continue adoptions in the future.
Frank
2008-05-23 16:23:52 GMTComments: 0 |Permanent Link
Entry for May 14, 2008
"The most common form of terrorism in the USA is that carried on by bulldozers and chainsaws. It is not enough to understand the natural world; the point is to depend and preserve it. Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul"
Edward Abbey
Writer: Desert Anarchist
1927-1989
Edward Abbey
Writer: Desert Anarchist
1927-1989
2008-05-14 18:18:45 GMTComments: 0 |Permanent Link
What are the health benefits of a vegetarian diet?
According to the ADA, vegetarians are at lower risk for developing:
- Heart disease
- Colorectal, ovarian, and breast cancers
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
This is because a healthy vegetarian diet is typically low in fat and high in fiber. However, even a vegetarian diet can be high in fat if it includes excessive amounts of fatty snack foods, fried foods, whole milk dairy products, and eggs. Therefore, a vegetarian diet, like any healthy diet, must be well planned in order to help prevent and treat certain diseases.
2008-05-13 16:13:44 GMTComments: 0 |Permanent Link