Resources Organics, Ingredients, Family & Health, Beauty, Nutrition, Environment/Social, Shared Links.

Organic information sources

• Who Owns What in the Organic food industry
• Organic Goes Mainstream - feature presentation with Paul Kennedy - CBC’s IDEAS
• OFA The Organic Federation of Australia
• BFA Biological Farmers of Australia
• ACO Australia Certified Organic
• USDA National Organic Program
• IFOAM - International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
• BC Govt BC Organic Industry Overview
• Organic Eprints is an international open access archive for papers related to research in organic agriculture.
• WWOOF World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms - links Organizations (who are looking for volunteers) to Individuals (who are looking to experience life on organic farms or smallholdings). Volunteers do not pay for their stay. Hosts do not pay the volunteers for their help. A wonderful experience of living, learning, sharing organic lifestyles.
• Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada on the Canadian organic initiative.
• FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau – FiBL) is the world’s leading information and documentation centre for organic agriculture. Some reports are free.
• Organic-Market.info Online magazine for organic trade.
• Sol Foundation Ecology & Agriculture
• The Organic Monitor a business research & consulting company that specialises on the global organic & related product industries.
• Organic Trade Association a membership-based business association that focuses on the organic business community in North America.  OTA’s mission is to promote & protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy.
• national farmers union Links to Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Sites
• Organic & Wellness News - International paper for the organic trade.
• Organic Standard an international monthly journal that enable individuals and organisations to be kept up-to-date with developments concerning worldwide standards and certification issues in the organic sector.

Ingredient Resources

• NIOSH - International Chemical Safety Cards
• US FDA - Cosmetic Products and Ingredients
• Toxic Ingredient Directory myorganicfamily.mionegroup.com (ONE Group)
• Can’t locate a particular chemical ingredient from the Toxic Ingredient Directory? Then do your own detective work by using the hazardous chemical database search facility from the University of Akron, USA.   University of Akron, Department of Chemistry. Ohio USA
• Health & Safety Information on Household Products. - about product health effects, safety, & handling.   National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine (USA)
• Where to find MSDS - Material Safety Data Sheets - on the Internet.   Interactive Learning Paradigms, Incorporated (ILPI)
• FREE access to over 2,500,000 Material Safety Data Sheets - the largest centralized reference source available on the Internet.   National MSDS Repository - The MSDSSEARCH, Inc.

NEWS

• Action taken over organic mislabelling The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken action against cosmetics maker Natural Products of Australia over its natural and organic claims. The ACCC said it took the action against Natural Products of Australia because it was concerned that inaccuracies on its product labels concerning the products’ composition might mislead consumers. On its labels the company claims to use ‘100 per cent pure oils and certified organic herbs’, but the ACCC was concerned that the amounts of these herbs and oils was sometimes so small it was relatively insignificant to the overall formulation. In the same vein, the organisation also rapped Natural Products of Australia for not listing its ingredients on the labels from biggest to smallest quantities, as required by mandatory standards. “Consumers should be able to rely on labels to provide accurate information about the chemicals and other ingredients in cosmetic products,“ said ACCC deputy chairman Peter Kell.

Amazing Health Stories

...that could change your life.

• STORY #1: Living Proof - Amazing story of a King Country dairy farmer who caught swine flu and very nearly died. High doses of Vitamin C saved his life AND his leukemia disappeared in the process.

Baby & Mother

• BodyBurden The Pollution of Newborns from EWG
• A Present for Life From Greenpeace. Hazardous chemicals are unwittingly passed from mother to child.
• Are we poisoning our children?

Chemicals

• Chemical Home Report, Changing The Market To Supply toxic-Free Products Greenpeace
• Chemical Home Report, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Greenpeace

Health’s lighter moments

• sheep dash Tiredness can affect your reaction times. See how alert you are with this game. Test the impact on your performance after a good sleep or after drinking coffee.

Toxic Beauty News, Blogs

• (US) Senator John Kerry Pushes FDA to Investigate Lead Content in Lipstick 2007 Nov.18   In Kerry’s press release, he states, “Dangerous levels of lead in lipstick is the latest reminder that insufficient safeguards at the FDA pose real risks to everyday Americans. “There has been a continuous flow of unnerving news in recent months about the FDA’s clear lack of oversight and inspection. Washington is gambling with our health, whether we are aware of it or not. It’s time for the FDA to start taking this responsibility more seriously.”
• Potentially toxic cosmetics have some people worried
• Personal care products might contain harmful chemicals
• Organic Consumers Association List of Synthetic Chemicals to Avoid in Body Care Products
• The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
• Cosmetics Data Base - Skin Deep (EWG investigation)
• NewsTarget Consumers Beware: 175 Toxic Chemicals Found in Conventional Cosmetics
• UTNE Apparently, Looks Might Kill
• NoHarm.org We are a global coalition of 443 organizations in 52 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in the health care industry. Search "Pretty Nasty" - A recent survey found that 40% of European cosmetics contained banned chemicals known to cause reproductive damage?
• article: Hiding a Lobby Behind a Name: Why Not Truth in Labeling For Interest Groups? - Washington Post 27jan85
  The Committee for National Security. The Committee for an Effective Congress. The American Council on Science and Health. The Committee for Energy Awareness. The U.S.A. Foundation. ...real powers in our society now prefer to stay in the background while these surrogate groups toil on their behalf. ...
• article: American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) ACSH bills itself as: “..a consumer education organization concerned with issues related to food, nutrition, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle, the environment and health.” whose interests does ACSH serve? - ACSH is heavily financed by corporations with specific and direct interest in ACSH’s chosen battles. Since it was created in 1978, it has come to the enthusiastic defense of virtually every chemical or additive backed by a major corporate interest. In many of these cases...

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

• news to come

Probiotics

• Health Tips - Patrick Holford
• "Probiotic Microbes: The Scientific Basis" - Jun 2006
• CBC News - ‘Good bacteria’ tested on bowel disorders such as Crohn’s
• CBC Interview - ‘Good Germs, Bad Germs’ with Jessica Snyder Sacks: Ever since bacteria were first discovered, over 100 years ago, and found to cause disease, society has tried to get rid of them. We’ve cleaned up our water supplies, created antibiotics and today spend millions of dollars every year on antibacterial products. But the bacteria that cause problems make up a very small fraction of the microbes that are out there. In fact, many of the bacteria that live in and on our bodies actually help to keep us healthy. Is it possible that by killing the ‘good’ bacteria, we’re endangering our own health? That’s the premise behind her new book, Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World.
• CBC News - ‘Treatments based on re-introducing good bacteria in one’s gut to heal and restore normal intestinal function.’ Don’t poo-poo technique: Fecal transplant can cure superbug, doctors say. More than 90% of C. difficile patients are cured by fecal transplants, studies suggests.
• NotMILK.com (not .org) - ‘The truth about milk & dairy.’

Nutrition Books

• Diet Wise: Let Your Body Choose the Food That’s Right for You This is one of the most influencial books on nutrition and on prevention we encountered to date. As the author puts it “...you can uncover the secret foods that may be sapping your vitality, reducing your mental powers, causing numerous mysterious symptoms and perhaps even shortening your life.”

Get Involved! Change the World.

Canada

• Green Ideas Network has enthusiastic “green experts” to provide advice, tips and key information on all environmental topics.
• Council of Canadians a citizen organization working to protect Canadian independence by promoting progressive policies on fair trade, clean water, energy security, public health care, and other issues of social and economic concern to Canadians.

Photos

• Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico - from Space

World

• Slow Money Alliance .org - a new nonprofit organizing an international movement to bring money back down to earth.
• The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project .
• wiserearth.org - the social network for responsibility
• infowars alex jones channel & infowars.com