Skip to main content

Looming Law, International Pact Could Lower Food Protections

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the largest global trade pact to be negotiated since the inception of the World Trade Organization. Many details remain a mystery and negotiations are being conducted in secret. Leaked drafts of its provisions indicate that the TPP would give multinational corporations the power to sue countries, states, counties or cities in order to negate laws specifically designed to protect citizens, such as bans on growing genetically modified organisms (GMO). Corporations would be allowed to resolve trade disputes in special international tribunals, effectively wiping out hundreds of domestic and international food sovereignty laws.

The TPP would require countries to accept food that meets only the lowest safety standards of the collective participants. If enacted, consumers could soon be eating imported seafood, beef or chicken products that don’t meet basic U.S. food safety standards, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would be powerless to stop imports of such unsafe foods or ingredients. Plus, the labeling of products as fair trade, organic, country-of-origin, animal welfare-approved or GMO-free could be challenged as barriers to trade.

Opposition has grown, thanks to petitions by members of the Organic Consumers Association and other groups. More than 400 organizations, representing 15 million Americans, have petitioned Congress to do away with accelerated acceptance of the measure without full debate.

For more information, visit OrganicConsumers.org and search TPP.

Global Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

Upcoming Events Near You
Follow Us On Facebook