April 7, 2000

Although nothing was taken, the Farm Bureau office was ransacked. Desk drawers were emptied and files spilled on the floor.

The incident occurred less than 24 hours after the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) took responsibility for smashing department store windows in San Francisco and setting fires in Sonoma, San Mateo and Alameda counties as part of their "war for the end of animal abuse."

Last month, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau offered rewards totaling $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for fires at a slaughterhouse and egg farm in Petaluma and an arson attempt at a Fulton poultry factory.

David Barbarash, an ALF spokesman, as reported by the American Farm Bureau Federation Executive News Watch, said the group had yet to receive a claim of responsibility from any of its members, but he suspects members of his organization are involved.

"It seems obvious to me that this attack on the Farm Bureau is a direct response from the Animal Liberation Front," Barbarash said. "If an organization is going to challenge the ALF in this way, they should expect some sort of retaliatory action."

"Just because something is labeled organic does not mean that it is any more superior, safer or more healthy than conventional food," Glickman said. "All food in this country must meet the same high standards of safety, regardless of their classification."

The rules, which have been almost a decade in the making, would bar the use of genetically-modified crops, irradiation, or industrial sludge as fertilizer—serious points of contention when the proposed rules were originally released in 1997.

The new standards, designed to replace a patchwork of state and private standards, would prohibit the use of antibiotics in livestock production, require livestock to be fed organic feed, and restrict the kinds of fertilizers, pesticides and food additives that can be used. Products grown and processed according to the standards that contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients will be allowed to carry a seal of approval that reads: "USDA Certified Organic." Foods at least 50 percent organic could be labeled "made with organic ingredients."

The Brush Busters project uses videos, leaflets, tours, workshops, and the Internet to teach ranchers and landowners how to safely control problem plants in West Texas, including mesquite, cedar and prickly pear cactus, with reduced environmental impact.

The process employs commonly available spray application equipment to efficiently eliminate the brush plants and minimize the amount of herbicides. It was developed jointly by Dr. Darrell Ueckert and Dr. Allan McGinty.

While the program was designed to control the growth of problem plants, Brush Busters has been an environmental and economic windfall since its inception.

Research conducted between 1995 and 1998 showed the project generated a savings to ranchers of $17.7 million and reduced the use of herbicides by 18.7 percent per year. With the reduction of brush, an estimated 300 to 600 billion gallons of water was also saved each year.

Kellogg said the cereals it sells in Europe are GMO (Genetically Modified Organism)-free. However, the company said in a statement on the issue that it "firmly believes that all of the products we sell, including those that contain ingredients developed through biotechnology, are safe."

"We use grains from a number of U.S. suppliers," a company spokesperson said. "Our supply would likely include biotech grains in the same proportion that would occur in the entire U.S. supply, where they are broadly included.

Kellogg’s preliminary proxy reveals an order of Catholic nuns, the Sisters of St. Joseph, and a related retirement plan for employees of the Sisters of Mercy Regional Community of Detroit, called for a shareholder vote at the company’s upcoming meeting.