Pizza Pizza Privatizing Natural Resources: Boycott

Pizza Pizza and the Great Lakes

Toronto, Monday November 20, 2006: Pizza Pizza’s communication staff were ordered mute last week when asked about their partnership with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) and sponsorship of the Ringwood Fish Hatchery in Ringwood Ontario. This fish hatchery has been leased to the OFAH by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and produces pacific salmon and rainbow trout for release into the Great Lakes.

Not only is pacific salmon and rainbow trout non-native to the Great Lakes, the leasing of the stocking program to a private organization with corporate sponsorship begins the process of privatizing natural resources management in Ontario.

"This transfer of responsibility is done very quietly without any public input," says AnnaMaria Valastro of the Peaceful Parks Coalition. "And of course Pizza Pizza, being a private corporation, can tell concerned citizens to take a hike, and that's exactly what they've done."

In addition to the release of pacific salmon and rainbow trout, Ontario is releasing atlantic salmon into Lake Ontario too. "Atlantic salmon is native to Lake Ontario, but it is the first time in the history of Mother Earth that pacific and atlantic salmon have swam in the same waters," says Valastro.

The Great Lakes, once an awe inspiring natural system, has been bastardized and urbanized for corporate and commercial profit.

Pizza Pizza refused to disclosure the amount of money they have pumped into the fish hatchery. "I wouldn't be surprised if the next edition of hunting magazines featured a new exotic pizza heaped with invasive species," says Valastro.

The Peaceful Parks will begin informing Pizza Pizza customers at their Bloor and Spadina location of their involvement in the privatizing of natural resources management and stocking of exotics into the Great Lakes.

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For more information, please call AnnaMaria Valastro 416.785.8636

Note to the Editor:

Pizza Pizza has long been considered an environmental "bad boy". In the early 1990s, they were the focus of a very successful grassroots boycott campaign organized by the Friends of the Lubicon. Pizza Pizza refused to stop purchasing pizza bags from logging giant Daishowa. Diashowa was logging in Lubicon Cree territory in northern Alberta. The boycott successfully forced Pizza Pizza to find another supplier of pizza bags.

Aspects of the forestry industry in Ontario have also been privatized. While the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources sets forestry guidelines, they have little or no resources for regular "on the ground" inspections or inventories such as "species at risk". These responsibilities have now fallen onto the forestry companies.

STUDY SHOWS MILITARY POLLUTION POISONING U.S. FOOD SUPPLY

ALERT OF THE WEEK:
STUDY SHOWS MILITARY POLLUTION POISONING U.S. FOOD SUPPLY

A new analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control indicates that a toxic chemical in rocket fuel has severely contaminated the nation's food and water supply. Scientists warn that the chemical, known as perchlorate, could cause thyroid deficiency in more than 2.2 million women of childbearing age. This thyroid deficiency could damage the fetus of pregnant women, if left untreated. Perchlorate, the explosive ingredient in solid rocket fuel, has leaked from military bases and defense and aerospace contractors' plants in at least 22 states, contaminating drinking water for millions of Americans. Despite massive complaints, defense contractors such as Kerr-McGee have done little or nothing to clean up the pollution. Perchlorate has also been widely detected in milk, lettuce, produce and other foods. In an alarming study, the CDC found perchlorate in the urine of every person tested. The OCA has mobilized thousands of organic consumers to pressure the EPA and government officials to begin a massive clean up of perchlorate for over a year.

Learn more and take action: http://www.organicconsumers.org/perchlorate.htm

OSHA, No He Didn't

Federal agency threatens asbestos-warning writer with suspension

What if we said a federal agency was pressuring one of its own to weaken an environmental opinion? Crazy, right? But it's true. Again. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a warning this summer that brakes could contain asbestos, putting mechanics at risk for mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. Three weeks later, former OSHA head John Henshaw apparently requested that the alert be changed to include industry-financed studies saying eh, asbestos isn't so bad. Henshaw -- allegedly linked with firms used by the Big Three automakers to fight asbestos lawsuits -- says the carcinogen is no longer used in the U.S., but critics say otherwise. What to do? Last week, OSHA opted for bullying, by threatening scientist Ira Wainless with a 10-day, unpaid suspension if he didn't change the warning. He has, so far, refused. "It is outrageous," said government-employee union rep Ed Stern, "that OSHA would try to intimidate one of its own scientists for doing his job with integrity."

Osha site: http://www.osha.gov/dts/shib/shib072606.html
Baltimore News Story:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.osha20nov20,0,5836362.story

From the Union of Concerned Scientists

Give Thanks with the Right Food
November 2006


In the hubbub of planning and preparing a Thanksgiving feast for friends and family, it can be easy to forget the environmental impact of our food choices. Growing, harvesting, and transporting the ingredients for a typical Thanksgiving meal consumes a significant amount of water and energy and contributes to air and water pollution, habitat degradation, and global warming.

Fortunately, you can make a holiday meal that is not only delicious but also kinder to the environment and your family’s health. Here’s how:

Look for food produced in your region. Food travels an average of 1,500 miles or more from the farm to the supermarket, consuming fossil fuels and emitting air pollutants and heat-trapping carbon dioxide. Regionally grown meat and produce not only travel a shorter distance to your table and arrive fresher, but may also come from smaller farms that often follow more environmentally friendly practices.

Choose organic. Organic standards prohibit the use of synthetic fertilizers, toxic pesticides, and antibiotics (today’s industrialized animal production relies heavily on antibiotics to accelerate growth and prevent diseases that stem from overcrowding). Overuse of these substances generates air and water pollution and makes it more difficult to treat human diseases and ward off agricultural pests. If organic turkey is not available in your supermarket, choose turkey that has been raised without antibiotics. Also look for organic apples, celery, potatoes, and green beans because these holiday favorites are among the fruits and vegetables that typically carry the highest pesticide residues.

Support genetic diversity. Today’s large-scale farms focus on only a select few varieties of livestock and crops; for example, of the more than 250 million turkeys sold in the United States each year, 99 percent are the Broad-Breasted White variety. And of the thousands of potato varieties available, a small number now account for the majority of commercial production. As our agriculture system becomes more homogeneous, so does the risk of catastrophic losses if a disease spreads rapidly throughout a plant or animal population upon which our food supply depends. Choosing heirloom (or “heritage”) varieties such as American Bronze turkeys and fingerling potatoes helps support biodiversity and ensures a reliable food supply for future generations.

Go meatless. Meat production can deplete environmental resources more than other food production, so consider a meatless main dish.

Source: http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/greentips/

PRODUCT PLUNDER OF THE WEEK: WAL-MART, HANES, J.C. PENNEY AND PUMA SWEATSHOP SCANDAL

Major U.S. clothing companies continue to exploit children in overseas sweatshops. In the latest in a series of reports from the National Labor Committee (NLC), brand name Wal-Mart, Hanes, J.C. Penney, and Puma clothes have been traced to a Bangladesh sweatshop. An estimated 200 children, some under eleven years of age, are being forced to work over 100 hours per week and are being paid six and a half cents per hour to make these clothes. "It is time for these U.S. companies to act immediately, today, to guarantee that this does not happen and that the children are returned to school," said Charles Kernaghan, director of the NLC. Check out OCA's Clothes for a Change campaign to learn more about organic and fair trade clothes and textiles.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/