NEWSBYSARAH PARSONS

This is a guest post from Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, both 16-year-old Girl Scouts from Michigan. Vorva and Tomtishen recently launched a campaign on Change.org urging Girl Scouts USA to eliminate rainforest-destroying palm oil from their cookies.

Girl Scout cookies may taste sweet, but one of their ingredients contributes to human rights abuses, destroys rainforest, and endangers thousands of species. In 2007, when we were 11 years old, we set out to earn a Girl Scout award by advocating for the endangered orangutan. Along the way, we discovered that the Girl Scout cookies we had sold since childhood contained palm oil, an ingredient that contributes to the above social and environmental concerns.

More than 60,000 of you have signed our Change.org petition urging the Girl Scouts to eliminate rainforest-destroying palm oil from their cookies. Now we’re asking for your help again.

February 22nd is World Thinking Day, which is celebrated annually by Girl Scouts worldwide. This year’s theme is “we can save the planet.” We’re asking supporters to participate in our social media day of action and demand that Girl Scouts USA (GSUSA) ditch unsustainable palm oil. Here’s how you can get involved:

1) Go to the Girl Scouts USA Facebook page and paste a comment (note: you can’t post new messages on Girl Scouts’ Facebook wall, but you can leave a comment on existing messages). Here’s a sample you can use, or you can post your own message—the more personal the story, the better: On World Thinking Day, I’m thinking about changing the world by making Girl Scout cookies rainforest-safe.   The palm oil in your cookies destroys rainforest and endangers animals like orangutans – but it doesn’t have to!  Deforestation-free sources exist. Please use rainforest-safe palm oil http://www.change.org/petitions/girl-scouts-make-your-cookies-rainforest-safe

2) Tweet at the Girl Scouts. Here’s a message you can use, or you can craft your own: It's #WorldThinkingDay, and I think @girlscouts should use rainforest-safe palm oil  http://chn.ge/zyzphT#forestfriendlycookies

A 31-year-old organic farm in Maryland's Montgomery County may not be around for much longer unless we act w. Earlier this year, County officials voted to turn Nick's Organic Farm, the County's only organic seed farm, into two private soccer fields. Unless the decision is reversed, farmer Nick Maravell will be forced  in January to vacate the land he's tilled for more than three decades.

More than 22,000 people have petitioned County Executive Ike Leggett to protect Nick's Organic farm, but he still hasn’t taken action. This Wednesday, Maravell and his supporters need your help to make sure Montgomery County does the right thing and saves Nick's Organic Farm.

Supporters will be holding a rally and press conference and hand-delivering petitions to Executive Leggett this Wednesday. Will you make a quick phone call to amplify their message? It will just take a minute and will show County officials just how much support the farm has. Here’s what to do:

1) Call the County Office of Public Information at: (240) 777-6507. Say that you would like to leave a message for County Executive Ike Leggett.

2) Express your support for Nick’s Organic Farm by using one of the following scripts. Feel free to speak from your heart and share your story—the more personal, the better.

If you live outside of Montgomery County:
Hello, my name is _________ and I am calling in regards to Nick's Organic Farm. Nick's farm is nationally recognized model farm that has pioneered organic and sustainable farming practices across the country. Instead of turning this into soccer fields, the county should use this amazing resource as an educational center. I am from _____(city and state)______ but want you to know that the national food movement community is watching closely to see what Montgomery County does. Please protect Nick’s Organic Farm.

If you’re a resident of Montgomery County:
Hello, my name is ____________ and I am a resident of __(city)____. I am calling as a constituent to ask Executive Ike Leggett to continue his support of local and sustainable food and agriculture by preserving Nick's Organic Farm. This farm is an important educational center for our children. There is immense public support for keeping the farm so please listen to your constituents, and protect Nick’s farm. Thank you for your time.

3) Report back on your experience here.

Multnomah County Commissioners voted unanimously this morning to restrict the sale of children’s products containing bisphenol-A (BPA), a hormone-disrupting chemical.

The decision comes after more than 1,000 people joined a campaign on Change.org created by Susan Beal, a Portland author and mother of two. Beal delivered the online petition signatures to county commissioners during their hearing Thursday morning.

“I'm so happy and thankful that our county commissioners voted to protect kids from toxic chemicals today,” said Beal. “As the mother of two young children, it means so much to me that now every parent in the county will have guaranteed safer choices for their kids, no matter where they're shopping.”

Toronto City Councillors voted this afternoon to adopt a city-wide shark fin ban, becoming the largest city in Canada to prohibit the sale of shark fin.

Passage of the legislation, initially proposed by City Councillors Kristyn Wong-Tam, John Parker, and Glenn De Baeremaeker, marks a huge win for Shark Truth, a Vancouver-based non-profit that promotes shark education and conservation. The organization recruited nearly 10,000 people to join a campaign on Change.org urging Toronto’s City Councillors to vote in favor of the city-wide shark fin ban.

"For a city the size and influence of Toronto to pass a shark fin bill is a historic moment for Canada,” said Claudia Li, founder of Shark Truth. “Councillors are setting an example of how we can protect sharks from the wasteful practice of finning."

Nearly 1,000 people have joined a popular campaign on Change.org asking Multnomah County Commissioners to pass restrictions on the sale of children’s products that contain bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical compound linked to various health issues, at their commission meeting on Thursday.

Studies have linked BPA, an endocrine-disrupting chemical, to cancers, cardiovascular disease, early onset puberty, diabetes, and other health issues. BPA is found in everything from the linings of canned foods to sippy cups to credit card receipts.

Susan Beal, a local author and mother of two, launched the campaign on Change.org, which asks the commissioners to support a county-wide ban sponsored by County Chair Jeff Cogen. The ban would apply to sippy cups, baby bottles, and reusable water bottles.

This is a guest post written by Nora Pouillon, a chef a restauranteur. Her Washington, D.C.-based eatery, Restaurant Nora, is the first certified organic restaurant in the U.S. Nora is an advisor to National Food Day.

Putting food on the pedestal it deserves has been my goal for the last 40 years. Food is my medium. I started Restaurant Nora in 1979 with the goal of sharing healthy, wholesome food with my family, friends, and customers. In doing so, I have sought to demonstrate the importance of organically grown and raised food as a means of not only nourishing our bodies and souls, but also of preserving and improving our environment.

On October, 24, Food Day will draw attention to the dire straits of our global food system and set in motion a grassroots movement to inspire individuals to make safe, sustainable, and healthy food a priority—if not the highest priority—in their lives. Which is exactly what is urgently needed.

The statistics for lifestyle-related disease in the United States alone are staggering. A remarkable 68 percent of adults are considered overweight and 30 percent are obese. One in three children is considered overweight. Some 25.8 million adults and children in America have diabetes. And 26.8 million adults have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, which is the number-one killer in the United States. Food has a direct link to both disease prevalence and prevention, especially in tandem with other lifestyle measures. We need a national day like Food Day to bring awareness to the fact that whatever we put in our mouths—and the quality of what we put in our mouths—is of utmost importance.

In addition to its role in sustaining or degrading health, food is inextricably linked to our lives as citizens of this planet. How we grow and raise food, starting with how the environment is treated in the process, will dictate our ability to continue to sustain life on Earth. Producing safe, healthy food is the ultimate goal of our agricultural system, which also links animal and worker welfare, social issues like food access and affordability, and again, the maintenance of environmental health.

More than 2,600 people have joined a growing online campaign calling on the City of Toronto to ban the sale, distribution, and possession of shark fins.

The news follows the passage of a shark fin ban in California, home to the largest market for shark fins in North America. California Governor Jerry Brown signed a statewide shark fin ban (AB 376) into law Sunday, signaling a major success for a growing movement to protect shark populations. The move came after nearly 28,000 people joined an online campaign on Change.org started by the Asian Pacific American Ocean Harmony Alliance, one of AB 376’s sponsors.

“Like California, Toronto has the highest number of Chinese consumers in their nation,” said Claudia Li, the founder of Canadian shark conservation non-profit Shark Truth. "The signing of this bill is a historic moment for sharks. Our southern neighbours are showing us, and Toronto, the urgent steps we need to take to protect this misunderstood, vulnerable species."

Governor Jerry Brown signed the California shark fin ban, AB 376, into law on Friday, making California the the fourth state to pass a ban on the sale of shark fins.

Shark finning is a process by which fishermen catch sharks, slice off their fins and tails, then throw the fish back into the water to die. Up to 73 million sharks are killed through finning every year, pushing some shark populations to decline by as much as 90 percent in recent years. About 85 percent of U.S. shark fin consumption occurs in California.

The bill’s passage marks a huge win for the Asian Pacific American Ocean Harmony Alliance (APA Alliance), an organization that formed to give voice to Asian Americans who support the ban on the sale of shark fins. Bill Wong, a member of the APA Alliance, recruited more than 25,000 people to join a campaign on Change.org calling for passage of the ban. The APA Alliance was one of the bill’s sponsors, organized call-in days, and was instrumental in pushing Gov. Brown to support AB 376.