Petitioning Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Manitoba - Please Sign

Cosmetic pesticides are those chemicals used merely to maintain an appearance of a lawn or garden. Their purpose is not to protect public health or prevent invasive species from spreading, which makes exposure to these chemicals an unnecessary risk. Sign here.

Pipeline Opponents Plan Mass Sit-in at B.C. Legislature

CBC News

Opponents of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline are organizing what they're calling the largest act of peaceful civil disobedience on the oil sands issue in Canada. Full story here.

The Great Bear Rainforest which the pipeline would cross.

Pork Council Must Focus More on Farmers' Needs

14/04/2012 1:00 AM |     Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION

Maple Leaf and government policy is to blame for the continued loss of hog producers and a risk to “thousands of jobs” at the Brandon slaughter plant.

Manitoba Pork Council general manager Andrew Dickson would have us believe that the province-wide hog production ban and new manure treatment regulations are the culprits.

Does Dickson forget that the loss of most independent hog farmers started when the Maple Leaf, Hy-Tek and Puratone corporations set up their pyramid scheme-like operations and the conservative Filmon government removed single-desk marketing protection in the late 1990s? Well before a moratorium and phosphorus regulation was put in place.
Further details here.

Himalayan Glaciers Retreating in Some Regions but Not Others

Planetsave

The consequences for the Himalayan water supply depend heavily on the region’s thousands of glaciers… Full story here.

Photo courtesy of MailOnline

Pork Industry's Muddy Image

Winnipeg Free Press - Laura Rance

Austin tragedy didn't help. Full story here.

Please also read:
Pork Council Must Focus More on Farmers' Needs 

Parents Need to Act Against Climate Change for Their Kids’ Sake

by Mark Hertsgaard - The Daily Beast

Droughts, heat waves, with the evidence mounting of major climate change, why aren’t parents taking action to protect their children from its dire effects? Mark Hertsgaard calls for parents to act just like they would if a train was heading toward their children. Full story here.

Damage from a wicked plow wind which struck a wide area of western Manitoba in July. PLT photos

Why Organic?

Rodale's - A note from our Executive Director   

The news has been flooded with all sorts of noise about the Stanford meta-analysis “Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?” Although both the researchers themselves and the media made it sound as if conventional came out on top, the numbers clearly made the case for organic. Here is what we saw when we read the report:

PLT photo