Who's The Savvy Vegetarian?

"Evil is unspectacular and always human. And shares our bed and eats at our own table."

W. H. Auden (1907-1973) American poet, "Herman Melville"

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Review: Website: Organic Consumers Association: organicconsumers.org

Savvy Vegetarian News

Vol. 1, Issue 4, July 2003

I heard Ronnie Cummins, director of the Organic Consumers Association, speak at the May, 2003 Eco Fair in my hometown, Fairfield, IA. I was eager to have a good look at their site, organicconsumer.org, and I did get to it eventually, in time to review it for the July issue of Savvy Vegetarian News, which is finally being posted mid-August.

It wasn't procrastination, because my daughter was having a baby in Hawaii, and I had to go help her out, right? And I was doing important stuff like feed Mom, shop, wash dishes, eat papayas, avocados and mangos, hold baby, change baby, give baby ayurvedic massages, wash baby things, take pictures of baby, edit pictures of baby, email pictures of baby, etc. I only got to the beach twice!

Anyway, after only five minutes, I decided that www.organicconsumers.org is one of the best sites on the web if you're pro-planet earth

Why?

Because it's packed to the rafters with wide-ranging, quality content:

Here are just a few substantial, well-written news article topics gathered from everywhere, and listed on the home page:

Organic food, organic cotton, genetic engineering, Monsanto, World Trade Organization, Anti Globalization, Community Supported Agriculture, rbgh, Mad Cow Disease, pesticide contamination, agricultural subsidies, and pollution lawsuits.
OCA doesn't just talk, it acts, and promotes its many consumer activist campaigns on the website. Shown on the home page are:

Protest Starbucks, join OCA for WTO protest, adopt an organic apple tree, stop GM wheat, safeguard our students, sign the food agenda 2010 petition, protest Kraft, join the OCA action network, enroll 5000 in your congressional district.
OCA links from their main menu bar on all pages of all of its sites to content from the Greenpeople site, which tells you where to find organics, listing CSA/s, wholefood stores and coops, farmers markets etc.
In spite of being packed to the rafters, the site is well designed, and well organized, easy to navigate. It's clear where you are and what's happening at all times. That's rare!

Listed on the home page side bar are all the site sections, each one a separate website: GE Food, Organic Food, Irradiation, Mad Cow/Mad Deer, Fair Trade, rBGH, Globalization, Cloning and Patenting, Food Safety, and OCA Publications.

Each home page of all these sub-sites repeats the basic structure of the OCA home page, with sub-headings, and a sub-menu of links clearly indicating the content. The left side bar repeats that of the OA home page, and the right side bar lists consumer action campaigns related to the sub-site topic.

The only disappointing thing to me about the OCA Site is there is no information about the people behind it, and I was trying to figure that out. Either they think it's unnecessary, or they're excessively modest, or they may not want to show their faces for security reasons. Or it's not the done thing on non-profit sites, and I'm just not with it.

Anyway, visit www.organicconsumers.org, and spend a few days there, bookmark it, and go back often. It's up to you whether you join their network, or go on protests.

Judy Kingsbury

Savvy Vegetarian

Newsletter Index:

Article: Eco-Fair, Fairfield, IA, May 23 - 26, 2003. Part One: Introduction

An extraordinary event took place in this ultra-creative S.E. Iowa town, home of Maharishi University of Management, and a major center for spirituality, alternative healing, environmental activists, sustainable agriculture, and the arts.

Article: Eco-Fair, Fairfield, IA, May 23 - 26, 2003. Part Two: Speakers and Events.

Part 2 of the Eco-Fair Report covers workshops I didn't attend, one that I did, by Tad Hargrave, Entrepreneurial Activist and Coach, and the keynote speaker, Hunter S. Lovins, author of Natural Capitalism.

Article: Eco-Fair, Fairfield, IA, May 23 - 26, 2003. Part Three: Sustainable Agriculture Speakers.

"I was as impressed as I've ever been by the high quality of the presenters - their depth of knowledge, their passion, and dedication. I felt privileged to have the opportunity, and I'd go to see any of them again in a heartbeat" - Judy Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian.com

Review: Article: State of the Eco-Union, by Joel Salatin:

To quote from acresusa.com home page:"Joel Salatin provides a spirited and thought-provoking overview of the eco-ag movement, from his speech at the 2002 Acres U.S.A. Conference."