[Lapg] Fw: Costco's Fishy Secret; Africa’s Blood Chocolate; Persecuting Long Hair

[Joan Stevens]

and if you didn't already have enough to do!  Much of this takes just a minute.  
If it calls to you (and esp. if you are a costco shopper!) choose something to 
act on and just do it!
Joan

 "...the greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even 
if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is 
enough for everyone.
Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on the 
very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food and 
shelter."


- Bill Mollison



----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Change.org Weekly <mail at change.org>
To: mamabotanica at sbcglobal.net
Sent: Mon, July 12, 2010 5:15:37 PM
Subject: Costco's Fishy Secret; Africa’s Blood Chocolate; Persecuting Long Hair

 

 
   July 05 - July 11  
TOP ACTIONS THIS WEEK 
 
Join the Pledge Against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
by Organizing for America
Sign the Petition » 
 
Tell Secretary Clinton: Give Women Access to Credit
by FINCA International
Sign the Petition » 
 
Put a moratorium on camping tickets to homeless sleepers
by Seth Brigham
Sign the Petition »  
THIS WEEK on CHANGE.ORG
Costco's Fishy Secret
Plus: Africa’s Blood Chocolate • Persecuting Long Hair • Gulf Oil Cover-Up • 
Insulting Mexican Jersey • Disproving Climategate Smears 

Dear Joan ,
The saying "There are plenty of fish in the sea" may make singletons feel 
better, but it's just not true.
In reality, many of the world's fish populations are on the brink of collapse. 
Overfishing has pushed 75 percent of global fisheries beyond the point of 
sustainability, and nine out of ten of the seas' big fish have disappeared.
If you want to know who's responsible for depleting the world's oceans of 
threatened species, there's no better place to start than Costco, the largest 
wholesale club operator in the country.
Everything in Costco is big - including its environmental footprint. A recent 
survey found that Costco sells 15 of the 22 fish listed on the International 
Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. For this and 
many other reasons, Costco received the lowest marks of all national supermarket 
chains on Greenpeace's 2010 ranking of stores based on their sustainable seafood 
policies.
Costco consistently robs the ocean of its scarcest resources and sells them to 
shoppers at wholesale prices. Worse, the store provides no labeling information 
about the sustainability of the fish it sells, preventing shoppers from making 
the choice to avoid buying threatened species.
In response, Greenpeace just launched the "Oh-No-Costco" campaign asking the 
store to implement an effective and transparent sustainable seafood policy and 
stop selling Red List species.
Given Costco's massive buying power, improving the store's buying practices 
wouldn't just save the untold thousands of threatened fish in its megastores - 
it would create a sea change across the entire seafood supply chain.
Join the campaign calling on Costco to stop the sale of threatened fish species 
and stand for positive change in our oceans today.
For more news and commentary from this week in change, see the summaries of your 
favorite causes below: 

 
Africa’s Blood Chocolate   in SUSTAINABLE FOOD  
Chocolate may be tasty, but how it's produced isn't always so sweet. Sixty 
percent of the world's chocolate comes from Ghana and the Ivory Coast, where 3.6 
million West African children work on cocoa farms for very little to no pay, 
writes Sustainable Food blogger Jean Stevens. Despite documentation of these 
horrific conditions, U.S. candy makers like Cargill, Mars, and Hershey still 
source chocolate from exploitative ventures. Take action now to halt the trade 
of blood chocolate. Read more »  

 
Persecuting Long Hair   in CRIMINAL JUSTICE  
If you subscribe to Rastafarianism or certain sects of Judaism that view hair as 
sacred, Virginia prison officials have no sympathy for you. Prison grooming 
policy requires prisoners shave their head, and if you refuse to break your 
faith, you'll be punished by getting sent to solitary confinement - sometimes 
for years. Join Criminal Justice blogger Elizabeth Renter and other Change.org 
members in asking Virginia officials to stop persecuting religious prisoners for 
their faith. Read more »  

 
Gulf Oil Cover-Up   in ANIMALS  
Last month, there were reports of BP trying to block photos of dead oil-covered 
wildlife. Now, the Coast Guard is doing their part to make sure the public 
doesn't know the extent of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. This week, 
Animals blogger Michelle Hodkin writes that several news sources reported that 
new restrictions were keeping them - and volunteers trying to help clean beaches 
and rescue oiled animals - at least 65 feet away from response vessels and 
booms, which are often at least another 40 feet away from shore, making it 
nearly impossible to document the impact on wildlife. Tell the Coast Guard that 
you have a right to know what's happening in the Gulf. Read more »  

 
Insulting Mexican Jersey   in IMMIGRANT RIGHTS  
Coral Avilez, a 12-year-old at Big Bear Middle School in California, decided to 
wear a Mexican soccer jersey to school on the day of the Mexico-South Africa 
World Cup game. She was then insulted by her teacher with racist, xenophobic 
attacks. Coral ran out of the classroom in tears. Tell the principal of Big Bear 
Middle School to take disciplinary action against the teacher in question, and 
create a community free from racist and xenophobic attacks on students. Read 
more »  

 
Disproving Climategate Smears   in ENVIRONMENT  
Climategate -- the pseudo-scandal of hacked emails and climate conspiracy 
theories -- officially died last week after a series of investigations fully 
cleared the scientists involved. Unfortunately, as Change.org blogger Jess Leber 
writes, the media observed its passing with a near moment of silence. This is a 
problem. The disinformation spread during the heat of Climategate coverage 
caused serious damage to the climate cause. Because Fox News led the charge, it 
should also be the first to give the Climategate takedown the coverage it 
deserves. Now, that would surely generate some attention. Read more »  

Have a great week,

– The Change.org Team
   
 
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