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For Immediate Release
July, 10 2009, 10:33am EDT
Contact:
Sarah Alexander, (937) 638-7388, salexander@fwwatch.org
Alex Beauchamp, (720) 436-4465, abeauchamp@fwwatch.org
Erica Schuetz, (202) 683-4903, eschuetz@fwwatch.org
Food & Water Watch Launches 'Healthy School Milk or Bust' Tour Across the Midwest
Consumer Group Will Promote New Report to Highlight Need for Hormone-Free Milk in Schools
WASHINGTON
Today, Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy group,
kicked off its "Healthy School Milk or Bust" tour and hit the road to
secure healthy milk for schoolchildren. Traveling in a cow-themed van
from July 10th - July 20th, Food & Water Watch will be visiting
county fairs, farmers' markets and senators' offices in six states to
gear up for this year's re-authorization of the Child Nutrition Act - a
bill that is designed to help meet the nutritional needs of children
through the National School Lunch Program and other feeding programs.
"The
road to healthier milk in our schools starts in our local communities,"
said Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch executive director. "The
'Healthy School Milk or Bust' Tour is an opportunity to engage and
educate consumers who may be unaware that our nation's schools are
becoming a dumping ground for milk that Americans are increasingly
avoiding."
Food & Water Watch has been working with parents,
consumers, farmers, health professionals and teachers to ensure that
schools have the option to purchase organic milk or milk not treated
with the recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). A new report
released today by Food & Water Watch, rBGH: How Artificial Hormones Damage the Dairy Industry and Endanger Public Health,
describes how this genetically engineered artificial hormone has been
linked to cancer in humans and numerous illnesses in dairy cows.
Approved
in 1994 by the Food and Drug Administration, rBGH is injected into cows
to make them produce more milk. Besides the documented increase of
infections in dairy cows injected with rBGH, which necessitates
increased use of antibiotics, there are ongoing questions about links
to cancer in humans. Based on the number of dairies that use rBGH in
the United States, it is possible that at least 84 million gallons of
milk from rBGH-treated cows were distributed through the school
nutrition programs in 2005-2006.
The "Healthy School Milk or
Bust" Tour "roadies" will make their way through Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota, gathering signatures for a
national petition and serving rBGH-free milk and cookies along the way.
They will also be distributing educational factsheets and the new
report to aid citizens in taking action in their local school districts
and on the national level.
"This tour is a part of a nationwide
movement of students, parents and communities who want schools to have
the safest food possible," said Hauter. "The most vulnerable members of
our society, our children, deserve to have food that does not cause
them harm."
To find out if the tour is coming to a town or city near you, please visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org/healthyschoolmilkorbust.
To view Food & Water Watch's rBGH report online, please visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org/rBGH-report.
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
(202) 683-2500LATEST NEWS
As G7 Weighs Measures to Confront Growing Energy Crisis, Officials Urged to Tackle 'Fossil Fuel Profiteering'
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As energy and finance officials from across the European Union prepared to review energy supply levels amid the US-Israeli war on Iran on Tuesday, campaigners from a leading climate action group renewed their call for officials to go further than just releasing oil reserves in order to keep costs down.
Oil giants that have benefited from the growing global energy crisis set off by the US-Israeli attacks and Iran's retaliatory closing of the Strait of Hormuz should be held to account for their "fossil fuel profiteering," said 350.org.
After a virtual meeting of energy ministers from the G7 countries on Monday, 350.org called on officials to tax the windfall profits of companies like France's TotalEnergies, which is estimated to have made $1 billion in profits in just the last month since Iran closed the strait in retaliation for the US and Israeli attacks.
Total has reportedly "monopolized" about 70 crude oil shipments from the UAE and Oman in the last month, as Murban crude prices surged from $70 to $170 per barrel.
As Common Dreams reported Monday, 350.org released an analysis showing that spiking oil and gas prices resulting from the US-Israeli war have cost consumers and businesses more than $100 billion in the past month.
“It is obscene that companies like TotalEnergies are making enormous profits from war, while ordinary people’s lives are being shattered and the world faces a spiraling economic crisis," said Fanny Petitbon, France team lead for 350.org. "At a time of such profound human suffering, no company should be allowed to exploit chaos and conflict for financial gain. The G7’s deafening silence on these windfall profits speaks volumes, signaling a failure to hold corporate greed accountable while the rest of the world pays the price.”
Revenues from taxing windfall profits could "be used to support vulnerable households, accelerate the transition to renewable energy, and fund recovery efforts in regions affected by conflict," said Petitbon.
“The principle is clear: extraordinary profits made in times of crisis should be redirected for the public good, not concentrated in the hands of a few," she said.
The ministers from the G7 countries—which include the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy—met virtually to discuss how the war in Iran is affecting energy and commodity markets and inflation. They called on countries “to refrain from imposing unjustified export restrictions” on oil and gas, but did not announce any specific steps they plan to take.
"We stand ready to take all necessary measures in close coordination with our partners, including to preserve the stability and security of the energy market," the ministers said in a statement. "We recognize the importance of coordinated international action to mitigate spill overs and safeguard macroeconomic stability."
Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency coordinated the release of 400 million barrels of oil to mitigate the supply shortfall caused by the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, from which about one-fifth of the world's oil supply flows.
But gas prices across Europe have continued to rise by 70% nonetheless. In the US, the average price of gas rose to $4 per gallon on Tuesday for the first time since August 2022.
Brent crude oil, which cost about $70 per barrel before the war, has gone up to $119 per barrel, and analysts are projecting prices as high as $200 as the conflict continues.
Monday's virtual summit was held ahead of an emergency meeting of EU energy ministers, who were told by EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen in a letter Monday that they were "encouraged to make timely preparations in anticipation of a potentially prolonged disruption" of energy imports.
Jørgensen emphasized in a video posted on social media Monday that the growing energy crisis underscores how a transition away from oil and gas toward renewable sources is crucial for economies as well as the planet.
The crisis in the Middle East is affecting energy prices also here in Europe.
My message on what we must do to protect our citizens and businesses.
Now and in the future.
↓ pic.twitter.com/jiLmavxV8K
— Dan Jørgensen (@DanJoergensen) March 30, 2026
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Citing three unnamed people familiar with the matter, The Financial Times reported on Monday that Hegseth's "broker at Morgan Stanley contacted BlackRock in February about making a multimillion-dollar investment in the asset manager’s Defense Industrials Active ETF... shortly before the US launched military action against Tehran." The bombing began on February 28.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon denied the story, calling it "entirely false and fabricated" and insisting that neither Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock about such an investment. But the FT reported that the broker's "inquiry on behalf of the high-profile potential client was flagged internally at BlackRock."
The investment was not ultimately made because the fund—which includes behemoths such as RTX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman—was not available for Morgan Stanley clients to buy at the time.
The purchase would not have been immediately lucrative: Over the past month, the Defense Industrials Active ETF is down over 12%. But the reported allegation that Hegseth's broker sought to make the largest investment in the weapons industry set off alarm bells, particularly amid growing concerns that Trump administration officials are using inside knowledge and manipulating markets to cash in on the war.
"You know, back when the [US government] gave a damn about anti-corruption, this is something we would've seen as a 'no no,'" said Richard Nephew, a former anti-corruption coordinator at the US State Department.
Economist Justin Wolfers wrote of Hegseth that, "in a functional democracy, he would offer his resignation tonight."
Instead, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell demanded that the FT issue an "immediate retraction," dismissing the newspaper's story as "yet another baseless, dishonest smear designed to mislead the public."
Hegseth has emerged as the most prominent and belligerent cheerleader of the Iran war in the US, and—according to President Donald Trump—the Pentagon chief was the first of the president's advisers to "speak up" in favor of the assault during the internal decision-making process.
Trump has also suggested Hegseth does not want the war to end, saying last week that the Pentagon chief was "quite disappointed" when the president claimed the conflict would be over shortly.
"I don’t want to say this, but I have to," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I said, Pete and General Razin’ Caine, this thing is going to be settled very soon, and they go, ‘Oh, that’s too bad.'"
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The US Department of Justice on Monday continued President Donald Trump's crusade against transgender youth competing in sports in line with their identity by suing the Minnesota Department of Education and the state's high school league.
"The United States files this action to stop Minnesota's unapologetic sex discrimination against female student athletes," says the complaint, filed in a federal court in the state by the DOJ's Civil Rights Division.
"The state of Minnesota, through its Department of Education, and the Minnesota State High School League require girls to compete against boys in athletic competitions that are designated exclusively for girls and share intimate spaces, such as multiperson locker rooms and bathrooms, with boys," the complaint continues. "This unfair, intentionally discriminatory practice violates the very core of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972."
The Associated Press noted that "the administration has filed similar lawsuits against Maine and California, and has threatened the federal funding of some universities over transgender athletes, including San José State in California and the University of Pennsylvania."
Tim Leighton, a spokesperson for the league, told the AP that it does not comment on threatened or pending lawsuits. According to The New York Times, Emily Buss, a spokesperson for the state department, said Minnesota's leadership was reviewing the complaint while remaining "committed to ensuring every child—regardless of background, ZIP code, or ability—has access to a world-class education."
While Trump and his allies have aimed to stop all trans women and girls from competing as they identify—including at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles—the fight with Minnesota specifically traces back to the president's February 2025 executive order, after which the administration began investigating the state.
The Minnesota Department of Education gets over $3 billion in federal funding. Democratic state Attorney General Keith Ellison sued to stop the administration from pulling that money last April. In September, the US departments of Education and Health and Human Services concluded that the state agency and league violated Title IX, and the case was referred to the DOJ in January.
In a Monday statement, Ellison said that the DOJ's lawsuit "is just a sad attempt to get attention over something that's already been in litigation for months."
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