Farmland human rights. FARMLandGrab. Vegan. The FDA WikiLeaks Itself. There are a lot of lessons in this New York Times story about ill-starred FDA spying on its own whistleblowing employees. The simplest one is: don’t conduct a spurious, invasive leak investigation and then post the whole thing on the Internet. Because that appears to be exactly what led to the Times’s expose of the details of the FDA’s fishing expedition: The documents captured in the surveillance effort — including confidential letters to at least a half-dozen Congressional offices and oversight committees, drafts of legal filings and grievances, and personal e-mails — were posted on a public Web site, apparently by mistake, by a private document-handling contractor that works for the F.D.A.
The New York Times reviewed the records and their day-by-day, sometimes hour-by-hour accounting of the scientists’ communications. …The posting of the documents was discovered inadvertently by one of the researchers whose e-mails were monitored. US drought threatens to fuel food inflation. Massive corporate welfare for big ag means taxpayer are buying low-quality food - Minneapolis Top News. It was a small news item buried inside the Minneapolis StarTribune, but it was depressing: A Twin Cities farmer’s market was closing down due to lack of interest, and lack of sales of locally grown fresh produce.
This news item caught my attention because Congress is currently putting the finishing touches on the new 5-Year Farm Bill, which most likely will be passed this year. This latest version is again loaded with massive corporate welfare for big agriculture and subsidies for growing the usual – wheat, corn and sugar. These commodities -- while not inherently lacking in good nutrition (except for the worthless sugar beets) -- tend to end up being highly processed into low-value foods, and this in turn contributes to the ever spreading fat arse of America’s obesity epidemic. Under the new Farm Bill being considered, billions of dollars will flow into bigger and bigger farms.
Gigantic subsidies for big farms have another effect – it’s driving people off the land in rural Minnesota. Policy News, Agriculture News | Agriculture.com. Over the objections of southern Senators and one from New York, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved a five-year farm bill Thursday that now heads for a vote on the Senate floor. The bill, called the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, received strong bipartisan support in a 12-4 vote (or 16-5, including proxy votes). Three southern Republicans said they could not support it because they view its programs for rice, cotton and peanuts as unfair, and Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said she opposed cuts to food stamp programs that would affect hundreds of thousands of low income residents of her state.
“This Committee is unique. Our hearing room doesn’t have a raised dais; instead we sit together around a table, not unlike the tables that America’s farmers sit around after a long day’s work," said Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) at the start of the meeting to mark up a bill. "The work we do around this table is hard. Farm Bills are never easy. Rep. Sam Farr wins organic award | Politics Blog. The Organic Trade Association on Wednesday gave Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, its public service award for his “unwavering support and advocacy for organic farmers,” most powerfully through his post as top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee’s agriculture panel.
The trade group said the organic market topped $31.5 billion last year, growing 9.5 percent last year, but still only 4.2 percent of U.S. food sales. From there Farr, a former Peace Corps volunteer, has provided a counterweight to the government’s heavy focus on corn, soybeans, cotton and other commodity crops, by pushing funding for the National Organic Program, which certifies organic products, and critically, funding for research and data collection on organic farms and markets.
Such research and data collection provides a kind of infrastructure that enables the organic sector to grow faster. Farr called his support for organics a “no brainer” given his Central Coast district, a hothouse of organic farming. Rep. The Fight Over Food Stamps and Farm Subsidies. Earth Day: Push for local agriculture, products is growing. View full sizeSterman Masser Potato Farms is a family-owned potato farming company located in Sacramento, PA who provide potatoes to many local restaurants in the midstate, like, Shugar's Philly Deli in Lemoyne.
CHRISTINE BAKER, The Patriot-News Buy local means many things to many people. It is the heirloom tomato grown on a Perry County farm, sliced and paired with locally made buffalo mozzarella cheese on a caprese salad. It is the coffee, roasted by hand and brewed from bean to cup at the corner coffee shop. Or the neighbors chipping in to purchase organic grass-fed beef from a nearby farm. As we observe Earth Day, the buy local moniker stretches from the supermarket produce aisles — where, in the summer, shoppers snap up farm-grown zucchinis and peppers — to restaurants, vineyards and farmers markets. Several years ago, few people cared about the origins of their food. Advocates say buying local is a simple thing that actually helps promote a greener Earth. Carrying the Torch.
Midwest's Tart Cherry Crop Destroyed By Weather. SISTER BAY, Wis. (AP) — Walk into Cherry Republic's store in the heart of the nation's biggest tart cherry producing region, and you could end up with jam or salsa with fruit that had to be imported from Poland. Cherry Republic can't get enough tart cherries from its local orchards because 97 percent of Michigan's crop was destroyed this year by a freak weather pattern.
An unseasonably warm March that caused trees to bud was followed by an April freeze that killed the blossoms. Trees in New York and Wisconsin, which have smaller but still significant tart cherry harvests, suffered the same weather damage. Prices usually skyrocket when farmers take that kind of a loss, or in severe cases consumers might just have to give up on a fruit for a season. But that won't happen in this case because of some unique factors in the tart cherry industry. Tart cherries are different from sweet cherries, the variety sold fresh at farmers markets and in grocery stores. Online: Also on HuffPost: Monsanto's seedy legacy.
Monsanto Fails UCS Test for Sustainable Agriculture. Monsanto likes to think of itself as a sustainable agriculture company. Prominently featured on their website beneath a video that proclaims, “we’re all in this together,” is their slogan, “producing more, conserving more, improving lives.” In their 2010 Sustainability Report, they proudly trumpet their commitment to improving crop yields in the face of an ever-increasing human population, which they put forth as the very essence of sustainability. Clearly, they are very single-mindedly committed to this goal, perhaps in what might be considered an ends-justify-the means manner.
In truth, they are pursuing a sustainable objective in an unsustainable fashion. Their very narrow focus on genetic modification, as well as their approach to systemic agricultural problems such as weeds and insect pests through chemical warfare, two tactics that they are now working in tandem, are both highly reductionist. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The first seven claims are all important and indisputable. Ten Ways Monsanto and Big Ag Are Trying to Kill You - And the Planet. Energy-intensive industrial farming practices that rely on toxic chemicals and genetically engineered crops are not just undermining public health--they're destroying the planet. Here's how: #1 Generating Massive Greenhouse Gas Pollution (CO2, Methane, Nitrous Oxide) and Global Warming; While Promoting False Solutions Such as Industrial Biofuels, So-Called Drought-Resistant Crops, and Genetically Engineered Trees Evaluations of corn grown for ethanol show that whatever reduction in emissions you get from burning corn instead of oil in the gas tank is more than offset by the fact that producing biofuel from corn requires as much fuel as it could replace.
Corn production, like the production of all of the crops (corn, cotton, canola, soy, and now, sugar beets and alfalfa) that Monsanto has so successfully industrialized through its business model of selling patented GMO seeds to increase the use of its pesticides, is very fossil fuel intensive. The trouble is, RoundUp is very toxic. Scientists link mass death of British bees to farm pesticides. Custom byline text: eXCLUSIVE by Rob Edwards Environment Editor The authoritative, peer-reviewed research undermines the pesticide industry's long-repeated arguments that bees are not being harmed, and piles pressure on UK and US authorities to follow other countries by introducing bans on the chemicals.
Pesticide companies have been trying to protect their multi-billion pound businesses by lobbying internationally against bans on neonicotinoids, a group of toxic chemicals designed to paralyse insects by attacking their nervous systems. Agricultural crops in Scotland, England and around the world are dosed with the chemicals to prevent insects from damaging them. But evidence has been mounting that they could be to blame for the "colony collapse disorder" that has been decimating bee populations. But that view has now been seriously challenged by a new study from scientists at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Lake Assale camel caravans and salt works - photos. Florida's Ag Gag Bill Reintroduced. Earlier this year a bill was introduced in Florida by Senator Jim Norman that would have made it a felony to take photos or video of a farm or agriculture operation. The “Ag Gag” bill was openly supported by Big Ag and directed at both whistle-blowers who go undercover to document the cruelty that animals on farms suffer, as well as anyone who wants to just snap a shot while standing on the side of the road. Those documenting what they saw would have been left facing criminal charges, while abusers would be left unaccountable.
Fortunately, the bill never came to a vote and similar measures failed in Minnesota, Iowa and New York. Sen. Norman has reintroduced this legislation by sneaking similar language into a larger agricultural bill (SB 1184), which will make it a first-degree misdemeanor to take photos, audio recordings or video of a farm or farm operation without previous written consent. Please sign the petition asking Florida’s senators not to pass this bill in any form.
Food Market. How much regulation do we need on food safety? | FOOD Magazine. All this discussion about food labelling, obesity, additives, good fats versus bad fats, good carbs versus bad carbs is enough to make anyone’s head spin. We’re getting cancer from eating certain foods. We’re avoiding cancer by eating others. You need superfoods! There’s no such thing as superfoods! It’s the government’s responsibility to keep us healthy. There is just so much information nowadays on anything and everything you could possibly imagine, and working out fact from fiction is no easy task. Decades ago, there were far fewer sources of information, which is obviously both positive and negative. Because with the reduced availability of information, there was less panic about what to eat, when, how, and with what. The 50’s are renowned for being one of the unhealthiest of eras, minus war and depression times, for western countries.
And if the advertisement said it was fine and dandy for your family, well, why would there be any reason not to believe them, people thought. Streit über Landverkäufe eskaliert: Polizei riegelt chinesisches Fischerdorf ab. Öko-Schwindel in Italien: Deutschland sucht nach gefälschten Bio-Produkten. Außen "Bio", drinnen ganz normale Ware: Ein mutmaßlicher Großbetrug mit gefälschten Öko-Lebensmitteln in Italien hat auch die deutschen Behörden alarmiert.
Es seien Lieferlisten angefordert worden, um Daten an die Bundesländer und die dortigen Kontrollstellen weiterleiten zu können. Das teilte das Verbraucherministerium in Berlin am Mittwoch mit. Zuvor hatte die Polizei in der norditalienischen Stadt Verona 2500 Tonnen vermutlich falsch deklarierte Öko-Waren wie Mehl und Obst beschlagnahmt. Eine Fälscherbande soll mit dem Schwindel Millionenumsätze gemacht haben. Ein Teil der wohl ganz normalen Produkte soll teuer als Bio-Ware in andere Länder gegangen sein - auch nach Deutschland. Die Polizei in Italien verhaftete nach eigenen Angaben vom Dienstag sieben Verdächtige, unter ihnen auch Vertreter von Lebensmittelfirmen. Angekauft und umetikettiert Nach offiziellen Angaben lief der Schwindel so: Die vermutlich herkömmlichen Produkte wurden in Italien und Rumänien angekauft. India toxic alcohol kills 143 in West Bengal. 15 December 2011Last updated at 15:09 Residents of 12 villages fell ill after consuming toxic alcohol At least 143 people are now known to have died after consuming toxic alcohol in India's West Bengal state.
Residents of 12 villages in the South 24 Parganas district fell ill after drinking the alcohol. Ten people have been arrested. Dozens more people are being treated in hospital, with fears the death toll could rise. Toxic alcohol deaths are a regular occurrence in India. Last week, the state of Gujarat brought in a new law making the illegal manufacture and sale of toxic alcohol there punishable by death. Ransacked The West Bengal state government has ordered a criminal investigation into the deaths. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced compensation for the families of the victims, adding: "I want to take strong action against those manufacturing and selling illegal liquor. " The affected villages are in the Sangrampur, Magrahat, Usthi and Mandirbazar areas. At the scene. People's Court Puts Agrochemical Giants on Trial. Shruthi’s hands have only four digits, oddly splayed and disfigured.
Her deformed right lower limb has been amputated. Her mother, who died of cancer six years ago, is one of an estimated 4,000 people killed by endosulfan sprayed on the cashew plantations around her village in Kerala, India. Around the world, pesticides kill an estimated 355,000 people every year. Many more suffer debilitating illnesses, bear children with shocking disabilities, and ingest poisons through food and water, including the breast milk of nursing mothers.
In early December, the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) Session on Agrochemical Transnational Corporations (TCNs) convened in Bangalore, India to hear testimony against the six companies most responsible for ongoing, massive violations of people’s rights to life, livelihood and health. The six companies on trial—Syngenta, Bayer, Dow, DuPont, BASF and Monsanto—are the top producers of agricultural chemicals. Related Care2 Stories. Kaffee aus dem Hahn - High-Tech-Lustobjekte: Espresso aus dem Hahn - Digital. Kucinich bill aims to protect food supply from Monsanto, GMOs - National Democrat. On Friday, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) announced new legislation to protect the food supply from a potential crisis brought about by biotech giants like Monsanto,and the unrestricted use of their GMOs - Genetically modified organisms. H.R. 3554, The Genetically Engineered Safety Act, would help prevent the biological contamination of our food supply.
Kucinich’s common sense legislation would prohibit the open-air cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) pharmaceutical and industrial crops. The bill would prohibit the use of common human food or animal feed as the host plant for a genetically engineered pharmaceutical or industrial chemical. H.R. 3554 would also establish a tracking system to regulate the growing, handling, transportation, and disposal of pharmaceutical and industrial crops, and protect native ecosystems and traditional farms from the unstudied dangers of growing GE organisms.
In his announcement, Kucinich said: Farm Bill Conservation Programs Threatened By Anticipated Budget Cuts. Food Justice Wins We Can Be Thankful for This Year. Action.foodandwaterwatch. Canada pork producers fear loss of Korea trade | Agricultural Commodities. The Secret Farm Bill. Secret Farm Bill Goes from Bad to Medieval. Secrecy is not the way to craft a new federal farm bill. Farm bill: Corn Belt vs. Great Plains Dems - David Rogers. 24 Hours to Kill the "Secret Farm Bill" Turkey-abstinence on Thanksgiving a humane way to spend the holiday. Colony collapse disorder « My Blog spiritandanimal.wordpress.com. State department pimping for Monsanto - why? Maria Russo: Monsanto's Seed: How One Company is Tarnishing Our Food Supply.
A Call to Agricultural Action. Maine farmer heads group challenging genetics giant. Monsanto Agent Orange Past Continues to Haunt the Company. Monsanto reaffirms 2012 targets. French government outlaws vegetarian meals from schools. Michelin Guide to UK Pub Food; Working at Groupon - Listage. Apple Point of Sale System Combined with iPad Menu Equals Awesomeness | Aptito.com | Digital Menu Network | iPad Menus | Digital Menu Displays | Digital Menu Software.
Improving the Picture for Independent Farmers. Researchers identify enzyme that holds key to living longer through calorie restriction.