Showing posts with label Monsanto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monsanto. Show all posts
Monday, August 15, 2011
Farmers and Seed Distributors Defend Right to Protect Themselves From Monsanto Patents
Press Release
New York—The eighty-three family farmers, small and family owned seed businesses, and agricultural organizations, including the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA), challenging Monsanto's patents on genetically modified seed filed papers in federal court on Thursday, August 11 defending their right to seek legal protection from the threat of being sued by Monsanto for patent infringement should they ever become contaminated by Monsanto's genetically modified seed. The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) represents the plaintiffs in the suit, titled Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association (OSGATA), et al. v. Monsanto pending in the Southern District of New York. Last week’s filings are in response to a motion filed by Monsanto in mid-July to have the case dismissed.
“On behalf of plaintiffs in Ohio and elsewhere who fear being sued for patent infringement if their fields are contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically engineered seed, our attorney gave Monsanto the opportunity to state unequivocally that they would not sue,” said Carol Goland, OEFFA’s Executive Director. “Instead, Monsanto’s response was to try to deny our right to receive legal protection from the courts.”
Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT’s Executive Director added, “Our filings include sworn statements by several of the plaintiffs themselves explaining to the court how the risk of contamination by transgenic seed is real and why they cannot trust Monsanto to not use an occurrence of contamination as a basis to accuse them of patent infringement.”
Plaintiffs Bryce Stephens, who farms in Kansas, Frederick Kirschenmann, who farms in North Dakota, C.R. Lawn, who is founder and co-owner of Fedco Seeds in Maine, Don Patterson of Virginia, and Chuck Noble, who farms in South Dakota, each submitted declarations to the court describing their personal experiences with the risk of contamination by genetically modified seed and why those experiences have forced them to bring the current suit asking the court.
As summarized by the accompanying brief filed by PUBPAT on the plaintiffs' behalf, “Monsanto's acts of widespread patent assertion and plaintiffs' ever growing risk of contamination create a real, immediate, and substantial dispute between them.”
Twelve agricultural organizations also filed a friend-of-the-court amici brief supporting the right of the plaintiffs to bring the case. In their brief, the amici describe some of the harmful effects of genetically modified seed and how easily GMOs can contaminate an organic or conventional farmer's land.
For more information, contact:
Daniel Ravicher, PUBPAT, ravicher@pubpat.org or 212-461-1902
Carol Goland, OEFFA, cgoland@oeffa.org or 614-421-2022
Monday, July 04, 2011
GMO Video
GMO Crops Farmer to Farmer
interesting video about how GMO and conventional farmers feel about growing GMO crops. Talks about the broken promises such as single pass farming, better yields, low risk of contamination, etc..
Interesting and disturbing as it is clear many farmers do not want to grow this stuff but have been railroaded into it by Monsanto and other biotech Ag corps.
interesting video about how GMO and conventional farmers feel about growing GMO crops. Talks about the broken promises such as single pass farming, better yields, low risk of contamination, etc..
Interesting and disturbing as it is clear many farmers do not want to grow this stuff but have been railroaded into it by Monsanto and other biotech Ag corps.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Seed Buying
One of the big events in winter for us farmers is the seed order. Since we garden on acres this is a far larger undertaking than when we did home gardens. Ordering has happens much earlier for us growing commercially than for home gardeners. In fact we get our commercial catalogs about 3 weeks earlier than the home gardener catalogs (we know this because several of the companies we use have both). So in mid December we get our first catalogs-Johnny's and Fedco Followed by Seed Savers Exchange. A those are the 3 main companies we use for our seed supply.
There are a whole lot of companies we will not use due to the fact they source most of their seeds from companies owned by Monsanto (Peto and Semenis seeds). Jung's is one of them. Okay, another big reason we will never ever buy from Jung's Seeds ever again is they have sent us a lot of horrible plants and seeds. The rhubarb we got from there all died within 12 months, 95% died within 3 months. Than there were the trees they sent us last year that should have come in March or early April but cam in mid June and all but 1 were dead. We also do not like the policy of no refunds, store credit only. And they have bought up a lot of smaller companies (that people think are still independents) such as Totally Tomato
Vermont Bean Seed Co., Burpee, Cook's Garden, Earl May Seeds, Gardens Alive (not really a seed place they are more into fertilizers, pest control, etc.. and used to be a really good place to buy organic inputs), Lindenberg Seeds, Mountain Valley Seeds, Park Seeds, T&T Seeds, Tomato Grower's Supply, Willhite Seed Co., Nichol's, Rupp, Osborne, Snow, Stokes, R.H. Shumway, The Vermont Bean Seed Co., Seeds For The World, Seymour's Selected Seeds, HPS, Roots and Rhizomes, McClure and Zimmerman Quality Bulb Brokers, Spring Hill Nurseries, Breck's Bulbs,
Audubon Workshop, Flowers of the Month Club, Wayside Gardens, Park Bulb's and Park's Countryside Garde.
I also have quit buying seed from Baker Creek because they have send too many wrong or poorly bred seed. This is a shame because I really like Baker Creek. they are independently owned, they do not sell any GMO seed nor source with companies that do. All things that are important to me. but the seed quality for the most part sucks and in my market garden I have to have good to great seed quality and the seed should match up with what it says on the packet. I would say with Baker Creek, 3 out of 5 times there have been mistakes on their part.
Now savvier readers will note I order from Johnny's Selected Seeds and that Johnny's does indeed source some seeds from Semenis/Peto Seeds (though I hear rumors saying they have stopped or will stop buying from these corporations). The reason I make this exception for Johnny's is because I have been a happy customer for over 15 years, the seeds are top flight. There are very few mistakes made and when they happen they always make good, often within hours. they are an employee owned independent seed house with inhouse seed breeding program that is second to none. They are an official AAS trial site because of their location and great breeding program and they have one of the best seed catalogs in the world. And they have signed the Safe Seed Pledge (This link has a list of all the seed houses that have signed this pledge in 2009).
Around Christmas time we get the first catalogs (Johnny's first than Fedco a week later and finally SSE) and we start looking through them and also looking at the list of seed needs I complied last year as we used up the seeds (this is something that I had not done before 2009-or if I did I lost the list before seed ordering time. This saved a lot of time and made the order far more accurate than in the past). this year Eugene did the order and I was the one who got to put the orders on the order blanks, check to make sure we got everything (we never do and this year has been no exception. IIRC we still need a few tomato types) and than the order is calculated, checks are written and than everything is put into the correct envelopes, stamped and sent out.
This year Johnny's got $193, Fedco $207 and SSE $17.50. I know we still have to order strawberry plants which will be another $75 or so. And there will likely be other orders for seeds due to various reasons. And believe it or not this is a relatively small seed order for us. Many years we spend over $600 on seed alone (and several thousand on other inputs and equipment).
After the orders are dropped into the mail box at the Post Office we go home and sit around and await the incoming orders.
As per usual, Johnny's was the first to send us our order. About a 10 days ago the UPS guy delivered a box full of seeds and we were happy. We took the box inside and went through the seeds and found 3 kinds on back order. But within 3 days those seeds had also arrived at the post office. After the Johnny's order came the Seed Saver's order of heirloom tomatoes arrived. And yesterday we picked up the Fedco order at the post office. Or at least the majority, as many things are on back order and one thing was out of stock Even'star American Rapa which seems to be something for spring mixes so not a big deal that there is none. Besides I contacted Fedco and asked if they could send Hamburg Parsley instead of a refund and they said certainly (because they are flexible like that). one thing i am very happy about is the fact our onion seed arrived yesterday. You see CR Lawn, Fedco's founder always includes a newsletter with the order and he wrote that 6 varieties of onions have been on back order but during his writing 3 types arrived at their wearhouse and thus Fedco was able to fill some of their onion orders, including ours. This is important because onions (and leeks and shallots) really need to be started by Feb 1st for best results. It really sucks to see the term "Back Order" next to the seeds you need early as possible (and it is even worse when there is a note stating those seeds will not be available for 2 to 3 months and you already know there are none to be had anywhere because you already checked out 15 different companies for the variety-this happened to about 10 years ago mainly because we were not ordering our seed early enough, so we got smart and got into the habit of ordering early in the year).
Now that we have our seeds let the planting begin! And it will today with onions, leeks and shallots (and maybe kale and lettuces too).
There are a whole lot of companies we will not use due to the fact they source most of their seeds from companies owned by Monsanto (Peto and Semenis seeds). Jung's is one of them. Okay, another big reason we will never ever buy from Jung's Seeds ever again is they have sent us a lot of horrible plants and seeds. The rhubarb we got from there all died within 12 months, 95% died within 3 months. Than there were the trees they sent us last year that should have come in March or early April but cam in mid June and all but 1 were dead. We also do not like the policy of no refunds, store credit only. And they have bought up a lot of smaller companies (that people think are still independents) such as Totally Tomato
Vermont Bean Seed Co., Burpee, Cook's Garden, Earl May Seeds, Gardens Alive (not really a seed place they are more into fertilizers, pest control, etc.. and used to be a really good place to buy organic inputs), Lindenberg Seeds, Mountain Valley Seeds, Park Seeds, T&T Seeds, Tomato Grower's Supply, Willhite Seed Co., Nichol's, Rupp, Osborne, Snow, Stokes, R.H. Shumway, The Vermont Bean Seed Co., Seeds For The World, Seymour's Selected Seeds, HPS, Roots and Rhizomes, McClure and Zimmerman Quality Bulb Brokers, Spring Hill Nurseries, Breck's Bulbs,
Audubon Workshop, Flowers of the Month Club, Wayside Gardens, Park Bulb's and Park's Countryside Garde.
I also have quit buying seed from Baker Creek because they have send too many wrong or poorly bred seed. This is a shame because I really like Baker Creek. they are independently owned, they do not sell any GMO seed nor source with companies that do. All things that are important to me. but the seed quality for the most part sucks and in my market garden I have to have good to great seed quality and the seed should match up with what it says on the packet. I would say with Baker Creek, 3 out of 5 times there have been mistakes on their part.
Now savvier readers will note I order from Johnny's Selected Seeds and that Johnny's does indeed source some seeds from Semenis/Peto Seeds (though I hear rumors saying they have stopped or will stop buying from these corporations). The reason I make this exception for Johnny's is because I have been a happy customer for over 15 years, the seeds are top flight. There are very few mistakes made and when they happen they always make good, often within hours. they are an employee owned independent seed house with inhouse seed breeding program that is second to none. They are an official AAS trial site because of their location and great breeding program and they have one of the best seed catalogs in the world. And they have signed the Safe Seed Pledge (This link has a list of all the seed houses that have signed this pledge in 2009).
Around Christmas time we get the first catalogs (Johnny's first than Fedco a week later and finally SSE) and we start looking through them and also looking at the list of seed needs I complied last year as we used up the seeds (this is something that I had not done before 2009-or if I did I lost the list before seed ordering time. This saved a lot of time and made the order far more accurate than in the past). this year Eugene did the order and I was the one who got to put the orders on the order blanks, check to make sure we got everything (we never do and this year has been no exception. IIRC we still need a few tomato types) and than the order is calculated, checks are written and than everything is put into the correct envelopes, stamped and sent out.
This year Johnny's got $193, Fedco $207 and SSE $17.50. I know we still have to order strawberry plants which will be another $75 or so. And there will likely be other orders for seeds due to various reasons. And believe it or not this is a relatively small seed order for us. Many years we spend over $600 on seed alone (and several thousand on other inputs and equipment).
After the orders are dropped into the mail box at the Post Office we go home and sit around and await the incoming orders.
As per usual, Johnny's was the first to send us our order. About a 10 days ago the UPS guy delivered a box full of seeds and we were happy. We took the box inside and went through the seeds and found 3 kinds on back order. But within 3 days those seeds had also arrived at the post office. After the Johnny's order came the Seed Saver's order of heirloom tomatoes arrived. And yesterday we picked up the Fedco order at the post office. Or at least the majority, as many things are on back order and one thing was out of stock Even'star American Rapa which seems to be something for spring mixes so not a big deal that there is none. Besides I contacted Fedco and asked if they could send Hamburg Parsley instead of a refund and they said certainly (because they are flexible like that). one thing i am very happy about is the fact our onion seed arrived yesterday. You see CR Lawn, Fedco's founder always includes a newsletter with the order and he wrote that 6 varieties of onions have been on back order but during his writing 3 types arrived at their wearhouse and thus Fedco was able to fill some of their onion orders, including ours. This is important because onions (and leeks and shallots) really need to be started by Feb 1st for best results. It really sucks to see the term "Back Order" next to the seeds you need early as possible (and it is even worse when there is a note stating those seeds will not be available for 2 to 3 months and you already know there are none to be had anywhere because you already checked out 15 different companies for the variety-this happened to about 10 years ago mainly because we were not ordering our seed early enough, so we got smart and got into the habit of ordering early in the year).
Now that we have our seeds let the planting begin! And it will today with onions, leeks and shallots (and maybe kale and lettuces too).
Monday, January 11, 2010
Follow Up to helping the DOJ Investigate Monsanto
here is a follow up to the DOJ investigation of Monsanto. An excerpt of the several thousands of letters from people explaining just how Monsanto and the industrialization of our food system has negatively affected them. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/10/823719/-Millions-Against-Monsanto
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Jeffery Smith Interviewed in Acres USA
I have a subscription to acres USA and in this month's issue is a chilling interview with Jeffery Smith, author of Seeds of Destruction. A book that takes on the lies of the biotech industry
Here I present to you in a format that allows you to read this interview in your web browser of this interview
After reading this I have decided I can no longer eat from the industrial food stream. I am lucky in that 85% to 90% of my diet is already local and organic (i.e. GMO free) so cutting out the monthly fast food trips won't be that hard to do (though eating at unenlightened friends' homes is another issue). Also I have long been a label reader and have been aware how pervasive GMO's are in the conventional industrial food stream.
But what can you do? Start by buying more of your food from local sources. Find a farmers market or if you want to do more, join a CSA. I happen to know of one near Eaton, OH that is taking members right now-Boulder Belt Farm Share Initiative-that serves members in Dayton, Oxford, Fairfield/West Chester/Northern Cincy.
Read labels and if it has corn, coy, cotton seed or canola assume it has GMO ingredients. And learn what words mean such things are in the food. For example, lecithin means there is soy, vitamin C means corn, etc., etc.. Oh and if there are partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup (and Soda pop has both) do not eat it-this is poison they are serving us
Finally, don't be the victim-take back the responsibility from the corporations over what you put in your body. For too long we have allowed them to call the shots and they have returned the favor by serving us poisons that make us sick (but hey, that means big bucks for the drug industry), obese (big bucks for the weight loss industry) and now we are seeing that GMO's may well cause our kids to be sterile. So now is the time to stand up and just say no to GMO's
Here I present to you in a format that allows you to read this interview in your web browser of this interview
After reading this I have decided I can no longer eat from the industrial food stream. I am lucky in that 85% to 90% of my diet is already local and organic (i.e. GMO free) so cutting out the monthly fast food trips won't be that hard to do (though eating at unenlightened friends' homes is another issue). Also I have long been a label reader and have been aware how pervasive GMO's are in the conventional industrial food stream.
But what can you do? Start by buying more of your food from local sources. Find a farmers market or if you want to do more, join a CSA. I happen to know of one near Eaton, OH that is taking members right now-Boulder Belt Farm Share Initiative-that serves members in Dayton, Oxford, Fairfield/West Chester/Northern Cincy.
Read labels and if it has corn, coy, cotton seed or canola assume it has GMO ingredients. And learn what words mean such things are in the food. For example, lecithin means there is soy, vitamin C means corn, etc., etc.. Oh and if there are partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup (and Soda pop has both) do not eat it-this is poison they are serving us
Finally, don't be the victim-take back the responsibility from the corporations over what you put in your body. For too long we have allowed them to call the shots and they have returned the favor by serving us poisons that make us sick (but hey, that means big bucks for the drug industry), obese (big bucks for the weight loss industry) and now we are seeing that GMO's may well cause our kids to be sterile. So now is the time to stand up and just say no to GMO's
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Help The DOJ Investigate Monsanto
Take back control of your food!
There are two million farmers and 300 million eaters in the United States. Standing between them are a handful of corporations who control how food gets from one side to the other.
Let's change the equation.
For the first time ever, the Department of Justice is on a fact-finding mission looking at how big businesses, including Monsanto, control food and farming -- and they want to hear from YOU. They are specifically seeking comments and stories about how corporate control of the food system affects average citizens. If you're concerned that just a few big businesses have so much power over where your food comes from and how it's produced, tell the government! Your comments will help to inform a series of hearings on the issue next year.
Click here to take action Now!
There are two million farmers and 300 million eaters in the United States. Standing between them are a handful of corporations who control how food gets from one side to the other.
Let's change the equation.
For the first time ever, the Department of Justice is on a fact-finding mission looking at how big businesses, including Monsanto, control food and farming -- and they want to hear from YOU. They are specifically seeking comments and stories about how corporate control of the food system affects average citizens. If you're concerned that just a few big businesses have so much power over where your food comes from and how it's produced, tell the government! Your comments will help to inform a series of hearings on the issue next year.
Click here to take action Now!
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Food Inc
This is a must see film for anyone who eats food in the United States (which is everyone). I have not been able to get to any public screenings of this film but a few days ago i was perusing the Millions Against Monsanto Facebook page and found a link that took me to a site that allows you to watch a fairly low quality copy of the movie for free.
So I took 94 minutes out of my life to watch the movie and I was rather shocked by it. And this surprised me as I have been well aware of what is happening to our food system for the past 15 to 20 years which has lead me to eat a basically local diet of food produced by people I know personally. I figured I would not learn much from this film. I was wrong, I learned several new things about our food system and they were not good things to learn.
And if I got new things from this movie that means that 99% of the people out there will have a truly eye opening experience
Link to movie here "enjoy"
So I took 94 minutes out of my life to watch the movie and I was rather shocked by it. And this surprised me as I have been well aware of what is happening to our food system for the past 15 to 20 years which has lead me to eat a basically local diet of food produced by people I know personally. I figured I would not learn much from this film. I was wrong, I learned several new things about our food system and they were not good things to learn.
And if I got new things from this movie that means that 99% of the people out there will have a truly eye opening experience
Link to movie here "enjoy"
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
GMO Crop Implicated in Honeybee CCD
Genetically Modified Crops Implicated in Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder
Sunday, January 11, 2009 by: Patty Donovan, citizen journalist
(NaturalNews) As the disappearance of honeybees continues, researchers are trying desperately to discover the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). General concensus at this point is that there is more than once cause and the latest culprit may be genetically modified crops. This is one area of research being neglected as mainstream scientists insist GM crops are safe.
For the last 100 years, beekeepers have experienced colony losses from bacteria, (foulbrood), mites (varroa and tracheal) and other pathogens. These problems are dealt with by using antibiotics, miticides and and other methods of pest management. Losses are slow and expected and beekeepers know how to limit the destruction. This new mass die-off is different in that it is virtually instantaneous with no warning of the impending collapse.
John McDonald, a bee keeper in Pennsyvania with a background in biology, speculated that genetically modified crops could play a role in CCD. Although the government constantly reassures us that these genetic manipulations are safe for both humans and the environment, his hope is that looking more closely at these issues might raise questions about those assumptions.
The common bacterium, bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) supplies the most commonly used segment of transgenic DNA. Bt has been used for decades by farmers and gardeners to control crop damage from butterfy larvae. Now, instead of spraying this bacterium directly on the crops, where it is eaten only by the target insects, the genes containing the insecticidal traits are incorporated into the genome of the plant itself. As the genetically modified plant grows, these Bt genes are replicated in every cell of the plant, including pollen. Therefore, every cell of each GM plant contains its own poison aimed to kill the target insect. The target insects consume some portion of the plant, then once ingested, the toxin produced by the Bt genes causes crystallization in the guts of boring larvae and thus death. The primary toxin is a protein called Cry1Ab. In the case of field corn, the targeted insects are stem and root-borers and butterfly larvae.
Although scientists "assure" us that bees (hymenopterans) are not affected, there are Bt variants available that target beetles, flies and mosquitoes. There is indisputable proof that Cry1Ab is present in beehives. Beekeepers spray Bt under hive lids to control the wax moth because the larvae cause messy webs on the honey. Canadian beekeepers have noted the disappearance of this moth even in untreated hives, apparently the result of bees ingesting Cry1Ab while foraging in GM canola plants.
Bees forage heavily on corn flowers to obtain pollen for the rearing of young bees. These pollen grains also contain the Bt genes of the parent plant, because they are present in the cells from which pollen forms. Mr. McDonald believes it may be possible that while Cry1Ab has no direct lethal effect on young bees, there may be some sub-lethal effect, such as immune suppression, acting as a slow killer.
Tens of millions of acres of genetically modified crops are allowing the Bt genes to move off crop fields and contaminate other flowers from which bees gather flowers. "Given that nearly every bite of food that we eat has a pollinator, the seriousness of this emerging problem could dwarf all previous food disruptions".(John McDonald) He proposed an experiment to compare colony losses of bees from regions where there are no GM crops to losses of colonies where they are exposed. He wanted to put test hives where GM crops are so distant from the hives that the foraging worker bees would have no exposure to GM crops. Researches readily dismissed his ideas and no one followed through with such an experiment.
At this point, he decided to do his own investigation at his own expense. He established 8 colonies in new wooden hives to ensure no possible disease transfer from old hives. The bees were fed continuously with sugar syrup until the hives were placed at the selected locations.
"At both sites the flowers of goldenrod provided ample pasturage, with the honey flow commencing in the middle of August and tapering off by the second week in October. Medium-depth empty honey storage supers (a super is the part of the beehive used to collect honey) were put on the hives at this time in addition to the three brood chambers already there. By the simple expedient of lifting the hives from behind, progress could be roughly monitored.
This monitoring showed that the hives of the farmland bees, while numerous, were not gaining weight. Meanwhile, the non-farm colonies steadily gained weight. This part of the experiment was terminated Oct. 14 with the removal of the honey storage supers, with these results: The farmland bees had not even started to work in the honey supers and will require extensive feeding before winter sets in. The non-farm bee colonies produced, in total, nearly 200 pounds of extra honey in addition to about 150 pounds per hive stored in the over-wintering brood supers. These colonies will be left in place to see whether the die-off of last season is repeated. These results should encourage new research to determine what factor or factors are present in farm country to cause such a discrepancy in honey production." John McDonald
John McDonald is a beekeeper in Pennsylvania. He welcomes comments or questions about the bee problem at mactheknife70@hotmail.com.
Another study indicating that Bt may be contributing to the death of honey bees was undertaken in Mexico. This study compared the effects on young adult honeybees of 2 concentrations of Cry1AB (3 and 5000 parts per billion) to a chemical pesticide, imidacloprid. 3 different effects were evaluated by the researchers:
1. Survival of honeybees during sub-chronic exposure to Cry1Ab.
2. Feeding behavior.
3. Learning performance at the time that honeybees become foragers.
Neither test concentration of Cry1Ab had lethal effects on the honeybees, however, when exposed to the higher concentration, feeding behavior was affected. The bees spent longer ingesting the syrup which contained the Cry1Ab which could mean smaller amounts of pollen would be collected. These bees also had impaired learning performance. Honeybees normally do not continue responding to an odor when no food is present, but should be discouraged and seek other sources. These bees continued responding to the odor which again, could affect pollen gathering efficiency. This study indicates that although Bt is not directly lethal to honeybees, it could indirectly lead to colony death due to failure to collect enough food to sustain the hive.
These findings may be the key to the difference in honey production in Mr. McDonald's experiment. Bt appears to have non-lethal effects which become apparent only when the lethal effect is absent. Although not directly lethal to non-target organisms, the toxins from the Bt gene potentially puts non-target insects such as honeybees at risk.
http://persianoad.wordpress.com/2008/01...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18206234
Sunday, January 11, 2009 by: Patty Donovan, citizen journalist
(NaturalNews) As the disappearance of honeybees continues, researchers are trying desperately to discover the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). General concensus at this point is that there is more than once cause and the latest culprit may be genetically modified crops. This is one area of research being neglected as mainstream scientists insist GM crops are safe.
For the last 100 years, beekeepers have experienced colony losses from bacteria, (foulbrood), mites (varroa and tracheal) and other pathogens. These problems are dealt with by using antibiotics, miticides and and other methods of pest management. Losses are slow and expected and beekeepers know how to limit the destruction. This new mass die-off is different in that it is virtually instantaneous with no warning of the impending collapse.
John McDonald, a bee keeper in Pennsyvania with a background in biology, speculated that genetically modified crops could play a role in CCD. Although the government constantly reassures us that these genetic manipulations are safe for both humans and the environment, his hope is that looking more closely at these issues might raise questions about those assumptions.
The common bacterium, bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) supplies the most commonly used segment of transgenic DNA. Bt has been used for decades by farmers and gardeners to control crop damage from butterfy larvae. Now, instead of spraying this bacterium directly on the crops, where it is eaten only by the target insects, the genes containing the insecticidal traits are incorporated into the genome of the plant itself. As the genetically modified plant grows, these Bt genes are replicated in every cell of the plant, including pollen. Therefore, every cell of each GM plant contains its own poison aimed to kill the target insect. The target insects consume some portion of the plant, then once ingested, the toxin produced by the Bt genes causes crystallization in the guts of boring larvae and thus death. The primary toxin is a protein called Cry1Ab. In the case of field corn, the targeted insects are stem and root-borers and butterfly larvae.
Although scientists "assure" us that bees (hymenopterans) are not affected, there are Bt variants available that target beetles, flies and mosquitoes. There is indisputable proof that Cry1Ab is present in beehives. Beekeepers spray Bt under hive lids to control the wax moth because the larvae cause messy webs on the honey. Canadian beekeepers have noted the disappearance of this moth even in untreated hives, apparently the result of bees ingesting Cry1Ab while foraging in GM canola plants.
Bees forage heavily on corn flowers to obtain pollen for the rearing of young bees. These pollen grains also contain the Bt genes of the parent plant, because they are present in the cells from which pollen forms. Mr. McDonald believes it may be possible that while Cry1Ab has no direct lethal effect on young bees, there may be some sub-lethal effect, such as immune suppression, acting as a slow killer.
Tens of millions of acres of genetically modified crops are allowing the Bt genes to move off crop fields and contaminate other flowers from which bees gather flowers. "Given that nearly every bite of food that we eat has a pollinator, the seriousness of this emerging problem could dwarf all previous food disruptions".(John McDonald) He proposed an experiment to compare colony losses of bees from regions where there are no GM crops to losses of colonies where they are exposed. He wanted to put test hives where GM crops are so distant from the hives that the foraging worker bees would have no exposure to GM crops. Researches readily dismissed his ideas and no one followed through with such an experiment.
At this point, he decided to do his own investigation at his own expense. He established 8 colonies in new wooden hives to ensure no possible disease transfer from old hives. The bees were fed continuously with sugar syrup until the hives were placed at the selected locations.
"At both sites the flowers of goldenrod provided ample pasturage, with the honey flow commencing in the middle of August and tapering off by the second week in October. Medium-depth empty honey storage supers (a super is the part of the beehive used to collect honey) were put on the hives at this time in addition to the three brood chambers already there. By the simple expedient of lifting the hives from behind, progress could be roughly monitored.
This monitoring showed that the hives of the farmland bees, while numerous, were not gaining weight. Meanwhile, the non-farm colonies steadily gained weight. This part of the experiment was terminated Oct. 14 with the removal of the honey storage supers, with these results: The farmland bees had not even started to work in the honey supers and will require extensive feeding before winter sets in. The non-farm bee colonies produced, in total, nearly 200 pounds of extra honey in addition to about 150 pounds per hive stored in the over-wintering brood supers. These colonies will be left in place to see whether the die-off of last season is repeated. These results should encourage new research to determine what factor or factors are present in farm country to cause such a discrepancy in honey production." John McDonald
John McDonald is a beekeeper in Pennsylvania. He welcomes comments or questions about the bee problem at mactheknife70@hotmail.com.
Another study indicating that Bt may be contributing to the death of honey bees was undertaken in Mexico. This study compared the effects on young adult honeybees of 2 concentrations of Cry1AB (3 and 5000 parts per billion) to a chemical pesticide, imidacloprid. 3 different effects were evaluated by the researchers:
1. Survival of honeybees during sub-chronic exposure to Cry1Ab.
2. Feeding behavior.
3. Learning performance at the time that honeybees become foragers.
Neither test concentration of Cry1Ab had lethal effects on the honeybees, however, when exposed to the higher concentration, feeding behavior was affected. The bees spent longer ingesting the syrup which contained the Cry1Ab which could mean smaller amounts of pollen would be collected. These bees also had impaired learning performance. Honeybees normally do not continue responding to an odor when no food is present, but should be discouraged and seek other sources. These bees continued responding to the odor which again, could affect pollen gathering efficiency. This study indicates that although Bt is not directly lethal to honeybees, it could indirectly lead to colony death due to failure to collect enough food to sustain the hive.
These findings may be the key to the difference in honey production in Mr. McDonald's experiment. Bt appears to have non-lethal effects which become apparent only when the lethal effect is absent. Although not directly lethal to non-target organisms, the toxins from the Bt gene potentially puts non-target insects such as honeybees at risk.
http://persianoad.wordpress.com/2008/01...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18206234
Friday, February 15, 2008
Gentlepeople Start Your Gardens
Yesterday we started our 2008 growing season by planting onions and leeks in 6" to 10" pots.
We planted 2 kinds of leeks-Lincoln and King Sieg. Lincoln we have been growing for years. It is a very nice slender leek that comes in early (for a leek). King Sieg we grew for the first time last year and really liked it. This is a huge fat leek with great flavor. We still have most of a bed left from the 2007 season in a hoop house that is doing terrif.
We also started a ton of onions (okay, not a ton yet but if all goes well all those seeds should become 2000 pounds of allium goodness). We are doing several heirloom onions including Boulder Belt Sweet (from Walla Walla seeds), Ailsa Craig (another sweet onion), Red Weathersfield (not a good storage onion as almost all from last year have sprouted. But we had seed and lots of it so they are being sowed again this year. they are a popular seller, I believe because they are a weird shape and an heirloom) and some red onion seed Eugene saved in 2006. And we are doing many hybrid onions including Copra, my favorite yellow cooking onion. Great storage onion with fantastic flavor. This will be the 10th season we have grown these. Last year I was going to drop this variety because it was a Semenis variety and Semenis was bought out by Monsanto but Johnny's Selected Seeds found a non Monsanto breeder of Copra onions and is getting the seed from that source so all is good with me and my Copra onions (I really did not want to drop this variety but I also did not want to give any money knowingly to Monsatan so it was a major issue with me last year). Other hybrids include Varsity, a yellow onion we trialed last year and than forgot exactly where they were planted so I am trying them again this year. I believe they are the huge yellow onions that are storing better than the copra and taste almost as good. This year I will do a far better job of writing down the location of the Varsity onions. We also will be growing Mercury red onion (a very nice red onion that replaced another Monsatan/Semenis var we were using called Mars. We grew Mercury for the first time last year and liked it. And like the Red Weathersfield we had a lot of seed from last year.).
We should have started the leeks and onions earlier but we did not for two reasons. One, we did not have all our seeds until early this month and two we use a biodynamic planting calendar called the Stella Natura and it indicated that Feb 14th would be the best day to plant roots of the entire month and we have learned from using this calendar that if you can wait to hit a most auspicious moment it will pay off greatly. Thus we waited for the great root time to plant root seeds. We will likely have better germination and less damping off and other fungal diseases than if we had planted a week earlier.
Next we will start lettuce and brassicas (broccoli, kale, cabbages).
Here's too a great 2008 growing season everyone. Cheers!
We planted 2 kinds of leeks-Lincoln and King Sieg. Lincoln we have been growing for years. It is a very nice slender leek that comes in early (for a leek). King Sieg we grew for the first time last year and really liked it. This is a huge fat leek with great flavor. We still have most of a bed left from the 2007 season in a hoop house that is doing terrif.
We also started a ton of onions (okay, not a ton yet but if all goes well all those seeds should become 2000 pounds of allium goodness). We are doing several heirloom onions including Boulder Belt Sweet (from Walla Walla seeds), Ailsa Craig (another sweet onion), Red Weathersfield (not a good storage onion as almost all from last year have sprouted. But we had seed and lots of it so they are being sowed again this year. they are a popular seller, I believe because they are a weird shape and an heirloom) and some red onion seed Eugene saved in 2006. And we are doing many hybrid onions including Copra, my favorite yellow cooking onion. Great storage onion with fantastic flavor. This will be the 10th season we have grown these. Last year I was going to drop this variety because it was a Semenis variety and Semenis was bought out by Monsanto but Johnny's Selected Seeds found a non Monsanto breeder of Copra onions and is getting the seed from that source so all is good with me and my Copra onions (I really did not want to drop this variety but I also did not want to give any money knowingly to Monsatan so it was a major issue with me last year). Other hybrids include Varsity, a yellow onion we trialed last year and than forgot exactly where they were planted so I am trying them again this year. I believe they are the huge yellow onions that are storing better than the copra and taste almost as good. This year I will do a far better job of writing down the location of the Varsity onions. We also will be growing Mercury red onion (a very nice red onion that replaced another Monsatan/Semenis var we were using called Mars. We grew Mercury for the first time last year and liked it. And like the Red Weathersfield we had a lot of seed from last year.).
We should have started the leeks and onions earlier but we did not for two reasons. One, we did not have all our seeds until early this month and two we use a biodynamic planting calendar called the Stella Natura and it indicated that Feb 14th would be the best day to plant roots of the entire month and we have learned from using this calendar that if you can wait to hit a most auspicious moment it will pay off greatly. Thus we waited for the great root time to plant root seeds. We will likely have better germination and less damping off and other fungal diseases than if we had planted a week earlier.
Next we will start lettuce and brassicas (broccoli, kale, cabbages).
Here's too a great 2008 growing season everyone. Cheers!
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Before You Vote for Hillary Read This.
Check out this open letter to Ms Hillary Clinton and her relationship with industrial ag, Monsanto, biotech. Scary stuff. I was not intending on voting for her in either the Ohio Primary or the national election (if she is nominated) but this does it for me.
Damn I am disappointed that Kucinich is out of the race. At least he was not sullied by such corporate ties. The best we have now is Ron Paul
Damn I am disappointed that Kucinich is out of the race. At least he was not sullied by such corporate ties. The best we have now is Ron Paul
An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton from Another Wellesley College Alumna
Dear Hillary,
By polling logic, I should be your supporter - Democrat, older woman, white, liberal. I was even in a dorm with you in college. I have pulled for you for years. But something this past summer fundamentally changed my responsibility to my children and grandchildren. In the time I have left in my life to protect them and others, I need to speak out.
I saw a News Hour piece on Maharastra, India, about farmers committing suicide. Monsanto, a US agricultural giant, hired Bollywood actors for ads telling illiterate farmers they could get rich (by their standards) from big yields with Monsanto's Bt (genetically engineered) cotton seeds. The expensive seeds needed expensive fertilizer and pesticides (Monsanto, again) and irrigation. There is no irrigation there. Crops failed. Farmers had larger debt than they'd ever experienced
And farmers couldn't collect seeds from their own fields to try again (true since time immemorial). Monsanto "patents" their DNA-altered seeds as "intellectual property." They have a $10 million budget and a staff of 75 devoted solely to prosecuting farmers. http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2008/01/17./). Since the late 1990s (about when industrial agriculture took hold in India),166,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide and 8 million have left the land.
Farmers in Europe, Asia, Africa, Indonesia,South America, Central America and here, have protested Monsanto and genetic engineering for years.
What does this have to do with you?
You have connections to Monsanto through the Rose Law Firm where you worked and through Bill who hired Monsanto people for central food-related roles. Your Orwellian-named "Rural Americans for Hillary" was planned withTroutman Sanders, Monsanto's lobbyists.
Genetic engineering and industrialized food and animal production all come together at the Rose Law Firm, which represents the world's largest GE corporation (Monsanto), GE's most controversial project (DP&L's - now Monsanto's - terminator genes), the world's largest meat producer (Tyson), the world's largest retailer and a dominant food retailer (Walmart).
The inbred-ness of Rose's legal representation of corporations which own controlling interests in other corporations there and of corporate boards sharing members who are also shareholders of each other's corporations there, is so thorough that it is hard to capture. Jon Jacoby, senior executive of the Stephens Group - one of the largest institutional shareholders of Tyson Foods, Walmart, DP&L - is also Chairman of the Board of DP&L and arranged the Wal-Mart deal. Jackson Stephens' Stephens Group staked Sam Walton and financed Tyson Foods. Monsanto bought DP&L. All represented at Rose.
You didn't just work there, you made friends. That shows in the flow of favors then and since. You were invited onto Walmart's board, you were helped by a Tyson executive to make commodity trades (3 days before Bill became governor), netting you $100,000, Jackson Stephens strongly backed Bill for Governor, and then for President (donating $100,000). http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/engdahl/2006/0828.html
read the rest http://henwhisperer.blogspot.com/2008/02/before-you-vote-for-hillary-clinton.html
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Terra Cyclce Sued by Scott's
Okay, here is an update on the Terracycle Saga. Big bad Scott's/ Monsatan is indeed sueing this grassroots company. We need to boycott Scott's products (MG, Grass seed, Preen. etc.,) and also contact PBS and tell them to drop Scott's from being a sponsor of such shows as Victory Garden. As well as contacing any other programs that have Scott's as a sponsor. And of course we should keep on buying and reurning Miracle Gro and perhaps other Scott's producs. If we do not there will be other small companies that will be desroyed by these folks so they can mainain their monopoly on gardening supplies. As it stands, Monsatan owns over 75% of the world's seed supply and promotes the use of toxic chemicals in all US households.
Do we want this sort of thing to coninue?
Do we want this sort of thing to coninue?
* Sues By Scotts
Sued By Scotts, 7/23/2007
Straight to the Source
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, a $2.2 billion assets giant which has at least a 59% share of the relevant market, has sued tiny TerraCycle, Inc., an inner-city company founded by college students to create an eco-friendly business. TerraCycle manufactures all-natural garden products by feeding organic waste to worms and bottling the resulting worm poop compost tea as ready-to use plant food in soda bottles collected by schools and other charities across North America. TerraCycle is located in the Urban Enterprise Zone of Trenton, New Jersey.
Scotts claims that the two companies' products look similar and will confuse customers because some TerraCycle plant foods have a green and yellow label with a circle and a picture of flowers and vegetables on it.
Scotts also objects that TerraCycle says its plant food is as good or better than "a leading synthetic plant food" and is refusing Scotts' demands that TerraCycle hand over its scientific tests conducted at the Rutgers University EcoComplex to Scotts' scientists and lawyers. Scotts refuses to turn its tests over to TerraCycle.
To download the entire complaint, click here.
TerraCycle's Answer with Affirmative Defenses and Counterclaims has denied Scotts' claims that TerraCycle's advertising is untrue or that consumers will be confused by TerraCycle packaging. TerraCycle alleges that Scotts' trademark and trade dress claims are being used to maintain its monopoly power when it already has a market share estimated to be between 59% and 85% in published reports. TerraCycle alleges that Scotts has abandoned, misused and/or mutilated its green and yellow box trademark registration and should therefore be cancelled and that Scotts' claims are barred by the doctrine of unclean hands.
TerraCycle's filing includes examples of numerous competitive garden products packaged in green and yellow and of Miracle-Gro®'s use of other color schemes in its packaging.
To see the entire answer and exhibits, click here.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Onions
We have the best onion crop we have ever grown. Lots of nice 3/4 pound yellow onions. I believe we have around 2400 yellow onions. 3 kinds IIRC. We grew 3 kinds Copra which is a favorite of mine, excellent flavor and storage ability, Prince which we grew last year and stored quite well and Varsity which is new but producing some very nice onions that cook well. We will be dropping Copra after this year (unless I find a bunch of tiny onions I can use for sets for next year) because they have become a Monsanto holding and I will not buy seed from any company associated with Monsanto
We also have a buttload of red onions. One is a hybrid called Mercury which is a nice red onion. The other is an heirloom called Red Weathersfield that is dark purple, almost black, and flat. The taste is excellent-nice and sweet- but the onion does cause a lot of tearing action when cut. And we have Redwing which seems similar to Mercury. The next thing is the get all the onions harvested and cured and than see how well they store over winter.
One thing I know is dry weather is good for onions and we will have a good crop to sell for the rest of the summer/fall markets and at our winter markets
We also have a buttload of red onions. One is a hybrid called Mercury which is a nice red onion. The other is an heirloom called Red Weathersfield that is dark purple, almost black, and flat. The taste is excellent-nice and sweet- but the onion does cause a lot of tearing action when cut. And we have Redwing which seems similar to Mercury. The next thing is the get all the onions harvested and cured and than see how well they store over winter.
One thing I know is dry weather is good for onions and we will have a good crop to sell for the rest of the summer/fall markets and at our winter markets
Monday, May 28, 2007
TerraCycle Sued by Miracle Gro
If you do not already know Scott's, a multi-billion dollar company with ties to Monsanto, is suing a small company called TerraCycle that makes tea from worm castings and packages the tea in recycled 2 litre bottles.
They have a blog http://www.suedbyscotts.com/ that explains where Terracycle is coming from.
Many people have been going out to Wal-Mart and buying Terracycle even if they would not normally use the product. As well as boycotting all Scott's products. This is a good thing but this boycott probably is not doing a lot of good (especially if no one is contacting Scott's Miracle Gro and elling hem they are being boycotted) because people who would be supporting Terracycle's cause likely do not buy Miracle Gro et. al.. So this does nothing to Scott's bottom line.
I was talking about this with my husband and another organic grower at a farmers market about. My Husband (who used to work for the K-mart Corp) said if you really want to hurt Scott's (and Wal-Mart) go buy some Miracle Gro (best if on sale) and return 30 days after purchase (the elapsed time will make these corps assume hey have made real sales). Be sure to buy some Terracycle and use it, it's a good product.
What this action does is artificially boosts MG sales so Wal-Mart starts ordering more MG (thinking sales are up). When the MG you bought is returned, that will go back on the shelf, causing an overstock. Soon Wal-Mart (if enough people do this) will start ordering a lot less MG because of all the returns and slow sales and Scott's bottom line will be impacted.
Imagine what could happen if just 1,000 people did this or better yet 100,000 people buying, say, $1,000,000 ($10 per person) of MG product or even $10,000,000 ($100 per person) or 1,000,000 people buying $100,000,000 of MG and returning it all around the same time for a refund.
Wal-Mart is hurt by the restocking costs it must absorb and slower MG sales (which if sales got slow enough MG could be removed from Wal-Mart shelves altogether).
Imagine what could happen if just 1,000 people did this. 1,000 people buying $10 worth of MG and returning it nationwide (or world wide). Better yet, 100,000 people buying, say, $1,000,000 ($10 per person) of MG product or 10,000,000 people buying $100,000,000 of MG and returning it all around the same time for a refund. And "spending" ten bucks is good but what if we all "bought" $100, or more, of MG products and returned them a month later. The more we "spend" the greater the impact
If we all do this and got just one other person to also do this the impact would be noticed. And if our friends get their friends to join in it would be come a movement and we would soon have the TerraCycle massacree (with a nod to Arlo Guhrie). And maybe, just maybe, Scott's Miracle Gro will drop it's suit and let this wonderful grassroots company alone.
They have a blog http://www.suedbyscotts.com/ that explains where Terracycle is coming from.
Many people have been going out to Wal-Mart and buying Terracycle even if they would not normally use the product. As well as boycotting all Scott's products. This is a good thing but this boycott probably is not doing a lot of good (especially if no one is contacting Scott's Miracle Gro and elling hem they are being boycotted) because people who would be supporting Terracycle's cause likely do not buy Miracle Gro et. al.. So this does nothing to Scott's bottom line.
I was talking about this with my husband and another organic grower at a farmers market about. My Husband (who used to work for the K-mart Corp) said if you really want to hurt Scott's (and Wal-Mart) go buy some Miracle Gro (best if on sale) and return 30 days after purchase (the elapsed time will make these corps assume hey have made real sales). Be sure to buy some Terracycle and use it, it's a good product.
What this action does is artificially boosts MG sales so Wal-Mart starts ordering more MG (thinking sales are up). When the MG you bought is returned, that will go back on the shelf, causing an overstock. Soon Wal-Mart (if enough people do this) will start ordering a lot less MG because of all the returns and slow sales and Scott's bottom line will be impacted.
Imagine what could happen if just 1,000 people did this or better yet 100,000 people buying, say, $1,000,000 ($10 per person) of MG product or even $10,000,000 ($100 per person) or 1,000,000 people buying $100,000,000 of MG and returning it all around the same time for a refund.
Wal-Mart is hurt by the restocking costs it must absorb and slower MG sales (which if sales got slow enough MG could be removed from Wal-Mart shelves altogether).
Imagine what could happen if just 1,000 people did this. 1,000 people buying $10 worth of MG and returning it nationwide (or world wide). Better yet, 100,000 people buying, say, $1,000,000 ($10 per person) of MG product or 10,000,000 people buying $100,000,000 of MG and returning it all around the same time for a refund. And "spending" ten bucks is good but what if we all "bought" $100, or more, of MG products and returned them a month later. The more we "spend" the greater the impact
If we all do this and got just one other person to also do this the impact would be noticed. And if our friends get their friends to join in it would be come a movement and we would soon have the TerraCycle massacree (with a nod to Arlo Guhrie). And maybe, just maybe, Scott's Miracle Gro will drop it's suit and let this wonderful grassroots company alone.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Aspartame and the Politics of Food
Aspartame/Nutrasweet approval:
"Rumsfeld was president of Serle corporation in 1977, maker of aspartame, then, part of Reagan transition team, and got aspartame 'legalized' by appointing a defense department contractor [??] (Hayes) as head of FDA!
In January 1981 Rumsfeld told a sales meeting, according to one attendee, that he would call in his chips and get aspartame approved by the end of the year. On January 25th, the day the new president took office, the previous FDA commissioner's authority was suspended, and the next month, the commissioner's job went to Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes.
Transition records do not show why the administration chose ***Hayes, a professor and Defense Department contract researcher.*** In July Hayes, defying FDA advisors, approved aspartame for dry foods -- his first major decision. In November 1983 the FDA approved aspartame for soft drinks -- Hayes' last decision. In November 1983 Hayes, under fire for accepting corporate gifts, left the agency and went to Searle's public-relations firm as senior medical advisor. Later Searle lawyer Robert Shapiro named aspartame NutraSweet.
Monsanto purchased Searle. Rumsfeld received a $12 million bonus. Shapiro is now Monsanto president. .....Former White House Chief of Staff Rumsfeld owed a debt of gratitude to former White House confidante and Rumsfeld friend Donald Kendal, Pepsi's chairman. The Pepsi announcement and aggressive marketing (millions of gumballs, a red and white swirl, tough contracts) made NutraSweet known in every home. ....From 1985 to 1995, researchers did about 400 aspartame studies. They were divided almost evenly between those that gave assurances and those that raised questions about the sweetener. Most instructively, Searle paid for 100% of those finding no problem. All studies paid for by non-industry sources raised questions."---James S. Turner
Aspartame is a toxin, and is unique in this hazardous respect. This in NOT an allergic reaction, but rather a true toxin. No other food can be provided as a comparison to the toxic nature of NutraSweet. Upon closer examination, the available research revealed that the manufacturer (Monsanto) and the FDA are manipulating the public (via the media) into thinking that aspartame is safe. It is not. As an American who trusted the system we all created, as an American who worked for the system, it made me angry that public health has taken a backseat to greed. This is the "engine" that perpetuated this epidemic: the collusion of our government with multi-national conglomerate influence. Arthur M. Evangelista Former FDA Investigator. Aspartame: The History Of A Killer - The Whole Story By Arthur M. Evangelista
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Onions
Yesterday I started on planting onions. We are doing many kinds of onions-yellow cooking, yellow sweet heirlooms and a couple of kinds of red.
Lauren was back to help and together we raked two beds to get the weeds out and the soil in some other form than big dirt clods. After an hour or two of raking we were ready to put in the Copra onions.
I love Copra onions. They are a wonderful storage onion (I am still using last year's onions, though they are going fast) and have a great flavor too often lacking in yellow cooking onions. The bad news is Copra is a hybrid that was bred by the Seminis Corp which was bought up by Monsanto so after this year we will not be growing Copra any longer. We are trialing another yellow onion called varsity that is also a hybrid but not associated with Monsanto. There is also an open pollinated Copra called Clear Dawn that I will likely trial next year if I do not like Varsity or Varsity gets bought up by Monsanto.
Any Hoo, by sunset I had put about 1000 onion seedlings in the ground. Just have another 5 to 6 thousand to go.
Who knew onions could be so political?
Lauren was back to help and together we raked two beds to get the weeds out and the soil in some other form than big dirt clods. After an hour or two of raking we were ready to put in the Copra onions.
I love Copra onions. They are a wonderful storage onion (I am still using last year's onions, though they are going fast) and have a great flavor too often lacking in yellow cooking onions. The bad news is Copra is a hybrid that was bred by the Seminis Corp which was bought up by Monsanto so after this year we will not be growing Copra any longer. We are trialing another yellow onion called varsity that is also a hybrid but not associated with Monsanto. There is also an open pollinated Copra called Clear Dawn that I will likely trial next year if I do not like Varsity or Varsity gets bought up by Monsanto.
Any Hoo, by sunset I had put about 1000 onion seedlings in the ground. Just have another 5 to 6 thousand to go.
Who knew onions could be so political?
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Where to Buy (and not buy) Seeds
Found a nice article on the site Groovy Green called Where to Buy your Seeds and Where Not To. The only problem I had with the article was there was no mention of the fact lots of small farmers using organic methods are selling seeds over at Local harvest. In the past I have listed my seeds for sale there but moving the farm has meant putting the breaks on seed saving for the past couple of years. But 2008 should be the year we get back into the swing of saving seed for sale to the public.
Read the rest at: http://groovygreen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=328&Itemid=58
Where To Buy Your Seeds, & Where Not To
By Sharon Astyk
If we're to become a nation of farmers, and a nation of people who take home and small scale agriculture seriously, I think it is important to think about our seed sources. After all, without good, safe, reliable sources of seed, there is no agriculture - period.
The darkest force here has been the evil Montsanto, the Satan of agricultural corporations (and that's saying something since there are quite a few other dark angels out there), who bought up Seminis a couple of years ago. Now Seminis is the wholesaler that provides much of the seed for the seed trade, including many classic hybrids and non hybrid varieties. And recently, I've just learned that Seminis has bought Burpee seeds - the largest single mail order supplier. http://groovygreen.com/groove/?p=868. Now I have a fondness for the Burpee seed catalog, and there are a couple of non-hybrid varieties of theirs I love - a red french marigold, a cherry tomato. But I won't be buying there again. Pity, but I have no desire to support Montsanto's chemical agriculture, their attacks on farmers, their attempts to patent seeds created through laborious home breeding. And I try very hard to avoid Seminis varieties of seed. Because Seminis is a wholesaler, and sells to many of the seed companies that send out your catalogs, it can be difficult to tell where your seed originated. That means that I'm pretty much limited to some of the funkier catalogs out there. The good thing about that is that those catalogs have a large selection, a lot of neat stuff, and are usually good stewards of the environment. Giving them my money is an excellent thing....
I'm a big advocate of buying locally, but as I just told a friend, seeds are one thing that I don't always purchase from my local retailer. There are several reasons for this. The first is that my local retailer tends to carry commercial garden center varieties of seed, which come from very far away. There are good reasons to want to buy local seed, from plants that have already adapted to your particular climate. Often the seed I mail order from far away is more local than the seed that I would buy from my neighborhood garden shop. The second reason is that I can often get organically grown seed if I buy by mail - and even though you don't eat the seeds themselves, there are excellent reasons to want to avoid drenching the field your seeds are grown in with pesticides and chemicals. Also, small seed companies often struggle to get along, and they need all the business they can get. Finally, there is so much variety out there in food plants that buying locally simply wouldn't allow me to try as many different things - if I had to rely on local sources there'd be no Glacier Tomatoes coming early, no Stein's Late Flat Dutch Cabbage hanging on in my garden until December.
There has been a heavy consolidation of the seed industry in the last few years, to its detriment.
Read the rest at: http://groovygreen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=328&Itemid=58
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Winter Farm Life
This is a "what we small full time farmers do in the winter" post.
Okay today I got up late-around 8am due to a late night drinking raspberry moonshine and eating a spicy meat and fish soup at Julies' and Rosie's house. We had not seen our friends since before Christmas so we had lots to celebrate. Actually we went to their house to borrow a wine bottle corker so we can bottle up the pear wine the 4 of us started about 5 or 6 weeks ago. Did not succeed in finding the implement but had a good time none the less.
Any hoo, that caused me to get up about 2 hours later than I normally get out of bed. but since we had little planned for today getting up late was not a bad thing. After eating breakfast (reheated frozen pancakes I had made a few days ago). Took a short walk around the farm and marveled at the hoar frost on everything (it got cold last night, winter seems to be here, maybe). And I saw my first buzzard of the year. Normally the buzzards do not arrive until mid Feb but this has not been a normal winter.
Went back in the house and I decided to call the Safe Auto insurance people about our property damage since they had not called us back in a week. At 9:30am I called up "Austin" and actually got "Austin on the phone and told him that nothing had been done about our property damage and when was an appraiser coming out. he had no idea why no one had looked at the damage and said he would call me back. Surprise, surprise he did indeed call back about 3 minutes later and informed that the appraiser he had hired to look at the damage only did vehicles and not property damage so he had to find another company to look at out crumpled sign just sitting there in the front lawn. So he had to call me back again and did so 15 minutes later and said he had found another company and they should contact me tomorrow. So getting the sign replaced is in the works.
After dealing with safe Auto I attempted to do the Sudoku puzzle in the Dayton Daily News and failed (but I did solve it yesterday along with the crossword and the word jumble. I do not do the word find, never really liked that puzzle) and read that it is Betty White's Birthday, she's old, can't remember how old-85 or something.
I played around on-line for a bit reading email and looking at favorite website forums (I love posting on forums). Found that the Baker Creek Seed forum is still off line. I hope it is nothing too serious has happened to them, they have been down for 2 days now.
At 11am we turned on the price is Right. I love The Price Is Right and will be unhappy when Bob Barker retires this spring. I don't know who could replace him, though my money is on Adam Sandler, yes Adam Sandler who is a producer of TPIR. I have been watching this show since it was Truth or Consequences (really a different show but also hosted by Bob Barker).
After TPIR I ate lunch (left over Mac and Cheese with Italian sausage from pasture pork and some broccoli from the hoophouse) and than checked email and than talked for 2.5 hours with Rick, the guy we sometimes buy organic/sustainable produce from in the summer. We talked about produce and Monsatan buying up all the seeds and good OP varieties of peppers and onions to replace varieties now owned by Monsantan. We ended the call with me not coming to a decision of what I might or might not need from him this summer. Simply because I honestly do not know yet. It depends on how well business goes at the farm store this coming season. I assume even if I do nothing about advertising and marketing we will do better sales than last year. But doing some advertising in the local Eaton paper and the DDN I think will help out our bottom line dramatically.
After talking to Rick I got to thinking about dinner and decided to make pasta with a tomato based sauce that will use up the rest of the Italian sausages I have. And along with that we will have bread sticks so I put together a whole wheat yeast dough that I spiked with some fresh garlic that I ran through the rasp I generally use for hard cheese.
And while I was doing my stuff Eugene has spent a great deal of the day getting ready to do the taxes. Right now he is going through receipts and folders and getting things into perfect order. Unlike past years, I was really good about putting things where they ought to be so he is cruising through this and has had few tense moment. most of the tension is coming from faded receipts where we have to guess what it is for. But because I wrote most of this kind of information down elsewhere we have been able to figure everything out so far.
Now I must attend to my bread sticks and spag sauce.
Okay today I got up late-around 8am due to a late night drinking raspberry moonshine and eating a spicy meat and fish soup at Julies' and Rosie's house. We had not seen our friends since before Christmas so we had lots to celebrate. Actually we went to their house to borrow a wine bottle corker so we can bottle up the pear wine the 4 of us started about 5 or 6 weeks ago. Did not succeed in finding the implement but had a good time none the less.
Any hoo, that caused me to get up about 2 hours later than I normally get out of bed. but since we had little planned for today getting up late was not a bad thing. After eating breakfast (reheated frozen pancakes I had made a few days ago). Took a short walk around the farm and marveled at the hoar frost on everything (it got cold last night, winter seems to be here, maybe). And I saw my first buzzard of the year. Normally the buzzards do not arrive until mid Feb but this has not been a normal winter.
Went back in the house and I decided to call the Safe Auto insurance people about our property damage since they had not called us back in a week. At 9:30am I called up "Austin" and actually got "Austin on the phone and told him that nothing had been done about our property damage and when was an appraiser coming out. he had no idea why no one had looked at the damage and said he would call me back. Surprise, surprise he did indeed call back about 3 minutes later and informed that the appraiser he had hired to look at the damage only did vehicles and not property damage so he had to find another company to look at out crumpled sign just sitting there in the front lawn. So he had to call me back again and did so 15 minutes later and said he had found another company and they should contact me tomorrow. So getting the sign replaced is in the works.
After dealing with safe Auto I attempted to do the Sudoku puzzle in the Dayton Daily News and failed (but I did solve it yesterday along with the crossword and the word jumble. I do not do the word find, never really liked that puzzle) and read that it is Betty White's Birthday, she's old, can't remember how old-85 or something.
I played around on-line for a bit reading email and looking at favorite website forums (I love posting on forums). Found that the Baker Creek Seed forum is still off line. I hope it is nothing too serious has happened to them, they have been down for 2 days now.
At 11am we turned on the price is Right. I love The Price Is Right and will be unhappy when Bob Barker retires this spring. I don't know who could replace him, though my money is on Adam Sandler, yes Adam Sandler who is a producer of TPIR. I have been watching this show since it was Truth or Consequences (really a different show but also hosted by Bob Barker).
After TPIR I ate lunch (left over Mac and Cheese with Italian sausage from pasture pork and some broccoli from the hoophouse) and than checked email and than talked for 2.5 hours with Rick, the guy we sometimes buy organic/sustainable produce from in the summer. We talked about produce and Monsatan buying up all the seeds and good OP varieties of peppers and onions to replace varieties now owned by Monsantan. We ended the call with me not coming to a decision of what I might or might not need from him this summer. Simply because I honestly do not know yet. It depends on how well business goes at the farm store this coming season. I assume even if I do nothing about advertising and marketing we will do better sales than last year. But doing some advertising in the local Eaton paper and the DDN I think will help out our bottom line dramatically.
After talking to Rick I got to thinking about dinner and decided to make pasta with a tomato based sauce that will use up the rest of the Italian sausages I have. And along with that we will have bread sticks so I put together a whole wheat yeast dough that I spiked with some fresh garlic that I ran through the rasp I generally use for hard cheese.
And while I was doing my stuff Eugene has spent a great deal of the day getting ready to do the taxes. Right now he is going through receipts and folders and getting things into perfect order. Unlike past years, I was really good about putting things where they ought to be so he is cruising through this and has had few tense moment. most of the tension is coming from faded receipts where we have to guess what it is for. But because I wrote most of this kind of information down elsewhere we have been able to figure everything out so far.
Now I must attend to my bread sticks and spag sauce.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Say No to Burpee Seeds
I just found out that Monsanto bought out Burpee seeds as of Jan 1 of this year. Monsanto, it seems, is attempting to buy out all the seed companies in the world and that is bad because those who control the seed sources control about everything else.
I hope Monsanto does not do stupid things like drop most of the seed varieties it now owns (which is likely) or turn many of these veggie and fruit seeds into GMO (again this is very very likely).
Until a few minutes ago I was allowing Burpee ads to appear on my AdSense ads. That will no longer happen as I will not knowingly allow any Monsanto owned companies to advertise on this blog because as far as I am concerned Monsanto is an evil multinational corp that has brought no good to the planet as well as having a proven track record of being against organic farming and smal diversified farms
I hope Monsanto does not do stupid things like drop most of the seed varieties it now owns (which is likely) or turn many of these veggie and fruit seeds into GMO (again this is very very likely).
Until a few minutes ago I was allowing Burpee ads to appear on my AdSense ads. That will no longer happen as I will not knowingly allow any Monsanto owned companies to advertise on this blog because as far as I am concerned Monsanto is an evil multinational corp that has brought no good to the planet as well as having a proven track record of being against organic farming and smal diversified farms
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Non GMO Resolution
Press Release
Source: The Institute for Responsible Technology
Iowa, Dec. 26 -- Consumers of any age can improve their health with one New Year's resolution. "Avoid eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs)," says expert Jeffrey M. Smith, who points to evidence of mounting health risks associated with gene-spliced foods.
Smith urges consumers to cross off brands that contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients, which are in 60-70% of foods sold in the U.S. The principle offenders are non-organic soy and corn derivatives and canola and cottonseed oils. Thus, Ragu tomato sauce would be off limits, since it contains corn syrup and soybean oil, but Light Ragu or Barilla brand sauces, which contain olive oil and no corn sweetener, are non-GMO.
"Consumers in the U.S. are being used as human guinea pigs by biotech companies, which rushed their GMOs to market without adequate studies and before the science was ready," says Smith. "Once Americans learn they are feeding these high-risk foods to their children, they will demand non-GMO alternatives." In Europe, where consumer knowledge about GMOs is considerably higher, shoppers' concerns prompted food manufacturers there to remove all GM ingredients. Smith sees this trend building in the US, with more and more healthy brands declaring ingredients "Non-GMO" on the label.
Smith's new book, Genetic Roulette: The documented health risks of genetically engineered foods, due out in the spring, links GMOs to risks such as allergies, immune system dysfunction, potentially pre-cancerous cell growth, stunted organs and death. "Many of the beliefs about DNA that were popular when GM foods were introduced ten years ago," he says, "have been proven wrong. Swapping genes between species turns out to have far more unpredicted dangerous side effects than we thought."
Animals choose non-GMO
Smith also documents how several animals, when given the option, choose non-GM food over GMOs. These include cows, pigs, elk, deer, raccoons, squirrels, mice, rats and geese. He says a non-GMO New Year's resolution will help people elevate their choices to match the wisdom of the animals.
Cloned food may be FDA deja vu
“The FDA’s recent announcement declaring milk and meat from cloned animals as safe,” says Smith, “reminds us of their 1992 approval of GM crops. When the agency’s internal files were made public years later, they revealed that the FDA’s GMO policy was dictated by corporate manipulation, not sound science. Warnings by government scientists were ignored by political appointees from the biotech industry.” Smith adds, “And like GMOs, the FDA does not want labels on cloned food, thereby forcing the entire population into their dangerous uncontrolled experiment.”
Jeffrey Smith is the author of Seeds of Deception, the world's bestselling book on GMOs. He is the founder and executive director of The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) and a leading spokesperson on the risks of GM foods. Go to www.responsibletechnology.org for eater-friendly tips for avoiding GMOs at home and in restaurants. Jeffrey M. Smith is the author of Seeds of Deception, the world’s bestselling book on GM foods. His forthcoming book, Genetic Roulette, documents more than 60 health risks of GM foods in easy-to-read two-page spreads, and demonstrates how current safety assessments are not competent to protect consumers from the dangers. He is available for media at media@responsibletechnology.org.
Spilling the Beans is a monthly column available at www.responsibletechnology.org.
Permission is granted to publishers and webmasters to reproduce issues of Spilling the Beans in whole or in part. Just email us at column@seedsofdeception.com to let us know who you are and what your circulation is, so we can keep track.
The Institute for Responsible Technology is working to end the genetic engineering of our food supply and the outdoor release of GM crops. We warmly welcome your donations and support.
© copyright Jeffrey M. Smith 2007
Source: The Institute for Responsible Technology
Iowa, Dec. 26 -- Consumers of any age can improve their health with one New Year's resolution. "Avoid eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs)," says expert Jeffrey M. Smith, who points to evidence of mounting health risks associated with gene-spliced foods.
Smith urges consumers to cross off brands that contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients, which are in 60-70% of foods sold in the U.S. The principle offenders are non-organic soy and corn derivatives and canola and cottonseed oils. Thus, Ragu tomato sauce would be off limits, since it contains corn syrup and soybean oil, but Light Ragu or Barilla brand sauces, which contain olive oil and no corn sweetener, are non-GMO.
"Consumers in the U.S. are being used as human guinea pigs by biotech companies, which rushed their GMOs to market without adequate studies and before the science was ready," says Smith. "Once Americans learn they are feeding these high-risk foods to their children, they will demand non-GMO alternatives." In Europe, where consumer knowledge about GMOs is considerably higher, shoppers' concerns prompted food manufacturers there to remove all GM ingredients. Smith sees this trend building in the US, with more and more healthy brands declaring ingredients "Non-GMO" on the label.
Smith's new book, Genetic Roulette: The documented health risks of genetically engineered foods, due out in the spring, links GMOs to risks such as allergies, immune system dysfunction, potentially pre-cancerous cell growth, stunted organs and death. "Many of the beliefs about DNA that were popular when GM foods were introduced ten years ago," he says, "have been proven wrong. Swapping genes between species turns out to have far more unpredicted dangerous side effects than we thought."
Animals choose non-GMO
Smith also documents how several animals, when given the option, choose non-GM food over GMOs. These include cows, pigs, elk, deer, raccoons, squirrels, mice, rats and geese. He says a non-GMO New Year's resolution will help people elevate their choices to match the wisdom of the animals.
Cloned food may be FDA deja vu
“The FDA’s recent announcement declaring milk and meat from cloned animals as safe,” says Smith, “reminds us of their 1992 approval of GM crops. When the agency’s internal files were made public years later, they revealed that the FDA’s GMO policy was dictated by corporate manipulation, not sound science. Warnings by government scientists were ignored by political appointees from the biotech industry.” Smith adds, “And like GMOs, the FDA does not want labels on cloned food, thereby forcing the entire population into their dangerous uncontrolled experiment.”
Jeffrey Smith is the author of Seeds of Deception, the world's bestselling book on GMOs. He is the founder and executive director of The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) and a leading spokesperson on the risks of GM foods. Go to www.responsibletechnology.org for eater-friendly tips for avoiding GMOs at home and in restaurants. Jeffrey M. Smith is the author of Seeds of Deception, the world’s bestselling book on GM foods. His forthcoming book, Genetic Roulette, documents more than 60 health risks of GM foods in easy-to-read two-page spreads, and demonstrates how current safety assessments are not competent to protect consumers from the dangers. He is available for media at media@responsibletechnology.org.
Spilling the Beans is a monthly column available at www.responsibletechnology.org.
Permission is granted to publishers and webmasters to reproduce issues of Spilling the Beans in whole or in part. Just email us at column@seedsofdeception.com to let us know who you are and what your circulation is, so we can keep track.
The Institute for Responsible Technology is working to end the genetic engineering of our food supply and the outdoor release of GM crops. We warmly welcome your donations and support.
© copyright Jeffrey M. Smith 2007
Thursday, June 15, 2006
The Irony of Google Ads
I signed up for Google Ads a couple of months ago so this blog could generate some money. these are the ads in the light colored box above the newest post. Click on them and you support this blog.
Today I noticed one of the ads is for potting soil that contains Miracle Gro. I hate Miracle Gro and even though each click to that site will likely generate a lot of revenue for this blog to me it will be dirty money (oh Gawd, a bad pun and not intended). I cannot endorse Miracle Gro or any other Scott's/Monsanto product.
MG is not organic in anyway shape or form. It does not build healthy soil, it does bad things to the soil's microherd when applied because it contains salts that burn delicate life and buying and using it supports what I consider a bad corporation for a variety of reasons such as GMO's, creating a lot of bad ag chemicals, having a monopoly on our seeds (they now own something like 75% of the world's commercial seed stock).
So I deal with irony of a MG ad on a blog about a person who practises deep organics and would never ever use the stuff (we even have a box of MG rose restorer that came with this farm, as did a gallon of RoundUp, another Monsanto product, which we will never use).
And now that I think of it this post will likely flood this blog with even more Monsanto product ads. Oy Vay!
Today I noticed one of the ads is for potting soil that contains Miracle Gro. I hate Miracle Gro and even though each click to that site will likely generate a lot of revenue for this blog to me it will be dirty money (oh Gawd, a bad pun and not intended). I cannot endorse Miracle Gro or any other Scott's/Monsanto product.
MG is not organic in anyway shape or form. It does not build healthy soil, it does bad things to the soil's microherd when applied because it contains salts that burn delicate life and buying and using it supports what I consider a bad corporation for a variety of reasons such as GMO's, creating a lot of bad ag chemicals, having a monopoly on our seeds (they now own something like 75% of the world's commercial seed stock).
So I deal with irony of a MG ad on a blog about a person who practises deep organics and would never ever use the stuff (we even have a box of MG rose restorer that came with this farm, as did a gallon of RoundUp, another Monsanto product, which we will never use).
And now that I think of it this post will likely flood this blog with even more Monsanto product ads. Oy Vay!
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