Europe Stands Up Against Genetically Modified Potatoes

From Bikyamasr:

"Following a decision by the European Commission to authorize the cultivation of BASF’s antibiotic-resistance genetically modified potato, Hungary, Austria and Luxembourg launched a legal challenge to the European Court of Justice. The three countries have now been joined by France and Poland."

"The Commission authorized the GM potato in March. The product is intended for the paper industry and to be used as animal feed, although the application also said it would be impossible to keep Amflora out of the human food chain. The Commission granted BASF permission to contaminate human food by up to 0.9%. Trouble flared during BASF’s first Amflora growing season: the company accidentally mixed in seed from an untested GM potato known as Amadea, raising more doubts as to how controllable GM crops are."

The article says that, despite the World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency stating that these potatoes are important for fighting disease, over one million Europeans have petitioned to put an end to GM foods.

The United States could take a cue from Europe on this.

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SIGN THE PETITION HERE

The A2 Milk Debate

Some Kind of Survivalist, Revisited

Back in March I was asked if I was "some kind of survivalist" and I wrote about it here. I was later turned onto the work of James Wesley, Rawles, and for a brief time had a link up here to his SurvivalBlog. I took the link down after only a couple days as I realized that it was a little extreme for me personally and more or less the essence of what I defending myself against in my own blog post.

I'm a big fan of balance. I feel we don't have enough of it in this world and certainly not in American culture. Too often we look to technology but forget nature, progress while forgetting history, quantity and not quality. I am not against technology, progress, and abundance, but I do feel we could afford more nature, history, and quality -- in a word, balance.

I bring all of this up because an article on James Wesley, Rawles' blog was brought to my attention and I appreciated what it had to say. The article is titled In Defense of Prepping: When Disaster Doesn't Strike by A.S.D. and not only discusses reasons to prepare for disaster, but actually makes the point that those who do prepare do not actually want disaster to come. I realize that part of my own desire to distance myself from "The Survivalist" image is that it brings with it a stereotype of rednecks in bunkers with stockpiles of ammunition and MREs just waiting for the day they get to play real-life war games.

Another part is this issue of balance. While I can get behind saving up for a rainy day, I can't imagine devoting my entire life to an event that may or may not come. Gardening, canning, and freezing food makes sense to me because I believe large-scale factory-farming has compromised our food supply. Also, it makes sense to stock up food and supplies in the event of an emergency. It only takes a few days for store shelves to empty when supply lines shut down (as our family experienced first hand). It's always better to have a spare tire and not need it than need it and not have it. At the same time, I don't know about spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on gear and infrastructure that I would have to store and maintain but never use unless some worldwide catastrophe hits.

Everyone has to find their own balance and I understand there is an argument for being prepared for anything. I can't say I agree with everything in A.S.D.'s article, but I appreciate it just the same and it is with respect to him and James Wesley, Rawles that I reference them now.

Check it out. See what you think.

Prep talks start on GM crop redress accord | The Japan Times Online

Perhaps we should be paying attention to this:

"Preparatory talks started Wednesday on an international accord on compensation for damage caused by genetically modified crops to biodiversity and human health, kicking off three weeks of biodiversity talks in Nagoya."

Prep talks start on GM crop redress accord | The Japan Times Online

Transgenic crops’ built-in pesticide found to be contaminating waterways

From Grist:

Well, after years of denial, Monsanto finally admitted recentlythat superbugs, or pests that have evolved to be able to eat the Bt crops, are a real and growing concern. And now, researchers at the University of Notre Dame have shown that the Bt from genetically engineered maize is polluting waterways in Indiana (the study area). They found Bt toxin in almost 25 percent of streams they tested, and all the streams that tested positive were within 1,500 feet from a cornfield.

The fun part? No one has any idea yet of the effects of long-term, low-dose exposure to Bt on fish and wildlife. Perhaps it's high time somebody did a study on that since, as the researchers dryly observed, the presence of Bt toxin "may be a more common occurrence in watersheds draining maize-growing regions than previously recognized." Apparently.

So. Not only do genetically engineered crops have worse yields than conventionally bred crops, cost more, lead to pesticide resistance, contaminate other plants with their transgenes, possibly cause allergies and even organ damage, but now we also learn that the plants themselves are possibly poisonous to the environment.

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Why is the Gates foundation investing in GM giant Monsanto?

From The Guardian:

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is sponsoring the Guardian's Global development site is being heavily criticised in Africa and the US for getting into bed not just with notorious GM company Monsanto, but also with agribusiness commodity giant Cargill.

Trouble began when a US financial website published the foundation's annual investment portfolio, which showed it had bought 500,000 Monsanto shares worth around $23m. This was a substantial increase in the last six months and while it is just small change for Bill and Melinda, it has been enough to let loose their fiercest critics.

Seattle-based Agra Watch - a project of the Community Alliance for Global Justice - was outraged. "Monsanto has a history of blatant disregard for the interests and well being of small farmers around the world… [This] casts serious doubt on the foundation's heavy funding of agricultural development in Africa," it thundered.

But it got worse. South Africa-based watchdog the African Centre for Biosafety then found that the foundation was teaming up with Cargill in a $10m project to "develop the soya value chain" in Mozambique and elsewhere. Who knows what this corporate-speak really means, but in all probability it heralds the big time introduction of GM soya in southern Africa.

The two incidents raise a host of questions for the foundation. Few people doubt that GM has a place in Africa, but is Gates being hopelessly naïve by backing two of the world's most aggressive agri-giants? There is, after all, genuine concern at governmental and community level that the United State's model of extensive hi-tech farming is inappropriate for most of Africa and should not be foist on the poorest farmers in the name of "feeding the world".

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Garden Notes, End of September 2010

A disappointing year in the garden. Temperatures stayed right around 70 dF with only a few exceptions of days into the 80's and 90's.

Still, here's something to show for it:

 Cucumbers! 

We either need a larger fermenting crock or, better yet, more smaller ones because these cukes got too big while we we fermenting our first batch of dills. They are still yummy and we'll share what we can't eat fresh with friends and neighbors.

 Green tomatoes. 

A whole lotta green tomatoes this year. I think we harvested less than five ripe tomatoes this year, but we pulled in just over 30 pounds of green tomatoes. I said earlier I was torn between trying dill pickled green tomatoes and green tomato salsa -- I had enough to do a LOT of both and still had some left over...

Dill green tomatoes and green tomato salsa.

More dill green tomatoes and still more green tomatoes!

Green tomato relish.

Not that one might presume from appearances, but the last of the green tomatoes went into this relish. The red color comes from the red cabbage -- another crop of which we had abundance. 

We still need to can some staples like chicken soup broth (we have everything we need, we just need to do it) and beef stew (hopefully the carrots in the garden will still be useful when we are able to get the meat and potatoes and time).

Considering what we had to work with this season, I think we have done just fine.

More to come...

Be Prepared

From The LA Times, a testament about how it pays to be prepared:


Missing hiker found alive after 6 days in Joshua Tree National Park

Ed Rosenthal, a prominent real estate broker from Culver City and an experienced hiker, was alert and able to talk and walk when found but was dehydrated and is in fair condition...

Rosenthal set out Friday from Black Rock campground on a day hike...

He told his wife and rescuers that he lost the trail and made a wrong turn. He ended up in East Wide Canyon, which descends to the park's southern border. He was found Thursday morning, about seven or eight miles from where he left the trail, in a ravine near the canyon. He was spotted by a helicopter from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office when he waved a shiny, Mylar-like material...

For someone on a day hike, Rosenthal was very well-equipped. Joe Zarki, a park ranger, noted that he had three or four liters of water, snack food, a space blanket, a whistle and flares.

He hiked for about a day and a half, descending almost 2,000 feet down the canyon, and then he ran out of food and water.

"At that point, he realized he was in some difficulty," Zarki said. "Once he found his spot, he thought he was better off staying there and that's what you're supposed to do."

Rosenthal whistled, but no one heard. He tried to light flares, but they did not work...

READ MORE

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My best wishes to Mr. Rosenthal and his family and I am glad he made it home alive. Still, his story is a stark example of why it's important to be prudent.


It's better to have it and not need it, but only if it works and you know how to use it.

High-fiber, low-fat diets cultivate healthier intestinal microbes, study suggests

From ScienceNews, it seems that the way people ate 10,000 years ago might be healthier than the way we eat in western culture.

Really?!? It's not good for us to eat processed foods and be obese?

Okay, okay, it's not exactly that simple. And because it is not that simple the solution can't be simple. In fact, in one of the closing paragraphs this article suggests the answer will come in pill form.

Are. You. Serious. ?. !. ?. 

Screw nature!

Thank the Pharmaceutical Industry for being such a selfless non-profit to look out for our well being!

Sorry -- just had a cool-aide flashback...

I'm gonna go out on a limb here. How about we all try to eat better? (!?) Eat less of the processed, factory-farmed, genetically-modified, mono-cultured, homogenized, subsidies-based pseudo foods and eat some of what nature produces for no profit?

I know, it's just too radical to ask that we take a step back and consider what got us this far. Who gains from that?

(besides the next generation...)


Read the ScienceNews article here.

The 10 Freakiest Things About Frankenfish

From The Huffington Post:

10. According to the FDA, Frankenfish Aren't Animals, They're "Animal Drugs"

9. The GMO Part of the GMO Salmon Isn't Being Safety Tested

8. Frankenfish DNA Could Change the Bacteria of Your Gut

7. If It Swims Like a Salmon, FDA Says It's Safe to Eat

6. FDA Lets the Frankenfish Company Test Its Own Product's Safety

5. Frankenfish Is More Carcinogenic

4. Frankenfish Is Less Nutritious

3. Frankenfish Is More Allergenic

2. GMOs Can Mess a Fish Up!

But the freakiest thing about all of this is ...

1. The Government Wants More Transgenic Fish and Less Wild Fish

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Hunting Is A Form Of Gambling

I don’t hunt for “sport”. I was first drawn to hunting because I enjoyed the communion with nature, finding it’s secrets, and sitting still and quiet in it’s glory. I had been hunting for some time before I actually experienced the rush of stalk and ambush. In the end, though, hunting for me has always been about putting food on the table (or the freezer, mostly). It is part of stocking the pantry and feeding the family.

For me today, hunting legally for food is not so far removed from gambling for income. When I lived in North Carolina I believe a big game tag with taxes and fees cost about $46. That $46 bought a large ticket with a line for one to four of each big game species available for hunting that year and a hunter possessing such a license could hunt any animal with any weapon provided it was within the season’s parameters. One could hunt with a bow, rifle, shotgun, or muzzleloader a variety of game such as white tail deer, turkey, bear, boar, fox, coyote,… probably twenty animals in all with a single tag for under $50.

I now live in the great state of Washington. I love it here. If I could be in Oregon I might be happier, but the Pacific Northwest is my home. Despite all of the great things the Northwest has to offer, hunting in Washington is expensive. A tag to hunt just one deer and one elk (and buy the vehicle permit to park in a hunting area) is between $80-$90 in Washington State. In addition, you have to choose which season you wish to hunt (bow, rifle, or muzzleloader) and you may only hunt that season, regardless of your success. What that means is, if you buy a rifle hunting license for deer and bring home nothing by season’s end, you do not even have the privilege of giving the state more money to hunt the late bow season in hopes of breaking even on the deal. It’s no wonder poaching is such a problem in Washington.

Hunting is not easy. Every now and then an easy shot may present itself and we are thankful when that happens, but even then there is a lot of work to get the animal from hoof to plate (this is true in hunting just as it is from CAFO to Wal-Mart). Most times, though, a single animal successfully hunted, killed, and butchered is the result of countless hours of finding where they are, finding a place to sit and/or stalk, waiting them out, learning to call, learning to shoot, butchering, not to mention all the tools required. I’m not here to argue the virtues of hunting, though…

What I’m trying to get at is the fact that I can pay $80+ and – assuming I already have everything else I need to hunt – MAYBE put one lean, nature-fed animal in the freezer, two if I am very lucky and have a lot of free time on my hands. Or I could pay a little more than twice that and put less meat in my freezer from a decent, but less natural source. It’s a real crapshoot we’ve created.

I feel like it’s time to discuss population and balance…

New 'compact' for GM complaints

From Weekly Times Now:

THE world's major biotechnology companies have set up a complaints process for countries with concerns over the impact of GM crops.

The six companies - BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta - have formed "The Compact", which they claim is a "clearly defined, efficient, and fair" process for countries to file and process claims related to damage to biological diversity caused by genetically modified organisms.

Peak group CropLife International said the compact, which had been developed over the past two years, was now in force under the umbrella of an independent mediation and arbitration framework administered in The Hague.

READ MORE!