Fuel tanks versus people's lives

With global grain prices surging, corn ethanol looking dumber than ever

And right on the heels of Russia's wheat shortage, the USDA has just released a surprisingly frank report documenting that the current U.S. corn stocks are shockingly low, in fact the lowest in 15 years. The reason? I'll let the Washington Post explain:


The U.S. Agriculture Department's latest forecast said corn supplies are expected to total 675 million bushels as of late August when this year's harvest begins. That would be the lowest surplus level since 1996.


The government said supplies have dwindled over the past month because of improving demand, largely from ethanol producers.


Ah, ethanol. How we do love you.


All eyes are now on the 2011 corn harvest. As one analyst said, to avoid a price spike, it needs to be "huge." And it's still early, but here's hoping that the vicious winter weather out in the corn belt doesn't presage a wild and wacky spring. That could really spell trouble in the global south, where even more upward pressure on grain prices would be devastating.


The good news is that the fuel vs. food debate is for sissies. I know because Monsanto told me.

Fuel versus food? Which would you choose? Seems like an easy choice - so why are we making the wrong one so many times?

Where to buy seeds?

Keep Monsanto Out of Your Garden this Spring

There are plenty of good reasons to avoid Monsanto: Roundup, genetically-engineered beets, corn, and other crops, the fact that they sue farmers after their seeds (a monopoly of their own) contaminate the farmers' own fields, Agent Orange....we could go on and on.


What some people may not realize is that Monsanto also now owns approximately 40% of the home garden vegetable seed market -- making them the largest seed company in the world.


They bought the seed company Seminis in 2005, as well as several smaller companies. Seminis seeds are carried by many popular garden catalogs, including Burpee, Park Seed, Territorial Seeds, and Johnny's Selected Seeds. You can find more catalogs that sell Seminis seeds by checking out Seminis' website (Am I the only one who finds the "if you've eaten a salad, you've eaten a Seminis product!" statement a little ominous?) Some companies, such as Johnny's, are phasing out Seminis seeds, and, in the meantime, labeling those seeds so consumers can avoid them if they choose to.


If you're trying to avoid giving Monsanto even one red cent of your money, and you're a gardener who plants seeds (or buys vegetable starts) it pays to know which varieties are making money for the company. A complete listing of which vegetable varieties Seminis grows can be found on their website. This list includes popular tomato varieties, such as 'Celebrity,' 'Early Girl,' and 'Better Boy,' as well as a host of other common home vegetable garden varieties.


What Can You Do?


1. Find out if your favorite seed catalog carries Monsanto-owned seeds. If so, they will be able to tell you which varieties they carry, so you can avoid them.


2. Patronize seed and catalog companies that have taken the Safe Seed Pledge that they have tested their stock for GMOs. A list of companies can be found here.


3. Buy, plant, and save seeds from heirloom varieties. Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, and Landreth's all specialize in heirlooms. There is a (better) heirloom option for all of the varieties Monsanto owns. It's just a matter of trying them out and finding your favorites -- not a bad way to spend a summer.

Disappointed that Johnny's is listed - though also listed as taking the Safe Seed Pledge.
Here in Connecticut there are several sources I have to consider:

Butterbrooke Farm
78 Barry Rd
Oxford, CT 06478
Tel: 203-888-2000

Comstock Ferre & Co.
263 Main St.
Wethersfield, CT 06109
Tel: 860-571-6950
Fax: 860-571-6595
www.comstockferre.com

John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds
23 Tulip Drive
Bantam, CT 06750
Tel: 860-567-6086
Fax: 860-567-5323
www.kitchengardenseeds.com

New England Seed Company
3580 Main Street, Bldg 10
Hartford, CT 06120
Tel: 800-783-7891 or 860-724-1240
Fax: 860-724-1273
Email: newenglsee@aol.com
www.neseed.com

Select Seeds Company
180 Stickney Hill Road
Union, CT 06076
Tel: 860-684-9310
Fax: 860-684-9224
Email: info@selectseeds.com
www.selectseeds.com

Blame the victim

Monsanto to fight potential lawsuit by organic farmer whose land ruined by GMOsCompose

Australian organic farmer Steve Marsh recently had his organic certification status pulled by the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia (NASAA) because his organic wheat field was contaminated by a nearby genetically-modified (GM) canola field. And after Marsh threatened to sue the GM farmer for the incident — which has cost Marsh his entire business, by the way — Monsanto, the owner of the GM canola, came out and said it would legally back the GM farmer “in any way [it] could.”

A previous NaturalNews report on the issue explains that GM canola materials blew from a nearby GM field about a mile away and contaminated over 540 acres of Marsh’s organic wheat fields (http://www.naturalnews.com/030686_G…). As a result, Marsh’s fields can no longer be considered organic due to very high standards in the Australian organic industry that hold a “zero tolerance” policy concerning contamination with foreign genetic material.


But rather than work towards prosecuting both the GM farmer and Monsanto for the environmental damage they caused, West Australia Minister for Agriculture and Food, Terry Redman, is instead going after the organic industry, urging it to modify its contamination standards to accommodate Monsanto.

Gee you think Monsanto dangled some bucks in front of Redman?

We are all really in trouble

How One Farmer Turned Against Chemicals

A run-in with Roundup herbicide was a transformative episode in farmer Eric Herm’s shift toward sustainable agriculture. A fourth-generation farmer, Herm tells the tale in the book Son of a Farmer, Child of the Earth: A Path to Agriculture’s Higher Consciousness (Dream River Press):

In May of 2009, my neighbor had his Roundup Ready cotton sprayed by Helena Chemical Company less than 40 yards from my home garden. The Roundup herbicide drifted and wiped out over 800 garlic bulbs, and all of my tomato, pepper, potato, bean, and corn plants. Within 48 hours every single plant in my garden curled up into a fetal position. Leaves curled upward, cupped around the edges, and plants showed visible signs of suffering. For three or four days I couldn’t figure out what had happened until I discovered my neighbor had sprayed Roundup a few days previous. I flew into a rage yet maintained my cool talking to Helena company officials. They were very courteous yet proceeded to blame a plane spraying half a mile away to the southwest.

Herm had tissue from his dead crops tested, and the results came back positive for glyphosate, the main active ingredient in Roundup. Still, the local Helena Chemical Company store manager insisted that his product wasn’t to blame.

That’s how these chemical companies work. Did I receive the $4,000 in damages? Take a wild guess. They put their lawyer against yours, and these chemical companies have a lot more money to spend on attorney fees than an individual farmer. Thanks to my neighbor and Helena Chemical Company, I lost an entire season of garlic, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, beans, and corn as months of hard work spiraled down the drain.

Tomato, people, onion, garlic, and potato plants are extremely sensitive to Roundup. One whiff and their leaves curl upward and they are unable to produce healthy, normal-sized fruit. Very frustrating when you begin an entire garden from seed. Money cannot replace healthy food. … As long as we continue to think Roundup Ready crops are the only answer, agriculture is doomed.

Herm’s writing has a folksy, ticked-off tone, kind of a Jim Hightower with a stronger streak of rural individualism, a distrust of big government, and a dash of new age spirituality. But his overall message is positive and forward thinking: Our industrial, chemical-intensive farming practices are destroying the land and harming our health and security, and we must change them:


“It is up to you and me—us. We the people,” he writes. “If not us, if not now … well, then we are all really in trouble.”

How many of your neighbors spray Roundup, herrbicides, pesticides indiscriminately on their lawns - into the wind and onto your vegetable plants? All for that "perfect" blade of grass, tomato, rose... But I think a healthy life is the "perfection' we should strive for. Time to garden with nature in mind.

Related articles

• Monsanto teams up with Sumitomo Chemical (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Monsanto's herbicide Roundup linked to birth defects (foodfreedom.wordpress.com)

Haiti's answer to GMO

Haitian Farmers Commit to Burning Monsanto Hybrid Seeds

"A new earthquake" is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto's seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation's presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.

In an open letter sent of May 14, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the Executive Director of MPP and the spokesperson for the National Peasant Movement of the Congress of Papay (MPNKP), called the entry of Monsanto seeds into Haiti "a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds..., and on what is left our environment in Haiti."[1] Haitian social movements have been vocal in their opposition to agribusiness imports of seeds and food, which undermines local production with local seed stocks. They have expressed special concern about the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Some may scoff at burning the seeds when there is hunger in the country. But is the solution introducing pesticide laced GMO seeds the answer? Don't think so.

Say No to GMO

Image via Wikipedia

Speak Out on Genetically Engineered Alfalfa

In 2006, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sued the Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its illegal approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. USDA failed to conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) before deregulating the crop. An EIS is a rigorous analysis of the potential significant impacts of a federal decision. The federal courts sided with CFS and banned GE alfalfa until the USDA fully analyzed the impacts of the GE plant on the environment, farmers, and the public in an EIS. They released a draft EIS on December 14, 2009. Draft EIS | Supplemental documents
It appears USDA again intends to deregulate GE alfalfa without any limitations or protections for farmers, consumers or the environment. In the new EIS, the USDA has completely dismissed the fact that GE contamination will threaten export and domestic markets and organic meat and dairy products. And, incredibly, USDA is claiming that there is no evidence that consumers care about GE contamination of organic. We know that's not true.
Your Participation is Critical! Take Action by February 16
A 60-day comment period is now open until February 16, 2010. This is the first time the USDA has done this analysis for any GE crop, so the final decision will have broad implications for all GE crops. The failure of the agency to address the impacts of GE alfalfa will have far-reaching consequences for farmers and organic consumers. Let's not be Monsanto's guinea pigs!

Whether you call it GMO or GE - not for me. It is amazing how GMO/GE are creeping their way into our food stream and even our own gardens through seed companies. A little scary? No, a big scary!

Eating healthy

Image via Wikipedia

How Can I Avoid Genetically Modified Foods?

This week's headline-grabbing news that agriculture giant Monsanto's genetically modified corn was found to cause organ failure in rats is sure to send panicked shoppers into an anti-frankenfood frenzy. The good news is that this is precisely the kind of damning study (GM corn + animals = death) that will help bring to light the potentially catastrophic consequences of scientifically altered crops. The bad news is that even those who see that light will have a difficult time completely boycotting genetically modified organisms, or GMOs as they've come to be known.

That's because GMOs aren't just limited to the foods we eat; they're also in the clothes we wear (cotton is one of the most prevalent GMO crops) and in the everyday household products we use. Those who buy giant jugs of distilled white vinegar to make DIY eco-friendly cleaning products might be interested to know that their vinegar may, in fact, be distilled from GMO corn. I say may, because if you live in the United States, there's no proof that the products you buy or the food you serve your children hasn't been genetically tampered with. While the EU, Japan, China, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand have labeling laws for GMO foods, there are no such requirements in the US, despite the fact that a 2008 CBS News poll found that an overwhelming 87 percent of Americans would like GMO foods to be labeled.

Several great solutions - buy organic, avoid processed/packaged foods, call Congress and ...

Beware the SCCC. No, it's not some new government agency (though maybe it should be). That stands for soy, cotton, canola, and corn, which are among the most common GMO crops. The statistics are startling: 91 percent of soy, 87 percent of cotton, 75 percent of canola, and 73 percent of corn crops grown in the US are GMO, according to the USDA. So unless the label specifically says organic, you can pretty much bet that any food or product you buy that contains any of the big four have been genetically changed. We're not just talking tofu and tortilla chips, either: It's the sheets on your bed, those potato chips fried in cottonseed oil, and the aspartame in your Diet Coke (made using a fermentation process that involves soy and corn).

And of course my solution - grow your own!

GMO - Oh No!

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Monsanto's GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure

In a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences, analyzing the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto's GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats.


According to the study, which was summarized by Adam Shake at Twilight Earth, "Three varieties of Monsanto's GM corn - Mon 863, insecticide-producing Mon 810, and Roundup® herbicide-absorbing NK 603 - were approved for consumption by US, European and several other national food safety authorities."

Lesson to be learned? Careful where you buy your food from. Careful where you buy your garden seeds from.