tagged w/ Agriculture
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The House easily overrode President Bush's veto of a $307 billion farm bill last night, handing him the most significant legislative rebuff of his presidency after Republicans broke with the White House en masse to side with farm groups, antihunger advocates, and the biofuels industry.
With a Senate override vote all but guaranteed, Congress prepared to deliver only the second veto override of Bush's presidency and the first on a major piece of legislation.
Yesterday's events left Republicans arguing publicly over another lapse in their commitment to fiscal discipline. As with the first veto override, which saved the Water Resources Development Act last year, lawmakers of both parties stepped in to save a law that promised to shower billions of dollars on key constituents and home-district programs.
Bush vetoed the 673-page bill at midday, declaring that "Americans sent us to Washington to achieve results and be good stewards of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars. This bill violates that fundamental commitment." Bush objected to subsidies for wealthy agribusinesses at a time of high food prices and record farm income.
Hours later, the House voted 316 to 108 to override the veto, with 100 Republicans siding with 216 Democrats. The Senate voted last week, 81 to 15, to approve the farm bill. The Senate is expected to take up the override today.
The House easily overrode President Bush's veto of a $307 billion farm bill last... more
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Some of the world's major agri-biotech companies are applying for hundreds of patents on genetically engineered 'climate crops', carrying out what amounts to an "intellectual property grab" in the lucrative market, according to a recent report.
BASF, Monsanto and Syngenta have applied for patents to control almost two-thirds of gene families resistant to environmental stresses that will increase with climate change, according to the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC) Group, a Canada-based civil society organisation.
About 530 patents have been applied for worldwide, with a few dozen granted and hundreds pending. They include traits such as drought, flooding, high salt level, high temperatures and ultraviolet radiation — all of which endanger food security.
The report says that this move could hinder farmers in the developing world. Patents demand that farmers purchase new seeds every year, rather than saving seeds for subsequent re-plantation.
Control of the seed industry by only a few multinationals may undermine publicly- funded creation of freely available crop varieties, the report says, as well as using the dominance of the crops to tap into previously resistant markets.
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These large agri companies need to be taken down. They are intent on now using climate change to control the survival of millions of people! There is nothing else to say but that this is evil to the core. People will starve to death if this is allowed to happen because farmers in the developing world already committing suicide because of poverty and loans they cannot repay will not be able to afford purchasing seeds every year. Especially with the effects of climate change already being felt in these regions.Some of the world's major agri-biotech companies are applying for hundreds of... more
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Documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin's film "Le Monde selon Monsanto" ("The World According to Monsanto") explores the history and future direction of chemical and so-called "life sciences" industrial company Monsanto. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Monsanto was founded in 1901 to manufacture the synthetic sweetener saccharin. The multinational biotech company in the intervening decades has produced styrene and PCBs; became the leading producer of Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War; manufactures Roundup, the best-selling herbicide; and has advanced the development of genetically engineered seeds and bovine growth hormone. The company has also had a history of mergers and spin-offs, and in 2000 merged with Pharmacia and Upjohn.
"Le Monde selon Monsanto" aired on the French-German television network ARTE earlier this year, and had its premiere in Switzlerland in February. Marie-Monique Robin's film -- based on her book "Le Monde selon Monsanto" -- is the result of three years of research and interviews from around the world, and explores the biotech giant's legal battles and controversies in the manufacture of toxic herbicides and the production of genetically modified organisms. Monsanto currently markets its brand as a "life sciences" company emphasizing its green image.
"Le Monde selon Monsanto" will have public screenings at Ex-Centris in Montreal on Friday, May 23; at Cinéma Le Clap in Quebec City starting Friday, May 23; and at the Toronto Mediatheque on Monday, May 26.
Check out the National Film Board of Canada's newsletter for details:
http://www.nfb.ca/newsletters/20080514/
The NFB / ONF site for further film information:
http://nfb.ca/webextension/monsanto/?ec=en20080514
"Le Monde selon Monsanto" (ARTE.tv official site -- in French)
http://www.arte.tv/fr/connaissance-decouverte/Le-monde-selon-Monsanto/1912794.html
Documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin's film "Le Monde selon... more
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The BBC Reports:
Obese people are contributing to the world food crisis and climate change, experts say.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine calculated the obese consume 18% more calories than average.
They are also responsible for using more fuel, which has an environmental impact and drives up food prices as transport and agriculture both use oil.
The result is that the poor struggle to afford food and greenhouse gas emissions rise, the Lancet reported.
It comes as the World Health Organization predicts the obese population will double by 2015 to 700m.
The BBC Reports:
Obese people are contributing to the world food crisis and climate... more
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Ayla
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added this
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4 years ago
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Normally, at this time of year, Burmese farmers in the southern delta of Myanmar would be draining their rice paddies, plowing their fields with their water buffaloes and preparing to plant new seeds for an autumn harvest.
But two weeks ago, Cyclone Nargis did away with all that. The storm’s timing could not have been worse. Tens of thousands of farm families lost their draft animals, their rice stocks and their planting seeds. Now the harvest is in doubt as well.
“I think we’re going to miss it, we’re going to miss the harvest,” said Hakan Tongul, deputy country director for the World Food Program in Myanmar. “Time is short.”
Mr. Tongul and other international aid experts with long experience in Myanmar fear the cyclone has disrupted the seasonal cycle of life in the Irrawaddy Delta, once one of the world’s most fertile and important rice-growing regions.
Delta farmers lost 149,000 water buffaloes, said Brian Agland, the country director for CARE, and it will be impossible to replace them in time for the plowing season. Instead, CARE and other aid groups will likely be buying what the locals call “iron buffaloes” — small red tractors made in China that go for about $1,000 apiece.
Huge deliveries of new rice seeds are needed, too. Thailand is the likely source for new seeds, Traditionally, delta farmers have used seeds from the rice they grew the year before.
New livestock — pigs, ducks, chickens and fish fingerlings in addition to buffaloes — and seeds are among the priority items for aid groups working in rural development in the delta. “The agricultural cycle is so critical,” Mr. Agland said Thursday. “We’ve got to avoid a hunger gap, and we’ve got very little time.”
On Thursday, the government’s count of the dead rose nearly 5,000, to more than 43,000, with 27,838 missing, The Associated Press reported. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has estimated the death toll at between 68,833 and 127,990, The A.P. said.
United Nations agencies and international relief groups held an emergency, closed meeting Thursday afternoon to plot strategies for getting the delta farmers back to their farms and back to work
“They’re restricting, they’re hiding, they’re not allowing us to import, almost nothing,” Mr. Tongul said. “I need 50,000 tons of rice to feed people for the next six months. I’ve got 3,000 on hand. This is what keeps me awake at night.”
Many delta farm families who have lost their homes and livelihoods have sought shelter in Buddhist monasteries, old buildings or schools.
The government has been trucking internally displaced persons to military-run refugee settlements far from their farms. The farmers, the aid agencies say, need to get back to whatever is left of their farms in order to rebuild houses — even rudimentary ones — drain waterlogged paddies, and get on with the plowing-and-planting schedule.
Unless they can do that work, international aid groups in Myanmar say the country will need another 50,000 tons of rice six months from now, Mr. Tongul said.
The Yangon River, which was blocked by sunken ships and storm debris, finally reopened Thursday afternoon, an encouraging development for relief officials. It means that larger shipments — especially of rice — can now be delivered by boat into the port at Yangon if the government loosens its restrictions on imports.
The World Food Program got thousands of high-energy biscuits into the south, but the agency has heard that some of the biscuits have been stolen, or replaced with cheap crackers. , Mr. Tongul said. He said that the United Nations has launched an investigation into the matter.
On Thursday, The A. P. reported, Myanmar’s junta warned in a state radio address that legal action would be taken against people who trade, hoard or misuse international aid for cyclone survivors.Normally, at this time of year, Burmese farmers in the southern delta of Myanmar would... more
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kushan
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4 years ago
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There is a revolution going on in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America, a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.There is a revolution going on in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America,... more
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By Allen Stang
May 9th, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
"Big Pharma runs the Food and Drug Administration, which is supposed to regulate it. Our Fascist system routinely shuttles bureaucrats and executives back and forth between them, to such an extent that it is realistic to consider them two legs on the same bug. Big Pharma/FDA is presently using government force to outlaw vitamins, via Codex Alimentarius, coming soon to your local 'health food' store.
Big Food includes companies like Monsanto Chemical, a monster straight out of science fiction alien horror. With help from the government, Monsanto is literally trying to monopolize agricultural seeds. If it succeeds, it will control food. It is presently conducting a reign of terror against the world’s farmers, many of whom are committing suicide. The Monsanto monster will not stop until it kills us..."
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Full story at link.
By Allen Stang
May 9th, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
"Big Pharma runs the Food and... more
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PBS' Nova has produced a documentary about the impact of population trends on the planet. The supporting website provides interviews with researchers, interactive tools and trailers of the two part series.
- World population expected to reach nine billion by 2050
- 98% of growth will occur in the developing world
- Only 2.5% of Earth's water supply is fresh. U.N. reports that the scarcity of fresh water due to overuse and contamination will be the second most pressing global concern of the 21st century, after population growth.
- Human activities are releasing more carbon dioxide than the world's plants can process.
- In the next 100 years the Earth's temperature will increase 11 degrees Fahrenheit worldwide resulting in a sharp reduction of rivers and lakes, causing severe flooding in cooler regions, shifting agricultural zones and threatening hundreds of plant and animal species with extinction.
- 40% of the world's remaining forests are endangered.
- Human-induced factors are diminishing the abundance of agricultural topsoil.
- Half of the world's reefs may be gone by 2030PBS' Nova has produced a documentary about the impact of population trends on the... more
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Yeah. It really does. Follow this link and watch this documentary....
On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television. It is a documentary most Americans will never see, explaining how the gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.Yeah. It really does. Follow this link and watch this documentary....
On March 11... more
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Bt Brinjal, if allowed in India, would be the first food crop in the world with the Bt gene inserted into it that is to be directly consumed by human beings. Indians feel that they are about to be made guinea pigs by USAID, and by Monsanto and Cornell University that have developed this crop.Bt Brinjal, if allowed in India, would be the first food crop in the world with the Bt... more
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Cool!
I am hoping to grow my own produce this summer..the ice has finally melted in Maine..this looks very cool for those with limited space! We are such an ingenious species..too bad it is often directed at killing and suppressing people instead of solving problems like this more often.Cool!
I am hoping to grow my own produce this summer..the ice has finally melted in... more
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With sky-rocketing food prices eroding the gains made by tens of millions of people who have been edging themselves and their families out of abject poverty, practical help has never been more needed.
And Canada's small but vibrant Ismaili Muslim community has few peers when it comes to providing practical help to poorer countries, where many of their number have their roots. They are generous with both their time and their money, and hard-nosed about getting good value — i.e. demonstrable gains the the fight against mass poverty — for the money they spend. With sky-rocketing food prices eroding the gains made by tens of millions of people... more
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Development in Gardening (DIG): started three kitchen gardens at medical facilities in Senegal, and each lot now produces up to 600 pounds of food per month
Tilapia in Brooklyn: Dr. Martin Schreibman envisions tilapia as an engine of economic development for regional markets — taking abandoned warehouses, for example, and converting them into urban fish farms.
Organoponicos: Cuba has reinvented back-to-basics farming techniques relying on compost, natural pesticides and beneficial insects, producing solid harvests year after year.
Development in Gardening (DIG): started three kitchen gardens at medical facilities... more
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Diane Solomon contributed this article in the January issue of The Progressive which profiles the difficult work of los freseros, or strawberry pickers, in Watsonville, California. Many workers, who have paid for passage to leave behind families and hard conditions in Mexico, and work corporate farms for California's agricultural industry. The workers relate their experiences crossing the border from Mexico, and share the risks and injuries they endure in the fields and their day-to-day lives. Read more in this reprint from MyWire.com. Photo: California Strawberry Commission.Diane Solomon contributed this article in the January issue of The Progressive which... more
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Soap Nuts: they are actually the berries of a tree that grows in Nepal and India. They grow sustainable trees that produce nuts for 90 years. They also provide a trade for the farmers in these developing countries. They are 100% natural and do not harm the environment, skin or your clothes, unlike washing powders do not contain bleach. They are gentle but effective cleansers suitable for sensitive skin and eczema.Soap Nuts: they are actually the berries of a tree that grows in Nepal and India. They... more
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"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to it's liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds."
Thomas Jefferson"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most... more
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John Wade, festival coordinator of The Biggest Picture, an environmental film festival, introduces "King Corn," a documentary about the impact the agricultural-industrial complex has had on American diets and health at the Firehouse Theater in Richmond, VA March 31, 2008. The film marked the opening of the fifteenth annual James River Film Festival.John Wade, festival coordinator of The Biggest Picture, an environmental film... more
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Ethanol: It's Unethical.
The whole process of growing, transporting, and converting the corn to fuel requires more energy than is produced. This is only economically possible because of obscene agricultural subsidies given to North American corn producers, subsidies which have added to third-world poverty while creating a surplus of corn -- soon to be deficit...Ethanol: It's Unethical.
The whole process of growing, transporting, and... more
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Corn prices climbed to an all time record $6 a bushel as cold, wet weather in the U.S. corn belt threatens to slow planting, adding to concerns over tight supplies.
Heavy rains and some snowfall in corn-growing states in the Midwest and the South are raising the possibility that growers will have to postpone spring planting. That would only increase an already acute supply crunch for corn, which has shot up in value amid soaring demand to make ethanol and feed livestock.
Corn has surged 27 percent this year and appears poised to keep rising after the U.S. government predicted a sharp drop in corn planting. In its annual planting report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected that farmers will plant 86 million acres of corn, an 8 percent drop from last year.Corn prices climbed to an all time record $6 a bushel as cold, wet weather in the U.S.... more
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As the fair-trade movement (both international and domestic) wants everyone to understand, the local people behind the food we eat deserve sustainability, too.As the fair-trade movement (both international and domestic) wants everyone to... more
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