tagged w/ Organic Farming
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Today the Senate Foreign Relations committee held a hearing on the Global Food Security Act (S.384), which, as I have documented on this blog before, Monsanto HAS been involved in lobbying on. The bill first came to my attention about a year ago, when the same committee held a very similar hearing about the same bill. In the year since then, I've become increasingly knowledgeable and outraged about the issues surrounding global food security. In the meantime, the Obama Administration took the lead on the issue of global food security from the Senate, and USAID is doing quite a bit already (in partnership with the World Bank and private organizations and companies) to really f*ck things up worldwide.
One of the clauses in the bill specifies that the U.S. should promote biotechnology in its efforts to combat global hunger. After a year of lobbying to ask them to remove this, they still haven't. Lugar made a point today in saying how necessary he thought GMOs are. My very inadequate transcription of his remarks are as follows:
'The average African farmer's yield per acre is 1/2 that of an Indian farmer, 1/4 that of a Chinese farmer, and 1/5 of an American. [Something about Bill Gates' piece in the Wall Street Journal today] The role of GMOs in agriculture development is a matter of contention. Europe's rejection of GM has pressured African governments for fear they will lose export markets. Others argue safety is not proven despite 2 decades of safe use of GMOs. This ensures that much of the continent [Africa] will lack the tools to deal with changing climate in the long run. We may not be able to double food output by 2050. I ask to what extent does USAID support a full range of technologies? To what extent do the strategies encourage biotech?'
Here's the thing. The "double food output by 2050" figure is one that was created by idiots. Or just very greedy assholes. It assumes that the rest of the world will want to eat much more grain-fed meat (like Americans do now). Unfortunately, Mother Nature does not operate like a market with supply and demand. A diet of grain-fed meat means increased diet-related chronic illnesses for those who eat it. And it means continued and worsened environmental degradation and climate change for the planet. Our species existence on this planet is contingent on us NOT increasing grain-fed meat consumption (and in fact, on DECREASING it). Therefore, the Senate, USAID, and Bill Gates are all aiming for a false goal.
Rajiv Shah (head of USAID) answered as follows (again, this is a very poor transcription):
'USAID has had a longstanding relationship with CG research activities [the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, a major institution of the Green Revolution] - linking them to local agricultural systems. We've invested in land grant universities through collaborative research systems. The two things we are looking to evolve - we've identified a set of core crops and core production constraints like rice, maize, and cassava and drought tolerant and heat tolerant traits. We are working with partners around the world to do this. We are looking to partner with USDA and the unique capabilities they bring. We've specifically support transgenic technologies including GE eggplant in India and we are supporting building the regulatory systems in other countries and then we'll let farmers decide what they want.'
Shah is an asshat. I really don't have a nicer word for him or a more apt description. He came originally from the Gates Foundation (which employs a former Monsanto VP and is now working with CGIAR and actively promoting GM crops and industrial agriculture) to the USDA and then to USAID. By all accounts he's very smart, but he's 100% on board with this "new Green Revolution" extend industrial ag including biotech to the developing world plan (despite massive amounts of science that says it's a bad idea).
The number one outrage for me from this hearing was when Shah said that it was appropriate to be speaking about this on Earth Day and then referred to US promotion of biotech as "sustainable." He said we are working on two fronts - to make agriculture produce more and to make it more sustainable. Except, from what I heard, it seemed that his idea of sustainable was GM "drought tolerant" seeds.
Next came Jacob Lew, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. He said (roughly):
'The regulatory environment is very important. If you don't fill the space with science and knowledge and facts, then fear can fill the space just as easily. To deal with the problems of the future, we can't afford to let it drift for decades. It must be addressed as the technologies are developed.'
In other words, if USAID and its partners are not active in promoting biotech, then people around the world might discover some of the risks or problems with biotech and reject it. He wants to use biotech now, not wait for years or decades until technologies are proven safe (or perfected so that they are safe) before using them.
Next, Lugar and the two witnesses (Shah and Lew) had an exchange about a "country-led" effort to solve problems of food insecurity. They don't want to be paternalistic, and yet they don't want to give up control over the uses of their money in the countries where they spend it. Essentially it sounds like the US will lay out what they are interested in doing (i.e. biotech) and if other countries are interested in playing ball, they can. If they don't, then they don't get any money from us or the World Bank.
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This turned into a dialogue about women. Research shows that some 70% of smallholder farmers in the developing world are women, and a disproportionate percent of the hungry are women and girls. Also, when you give $1 of additional income to a woman, it is more likely to go toward the health and well-being of the family than if you give that $1 to a man. I'm very pleased that the U.S. government is recognizing this and taking action on it.
Unfortunately, there's a negative side to this too. I believe it was Rajiv Shah who mentioned during the hearing that it is easier to convince women to buy GM seeds and grow GMOs because you can make a case for increased nutrition from GMOs. They are also more likely to purchase ammonia fertilizer (which kills the life in the soil and pollute waterways). Thus, women are more likely than men to respond to arguments the US makes telling them to adopt GMOs and industrial ag.Today the Senate Foreign Relations committee held a hearing on the Global Food... more
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Despite fundamental differences in what they represent, there are occasional calls to allow the use of genetic engineering (which produces genetically modified organisms, known as GMOs) within the USDA National Organic Program. GMO varieties are currently most widespread in corn, soybean, canola and cotton crops, in dairy production, and in minor ingredients, such as dairy cultures, used in food processing, but new products are being introduced and commercialized.
Here are 10 essential points that I believe show why GMOs are incompatible with organic production:
1. Basic science. Humans have a complex digestive system, populated with flora, fauna, and enzymes that have evolved over millennia to recognize and break down foods found in nature to make nutrients available to feed the human body. GMO crops and foods are comprised of novel genetic constructs which have never before been part of the human diet and may not be recognized by the intestinal system as digestible food, leading to the possible relationship between genetic engineering and a dramatic increase in food allergies, obesity, diabetes, and other food-related diseases, which have all dramatically increased correlated to the introduction of GMO crops and foods.
2. Ecological impact. Organic agriculture is based on the fundamental principle of building and maintaining healthy soil, aquatic, and terrestrial ecosystems. Since the introduction of GMOs, there has been a dramatic decline in the populations of Monarch butterflies, black swallowtails, lacewings, and caddisflies, and there may be a relationship between genetic engineering and colony collapse in honeybees. GMO crops, including toxic Bt corn residues, have been shown to persist in soils and negatively impact soil ecosystems. Genetically modified rBST (recombinant bovine somatrotropin, injected to enhance a cow’s milk output) has documented negative impacts on the health and well being of dairy cattle, which is a direct contradiction to organic livestock requirements.
3. Control vs harmony. Organic agriculture is based on the establishment of a harmonious relationship with the agricultural ecosystem by farming in harmony with nature. Genetic engineering is based on the exact opposite -- an attempt to control nature at its most intimate level - the genetic code, creating organisms that have never previously existed in nature.
4. Unpredictable consequences. Organic ag is based on a precautionary approach - know the ecological and human health consequences, as best possible, before allowing the use of a practice or input in organic production. Since introduction, genetic modification of agricultural crops has been shown to have numerous unpredicted consequences, at the macro level, and at the genetic level. Altered genetic sequences have now been shown to be unstable, producing unpredicted and unknown outcomes.
continuedDespite fundamental differences in what they represent, there are occasional calls to... more
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Nombulelo Siqwana-Ndulo (PhD)
FoodFirst, April 15 2010
http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2884
Multinational seed and chemical companies looking to gain a new customer base in Africa are facing increasing resistance from both farmers and consumers. Nonetheless, they are making inroads by partnering with African institutions and governments that are eager to ‘modernize' their agricultural sectors. South Africa is of particular importance in this regard. The country has gone against the grain of general distrust of GMOs in Africa to become a gateway for the distribution of GM food aid; the commercialization and export of GM seeds; and experimentation with GM crops not approved elsewhere.[i]
But here too, they face mounting opposition. In July 2009, for instance, the South African government rejected the commercial release application for GM potatoes after the Executive Council, a government licensing body, concluded that the toxicology studies were "inadequate, scientifically poorly designed and fundamentally flawed." It was also reported that, in 2008/2009, 80% of Monsanto's GM maize in South Africa failed to produce a crop, leading critics to call for urgent investigation and a ban on all GM foods.
In 2002, the South African government, in partnership with U.S.-based biotech firm Monsanto, launched the so-called Massive Food Production Program (MFPP) in the country's Eastern Cape Province. The Eastern Cape is characterized by a dual economy in which the western half of the province (previously white South Africa under apartheid) is dominated by commercial agriculture while the eastern half consists of subsistence agriculture. After the advent of democracy in 1994, there was tremendous pressure to develop the rural economy here.
MFPP is a "flagship program" of the South African government designed to bring about agrarian transformation through a "green revolution."[ii]The program operates by granting subsidies (which are phased out over time) and credit to small farming communities to purchase fertilizers, pesticides and GM or hybrid seeds. Through MFPP, Monsanto has essentially been elevated to the status of a government "extension agency" responsible for educating and training farmers about GM seeds and technologies. Of course, as a private company, they are unlikely to share with farmers the potentially disastrous effects of planting their land with GM crops. Rather, they advise farmers to buy and use the recommended agrochemicals. They also instruct them to plant only GM maize, as a monoculture, instead of intercropping with beans or pumpkins as they have done for centuries to ensure their food security.
A white farmer interviewed by GRAIN, paid to mentor an MFPP community, acknowledged that the cost of the inputs was just too high for small farmers to afford on their own,without continuing to amass debt. He was quoted saying he was "tempted to tell farmers to just buy food with the money" as their losses would be less than growing the food themselves through MFPP.
South African farmers are becoming increasingly aware of the deception that GM seeds and technologies will bring development and pull them out of poverty, as their experiences have not born out these claims. In populations with low literacy levels, the farmers are given little or no information about the effects of planting GM seeds, until it is too late, that is. It is not surprising that western consumers who are largely literate and have access to information are wary of GM foods.
Tragically, even the government officials in charge of co-implementing the MFPP program are ignorant of GMOs. A number NGOs and Human Rights organization have taken on the responsibility of educating the farmers about the effects of planting GMOs.
The constitution of South Africa, hailed as one of the most progressive in the world, obligates the government to take steps to protect its citizens. As part of the Consumer Protection Act, the government is indeed drafting policies to regulate GMOs, but many NGOs say it is unclear who will implement and monitor these regulations.
What's more, the South African NGO Safeage reports that the U.S. seed company Pannar and the Swiss firm Syngenta are partnering with local businesses to introduce a program of their own called AfriCan, targeting the poor farmers inthe Eastern Cape who have yet to be reached. The project incorporates farmers into a contract-farming scheme linking them to credit, GM seeds and chemical inputs-much like MFPP. The pilot project, which hopes to be reproduced throughout Africa, was launched in March 2010 with 500 farmers (with .5 to 4 hectare plots) and will run for 18 months.[iii]
Despite claims that there have been no substantiated threats to human and animal health caused by GM crops, subsistence farmers who participated in the MFPP project testified to the contrary in a workshop held by the NGO Biowatch (SA). A farmer from the organization Siyazakha expressed her dismay of the quality of "mielies" (maize), a staple food, produced with"free" seeds from the project. She stated, "the mielies produced are making us sick; they break easily and are bad quality. When we give it to our chickens it affects them, we want to grow our own seed and protect them". Another small-scale farmer from Siyazakha, pointed out that using fertilizers destroys the soil after just a few years and food can no longer be grown on it. He stressed that they want use manure and produce crops using traditional farming methods.[iv]
cont.Nombulelo Siqwana-Ndulo (PhD)
FoodFirst, April 15 2010... more
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The city of San Francisco distributes “biosolids compost” derived from treated wastewater for use on home gardens. Some groups say it’s not safe — and they want prominent organic personalities like Alice Waters to say so.
Alice Waters, a pioneering chef and the matriarch of the sustainable food movement, has become an unlikely target in a battle being waged by food activists in San Francisco over a city program that converts sewage sludge into gardening compost.
Several nonprofit groups want the city to stop distributing its “biosolids compost,” which contains solid waste that is treated and removed during wastewater processing, because they say it can contain potentially harmful substances like heavy metals, pharmaceuticals and flame retardants and should not be used on gardens and agricultural land.
Until recently, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which manages the city’s wastewater treatment facilities, gave the compost to residents for free, describing it as “nutrient-rich organic biosolids.” The commission maintains that the compost is safe, complies with federal standards, and has metals concentrations that are “lower than you would find in a daily multivitamin.”
Nonetheless, the agency has suspended the giveaways pending the results of “comprehensive and comparative lab tests.”
“We have an independent lab running a detailed analysis on not only what is required by the E.P.A., but on other emerging pollutants of concerns,” said Tyrone Jue, a spokesman for the commission. “As we have from day one, we want to continue making all our data available for the public in the interest of full disclosure and for people to understand the safe biosolids compost they have received through our pilot giveaways.”
As part of its ongoing campaign, the Organic Consumers Association, a nonprofit advocacy organization, has pressed Ms. Waters and the Chez Panisse Foundation she founded (named after her restaurant) to condemn the city’s compost program – in the same way she once took a stand against the use of genetically modified organisms in food.
The use of compost made with treated sewage sludge is not permitted in organic farming.
A March 23 letter to Ms. Waters from Ronnie Cummins, O.C.A.’s national director, said “Given the work that you and the Chez Panisse Foundation have done to champion the organic, locally-grown, slow food movement in California and elsewhere, we imagine that you would want to be one of the first to unequivocally and publicly state that sewage sludge is unacceptable for farming and gardening – organic or conventional.
The O.C.A. further pointed out that Francesca Vietor, the executive director of the Chez Panisse Foundation, also happens to be the vice president of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
This, the group charged, represents a “clear conflict of interest.”
According to O.C.A., Ms. Waters sent this written response on March 30:
“I have been involved with the organic garden movement for 40 years. I believe in the transparency of public institutions and count on the government to offer the highest standards outlined by the Organic Consumers Association and other reliable advocates.”
Ms. Waters also said she looked forward to reviewing the science and working with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to ensure the safety of composting methods. “I support Francesca Vietor, Executive Director of the Chez Panisse Foundation and a P.U.C. commissioner,” she wrote, “whose environmental work I have admired for many years and whose integrity has been questioned.”
Dissatisfied that Ms. Waters had asked for a scientific review rather than joining the cause, the O.C.A. turned up the heat.
continuedThe city of San Francisco distributes “biosolids compost” derived from... more
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This April 21st, PBS is broadcasting the Oscar-nominated "Food, Inc." on POV. They want to make it a national viewing night for the film and a time for discussion about food-related issues so they're asking for your help to Host a Food, Inc Potluck. (Click the link above for details)This April 21st, PBS is broadcasting the Oscar-nominated "Food, Inc." on... more
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As of today truly global action is being taken against patents on seed, plants, farm animals, parts thereof including gene sequences and food. Over 100 organisations from all parts of the world are alerting the public and warning of the dangers of increasing monopoly rights on basic resources of farm and food production. Seed, plants and farm animals as well as food production chains are becoming progressively subject to monopoly rights imposed by worldwide patents. More and more patents have been filed and now include claims covering the conventional breeding of plants and animals. They are actually being claimed by industry as their inventions!
If this trend is not stopped these developments will impact on farmers, smaller-scale breeders, food producers and consumers. Leaving the control over seeds to multinational corporations means leaving decisions on choice in the food market and the way food is produced to those whose first aim is to make a profit, not provide food security. Farmers in particular are increasingly dependent on agrochemical and seed corporations. Breeding is becoming more difficult as access to genetic resources is hampered by the restrictions that patents impose. This situation will result in fewer innovations urgently needed for food safety.
The US company Monsanto recently filed patent application WO2008021413, which – in more than 1000 pages - makes 175 claims to misappropriate various gene sequences and genetic variations, especially in soy and maize. Monsanto even goes as far as to explicitly claim all relevant maize and soy plants inheriting those genetic elements and its uses in food, feed and biomass. In a further patent application, WO 2009011847, Monsanto makes broad claims covering methods for cattle breeding, for the animals themselves as well as “milk, cheese, butter and meat”. These patents and many others filed by various companies such as Dupont and Syngenta are the reason why Navdanya is calling upon politicians and patent offices around the world to ensure that such patents cannot and will not be granted:
“A radical change both in patent legislation and the practice of patent offices is needed to eliminate patents on plants and farm animals. Corporations should not be allowed to continue misappropriation and monopolisation of seeds, plants and farm animals via patent law. Otherwise these patents will become a major threat to global food security and regional food sovereignty.”
Navdanya is calling upon organisations and individuals to sign the joint global alert posted on the website of the ‘no patents on seeds' coalition. Global days of action against patents on farm and food production are planned from the end of April until July 2010. They will end in a public hearing on 20 July at the European Patent Office in Munich, Germany. This hearing will be on e on a patent filed for the conventional breeding of broccoli which hat will lead to a precedent decision being made in Europe. Navdanya will inform the public about these activities and will support it.As of today truly global action is being taken against patents on seed, plants, farm... more
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If you have a green thumb, a window and a serious Do-It-Yourself ethic, you too, can be a farmer ... even in your downtown apartment building. Spring is here, and for urban dwellers with no access to soil, hydroponic gardening is a way to grow fresh veggies indoors.
(click on the link for the full article)If you have a green thumb, a window and a serious Do-It-Yourself ethic, you too, can... more
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* Parliament passes law to keep Bulgaria GMO-free
* Tighter law aims to alleviate public fears
SOFIA - Bulgaria's parliament voted on Thursday to tighten a law that effectively banned cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops for scientific and commercial reasons in response to public fears.
The ruling centre-right GERB party decided to drop a planned moratorium on GMO production because the new law would keep the European Union member GMO-free, deputies said.
"There will be no field on the country's territory where GMOs can be cultivated," Kostadin Yazov of GERB's parliamentary group, said.
Non-government organisations, farmers and citizens have rallied for over two months against the government's initial plans to replace a ban with a licensing regime, which they feared would flood the Balkan country with GMO crops.
The new law bans GMO cultivation in nature protected areas and large buffer zones around those areas and fields with organic crops which effectively means scientific experiments and commercial cultivation will be impossible in the Balkan country.* Parliament passes law to keep Bulgaria GMO-free
* Tighter law aims to alleviate... more
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The following is a post by guest blogger, Jan Morre (aka JanforGore). You can follow her on Current's the sustainable agriculture channel.
In covering the environmental abuses of Monsanto one who is cognizant of the special relationship we have with the Earth cannot help but be repulsed by them. There is not one redeeming quality about them. They are arrogant, heartless, greedy, manipulative power brokers that use people, governments, organizations, consumers, and anyone else who gets in their way of domination. It is a domination of the global seed and pesticide market that is now bringing our Earth to a biodiversity and pollution crisis and a climate change precipice.
They destroy and defile the environment with impunity, contaminate natural seeds with unstable toxic bacteria seeds, deforest our planet to make corn for gas tanks and GM soy that brings nothing but poverty and disease to places such as Paraguay, Argentina, Mexico, India, etc., (where farmers have been committing suicides in massive numbers due to economic ruin brought on by BT cotton.) They toxify our water with PCBS and Round Up, strong arm farmers, deceive consumers, intimidate scientists who seek answers and who disseminate the answers they find about just what their GMOs are made of and their effects, and then claim to be part of the “sustainable agriculture” movement that is looking to feed the world. It is one of the greatest and most sinister hoaxes perpetrated upon the world.
In the more than one hundred years they have been in business, Monsanto has not made one product that has benefitted the Earth. From saccharin, to aspartame, to Agent Orange, to PCBs, to genetically modified organisms, there has been one and only one motive: profit at any cost. And where we stand now that cost is the biodiversity of our planet and control of the very seeds and water that give us life. It is a control we cannot give up as it would then mean the loss not only of food sovereignty but our very freedom as human beings. But even in the midst of all of this there are some bright spots. This past year saw two court rulings against Monsanto regarding their GM alfalfa and GM sugar beets:
Federal court upholds ban on genetically modified alfalfa: Monsanto petition denied in full
Bitter fight developing over gm sugarbeets
Will this set a precedent for review of their other “seeds” such as BT corn, GM soy, BT cotton, etc.? We can only hope.
In that vein there is also a Supreme Court case coming forth involving Monsanto and the Center for Food Safety:
And also, a DOJ investigation into monopolies set for March 2010:
Hopeful signs that more are waking up to the deceptions and doing the necessary research to become aware of what they are eating and modifying their habits to be more healthy. The one organization that is helping tremendously in that is the Institute for Responsible Technology headed by Jeffrey Smith, a world renowned GMO activist. They have just put together a Non GMO website that gives you top information on how to avoid GMOs and eat more healthy thus perpetuating the 5% of American consumers it will take to get to a tipping point of awareness to begin turning the tide against Monsanto and all other companies using GMOs as a profit motive while compromising our food safety in the process. This is the one true way we can all be activists: through the wallet.
Of course, I also have no illusions regarding the DOJ investigation nor the court cases coming up involving Monsanto’s link to PCB poisoning. A recent trial regarding PCB contamination of Anniston Alabama and the ensuing deaths and disease from it wound up in Monsanto’s favor with those sickened left with little justice for their suffering. The major clout Monsanto carries with Washington DC even now under the Obama Administration and the Vilsack USDA and their known methods of bribery leaves one wary of such attempts to hold them accountable for their many crimes against humanity, and their agricultural and environmental terrorism.
After all, it was the FDA under the auspices of the last four administrations that gave them free reign over our environment and health by determining that their organisms were the same (principle of substantial equivalence) as all other food in order for them to circumvent labeling, when as we now see that is far from the truth. It was the USSC that gave them the patent to life itself thus opening the door to Intellectual Property Rights that now challenge indigenous peoples and the natural breeding of seeds for climate change tolerance which they can now purchase in biopiracy scams. In simple terms, our planet has been sold to the highest bidder by people we the people did not even have a say in electing! That is not only undemocratic, that is immoral and criminal.
However as with any crisis we are now in regarding our planet, we have one hope: ourselves. Our consciences, our morals, our reasoning, our logic, our love for our families, our love for the Earth, our sense of justice, and yes, even our spirituality that tells us in line with the scientific facts as presented to us that we in large numbers have the ability to take back our food, our planet, and our futures. So even in the face of what Monsanto has been able to accomplish I remain hopeful of the global food movement having major victories in the coming year. But we must remain focused, cohesive, determined, and yes, even angry. We must remain so for the following:
For the farmers of India and their families, especially the widows of those whose lives were cut short by BT cotton.
For the American farmers whose farms and livelihoods are under threat from Monsanto’s strong arm tactics in their desire to control all seed.
For the deforested lands of South America stripped to create a monoculture that has left many poor farmers poorer and sicker in the wake of greed over sustainability, and exacerbated a climate crisis no cap and trade scheme can heal.
For the soil of our Earth, its skin, that cries out for help to us as it is eroded, stripped, abused, and toxified for profit.
For our water, polluted, toxic, acidic, filled with pesticides and run off as the cost of industrial agriculture.
For our children, who deserve a cleaner, safer, more natural world to live in.
http://current.com/items/91623469_stop-monsanto-in-copenhagen.htm
Let this next year be the year to truly hold Monsanto as an example of all of those things to be the first step in our moral imperative to save this planet and in turn the human species and all others we have so cavalierly dismissed in our desire to be masters of the universe.
I leave you with this: may we all seek this level of awareness of conscience, and act on it.
Related posts:
Guest Blog Post: Biopiracy in the age of climate change and food shortages
Field report from India: Woman’s Earth Alliance reports on sustainable agriculture
Biodiversity and the life of our earth (video)
The following is a post by guest blogger, Jan Morre (aka JanforGore). You can follow... more
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Today's Guest post is from Janforgore:
My previous entries for the Green Blog have been on biopiracy and biodiversity. This entry will cover another bio, biodynamics.
“All of nature begins to whisper its secrets to us through its sounds. Sounds that were previously incomprehensible to our soul now become the meaningful language of nature.”
Rudolf Steiner
Biodynamics is a celebration of life through farming. It is a method that puts your entire heart and soul into caring for what is grown. It goes beyond avoiding the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers and views the farm and all elements involved in planting as a self-contained ecosystem with no part separate from the other. It is a holistic approach to farming that seeks a symbiosis between all working parts as one organism including the consciousness of the farmer as part of that organism.
Those who are unaware of the methods used in biodynamic farming may think some of them strange. To see a farmer up in the middle of the night observing celestial bodies to determine the best crops to grow, or burying cow horns in the soil would seem out of place in our modern world. But to biodynamic farmers it is these uses of all elements including the celestial and spiritual that provide the means for healthier harvests free of manmade poisons. It is a truly sustainable way of life that celebrates the connection between humans and nature where you grow with what you grow. When one truly understands the soil and respects all that goes into keeping it healthy including their own conscious state, they also then work harder to preserve it.
Biodynamics is a part of what is known as anthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy founded by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s. In his words it is, “an approach to science which integrates natural phenomena and the immaterial into the scientific study of human beings and nature.” In other words it is the fusion of science and the sublime.
Rudolf Steiner was a philosopher whose teachings were influenced by Goethe. As a young man Steiner wrote introductory and explanatory notes on the scientific works of Goethe. This led to the publication of his own philosophical thesis, Truth and Science. But Steiner was not only a follower and teacher of philosophy and the scientific. He was also a man very much in tune with spirituality and the sense of self and the soul. It was the combination of both the spiritual and scientific that led to his developing the agricultural discipline of biodynamics after he was sought after by a group of farmers who were experiencing declining fertility in their land and animals.
Steiner’s monumental work which consists of 170 books and transcripts of 6000 lectures on agriculture, philosophy, and Waldorf education still influences us today. This is evidenced recently by the rebirth of land in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina through using Steiner’s biodynamic methods.
Through becoming aware not only of our surroundings and how they interact with each other but how they interact with us and our connection to the cosmos, biodynamics teaches us a way of farming that brings us back to a time when people were in tune with the land and respected it’s physical and spiritual properties. It is for me the original deep agriculture, and a true reflection of man’s place on this beautiful Earth.
To learn more about biodynamics and how it is being employed today, the following links will help you better understand it:
This is a video from Rosney River Farms, Australia illustrating the application of the biodynamic spray on their vineyard.
Anthroposophy Association of America
Rudolf Steiner Waldorf School in NY
Employs the same holistic concepts to the self as the land
Biodynamics in New Orleans
Biodynamic Association of India
Demeter is the certifying agent for biodynamic farms worldwide. Demeter is the name of the Greek goddess of agriculture and fertility. It was chosen in the late 1920’s by biodynamic farmers to represent their products. Demeter mythology dates all the way back to as early as Isis mythology of Egypt. This is the link for Demeter U.S.A.Today's Guest post is from Janforgore:
My previous entries for the Green Blog... more
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I grew up in Vermont, so I will forever have the image of an old white man in blue overalls and a John Deer tractor imprinted in my mind every time I think about farming. So when I met a young, fresh, and fashionably dressed farmer (oh, and did I mention female?) during my adventures with Sukkot on the farm, it made my head spin. The very fact that I was there camping out on farm should tell you right away that something was...well...different.
This is a different breed of farmers, many of them are first generation farmers, and see farming as a political statement rather than a family business. It’s not about dairy farms and tractors and big barns anymore. We’ve all read the headlines that farming is hard business and impossible with out government subsidies. The subsidy for this new brand of farmer is unexpected and includes yoga studios, art shows, hosting camping trips, using vending machines to distribute their produce, and renting studio apartments as a way to support their career/life style choice of farming. And just to clarify, in case you’re thinking what I’m thinking: these aren’t yuppies trying their hand at farming, these are people who have been farming for a living for ten years.
Steph and Paul of Green Oaks farm, explained the principles that guided their decision process around deciding if they should expand their farm:
They also explained that given that they share a well with another farm and neighbor, and that California is in a drought, they needed to start preparing for the future. So they demolished the old barn that was falling down, and rather than build another they took the wood and used it to make a community center where they plan to host yoga classes and community events.
Want to know and support your local farmer? Joining your local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a great place to start:
A stone’s throw from this farm (literally) is Pie Ranch. Once again, there are tell tale signs that something is different. For starters, the farm has a website, a blog, videos on YouTube and sends it’s goods to Mission Pie.
Mission Pie: you know the one, the pie shop in San Francisco @ev from Twitter loves to RT.
Dorothy, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.
Along with being a bonified farm Pie Ranch has a mission:
to inspire and connect rural and urban people to know the source of their food, and to work together to bring greater health to the food system from seed to table. They also host youth from regional high schools to participate in farm-based programs and activities. Pie Ranch also works with educators and community collaborators in diverse urban, suburban and rural settings to help students apply what they’ve learned at Pie Ranch in their daily lives. An integral piece of Pie Ranch’s vision is to partner with youth around food & farming. Our main focus is on providing the opportunity for repeat visits rather than one-time experiences on the farm. We believe that repeat visits build upon themselves; youth connect to the land, to the staff, and to each other. Trust and respect grow as youth experience the cycle of days, weeks, months, seasons, and years.
Check out Farmer John talking about a day in the life Pie Ranch (you may now him from the documentary “The Real Dirt on Farmer John.”)
Craving a hay ride? Or perhaps you are craving fashion tips from your local farmer... joining your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program is a great place to start!
Related links:
Farmers Use Vending Machines to sell produce: Mother Nature Network
Hot Organic Farmers (photos): Huffington Post
Farm Girls (video)I grew up in Vermont, so I will forever have the image of an old white man in blue... more
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In the latest version of the Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides sweet bell peppers rank third worst (behind only peaches and apples) on the list of 47 fruits and vegetables.In the latest version of the Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide... more
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Throughout much of agriculture, a remarkable span of 10,000 years, farmers were largely the stewards of the land and the crops that they grew. Seeds collected from one year’s harvest were selected, stored, and used again for successive growing seasons.
As Frank Morton, an organic seed breeder explains in this segment of the Seeds Of
Life series, the role of the farmer at the center of agriculture began to change with the advent of hybrid seed development beginning with hybrid varieties of corn in the 1930’s.
Hybrid seeds are created out of two separate parent lines, each (parent) line, incapable of producing the desirable plant characteristics themselves. Only the seeds of their offspring, provide the desired mix of traits, measured by characteristics, such as : crop yield; protein content; oil quality; disease resistance, and other characteristics. Most importantly, especially to the commercial seed companies, the plants grown from these seeds do not produce useful seeds for further use. Once grown, the plants themselves are dead ends; no further selection under the farmers control can be made to create better crops for the future. Giving new meaning to the term “free enterprise”, hybrid seeds can only be purchased from the commercial seed companies (those in control of the proprietary parent lines); nature’s inherent generosity, circumvented.
cont.Throughout much of agriculture, a remarkable span of 10,000 years, farmers were... more
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After nearly a two-hour hearing yesterday, the U.S. District Judge Jeffery White reserved judgment as to whether a preliminary injunction that would prevent the production or planting of genetically modified sugar beet seeds, should issue. Both parties, however, expect a quick decision as farmers will soon be ready to plant their crop.
In its filings, USDA argues that such an “overbroad” injunction would unnecessarily penalize producers and processors, “decimating the entire sugar beet industry and almost half of the nation’s domestic sugar supply for multiple years.”
Even if that were the case, and that is highly questionable as parties in litigation, especially when facing the ominous prospect of an injunction, paint an Armageddon vision of the world, the stakes for organic farmers and those wanting to plant non-GMO sugar beets are much higher. With the prevalence of GM sugar beets in the United States, in fact, a near 95% dominance of the sugar beet crop, organic or non-gmo sugar beets growers stand to be obliterated by genetic contamination from the GM crop (which can occur during many stages of seed planting and growth).
Hopefully the Court will consider this dire prospect for organic growers and those wishing to grow non-gmo beets, as well as consumers who care about the integrity of their food and stand to lose the ability to shop organic, as sufficient enough irreparable harm (one of the more important preliminary injunction elements) and grant the relief plaintiffs are seeking.
http://gmo-journal.com/index.php/2010/03/06/district-court-reserves-judgment-on-ge-sugar-beets-injunction/After nearly a two-hour hearing yesterday, the U.S. District Judge Jeffery White... more
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First public hearing to prepare the presentation of the GM Maize case before international courts
Guadalajara, March 2, 2010. Faced with the international "technical" conference of the FAO in Guadalajara, "Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries," which is little more than just the promotion of GM crops - today we inaugurated the "First public hearing to prepare the presentation of the GM Maize case before international courts," organized by La Via Campesina North America Region, Red en Defensa del Maíz (Network in Defense of Maize, Mexico), and Asamblea Nacional de Afectados Ambientales (Assembly of People Displaced by Environmental Impacts, Mexico), with the participation of 276 people, mostly members and leaders of peasant, family farm , and indigenous peoples' organizations from 19 Mexican states, the USA, and Canada.
The hearing was inaugurated by Alberto Gómez Flores of La Via Campesina, Eutimio Díaz of the Wixarika People (in the name of the Network for the Defense of Maize), and Octavio Rosas of the Asamblea Nacional de Afectados Ambientales. Alberto Gómez said that the peasant and indigenous people of Mexico feel it is an act of aggression for the FAO to come here to promote GMOs, called the GM contamination of maize "a crime against humanity." He was followed by Pat Mooney of the ETC Group (Canada), who denounced that "GMO contaminated and transnational corporations (TNCs) have now contaminated the FAO and the UN, which is another crime against humanity." He noted that "what is a crisis for people - hunger - is cynically seen by TNCs as an opportunity, to push new products, like GM crops."
Camila Montecinos of GRAIN in Chile sent her regrets that the terrible recent earthquake in her country made it impossible for her to travel. But in her document, which was read to the audience, she stated that "GMO contamination is an intentional strategy by TNCs to open new markets for their seeds," using the argument that once local crops are already contaminated, there is no longer any reason to maintain bans on legal GMO plantings. George Naylor, ex-president of the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) in the USA, told an anecdote from his neighbors, who found that their cows refuse to eat GM maize, and he argued that this exposes the lie by industry when they claim there are no negative health effects of GMOs.
Ernesto Ladrón de Guevara of UNORCA, reviewed the history of neoliberal laws in Mexico, on seeds, biosafety, etc., and noted that they have given "poor or negative results." Similarly, attorney Evangelina Robles of the Coas Collective, explain how, with the signing of NAFTA, a process of modifying nationals was initiated in Mexico, with the objective of "disarticulating and privatizing of the elements of the territories of indigenous and peasant peoples; the land, air, forests, water, biodiversity, etc.," paving the way for GMOs, among other evil things.
The afternoon saw testimonies and indigenous, peasant and family farmers. A Mixtec man and women from Oaxaca told how their native maize varieties had been contaminated with as many a three different transgenes, but also that they have been developing local techniques for decontamination, such as pulling up deformed plants, or cutting off their tassels. Eutimio Díaz, of the Wixarika people in Jalisco, described how, "for indigenous people, maize is first, maize is ours, and we are part of her." He noted that his communities have made a firm decision to defend their maize, and therefore, "we will not accept any seeds from the government, because we don't know what they are, or for what real purpose they are giving them to us." Sergio Bautista, of the Nahua people in the Huasteca region of Hidalgo, agreed, stating that, "we will not plant any seed from SAGARPA (the Ministry of Agriculture)." He also said that "maize is very sacred to us, it is our life."
cont.First public hearing to prepare the presentation of the GM Maize case before... more
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Sugar beets grown in the Western parts of the United States have recently gone biotech — in fact, beets, genetically engineered to be resistant to Monsanto's herbicide Roundup (glyphosate), comprise 95% of the crop after two seasons of planting. Such widespread planting of GM beets threatens organic farmers, who are concerned that this year's spring breezes will air pollinate their organic crops and consequently render their crops worthless. Citing these concerns, in addition to the ever growing problem of weed resistance (a.k.a. superweeds) caused by excessive use of the herbicide glyphosate, organic farmers and environmental groups will seek this week an injunction to stop the planting of the GM beets until the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (“APHIS”) conducts an environmental impact statement (“EIS”). The lawsuit also seeks to bar the sale of sugar made from GM modified beets.
Read the rest of the story:
http://gmo-journal.com/index.php/2010/03/03/plaintiffs-seek-injunction-to-prevent-planting-of-gm-sugar-beetsSugar beets grown in the Western parts of the United States have recently gone biotech... more
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Community supported agriculture is sprouting in Morocco.
excerpt: SHOUL, Morocco — On a 50-acre farmstead outside the country’s capital, the scene did little to evoke agriculture on the cutting edge: Two lanky men in mud boots labored across a loamy field.
Slowly and by hand, they dropped seeds into rows of furrowed dirt. Behind them, a third man guided a horse-drawn harrow that looked as old as farming itself, covering each kernel with a layer of coffee-brown earth.
more at: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/morocco/100213/moroccos-organic-farming-growingCommunity supported agriculture is sprouting in Morocco.
excerpt: SHOUL, Morocco... more
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In the movie Food, Inc., Stonyfield Farm "CE-Yo" Gary Hirshberg makes the case for selling his organic yogurt at Walmart, arguing that going big will help propel organic food into the mainstream. Walmart is of course the largest grocery retailer in the US, and these days they sell a lot more organic food than just yogurt. READ MORE: http://www.organicnation.tv/blog/would-you-buy-organic-produce-at-walmart.htmlIn the movie Food, Inc., Stonyfield Farm "CE-Yo" Gary Hirshberg makes the... more
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Hey everyone! I'm honored to be the Member of the Month on Current.com's Sustainable Agriculture group. I really enjoy everyone's posts and I hope to continue spreading the good word about organic and sustainable food, farming and living.
-Dorothee Royal
Here's my profile on Current.com: http://current.com/users/Dorothee.htm
OrganicNation.tv is an exploration of the American sustainable food landscape featuring original videos, a daily blog, community map and lots of ways to connect online and off. Learn more: http://www.OrganicNation.tv
This video was recorded on February 11, 2010 using a Flip Video camcorder.Hey everyone! I'm honored to be the Member of the Month on Current.com's... more
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