tagged w/ campesinos
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NOTE: For more on the terrible human and environmental devastation wreaked by GM soy monocultures, see our Latin America videos: http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-videosb/26-gm-in-latin-america
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SOYA WARS CLAIM CASUALTIES IN ARGENTINA
Nick Caistor, LAB
Latin America Bureau, 22 November 2011
http://www.lab.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1138:argentina-death-in-soya-war&catid=65:news&Itemid=39
*A peasant leader has been killed in Santiago del Estero, apparently by gunmen sent in by a local landowner.
The death in mid-November of Cristian Ferreyra, a member of a peasant farmer organization in the north of Argentina has focused attention on a struggle between small farmers and their families and large landowners anxious to clear their land to plant profitable soy-bean crops for export.
Ferreyra, aged 23, was shot and killed at home in San Antonio, in the province of Santiago del Estero. Another man was seriously wounded in the incident.
Two men alleged to have been hired by a local landowner have been arrested for the shooting, which came after repeated threats against the Santiago del Estero Peasant Movement (MOCASE). His death led to large protest marches in the capital of the province and in Buenos Aires.
'They come in a car with papers for us to sign,' says Gloria, a MOCASE member. 'They say they're the legal owners of the land. But we own it, we live on it, and we farm it.'
And, says Gloria, the pressure does not stop there. 'If we don't sign, the paramilitaries and the police come. They threaten to kill us.'
MOCASE has been campaigning for more than 20 years against the expropriation of land in the dry region of the north of Argentina, and for small-scale farming to be promoted rather than large scale properties usually planted with soya grown for export.
'Many families live in the wooded areas remaining in Santiago del Estero, and they help sustain peasant farming communities. So to authorise clearing of the woods implies, in practice, the eviction of the peasants. It is to be regretted that the provincial government encourages deforestation and the violation of the rights of rural inhabitants,' said Hernán Giardini, head of Greenpeace Argentina.
According to Greenpeace, some 70% of native forests in Argentina have been lost in recent years, as the frontier of land for intensive agriculture has rapidly advanced through the central and northern provinces.
Santiago del Estero, together with neighbouring Salta and Chaco, have lost the greatest amount of forests, which according to data from the Department of National Environmental and Sustainable Development were cleared at the rate of 280,000 hectares per year between 1998 and 2006.
In recent months, Santiago del Estero landowners have stepped up attempts to evict families from land they have farmed for years. The businessmen claim to have legal titles to the properties, and have often hired former policemen and other security staff to remove the peasant farmers.
More than a hundred of these producers have formed the group Santiago Justo y Productivo; according to Argentine press reports, the group claims the violence began with members of MOCASE, who they say destroyed machinery, tore down barbed wire, and attacked their workers.
MOCASE, which is supported by some 8,000 peasant families in the province, has organised resistance to these land grabs and the clearing of forests in the north of the province. MOCASE claims that the big landowners acquired the titles to the land during the last military dictatorship (1976-1983) but that peasant farmers have been farming them for subsistence in the years since then.
Ferreyra was one of those who guarded the land claimed by the peasant farmers, and had been a member of MOCASE for several years.
The provincial governor Gerardo Zamora, of the governing Kirchnerist tendency within Peronism, has set up a 'mesa de diálogos' to try to get both sides to sit down and discuss the problem. So far, without much success.
Argentina's soya production has grown enormously in the past twenty years, increasing by more than 200% since 1995. According to a report by the Worldwatch Institute, a US-based environmental NGO, more than 98% of that production is of GM soya.
MOCASE, however, insists on 'food sovereignty'. It says that priority should be given to making Argentina and its population self-sufficient in food rather than growing crops for export. The local farmers grow cotton and maize, as well as keeping herds of goats and cattle to produce meat, milk and cheeses.
In October 2011 MOCASE and other peasant organizations from nine provinces held the first national congress of the Movimiento Nacional Campesino Indigena (National Indigenous Peasant Movement).
Among other demands, the participants called for an end to land evictions, and stressed that food sustainability should be the government's priority. 'Food should not be treated as a commodity. The land is there to feed the people,' said Cristina Loaiza, a member of MOCASE who attended the Congress.
In a statement, the National Indigenous Peasant Movement (MNCI) declared: 'this violence comes from the agro-business model. The dead, the wounded, the evictions are all from the peasant communities. The State creates the conditions enabling the power of money to impose its logic of destruction and death.'
'These models of production are being questioned, and as Argentine men and women we need to understand that on the one side is life, on the other death. One side signifies work and dignity, the other profits for the few. One side means national food sovereignty, the other, domination by transnational companies.'
http://racismandnationalconsciousnessnews.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/foto8.jpgNOTE: For more on the terrible human and environmental devastation wreaked by GM soy... more
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Arizona farmers are experiencing a crisis due to the recent departure of over 500,000 Campesinos (Farm Workers). Jose Diaz Balart, reporting on Telemundo this evening interviewed farm owners asking them exactly what they plan to do with tens of thousands of acres of peppers waiting to be harvested. One farmer reported "well we don't exactly know what we are going to do...all our workers have left because of fear around the new SB1070 law. We are putting out the word to Employment Development departments all over the country, but we doubt any self-respecting American is going to be willing to work for what we pay."
Balart asked the gentlemen being interviewed "How much do you pay?"
The farmer responded "We pay $2.00 per bushel."
Balart asked him "How long does it take for the average farm worker to harvest a bushel?"
The farmer replied "The best and fastest workers can fill a bushel in 2 hours. You see all these peppers have to be picked by hand...no one has gone and invented a pepper harvesting machine so it has to be done manually."
Balart then asked the farmer "How many African Americans do you have working for you?"
The farmer looked surprised "African Americans?" he smiles..."You ain't gonna be seeing any African Americans doing these jobs...not because we wouldn't hire them...because they just never apply for these jobs."
Balart says to the farmer "So in reality you are basically paying around $1.00 per hour of work for people on the farm...is that a fair assessment?"
The farmer responds indignantly "That is the way its always been done, but years ago we gave them all a raise...they used to get a dollar a bushel, but we decided to double it to keep them working for us."
Balart responds..."that was mighty generous of you to do that. What about other Americans...we have over 2 million unemployed...what do you have to say to them?"
The farmer responds "Well tell them to all come to Arizona...its back breaking work...its very hot...but they could at least get a job."
Balart responds "But what you are paying is less than the federal minimum wage, how do you justify that?"
The farmer responds "well, somebodies got to do it, it has to be done by people...we can't pay them minimum wage and expect to make any money on this harvest. People are complaining all the time that they "don't have a job...that there ain't any work" well now here you go "we need to fill hundreds of thousands of jobs...people should seriously consider moving her and working for the hundreds of farms in desperate need of workers...otherwise all this food is going to go to waste."
Do you think that Americans would work for the same price that the Campesinos or (migratory farm workers) make? Do you think that this is good for our country? Who is going to do these jobs and work for substandard wages?Arizona farmers are experiencing a crisis due to the recent departure of over 500,000... more
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jubal
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1 year ago
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Brazil, Rio de Janeiro - At Bayer's request, the company's application for commercial release of its Liberty Link rice (LL62), genetically modified for tolerance to glufosinate ammonium herbicide, has been temporarily dropped. In a communiqué to the CTNBio (National Technical Biosafety Commission, the official body responsible for approving GMOs in Brazil) Bayer claimed that it needed more time to reach an agreement with leading rice producers, who are opposed to the product’s release.
Bayer had already lobbied for release of the product last year, but a public hearing held at the order of the Brazilian courts clearly showed that main sectors linked to rice research and production were against its approval.
At this hearing the representative for Embrapa Rice and Beans (the largest public research centre in the area) set out its official position, ‘authorized by the presidency,’ emphasizing that the company is not opposed to transgenics, but that in this case Bayer’s product "will worsen pre-existing problems.” He added: "We shouldn’t use technologies that will only work for a few crop seasons."
The principal technical hurdle faced by rice growers is controlling red rice, an ancestral species of commercial rice that competes with the crops. Their worry is that the transgenic plant will inevitably cross with its red relative, producing herbicide-resistant transgenic red rice. The latter can germinate after years lying dormant in the soil. According to the researcher, "contamination is irreversible."
Other researchers point to failures in the studies presented by Bayer to prove the rice’s safety, including the possible deletion of a nucleotide (adenine) in the gene section regulating the protein expression that provides tolerance to the herbicide. After the hearing, the company admitted the existence of the deletion, identifying an alteration to one of the protein’s amino acids. This alteration means that the protein produced by LL rice differs from the protein produced naturally by the Streptomyces bacteria, the gene donor. Since no study was presented relating to this issue, no information exists on the effects of this unintentional genetic alteration. The protein has not lost its function of providing tolerance to the glufosinate ammonium herbicide, but it may generate unanalyzed risks.
During the same public hearing, representatives of Brazil's main rice producers also voiced their concerns. They fear losing ground in both domestic and international markets if the variety is commercially released. “Given that there is no consumer demand or global market for GM rice, our organization is not in favour of release at this time,” announced the representative of Farsul (Rio Grande do Sul Agricultural Federation), Federarroz (Rio Grande do Sul Rice Growers Associations) and IRGA (Rio Grande do Sul Rice Institute).
Faced by this overwhelming rejection, in 2009 CTNBio opted to suspend debate on the release of Bayer’s rice temporarily. Its strategy was to wait for the dust to settle and return at a more opportune moment.
When the new president of CTNBio came to office in 2010, he told the press that the objectives for his mandate included the release of GM rice. Various actions were taken to achieve this goal, including the staging of a pseudo-debate at CTNBio to which researchers favourable to the product were invited. The ploy was designed to symbolically annul the positions advanced during the 2009 public hearing. In addition, voting on approval was timetabled for mid June this year when everyone's attention would be focused on the World Cup.
Fortunately those opposed to release were ready. The main rice producer organizations combined forces once again to block any approval. After a meeting with sector representatives in Rio Grande do Sul, the state where most of the country’s rice production is concentrated, leaders went to Brasília to hold talks with various authorities, including the Agriculture Minister Wagner Rossi.
Organizations linked to the Campaign for a GM-Free Brazil also released a document highlighting the problems with LL rice, signed by 35 civil society organizations and networks.Brazil, Rio de Janeiro - At Bayer's request, the company's application for... more
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We hear a lot about the importance of eating organic and eating local, but left out of the conversation are the growing methods of some of our staple foods, and how much forest land has been lost to grow (or raise) products like beef, rice, and palm oil—the latter of which is in more foods than you might realize.
When agricultural land becomes unproductive (usually after about three years), it is often cheaper to clear new land than to fertilize it or replenish nutrients that were drained from the soil. Monocrop agriculture is a major factor in how modern food production has become unsustainable, but coffee and banana production both serve as examples of smooth, successful transitions. They have been drivers of deforestation in the past, but more recently farmers have been using more intercropping and forest cover (ever heard of shade-grown coffee?), which helps to prevent deforestation and preserve biodiversity. This is surely due in no small part to activist campaigns waged in recent years to educate consumers and to generate change in the supply chains.
This is a quick look at common foods contributing the most to deforestation—and as a result, to climate change—around the world.
cont.We hear a lot about the importance of eating organic and eating local, but left out of... more
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Getting serious about soil carbon sequestration can save our planet from at least 40% of carbon emissions that otherwise would contribute to climate change. Agriculture and learning to respect the skin of our Earth, our soil, is crucial and necessary to stemming the worst effects of global warming/climate change. As the COP 15 gets underway, campesinos and indigenous peoples must have their voices heard as well as our own farmers. The solutions to climate change are not going to be technical shortterm "fixes" or the continuation of industrial agricultural models that have stripped our soil. We can only do this by employing longterm solutions that are sustainable and reliable. Our earth holds the answers we need to this crisis and it is time we start looking in front of our faces.Getting serious about soil carbon sequestration can save our planet from at least 40%... more
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Grassroots International and Food and Water Watch teamed up to issue an informative and compelling report that shows how food sovereignty will not only benefit small farmers all over the world, but will also give environmentalists and consumers what "free" trade and bad farm policies have failed to deliver. Conventional agriculture is a major cause of global warming, and as Congress and the United Nations grapple with a new environmental treaty, a strong food sovereignty movement is more critical than ever.
Please read the report to find out more about this remarkable movement, how bridges can be built, and why the time to work together has arrived.
http://www.grassrootsonline.org/sites/grassrootsonline.org/files/Towards-Green-Food-System.pdfGrassroots International and Food and Water Watch teamed up to issue an informative... more
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The fight over land by campesinos because of increased land acquisition to grow GM soya has become violent. Land used to grow feed for animals in Europe and Asia to satisfy their appetite for meat has exacerbated a battle for food sovereignty and the livelihoods of peasant farmers. Industrial agriculture in this area is also poisoning the land and the people, and the deforestation exacerbating climate change. This is a recipe for environmental, economic, and social disaster as companies such as Monsanto expand their reach to satisfy their insatiable greed at the expense of biodiversity.
This must be stopped now.The fight over land by campesinos because of increased land acquisition to grow GM... more
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