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Millions eating food grown with polluted water, says UN report
Study of 53 cities across the world finds 'widespread' use of waste water contaminated with heavy metals and sewage
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Keweenaw Bay Indian Community: Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project Protects Pollinat...
In July 2008, a three-year initiative began called the Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project that involves Native American youth and Marquette teens building butterfly houses and planting over 26,000 native plants to help pollinators recover due to the shocking death of billions of honeybees across the Midwest and around the world.
Butterfly houses are slimmer than better known birdhouses and are lined with bark offering a place for butterflies to rest, be protected and in some cases lay eggs.
It's important as thousands of Monarchs pass thru the U.P. in the annual migration to Mexico of 3 million Monarchs.
Native plants indigenous to any region of the world are important for local pollinators that can be fooled by imported vegetation resulting in death or eggs not hatching.
The Zaagkii Project was founded by Rev. Jon Magnuson and his non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan.
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community has long supported initiatives like the Zaagkii Project that were founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) including wild rice restoration and Earth Day clean sweeps. The three-year Zaagkii Project is sponsored by the KBIC, CTI, Marquette County Juvenile Court and the United States Forest Service.
The Zaagkii Project would not be possible without contributors that include the Marquette Community Foundation, the Negaunee Community Fund, the Negaunee Community Youth Fund, the M.E. Davenport Foundation, the Kaufman Foundation, the Phyllis and Max Reynolds Foundation, with assistance from the Upper Peninsula Children's Museum in Marquette and the Borealis Seed Company in Big Bay. In July 2008, a three-year initiative began called the Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project that involves Native American youth and Marque... more -
Farmers putting sunscreen on their fruit
Farmers in California have begun slathering fruit and vegetables with sunscreen after discovering that it is not just people who can suffer adverse effects from the sun's rays, the Telegraph reports.
The vegetable equivalent of a liver spot on an apple can slash its value, as can sun-induced blistering and blemishes on crops like tomatoes and grapes.
So farmers in arid or drought-hit regions of the United States are spraying a sun block onto their crops to protect their sale prices.
Spraying on sunscreen helps to protect against some of the damage fruit and veg undergo in a natrual environment, particularly costly cosmetic imperfections, according to a California company that makes such a spray.
Purfresh is marketing SPF 45 spray Purshade, which is engineered to deflect ultraviolet and infrared light while allowing photosynthesis.
Mmm, delicious. Would you eat a fruit or vegetable that had been sprayed with these kinds of chemicals? Could you even tell, in the supermarket or green grocers? Would you buy a fruit or vegetable that had some sun damage, or does your food have to be *just perfect*? Farmers in California have begun slathering fruit and vegetables with sunscreen after discovering that it is not just people who can s... more -
Emperor - Chapter 3
February 1938 - Popular Mechanics Magazine:
“NEW BILLION-DOLLAR CROP”
February 1938 - Mechanical Engineering Magazine:
“THE MOST PROFITABLE & DESIRABLE CROP THAT CAN BE GROWN”
Modern technology was about to be applied to hemp production, making it the number-one agricultural resource in America. Two of the most respected and influential journals in the nation, Popular Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering, forecast a bright future for American hemp. Thousands of new products creating millions of new jobs would herald the end of the Great Depression. Instead hemp was persecuted, outlawed and forgotten at the bidding of W. R. Hearst, who branded hemp the “Mexican killer weed, marihuana.”
As early as 1901 and continuing to 1937, the U.S. Department of Agriculture repeatedly predicted that, once machinery capable of harvesting, As you will see in these articles, the newly mechanized stripping and separating the fiber from the pulp was cannabis hemp industry was in its infancy, but well on invented or engineered, hemp would again be America’s number-one farm crop. The introduction of G. W. decorticator in 1917 nearly fulfilled this prophesy. (See pages 13-15 and Appendix.)
The prediction was reaffirmed in the popular press when Popular Mechanics published its February 1938 article “Billion-Dollar Crop.” The first reproduction of this article in over 50 years was in the original edition of this book. The article is reproduced here exactly as it was printed in 1938.
Because of the printing schedule and deadline, Popular Mechanics prepared this article in spring of 1937 when cannabis hemp for fiber, paper, dynamite and oil, was still legal to grow and was, in fact, an incredibly fast-growing industry.
Also reprinted in this chapter is an excerpt from the Mechanical Engineering article about hemp, published the same month. It originated as a paper presented a year earlier at the Feb. 26, 1937 Agricultural Processing Meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Reports from the USDA during the 1930s, and Congressional testimony in 1937, showed that cultivated hemp acreage had been doubling in size in America almost every year from the time it hit its bottom acreage, 1930-when 1,000 acres were planted in the U.S. - to 1937 - when 14,000 acres were cultivated with plans to continue to double that acreage annually in the foreseeable future.
As you will see in these articles, the newly mechanized cannabis hemp industry was in its infancy, but well on its way to making cannabis America's largest agricultural crop. And in light of subsequent developments (e.g. biomass energy technology, building materials, etc.), we now know that hemp is the world's most important ecological resource and therefore, potentially our planet's single largest industry.
The Popular Mechanics article was the very first time in American history that the term "billion-dollar"* was ever applied to any U.S. agricultural crop!
Equivalent to $40-$80 billion now.
Experts today conservatively estimate that, once fully restored in America, hemp industries will generate $500 billion to a trillion dollars per year, and will save the planet and civilization from fossil fuels and their derivatives - and from deforestation!
If Harry Anslinger, DuPont, Hearst and their paid-for (know it or not, then as now) politicians had not outlawed hemp - under the pretext of marijuana (see Chapter 4, "Last Days of Legal Cannabis") - and suppressed hemp knowledge from our schools, researchers and even scientists, the glowing predictions in these articles would already have come true by now - and more benefits than anyone could then envision - as new technologies and uses continue to develop.
As one colleague so aptly put it, "These articles were the last honest word spoken on hemp's behalf for over 40 years..." February 1938 - Popular Mechanics Magazine: “NEW BILLION-DOLLAR CROP” February 1938 - Mechanical Engineering Magazine: ... more -
FULL COVERAGE: Marijuana -- chicagotribune.com
Neighborhood residents view and photograph some of at least 2,000 marijuana plants seized by the Orange County Sheriff's Department after they were found growing in Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Park Neighborhood residents view and photograph some of at least 2,000 marijuana plants seized by the Orange County Sheriff's Departme... more
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Hemp legislation to help water treatment programs
Australia hopes to develop water treatment programs as a result of new legislation allowing the commercial cultivation of industrial hemp.
Dr Keith Bolton, who works for the company, has grown trial crops for research. He claims hemp can be used in wetlands and sewage treatment as a method of mopping up effluent.
He says the properties of the plant make them ideal for soaking up waste materials in waterways.
The many potential applications of hemp have many primary producers keen to add it to their summer cropping schedules. It can also be used as a building material, as a fibre and as a food product.
The producer’s profit margins could be anywhere between $600 and $1700 per hectare of crops. Australia hopes to develop water treatment programs as a result of new legislation allowing the commercial cultivation of industrial h... more -
Monsanto & ADM Set Up New Front Group to Deflect Ethanol Criticism & Promo...
Doug Cameron reported in today's Wall Street Journal that, "A group of U.S. agribusiness companies including Archer Daniels Midland Co. are uniting in the intensifying food-versus-fuel debate, forming an alliance to promote the idea that technology can ease global supply shortages.
"The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy - which includes seed makers Monsanto Co. and DuPont Co., as well as farm-gear maker Deere & Co. - wants to spread its belief that renewable fuels won't cut into food supplies if new technologies, such as genetically modified crops, are used to their fullest. The group is also working hard to protect government subsidies for ethanol production.
"ADM, Monsanto and others have seen their own profits soar in recent years, as booming demand for agricultural products in emerging markets has pushed up commodity prices and spurred additional production."
And Reuters writer Lisa Shumaker reported yesterday that, "A new group is adding its voice to the debate on using crops to produce alternative fuels such as ethanol amid rising food prices and shortages in some countries.
"The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy in Washington D.C. was created by Archer Daniels Midland Co, DuPont Co, Deere & Co, Monsanto Co and the Renewable Fuels Association (www.foodandenergy.org ).
"'There are critics who are trying to create an either-or decision between food and fuel,' said Mark Kornblau, the alliance's executive director. 'We believe this is a false choice. Today, more than 90 percent of crops in the United States and around the world are used exclusively for food.'"
--
Keith Good
President FarmPolicy.com, Inc.
Champaign, IL
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There you have it. Unequivocal proof that these biotech agribusiness corporations don't care one whit about you.The battle lines have been drawn. It is them against us and this planet. Profit trumping sustainability and fair access to food and water. I don't think it is then too dramatic to state that this is a battle for our lives. These companies with the full backing of our own government, including those who voted for their subsidies (and yes, that also includes Obama) are set on total control of our food and water supply in order to control us.
In the last post I placed here on this topic today regarding Monsanto raising the price of corn seed during a food crisis it was stated that it is time this be given serious attention... well, I go one further here... this requires serious ACTION.
Please go to the article link and there you will find a petition calling for the boycott of Monsanto. The people this will affect, mainly the poor, farmers, and people living in developing countries must join together to fight this insidious takeover of our lives. And yes, it's that serious. Click on the tag, 'Monsanto' to see much more on exactly what is transpiring on a global scale and why the majority of this world is AGAINST GMOs and allowing Monsanto to patent life itself. Doug Cameron reported in today's Wall Street Journal that, "A group of U.S. agribusiness companies including Archer Daniels ... more -
Louisiana only state to get ethanol correct
"Yesterday Louisiana state governor Bobby Jindal signed into law revolutionary ethanol legislation that embarks in a totally new direction that could save the US economy while actually making us less dependant on foreign oil ..." "Yesterday Louisiana state governor Bobby Jindal signed into law revolutionary ethanol legislation that embarks in a totally new ... more
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Drought in Iraq
One of the worst droughts in the past decade settled heavily over the Fertile Crescent region of Iraq and Syria in the winter of 2007-2008. Under normal conditions, winter rain and rivers flowing from the mountains of Turkey sustain the rich agricultural land that has fed humanity from the dawn of civilization. But little to no rain fell between October and December during the crucial planting period, and sparse rain fell in the months that followed, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
Crop analysts at the Foreign Agricultural Service use satellite imagery such as this vegetation image along with field reports to track crop conditions around the world. Made from data collected by France’s SPOT Vegetation satellite in April 2008, this image shows how plants were growing compared to a long-term average. The arc of deep brown that stretches over the Fertile Crescent region indicates that plants were more sparse or less healthy than average in April 2008. Irrigated farmland stands out as bright green spots surrounded by the brown or white that represents rain-fed vegetation. For a closer view of the contrast between irrigated and rain-fed crops, see the MODIS image of northern Syria and Iraq.
The regions most severely affected by the drought are eastern Syrian and northern Iraq, the major grain-growing regions of both countries. Seventy-five percent of Syria’s wheat crop comes from drought-affected regions in the northeast, and a significant portion of Iraq’s farmland suffered, said the FAS. In these regions, more than half of the crops rely on rain for water and so are deeply impacted by drought. Since the seeds require moist soil to germinate, dryness during the planting period caused crops to fail in many cases, and those that did survive will likely have a very low yield when harvested in June and July, said FAS. Many farmers did not plant at all.
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Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, North America. Not one inhabited continent has currently escaped drought. How much more of a sign do we need? One of the worst droughts in the past decade settled heavily over the Fertile Crescent region of Iraq and Syria in the winter of 2007-... more -
Soaring living costs cloud U.N. climate talks
By Gerard Wynn
BONN, Germany (Reuters) - U.N.-led climate talks began in Germany on Monday on a global warming pact, facing a challenge from critics who say climate measures are partly to blame for high food and energy prices.
The meeting is the second in a series of eight which aim to secure a global climate deal by the end of next year in Copenhagen, to come into force after the first round of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
The talks coincide with swelling public concern about high energy and food prices. This is coupled with criticism that policies to cut greenhouse gases -- especially support for biofuels, as well as carbon taxes and emissions trading -- could make matters worse.
Racing food prices have sparked riots in developing nations such as Haiti and a record oil price has hurt motorists, prompting protests and blockades in Europe. These events, together with an economic slowdown, threaten to distract attention from climate change.
"They're absolutely right to worry about food and energy costs but not addressing climate change would probably increase both," the U.N.'s climate chief Yvo de Boer told Reuters on Monday, referring to crop damage from droughts and higher energy bills swelled by inefficiency.
De Boer rejected the suggestion that carbon-cutting biofuels should be banned, after driving up food prices by using food crops such as corn in the United States to make an ethanol alternative to gasoline.
"I think biofuels are a very important part of the solution," he said.
"If corn on a large scale leads to food shortages and an increase in food prices that's a concern but my assessment is that's not happening, on a large scale. The best solution would be for us all to become vegetarians," because grains are used to feed cattle, added the head of the UN climate agency (UNFCCC). By Gerard Wynn ... more -
Biofuel land demand puts peasants at risk: report
The rise of biofuels is not only adding to the global food price crisis but also poses a risk for peasants, pushed off their land to make way for energy crops, a report prepared for this week's food summit said.
The use of food such as maize, palm oil and sugar to produce fuel has been blamed in part for record high commodity prices which are driving millions of people into hunger, and will be a key issue discussed by world leaders at the Rome summit.
Condemned as a "crime against humanity" last year by the then U.N. food rapporteur, Jean Ziegler, critics of biofuels say they divert nutrition away from mouths and into fuel tanks and compete for land that should be used to grow food.
Both the United States and the European Union have policies promoting the use of biofuels as alternatives as a way to reduce reliance on crude oil.
The report, published on Monday by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that hosts the three-day summit from Tuesday, flagged up several social and environmental risks of biofuels, but said they were not the main cause of the food crisis.
"Recent hikes in world food prices have not been caused primarily by biofuels," it said, listing the main reasons for the price hikes as poor harvests, low stocks and rising demand in Asia for food and fodder.
By Robin Pomeroy
Reuters The rise of biofuels is not only adding to the global food price crisis but also poses a risk for peasants, pushed off their land to m... more -
Agri-biotech firms committing 'intellectual property grab' of climate ch...
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 patents on genetically engineered 'climate cro... more -
Pollination crisis that is affecting a wide variety of crops
Air pollution interferes with the ability of bees and other insects to follow the scent of flowers to their source, undermining the essential process of pollination Air pollution interferes with the ability of bees and other insects to follow the scent of flowers to their source, undermining the es... more
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The World According to Monsanto - A documentary that Americans won't ever see
Some time ago I was treated to a documentary named The Corporation. It was shocking to say the least. Well I just finished watching the latest documentary that extends on the practices of the corporation Monsanto and the lengths they go to push their products on us for their profit.
Click on the link to watch the larger version of the video instead of minivision. Some time ago I was treated to a documentary named The Corporation. It was shocking to say the least. Well I just finished watching th... more -
Sam Adams sharing more than a cold one with competitors
Looking beyond the regular rules of competition, America's largest craft brewery and the maker of the Sam Adams brand, Boston Beer Co. decided to help out the smaller brewers around the country with the worldwide shortage of hops.
Boston Beer Co. is selling the 20,000 pounds of hops, which beer aficionados know give the brew its aroma and bitter taste, to the craft brewers at cost.
Along with 2007 crop coming in below average for the third year in a row, increased beer consumption also means an increased need for hops. Looking beyond the regular rules of competition, America's largest craft brewery and the maker of the Sam Adams brand, Boston Bee... more -
What Crop Subsidies Say About American Diet Priorities.
"This fall, the Senate will have its turn debating and voting on the [farm] bill. ...Encourage senators to cut subsidies for unhealthy foods and increase support for fruits, vegetables, and vegetarian foods. Other groups, including the American Medical Association and the Presidents Cancer Panel, are also calling on Congress for sweeping reforms" "This fall, the Senate will have its turn debating and voting on the [farm] bill. ...Encourage senators to cut subsidies for unhe... more
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Making Cocaine
Learn how Colombia's rural farmers make and sell cocaine.
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Aussies make some tough wheat
And they named it AXE to prove it, mate!
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