Organic Growers Attack Monsanto

On January 31, 2012, a hearing on GMO’s was held in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. On the evening news you often times see convicted former Wall Street financiers walking out of the doors of this courthouse in New York City. This court is the setting for a major legal battle which will impact all grain farmers in the United States.

The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association squared off against Monsanto.

The case, at the moment, goes off on a legal issue of whether the organic farmers have standing to bring a declaratory judgment action against Monsanto. Simply, the question is whether the organic farmers have suffered harm which allows them to get their case before a court for a possible trial.

The case involves 96 plaintiffs claiming that “Society stands on the precipice of forever being bound to transgenic agriculture and transgenic food. Coexistence between transgenic seed and organic seed is impossible because transgenic seed contaminates and eventually overcomes organic seed.”

Full Article

The Underground Secret; grasping the mysteries of creating healthy soil

When it comes to gardening, most avid participants in the ancient art of gardening will at some point in their life’s outdoor experience come to understand that the secret is in the soil. This is so much more of a satisfying approach than doing battle with nature, the most common mainstream agricultural pursuit, which sees farmers using huge quantities of pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers to dominate nature. Nature must both laugh and cry at this onslaught, seeing ignorant members of blind humans bombard the soils with substances that destroy nature, thinking they know the answers.

After decades of different agricultural revolutions, those of us who are perceptive enough to begin to unveil the mysteries of nature are now more fully coming to grips with the fact that for the soils of the world to continue to provide us with the bounty we need and desire, we must continuously be working to restore fertility in our age depleted soils.Organic matter is the key to this rebuilding, as are soil based microbes, earthworms and more that work to break down organic matter and nutrients in the soil, thus rendering them in a perfect state for plants to absorb them.

In the field of biodynamics, permaculture and organics there are many solutions to build up soil. It is the key to our future health and that of our children. Healthy plants that do not need pesticides and herbicides depend upon a healthy soil.

Organic Matter

The Color of Any Matter Is a Key to Its Use in the Garden
Sunday, February 5, 2012
By Virginia Hayes

The key to healthy soil is organic matter. Every gardening guide says so, so it must be true. And it is. But all organic matter is not equal. Composting tends to even the playing field, eventually. Larger pieces and woodier material will break down along with the tender leaves and stems resulting in compost that is fine, crumbly, and sweet-smelling.

There are shortcuts. Some refuse can go directly into the garden to cycle back into essential nutrients right in place, bypassing the layering and turning of the compost bin.

Fresh, green clippings like grass and other tender leaves and stems, as well as kitchen scraps—from carrot and apple peels to tough green bean strings and pea pods—can be thinly layered on the surface of the garden or added sparingly to soil when preparing for planting. Seaweeds fit in this category, as well, but remember to rinse oceanic plants thoroughly to remove excess salt. Beware: Too thick a layer of these fresh greens may result in an impenetrable mat that doesn’t break down and even can impede water percolation.

Dry leaves and other dry, but fairly thin, plant stems, such as straw and pine needles, take a little longer and can be used as mulch and layered on the soil up to 4 inches deep. Don’t try to use them directly into a planting hole. Large and very woody bits (think those chips from the tree service) should only be used as a top dressing. They take a really long time to break down, even in a nice hot composting system. Don’t worry; there are microbes and fungi that will eventually convert them into dark, crumbly, beautiful humus. Nearly magical, this substance is the key to healthy soil. In fact, the color of any organic material will be a key to its use in the garden. All green waste will eventually take on this dark hue, and the darker the material, the better it is to incorporate when planting.

There is yet another class of organics to consider: manures. Most manures should not be used immediately after their production by the animals in question. Garden gurus speak of “hot” manure, meaning that it is of recent origin and contains a high concentration of ammonia. It takes time and some helpful bacteria to make this compound into a more easily assimilable source of nitrogen for plants. If it stinks, it’s too strong for delicate roots. Horse manure may be the most readily available, from area riding stables, and is usually mixed with some type of bedding material (straw or fine wood chips). It still needs time, either in the compost pile with all the other garden clippings or in a pile of its own to break down a bit.

Gardeners are increasingly growing chickens, rabbits, goats, or other beasts, and all of their droppings are also valuable sources of nitrogen and organic components. The mammals are herbivores and produce dung that has a fair amount of plant fiber since they eat only grasses and grains. Avian droppings are more concentrated (they also eat insects, snails, and almost anything small enough to pass their craw), so it needs to be used sparingly when fresh or composted well. Keeping a goat or a few chickens is an excellent way to process garden and kitchen clippings, however. Toss the raw ingredients into the coop or corral, and they will be crunched, digested, excreted, and mixed together with no extra effort; ready-made soil amendments.

As you can read in the article above, there are many strategies to recycle organic material into the soil and thus build it up, thus creating a rich foundation for nourishing us on many levels.

How seed saving and food security are two sides of the same coin

More and more people are waking up to understand just how insecure our food system is these days and how far we have moved from our relationship with our food. At the root of this crisis is the crisis over viable seed, a crisis precipitated by large agricultural interests that promote vegetable and fruit varieties that are easy to transport and have a longer shelf life , rather than varieties that are more nutritious.In this article below on seed saving by kay Baxter, learn what some are doing around the world to remedy this situation.

In our changing and unstable world, the question of food security is becoming increasingly relevant. Our ability to grow healthy food locally and sustainably is dependent in many ways on the quality of our seeds. It has been a focus of the Koanga Institute for many years to support home gardeners with the skills needed for self reliance, and understanding the process of saving high quality seed that is well adapted to local climates is fundamental to this. Almost all seed available commercially today is grown by large companies either in Europe or the USA. This leaves the home gardener extremely vulnerable to global instability if they are not saving their own seeds. Genetic diversity in our food crops has been lost on a drastic scale due to the industrialisation of our food production. The incredible diversity we once had, with thousands of genetically unique varieties, has been reduced to a tiny number of varieties that have been selected for their suitability to commercial applications (not the requirements of a home gardener).

The Koanga Institute holds a significant and valuable collection of NZ heritage seed (vegetables, herbs and flowers), and has international recognition for their unique work in the field of seed saving and seed production. The founder of the Institute — Kay Baxter — has been dedicated to saving these seeds and making them available in NZ. Over the past 30 years, Kay’s work for the Institute has ensured the survival of more than 800 NZ heritage seed lines, many of which are now available to members and home gardeners. A major focus of our research in the past few years has been finding ways for home gardeners to increase the nutritional density of their produce, adapting biological agricultural methods to suit home gardeners.

Very few soils have the complete balance of minerals required to grow produce to support optimum human health. This is not such an issue while we have food available to us from many parts of the world, but as we look towards self reliance (be it on a family scale or a local community scale) human health will suffer if these deficiencies aren’t addressed. Once the minerals have been balanced, then it becomes possible to manage the recycling and regeneration of these nutrients.

As community based organisations develop skills and networks that foster local sustainability and community self reliance, the question of seed saving becomes increasingly important. While seed saving is not difficult, there are many things to take into account if you are serious about ensuring food security, and the survival of specific varieties.

This 5-day workshop will give you the skills and understanding to grow and save your own seeds, and to ensure that the seeds you save will be high quality, for longevity and with the potential for optimal nutrition. Whether you are planning to set up a seed bank for a larger community, or would like to address food security for your immediate family, here you will find the skills and resources required. Processes taught are very low tech, and could be adapted to suit any situation, including rural villages without electricity or technology.

Why we should be concerned about Bats disappearing!!!

Bat populations in North America are declining fast. In this article by Beth Bucynski we learn more about what is happening, where and how to speak up and what are the implications for HUmans and agriculture if this continues.

2006, scientists began to notice that a mysterious disease was decimating bat populations in upstate New York with unexpected speed and thoroughness. Now identified as ‘white-nose syndrome’, bat biologists estimate that this fast-moving disease has now killed as many as 6.7 million bats in North America over the past six years.

White-nose syndrome refers to a white fungus that appears on the nose, wings, and other body parts of infected, hibernating bats.

The new estimate is dramatically higher than the previous one, dating from 2009, that white-nose syndrome had killed 1 million bats on the continent. The disease has spread from Nova Scotia to Tennessee, infecting bat colonies in 16 states and four provinces. In 2010, scientists predicted that unless a cure could be found, white-nose syndrome could completely wipe out brown bat populations within the next 16 years.

“This number confirms what people working on white-nose syndrome have known for a long time — that bats are dying in frighteningly huge numbers and several species are hurtling toward the black hole of extinction,” said Mollie Matteson with the Center for Biological Diversity, which has filed several petitions to save bats and stem the spread of the disease. “We have to move fast if we’re going to avoid a complete catastrophe for America’s bats.”

Bats are nocturnal creatures, emerging from caves and other dark recesses to hunt for insects only at night. Even though they may seem frightening to humans, extinction of the species is an even scarier prospect. The loss of so many bug-eating bats will undoubtedly have an impact on insect populations, including those that feed on human food crops.

Scientists have estimated that bats save farmers between $3.7 billion and $53 billion per year on pesticides by eating the insects that feed on crops like corn, cotton, vegetables and fruit. Since the bat disease has only shown up in the Midwest and South in the last couple of years, the full effects of declining bat numbers on regions more strongly dominated by agriculture than the Northeast may take some time to show up.

The outbreak is the worst wildlife disease epidemic in North America’s history. Congress recently directed the Department of the Interior to allot $4 million for research and management of the disease.

“America’s bats are in the throes of an unprecedented crisis and some species face the very real prospect of extinction,” Matteson said. “While it’s heartening to see some money allocated for white-nose syndrome, today’s new mortality estimates are a wake-up call that we need to do more, and fast.”

For more information on what you can do to help, please visit SaveOurBats.org.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/up-to-6-7-million-bats-dead-from-white-nose-syndrome.html#ixzz1jpHKfJrg

Agent Orange like chemicals due to be sprayed on US farms. Toxic corn bombs for your body

In this disturbing report it seems that if approved for Dow, toxic chemicals containing the same ingredients as agent orange will be allowed to be carpet sprayed on US farms fields. Read more below from a Natural News article!

A key chemical of one of the most horrifying elements of the Vietnam War — Agent Orange — may soon be unleashed on America’s farmlands. Considered by world nations to be a “Weapon of Mass Destruction” (WMD), Agent Orange was dropped in the millions of gallons on civilian populations during the Vietnam War in order to destroy foliage and poison North Vietnamese soldiers. The former president of the Vietnamese Red Cross, Professor Nhan, described it as, “…a massive violation of human rights of the civilian population, and a weapon of mass destruction.”

A key chemical in that weapon — 2,4-D — is just months away from being dropped on agricultural land across the United States. Dow AgroSciences, which along with DuPont and Monsanto is heavily invested in genetically engineered crops, has petitioned the U.S. government to deregulate a variety of GE corn that’s resistant to 2,4-D, which comprises 50% of the recipe of Agent Orange.

NaturalNews broke this story yesterday and published the details:
http://www.naturalnews.com/034492_D…

If the petition is approved by Washington, it would turn America’s corn fields into chemical warfare zones targeted for mass pesticide poisoning with 2,4-D chemicals. The corn, of course, would be immune to 2,4-D, so it would uptake the chemical and transport it right into the structure of the corn kernels, creating “Agent Orange corn bombs” that would be chemically unleashed when consumed by human beings.

This is just the latest example of how industrial chemical giants and GMO companies of the world are committing acts of genocide against innocents. The introduction of 2,4-D-resistant GE corn is, essentially, an act of war against humanity.

Food crops sprayed with chemical weapons

Agent Orange, which contains roughly 50% 2,4-D, is also cited in numerous war crimes lawsuits. Even the BBC has reported on it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3…

The use of such chemicals on civilian targets is a violation of the 1907 Hague Convention, the 1927 Geneva Convention, and the 1949 Geneva Convention (http://www.iadllaw.org/en/node/353).

The International Tribunal of Conscience in Support of the Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange has published a document briefly describing the war crimes committed by the U.S. government in its use of Agent Orange: http://www.iadllaw.org/files/charge…

That document states:

The chemical warfare waged by the United States against Vietnam though the use of Agent Orange and other dioxin laced chemicals from 1961 to 1971 has caused severe, massive and prolonged consequences for the environment, ecology and health of the people of Vietnam.

Guerilla gardening takes another inspiring turn!!!

Grafting is a means to attach a food producing branch to another tree, thus making use of a number of branches on public trees to produce food for hungry people. There are enough trees worldwide to make eating healthily accessible to all. Read more below!

The other day when I complained about “eye bombers” who post plastic googly eyes on things to “humanize the streets”, many thought I was being too much of a stickler for rules. “There is an inherent value in breaking the rules,” said Ruben in the comments, explaining that it’s time to shake things up.

I’m sure those people will dig what the Guerrilla Grafters are doing in San Francis—surreptitiously grafting on fruit-bearing branches onto otherwise ornamental street trees.

Fair Companies/Video screen capture

The idea is to demonstrate how silly it is to be investing in growing plants in our urban environments, and yet not use those plants to provide multiple benefits to the populations that live there. But more than that, they say, they are setting out to “undo civilization, one branch at a time”, with the ultimate aim of turning city streets into food forests—although they may have a long way to go before they can match this 2000-year-old food forest in Morocco.

I’m having a hard time keeping up with all the great videos from Fair Companies. From multifunctional rainwater harvesting trees through a stunning home built from salvaged cars to a Spanish ghost town turned ecovillage, these guys get the fact that sustainability must embrace resilience to stay relevant in these challenging times.

Watch an inspiring video on the subject below!

We’ve been sold a fake bill of goods with GMO’s

Media blitzes have for the last decade or more touted the miracle nature of GMO’s ; saving the world from hunger. It turns out that hey have been lying all along. Read more from Mercola below.

Nearly all processed foods in the United States contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients, particularly Bt corn and Roundup Ready soy.

These crops and other GM varieties are now planted on nearly 4 billion acres of land throughout 29 countries, as their makers (primarily Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta) continue to praise their worth.

These companies, which have created patents and intellectual property rights so that they now control close to 70 percent of global seed sales, extol the virtues of GM crops as though they are a panacea for ending world hunger and solving the food crisis.

But in fact, as a new report coordinated by Navdanya and Navdanya International, the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture, The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and others, has stated, GM crops are surrounded by false promises and failed yields, to the extent that they are now destroying the food system.

GM Promises Failed to Deliver

Virtually all of the claims of benefit of GM crops – increased yields, more food production, controlled pests and weeds, reductions in chemical use in agriculture, drought-tolerant seeds – have not materialized.

The Global Citizens’ Report on the State of GMOs states:

Contrary to the claim of feeding the world, genetic engineering has not increased the yield of a single crop.
Herbicide tolerant (Roundup Ready) crops were supposed to control weeds and Bt crops were intended to control pests. Instead of controlling weeds and pests, GE crops have led to the emergence of super weeds and super pests … Herbicide resistant crops such as Roundup Ready cotton can create the risk of herbicide resistant “superweeds” by transferring the herbicide resistance to weeds.
Despite claims that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will lower the levels of chemicals (pesticides and herbicides) used, this has not been the case. This is of great concern both because of the negative impacts of these chemicals on ecosystems and humans, and because there is the danger that increased chemical use will cause pests and weeds to develop resistance, requiring even more chemicals in order to manage them.
Monsanto has been claiming that through genetic engineering it can breed crops for drought tolerance and other climate-resilient traits. This is a false promise.
Among the false claims made by Monsanto and the Biotechnology industry is that GE foods are safe. However, there are enough independent studies to show that GE foods can cause health damage.

GM Crops do Not Increase Yields

Contrary to promises, GM crops are failing miserably all across the world. The reality simply isn’t living up to the hype of increased yields of healthy crops. After 30 years of GMO experimentation, we have the data to show no increase in yields. On the contrary GM soya has decreased yields by up to 20 percent compared with non-GM soya. Up to 100 percent failures of Bt cotton have been recorded in India.

And recent studies by scientists from the USDA and the University of Georgia found that growing GM cotton in the U.S. can result in a drop in income by up to 40 percent.

You can also read Failure to Yield, a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which reviewed two-dozen academic studies of GM corn and soybeans. What they concluded was that genetically engineering herbicide-tolerant soybeans and herbicide-tolerant corn has not increased yields, and insect-resistant corn improved yields only marginally.

The report notes:

“The increase in yields for both crops over the last 13 years, the report found, was largely due to traditional breeding or improvements in agricultural practices.”

The empty promise of increased yields has continued despite more than a decade of failures! In 1997, the Mississippi Seed Arbitration Council actually recommended Monsanto pay nearly $2 million to three cotton farmers who suffered severe crop losses after the company’s Roundup Ready cotton failed to perform as advertised. And this is occurring not just in the United States but all over the globe.

The Global Citizen’s Report states:

“Although Monsanto’s Indian advertising campaign reports a 50 percent increase in yields for its Bollgard cotton, a survey conducted by the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology found that the yields in all trial plots were lower than what the company promised.”

GM-Triggered Superweeds and Superpests Causing Pesticide Use to Spiral Out of Control

First came Agent Orange and PCBs, and now we have glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s nonselective broad-spectrum herbicide Roundup. Massive acreage of soybeans, cotton, and corn grown in the United States contain the GM Roundup Ready gene — and all of these crops receive numerous applications of Roundup each and every year.

But Roundup is proving to be no match for Mother Nature.

It’s estimated that more than 130 types of weeds spanning 40 U.S. states are now herbicide-resistant, and the superweeds are showing no signs of stopping. In fact, it’s getting progressively worse. Extremely hardy Roundup-resistant weeds are already boosting costs and cutting crop yields for U.S. farmers. And with world food stores already strained, diminished crop production is a serious problem.

The creation of these superweeds is leading farmers to douse their fields with ever increasing amounts of herbicides in a desperate attempt to stop their spread.

The Global Citizen’s Report states:

“Approximately 15 million acres are now overtaken by Roundup resistant “superweeds”, and, in an attempt to stop the spread of these weeds, Monsanto has started offering farmers a “rebate” of up to $6 per acre for purchasing and using other, more lethal herbicides. These rebates offset approximately 25 to 35 percent of cost of purchasing the other herbicides”

In India, Bt cotton sold under the trade name “Bollgard” was supposed to control the Bollworm pest. Today, the Bollworm has become resistant to Bt cotton and now Monsanto is selling Bollgard II with two additional toxic genes in it. New pests have emerged and farmers are using more pesticides.”

The report details how Bt crops in particular are a recipe for the creation of super pests, as they contain added genes for Bt toxins that allow the plants to produce their own insecticides (this Bt toxin, by the way, has been found circulating in the blood of pregnant women and fetuses). Because the plants release the toxin continuously, pests can actually evolve resistance to it, and farmers still have to use pesticides despite Monsanto’s promises to the contrary. And to make matters worse, other beneficial insects like bees and Monarch butterflies may be negatively impacted.

The report states:

“The primary justification for the genetic engineering of Bt into crops is that this will reduce the use of insecticides. Bt cotton is among the ‘miracles’ being pushed by corporations like Monsanto as a solution to the pesticide crisis. One of the Monsanto brochures had a picture of a few worms and stated, “You will see these in your cotton and that’s O.K. Don’t spray.”

However, in Texas, Monsanto faced a lawsuit filed by 25 farmers over Bt cotton planted on 18,000 acres which suffered cotton bollworm damage and on which farmers had to use pesticides in spite of corporate propaganda that genetic engineering meant an end to the pesticide era.”

Click Here to Purchase this song on iTunes! A portion of each purchase for Question What’s Inside on iTunes will be donated to the Institute for Responsible Technology!

Health Problems Already Documented

Scientists have discovered a number of health problems related to genetically modified foods, however these studies have been repeatedly ignored by both the European Food Safety Authority and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). GM foods are typically regarded as equivalent to their conventional counterparts. This, however, is flawed logic because GM foods contain foreign genes that have never before been introduced into the food supply.

The report states:

“The safety debate has been repeatedly suppressed by bad science. One of the unscientific strategies used to extinguish the safety discussion is tautologically define a novel organism or novel food created through genetic engineering as ‘substantially equivalent’ to conventional organisms and foods. However, genetically engineered crop or food is different because it has genes from unrelated organisms – it cannot, therefore, be treated as equivalent to a nongenetically engineered crop or food.

In fact, the biotechnology industry itself gives up the claim of ‘substantial equivalence’ when it claims patents on GMOs on grounds of novelty.”

Science, too, has revealed stark differences. For instance, an analysis of 19 animal studies revealed that nearly 10 percent of blood, urine, organ and other parameters tested were significantly influenced by GMOs, with the liver and kidneys faring the worst.

A separate 2009 Brazilian study discovered that female rats fed GM soy for 15 months showed significant changes in their uterus and reproductive cycle, compared to rats fed organic soy or those raised without soy. This finding adds to a mounting body of evidence suggesting that GM foods can contribute to a number of reproductive disorders, including:

Changes in reproductive hormones, such as excessive production of estrogen, progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone
Damage to pituitary gland
Retrograde menstruation, in which menstrual discharge travels backwards into the body rather than through the uterus, which can cause a disease known as endometriosis, which may lead to infertility. The disorder can also produce pelvic and leg pain, gastrointestinal problems, chronic fatigue, and a wide variety of other symptoms
Testicular changes, including damaged sperm cells

Another disturbing study performed by Irina Ermakova with the Russian National Academy of Sciences reported that more than half the babies from mother rats fed GM soy died within three weeks, while the death rate in the non-GM soy group was only 10 percent. Additionally, the babies in the GM group were smaller, and, worst of all, could not reproduce. In a telling coincidence, after Ermakova’s feeding trials were completed, her laboratory started feeding all the rats in the facility a commercial rat chow using GM soy. Within two months, the infant mortality facility-wide reached 55 percent…

Of course, in terms of reliability, there’s a big difference between corporate science, which tends to primarily favor and support corporate interests, and independent science, performed without preconceived bias.

Monsanto wants you to simply trust them because they’re “experts” and their industry-funded studies “prove” their GM foods are safe. But these same experts also told you PCB’s, Agent Orange, and DDT was safe, and we now know those claims were far from accurate. The industry will also attack independent researchers who attempt to tell you otherwise. The Global Citizen’s Report states:

“For example, Dr. Arpad Pusztai’s research has shown that rats fed with GE potatoes had enlarged pancreases, their brains had shrunk, and their immunity had been damaged. Dr. Eric Seralini’s research demonstrated that organ damage can occur. … The Biotechnology Industry attacked Dr. Pusztai and Dr. Seralini and every scientist who has done independent research on GMOs. GMOs cannot co-exist with the independence and freedom of science.”

There are too many health concerns relating to GM foods to list, but some of the most concerning uncovered to date include:

General toxicity Allergic reactions Provocation of inflammatory response
Damage to sperm cells Fertility problems Altered DNA functioning

As one of the most credentialed plant pathologists, Dr. Huber, professor emeritus at Purdue University says:

“When future historians come to write about our era they are not going to write about the tons of chemicals we did or didn’t apply. When it comes to glyphosate they are going to write about our willingness to sacrifice our children and to jeopardize our very existence by risking the sustainability of our agriculture; all based upon failed promises and flawed science. The only benefit is that it affects the bottom-line of a few companies. There’s no nutritional value.”

Your Non-GMO Action Plan: How to Say “No” to GMOs

At this point, there’s really no shortage of excellent information on the hazards of genetically modified foods. For more information, I highly recommend Jeffrey Smith’s books, Seeds of Deception, and Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, which provide overwhelming evidence that GM foods are unsafe and should never have been introduced in the first place. Smith is the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, whose Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to create the tipping point of consumer rejection of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) to rid them from our food supply.

Additionally, there are a number of films and videos available for viewing, including:

Hidden Dangers in Kid’s Meals, which is a powerful way for parents to get an initiation into the health dangers of GM foods
Your Milk on Drugs – Just Say No!, which exposes the dangers of GM bovine growth hormones. Any parent still feeding their child milk from cows injected with rBGH needs to see this film! They’ll never make the same mistake again…
Jeffrey Smith’s lecture: Everything You Have to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods

Since the U.S. government prevents the labeling of GM foods, it’s imperative to educate yourself on what they are, and to help spread awareness on how to avoid these foods. First and foremost, avoid most processed foods, unless it’s labeled USDA 100% Organic. You can also avoid GM foods that are not found in processed foods, if you know what to look for. There are currently eight genetically modified food crops on the market (plus GM alfalfa is used as an animal feed):

Soy Sugar from sugar beets
Corn Hawaiian papaya
Cottonseed (used in vegetable cooking oils) Some varieties of zucchini
Canola (canola oil) Crookneck squash

The free Non-GMO Shopping Guide is a great resource to help you determine which food brands and processed food products are GM-free. Print it out for yourself, and share it with everyone you know. If you feel more ambitious you can order the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure in bulk, and bring them to the grocery stores in your area. Talk to the owner or manager and get permission to post them in their store.

Additionally, to help you find non-GMO organically grown, wholesome food in your area, check out these helpful resources:

Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Local Harvest– This Web site will help you find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
USDA Farmer’s Markets database
Eat Well Guide: Wholesome Food from Healthy Animals — The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs from farms, stores, restaurants, inns, and hotels, and online outlets in the United States and Canada.
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) — CISA is dedicated to sustaining agriculture and promoting the products of small farms.
FoodRoutes — The FoodRoutes “Find Good Food” map can help you connect with local farmers to find the freshest, tastiest food possible. On their interactive map, you can find a listing for local farmers, CSA’s, and markets near you.

Important Action Item: Support California’s Ballot Initiative to Label GMO’s!

In 2007, then-Presidential candidate Obama promised to “immediately” require GM labeling if elected. So far, nothing of the sort has transpired.

Fortunately, 24 US states have (as part of their state governance) something called the Initiative Process, where residents can bring to ballot any law they want enacted, as long as it has sufficient support. California has been busy organizing just such a ballot initiative to get mandatory labeling for genetically engineered foods sold in their state. The proposed law will be on the ballot for 2012.

Michigan and Washington are also starting similar campaigns.

Since California is the 8th largest economy in the world, a win for the California Initiative would be a huge step forward, and would affect ingredients and labeling nation-wide. Last month, a coalition of consumer, public health and environmental organizations, food companies, and individuals submitted the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act to the State Attorney General. Now, they need 800,000 signatures to get the Act on next year’s ballot.

I urge you to get involved and help in any way you can.

If you live in California, volunteer to gather petition signatures. If you live outside of California, please donate to help support this Initiative and spread the word to everyone you know in California. Be assured that what happens in California will affect the remainder of the US states, so please support this important state initiative, even if you do not live there!

Reworking land to benefit the community. Denver school turns abandoned field into thousands of pounds of produce

I had written before about how we might choose to use public lands to grow our foods, such as portions of parks, your church’s immense lawns etc. Here is my previous article on taking back the land;

In this great article from Denver Colorado’s Doug Schepman a 7News reporter you will see a perfect example of this.

DENVER – Just eight months ago, a one-acre plot at the Denver Green School was an unused athletic field, but now that land has come to life with food-bearing vegetation.

“We have harvested over 3,000 pounds of produce from this ground. Lots of salad greens and root vegetables, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers,” said Megan Caley, the programs and outreach coordinator for Sprout City Farms.

“Kids are eating healthier,” said Frank Coyne, lead partner at the Denver Green School. “They are excited to eat the tomatoes on the salad bar, they are excited to eat the cucumbers.” Each week during harvest season, the farm produces 150 pounds of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables that end up in the school’s cafeteria.

Third-grader Justin Acosta said since the farm was built, he’s eaten more vegetables during lunch,

“Because it makes you healthy, it comes from the farm and we grew it together,” Justin said.

Building on the concept of community gardens on school grounds, Sprout City Farms created this project to introduce students to new foods and to show students where food comes from.

“One of my favorite parts was when we were digging the potatoes, and it’s just really interesting to put my hands on the vegetables and stuff,” said third-grader Stella Overby.

In addition to learning about agriculture, the farm helps teach other lessons as well.

“There are 180 kale plants here and they are in rows of three. So, we need to divide up 180 into three different groups,” said third-grade teacher Kartal Jaquette, who took his class outside to the farm for a math lesson.

“We wanted to be able to connect the outside world, the real world, to what’s happening inside the classroom,” Coyne said.

“It’s been extremely gratifying to see the kids out here. They are in constant awe and amazement of how food grows, and when they get to touch and really see how it happens, it’s a huge experience for them both educationally and emotionally,” said Chad Hagedorn, the farm manager for Sprout City Farms.

The farm was built at no cost to the Denver Green School. Sprout City Farms raised more than $20,000 for the project. Nearly half that amount came from “community supported agriculture” contracts, in which people pay a lump sum to receive fresh produce from the farm on a weekly basis.

The farm staff hopes the success at the Denver Green School inspires similar programs at other public schools.

“It’s a very replicable model and it could spread like wildfire throughout the state and country,” Caley said. “To turn this [land] into thousands and thousands of pounds of vegetables for the cafeteria is such a great use.”

GMO Crops Continually Banned Around the World in Display of Health Freedom

In this article from Activist Post, Anthony Gucciardi informs us of some great successes in the GMO battle, with countries and counties standing up against the GMO juggernaut. A case in point here in the USA, Colorado’s Boulder County was the latest health freedom hotspot to stand up against Monsanto and genetically modified produce, with Boulder County advisory committees announcing plans to phase out GMO crops on open space in pursuit of sustainable and ethical farming practices.

The county joins a long list of other political bodies that have banned, condemned, and even uprooted GMO crops across the globe.

Both the Food and Agriculture Policy Council and the Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee of Boulder Country voted 5-4 to phase out GMOs in an economically viable way. The transition proves that it is possible to be environmentally conscious, preserve the health of citizens, and still maintain economic stability.

Genetically modified corn has been growing on around 16,000 acres of cropland owned by the county for around a decade. In 2009, public concern over the consequences of GMO crops sparked public debate within the county. Citizens demanded that GMO crops be banned after 6 local farmers asked permission to plant sugar beets that were engineered to resist the herbicide Roundup. 

Nations Starting to Ban and Uproot GMO Crops

Hungary has gained international recognition for their bold stand against biotech giant Monsanto,destroying all Monsanto corn fields littered with GMO crops. The nation destroyed 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, which are banned in the country. Many of the farmers were actually shocked to find they were using GMO seeds, which are resulting in extreme environmental consequence.

Where is the good quality storable food out there?

As you probably know we launched the survive2thrive 40 day/night Organic storable food pail this summer in response to our customers requests for healthy storable food. We thank you all for your support of this product and the Enerhealth Botanicals company and thought you might enjoy this article from Natural News on the subject.

(NaturalNews) Are you as frustrated as I am with the GMO-laden, MSG-contaminated, soy-based storable foods industry? Over the past 18 months, I surveyed many of the big storable foods companies in the marketplace, hoping to find a company I could recommend as offering long-term storable foods that are certified organic, 100% non-GMO, 100% free of TVP and soy products, and 100% free of MSG, autolyzed yeast extract and other hidden forms of MSG.

To my great surprise, I discovered there is no such company, (They obviously had not heard about Enerhealth Botanicals or forgot about them) at least not to my knowledge. Sure, you can get storable food on the cheap from lots of companies, but if you actually read the ingredients, you’ll find they’re loaded with:

• Conventionally-produced corn and soy ingredients, which are almost always GMO.

• Autolyzed vegetable proteins, hydrolyzed ingredients, yeast extract and other hidden forms of MSG.

• Chemical preservatives and additives.

• Loads and loads of soy, often packaged as TVP (textured vegetable protein).

Personally, I won’t eat TVP, MSG, GMOs or chemical additives, and I don’t want these ingredients in my storable preparedness foods, either. I’m not going to name the companies that sell this stuff, because I’m not out to embarrass anyone. But I am out to educate you about the difference between processed “filler” storable foods versus high-quality, non-GMO, organic storable superfoods nutrition that can keep you alive during a crisis without poisoning you with chemicals and GMOs.

Bottom line? Read the ingredients of the stuff you’re considering buying. Watch out for TVP, hydrolyzed or autolyzed vegetable proteins. Watch out for conventional corn and soy products, which are almost always genetically modified. Know what you’re buying for emergency preparedness, or else you may end up putting away a bunch of food that you wouldn’t dare eat unless you were truly starving to death…

The catch in all this is that, as you might expect, high-end nutrition is inherently more expensive to produce than low-end TVP and processed, genetically modified foods.  That is true and yet the survive2thrive 40 day/night Organic storable food pail is a 40 day supply with almost 300 servings of highly nutritious foods.

Storable foods made with TVP are simply cheaper, and that’s because TVP is the No. 1 ingredient in prison food (http://www.naturalnews.com/034139_s…). Non-organic foods grown with pesticides are super cheap to produce. GMO soy and corn is essentially animal feed that’s used to fatten cows for slaughter. They are not, by any stretch of the imagination, survival foods or sources of high-end nutrition.

In an interesting way, however, cheap processed foods may play a strategic role in your preparedness strategy. For example, you might want some cheap foods to hand out to your neighbors who forgot to prepare, so you buy the TVP foods to have extra calories on hand to help those who didn’t prepare, while you stock up on the high-end non-GMO superfoods for your own personal and family use. It’s a reasonable approach to stretch your food storage dollars. I just wouldn’t store away GMOs and TVP for my own personal use or family use.

Next Page »