News regarding the dangers of GMOs and biotech, and the advantages of organic sustainable agriculture.
YOU the Taxpayer are Funding the Agri Business Takeover of our Food Supply
When the United States was founded in the 1700s, about 90% of the U.S. population was employed in agriculture. By the time of the Civil War, when Abraham Lincoln served as President of the United States, about 50% of the population was employed in agriculture. Today, less than 1% of our population is employed in agriculture, and most of the food sold in the U.S., and even around the world, is controlled by just a handful of companies. Who controls the food supply in the U.S. today, and how did they come to be so powerful? Unfortunately, we are blaming everyone and everything for the poor quality of our food today, except for the ones who have actually caused this to happen. Unless we understand the true cause of the problem, and the real solutions, nothing will change.
Tell the FDA to Stop Their Plan of Banning Outdoor Access to Organic Laying Hens
The FDA is zeroing in on egg farmers who provide outdoor access (required in certified organic production) for their flocks. The agency has issued a Draft Guidance that will make it difficult, expensive and perhaps even impossible to maintain medium-sized poultry flocks outdoors. This could spell the end for commercial-scale, truly organic eggs where hens live outdoors, free to exhibit their native behaviors, as required by the USDA’s organic regulations. The FDA’s guidance seeks to prevent outbreaks of Salmonella Enteritidis in shell eggs, and was sparked by a major 2010 salmonella outbreak in eggs, centered on “factory farms” in Iowa, confining tens of thousands of hens indoors in filthy and dangerous conditions. The fact is, based on published-reviewed research, that the biggest risk to human health comes from caged hens in giant factory farms—not organic birds enjoying a good life outdoors! Read more, and make your voice heard before September 23rd!
GM Canola out of Control: New Combinations of DNA Never Approved Being Found
Testbiotech has published a global overview of countries where there has been an uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered oilseed rape (canola). The countries include Canada, the US, Japan, Australia, and Europe. In many cases the plants have escaped far beyond the fields into the environment. In some cases, the transgenes have moved into populations of wild relatives. Furthermore, new combinations of DNA constructs have been found which were never approved for release into the environment.
The Monsanto Protection Act is BACK!
Last March, what the world has been calling the “Monsanto Protection Act”, was inserted at the last minute into a “must-pass” funding bill to keep the government running through the use of a congressional tool known as a Continuing Resolution (CR). The so-called Farmer Assurance Provision—misnamed because, frankly, the only ones who are assured about anything are GMO manufacturers like Monsanto—actually strips federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of potentially hazardous genetically engineered crops while USDA is performing an environmental impact statement. It’s a huge blow to the justice system, completely overriding judicial safeguards that protect both farmers and the public. The emergency funding period (and with it, this sneak provision) ends September 30, but since Congress has been unable to pass their appropriations bills, they will try to extend the CR as another stop-gap to prevent total government shutdown. Not surprisingly, the same noxious language has already appeared in the House Appropriations CR that was nearly voted upon last week! However, because it’s so controversial and Congress is afraid of citizen backlash, that bill is still sitting in the House—just waiting for the right opportunity to be pushed through. Help us put an end to this underhanded end-run around the courts once and for all.
BREAKING: Study Links Roundup ‘Weedkiller’ To Overgrowth of Deadly Fungal Toxins
A new study reveals that Roundup herbicide enhances the growth of aflatoxin-producing fungi, lending an explanation for the alarming increase in fungal toxins recently discovered in U.S corn, and revealing another way in which GM farming is seriously undermining food quality and our health.
Big Ag: Don’t Ban Pesticides over Bee Population, Mass Produce High Fructose Corn Syrup and Factory Farm Bees
Instead of getting rid of the pesticides that are killing the bees, the ag industry wants to create a big new market for high-fructose corn syrup. Since 2006, up to 40% of the bee colonies in the US have suffered Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and neonicotinoid pesticides are to blame. Rather than the agriculture industry addressing the pesticide issue, they are now creating factory farmed bee hives, where the bees are fed sugar and high-fructose corn syrup instead of honey (both of which will contain GMOs). Studies of GMO grains on small mammals show that offspring become sterile by the third generation. What if all the bees were to suddenly stop reproducing?
Antibiotics in Animal Feed Pose a Serious Risk to Human Health
In the US, animals raised in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are also continuously given low-dose antibiotics in their feed because it makes the animals get bigger faster. In other parts of the world, such as the European Union, the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal feed has been banned for years. Routine antibiotic use in animal food production is likely worsening the epidemic of antibiotic-resistant disease. A recent study showed industrial pig workers were found to be carrying pig MRSA, a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria -- and that farmers at pig farms that use antibiotics are more likely to contract MRSA from the pigs than workers at antibiotic-free farms.
USDA Wants to Eliminate Poultry Inspectors for Factory Birds
Besides the obvious food safety concerns expressed by Ken Ward, a former USDA poultry inspector, there is quite possibly a far greater risk here in this new USDA plan to privatize poultry inspection. This rule change may exclude small pastured poultry producers from being able to comply and market their products, thereby eliminating your option to buy chickens raised outdoors on pasture.
Prosecution of Peaceful Farmers Continues Across U.S.
State regulatory agencies are increasingly targeting and prosecuting peaceful farmers who provide fresh, healthful food to ready and willing co-op members. The war against raw milk and other small farmers is an issue of government and big business trying to interfere with your right to access pure food from the producers of your choice. This is a tragic situation, indeed, as well as a serious threat to your ability to purchase food from small, independent farmers.
U.S. Government Wants More Farmers so They Can Join the Military – Not Grow Food
In a recent meeting attended by Joel Salatin, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stated that it was concerning that rural America now only represented 16 percent of the population, because it gives 40 percent of the personnel to the military. According to Salatin, the USDA goal of increasing the nation's farmers is not about food, healing the land, or stewarding precious soil and resources; it's all about making sure we keep a steady stream of youngsters going into the military.
Dangerous Banned GMO Corn Suddenly Appears in Food Supply
StarLink™ maize, the first genetically modified organism to be pulled off the market over a decade ago due to safety concerns, was recently found to be contaminating food products in Saudi Arabia. Does this mean that an illegal form of GM corn is still being produced in the US? And if so, renewed testing of US corn-containing products intended for human consumption both domestically and abroad should be initiated immediately.
Scientists Discover Fungicide and Pesticide are Killing Bees―and It’s Worse Than You Thought
Researchers analyzed pollen from bee hives and found 35 different pesticides along with high fungicide loads. Each sample contained, on average, nine different pesticides and fungicides, although one contained 21 different chemicals. While previously assumed to be safe for bees, bees fed pollen contaminated with high levels of fungicides had a significant decline in the ability to resist infection with the Nosema ceranae parasite, which has been implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). In the US, the “Save America’s Pollinators Act” has been introduced; if passed, this bill, HR 2692, would require the EPA to pull neonicotinoid pesticides, also implicated in bee die-offs, from the market until their safety is proven.
Is the FDA Trying to Destroy the Pastured Egg Industry?
Recent guidance from the FDA will place an impossible burden on farmers who raise true free-range chickens. The FDA guidance suggests that farmers must cover their outdoor pastures with either roofing or netting, or use noise cannons to scare away wild birds. Perhaps it has escaped FDA that noise cannons would also scare the chickens? Or that putting a roof over a multi-acre pasture is not only cost-prohibitive, but would prevent rain and sun from reaching the living things in the pasture? The FDA also advocates walls around the pasture, to prevent mice, rats, and cats from entering, and then put a roof over it. That’s right—walls and roofing. In other words, they want the chickens to be kept in a building! This completely contradicts what “free-range” is supposed to be about!
SWAT Team Raids Peaceful Organic Farmers in Texas
Inhabitants of The Garden of Eden, a small Intentional Community based on Sustainability, were awakened by a SWAT raid conducted by the City of Arlington for suspicion of being a full fledged marijuana growth and trafficking operation. Ultimately only a single arrest was made based on unrelated outstanding traffic violations, a handful of citations were given for city code violations, and zero drug related violations were found. All 8 adults present in the house were initially handcuffed at the gunpoint of heavily armed SWAT officers, including the mother of a 22 month old and a two week old baby who was separated from her children during the raid. The police enforced activity on the day of the raid included mowing the grass, the forcible destruction of both wild and cultivated plants like blackberries, lamb’s quarters and okra, and the removal of other varied materials from around the premises such as pallets, tires and cardboard that the Community members say they had collected for use in sustainability projects. No marijuana or other drugs were found on site. The entire operation lasted about 10 hours and involved many dozens of city officials, SWAT team, police officers and code compliance employees, and numerous official vehicles including dozens of police cars and several specialized vehicular equipment that was involved in the “abatement” operation. Witnesses say that there were helicopters and unmanned flying drones circling the property in the days prior to the raid that are presumed to have been a part of the intelligence gathering. The combined expenses for the raid itself and the collection of information leading up to the fruitless raid are estimated in the tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
Goats Replace Herbicides at Historic Washington, DC Landmark
Over 100 goats have been tasked with controlling poison ivy, ground cover, vines and other invasive weeds at the Congressional Cemetery. The Association for the Preservation of The Historic Congressional Cemetery partnered with Eco-Goats to control the invasive species that threaten large mature trees, which can fall and damage headstones. In addition to their weed-managing services, the goats provide free fertilizer, aerate the soil with their hooves, and eliminate the need for chemicals.
Why GMOs Can Never Be Safe
Monsanto is the world leader in GM crops, and their website would have you believe that they are the answer to world hunger. Thanks to their heavy PR campaign, if you’ve been primarily a reader of the mainstream press, you’ve probably been misled into thinking GM crops are, in fact, the greatest thing since sliced bread, that they provide better yields of equal or better quality food, pest and weed resistance, reduced reliance on pesticides, and more… But thankfully, the truth is unfolding and the tide is finally beginning to turn. The Organic Prepper recently highlighted 10 GM myths that Monsanto wants you to believe … but which are actually far from the truth.
The FDA Should not be Put in Charge of our Farms
Three years ago major concessions were won for small farmers, including an exemption for producers making less than $500,000 a year in sales who also sold most of their food locally. Now it’s all in danger. The FDA had proposed two troubling Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules that will drastically hurt small farms. The first one concerns standards for the growing and harvesting of raw agricultural produce, exempting foods that are sterilized by irradiation (even though “nuking” it harms the food’s nutritional value can cause a wide range of health problems). Obviously, organic foods cannot be irradiated, so they will never be exempted. The second amended the FDA’s Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP) guidelines by creating hazards analysis requirements and risk-based protections with lots of detailed recordkeeping. Most farmers will likely need a team of lawyers to make sure they’re complying with the new rule properly. The new rules are written in vague language and geared to discriminate against small farmers and food producers who wish to diversify, as well as give the FDA the right to revoke the above exemption for small farms or facilities, even if there is no proof that the farm is the cause of the outbreak, and even though there may not be an immediate threat to public health!
Norway Issues Warnings About Health Dangers of Farmed Salmon
During the first two weeks of June, reports of farmed salmon toxicity spread through Norwegian news, and on June 16, the Norwegian Health Department actually went on the record warning against eating too much farmed salmon. A large European study involving about 8,000 newborns found that pregnant women with high levels of toxins in their bodies tend to give birth to children with lower birth weight, which in and of itself may have an adverse on the child’s health.
FDA/USDA Begin to Take Action that Could Eliminate Organic Pastured Poultry in Favor of Factory Birds
The government threat to restricting or even eventually eliminating organic pastured chickens is back. Not only is the idea that organic pastured poultry are more dangerous than confined factory birds ridiculous, but the practice of continuing to allow factory chickens to continue using the UDSA organic certification without meeting the requirement of allowing the birds outdoor access, continues to this day. Cheap factory chickens and turkeys fed cheap government subsidized corn, soy, and wheat (much of which is genetically modified) is a big business in the U.S. So don't expect the market of humanely raised poultry outdoors on pastures and organic non-GMO feed to increase too much without a fight from Big Ag and the government agencies that protect them.
Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship Program Seeks to Train More Grass-fed Dairy Farmers
The dairy industry is an important part of Wisconsin's economy, its culture, and its future. Today the state has about 12,000 dairy farms, but each year 500 of those farms go out of business. The average age of farmers is 57 years old and many of these farmers do not have an identified successor. Meanwhile, aspiring dairy farmers face significant barriers to farm ownership. If farm loss continues at the current rate, the dairy industry and the rural communities that depend on it could be decimated in a generation. Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship—the first accredited Apprenticeship for farming in the nation—was specifically created to address this challenge. The Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship of GrassWorks, Inc., is dedicated to providing a guided pathway to independent dairy farm ownership, developing grazing careers, and strengthening the economic and environmental well-being of rural communities and the dairy industry.