News Quest – A Search For Truth

Monsanto is one of the biggest chemical companies in the world, providing 90% of the world’s genetically modified crops.

The documentary,“The World According to Monsanto” (links below) was directed by independent filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin. She reveals the long track record of environmental crimes and health scandals associated with Monsanto and it’s products which include, genetically modified seeds, crops and herbicides. Ms. Robin reports that Monsanto operates a revolving door of top consultants and employees between its corporation and the Whitehouse. It is dominating the worlds genetically modified crops, buying up seed companies and dominating world markets through misleading advertising, bribery and concealing pertinent scientific evidence.

On the GREENPEACE website it talks about this documentary saying :

“Over the last decade, Monsanto aggressively bought up over 50 seed companies around the globe. Seeds are the source of all food. Whoever owns the seeds, owns the food. The process of genetic engineering allows companies, such as Monsanto, to claim patent rights over seeds. Ninety percent of all GE seeds planted in the world are patented by Monsanto and hence controlled by them.

Patents on seeds give companies like Monsanto unprecedented power. Monsanto prohibits farmers saving patented GE seeds from one crop to replant the next season, an age-old practice. To ensure that farmers do not reuse seeds, Monsanto created its own ‘gene police’, and encourages farmers to turn in their neighbors.

Even farmers that do not use GE seeds are not safe. According to an investigative report by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) farmers have even been sued for patent infringement after their field was contaminated by pollen or seed from someone else’s GE crop.

But Monsanto’s influence doesn’t stop at the US border. “The world according to Monsanto”, documents the devastating impact of Monsanto’s malpractices around the world. Among others, it includes the real-life stories of cotton farmers in India that ended up in hopeless debts after using Monsanto genetically engineered (so called Bt) cotton, and of a family in Paraguay, South America whose dreams have turned to nightmares after their farm became surrounded by fields planted with Monsanto’s GE soya. ”

This documentary was very thorough and very eye opening. If it doesn’t make you more careful of the foods you buy, the seeds you buy and the crops you grow .. it should.

The documentary on YouTube in 10 parts:

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vMWf0t1_ss
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGIZhzohUeA
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di2zAOHJkRw
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWMh2FTnK04
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzWu1z1a-48
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc7oq-jA7bM
7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J6WA819FXU
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WueG_LoOne4
9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KIDoVIb8fI
10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVSndl5Smlk

Tags: GE crops, genetically modified, GMO, GMO crops

An article on fresnobee.com reports that California beekeepers have noted another decrease in the bee colonies, worse than they had seen before.

Roger Everett, the president of the California State Beekeepers Association, has lost 50% of his nearly 6,000 bee colonies. “It is kind of scary,” Everett says.

Bee colonies are required to pollinate the more than 650,000 acres of almond groves. Colony collapse disorder is characterized by a sudden drop in a bee colony’s population and the inexplicable absence of dead bees. After several mild years, it has resurfaced in California.

The ocean’s are showing lower levels of oxygen and acidity which in turn threatens the balance of undersea ecosystems and the food chain.

According to an article on Piscoweb.org (Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans) “The ocean is more acidic due to increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; predictions are for a warmer and even more acidic ocean. Numerous studies have shown that more acid has great biological impacts.” Dead zones and ocean acidification are two major threats facing the ocean on the west coast of North America.

Oceanographer Gregory Johnson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle, says that the low oxygen content (also known as hypoxia) has always existed in the deeper parts of the oceans. Recently, however, this hypoxia is moving towards the oceans surface and spreading. “The depletion of oxygen levels in all three oceans (the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans) is striking,” Johnson says.

For more information:

www.mcclatchydc.com

PISCO

Tags: ecosystems, oceans

You may have heard the recent news about the tomato crop failure due to the unusually cold winter in Florida. Perhaps we will be seeing more and more of crop failures due to weather or other causes. It’s a good idea to start yourself a garden.

One method I found extremely helpful is SQUARE FOOT GARDENING. If you don’t have a lot of space this is a perfect method. I happen to have land, but I am on a mountaintop and it’s very rocky land. I used the Square Foot Gardening method and built two raised gardens. I also use hanging baskets for beans and tomatoes.

I built a home made composting bin to recycle my scraps which becomes a good fertilizer for my gardens.

Gardening is relaxing, a family oriented hobby, free and healthy food and rewarding. No matter if you are a family of one or more, it’s wise to have a garden, recycle and compost your scraps, and save your seeds !!!! Be sure to buy heritage or open-pollinated heirloom seeds that have not been genetically modified. Find out if there is a “seed saver” group in your county where you can swap organic, non GMO seeds with others in your community. Your can find resources here:
http://www.seedsavers.org/

Here is an extremely helpful resource for Square Foot Gardening … it has all the information you need to grow healthy, organic vegetables, herbs and fruit in the least amount of space:

Making a compost bin from a garbage can is a simple process that requires air flow in the trash and can be accomplished by drilling holes in the trash can’s sides. Here is a how-to video:

As for soil, the Square Foot Gardener book does have some very useful information. What I did was I drove to the local sawmill and filled some plastic bags with sawdust (they gave it to me for free, I had to do the shoveling). Then I went to a local farm that raised goats (livestock manures can be valuable additions to soil) and got some goat manure, which was also full of wonderful earth worms. It is best to allow three months between adding any livestock manure to your soil and the harvesting of any root crops or leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach to guard against contamination. (Tall crops such as corn and trellised tomatoes should be okay.) I mixed the manure and sawdust together with some soil and WahLah … rich fertile soil.

Here is an excellent article from The Mother Earth News on 8 Steps for How to Make Better Garden Soil.

Make sure you and/or your family has access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Learning how to can food is the next step in the process and will stock your shelves with food.

Tags: composting, gardening

ONE MAN, ONE COW, ONE PLANET is a celebration of the work of biodynamic pioneer Peter Proctor and the amazing success of marginal farmers across India: as they save their soils, their communities and their lives with organic and biodynamic agricultural.

One Man, One Cow, One Planet

PREVIEW:

An inspirational fight against the modern agricultural enslavement of indigenous farmers. Big corporations are devastating crop production through chemicals and genetically modified crops. This is the an astounding look at a pure and sustainable solution to these evils. A film which is beautifully written and well worth a look.

Tags: farming, food supply, gardening