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The system circles the wagons…
..for 20 years I’ve been railing against glysophate…a chemical herbicide that Monsanto has been selling worldwide under the trade name “Round-up”. A number of studies have identified it as a carcinogen and a few farmers have successfully sued Monsanto for damages. Now however the EPA has declared glysophate entirely safe, putting millions of dollars in court awards in jeopardy. And more than that our health in jeopardy…particularly because glysophate/Round-up is invariably used in growing GMO foods. In short, glysophate is spread on almost all the vegetables we eat folks and the government, Big Chemicals and Big Ag are going to keep it that way. Joel Saladin is a natural grower…
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Sometimes you gotta wonder….
….if that old joke isn’t true….that among the three greatest lies is “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you”. It seems the feds devote their greatest effort to what isn’t a problem…..finding ways to nitpick small farms and processors when all the bad food is coming out of the industrial food chain. Just today our CSA farmer told me he can’t eat hamburger because his stomach can’t handle it. I told him that’s because he wasn’t really eating ground beef….but a conglomeration of junk from around the world. (Yes, “Certified Angus Beef” isn’t all Angus). Several of our customers who couldn’t eat beef happily down Thistle Hill…
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Et tu, Vladimir….
….finally, Monsanto has met its match! (Thanks to Lois Aylestock of Blue Ridge Meats for the link) http://www.ewao.com/a/russia-decided-ban-use-genetically-modified-ingredients-food-production/
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What could possibly go wrong…..
….we keep coming up with new ways of killing ourselves. Genetically modified organisms again. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-sound-alarm-over-supercharged-gm-organisms-which-could-spread-in-the-wild-and-cause-environmental-disasters-10434010.html
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The GMO crossroads….
….at least that’s what nationally-renowned food blogger Dr. Joseph Mercola calls it. Vermont won it’s battle recently to require that Big Ag label all genetically modified products. The food giants…led by the grocers’ association…has been financing and campaign to block labeling and now is placing its money on politicians in Washington (always a safe bet). The House is considering a bill that would ban individual states from requiring the GMO label and Dr. Mercola thinks this is the fight that counts. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/05/11/gmo-labeling-pompeo-bill.aspx I’m somewhat less optimistic that Big Ag (and their buddies in the USDA) can be stopped. As the old saying goes….when it comes to government, there are too…
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Settled science….
….as a former professional skeptic (read, reporter) I always get suspicious when someone says “settled science”. I’ve given up far too much coffee, wine, butter and bacon over my wasted years to ever again believe there is such a thing. But below a writer (gasp, from one of my former networks) builds a powerful argument that the argument is over….genetically modified foods have won! Anyone who blogs and doesn’t agree is a paid hack for the organic lobby. Well, I wasn’t aware the “organic lobby” has enough money to spread around among journalists but I’ll check my mailbox later. Meanwhile, in the interest of fairness, here is the link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2014/09/23/will-the-us-national-academy-of-sciences-fumble-its-reassessment-of-gmos/ Actually, my…
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Round-up (glysophate) is just about everywhere…
….we’ve made the point here that genetically-modified foods may or may not pose a health risk, but there’s no doubt that the wide-spread use of Monsanto’s Round-up in raising GMO crops certainly does. It’s also true that wheat farmers apply heavy doses of Round-up in their fields….and right before harvest….though wheat is not a GMO crop. And Dr. Joseph Mercola believes the increased use of Round-up is linked to the increased incidence of celiac disease. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/09/14/glyphosate-celiac-disease-connection.aspx
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Look up chutzpah….
….and you’ll find the Monsanto logo. The evil genius of this gigantic corporation is demonstrated anew with its campaign to co-opt the National Honeybee Day. Bees, like butterflies, have rapidly been disappearing from the planet…a critical threat to growers around the world. As reported by Dr. Joseph Mercola, Monsanto moved in (as it has into the White House) to claim it wanted nothing more than to save the bees. Turns out Monsanto has as much clout with the British ag department, DEFRA, as it has with our own USDA. It’s clear that they have corrupted the entire regulatory process with the enthusiastic cooperation of universities and government bureaucrats. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/09/02/save-bees-against-monsanto.aspx
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GMO foods…the extra ingredient…
….it’s never mentioned by supporters of GMO products….it’s not only the “food of the future” but “the wonder food”….perfectly. Never said is that the only way these GMO foods get raised is with ever-increasing applications of herbicides. As the saying goes, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”. Here’s Dr. Joseph Mercola’s take: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/08/19/gm-crops-pesticides-herbicides.aspx And just like humans, animals are what they eat. That GMO grain is in the meat and poultry you eat, too. Thistle Hill makes sure that our pigs eat only non-GMO feed; our cows eat no grain, just alfalfa.
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On pork….
….we took guests this weekend to a nearby farm store. As fellow pig breeders, I thought they would be interested in another approach to marketing pork. We’d tasted the sausage before and appreciated the flavor but without endorsing the management technique of using regular genetically-modified grain, plus day-old bread from a bakery (not only GM flour but other unknowns including chemical preservatives and flavoring) and finally “scraps”. Still this is the typical way most farmers raise their pigs in the local ag community and it’s certainly better than the industrial pork that makes up the sausage you buy at the store or eat in restaurants. Here’s an excerpt from the “River…