Acne.org Products
XX
The FDA is in the process of making some decision about the use of an antibiotic in factory farmed animals. We have until Tuesday to sent them letters/petitions. Here's one that all you have to do is add your name and click a button.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/antibiotic_comments/?r=5538059&id=35964-2061261-gR7RiFx
Judge Naomi Buchwald decided to dismiss the case of family farmers versus the chemical and biotech seed giant Monsanto.
Click here to add your support for the appeal: http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/judge_sides_with_monsanto/
Bill Gates invests in GM foods to end world hunger.
Just another example of focusing on the wrong things.
Let Congress know you support the labeling of foods that have been GM'd.
Article claiming that they've been sowing GMO'd seeds in National park/reserves and other federal lands:
the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has permitted GM seeds to be sown in wildlife reserves for several years now, as part of various habitat restoration efforts. The idea is that planting herbicide-resistant GM crops helps establish ground cover while allowing them to kill off unwanted weeds. PEER challenged this practice after being contacted by concerned Fish and Wildlife biologists, and claims it is being used as a ploy to boost exports of GM crops. According to Truthout:
http://www.truth-out.org/white-house-refuses-release-email-monsanto-linked-lobbyist/1329857360
Monsanto found guilty of chemical poisoning of farmers in France. The article also has a video of Obama making a promise to label products made from GM crops as a campaign promise back in 2007.
The Obama administration will respond if we get 11,000 more petition signatures by March 16 on the White House website. We can do this!
Almost two years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed new guidelines to reduce drug use in food animal production, but their target date to finalize the plan June 2011 has come and gone. If we can get 25,000 petition signatures by March 16, the White House will issue a response on this topic which we hope will encourage action by the FDA.
Our petition asks the Obama administration and FDA to keep their promise to limit the injudicious uses of antibiotics in food animal production. Together, we can demonstrate that there is great concern across the country about the misuse and overuse of antibiotics in industrial farming and that action must be taken to protect these life-saving drugs.
I'm having trouble logging in so I can sign this, but if you have the ability to edit or add comments, be sure to say that the solution is to get the animals back out into pastures where they belong and where it is healthier for them and for us. We would also be able to grow far less grains and soy since we won't need it for animal feed. And that will benefit because it means more acreage for vegetables, less monocropping, less monsanto, and less artificial fertilizers that get into our waterways and cause dead zones. Especially with corn which is a low yield per acre crop that requires tons of nitrogen.
Another article with links to petitions on DOW chemical's Agent-Orange resistant corn:
The attempt in California to require all GMO products to be labeled is asking for donations so they can get as many people as possible out on the street gathering signatures for the petition by April 22nd. If you are in California, sign the petition!
http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/utr/1/IOBURMLVLI/OWQPRMLYZD/8036373336
Article stating that research published in a German journal said that significant concentrations of the chemical glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, have been detected in human urine samples of city dwellers. The source for that is in German, but the article does also have many links to various studies on the harm caused by glyphosate.
According to this Wall street journal article, Nestle and others are working on learning all about how the Enteric Nervous system, 'the second brain' in your gut, works so they can add things to your food to trick it to induce satiety. And of course, the authors of this article consider it a good thing.
http://online.wsj.co...1864235672.html
Fortunately, they are talking about processed foods that you can just not buy. Unlike with the unlabeled GMO foods or in the future where the GMO crops have ruined the DNA of everything else.
Some of you might want to sign this petition for their announcement of a new policy in which they focus on truth rather than trying to present a false 'balance' of both sides in an argument the way that most of our news media does. When the overwhelming evidence seems to point to one side of the argument, they will say so. Perhaps this will help get truth out about food and health.
Instead of focusing on reporting the truth, too many news outlets have decided their job is to tell the competing sides of any given story, no matter how unsupported by the facts one side may be.
In a positive move, National Public Radio recently issued new editorial guidelines rejecting this false balance. Disavowing the worst excesses of "he said, she said" journalism, NPR's new code of ethics states that "if the balance of evidence in a matter of controversy weighs heavily on one side, we acknowledge it in our reports." This is an important step to curing what has become an endemic plague of false fairness in American journalism.
Other countries are smart enough to avoid GMOd crops/foods:
- In Germany, massive resistance to genetically engineered (GE) foods, both among politicians and the general public, has caused chemical giant BASF to move its genetically modified plant science headquarters from Germany to Raleigh, North Carolina
- In the United States, the vast majority of all corn, soy, canola and cottonseed grown are genetically engineered, which means virtually every processed food you encounter at your local supermarket that does not bear the "100% USDA Organic" label is likely to contain at least one GE component
- Last year, Mexico denied Monsantos request to expand a pilot planting project in the northern part of the country for fear that the genetically modified variety might cross-contaminate with other native species, and Hungary destroyed nearly 1,000 acres of maize found to be contaminated with GE seeds, to prevent cross-contamination to other fields
And I'm always hearing about various incidents in France where they ban this or prosecute that.
FYI, while Mexico doesn't allow growing GMO crops in Mexico, because of NAFTA, they can't stop cheaper subsidized GMO corn from the U.S. being sold there. And they sell it as whole dried kernals, aka seeds, because that's how the people use it to make corn tortillas. And those seeds get dropped in yards and along roads where they grow and then contaminate the hundreds of varieties of corn the natives have been growing for thousands of years, ruining it. So the poor farmers have to search their fields for any deformed ear of corn and get rid of the plant before the pollen can spread.
And here, an article about a plan to genetically engineer goats to provide vaccines in their milk: http://articles.merc...20320_DNL_art_2
There's a lot of new information coming out in the past few weeks about the dangers of GMO's
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Bt_Toxin_Kills_Human_Kidney_Cells.php
Last one is important especially, they've found that the Bt pesticide genetically implanted into corn kills kidney cells.
Honestly, I'm just glad GMO's affect corn and soy for the most part. I've never thought corn tasted good, and I can live without soy.
Good article on CAFOs summarizing all the badness: the cruelty, how our government supports Big Ag while hindering small farmers, how unhealthy it is, the environmental harm, etc.
So, on March 31 the FDA is supposed to consider if they should ban BPA from food packaging. click here to send a letter in support:
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/bpa_packaging/?r=5542065&id=37171-2061261-JW9iJ5x
badseed.info - Website supposedly dedicated to telling the truth about our food.
Link goes straight to an article about the French finding Monsanto guilty of poisoning farmers:
http://www.badseed.i...nch-farmer.html
BUT!!! - it also has this really radical article about Bill Gates support of Monsanto claiming the family has a history of trying to control world systems
The Gates Foundation, aka the tax-exempt Gates Family Trust, is currently in the process of spending billions of dollars in the name of humanitarianism to establish a global food monopoly dominated by genetically-modified (GM) crops and seeds. And based on the Gates familys history of involvement in world affairs, it appears that one of its main goals besides simply establishing corporate control of the worlds food supply is to reduce the worlds population by a significant amount in the process.
It then goes on to knock Gate's Sr's support of Planned Parenthood which it claims is also trying to reduce world population. (As if that was a bad thing. I am all for reducing world population. That's why I love a lot of post-apocolyyptic movies.) so take the site with a grade of salt.
Also, on the home page:
GMO Corn Kills Human Kidney Cells
So, on March 31 the FDA is supposed to consider if they should ban BPA from food packaging. click here to send a letter in support:
http://act.credoacti...2061261-JW9iJ5x
48 hours left.
Right now we have 48 hours left to tell President Obama and the FDA that its time to label genetically engineered foods on a legal petition filed with the FDA by the Just Label It coalition. Tomorrow is the deadline to make comment, please add your voice today!
- Share on Facebook
- Post on Twitter
- Pass along this message via email -- click here or use the draft message below.
Last year a Canadian study discovered that insecticide toxins from genetically engineered (GMO) crops were found in the blood of 93% of blood samples taken from pregnant women and 80% umbilical cords tested. Monsanto has maintained that these toxins in their crops would never affect the food supply or affect humans, but can we trust them? Today 88% of corn and 94% of soybeans are genetically engineered. How could this be affecting you and your family?
For the past 20 years, Americans have been denied the basic right to know whats in our food, despite the fact that nearly 50 countries around the world already require labeling of genetically engineered food.
Unlike America, countries such as Russia and China label GMOs, allowing their citizens the fundamental right to know what theyre eating! Why not the U.S.? Because giant biotech and seed companies like Monsanto have written the rules for our governmental regulatory agencies and paid billions in lobbying, PR and campaign donations over the past two decades.
Please pass this link onto your friends:
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/554?akid=496.94302.NFyUvC&t=5
Thank you for participating in food democracy,
If you want for there to be uncontaminated food and clean air and water in the world, you need to start getting involved in environmental protection, energy conservation and sustainability. And to just plain use less stuff and waste less energy. Don't buy it.
The mercury in the fish and acidification of the oceans that kills fish are caused by burning fossil fuels. Massive amounts of formerly clean water are used to extract fossil fuels and cool nuclear power plants. Mountains are pulverized (which pollutes water) to obtain coal, not to mention gold and other metals for your jewelry, cell phones and gadgets, etc. Buy resale. Buy refurbished. And keep things for a while. You don't need the latest and greatest every 4 months.
Big food involves farming and agricultural practices that damage the environment and are unhealthy and unsustainable.
I could go on and on, but here's an opportunity to encourage the EPA to puts some limits on dirty energy:
https://secure2.edf.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1955&autologin=true&utm_source=EDF%20action%20network&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=advocacy&JServSessionIdr004=ijpeoh34n8.app304b
Please explain to me how organic, grass-fed, non GM farms can affordably feed a exponentially increasing world population of 6.8 billion.
Organic/grass fed/non GM food is extremely expensive to produce. It's extremely inefficient in terms of output. Subsidies on vegetables and fruits are irrelevant, seeing as they are coming directly from your pocket in the form of taxation anyways. Vegetables are not expensive, unless people buy the afformentioned "premium" brands. They are at a premium because those types of farms are no longer practical for feeding the world, and have been phased out long ago.
I write this as I eat a bag of baby carrots. The bag isn't labeled organic and I'm sure they are GM in some way. And frankly, I don't see a problem with it.
Also, I don't know about you... but I can't find a burger for a buck anymore! They are all 3-4 dollars everywhere I go =[
Please explain to me how organic, grass-fed, non GM farms can affordably feed a exponentially increasing world population of 6.8 billion.
First of all, GM crops do not produce more food. And better farming methods were not phased out due to any lack of practicality. In fact they haven't been phased out. It;s just that most of our food now is produced by large corporations trying to make as much profit as possible without regard to the harm they were doing to the soil, and water. Things that are kind of important to our future ability to grow food. Not to mention ability to obtain it from the wild, i.e. fish.
CAFO and monocropping practices by these corporations is not sustainable and the whole system is going to collapse. And Polyculture methods practiced by smaller farms actually can produce more food with rotation of seasonal crops throughout the year.
Besides, the GM crops and most of our agricultural lands (in this country anyway) produce mostly grains used to produce the empty calories that make everyone sick and to feed animals that then need to be fed tons of antibiotics because they are sick from their unnatural diets and living conditions.
We will need less food when we 1) eat real food rather than empty calories. and 2) stop wasting so much food. We throw away half of what is produced. And pig out on far more than we need.
Also, we'd be able to produce more food on the land we have if we didn't waste so much of it. Such as in the lawns American's want around their houses so they can constantly mow, water and dump chemicals on it.
Besides, the world isn't suffering from a shortage of food. The issue is a lack of access, not a lack of abundance.
And there are more that 6.8 billion people in the world. Don't get me started on overpopulation. And burgers are a buck at McDonald's, not that that's relevant. There's no reason why your burger should be that cheap and many reasons why it shouldn't. Just like with cheap energy. We aren't paying the true cost.
I agree with your sentiments, don't get me wrong. I want to the world to be a healthier, cleaner place as well. But are we being realistic or idealistic here?
First of all, GM crops do not produce more food.
This is direct from wikipedia:
" A 2010 article supported by CropLife International summarised the results of 49 peer reviewed studies on GM crops worldwide.[56][57] On average, farmers in developed countries experienced increase in yield of 6% and in underdeveloped countries of 29%. Tillage was decreased by 25“58% on herbicide resistant soybeans, insecticide applications on Bt crops were reduced by 14“76% and 72% of farmers worldwide experienced positive economic results. "
And better farming methods were not phased out due to any lack of practicality. In fact they haven't been phased out. It;s just that most of our food now is produced by large corporations trying to make as much profit as possible without regard to the harm they were doing to the soil, and water. Things that are kind of important to our future ability to grow food. Not to mention ability to obtain it from the wild, i.e. fish.
Again, I will restate that I agree Americans should eat less beef, and less in general. But all the legislation in the world will not prevent people from consuming what they want to consume. (see prohibition)
These are statistics from beefusa.org:
" Number of herds: 742,000
- 30.9 million beef cows
- 26.7 million feeder calves "
As long as the demand is there, production must be raised accordingly. You must be realistic and conceed that the demand for excess will always be there for people who can afford it. It has been this way for thousands of years. The wealthiest will consume more, because they can. The USA for example, is very wealthy.
CAFO and monocropping practices by these corporations is not sustainable and the whole system is going to collapse. And Polyculture methods practiced by smaller farms actually can produce more food with rotation of seasonal crops throughout the year.
Polyculture requires that humans bend to the will of the land. To only produce that which is natural and sustainable to that particular climate. In this day and age the fundamentals of supply and demand, in tandem with the expanding world population require the opposite approach: bending the land to our will in order to satisfy the wants and needs of the people.
Besides, the GM crops and most of our agricultural lands (in this country anyway) are mostly grains used to produce the empty calories that make everyone sick and to feed animals that then need to be fed tons of antibiotics because they are sick from their unnatural diets and living conditions.
While this is disturbing and not the ideal method of raising livestock, it is simply another natural consequence of the worlds increasing sense of entitlement to have more for less.
We will need less food when we 1) eat real food rather than empty calories. and 2) stop wasting so much food. We throw away half of what is produced. And pig out on far more than we need.
Again, it's been this way for thousands of years. As long as the world has wealth, the world will choose to use it for excess. This is a lovely dream, but nothing more. We should focus on finding real solutions that take into consideration and accept the fundamental natures of humans.
And burgers are a buck at McDonald's, not that that's relevant.
You call those burgers? 
The reality is research in genetic modification will continue to advance, and crop yields will continue to increase as third world countries gradually industrialize and begin to expect a new higher standard of living. A higher standard of living means more food required per capita, and more food means more efficient production. China is one example. A country full of farms. Do you think those people will remain farmers as the standard of living goes up? When actually given a choice, but what do you think they will choose? Be honest with yourself, and face the reality of our world's situation.
This will be the continuing trend until the day we invent Star Trek replicators. And I'm certain there will be much opposition to that as well, when the day finally comes! =P
If anybody really wants to change the world, focus on changing the minds of the people. Not the government!
If the people demand grass-fed, non GM, organic, self-sustainable food, the producers will find a way to supply it.
If anybody really wants to change the world, focus on changing the minds of the people. Not the government!
If the people demand grass-fed, non GM, organic, self-sustainable food, the producers will find a way to supply it.
That would be what we are doing.. ????
Also,
CropLife International is an international federation of agricultural biotechnology companies. It was previously known asGlobal Crop Protection Federation and International Group of National Associations of Manufacturers of Agrochemical Products. CropLife International is mainly driven by BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, FMC Corp.,Monsanto, Sumitomo and Syngenta.[2] These companies are sometimes referred to as Big Ag.
Direct from wikipedia.
You are citing Big Ag propaganda as truth??? Also, you are still talking about crops used primarily to make processed food with empty calories or are used to raise sick animals.
I don't consider McDonald's to be food. And I still don't understand the relevance of the burger talk. ????
I agree with your sentiments, don't get me wrong. I want to the world to be a healthier, cleaner place as well. But are we being realistic or idealistic here?
Again, I have to say: ?????? So don't be part of the problem. Odds are pretty good that you are younger than me. You will have to deal with the consequences more than I.