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Agriculture Beneficials in the garden Garden Tips and Ideas Organic Gardening Self-Reliability Sustainability The Science Of Growing

Better Yield and Soil Health with Intercropping: The Benefits of Growing Crops Together

Intercropping is a farming technique in which multiple crops are grown together in the same field. This method has been used for centuries and has numerous benefits for the soil, crops, and the environment.

Here are some of the benefits of intercropping:

  1. Increased Yield: Intercropping can increase yield by making the most efficient use of available space, light, and resources. By growing multiple crops together, farmers can make use of different root systems, growth patterns, and nutrient requirements to optimize their use of the land.
  2. Soil Fertility: Intercropping can help to improve soil fertility by adding organic matter to the soil and fixing nitrogen. Leguminous crops, such as beans or clover, can help to fix nitrogen in the soil, which can be used by subsequent crops.
  3. Weed Suppression: Intercropping can help to suppress weeds by competing with them for light, water, and nutrients. This can make it easier to control weeds and reduce the need for herbicides.
  4. Pest Control: Intercropping can also help to control pests by attracting beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and lacewings, which feed on harmful insects. Additionally, different crops can have different susceptibility to pests, so intercropping can help to reduce the spread of pests.
  5. Biodiversity: Intercropping can help to increase biodiversity in the agricultural landscape, which is important for the health of the ecosystem. By growing multiple crops together, farmers can promote a healthy and diverse ecosystem.

In order to get the most benefits from intercropping, it is important to choose the right crops for your area and to plant them at the right time. It is also important to consider the specific needs of each crop and to carefully manage the intercrop mixture.

By incorporating intercropping into your agricultural practices, you can help to increase yield, improve soil fertility, suppress weeds, and control pests. Whether you are a small-scale farmer or a large-scale producer, intercropping can be a valuable tool for improving the health of your soil and the environment.

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Agriculture Beneficials in the garden

The Benefits of Cover Cropping: Improving Soil Health and Biodiversity

Cover cropping is a technique in which farmers grow crops specifically for the purpose of improving the soil, rather than for harvest. This method involves planting cover crops, such as clover, rye, or vetch, in between regular crops in order to provide numerous benefits for the soil and the environment.

Here are some of the benefits of cover cropping:

  1. Soil Fertility: Cover crops help to add organic matter to the soil, which can improve soil structure, water retention, and fertility. They also help to fix nitrogen in the soil, making it available for future crops to use.
  2. Weed Suppression: Cover crops can help to suppress weeds by competing with them for light, water, and nutrients. They can also help to reduce the growth of harmful weeds by creating a thick canopy that shades the ground.
  3. Soil Erosion Control: Cover crops can help to reduce soil erosion by holding the soil in place and improving the soil structure. This is especially important in areas with high wind or heavy rainfall.
  4. Pest Control: Cover crops can also help to control pests by attracting beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and lacewings, which feed on harmful insects. They can also help to reduce the growth of harmful pathogens in the soil.
  5. Biodiversity: Cover cropping can help to increase biodiversity in the agricultural landscape, which is important for the health of the ecosystem.

In order to get the most benefits from cover cropping, it is important to choose the right cover crops for your area and to plant them at the right time. It is also important to terminate the cover crop before it goes to seed, in order to avoid the spread of unwanted plants.

By incorporating cover cropping into your agricultural practices, you can help to improve the health of your soil, reduce the growth of weeds and harmful pathogens, and promote biodiversity in the agricultural landscape. Whether you are a small-scale farmer or a large-scale producer, cover cropping can be a valuable tool for improving the health of your soil and the environment.

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Agriculture Composting Garden Tips and Ideas Organic Gardening The Science Of Growing

5 Organic Farming Techniques for a Thriving Harvest

Organic farming is a method of agriculture that prioritizes the use of natural processes and materials to cultivate crops. This approach not only benefits the environment, but also results in healthier and more flavorful produce. Here are five organic farming techniques to help you achieve a thriving harvest:

  1. Cover Cropping: Cover cropping is a technique that involves planting cover crops, such as clover or rye, in between harvest cycles to add nutrients back into the soil, suppress weeds, and improve soil structure.
  2. Composting: Composting is the process of breaking down organic material, such as food scraps, yard waste, and animal manure, into a nutrient-rich soil amendment. This technique adds essential nutrients back into the soil and helps improve soil structure and water retention.
  3. Crop Rotation: Crop rotation is a technique that involves rotating crops from year to year in order to minimize pest and disease pressure, improve soil fertility, and prevent soil depletion.
  4. Intercropping: Intercropping is the practice of planting two or more crops together in the same field. This technique helps to improve soil fertility, suppress weeds, and increase overall yields.
  5. Natural Pest Management: Organic farmers rely on natural pest management techniques, such as companion planting, releasing beneficial insects, and using natural pest repellents, to control pests and diseases. These methods are safer for the environment and more sustainable than using chemical pesticides.

By incorporating these five organic farming techniques into your farming practices, you can achieve a thriving harvest while also benefiting the environment and promoting sustainable agriculture.

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Agriculture Anti-Monsanto GMO crops Organic Gardening Real Food vs. Fake Food

Can organic crops compete with industrial agriculture?

organicharvest

A systematic overview of more than 100 studies comparing organic and conventional farming finds that the crop yields of organic agriculture are higher than previously thought. The study, conducted by UC Berkeley researchers, also found that certain practices could further shrink the productivity gap between organic crops and conventional farming.

 

The study, to be published online Wednesday, Dec. 10, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, tackles the lingering perception that organic farming, while offering an environmentally sustainable alternative to chemically intensive agriculture, cannot produce enough food to satisfy the world’s appetite.

“In terms of comparing productivity among the two techniques, this paper sets the record straight on the comparison between organic and conventional agriculture,” said the study’s senior author, Claire Kremen, professor of environmental science, policy and management and co-director of the Berkeley Food Institute. “With global food needs predicted to greatly increase in the next 50 years, it’s critical to look more closely at organic farming, because aside from the environmental impacts of industrial agriculture, the ability of synthetic fertilizers to increase crop yields has been declining.”

The researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 115 studies — a dataset three times greater than previously published work — comparing organic and conventional agriculture. They found that organic yields are about 19.2 percent lower than conventional ones, a smaller difference than in previous estimates.

The researchers pointed out that the available studies comparing farming methods were often biased in favor of conventional agriculture, so this estimate of the yield gap is likely overestimated. They also found that taking into account methods that optimize the productivity of organic agriculture could minimize the yield gap. They specifically highlighted two agricultural practices, multi-cropping (growing several crops together on the same field) and crop rotation, that would substantially reduce the organic-to-conventional yield gap to 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

The yields also depended upon the type of crop grown, the researchers found. There were no significant differences in organic and conventional yields for leguminous crops, such as beans, peas and lentils, for instance.

Continue reading at UC Berkeley.

 

Categories
Activism Agriculture Consuming Less Environmentalism Sustainability

6 Green Living Principles Every Household Should Learn (The Basics)

By: Guest Contributor, Jonathan James More

Sometimes, you are presented with too many ideas on how to maintain sustainability in your living space and are unsure which ones are the most effective. The challenge is to put those concepts together and come up with the best game plan for a greener living.

Here are 6 green living principles your household should learn and live by.

1. Your Electricity Bill Tells a Lot

You can start at home. Try to consume less energy and you’ll realize that it will not only benefit the environment, but it would also yield higher savings for your family. Use natural sunlight rather than electricity during the day. Sunlight is a great source of vitamin D and can boost your mood.

2. Meals Should Be Well-planned

Obesity rate among children ages 2-5 decreased 43% in the past 10 years, based on a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February 2014. This means that healthier habits are being practiced by more Americans. Do your part by preparing healthy and delicious organic food that your kids would like. As much as possible, have a good estimate of the food you will prepare for your family to avoid throwing away leftovers.

3. Make Play Time More Fun

Aside from preparing healthier meals on the table, you should also be concerned about your kids’ physical and mental development. Being active in the playground allows children to run around freely with other kids. Having fun playground time is one great trick that can prevent your children from watching too much TV, or playing too often using electronic gadgets, or spending too much time in front of the computer. Allow them to exercise at the playground with other kids in your community to make play time more enjoyable for them. Look for commercial playground equipment that would not only address their playground fitness, but also develop their cognitive and social skills.

4. Reduce Waste

Do your share by purchasing items in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging. Buying reusable items rather than disposable single-use products can also help in avoiding waste. And when doing the groceries, bring tote bags to avoid the use of plastic bags.

5. Transform Waste into Treasure

Look for second-hand furniture or previously-owned home pieces that are useful and in great condition. If there are unused toys or old clothes that do not fit anymore, hand them down to other people in need. Donating them to the less fortunate is better than just throwing them away. Glass and plastic bottles are good for decorating the house. Use your creativity and give the house a makeover.

6. Grow Greens

If you have a spacious backyard, consider growing various vegetables in it. This can be a source of food available for your household, so you don’t need to buy them when you do your grocery shopping. If you do not have a yard where you can plant a fruit tree, you can still create a small herb garden. Grow them in a pot and place it on the front porch or windowsill. It’ll be a fun learning experience for the kids to watch the plants grow as well.

Jonathan James More is a medical writer. Connect with him via @JJMore022.

Categories
Agriculture Beneficials in the garden Garden Tips and Ideas Nature Organic Gardening Sustainability The Science Of Growing Urban Gardening

Azospirillum Brasilense Bacteria (Azos) And Why Every Gardner Needs It.

Once again this is an example of how one must feed the SOIL not the plant. Nature has already thought of everything you need and provided it somehow, all you have to do is learn to restore what has been lost. Many fungi and bacteria have been killed off by spraying and other pressures of modern Western life. So here is a knowledge bomb of one of the hardest working bacteria in your garden, and maybe on the planet,

Azospirillum Brasilense, commonly referred to as Azos or A.Brasilense, is one of the most well-studied plant growth promoting bacteria. It is considered a free-living soil bacterium that has the ability to affect the growth of numerous agricultural crops worldwide through the excretion of various hormones and the bacteria’s ability of nitrogen fixation.

Pull Nitrogen From Thin Air.

Even though you and I breath oxygen and plants breath carbon dioxide, the atmosphere is actually comprised of around 80% nitrogen which is in the form of N2 atmospheric nitrogen that is not conventionally available to plants. Nitrogen is a key component in growing anything. it drives chlorophyll production keeping the plants dark green and happy. It is a huge part of amino acids and other compounds that keep your plants strong and healthy. It is a part of every major protein molecule, and yet soil is often lacking enough N. Chemical fertilizer could provide this N, but they are expensive and can be dangerous.

 

Somewhere along the evolutionary development of the “Plant – Soil – Microbial Matrix”, certain bacteria began to specialize in tasks to enhance plant growth, which in return provided the microbes with a food source exchange opportunity.  A select group of bacteria classified as “Diazotrophs” began to supply nitrogen to plants from a range of sources, including decomposed plant litter, dead micro-organisms, and sequestration of atmospheric nitrogen.

Azos is a particularly efficient agent originally isolated in the Amazon Basin where the lack of soil, the reapid breakdown of any vegetation by hungry microbes, and the environmental conditions which require growth to survive is a fundamental proposition of the ecosystem. Azos specialized in the highly-efficient conversion of the N2 form of nitrogen into plant-available NH3 ammoniacal nitrogen. Azos is so efficient that between 50-percent and 70-percent of all the nitrogen required by most crops can be supplied by this organism. Azos benefit to plants is not limited nitrogen-fixation alone. Azos also acts as a growth simulant, catalyzing the release of a natural growth hormone in plants. This naturally-released hormone increases root development and optimized the harvest potential of your garden. Together, Azos and mycorrhizae fungi work symbiotically to help ordinary plants become the fullest they can be (read about mycorrhizae in this post).

Azos can be used as a cloning solution, though I have not tried it personally.

So grab some for your spring transplants and improve your crop this summer.

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Agriculture Beneficials in the garden Garden Tips and Ideas Nature Organic Gardening Sustainability The Science Of Growing Urban Gardening

Top 5 Reasons To Use Mycorrhizae, Friendly Fungi And Fabulous Friends For Gardeners

Do you want way to naturally and organically produce more food from your garden or farm. Well, nature provides. Mycorrhizae is a fungi that will rock the roots of most plants and show a HUGE gain in size and yield. In combination with Azos bacteria, the two can nearly grow a plant in anything. So here is some info and The Top 5 Reasons To Use Mycorrhizae.

Top 5 Reasons To Use Mycorrhizae In Your Garden.

5. Can give your plants up to 10000% more root mass (yes 10000%!)

4. It makes a plant heartier and more resistant to drought, pests and disease.

3. Use less water to grow even better plants.

2. Use less compost and fertilizer, meaning less work, energy and waste go into your garden.

1. Plant yield and growth will explode!

Runner Up: They look really cool when you see them pop up on your seedlings.

 

 

Mycorrhizae (or Myco’s for short) form a mutually beneficial relationship with the roots of most plant species. Let me simplify the science. The fungus colonizes roots of plants and breaks down certain nutrients for the plant, in return for those nutrients the plant feeds the fungus the sugars it so craves, its just a fungus with a sweet tooth looking for its next fix, which it is willing to work for.  The mechanisms of increased absorption are both physical and chemical. Mycorrhizal mycelia, tiny little hairs which you can see on the roots, are much smaller in diameter than the smallest root, and thus can explore a greater amount of soil, providing a larger root mass for absorption of water and nutrients. While only a small proportion of all species has been examined, 95% of those plant families are predominantly mycorrhizal. And here is the real kicker, it may be myco’s that allowed waterborne plants to move to the dry land many millions of years ago!

Mycorrhizae should be everywhere, but due to pollution, runoff, pesticides, herbicides and anti-fungal sprays, mycos are missing in many gardens and raised beds, not to mention all indoor potted plants that are started with sterile soil.

Two Types, Two Jobs, Too Easy

There are two types of mycos, endo and ecto. Rather than bore you with my poorly explained science, I will simply tell you that endomycorrizae are for most vegetable and fruit species in your garden (spinach and lettuce type plants do not colonize with it, though it will not hurt them either), and ecto are for a lot of trees and some flowers such as roses and orchids. I just generally get a mix of ecto and endo so that it can both colonize the plant I am planting and rebuild the soil by possibly colonizing other areas and plants.

Technically there is a third type, but it is for bogs and not commonly sold or needed.

You can spray on myco, you can use it as a root inoculate when you transplant or plant, or you can “drill’ a small hole in the soil and spray or sprinkle some in the hole for existing plants. The key is to get it in contact with the roots.

So have heavier yields with less fertilizers and compost for less than $20 an acre. And I will give you a little tip that the guy at the garden center may not. You can use a small amount of myco and culture it in your potting soil, use it in house plants and then put that medium in the garden when done recycling the myco or you can even grow your own with certain grasses etc, but I just find it easier to buy a box or two a year (about a pound) for our whole farm to use.

Here is a good video if you want more info, the more you know, the more you can grow.

Research shows that the lack of mycorrhizal fungi can create problems with many plants, shrubs and trees when they are growing in our gardens, so make sure you get some before this spring.

 

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Anti-Monsanto GMO crops pestecide

Misgivings About How a Weed Killer Affects the Soil

Here’s another reason to put an end glyphosate; it could be damaging the soil itself.

Source: New York Times

Misgivings About How a Weed Killer Affects the Soil

David Eggen for The New York Times

Jon Kiel, left, and Verlyn Sneller of the agriculture company Verity with a corn stalk produced without a glyphosate-based herbicide.

By 

ALTON, Iowa — The puny, yellow corn stalks stand like weary sentries on one boundary of Dennis Von Arb’s field here.

David Eggen for The New York Times

Dennis von Arb, near Orange City, Iowa, is concerned about the use of glyphosate on crops.

On a windy day this spring, his neighbor sprayed glyphosate on his fields, and some of the herbicide blew onto Mr. Von Arb’s conventionally grown corn, killing the first few rows.

He’s more concerned, though, about the soil. During heavy rains in the summer, the runoff from his neighbor’s farm soaked his fields with glyphosate-laden water.

“Anything you put on the land affects the chemistry and biology of the land, and that’s a powerful pesticide,” Mr. Von Arb said.

But 20 miles down the road, Brad Vermeer brushes aside such concerns.

He grows “traited,” or biotech, corn and soy on some 1,500 acres and estimates that his yield would fall by 20 percent if he switched to conventional crops and stopped using glyphosate, known by brand names like Roundup and Buccaneer.

In short, it is just too profitable to give up.

“Local agronomists are starting to say we have to get away from Roundup,” Mr. Vermeer said. “But they’re going to have to show me that conventional genetics can produce the same income.”

The local differences over glyphosate are feeding the long-running debate over biotech crops, which currently account for roughly 90 percent of the corn, soybeans and sugar beets grown in the United States.

While regulators and many scientists say biotech crops are no different from their conventional cousins, others worry that they are damaging the environment and human health. The battle is being waged at the polls, with ballot initiatives to require labeling ofgenetically modified foods; in courtrooms, where lawyers want to undo patents on biotech seeds; and on supermarket shelves containing products promoting conventionally grown ingredients.

Now, some farmers are taking a closer look at their soil.

First patented by Monsanto as a herbicide in 1974, glyphosate has helped revolutionize farming by making it easier and cheaper to grow crops. The use of the herbicide has grown exponentially, along with biotech crops.

The pervasive use, though, is prompting some concerns.

Critics point, in part, to the rise of so-called superweeds, which are more resistant to the herbicide. To fight them, farmers sometimes have to spray the toxic herbicide two to three times during the growing season.

Then there is the feel of the soil.

Dirt in two fields around Alton where biotech corn was being grown was hard and compact. Prying corn stalks from the soil with a shovel was difficult, and when the plants finally came up, their roots were trapped in a chunk of dirt. Once freed, the roots spread out flat like a fan and were studded with only a few nodules, which are critical to the exchange of nutrients.

In comparison, conventional corn in adjacent fields could be tugged from the ground by hand, and dirt with the consistency of wet coffee grounds fell off the corn plants’ knobby roots.

“Because glyphosate moves into the soil from the plant, it seems to affect the rhizosphere, the ecology around the root zone, which in turn can affect plant health,” said Robert Kremer, a scientist at the United States Agriculture Department, who has studied the impact of glyphosate on soybeans for more than a decade and has warned of the herbicide’s impact on soil health.

Like the human microbiome, the plants’ roots systems rely on a complex system of bacteria, fungi and minerals in the soil. The combination, in the right balance, helps protect the crops from diseases and improves photosynthesis.

In some studies, scientists have found that a big selling point for the pesticide — that it binds tightly to minerals in the soil, like calcium, boron and manganese, thus preventing runoff — also means it competes with plants for those nutrients. Other research indicates that glyphosate can alter the mix of bacteria and fungi that interact with plant root systems, making them more susceptible to parasites and pathogens.

“Antibiotics kill bacteria or reduce their growth, but some of those bacteria are useful,” said Verlyn Sneller, president of Verity, a small company that sells sugar-based fertilizers and water systems and works to persuade farmers like Mr. Vermeer to switch to conventional crops.

But research detailing the adverse effects with glyphosate is limited, and other studies counter such findings.

Monsanto, which sells Roundup and seeds resistant to glyphosate, says “there is no credible evidence” that the herbicide “causes extended adverse effects to microbial processes in soil.” A team of scientists from the Agriculture Department similarly reviewedmuch of the research and found the herbicide to be fairly benign. In response to a request from Monsanto, the Environmental Protection Agency recently increased the amount of glyphosate that is allowed on food and feed crops.

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“Another factor that weighed on our minds quite a bit was that when you look at the yields of the three major glyphosate-resistant crops — corn, soybeans and cotton — there’s generally been a trend upwards that hasn’t changed since they were adopted,” said Stephen O. Duke, one of the U.S.D.A. scientists who worked on the review. “If there was a significant problem, I don’t think you’d see that.”

David Eggen for The New York Times

The roots appear healthier on the conventionally raised plant, right.

In defending the herbicide, Monsanto scientists and others cite research that has found that mineral deficiencies caused by glyphosate can be mitigated with soil additives. They also point to studies showing that the increase in plant diseases — which some have attributed to the use of the herbicide — instead could be linked to weaknesses in the variety of the plant that was chosen for genetic modification, or to the rise of “no-till” farming, which leaves plant materials that harbor pathogens on top of the soil where they can infect the next crop.

The company and the government continue to assess the impact of the herbicide.

The U.S.D.A. is conducting studies in Illinois, Mississippi and Maryland. Earlier this year, Monsanto bought parts of a company founded by J. Craig Venter, the first scientist to sequence the human genome, as part of an effort to develop microbes and other “agricultural biologicals.” The foray into microbes, said Robert T. Fraley, Monsanto’s chief technologist, is to improve yield and address some of the issues raised about glyphosate.

Until the debate is settled, some farmers in the Corn Belt are rethinking their methods.

Several years ago, Mike Verhoef switched to biotech corn and soybeans on his 330 acres in Sanborn, Iowa. He regularly rotated the two crops with oats, which are not genetically engineered, to help replenish the nutrients in the soil.

Almost immediately, he said problems emerged. He noticed that his soil was becoming harder and more compact, requiring a bigger tractor — and more gas — to pull the same equipment across it. The yield on his oats also dropped over time by about half.

“It took me that long to figure out what was going on,” Mr. Verhoef said. “What I was using to treat the traited corn and soy was doing something to my soil that was killing off my oats.”

Two years ago, he gave up and started growing conventional crops again. He is now working with Verity to improve soil quality and says his yields of conventional corn and soy are “average to above average” compared with neighbors growing biotech crops. It does take a bit more work, he acknowledges, since he has to walk his fields and figure out what mix of products is needed to treat the issues.

Although a neighbor told him that he would go broke growing conventional crops, Mr. Verhoef has no plans to go back to genetically engineered varieties. “So far, so good,” Mr. Verhoef said. “I’m not turning back, because I haven’t seen anything that is going to change my mind about glyphosate.”

 

Categories
Activism Agriculture Anti-Monsanto Environmentalism GMO crops Real Food vs. Fake Food

Monsanto Exec. Wins World Food Prize For Creating GMO's

WFPLogo

In a seemingly crazy decision, a Monsanto executive is winning this year’s “Nobel Prize of agriculture” the formerly prestigious World Food Prize, and he is getting it basically for creating GMOs. Awarding it for this harmful science legitimizes the sort of rampant genetic modification Monsanto pioneered, and helps validate a ruthless business model that impoverishes farmers and monopolizes our food.

Often hailed as the Nobel Prize of food, the World Food Prize has received as much attention this week for its ties to industrial agriculture and genetically modified (GM) crops as it has for honoring those who feed the poor. The WFP has been a magnet for worldwide criticism since June, when it announced its laureates.One of them was Robert Fraley, an executive at the biotech corporation Monsanto, which has been at the center of a number of controversies over GM crops. Fraley shared the honor with Syngenta scientist Mary-Bell Chilton and Plant Genetic Systems co-founder Marc Van Montagu, fellow pioneers in the development of high-yield GM crops resistant to disease, pests and harsh climates.

Oh but we are not done yet! The founder of Syngenta, the same biotech giant joining Bayer in suing Europe to keep selling bee-killing pesticides, will also win the prize,and with it, a share of the $250,000 prize money. This prize has legitimized GMO’s and bee killers.

Winning this prize will encourage the wider use of genetically engineered crops and be a huge obstacle to those fighting to investigate the long-term effects of its GMO’s, which is exactly what Monsanto wants.

From 1999 to 2011, Monsanto donated $380,000 (PDF) to the World Food Prize Foundation in addition to a $5 million contribution in 2008 to help renovate the Hall of Laureates, a public museum honoring Borlaug. The donations have prompted accusations that Monsanto essentially bought Fraley’s award — a charge denied by the foundation.

Rat-Tumor-Monsanto-GMO-Cancer-Study-3-Wide

The picture above is from a study that was published in The Food & Chemical Toxicology Journal.

The study was led by a man named Gilles-Eric Seralini from the University of Caen and it was the first ever study to examine the long-term effects of eating GMOs.

Some quotes from the report:

“The animals on the GM diet suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage. The researchers said 50 percent of males and 70 percent of females died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group.”

“Scientists found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts, developed mammary tumors and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males, and seven months for females.”

You might want to think twice when choosing food and seeds, and also before trusting the World food prize.
Does it sound like this man deserves an award?
Some more sources to check out.
http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/topics/technology-and-supply-chain/monsanto-weedkiller-and-gm-maize-in-shocking-cancer-study/232603.article
 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2205509/Fresh-fears-GM-foods-French-study-finds-rats-fed-controversial-crops-suffered-tumours-multiple-organ-failure.html
The international journal of biological sciences:
 http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm
And if you live in California – Prop 37 is still pushing to label these foods:
http://www.carighttoknow.org/

 

Categories
Activism Environmentalism GMO crops Real Food vs. Fake Food

March Against Monsanto Planned Worldwide 10/12/13

Photo by: Meghann Prouse
Photo by: Meghann Prouse

March Against Monsanto.

Today I talked to Jenn a co-organizer of March Against Monsanto, a grassroots action group based in St. Louis Missouri, but with chapters and solidarity marches in cities from Boston to LA, Minneapolis to Miami and all over the world. Monsanto’s US headquarters is based in St. Louis, In fact more than 400 marches will take place on Saturday October 12th, with future marches planned in the spring. The last march in spring of 2013 millions of people all around the world took part.

So why are so many people marching against Monsanto? My personal reasons are clear, after our dog recently died due to Roundup exposure, but why would millions march against this company?

According to Jenn; “Our big goal is to raise awareness of GMO’s and Monsanto’s crimes”

“Our biggest problem is industry funded Monsanto science. There is a ton of science that proves how dangerous GMO’s and Monsanto’s products are.”
In 1996 the New York Attorney General fined Monsanto $50,000 for false claims and extracted a promise from Monsanto to never again advertise in the state that Roundup is safe. This is just one example in the last 20+ years where deceptive advertising and lobbyists smear and stretch the truth until forced to do otherwise. In addition to this the EPA has thrown out several studies over the years finding them flawed. While that is a good thing the time it take to form and start a new study can be long, and the companies involved are allowed to use and sell their products in the meantime.

As the sign in the picture shows, Monsanto has been victimizing America for profits for a LONG time.
We need a Rachel Carson “Silent Spring” moment here, she fought against DDT, now it’s time for us to pick up the mantle and March Against Monsanto and their proven poisons.