October 3, 2012 - ▶ MONSANTO WANTS TO TURN FOOD CROPS INTO GENE-ALTERING 'DRUGS".The Monsanto company has forged a new partnership with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company whose primary focus seems to be on figuring out how to best crack the genetic code so as to manipulate the way genes inherently express themselves. And based on the agreement the two companies have made publicly with one another, it appears as though Monsanto is planning to utilize Alnylam's proprietary gene-silencing technologies in its emerging agricultural pursuits, which will likely spawn a whole new category of problems for humanity and the planet at large. Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037409_Monsanto_gene_silencing_pharmaceuticals.html#ixzz28IvnNsl
- ▶ GROWING PHARMACEUTICALS IN GMO PLANT REQUIRES NEW, STRICT REGULATIONS AND OVERSIGHT - PATENT MONOPOLIEShttp://sco.lt/7KM4qv
\What Are The Human and Environmental Health Mishap Cross-Pollination Threats to the Natural World and Other Species Coming In contact with these GMO plants grown in open fields? (pollinators, birds, animals, insects). How Will They Be Regulated, Labeled and What Oversight Exists? How will we know if the food plants we are eating are modified or "drug" contaminated?
▶ PESTICIDE-LADEN POT: THE DANGERS OF LURKING CONTAMINANTS AND PESTICIDES WITH COMPROMISED IMMUNE SYSTEMS. Humboldt State University, Jeffrey Raber said a recent study he conducted found that up to 70 percent of the pesticides found on a marijuana bud can transfer to the smoke being inhaled.."It's much like injecting it directly into your blood stream.”...
...especially in the medical patient context,” Raber said. “These are people that are immunocompromised, they're undergoing chemotherapy, they're very sick with antibacterial loads. We can't be subjecting them to more of these types of potentially harmful contaminants when they're looking to this as a medicine source.” http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_24628828/what-are-you-smoking-study-finds-pesticides-transfer
▶ MONSANTO, GMO, LEGISLATION: THE CORPORATIZATION OF MARIJUANA IN THE USAhttp://sco.lt/4xaV4T
- ▶ OBESITY, CANCER, DIABETES - TOXIC PROCESSED FOODS, CHEMICALS, PESTICIDES, GENE-ALTERED FOOD: WHAT ARE WE EATING? With little or no independent peer reviewed research are we embarking on a dangerous human experiment that may alter the human genes for generations to come?
▶ OWNING THE SEEDS OF LIFE: SEED PATENTS AND CONTROL OF YOUR FOOD: THE GLOBAL CORPORATE MONOPOLYhttp://sco.lt/6FiLkv
The Economic Times, November 25, 2013 ▶ NOW "MUTAGENESIS" - AS OPPOSITION TO GM CROPS GROWS, COMPANIES ARE TURNING TO "MUTANT" SEED BREEDING
Mutagenesis deletes and rearranges hundreds or thousands of genes randomly, spawning mutations that are less precise than GMOs. ... The process, which faces almost no regulation, creates opportunities for companies to grab a bigger share of the $34 billion global commercial seed market. But some scientists say mutant crops are more likely to pose health risks than genetically modified ones.
All breeding techniques can create plants with increased levels of naturally occurring toxins or with proteins known to cause allergic reactions....Reports from the National Academy of Sciences, representing the consensus of experts in the field, say the risk of creating unintended health effects is greater from mutagenesis than any other technique, including genetic modification. ...
▶ PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY PATENTING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE ON PLANT-BASED MEDICINES, WITHOUT COMPENSATION. THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE
The European Parliament is debating a draft biopiracy law requiring industry to compensate indigenous people if it makes commercial use of local knowledge such as plant-based medicines... from the predatory attitude of big European Pharmaceutical companies http://www.euractiv.com/health/eu-mulls-biopiracy-law-news-519381
- ▶ “FATALLY FLAWED" FDA ASSESSMENT TO UNLEASH PATENTED GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SALMON ONTO YOUR DINNER PLATE: NO REGULATION, NO OVERSIGHT, NO LABELINGhttp://sco.lt/7Ksakj
▶ HOW BIOTECH CORPORATIONS AND GMO CROPS ARE THREATENING THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMANKIND ALIKEhttp://sco.lt/7OmezB
THIS GRAND EXPERIMENT ON HUMANITY MUST STOP: GMO Bill Gates Funds Risky, Untested, Unregulated Vitamin Fortified Bananas and Ricehttp://sco.lt/6CZccT
▶ DOWN ON THE FARM:The first years of the twenty-first century will be remembered for a global land rush of nearly unprecedented scale. An estimated 500 million acres, an area eight times the size of Britain, was reported bought or leased across the developing world between 2000 and 2011, often at the expense of local food security and land rights. When the price of food spiked in 2008, pushing the number of hungry people in the world to over one billion, the interest of investors spiked as well, and within a year foreign land deals in the developing world rose by a staggering 200 percent. Today, enthusiasm for agriculture borders on speculative mania. Driven by everything from rising food prices to growing demand for biofuel, the financial sector is taking an interest in farmland as never before. As the Oakland Institute reported in 2012, a new generation of institutional investors—including hedge funds, private equity, pension funds, and university endowments—is eager to capitalize on global farmland as a new and highly desirable asset class...http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/down-on-the-farm
INVESTIGATION Foreign Policy, July 11, 2014 WHEN WALL STREET WENT TO AFRICA http://sco.lt/6jxBxZ
Environmental Health News, February 12, 2014
-▶ CORPORATIONS, INVESTORS GRABBING LAND AND WATER OVERSEAS. As a growing population stresses the world's food and water supplies, corporations and investors in wealthy countries are buying up foreign farmland and the freshwater perks that come with it. From Sudan to Indonesia, most of the land lies in poverty-stricken regions, so experts warn that this widespread purchasing could expand the gap between developed and developing countries. The “water grabbing” by corporations amounts to 454 billion cubic meters per year globally, according to a new study by environmental scientists. That’s about 5 percent of the water the world uses annually. For countries reliant on farming and already suffering from poverty, the potential impacts are huge, said Paolo D’Odorico, a University of Virginia professor. “In many of these countries, the sum of the water being grabbed would be enough to eliminate malnourishment,” he said. Some of the more active buyers in the United States, which leads the pack in number of deals, include multinational investors Nile Trading and Development, BHP Billiton, Unitech and media magnate Ted Turner, according to the researchers. Most purchasers are agricultural, biofuel and timber investors.http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2013/land-grabbing
-▶ STOP FEEDING THE BEAST AND START FEEDING THE PEOPLE. We have a system of predatory agriculture in which corporations pursue private gain relentlessly regardless of the social consequences. Social consequences can be defined as anything from polluting our water, land and air to impacting the health of our families to making the business of farming economically unsustainable.http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/22/stop-feeding-beast-start-feeding-people/
Food and Environment Reporting Network, April 02, 2014 -▶ PLOWED UNDER. Across the Western Plains, native grassland is being turned into farmland at a rate not seen since the 1920s. The environmental consequences could be disastrous. - See more athttp://thefern.org/2014/04/plowed-under/
Action Aid Report, May 23, 2014 ▶ GLOBAL POLICIES ENCOURAGE LAND GRABBING AND WORSEN HUNGER AND POVERTY.“Allowing land to become vehicles for wealthy corporations and individuals to become richer while pushing vulnerable rural people into poverty and hunger is unjust, unwise and unethical,” it said in the report. http://www.trust.org/item/20140523061928-bn12w/
-▶ MASSIVE LAND GRABBING BY MULTINATIONAL FIRMS PREVALENT IN UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES AND WILL GET WORSE WITH TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
At present, some 1.5 million hectares of land are primed for lease to foreign countries, and the Philippine government is set to open more agricultural lands to monopoly corporations of the United States, European Union, South Korea and Australia. Lawmakers in the Philippines are pushing for amendments to the 1987 Constitution to allow 100 percent foreign ownership of land. This is reportedly a condition set on the Philippine government before being accepted to the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), a trade pact being organized by the US government. - See more at: http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/22386#sthash.xl4kiTPB.dpuf
▶ FOOD, SLAVE LABOR AND THE WALMARTIZATION OF AGRICULTURE AND AMERICAhttp://sco.lt/8oSVBx
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-▶ OUR INDUSTRIAL, WESTERN AGRICULTURAL FOOD SYSTEM IS DESTROYING THE EARTH AND OUR HEALTHhttp://sco.lt/63qRl3
Guardian Global Development, February 18, 2014 ▶ THE G8 AND THE CORPORATE TAKE OVER OF AFRICAN FARMING.As part of the New Alliance, 10 African governments have signed up to change dozens of laws, policies and regulations to make their countries more attractive to the private sector. Collectively, they have made more than 200 commitments, including the overhaul of seed and tax laws and the setting aside of hundreds of thousands of hectares of land for commercial investors. http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/interactive/2014/feb/18/g8-fight-future-african-farming-interactive
-▶ AFRICA G8 - FOOD SECURITY FOR WHOM? CORPORATE PROFITS vs SMALL HOLDER FARMERS INTERESThttp://sco.lt/8JKbIn
▶ THE NEW CORPORATE COLONIALISM. DESTRUCTION OF PLANETARY LIFE IN THE NAME OF "GROWTH"http://sco.lt/696Tlx
-▶ WIKILEAKS: USA GOVERNMENT PUSHES MONSANTO, GMO CROPS GLOBALLY: STARTS 'TRADE WARS' WITH NATIONS OPPOSEDhttp://sco.lt/6PzO9x
The Guardian, March 12, 2014 -▶ THE TRUTH ABOUT LOBBYING: 10 WAYS BUSINESS CONTROLS GOVERNMENTS.Whether facing down a threat to profits from a corporate tax hike, or pushing for market opportunities – such as government privatisations – lobbying has become another way of making money. Here are the 10 key steps that lobbying businesses will follow to bend government to their will.http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/12/lobbying-10-ways-corprations-influence-government
-▶ HOW MEGA BANKS DROVE A MACK TRUCK THRU A LOOPHOLE TO DOMINATE AND CONTROL GLOBAL POLITICS, INDUSTRY AND SOCIETYhttp://sco.lt/4iZ2ED
▶ CONTEMPORARY CORPORATE AGRICULTURE IS BURNING UP OUR PLANEThttp://sco.lt/6xupV3
▶ ARE YOU EATING CLONED PIG? CHINA ENTERS USA FOOD MARKET UNLABELED, UNREGULATEDhttp://sco.lt/9IkFmr
VIDEO:
FOREIGN CORPORATIONS DESTROYING ECOSYSTEMS, INDIGENOUS LIVELIHOODS, NULLIFYING LAND RIGHTS, CREATING DEPENDENCY ON A GLOBAL SCALEhttp://sco.lt/4l725B
-- A MUST WATCH ON GROWING CORPORATE ECOCIDE -- VIDEO REPORT September 15, 2013 The Real News -▶ PHILIPPINE ACTIVISTS FIGHT BACK AGAINST CORPORATE AND MILITARY FORCES DESTROYING THEIR LAND, FORESTS AND LIVELIHOODS:Corporate agri-businesses like U.S.-based Dole, Del Monte, Monsanto, along with international and Philippine mines, are polluting waterways and destroying the surrounding farms. Chinese, European, Canadian, and Filipino mines are stripping away the mountains to get at what some estimate to be the largest iron deposit in the world. There also some of the most significant gold, nickel, and copper reserves in Asia.http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10725
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE?
NEW SECRETIVE GLOBAL TRADE PACTS WILL IMPACT US ALL AS SOVEREIGN RIGHTS NEGOTIATED AWAYhttp://sco.lt/6P14JF
THE BIGGER PICTURE
"Monsanto Protection Act" the Trans Pacific Partnership and Corporate Governancehttp://sco.lt/8XeEyX
-▶ OBESITY PLUS: HUGE INCREASE IN DIABETES, STROKES, HEART ATTACKS ON A GLOBAL SCALE -- THE AMERICAN DIET AND CONTEMPORARY FOOD PRODUCTION http://sco.lt/80rmld
BIG FOOD:
MICHAEL POLLAN THINKS WALL STREET HAS WAY TOO MUCH INFLUENCE OVER WHAT WE EAT
▶ SEE WHO ACTUALLY OWNS THE FOOD YOU EAT: There are more than 38,000 products in the average American supermarket. That means tons of choice, right? In fact, the vast majority of these products are owned by just 10 companies. Those friendly looking Green Giant pees? That's General Mills. And Odwalla juice? That's Coca Cola. This matters, of course, because we deserve to know where our food comes from--and how it's made.http://www.fastcocreate.com/3032899/see-who-actually-owns-the-food-you-eat-and-how-theyre-behaving
▶ WORLD'S LARGEST FOOD COMPANIES CREATING LEGACY OF DESTRUCTION http://sco.lt/7lyDg1
"FOODOPOLY"
EXPOSING THE HANDFUL OF CORPORATIONS THAT CONTROL OUR FOOD SYSTEM FROM SEED TO DINNER PLATEhttp://sco.lt/7YSrYX
This is an interesting article connecting eating to drug use. The connection is quite obvious, as food also causes a dopamine release. It is an interesting comparison, because it implies that the majority of the Western world is suffering drug addiction to food.
-▶ ECOSYSTEMS ARE NOT MACHINES. If we want to save the world, we need to treat nature more as an organism and less as disposable and replaceable technology. http://ensia.com/voices/ecosystems-are-not-machines/
The Ecologist, August 20, 2014 ▶ FREE THE SEEDS TO FEED THE WORLD: Patented and 'indentured' seeds are fast taking over the world's food supply, write Jack Kloppenburg & Irwin Goldman, terminating farmers' and gardeners' ancient right to develop new varieties, and forcing them to buy seed anew for every crop. Enter the Open Source Seed Initiative ... http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2523547/free_the_seeds_to_feed_the_world.html
Pambazuka, July 24. 2014 -▶ GMOs AND FOOD SOVEREIGNTY: WHICH WAY AFRICA? African governments are under intense pressure from within but also from big agribusiness and Western governments to embrace GMOs. Governments must resist all forms of arm-twisting and food colonialism and make their biotechnology choices based on the facts http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/92594
"Our modern energy-, chemical- and genetically modified organism (GMO)-intensive industrial food and farming systems are the major cause of man-made global warming." Studies show that not only are greenhouse gasses caused by Carbon Dioxide but also by methane and nitrous oxide. Farming includes so many different ways of using fuel form the machinery to the end of food production. Another way farming isn't helping is through deforestation, and wetlands destruction. "When you add it all up, the picture is clear—contemporary agriculture is burning up our planet. And factory farms or, in industry lingo, Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), play a key role in this impending disaster." Climate rise is complex but a few of the top reasons are coal burning, and fossil fuels. To get this under control we would need to stop using 90% of the fosil fuels we are using.
National Business Report, April 21, 2015 ▶ POTREPRENEURS : CASHING IN ON WEED: POTBOTICS Meshing science, tech, weed and robotics. 2014 alone, marijuana brought in about $2.7 billion to states that have legalized it, whether medicinally, recreationally or both. The projection for 2015 is $3.5 billion, according to Arcview Group, a cannabis investment fund that tracks industry numbers.http://nbr.com/2015/04/21/marijuana-start-ups-industry-grows-new-entrepreneurs/
▶ MARIJUANA REAL ESTATE: Turning A High Profit ▶ CRAFT BREWERY OF CANNABIS - Who Tests and Extracts Marijuana? ▶ FROM ROBOTICS TO REAL ESTATE -The Big Bucks Behind Bud ▶ FROM KALE TO CANNABIS: The Future of Marijuana Farming http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000373113
VIDEO REPORT CNBC, April 20, 2015 AMERICA'S FIRST CANNABIS-ONLY ACCOUNTING FIRM
Who do the new moguls of marijuana turn to for financial help?
TakePart, March 12, 2015 - ▶ POT PESTICIDES ARE HARSHING YOUR BUZZ. As more jurisdictions are legalizing marijuana, a new report says regulations on chemicals used to grow it don’t protect health. http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/03/14/marijuana-pesticides
Times-Standard Online, November 30, 2013 ▶ PESTICIDE-LADEN POT: THE DANGERS OF LURKING CONTAMINANTS AND PESTICIDES WITH COMPROMISED IMMUNE SYSTEMS. Humboldt State University, Jeffrey Raber said a recent study he conducted found that up to 70 percent of the pesticides found on a marijuana bud can transfer to the smoke being inhaled.."It's much like injecting it directly into your blood stream.”...
...especially in the medical patient context,” Raber said. “These are people that are immuno compromised, they're undergoing chemotherapy, they're very sick with antibacterial loads. We can't be subjecting them to more of these types of potentially harmful contaminants when they're looking to this as a medicine source.” http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_24628828/what-are-you-smoking-study-finds-pesticides-transfer
WATCH CANNABIS INC.
ABC Australia presents
A short documentary concerning the advancements of legalized marijuana in America with a focus on corporate interests in the burgeoning mainstream pot industry http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cannabis-inc/
Los Angeles Times, December 16. 2014 - ▶ US CONGRESS QUIETLY ENDS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S BAN ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA.Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy.http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-medical-pot-20141216-story.html
VIDEO REPORT Newshour PBS, April 09, 2014 IS POT GETTING MORE POTENT? THE TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARIJUANA.The average potency of pot has more than tripled in the past two decades, according to testing done for the federal government. The two main species of the Cannabis plant, Cannabis indica and Cannibas sativa, produce different kinds of highs.Indica is described as having a calming, relaxing, and narcotic effect, while sativa is said to have a more uplifting, stimulating, or “cerebral” effect.http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/pot-getting-potent/
The Olathe News, March 26, 2014 ▶ GROWERS OF THIRSTY POT ARE UNDER FIRE IN DROUGHT-STRUCK CALIFORNIA, In drought-hit California, marijuana growers are feeling the heat, accused of using too much water for their thirsty plants and of polluting streams and rivers with their pesticides and fertilizers threatening salmon and other fishhttp://www.theolathenews.com/2014/03/26/2407803/growers-of-thirsty-pot-are-under.html
▶ US GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL STRIPS FEDERAL COURTS OF THEIR POWER TO RULE OVER BIOTECH INDUSTRY AND GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD AND ANIMALShttp://sco.lt/6kO2Xh
Wonder Why Marijuana Laws Are Passing So Quickly Across the USA and the World. It's Not For Your Health. And It's Not About the Drug Wars. It's about the repeat of ending "prohibition" and restructuring wealth. Big politics and "Legal" Money is involved here to capture, control and profit from this new market. The Cartels and Multi-National Corporations Have Control of a global agricultural Industry, already in place: from owning the land, to growing the crops, patenting new genetically engineered seeds, owning the pesticides and marketing systems
This article speaks about how Colorado, particularly Denver, believes that there will be a marijuana shortage now that marijuana has been legalized. This article goes into depth about how there will be a shortage in the short run, but eventually the supply and demand should come to an equilibrium.
Exposes a huge health and environmental scandal in our modern industrial system of meat and poultry production. This documentary looks at the potential hazards caused by factory farms in the United States, particularly by waste disposal. Beginning with a history of the American food system, River of Waste shows its evolution to large-scale corporate farms where pollution and use of growth hormones threaten both individual health and the future of our planet....http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/river-waste/
Yale Environment 260, May 27, 2014 ▶ AS CORPORATE DAIRY FARMS GROW BIGGER, NEW CONCERN ABOUT POLLUTION. Dairy operations in the U.S. are consolidating, with ever-larger numbers of cows concentrated on single farms. In states like Wisconsin, opposition to some large operations is growing after manure spills and improper handling of waste have contaminated waterways and aquifers.http://e360.yale.edu/feature/as_dairy_farms_grow_bigger_new_concerns_about_pollution/2768/
▶ CORPORATE POWER: NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SLAM STATE'S DECISION TO EXEMPT CAFOs (Confined Animal Feed Operations) FROM CLEAN WATER STANDARDShttp://ecowatch.org
Reuters, January 16, 2015 ▶ FARMS CAN BE HELD LIABLE FOR POLLUTION FROM MANURE - U.S. COURTS. Industrial livestock operations produce hundreds of millions of tons of manure annually, poisoning our ground water and water ways.A U.S. federal court has ruled for the first time that manure from livestock facilities can be regulated as solid waste, a decision hailed by environmentalists as opening the door to potential legal challenges against facilities across the country.http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/17/usa-pollution-manure-idUSL1N0UW02520150117
Pulse, April 11, 2014 - ▶ SCIENTIST FRUSTRATED BY MASSIVE FACTORY FARM WASTE, THREATENING BOTH HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: Despite a growing body of evidence that shows the environmental and health consequences of intensive livestock operations, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) continue to pop up on the landscape. In Kewaunee County, where cows outnumber humans by more than three to one, and where the porous karst topography cannot possibly support the massive amounts of animal waste that the industrial farms produce, citizens have been fighting an uphill battle to have their concerns heard.
We are at a critical point in human history. Our choices no longer have just a local impact. Their effects are felt globally — on animals, people, and the environment.... http://vimeo.com/51888108
▶ ANTI-WHISTLE BLOWER AG-GAG LAWS AIMED AT KEEPING YOU IN THE DARK ABOUT YOUR FACTORY FARMED FOOD - PIGS, CHICKENS, VEAL, DAIRY, TURKEY, DUCKShttp://sco.lt/7aFBUv
WATCH; "DEATH ON A FACTORY FARM [HBO] (2009) 1:27:25
Directors Tom Simon and Sarah Teale (HBOs Dealing Dogs) tell the story of an animal rights investigator who goes undercover at hog farm in Ohio to explore a whistle blowers allegations. The evidence he gathers leads to a rare prosecution and trial for animal cruelty, and a verdict that surprises nearly everyone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfiolWwzD94
- ▶ CHINA'S DEAD HOG SCANDAL IS GROSS - BUT SO ARE THE HOG FECES IN THE US WATERWAYShttp://sco.lt/5J0QEr
▶ ARE YOU EATING CLONED PORK? CHINA ENTERS USA FOOD MARKET UNLABELED, UNREGULATED http://sco.lt/57VNh3
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VIDEO The Vancouver Sun, June 09, 2014 ▶ THREAT TO CRITICAL WATERWAYS REVEALS A U.S.-CANADA DIVIDE. They are the invisible waterways. Laced with farm manure, choked with invasive grasses and often seasonally dry, their subtle meanderings go unnoticed and unappreciated. There are hundreds of them in the Fraser Valley, providing critical habitat for endangered fish and frogs against a tide of government neglect, poor farming practices and public ignorance. http://www.vancouversun.com/Threat+critical+waterways+reveals+Canada+divide/9919381/story.html
▶ FOOD OR FUEL? RESEARCH SUGGESTS BIOFUEL WILL COST THE EARTHhttp://sco.lt/8ezJ2X
-▶ THE CURSE OF PETROLEUM, CHEMICAL-BASED INDUSTRIAL FARM FERTILIZERShttp://sco.lt/7uzkCf
WATCH
Emmy Award Winning 1 hr Film - University of Minnesota
▶ "TROUBLED WATERS: A MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORY" ▶ This excellent one hour documentary examines the "unintended consequences" of farming practices on water quality, soil loss and the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. Knitting together federal energy, farm and environmental policies, the film makes a compelling case for the revamping of US agricultural policy. Through beautiful photography and inspiring narrative, the film puts deliberate emphasis on solutions and provides a hopeful blueprint for progress and positive change...http://www.rememberthispoint.com/?p=212
▶ RESTAURANTS COULD BE 1st TO GET GENETICALLY MODIFIED SALMON - UNLABLED
To produce its fish, Aquabounty injected Atlantic salmon with DNA from other fish species that make them grow to full size in about 18 months, which could be about twice as fast as regular salmon.
Frankenfoods is a term developed by consumer groups questioning the health and safety of genetically modified plants or GMO. The US Food and Drug Administration has just lifted an earlier ban on commercialization of the first genetically modified food, Salmon. This is the first time ever permission to sell GMO animals for human consumption in the US has been allowed. It should raise alarm bells not only in the USA .
On March 8, the FDA, responsible for food safety, lifted an earlier ban on sale of GMO salmon by the Massachusetts biotech company, AquaBounty. Until now the company had been prevented from importing its GMO eggs to its salmon tanks in Indiana.
The reason given by the FDA for now removing the ban is not reassuring.They state that a new regulation labeling disclosure that a food is “bioengineered” gives consumers enough information to make an informed choice. For most people, even if the small print is readable, bioengineered may not be understood as a euphemism for controversial genetic manipulation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its long-awaited rule on the labeling of foods containing genetically engineered, or GMO, ingredients.
Just don't expect the letters GMO to appear on these products.
Under the new "National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard," such items will feature the term "bioengineered" or BE foods.
Grist, November 26, 2013 -▶ CANADA APPROVES EXPORT OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED SALMON EGGS - TO USA via PANAMA'S AQUABOUNTY Canada will allow genetically modified salmon eggs to be produced and exported — but no way in hell will the eggs be allowed to hatch on Canadian soil.Canada will allow genetically modified salmon eggs to be produced and exported — but no way in hell will the eggs be allowed to hatch on Canadian soil. The eggs will be exported to Aquabounties hatcheries in Panama and then exported to the USAhttp://grist.org/news/canada-approves-export-of-genetically-modified-salmon-eggs/
The Guardian Environment, 20 March, 2013 -▶ MAJOR US SUPERMARKETS TO BOYCOTT GM SALMON - FIRST OF 30 OTHER GENETICALLY ALTERED SPECIES UNDER DEVELOPMENT The GM salmon is the first in some 30 other species of genetically engineered fish under development, including tilapia. Researchers are also working to bring GM cows, chickens and pigs to market.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/20/major-us-supermarkets-boycott-gm-salmon
▶ IS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SALMON SAFE?
There are massively disturbing ethical, environmental, and health concerns that make the introduction of Frankenfish highly controversial...
Frankenfish could be on your dinner plate by the end of the year.
On December 21, at the very end of the last business day before Christmas week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) quietly released its environmental assessment that found “no significant impact” from the controversial AquaBounty AquaAdvantage transgenic salmon.,,
What is the rationale behind genetically engineered salmon? Why have scientists spliced genes from an eel-like creature called the ocean pout into the genome of the Atlantic salmon? These genes crank out growth hormone year-round, resulting in a fish that grows faster, cutting the time to reach market weight almost in half. This could mean cost savings for fish farmers, leading to higher profits for the salmon farming industry and (they promise) lower prices for consumers.
But there are massively disturbing ethical, environmental, and health concerns that make the introduction of Frankenfish highly controversial...
-▶ FDA WEIGHS APPROVAL OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED SALMON.Not so fast. The FDA says the fish is just as safe to eat as conventional salmon—though you can count me among those who don’t look to that troubled agency (see “The FDA is Out to Lunch,” Winter 2013) for the last word on food safety. But the potential threats to the oceans are significant, and the FDA doesn’t acknowledge them. More troublingly, the agency seems content to leapfrog over the entire process for determining whether those threats exist in the first place. Given the far-reaching impact this salmon could have on our natural ecosystems and global seafood supply, fish scientists and food advocates make a strong case for closer scrutiny....
- Aquaculture-grown fish and seafood is becoming increasingly common. Worldwide, more fish than cattle are farmed. But the booming fish industry is causing environmental problems. Medications, pesticides and parasites are escaping from open-water farms and contaminating the ecosystem... http://www.dw.de/aquaculture-in-canada-the-problem-with-farmed-salmon/av-17200460
IT'S MUCH MORE PROFITABLE, AND EASIER TO 'CONTROL'' FISH PRODUCTION CONFINED IN SMALL CAGES. WILD FISH STAY HEALTHY BY PARTICIPATING IN OPEN, HEALTHY OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS. WHEN CONFINED, MORE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS AND PESTICIDES ARE NEEDED TO CONTROL LICE AND DISEASE PUTTING 'QUANTITY' OVER 'QUALITY' AND THAT PRESENTS A HIGH LIKELY-HOOD OF DEVASTATION TO BOTH OCEAN AND HUMAN HEALTH....AS IN ALL CONFINED ANIMAL FACTORY
Guardian, February 15, 2014 ▶ FISH FARMS ARE DESTROYING WILD SCOTTISH SALMON.An editorial in the current issue of Country Life warns of the disastrous effects of intensive farming to meet an insatiable demand from China: "As the pesticides used by aquaculture to battle the sea lice grow ever stronger, wild salmon are exposed to infestations as their migratory routes take them through sea lochs bursting with farmed fish. Setting up more of these highly-intensive farms is looking increasingly unsustainable, as both wild and farmed fish will suffer."http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/16/fish-farms-wild-scottish-salmon
WATCH SALMON CONFIDENTIAL 1:09:14 2013 British Columbia Documentary INDUSTRIAL SALMON FISH FARMS DESTROYING NATURAL SALMON POPULATION https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTbxOFcvC4U
WATCH
FACTORY FARMED FISH ▶ THE MASSIVE POLLUTION AND CONDITION UNDER A FISH FARM IN NORWAY : Lerøy west (English subtitle) - YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAIShIjPbIE
IT'S MUCH MORE PROFITABLE, AND EASIER TO CONTROL FISH PRODUCTION CONFINED IN SMALL CONTAINERS. FISH STAY HEALTHY BY PARTICIPATING IN OPEN, HEALTHY OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS. WHEN CONFINED, MORE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS AND PESTICIDES ARE NEEDED TO CONTROL LICE AND DISEASE PUTTING QUANTITY OVER QUALITY AND THAT PRESENTS A HIGHLY LIKELY-HOOD OF DEVASTATION TO BOTH OCEAN AND HUMAN HEALTH....AS IN ALL CONFINED ANIMAL FACTORY FARMING....
▶ WHY EVERYONE SHOULD BE ANGRY ABOUT CORPORATE FACTORY FARMINGhttp://sco.lt/7kUpVp
pdjmoo's insight:
MORE, BIGGER, FASTER IS DESTROYING OUR PLANET.
Subsidized corporate fishing fleets have almost emptied our oceans, risking a complete ecosystem collapse. Just as the monocrop big agricultural industry is doing to our land.
Aside from anything else, these large fish will be crammed into containers, where use of pesticides and antibiotics will be required due to such close quarters. Fish were meant to swim freely in the ocean as part of the great ecosystem, digesting the natural nutrients and food, not confined to concentration pens with nowhere to swim, being fed unnatural food in a stationary environment. And then there is the genetically engineered issue. We need to take steps to restore our oceans (and planet) to health and abundance vs using technological fixes to allow us to keep on destroying our planet. We must maintain healthy ecosystems for the benefit of all life on the planet.
Sadhbh Walshe interviews founder of the Chipotle Mexican Grill, Steve Ells, about his mission to provide fast food with integrity.
Is it possible to be a profitable restaurant chain and still live up to your goal of serving "food with integrity" to an ever expanding customer base? Those who decry the dismal state of modern farming practices will say it's not. Steve Ells, CEO and founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill is trying to prove them wrong.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/chipotle-fast-food-integrity
HOW GMO FOODS AFFECT HEALTH - GENE ALTERED FOODS NOW LARGE PART OF AMERICAN DIET http://sco.lt/7oVxQH
FARM-AGEDDON: No birds. No bees. Our countryside laid waste. And billions of animals that never see a blade of grass. The terrifying threat of todays mega farms http://sco.lt/7ztQbB
Grist, January 29, 2014 -▶ POOR COWS: HARVESTING METHANE FROM PUNCTURING COW'S STOMACHS, BUT SHOULD WE? Argentinian scientists are punching holes in the sides of cattle and passing pipes through to their stomachs. The other end of the pipe goes into a bag fitted on the cow’s back. The captured gas, which is basically the same natural gas that frackers and other drillers mine out of the ground, can be burned to produce energy. That releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere instead of the methane, which is a far more potent greenhouse gas.
NEW MIT STUDY QUESTIONS MONSANTO SAFETY CLAIMS FOR PESTICIDE ROUNDUP “GLYPHOSATE" IN OUR FOOD AND WATER This effect, according to the researchers, can contribute to causing or worsening “the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.”... http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/mit-study-questions-monsantos-safety-claims-for-roundup/#.Uc_BGevpiRQ
Consuming Kids pushes back against the wholesale commercialization of childhood, raising urgent questions about the ethics of children’s marketing and its impact on the health and well-being of kids.
▶ CHEMICAL CUISINE POISED TO SHAKE UP THE GLOBAL FOOD INDUSTRY.Roast pork meringue? Eggs minus the chicken? The new designer dishes that could change the way we eat.. at the awards for the second International Contest of Note by Note Cooking...it uses chemical reactions to produce meals from chemical compounds ... "When you create dishes from compounds, you can design the shape, the colour, the taste, the odour and the nutritional aspects of your dish from scratch," says This.http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229722.900-chemical-cuisine-poised-to-shake-up-food-chain.html?full=true
New efforts to force labeling of foods made with genetically modified crops, including a bill introduced by U.S. lawmakers Wednesday, have struck a nerve with biotech crop developers who say they are rushing to roll out a broad strategy to "combat" consumer concerns about their products.
Executives from Monsanto Co., DuPont, and Dow Chemical, among the world's largest developers of biotech crops and the chemicals used to help produce them, told Reuters this week they are putting together a campaign aimed at turning the tide on what they acknowledge is a growing public sentiment against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) used as ingredients in the nation's food supply... http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/25/us-usa-gmo-labeling-idUSBRE93O18S20130425
UNLEASHING GENETICALLY SALMON ONTO YOUR DINNER PLATE = NO REGULATIONS, NO OVERSIGHT, NO LABELING - "FATALLY FLAWED" FDA ASSESSMENT http://sco.lt/8ZDraz
MAJOR US FOOD RETAILERS TO SHUN GENETICALLY MODIFIED, FACTORY FARMED, ENSLAVED SEAFOOD http://sco.lt/4qgoD
MONSANTO GMO TREES COULD DEVASTATE FOREST ECOSYSTEMS - LEAVING A BIOLOGICAL DESERT http://sco.lt/51ekyH
OUR GMO CORNFIELDS ARE TOO QUIET - ALL LIFE CHEMICALLY EXTERMINATED - EXCEPT THE GENE-ALTERED CORN http://sco.lt/6przzF
March 21, 2013
US GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL STRIPS FEDERAL COURTS OF THEIR POWER TO RULE OVER BIOTECH INDUSTRY AND GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD AND ANIMALS http://sco.lt/6kO2Xh
IDENTIFY GMO FOOD BY APPS -- 'BUYCOTT' AND NXTNUTRIO APP
May 15, 2013 Nation Of Change
Monsanto, GMOs in your food : The guessing game is over. No longer will consumers wonder what companies are behind the millions of products that fill supermarket shelves because there’s an app for that.
---------------THE GLOBAL SEED PATENT MONOPOLY---------------
In 2010, 85 percent of all corn and 92 percent of soy planted in the U.S. contained Monsanto’s patented genetically modified traits, without your knowledge
GENETIC MODIFICATION STRAINS OLD FOOD AND DRUG LAWS - HOW A FISH BECOMES A DRUG AND CORN A PEST http://sco.lt/6vynBp
*** PATENT FOR A PIG: BIOTECH SCIENTISTS PUSH TO "IMPROVE" TRANSGENIC GMO "ENVIROPIGS" http://sco.lt/8JZ
*** OUR 21st CENTURY SYNTHETIC LIFE: RE-ENGINEERING, RE-PROGRAMMING AND PATENTING LIFE ITSELF. THE ETHICS AND LEGALITIES http://sco.lt/7NZvsH
GMO AND THE CORPORATE PATENTING OF LIVING ORGANISMS: MONSANTO' PATENTS ON LIFE http://sco.lt/5N0u7l
*** GENE GIANTS SEEK "PHILANTHROGOPOLY" - SIX MULTINATIONAL GENE GIANTS CONTROL THE DIRECTION OF WORLD AGRICULTURE WITH SEED PATENT MONOPOLY http://sco.lt/6h3lzt
*** Words/Phrases such as "GMOs Will Feed the World" "Sustainable" "Eco or Environmentally friendly" and somehow that pesticides/and chemicals are used less on GMOs -- all of which are misleading with adverse impact our biodiversity, ecosystems and human/environmental health.
THE POWER OF THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY: .......SPENDING TENS OF MILLIONS TO DEFEAT OPPOSITION
FIX ANTIBIOTICS: BIG AG, BIG PHARMA AND BIOTECH CARTEL ALL IN CAHOOTS: 80% OF ALL ANTI-BIOTICS ARE USED ON FACTORY FARM ANIMALS http://www.fixfood.org/fix-antibiotics/
***TEN YEAR BAN ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED SEEDS AND FOODS IN PERU - However, despite the fact that the ban will certainly protect Peru’s crops, more than 70% of the foods on the supermarket shelves in Peru contain GMOs Some are labeled as such, some are not —the consumer protection law says consumers have a right to know what they are eating or drinking but institutions within the government are working to extend the deadline again for a further year.
Lowell Bergman investigates the hidden reality of rape on the job for immigrant women working in America’s fields, farms and factories For the women who pick and process the food we eat every day, getting sexually assaulted, and even raped, is sometimes part of the job. Frontline and Univision partner to tell the story of the hidden price many migrant women working in America's fields and packing plants pay to stay employed and provide for their families. This investigation is the result of a yearlong reporting effort by veteran correspondent Lowell Bergman, the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley and the Center for Investigative Reporting.... http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/rape-in-the-fields/
VIDEO Los Angeles Times, December 07, 2014 PRODUCT OF MEXICO: HARDSHIP, SLAVERY IN MEXICO'S FARMS, A BOUNTY FOR U.S. TABLES. American consumers get all the salsa, squash and melons they can eat at affordable prices. But a Los Angeles Times investigation found that for thousands of farm laborers south of the border, the export boom is a story of exploitation and extreme hardship (Part 1 of 4) http://graphics.latimes.com/product-of-mexico-camps/
As we look to 2050, when we’ll need to feed two billion more people, the question of which diet is best has taken on new urgency. The foods we choose to eat in the coming decades will have dramatic ramifications for the planet. Simply put, a diet that revolves around meat and dairy, a way of eating that’s on the rise throughout the developing world, will take a greater toll on the world’s resources than one that revolves around unrefined grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables.http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/evolution-of-diet/
VIDEO REPORT PBS Newshour, September 15, 2014 BRINGING HEALTHIER, LOCALLY-SOURCED FOOD TO CALIFORNIA SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAMS
PESTICIDES ARE POISON, NO MATTER HOW YOU CUT THE CAKE. THEY ARE POISONING OUR FOOD, SOIL, WATERWAYS, ENVIRONMENT AND KILL BIRDS AND ALL INSECTS, BENEFICIAL OR OTHERWISE, THAT THEY COME IN CONTACT WITH LEAVING BIOLOGICAL WASTELANDS.
Neonicotinoids are systemic, meaning that as the plant grows the pesticide becomes incorporated into the plant (AND WE HUMANS INGEST THIS???)
-▶ TOXIC INSECTICIDES PUT WORLD FOOD SUPPLIES AT RISK, SAY SCIENTISTS. Regulations on pesticides have failed to prevent poisoning of almost all habitats, international team of scientists concludes. The world’s most widely used insecticides have contaminated the environment across the planet so pervasively that global food production is at risk, according to a comprehensive scientific assessment of the chemicals’ impacts. The researchers compare their impact with that reported in Silent Spring, the landmark 1962 book by Rachel Carson that revealed the decimation of birds and insects by the blanket use of DDT and other pesticides and led to the modern environmental movement. Billions of dollars’ worth of the potent and long-lasting neurotoxins are sold every year but regulations have failed to prevent the poisoning of almost all habitats, the international team of scientists concluded in the most detailed study yet. As a result, they say, creatures essential to global food production – from bees to earthworms – are likely to be suffering grave harm and the chemicals must be phased out...http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/24/insecticides-world-food-supplies-risk
Guardian Environment, July 09, 2014 -▶ CRIMINAL: NEONICOTINOID AGRICULTURAL INSECTICIDES, DESTROYING ECOSYSTEMS, BIODIVERSITY AND YOUR HEALTH - LINKED TO RECENT FALL IN FARMLAND BIRD NUMBERS.Peer-Reviewed Research, published in the leading journal Nature has revealed pervasive pollution by these nerve agents now threatening all food production.http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/09/neonicotinoids-farmland-birds
-▶ THE BATTLE FOR THE BEES -▶
Dying Bees Raise Alarm For Humans - Europe Bans Pesticide
IUCN, June 24, 2014 ▶ SYSTEMIC PESTICIDES POSE GLOBAL THREAT TO BIODIVERSITY, ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN HEALTH.The conclusions of a new meta-analysis (800 Scientists) of the systemic pesticides neonicotinoids and fipronil (neonics) confirm that they are causing significant damage to a wide range of beneficial invertebrate species and are a key factor in the decline of bees.http://www.iucn.org/news_homepage/?16025/Systemic-Pesticides-Pose-Global-Threat-to-Biodiversity-And-Ecosystem-Services
-▶ TRACKING THE CAUSES OF MASSIVE MONARCH BUTTERFLY DECLINE: GMOs, PESTICIDES, HABITAT LOSS DUE TO MEGA MONOCROP FARMINGhttp://sco.lt/8iXChl
BBC News, June 23, 2014
-▶ WIDESPREAD IMPACTS OF NEONICOTINOIDS 'IMPOSSIBLE TO DENY': UNEQUIVOCAL EVIDENCENeonicotinoid pesticides are causing significant damage to a wide range of beneficial species and are a key factor in the decline of bees, say scientistshttp://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27980344
EENews, September 05, 2014 -▶ PESTICIDES: SYNGENTA ASKS EPA TO RAISE TOLERANCE LEVEL FOR 'BEE-KILLING PESTICIDE CHEMICALhttp://www.eenews.net/stories/1060005321
Beyond Pesticides, September 09, 2014 -▶ SYNGENTA PROPOSES 400x INCREASE IN BEE-TOXIC PESTICIDE ON CROPS AND FOODhttp://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=14016http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=14016
Huffington Post Green, June 17, 2014 -▶ CHINA'S REJECTION OF GMO CORN HAS COST U.S. UP TO $2.9 BILLION. The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) estimated in a report that rejections of shipments containing Syngenta AG's Agrisure Viptera corn resulted in losses of at least $1 billion, based on an economic analysis that included data supplied by top global grain exporters. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/gmo-corn-china_n_5162921.html
Digital Journal , July 02, 2014 -▶ GENETICALLY ENGINEERED U.S. COTTON GROWERS WANT UNLICENSED, HIGHLY TOXIC PESTICIDE USE ON 3 MILLION ACRES - FURTHER POISONING SOIL, WATER AND ALL LIFE WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENT -- EXCEPT THE COTTONhttp://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2031904
100 Reporters, February 15, 2012 ▶ THE BAIT AND SWITCH TACTICS OF THE PESTICIDE/CHEMICAL INDUSTRY: FDA OVERSIGHT? WEIGHING THE PARTS, IGNORING THE WHOLE.In the EPA’s process for registering chemicals...pesticide makers win approval for specific active ingredients, and then mix those chemicals with a number of other ingredients. The result is a far different formulation that has bypassed government safety reviews and is then sold to the public. “Virtually no pesticide is registered by the EPA. The EPA only registers the active ingredient.” http://100r.org/2012/02/epa-oversight-weighing-the-parts-ignoring-the-whole/
EurActive, February 25, 2014
▶ AFRICAN FARMERS CUT USE OF 'TOXIC' PESTICIDES FOR NATURAL 'BIOPESTICIDES' . Cotton farmers in Mali have reduced their use of toxic pesticides and cut costs through an education project carried out by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and partially funded by the European Union. The UN established field schools to train cotton farmers to use alternative forms of pest control, such as “biopesticides”, which led to a 92% decrease in the use of toxic pesticides. The use of the biopesticides, such as neem tree extract, meant that the farmers refrained from using an estimated 47,000 litres of synthesised pesticides, saving them nearly half a million dollars over the study period. The biopesticides, which had no negative impacts on yields, therefore proved to be three times more cost-effective than synthetic pesticides.http://www.euractiv.com/sustainability/african-farmers-cut-use-toxic-pe-news-533719
March 19, 2013 Southwest Farm Press -▶ SUPERWEEDS A GROWING NIGHTMARE FOR AGRICULTURE UNCONTROLLABLE SUPER WEEDS ACROSS THE USA SUNBELT, GMO HERBICIDE RESISTANT
Harvard Gazette, August 19, 2014 - ▶ ARE FAILING BEES OUR WARNING SIGN FOR HUMAN HEALTH IMPLICATIONS?Harvard School of Public Health’s (HSPH) Chengsheng (Alex) Lu, an associate professor of environmental exposure biology, believes that the potential human health implications of colony collapse disorder extend beyond the drop in pollination — though that is worrisome enough — to the impact on humans of long exposure to low-level poisons like neonicotinoid pesticides...links the pesticide to the recent increase in neurological conditions in children such as autism and ADHD. http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/08/are-failing-bees-our-warning-sign/
IIn the last few months, investigative reporters in the U.S. and Canada have highlighted Syngenta’s desperate scrambling to discredit atrazine’s critics. Recent pieces in major outlets like the New Yorker and Canada’s 16 x 9, building on important findings first published in 100Reporters, have pulled back the curtain on Syngenta’s PR machine for a broader audience. The message? ....http://www.panna.org/blog/spinning-science-atrazine
▶ SYNGENTA'S NEXT TARGET: JACKSON COUNTY, OREGONLast week, Swiss-based pesticide corporation Syngenta dumped tens of thousands of dollars into a county election in Southern Oregon. Sound familiar? It should. Still reeling from their recent defeat in Kaua'i, Syngenta and the rest of the "Big 6" don’t want to lose any more fights around pesticides and GMOs.http://www.panna.org/blog/syngenta-GE-jackson-county-oregon
-▶ EUROPEAN UNION: BAYER, SYNGENTA PESTICIDES HALVE BEES POLLEN GATHERING ABILITY, RESEARCH SHOWS.A two-year EU ban of three neonicotinoids, the most widely used insecticides in the world, began in December, following research that showed harm to honey and bumblebees. The neonicotinoids are "systemic" pesticides, being applied to seeds so that the chemical spreads within the plants. Over three-quarters of the world's food crops require insect pollination, but bees have declined in recent decades due to loss of flower-rich habitat, disease and pesticide use.http://www.euractiv.com/cap/pesticides-halve-bees-pollen-gat-news-533220
-▶ SPECIAL REPORT: SCIENTISTS CRITICAL OF NEW EU CHEMICAL/PESTICIDE POLICY HAS INDUSTRY TIES, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.An investigation by Environmental Health News reveals that of 18 toxicology journal editors who signed a controversial editorial, 17 have collaborated with the chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, tobacco, pesticide or biotechnology industries.
▶ FEDERAL LAW MAKES IT PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO BAN HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS - The 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, the only major environmental law that hasn't been updated since it was enacted, allows chemical manufacturers to skip evaluating the safety of their products before putting them on the market.http://www.scoop.it/t/agriculture-gmos-pesticides?q=chemicals+in+your+body
It was a big year for Big Food. More fast food chains pledged to stop using gestation crates. Country of origin rules -- mandating that meat suppliers label where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered -- took effect. A major food corporation and a fast food chain announced they would stop using artificial dye in some of their products.
▶ ANIMALS RAISED IN CORPORATE CONCENTRATION PENS: DRUGS, GMO FEED AND 'AG-GAG' LAW TO IMPACT BEYOND USA http://sco.lt/6jKf2H
WATCH; "DEATH ON A FACTORY FARM [HBO] (2009) 1:27:25
Directors Tom Simon and Sarah Teale (HBOs Dealing Dogs) tell the story of an animal rights investigator who goes undercover at hog farm in Ohio to explore a whistle blowers allegations. The evidence he gathers leads to a rare prosecution and trial for animal cruelty, and a verdict that surprises nearly everyone.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfiolWwzD94
VIDEO The Humane Society of the United States, February 20, 2014 UNDERCOVER AT IRON MAIDEN: IS YOUR SAUSAGE WORTH THIS? http://video.humanesociety.org/
Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2014 - ▶ GENERAL MILLS STARTS MAKING CHEERIOS WITHOUT GMOs General Mills Inc. GIS -0.28% has started producing Cheerios free of genetically modified content, making the 73-year-old breakfast cereal one of the highest-profile brands to change in the face of growing complaints over such ingredients from activist groups and some consumers.... http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303370904579297211874270146
▶ The Washington Monthly, January/February 2014 BIG BEEF IS TAXED FOR PRIVATE LOBBYISTS
When you buy a Big Mac or a T-bone, a portion of the cost is a tax on beef, the proceeds from which the government hands over to a private trade group called the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. The NCBA in turn uses this public money to buy ads encouraging you to eat more beef, while also lobbying to derail animal rights and other agricultural reform activists, defeat meat labeling requirements, and defend the ongoing consolidation of the industry... http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/january_february_2014/features/big_beef048356.php
▶ UNDER SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY LIFE AND FOOD WILL NOT BE A PRODUCT OF NATURE BUT OF A LAB AND IT WILL BE PATTENTED http://sco.lt/7pchOL
allAfrica, January 07, 2014 ▶ OUR MODERN, WESTERN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM IS DESTROYING THE EARTH AND OUR HEALTH.
Today our food comes from across the world. More importantly, it is often produced in highly destructive ways, at the lowest possible cost.
Consequently our food production system is responsible for accelerating the rate of destruction of the very ecosystems we are reliant upon in order to maintain our delicate global environmental equilibrium.
We cut and clear the lungs of the world, our tropical rainforests, to feed livestock or grow dishonestly named "biofuels". We bulldoze natural filtration systems and the nurseries for life like wetlands and mangrove swamps to produce luxury foods for obese populations. http://allafrica.com/stories/201401071158.html?viewall=1
VIDEO INVESTIGATION Frontline, June 25, 2014 "RAPE IN THE FIELDS" For the women who pick and process the food we eat every day, getting sexually assaulted, and even raped, is sometimes part of the job. Frontline and Univision partner to tell the story of the hidden price many migrant women working in America's fields and packing plants pay to stay employed and provide for their families. This investigation is the result of a yearlong reporting effort by veteran correspondent Lowell Bergman, the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley and the Center for Investigative Reporting....http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/rape-in-the-fields/
Pets have gotten so plump that there’s now a National Pet Obesity Awareness Day, and animals in research labs are ballooning. The reasons why are complex....
▶ Scientists are turning their attention toward factors that humans and the wild and captive animals that live around them have in common: air, soil, and water, and the hormone-altering chemicals that pollute them.
- ▶ THE HIDDEN WORLD OF SOIL UNDER OUR FEET: SOIL AS A LIFELINEhttp://sco.lt/4nJvdp
▶ PHARMACEUTICAL, ANTIBIOTICS, PESTICIDES, CHEMICAL POLLUTION IN OUR STREAMS, RIVERS AND DRINKING (BOTTLED) WATER http://sco.lt/6cpIbx
▶ ARE WE EATING STRESS? Industrial Food Production puts extreme stress on plants and animals that we eathttp://sco.lt/5aqLTd
▶ FARM TO FORK: THE STORY OF OUR TOXIC FOOD SYSTEM - INFOGRAPHIChttp://sco.lt/66Od05
▶ HOW THE BIG FOOD INDUSTRY HAS ENCOURAGED US TO EAT OURSELVES TO DEATHhttp://sco.lt/5YISkT
====================
GENE ALTERED FOOD
====================
-▶ DID YOU KNOW? GENE ALTERED FOODS -- NOW LARGE PART OF AMERICAN DIET - AS AMERICANS GET SICKER AND SICKER - NO REGULATIONS, NO OVERSIGHT, NO LABELINGhttp://sco.lt/7oVxQH
And the subsequent trial results will surprise you
First aired on HBO March 16th 2009
Directors Tom Simon and Sarah Teale (HBOs Dealing Dogs) tell the story of an animal rights investigator who goes undercover at hog farm in Ohio to explore a whistle blowers allegations. The evidence he gathers leads to a rare prosecution and trial for animal cruelty, and a verdict that surprises nearly everyone...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfiolWwzD94
Grist, January 29, 2014 -▶ POOR COWS: HARVESTING METHANE BY PUNCHING HOLES IN COWS STOMACHS: Argentinian scientists are punching holes in the sides of cattle and passing pipes through to their stomachs. The other end of the pipe goes into a bag fitted on the cow’s back. The captured gas, can be burned to produce energy. http://grist.org/news/we-can-harvest-methane-from-cow-guts-should-we/
David Hogan, February 19, 2014 -▶ THE AG-GAG REFLEX: THE ANIMAL ENTERPRISE TERRORISM ACT'S IMPACT ON US ALL. On November 27, 2006, after heavy lobbying by the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) was quietly signed into law. The AETA makes it a terrorist offense to engage in certain speech and activity that causes an “animal enterprise” the loss of real or personal property. (There is a dispute as to whether the term ‘loss of property’ means ‘loss of profits.’) ....http://davidhoganwriter.com/2014/02/19/the-ag-gag-reflex-the-animal-enterprise-terrorism-
▶ A 6,200 COW INDUSTRIAL FARM: DISPUTED EXPANSION OF WISCONSIN MEGA DAIRY WATCHED FOR STATEWIDE IMPACT: Owners vow to protect water quality; neighbors want tighter DNR oversight
The Dept of Natural Resources is defending its approval of the Kinnard Farms permit, which will allow the farm to grow by 55 percent — from 5,627 to 8,710 animal units, or about 6,200 cattle. The farm, classified as a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, because of its large size, is in the town of Lincoln in Kewaunee County...http://www.wisconsinwatch.org/2014/02/08/disputed-expansion-of-dairy-watched-for-statewide-impact/
Nation of Change, July 27, 2014 -▶ TOP AGRIBUSINESS FOOD COMPANIES DUMPING WASTE IN OUR WATERS. Companies like Tyson Foods, Cargill, Inc., and Perdue Farms Inc. dump their garbage—more than 206 million pounds of it—into our water almost every year and leave others to worry about the clean-up. Now, as the Environmental Protection Agency considers a rule to restore the Clean Water Act, these companies are pulling out all the stops to maintain their freedom to dump and pollute, regardless of the toxic outcomes.http://www.nationofchange.org/top-agribusiness-food-companies-dumping-waste-our-waters-1406476247
FARM-AGEDDON:
No birds. No bees. Our countryside laid waste. And billions of animals that never see a blade of grasshttp://sco.lt/7ztQbB
If we don’t watch out, agriculture could destroy our planet. Here’s how to grow all the food we need with fewer chemicals.
N. Nitrogen. Atomic number seven. Unnoticed, untasted, it nevertheless fills our stomachs. It is the engine of agriculture, the key to plenty in our crowded, hungry world.
Enter modern chemistry. Giant factories capture inert nitrogen gas from the vast stores in our atmosphere and force it into a chemical union with the hydrogen in natural gas, creating the reactive compounds that plants crave. That nitrogen fertilizer—more than a hundred million tons applied worldwide every year—fuels bountiful harvests.
Yet this modern miracle exacts a price. Runaway nitrogen is suffocating wildlife in lakes and estuaries, contaminating groundwater, and even warming the globe’s climate. As a hungry world looks ahead to billions more mouths needing nitrogen-rich protein, how much clean water and air will survive our demand for fertile fields?...http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/fertilized-world/charles-text
INDEPTH REPORT
GRAIN, September 16, 2014 AFRICA'S AG GIANTS "GREEN" REVOLUTION THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICA' BURGEONING CHEMICAL FERTILISER RUSH
Earth Policy Institute, January 08, 2014 ▶ MANY COUNTRIES REACHING DIMINISHING RETURNS IN INDUSTRIAL FERTILIZER USE. Despite this U.S. advantage in fertilizer use efficiency over China, over-application poses serious pollution problems in both countries. Fertilizer runoff from the U.S. Corn Belt, for example, contributes heavily to an annual oxygen-starved “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico—an area where sea life cannot exist, which in some years grows to the size of New Jersey.http://www.earthpolicy.org/data_highlights/2014/highlights43
▶ OUR INDUSTRIAL, WESTERN AGRICULTURAL FOOD SYSTEM IS DESTROYING THE EARTH AND OUR HEALTHhttp://sco.lt/63qRl3
-▶ MORE THAN HALF OF U.S. RIVERS ARE TOO POLLUTED TO SUPPORT LIFE http://sco.lt/5Gpafx
Grist, January 4, 2014 ▶ POULTRY MATTERS: WHAT DO DO WITH ALL THE CHICKEN SHIT? Report from the Pew Charitable Trusts on the chicken industry. Nitrogen and phosphorous runoff from agricultural activity is a major source of water pollution in many parts of the country. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, half of the phosphorous and 40 percent of the excess nitrogen result from agricultural runoff, leading to algae blooms and destructive conditions for the bay’s legendary fish, oysters, and crabs...http://grist.org/food/poultry-matter-what-to-do-with-all-that-chicken-shit/
Emmy Award Winning 1 hr Film - University of Minnesota
▶ "TROUBLED WATERS: A MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORY" ▶ This excellent one hour documentary examines the "unintended consequences" of farming practices on water quality, soil loss and the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. Knitting together federal energy, farm and environmental policies, the film makes a compelling case for the revamping of US agricultural policy. Through beautiful photography and inspiring narrative, the film puts deliberate emphasis on solutions and provides a hopeful blueprint for progress and positive change...http://www.rememberthispoint.com/?p=212
ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT: GazetteNet, November 5, 2013
-▶ BIO-ETHANOL FUEL: THE SECRET DIRTY COST OF OBAMA'S GREEN POWER PUSH.Five million acres of land set aside for conservation — more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined — have vanished on Obama’s watch. Landowners filled in wetlands. They plowed into pristine prairies, releasing carbon dioxide that had been locked in the soil. Sprayers pumped out billions of pounds of fertilizer, some of which seeped into drinking water, contaminated rivers and worsened the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where marine life can’t survive. ... 15 million more acres of corn were planted last year than before the ethanol boomhttp://www.gazettenet.com/home/9190243-95/the-secret-dirty-cost-of-obamas-green-power-push
▶ FOOD OR FUEL? RESEARCH SUGGESTS BIOFUEL WILL COST THE EARTHhttp://sco.lt/8ezJ2X
▶ HUMAN ACTIVITY IS LINKED TO MASS DOLPHIN DEATHS. "The immune systems of many marine mammals, especially coastal species like bottlenose dolphins, can be negatively affected by factors such as agricultural runoff, persistent organic pollutants (e.g., PCBs, DDT) and other contaminants,"http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/359799
The econimic contrast between Africa, the United States, and China is staggering. From using by far excessive amounts of fertilizer in China, measured in hundreds of pounds per acre, to Africa, where the amount used is measured in handfuls. Overuse of fertilizer is an issue that definitely needs to be addressed. Algal blooms flowing down rivers have the potential to cripple the economies of sea-driven towns.
▶ Guardian Sustainable Business, September 16, 2014 WHY BANNING DANGEROUS CHEMICALS IN OUR FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT IS NOT ENOUGH. The growth in chemical production in the past 40 years has been nothing short of explosive, with global output of $171bn in 1970 (pdf) burgeoning to more than $4tn in 2010 (an increase of more than 2,000%). By 2050, the market is expected to expand further to more than $14tn (an increase of more than 250% from 2010), with the BRICS countries dominating and accounting for more than $6tn together ($4tn for China alone). http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/sep/16/banning-dangerous-chemicals-business
-▶ SPECIAL REPORT: SCIENTISTS CRITICAL OF NEW EU CHEMICAL/PESTICIDE POLICY HAS INDUSTRY TIES, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.Seventeen scientists who have criticized plans in Europe to regulate endocrine-disrupting chemicals have past or current ties to regulated industries. An investigation by Environmental Health News reveals that of 18 toxicology journal editors who signed a controversial editorial, 17 have collaborated with the chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, tobacco, pesticide or biotechnology industries.http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2013/eu-conflict
======================
WATCH
Link TV (27:17)
UNSAFE: THE TRUTH BEHIND EVERYDAY CHEMICALS
They contribute to disease and are linked to conditions such as asthma, autism, ADHD, diabetes, cancers, infertility, cognitive disorders, obesity, reproductive disorders and birth defects. Earth Focus looks at endocrine disruptors, ubiquitous chemicals that affect development, metabolism, fertility and intelligence at extremely low doses and at what measures could be taken to better ensure public safety.http://www.linktv.org/video/9214/unsafe-the-truth-behind-everyday-chemicals
========================
Chicago Tribune, April 23, 2013
-▶ FEDERAL LAW MAKES IT PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO BAN HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS - The 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, the only major environmental law that hasn't been updated since it was enacted, allows chemical manufacturers to skip evaluating the safety of their products before putting them on the market.http://www.scoop.it/t/agriculture-gmos-pesticides?q=chemicals+in+your+body
-▶ A LOOPHOLE FOR CHEMICALS/PESTICIDES PUTS PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AT RISK - the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved roughly 11,000 pesticides intended for use in agriculture, inside homes, on lawns, in hand soaps, on clothing and other consumer goods with little or no safety tests, according to a multi-year investigation by the Natural Resources Defense Council.http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2013/03/loophole-pesticides-risks-public-health
-▶ ** GUADELOUPE AND MARTINIQUE THREATENED AS PESTICIDES/CHEMICALS CONTAMINATE FOOD CHAINhttp://sco.lt/5m8ZWL
-▶ FORMALDEHYDE SHOULD NOT BE IN OUR HOUSES, NO MATTER HOW 'NATURAL' BIG CHEM SAYS IT IShttp://sco.lt/6fpP3x
▶ LOVE CANAL'S MASSIVE TOXIC WASTE DUMP AND LOISE GIBBS 35 YEARS LATER - Love Canal was a toxic dump for chemical waste used by the Hooker Chemical Company in the 1950s in Niagara Falls, New York. In the next 20 years two schools and 900 homes were built on or near Love Canal. A young housewife, Lois Gibbs, lived there, and tells host Steve Curwood that more than half the children had birth defects. She organized the community and led a precedent-setting fight against the federal government to get all the families relocated... http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=13-P13-00050&segmentID=7
-▶ A LOOPHOLE FOR PESTICIDES PUTS PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AT RISK - the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved roughly 11,000 pesticides intended for use in agriculture, inside homes, on lawns, in hand soaps, on clothing and other consumer goods with little or no safety tests, according to a multi-year investigation by the Natural Resources Defense Council.http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2013/03/loophole-pesticides-risks-public-health
-▶ THOUSANDS OF FARMERS DYING: STUDY LINKS KIDNEY DISEASE TO AGROCHEMICALShttp://sco.lt/8EMqMj
- ▶ WHAT BOTTLED WATER COSTS THE ENVIRONMENT -- AND YOUR HEALTH. Billions of bottles are added to the world’s growing plastic pollution problem each year.
▶ BILLIONS OF POUNDS OF PLASTIC IN OUR OCEANS: IMPACT ON SEA LIFE, YOUR SEAFOOD AND YOUR HEALTH http://sco.lt/768Gsz
July 12, 2013 Slate
-▶ YOU ARE PAYING 300 TIMES MORE FOR BOTTLED WATER THAN TAP WATER http://ow.ly/mX2oR
WATCH "TAPPED"
Documentary 1:15:09 Examines the role of the bottled water industry and its effects on our health, climate change, pollution, and our reliance on oil. The documentary is well structured and presents an overwhelming amount of evidence which will change the way anyone thinks about bottled and municipal water. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/tapped/
To be able to sell and make money from water, you first have to own it. The Swiss film "Bottled Life" documents the booming business with bottled water, by focusing on the global leader in this lucrative multi-billion dollar market – namely, the Nestlé corporation in Switzerland. Nestlé currently controls more than 70% of the world's bottled water brands http://www.bottledlifefilm.com/index.php/the-story.html AND http://en.bottledlife.tv/
The Desert Sun, July 14, 2014
- ▶ NESTLE, ARROWHEAD TAPPING WATER FREE FROM CALIFORNIA'S MORONGO RESERVATION. The Companies are exporting a seriously limited resource with no oversight http://ow.ly/zd4DX
- ▶ NESTLE POLAND SPRING BOTTLED WATER. The people who live in Fryeburg, Maine can only access their local spring water by buying it in a plastic bottle. That’s because this small town’s spring water is currently controlled by Nestlé, and Nestlé wants to lock up its control over the town’s water with a massive 45-year contract -- children in the town will be grandparents before they are able to challenge it. http://act.storyofstuff.org/page/s/nestle-poland-spring-bottled-water
- ▶ NESTLE, ARROWHEAD TAPPING WATER FREE FROM CALIFORNIA'S MORONGO RESERVATION. The Companies are exporting a seriously limited resource with no oversight http://ow.ly/zd4DX
WATCH "FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER" 93 min Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/flow-for-love-of-water/
July 3, 2013 EcoWatch
-▶ THE PRIVATIZING OF PUBLIC WATER
Throughout the meeting, a misleading notion was continually raised that using private capital to fund water systems somehow constitutes an innovative approach to financing. This couldn’t be further from the truth.... http://ecowatch.com/2013/will-public-water-be-privatized/
WATER PRIVATIZATION ESCALATING AT AN ALARMING RATE
in order to sell and make money off from water, you have to own water. since the population is growing water is becoming scarce. the nestle corporation owns more than 70% of bottled water brand.
The Mind Unleashed, September 07, 2014 HOW MONSANTO, Bt GMO CORN AND PESTICIDES ANNIHILATED A PARADISE. Death has come to the beautiful island of Molokai, long considered an “old Hawaiian” paradise complete with waterfalls, lush rainforests and sprawling hills. It came in the form of a mighty Trojan Horse promising jobs and prosperity to the island’s small population of 7,500. Monsanto has set up shop, shrouded by fences and no trespassing signs. Almost 2,000 acres of Molokai’s paradise has been taken over by the biotech titan’s Bt corn crops. These patented genes produce a substance that prevents and destroys pests. The Bt toxin is engineered into corn crops meaning we eat toxic food whether we like it or not.http://themindunleashed.org/2014/09/monsanto-annihilated-paradise-turned-island-death.html
▶ The Economic Times, November 25, 2013 NOW "MUTAGENESIS" - AS OPPOSITION TO GM CROPS GROWS, COMPANIES ARE TURNING TO "MUTANT" SEED BREEDING
Mutagenesis deletes and rearranges hundreds or thousands of genes randomly, spawning mutations that are less precise than GMOs. ... The process, which faces almost no regulation, creates opportunities for companies to grab a bigger share of the $34 billion global commercial seed market. But some scientists say mutant crops are more likely to pose health risks than genetically modified ones.
All breeding techniques can create plants with increased levels of naturally occurring toxins or with proteins known to cause allergic reactions....Reports from the National Academy of Sciences, representing the consensus of experts in the field, say the risk of creating unintended health effects is greater from mutagenesis than any other technique, including genetic modification. ...
Grist, November 26, 2013 -▶ CANADA APPROVES EXPORT OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED SALMON EGGS - TO USA via PANAMA'S AQUABOUNTY Canada will allow genetically modified salmon eggs to be produced and exported — but no way in hell will the eggs be allowed to hatch on Canadian soil.Canada will allow genetically modified salmon eggs to be produced and exported — but no way in hell will the eggs be allowed to hatch on Canadian soil. The eggs will be exported to Aquabounties hatcheries in Panama and then exported to the USA http://grist.org/news/canada-approves-export-of-genetically-modified-salmon-eggs/
20 March, 2013 - The Guardian Environment -▶ MAJOR US SUPERMARKETS TO BOYCOTT GM SALMON - FIRST OF 30 OTHER GENETICALLY ALTERED SPECIES UNDER DEVELOPMENT The GM salmon is the first in some 30 other species of genetically engineered fish under development, including tilapia. Researchers are also working to bring GM cows, chickens and pigs to market.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/20/major-us-supermarkets-boycott-gm-salmon
-▶ ***** OUR 21ST CENTURY GENETIC FACTORY OF LIFE - RE-ENGINEERING, RE-PROGRAMMING AND PATENTING LIFE ITSELF: - IS BIOTECH OUT OF CONTROL? http://sco.lt/4thM6j
=========================
-▶ WHAT EVERY PARENT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT OUR BIG FOOD (CHEMICAL) INDUSTRY http://sco.lt/4iWsID
The world faces critical food shortages in the near future as demand for meat is expected to increase by more than two-thirds, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Cultured Beef represents the crucial first step in finding a sustainable alternative to meat production.... http://culturedbeef.net/home/
▶ BILL GATES, MONSANTO AND EUGENICS:How One of the World's Wealthiest Men is Actively Promoting a Corporate takeover of global health, food and agriculturehttp://sco.lt/8Csev3
▶ WHY MANY MILLIONS OF ANIMALS, LIKE PEOPLE, ARE NOW OVERWEIGHT - CHEMICALS, PESTICIDES IN YOUR FOODhttp://sco.lt/5MB0TJ
--------------------- NAFTA ON STEROIDS --------------------
THE US-EU "FREE TRADE" PACT AND THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS ARE ABOUT SECURING DE-REGULATORY GAINS FOR MAJOR CORPORATE INTERESTS, WAVING LIABILITY AND PUBLIC RIGHTS
Asia Times Online, September 27, 2013 -▶ TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP IS A TROJAN HORSE The TPP is a Trojan horse, branded as a "free trade" agreement, but having nothing to do with fair and equitable treatment. In reality, it is precisely "a wish list of the 1% - a worldwide corporate power". [8] "Only 5 of its 29 chapters cover traditional trade matters, like tariffs or quotas." [9] "The other chapters enshrine new rights and privileges for major corporations while weakening the power of nation states to oppose them." [10]http://atimes.com/atimes/Japan/JAP-02-270913.html
Naked Capitalism, August 16, 2013 -▶ TROJAN HORSE "TRADE" DEALS ---- THE PENDING TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AND EU-EU "TRADE" DEALS.The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the US-European Union “Free Trade” Agreement are both inaccurately depicted as being helpful to ordinary Americans by virtue of liberalizing trade. Instead, they have perilous little to do with trade. They are both intended to make the world more lucrative for major corporations by weakening regulations and by strengthening intellectual property laws. The TPP has an additional wrinkle of being an “everybody but China” deal, intended to strengthen ties among nations who will then be presumed allies of America in its efforts to contain China…http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/08/how-the-pending-trans-pacific-partnership-and-eu-us-trade-deals-will-gut-national-regulations-hurt-budgets-and-undermine-sovereignity.html
Transnational Institute, October 09, 2014 -▶ CORPORATE POWER: EL SALVADOR'S STRUGGLE AGAINST CORPORATE IMPUNITY.The controversial legal case that Canadian mining firm Pacific Rim has launched against El Salvador has added fuel to the growing international debate on the balance of corporate rights and responsibilities and the need for new legal international frameworks to address corporate impunity.http://www.tni.org/article/responsibilities-or-rights-el-salvadors-struggle-against-corporate-impunity
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. March 1, 2013
-▶ GOVERNMENTS MUST PROTECT LAND, FOOD SYSTEMS AS TRADE LIBERALIZATION ACCELERATES LAND GRABBINGhttp://iatp.org/blog-agriculture
Common Dream, April 22, 2014 -▶ CORPORATE COLONIALISM: PROTESTERS SLAM TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP.These secretive trade pacts are really about resurrecting global U.S. military power and economic dominancehttp://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/04/22-3
WATCH Bill Moyers & Company, November 1, 2013 'SECRETS TRADE PACTS THAT WILL IMPACT US ALL" A US-led trade deal is currently being negotiated that could increase the price of prescription drugs, weaken financial regulations and even allow partner countries to challenge American laws. But few know its substance. The pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is deliberately shrouded in secrecy...http://billmoyers.com/segment/yves-smith-and-dean-baker-on-secrets-in-trade/
Trans Pacific Partnership -
-▶ THIS IS WHAT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE LOOKS LIKE: NAFTA ON STEROIDShttp://sco.lt/8xWubB
Foreign Policy In Focus, December 13, 2013 -▶ NAFTA AT 20: NAFTA HAS DISPLACED WORKERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER, DEPRESSED WAGES, AND WEAKENED UNIONShttp://fpif.org/nafta-20-state-north-american-worker/
The Sunlight Foundation, March 14, 2014 -▶ HOW BIG PHARMA (AND OTHERS) BEGAN LOBBYING ON THE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP BEFORE YOU EVER HEARD OF IT. NAMING NAMES: WHICH CORPORATIONS AND INDUSTRIES?http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2014/03/13/tpp-lobby/
▶ BIG PHARMA, BIG BUCKS: ENDING DRUG MONOPOLIES, MEGA PROFITS AND STRANGLEHOLD ON PATENTS -- PEOPLE ARE DYINGhttp://sco.lt/5WVBkP
-▶ WALL STREET, CORPORATIONS BUYING UP AMERICAN, FOREIGN FARMLAND, THREATENING FUTURE OF U.S. AND WORLD AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITYhttp://sco.lt/8mcmbR
Truthout, March 27, 2013 -▶ TRANSPACIFIC PARTNERSHIP WILL UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY, EMPOWER TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS Circumventing the Checks and Balances of US Democracy: If the TPP is approved, the sovereignty of the United States and other member nations will be dissipated by trade tribunals that favor corporate power and force national laws to be subservient to corporate interests.,,http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/15353-transpacific-partnership-will-undermine-democracy-empower-transnational-corporations
Corporate Europe Observatory, October 4, 2013 -▶ TRUTHS AND MYTHS: "A BRAVE NEW TRANSLANTIC PARTNERSHIP" - THE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENT CONSEQUENCES.A new report published by members of the Seattle to Brussels Network (S2B), including CEO, which reveals the true human and environmental costs of the proposed EU-US trade deal
Common Dreams, September 19, 2013 -▶ OBAMA MOVES TO FAST-TRACK THE SECRETIVE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIPCritics slam highly secretive deal as a tool for U.S. and corporate power http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/19-9
-▶ MASSIVE LAND GRABBING BY MULTINATIONAL FIRMS PREVALENT IN UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES AND WILL GET WORSE WITH TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIPLawmakers in the Philippines are pushing for amendments to the 1987 Constitution to allow 100 percent foreign ownership of land. This is reportedly a condition set on the Philippine government before being accepted to the TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (TPPA), a trade pact being organized by the US government. - See more at: http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/22386#sthash.xl4kiTPB.dpuf
-▶ LAND GRABS: HOW FOREIGN 'INVESTMENTS' ARE REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH, LAND AND WATER ACROSS THE GLOBEhttp://sco.lt/96H2yv
AND THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING
-▶ OBAMA QUIETLY DE-REGULATES GMO/ GENETIC BIOTECH INDUSTRY IN PREPARATION FOR NEW TRADE DEALS : Fast-tracking Approvals, Waiving Regulations, Oversight and Liabilityhttp://sco.lt/5uCx8b
-▶ THE BIGGER PICTURE: TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - SETTING THE STAGE WITH THE "MONSANTO PROTECTION ACT"http://sco.lt/8U0kjJ
-▶ ANTI-WHISTLE-BLOWER AG-GAG BILLS AIMED AT KEEPING YOU IN THE DARK ABOUT OUR FACTORY-FARMED FOODhttp://sco.lt/7aFBUv
pdjmoo's insight:
VIDEO REPORT
The Real News, September 15, 2013 -▶ PHILIPPINE ACTIVISTS FIGHT BACK AGAINST CORPORATE AND MILITARY FORCES DESTROYING THEIR LAND, FORESTS AND LIVELIHOODS. Corporate agri-businesses like U.S.-based Dole, Del Monte, Monsanto, along with international and Philippine mines, are polluting waterways and destroying the surrounding farms. Chinese, European, Canadian, and Filipino mines are stripping away the mountains to get at what some estimate to be the largest iron deposit in the world. There also some of the most significant gold, nickel, and copper reserves in Asia. http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10725
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY NEWS AGGREGATES @pdjmoo
Annie Leonard's back with another animated video, six years after the Story of Stuff came out, and after eight other short films. This time, she's talking about what we need to do to solve problems—and how we really need to reframe goals so we're looking at the whole system.
The Story of Solutions explores how we can move our economy in a more sustainable and just direction, starting with orienting ourselves toward a new goal. In the current 'Game of More', we're told to cheer a growing economy -- more roads, more malls, more Stuff! -- even though our health indicators are worsening, income inequality is growing and polar icecaps are melting. But what if we changed the point of the game? What if the goal of our economy wasn't more, but better -- better health, better jobs and a better chance to survive on the planet? Shouldn't that be what winning means? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpkRvc-sOKk
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