Category: Uncategorized

It takes incredible and uncommon courage to act out of conscience and to place the common good ahead of one’s own self interest. Dr. Rommerns is such a remarkable man.
In an effort to preserve humanity, he has renounced as false the conventional beliefs shared by former colleagues in the biotech industry. In battling for truth, he has sacrificed his professional career and his livelihood.
Dr. Rommens is the rare sort of individual whose commitment to good deserves a Nobel prize. Jim

“Of all the genetic engineers who have renounced the technology—Arpad Pusztai, Belinda Martineau, Thierry Vrain and John Fagan, among others—because of its shortsighted approach and ability to produce unintended and potentially toxic consequences, Caius Rommens’ story may be the most compelling.

“Rommens was director of research at Simplot Plant Sciences from 2000 to 2013 where he led development of the company’s genetically engineered Innate potato. But over time, Rommens started to have serious doubts about his work and worried about potential health risks from eating the GMO potatoes, which are now sold in 4,000 supermarkets in the U.S.

“Rommens’ concerns about the GMO potato led him to write a book, ‘Pandora’s Potatoes,’ which was recently published. The book is a case study on how a scientist’s initial enthusiasm about genetic engineering turns to doubt and fear as he realizes the hazards the technology can create…

“‘Silencing is not gene-specific. Any gene with a similar structure to the silencing construct may be silenced as well. It is even possible that the silencing that takes place inside the GM potatoes affects the genes of animals eating these GM potatoes. I am most concerned about bees that don’t eat GM potatoes but may use GM potato pollen to feed their larvae. Based on my assessment of the literature, it appears that the silencing constructs are active in pollen’…

“‘It is my experience that genetic engineers are biased and narrow-minded. They may not be able to critically assess their own creations’…

“‘My concern about genetic engineering is that the absence of unintentional effects can never be guaranteed. It may take dozens of years before these effects reveal themselves, and we should be extremely cautious applying the technology’…

“‘CRISPR has the same problems as genetic engineering. In my book, I explain that it requires manipulations in tissue culture that cause mutations. These mutations have a negative effect on crop performance and cannot be removed from certain crops including apple and potato’…

“‘Genetic engineering is meant to increase crop uniformity. I believe the opposite approach—to increase crop diversity—will be more effective in increasing the sustainability of farming.’

“‘I am most hopeful in the efforts of small companies such as Solynta (A Dutch company that has developed an innovative non-GMO technology for targeted breeding of potatoes). The main benefit of Soylnta’s approach is that it breeds potatoes that have a simpler genetic structure than cultivated potatoes—more like that of wild potatoes—so that genetic traits can be combined much more effectively.'”

https://www.ecowatch.com/gmo-potato-simplot-health-fears-2618087647.html?fbclid=IwAR0kULc5NdzFBGo4osILvIW1c7W4WlJKN9i3YWKMH6Y2mY4rl6OgjTfB-MA

Sikkum is a small Indian State in the Himalayas.
For 25 years, Vandana Shiva’s organization, ‘Navdanya International,’ worked in tandem with visionary local government leaders. Together, they shepherded a remarkable agricultural transition which dedicated itself to converting Sikkum to 100% organic production.
Now, that quarter-century conversion to 100% organic production has come to fruition. What’s more, the Sikkum model has been designed to be exportable to help other regions.
Recently, a delegation from Sikkum traveled to Italy to share their success with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

https://www.navdanyainternational.it/en/news-navdanya-international/604-100-organic-sikkim-lifegateen?fbclid=IwAR0BURTwlX7wBvprY9E5tKnjgDdUltaDmLo7z3hoqblrcRGZZO9TDplYSP8

Asserting warming ocean waters – caused by climate change – have damaged fisheries and thus their livelihoods, West coast crabfisherman are turning to the courts for protection. Jim

“Crab fishing on the West Coast has become so threatened by warming oceans that a coalition of commercial fishers has now joined the climate litigation fray with a lawsuit filed Wednesday to hold 30 fossil fuel companies accountable for losses caused by climate change.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14112018/crab-fishermen-climate-change-lawsuit-fossil-fuel-companies-ocean-algae-neurotoxin-fishery-closure?utm_source=New+Food+Economy+Subscribers&utm_campaign=3c71b82448-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_15_05_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_75a28a0eaf-3c71b82448-264716005&fbclid=IwAR1h4uMSooncZiKhPuImgdmVwNSZo60PHoyFPNzuvbvkvp8jZvF9Jjw6rdI

For the last 15 years talented Paul Cyr has captured the sheer beauty of natural and working Northern Maine with his stunning photography https://www.facebook.com/Paul-Cyr-Photography-508977902608…/).
Now, Paul has released his new book which contains 450 of his best shots (http://moshermultimedia.com/product/northern-maine/).
Subject areas covered in the new book include Amish Life, Aroostook County, Bald Eagles, Fall Foliage, Farming, Moose, Northern Lights, Potato Fields, Snow, Tractors and Wildlife. Jim

Paul Cyr releases new photography book

Who could have imagined voluntarily wrapping a stylized rope around your neck might have a downside?
In a new study, researchers in Germany have documented necktie-wearers have reduced blood flow to the brain capable of causing decreased and lackluster mental performance.
Who will be the first to make the connection between unstable decision-making in our wayward capitols of political and economic power – spelled Washington and Wall Street – where use of tight neckties is uncontrollably epidemic? Jim

Over the past weeks we’ve seen this yearling Black Bear hanging out in a distant corner of this year’s clover hay field. Recently, when Caleb was mowing the field to make hay, he had to get off the tractor in order to clear away a fallen branch. While on the ground he could hear rustling nearby in the bushes and concluded it was this same bear moving around.
We cut that clover field right before the 4th of July, and baled the hay up the first of last week. Caleb, Jim & Megan

Answer: colossal culpability.
The fact is, from both a public health AND national security standpoint, the United States would be MUCH MUCH better off if it were fed by local family farmers. By definition, small-scale production has small-scale impact should there be a problem which surfaces.
One might say Industrial Ag is the beneficiary of the consolidation-landslide created by our Federal Cheap Food Policy. HOWEVER, it would be much closer to the truth to say Industrial Ag AUTHORED the Cheap Food Policy.
The disastrous reality is that concentration of food production increases by gargantuan magnitudes risks to our nation’s food supply.
Author Michael Pollan has written that one facility in California processes a jaw-dropping 100 MILLION SERVINGS of leafy greens per week. So it follows, when Industrial Ag has a food safety problem, its risky scale of massive concentration GUARANTEES IT WILL BECOME AN ENORMOUS PROBLEM. Jim

https://newrepublic.com/article/149628/americas-enduring-failure-prevent-food-borne-illness

The labor shortage faced by American farmers is not new but it is becoming acute.
The trend of steadily increased mechanization on farms is even older than the labor shortage. Many are predicting robotics will provide long term relief to large and corporate farms.
Will the Big Boys be the only farms able to afford robots when costs approach or exceed a million dollars?
Where will the growing labor shortage and high cost of robotics leave smaller family farms? Yes, between a rock and a hard place.
‘Mother Jones’ offers insight into the challenge by looking into California’s wine grape harvest. Jim

Recent Iowa Congressional candidate Austin Frewick is a brave man. He blows the whistle on the Iowa Farm Bureau in this interesting, concise and eye-opening piece. Upsetting the apple cart may be hazardous to one’s health when there are billions of blood dollars at stake.
Farm Bureau loves to fib and represent itself to gullible listeners – like members of Congress – as the ‘voice of American family farmers.’ NOTHING could be further from the truth. Their close working relationships with the likes of Monsanto clearly announce their real self-serving agenda.
Clearly, Iowa Farm Bureau’s “non-profit” status is a big whopper of gigantic proportions and sure needs fixing. Jim

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2018/06/22/iowa-farm-bureau-insurance-company-voice-farmers/714274002/

The system of soil-reverent farming, known as “Organic Farming” had its origins 125 years ago. Back then, organic farming started out as a protest movement firmly dedicated to the importance of maintaining soil health. Organic farming rejected the then burgeoning – and dubious – “modern farming” production practices which disassociated itself from the soil and instead relied on purchased inputs in a bag.
That organic farming has had an outsized impact on all of agriculture is becoming increasingly apparent as its priciples become adpted by mainstream Ag. That “soil health” is now a buzzword covered by the likes of ‘USA Today’ is a sign of the times. It is also proof that organic farming’s insistence that the soil must come first was the correct concept all along. Jim