April Fools Joke

Last week there was an article on McDonald's meals that could not be composted - as pointed out by a subscriber, it was an April Fool's joke, which I was unaware of, but have to admit, I could not stop giggling over it at the time... I attended a Sue Dengate (Food Intolerance Network) talk last year, and as part of the show she pulls out a McDonald's cheeseburger that she bought years ago - it is still perfectly intact and non-compostable (which is her point) - so being seduced by this story was not so hard!

Unlocking Carbon Grazing Puzzle

How successfully plants introduce carbon into the landscape is determined by animal management. Plants and animals have evolved together and rely on each other. The bulk of the carbon enters the landscape in the short period immediately following rain. This highlights the need to focus our management around this point in time. Nature's instruction is left in the rain gauge. [It's all so obvious, but missed by so many]

Grazing Cattle Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Nitrous oxide is about 300 times as powerful as CO₂ at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Biologists had long assumed that the farming of cattle and other livestock was part of the reason for rising nitrous oxide levels, because the animals' grazing disrupts the natural cycle that draws nitrogen into the soil. Instead, according to new research, it turns out that in some places, grazing actually reduces N₂O emissions. [This is not as straight forward as you might think - they are actually blessing overgrazing that reduces soil microbial activity - all a bit odd]

The Base Assumptions of Modern Agriculture

The dictionary definition of “science” refers to “adherence to natural laws and principles” and much of what we have done in the name of agricultural science does not conform to this definition. In fact, the industry is driven more often by greed than real science. Graeme Sait of Nutri-Tech Solutions is developing a series of blogs, entitled “Questioning the Status Quo” and revisits some of the base assumptions underlying modern agriculture to examine their validity. The first revisits the assumption that we need farm chemicals, and the second the assumption of 'get bigger or get out'. [The magic of Graeme's writing comes together in these]

Europe's Biggest Dairy Shelved

Plans to build an 8,100-cow dairy farm in the UK have been withdrawn over concerns about the environmental impact of the project. As initially conceived, the dairy would be the biggest in Western Europe producing 250,000 litres of milk a day and employing over 80 people. For some observers bigger is not necessarily better. Detractors have objected to the project arguing against it on animal welfare grounds and raising questions about its impact on smaller dairy farmers. But the company is steadfast in its stance that this opposition will not stop the company from re-submitting its plans.

Why Antibiotics Are Good for Livestock

There is much discussion surrounding the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals and the risk of resistance that may result. Feedstuffs FoodLink and Trent Loos recently visited Dr Scott Hurd at Iowa State University to find out more. Dr Hurd believes any risk is minimal and well offset by the benefits that antibiotics provide in regard to the welfare of our animals and food safety. [Can you believe this? I love the comment that animals outside are exposed to more harmful microbes...they obviously haven't read Dirty Pigs are Healthy Pigs]

Population Minister

Australia's first Minister for Population, Tony Burke, says it is impossible to cap the nation's population growth. He said the challenge of his job was to ensure future growth proceeded sustainably. [Where does one start to make comment?... Fancy even having a population minister. Note that if governments and businesses keep providing, and even paying (think baby bonus) for increased populations, then of course populations will keep increasing. While you can get water and elecriticy at a flick of a switch what would induce you to limit your consumption of them? Just a local example, the town of Barraba doesn't have enough water (hasn't for years), so it is demanding water gets piped in from Tamworth's water storage - when does one concede that we have over-extended a natural resource and stop, or at least look at living within its local limitations?]

The Hunger Wonder Food

Should a revolutionary humanitarian food product be protected by commercial patent, when lifting restrictions might save millions of starving children? That is the moral conundrum at the heart of a bitter transatlantic legal dispute. On one side are the French inventors of Plumpy'nut, a peanut paste which in the last five years has transformed treatment of acute malnutrition in Africa. And on the other side are two American not-for-profit organisations that have filed a suit at a Washington DC federal court to have the patent overturned.

Human Influence on Ecology Mapped

Professor Erle Ellis is proposing a radical new way to map the Earth's biomes, taking into account the effect humans have had on the planet. Instead of biomes he suggests anthromes in recogition of human activity that our environment is shaped by and he has drawn up a map to explain.

Barometer of Life

An ambitious project to create a "barometer of life" to track the changing fortunes of the natural world will be set out by some of the world's leading ecologists. The plan is for thousands of scientists to collect information on 160,000 of the world's nearly 2 million known species - from great mammals, fish and birds to obscure insects and fungi - chosen to be representative of life on Earth. The cost of building the database would be about US$60m. [Whoa! I guess it will keep 160,000 ecologists in a job and it is cheaper than a war...]

Hungry for Rural Assets

In less developed economies, the Global Financial Crisis has been a problem for more than five years. In their case, however, the ''F'' stands for food. And the question on the lips of many developing countries' leaders is: will there be enough to sustain a rapidly growing global population? As one of the world's biggest exporters of food, Australia has the potential to be a major influence on developing a global solution to what is a looming international problem. At the very least, we are in a position to capitalise on an expected increased demand for higher-quality food in the region. [I just loved this snippet embedded in this article "But a family will work for next to nothing when times are tough and accept dismal returns that a corporation simply cannot tolerate."]

Front End of the Water Pipe

Australia's management of water needs a stronger focus on “front of pipe” strategies, especially the capture of rainfall by soils. Former Governor-General, Major-General Michael Jeffery, who convened the Canberra forum through Outcomes Australia, said the “back of pipe” thinking that currently prevails is largely about reallocating a dwindling resource. A key concept is that boosting organic matter and carbon in soils increases the capacity of landscapes to absorb and hold rainfall, and that biodiverse vegetation cover helps prevent losses and aids water cycling. [How refreshing]

Case examples of 'front end' on farm results were reported on from around Australia - and they are pretty impressive, not only from a water perspective, but a productive perspective too. Farmers really have so much to gain from carbon farming!

Duopoly Make or Break You

Few things will chill the central nervous systems of Australian winemakers as thoroughly as the mention of Coles and Woolies. This duopoly can make or break a wine business: between them they own nearly all the wine shops. Woolies opens the battling with Dan Murphy’s and BWS, Coles will respond, perhaps more smartly, with Vintage Cellars and 1st Choice. These big chains can make life extremely difficult by refusing to stock your product, or by stocking it, then destroying your market and reputation by discounting it to the point where it’s not only cheaper than you can afford to sell it at your own cellar, but cheap enough to destroy any image of prestige you may have struggled to build over the life of your business.

Separated Palm Oil

Palm oil is commonly used in food and personal care products, but its use has come in for criticism in recent years as increasing demand has led to deforestation in parts of Asia, and the destruction of habitats and ecosystems. There are already 2 systems working towards helping companies select sustainable oil, and recently IOI-Loders Croklaan will be able to supply certified sustainable palm oil that has been kept segregated throughout the supply chain as of June - the best yet. [It is not stated what sustainable is in this article - but this seems to be taking a positive direction]

Flour Ingredients

Recent investigations have found that some bleaching agents widely used in flour production contain as much as 30% pulverized lime, a substance that has been linked to health problems. Such news did not surprise some people within the industry. "Their low prices resulted from adding pulverized lime." [This story is from China]

Healthy Food More Expensive Than Processed

Three More GM Foods for Australia

Genetically engineered foods using technologies that have been rejected in Europe and India due to health concerns are to be approved for sale in Australia. Food Standards Australia New Zealand plans to accept three more GM applications for insect-resistant soya beans, drought-tolerant corn and an enzyme designed to produce super bread. The soya bean crop contains the same toxin as a GM eggplant that the Indian government rejected in February after it was linked with liver and reproductive damage in rats.

GM Wheat Resurrected?

Syngenta has announced it has entered into a public-private partnership with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to focus on the development and advancement of technology in wheat, the most internationally traded food crop and the single largest food import in developing countries. It will entail joint research and development in the areas of native and GM traits, hybrid wheat and the combination of seeds and crop protection to accelerate plant yield performance. This partnership will strengthen the company's global presence and reinforce its position as a leader in the worldwide commercial wheat seeds market.

Gene Stacking Without Approval

SmartStax is a genetically modified (GM) maize that has eight GM traits combined or ‘stacked’ together, six for insect resistance (Bt) and two for herbicide tolerance and was approved without an approval process and without allowing public comment prior to its registration. As insane as it may appear, EPA regards the health effects of transgenes stacked together and their impact on the environment as equivalent to a mixture of chemicals pesticides sprayed on a plant.

GM Survey

I have been asked whether I could assist a Year 12 student with her survey on attitudes to GM crops. There are only 10 questions to answer and surveys can be emailed back to Gavin Wall.

End to Gene Patents

Hypocrisy

The NSW state government has approved a new power station at Lithgow despite an independent report warning it would increase the state's greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 2.9 million cars. [Whether you judge this as a good or bad thing is not the point - how can governments show their faces around so-called climate change issues when they are doing such deals at the same time?] 

Withholding Climate Aid Funds

The US State Department is denying climate change assistance to countries opposing the Copenhagen accord. The new policy suggests the Obama administration is ready to play hardball, using aid as well as diplomacy, to bring developing countries into conformity with its efforts to reach an international deal to tackle global warming. Bolivia and Ecuador would now be denied aid after both countries opposed the accord. Others have warned that such a policy risked further inflaming the tensions between the industrialised world and developing countries that have been a major obstacle to getting a deal.

US Anti-Trust Inquiry

After years of suffering what amounts to “corporate feudalism” at the hands of agbiotech giants like Monsanto, farmers are now fighting back as the US government launches an unprecedented anti-trust enquiry.  A major grievance is that the required seed licence forces farmers to relinquish their right to plant, harvest and sell their own seeds. [I do hope the voices grow stronger and more powerful]

Shearing With Sunshine

Replicating Photosynthesis

Scientists have made a fundamental breakthrough in their attempts to replicate photosynthesis – the ability of plants to harvest the power of sunlight – in the hope of making unlimited amounts of "green" energy from water and sunlight alone. The researchers have assembled genetically modified viruses into wire-like structures that are able to use the energy of the sun to split water molecules into their constitute parts of oxygen and hydrogen, which can then be used as a source of chemical energy.

What's New...

With poor crop gross margins on grains, farmers across a wide range of areas have been forced to find efficiency wherever they can, which helps explain the increasing shift to liquid injection fertilisers, which are proving to hold advantages over granules. Liquid injection starters put down with the seed in the row give the crop a nutrient boost and set it up nutritionally while economically managing to the season as it progresses. BioNutrient Solutions have co-developed the BNSEasyflo liquid distribution system which is assisting in the adoption of liquid inject starters by reducing the cost and improving the simplicity of liquid injection.

Kiva Revisit

Last newsletter I linked to a microloan site called Kiva where people needing to raise money in developing countries could connect with others willing to loan them the money. The idea is generally to create a better deal than banks will provide. A subscriber who has been involved with Kiva for a few years notes that the system works well, but there is an emerging discovery that over 40% of the loaned money goes towards the costs of running the scheme, which is effectively an over 40% interest bill that needs to be paid by the loanee at the end of the day....not exactly what many would consider a good deal!

Barefoot Workshop

Andrew Bowe is a career master farrier who specialises in the barefoot rehabilitation of horses that are suffering chronic lameness. He will be holding a workshop in Moree 10th July and comes highly recommended by a subscriber. Apart from any other benefits effective footcare can save you an awful lot of money. For bookings contact Karen or Nicky 03 5773 4306, or  Local coordinator Anne Coote 0427 526 510. 

Health

What Juice for What Ailment

Celery juice for blood pressure, cabbage juice for the stomach, cherry juice for pain and inflammation, cranberry juice for urinary tract infections. [What a great way of healing!]

Vaccination Contamination

On March 22, 2010, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials adhering to the precautionary principle advised American doctors to suspend use of Rotarix vaccine until the agency finds out why DNA from a swine virus (porcine circovirus 1 or PCV1) was found in the live rotavirus vaccine. In addition to pig viral DNA found in Rotarix vaccine, low levels of DNA fragments from avian (bird) leukosis virus (a retrovirus) was found in measles vaccine and DNA fragments of a virus similar to simian (monkey) retrovirus was found in RotaTeq vaccine.

Junk Food Killing our Pets

The junk food and poor eating habits affecting humans is also killing their four-legged pals, say veterinary surgeons and experts. "I'm seeing an increasing number of allergies, diarrhea, vomitting, skin dermatitis as well as cases of obesity, specially amid cats because of the excessively high energy content in industrially-produced cat foods." Many are starting to recommend feeding domestic pets their evolutionary diet as a way of maximizing their health and longevity. [I highly recommend reading Raw Meaty Bones to understand this position further]

Far Infra-Red Saunas

This is an interesting story of a lady detoxing chemotherapy chemicals through her skin years after her treatment for breast cancer using an infra-red sauna. Even her cat noticed! I have even heard of a story of an ex farmer detoxing agricultural chemicals from his skins years later the same way. In fact the others sharing the sauna had to leave because of the chemical smell emanating from him!

Human Microchip

Sounds innocuous - microchipping humans with their medical records, but you are left to wonder at the emerging future. Of course such a procedure would be sold as being immensely helpful, if not necessary...on page 1001 of America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 that was recently passed is Subtitle C National Medical Device Registry which states that everyone microchipped pursuant to the new Health Care Bill must be registered with the Secretary. Where are we going with this?

This search shows up how extensive micro-chipping humans already is!

Type III Diabetes

One astonishing finding shows that in diabetic patients who exercised by walking outdoors, blood sugar went down as expected -- but in those who exercised on a treadmill, impacted by electromagnetic fields, the blood sugar went up. And another study provides unequivocal evidence that the radiation from a cordless (DECT) phone interferes with your heart.

Save Our Bones Program

The Save Our Bones Program is the revolutionary program that reverses osteoporosis in three easy steps using the ‘RE.STO.RE’ principle. I was forwarded this site to preview and it has some great articles on food and health which might interest many of you.

Setting the Record Straight

Dr. Andrew Wakefield shares his personal and professional insights into a number of topics, from the gut-brain connection so often seen in autistic children, to the safety of a number of childhood vaccines. He also sets the record straight on the harsh criticism he’s endured as the author of one of the most controversial vaccine-causing-autism studies ever done. [You simply cannot believe the convoluted lies that have been used against him - judge for yourself!]

The Pill - The Solution to Many Things?

The Pill has become the darling of the medical world for treating just about any hormonal problem a girl may have and then some. To date, the Pill is prescribed for acne, to “regulate” periods, for heavy bleeding, and painful periods, to treat PMS, endometriosis, migraines, ovarian cysts and polycystic ovaries. The Pill is even prescribed to girls as young as thirteen for acne. Yet all estrogens used in HRT and oral contraceptives have now been proven, unequivocally, to cause cancer!

Quote

"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand."
--Woodrow Wilson

Cartoon

Miscellaneous

Imagine being able to read people's minds - this short 4 minute video is a powerful reminder that everyone is generally working with their own hardships, if we could stop and care no doubt the world could be transformed one person at a time... 

Events

* Barefoot Workshop - Moree NSW 10th July 2010.

Postscript

The tax system explained in layman's terms...

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this……..

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men? The paying customers?

How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings)

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works.

The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction.

Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore.

In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Yours Sincerely,
Carolyn Ditchfield