Promoting Direct Farmer-Consumer

The National [US] Independent Consumers and Farmers Association promotes and preserves unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer trade that fosters availability of locally grown or home-produced food products. "All individuals have the God-given, inalienable right to procure the food of their choice, from the source of their choice." and "A farmer's livelihood depends on his/her ability to cater to consumer's demands without unfair government restrictions." [Wow, what a neat idea! It's worth reading about the federal raid on an Amish farm for trading raw milk interstate. As suggested, his milk is perhaps healthier than the factory version which requires sanitising techniques to boot]

Precluding the Public from Growing Food

Yet forces are moving against the ideas above...S510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010,  may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US.  It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money. “If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public’s right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes.  It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice."

Another commentator talks about the international financial corporations which have wreaked havoc around the world with astounding nonsensical "solutions" that are destructive of everyone but them. "Imagine having the government and corporations deciding every single thing you can do and must do in your kitchen and backing that up with the threat of 10 years in prison for screwing up - though you have never made anyone sick, and those corporations have."

Conservation Funds Might Be Slashed

The Rudd Government's funding for environment protection programs could be slashed by up to 25% in next month's budget and its expected that Caring For Our Country, would take one of the hardest hits.

Setting up Farm Stock Water

I recently attended a Landcare Adventure and listened to this talk on setting up farm stock water systems which was wonderfully practical and accessible. I thought that it might be handy for many others. It covers working out water requirements, calculating the pump head, what pipes to use, pump selection, watering troughs, and installation. Garry Lidden has set up many systems in the Northern Territory and is now based in northern NSW and happy to provide more information.

Soil and Leaf Sampling

If you are a grower who wants to achieve optimum yields, improved plant health and profitability then performing soil and leaf tests at set times throughout the season should be part of your standard farming practice.  Growers are increasingly incorporating this into their practices, not only for the crops’ health and yield, but to save money by only applying the exact nutrient requirements at set times.

Recycling Phosphorus

A delegation from Japan stand attentively in a factory building in Austria marveling at a seemingly miraculous transformation, as stinking sewerage sludge is turned into valuable ash. It doesn't smell, is hygenic and is as safe as sand in a children's sandbox. It's also valuable. The powder has a phosphate content of around 16%. Phosphate, the most important base material in mineral fertiliser, is currently trading at about US$335 per ton. [What is missed in many of these conversations is how life (microbes in particular), naturally cycle phosphorus. Phosphorus is not 'disappearing', but rather being converted into waste products that 'sit' and pollute. Get the biology fired up again and phosphorus can continue to cycle again and again and again]

Shoppers Turning Back to Butchers

Supermarket shoppers seem to be heading back - albeit slowly - to their local butchers. Quality and service may be the main reasons, but it is believed that the television series MasterChef is also behind the surge in the number of people making trips to butchers as people become increasingly knowledgeable about cooking meat. According to research the number of people who are making trips to butchers to buy their meat climbed 2.4% in 2009 from a year earlier, whereas supermarkets experienced a drop of 1.8%.

Butchers Caught Red-Handed

But perhaps you need to trust your butcher first! Some butchers are using the illegal preservative sulphur dioxide, to make old and greying meat look fresh. [I wonder if anyone is also checking for carbon monoxide use (see under 'carbon monoxide in meat'?]

The Value of Honey Bees

Modern monoculture farming has begun to distance itself from spraying pesticides. Rather, it has opted to genetically modify seeds and coat them prior to planting with potent pesticides that grow inside the plant and move throughout its system where ultimately the toxicity is transferred to the nectar and pollen. Last summer Larry Pender, a Camarillo, Calif., beekeeper and businessman, took 1,000 of his 2,900 beehives up to North Dakota where they fed on corn pollen. All 60 million bees died. "I'm not returning to North Dakota, and I'll be staying away from genetically modified corn," he said.

Whales Eating Trash

A gray whale's last meal in Puget Sound included plenty of trash, and it was fresh enough to indicate the animal took the "eat local" mantra enthusiastically to heart before coming ashore at Arroyo Beach, and later dying. Sweatpants. A golf ball. Surgical gloves. Small towels. Bits of plastic. And more than 20 plastic bags.

Killer Fungi Spreading

A rare but life-threatening tropical fungus that causes lung infections in both people and animals has been seen in the Pacific Northwest and could spread, researchers are reporting. The fungus, known as Cryptococcus gattii (or C. gattii), has infected dozens of humans and animals--including cats, dogs, and dolphins. The symptoms of infection include chest pain, a persistent cough, shortness of breath, fever, and weight loss. C. gattii is found in soil and trees, but experts haven't yet determined how humans breathe it in. In the past, C. gattii has tended to cause disease in people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS. But the new strain appears capable of causing respiratory symptoms and meningitis in otherwise healthy people.

Monsanto Under Investigation

At least seven U.S. state attorney generals are investigating whether Monsanto Company has abused its market power to lock out competitors and raise prices on seed. The seven states are probing whether Monsanto violated laws by offering rebates to seed distributors for excluding rival seeds, imposing limits on combining the product with other genetic modifications, or offering cash incentives to switch farmers to more expensive generation of seed varieties. [The following commentary is a great summary of the issues]

Glyphosate and Micronutrient Deficiencies

The extensive use of glyphosate, and the rapid adoption of genetically modified glyphosate-tolerant crops such as soybean, corn, cotton, canola, sugar beets, and alfalfa; with their greatly increased application of glyphosate for simplified weed control, have intensified deficiencies of numerous essential micronutrients and some macronutrients. Additive nutrient inefficiency of the Roundup Ready® (RR) gene and glyphosate herbicide increase the need for micronutrient remediation. This paper is an update of information on nutrient and disease interactions affected by glyphosate and the RR gene(s).

Glyphosate-Induced Manganese Deficiency

Glyphosate weed management programs can influence all components of the “plant disease triangle” by reducing plant uptake and translocation efficiency, changing soil biology, and modifying nutrient form or availability in the environment. Biological amendment with glyphosate-resistant organisms (Mn reducers and N fixers) needs further study, as well as more effective means of detoxifying glyphosate in the rhizosphere. Mn deficiency can compromise plant resistance mechanisms mediated through the shikimate pathway so that diseases such as take-all, Fusarium head scab and root rot, Corynesporium root rot, and numerous other diseases increase after glyphosate is applied for weed control.

Plastics Hamper DNA Research

Biologists using standard plastic test tubes to gauge the concentration of DNA and proteins in their samples may be getting wildly incorrect readings because chemicals are leaching out of the containers. [Makes you question plastics, and even some scientific results, even more]

Dirty Electricty and Compact Fluorescent Lights

CBC Montreal's environment columnist, Geeta Nadkarni, talks about the dangers of CFL bulbs and the dirty electricity they produce. She interviewed the leading researcher in the field, Magda Havas of Trent University, as well as EMF Consultant, Tom Nadas of EMF Security. Tom provides a demonstration of the dirty electricity produced by CFL blubs and their cumulative impact on the electromagnetic environment that surrounds us.

What is dirty electricity? What does a GS unit measure? Does the radiation from dirty electricity flow through the air or is it restricted to wires? Donna Fields (Gold Coast Qld) has written a couple of books on the subject -  'Silent Fields - The Growing Cancer Cluster Story' and 'More Silent Fields - And The Dirty Electricity Plague'.

Carbon Capture Unviable

A new research paper from American academics is threatening to blow a hole in growing political support for carbon capture and storage as a weapon in the fight against global warming. It would take a reservoir the size of a small US state to hold the CO2 produced by one power station.

GM Bugs Produce Synthetic Rubber

Isoprene, a petroleum by-product, is used to make the synthetic rubber in car tyres. About a billion tyres are made every year—each one requiring about 26 litres of oil. Now a way has been found to make greener tyres by using genetically modified bugs to produce isoprene biologically. By splicing in genes from other bugs, the company was able to engineer synthetic metabolic pathways—ones that do not exist in nature—that enable the bacteria to produce isoprene from the sugars found in plant materials such as sugar cane, corn cobs and switchgrass.

Banning Coal Tar Sealants

One US town is to ban coal-tar sealants spread on driveways and parking lots. They believe the sealants are among the worst culprits in their contamination issues, and contain chemical compounds that are classified as likely carcinogens, and are known as PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). [They don't mention what they will use as a substitute though]

Green Roofs for New Developments

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to require "green roofs," rain barrels and other measures that trap runoff at new and redeveloped buildings to provide a test case for an ambitious effort to stop pollution from flowing into rivers along with the rain. It would require developers to trap 90% of the water that falls on a plot during a storm.

Tokyo Going Green

Tokyo's been reducing solid waste, requiring factories and offices to cut carbon emissions, giving cash incentives to install solar panels, toughening building standards and planning more greenery. There is a very public push by Tokyo's metropolitan government to turn this dense urban area, home to 13 million people, into the world's most eco-friendly mega-city.
Unlike California's attempts, Tokyo is hitting the gas. [Very inspiration]

Rudd Failures

Rudd is spending at least $1 billion to fix the havoc he's unleashed by handing out free insulation, splurging on overpriced school buildings, relaxing boat people laws, letting in an unsustainable 300,000 people a year - and more. When you check the substance rather than the image you find he already qualifies as possibly the most incompetent prime minister since World War II. [When you look at it all as a whole, the record is not too good. I wonder if the water buy backs will result in another mammoth failure? Climate Change taxes certainly have - were there winners?]

What's New...

Developed over many years in liquid form by Prof. Dr. Teruo Higa, EM (Effective Microorganisms) is a combination of 80 varieties of beneficial, naturally occurring microorganisms; mostly used for or found in foods. The most outstanding characteristic of EM is it includes both aerobic and anaerobic species coexisting in a most productive manner. These effective microorganisms secrete beneficial substances such as vitamins; organic acids chelated minerals and antioxidants when in contact with organic matter. EM Solutions Australia Pty. Ltd now distribute these products in Australia which are recognised and certified as organic by Biological Farmer’s Association of Australia. Norm Cooper of Farming Focus is their first Australian distributor, but more are being sought. They also market a probiotic drink, EnZYME, which you can even cook with - and check out the exotic ingredients!

NZ Soil Carbon Conference

There are calls for papers/posters for the upcoming NZ Soil Carbon Conference in Wellington 15-17th September 2010. Prof Tim Flannery has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for this years event and earlybird registrations for the conference will open on the 15^th of June, however expressions of interest are being taken now.

Business of Farming Courses

More profit guaranteed, or your investment will be refunded in full!!....PrincipleFocus is running its next  Business of Farming Courses in Dubbo NSW, Ballarat VIC, Launceston TAS and Adelaide SA, 26-30 July. The Business of Farming Course is the start of a unique program that uses a combination of training, coaching and peer mentoring to make lasting positive changes to farming businesses.   This course is approved under the FarmReady Reimbursement Grant program.

Health

Patrick McGorry - Australian of the Year

Who is Patrick McGorry and what does he promote?  He’s a psychiatrist just named Australian of the Year for his work in “youth mental health reform.” He promotes youths being put on antipsychotics and antidepressants and even goes a giant step further— of drugging them before they’ve even developed a “psychiatric” disorder. In addition, McGorry has received unrestricted research grant support from Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Bristol Myer Squibb, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Novartis. [Gosh, it is interesting to note other perspectives on what seem to be 'good news' stories]

WA Flu Vaccine Crisis

Were Western Australian parents, whose children were vaccinated against seasonal flu - with such devastating effect - aware that their children were part of a study funded by the vaccine manufacturers CSL Pty Ltd and Sanofi Pasteur? And there are many other unanswered questions such as whether the AH1N1 portion of these vaccines were recycled from the unused doses of last year's swine flu shots.? And if so, considering that those shots are now at or past their use-by date, could this be the cause of the current problem?

Cancer and Cosmetics

With everything we already know about cancer, why is prevention completely ignored in the government’s cancer plan? Once you look at what’s being done, and more importantly, what’s NOT being done, cancer starts to look like a profitable business plan in and of itself. Only when viewed under this loupe does ignoring cancer prevention make sense. [This interview questions nano-particles, animal hormones]

Placebo Effect vs Drugs

There is a new “product” on the market that is absolutely free to you and is giving drug companies a run for their money. It’s called the placebo effect … and it often works better than top pharmaceutical drugs. "It's not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say. It's as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger."

Vitamin D Urgency

A professor of food and health at University College Cork says "We need to explore vitamin D fortification as a means of eradicating serious vitamin D deficiency in the European populations as a matter of urgency.” Lack of the “sunshine vitamin” has been linked to osteoporosis, diabetes, asthma, multiple sclerosis and cancer among others, so preventing and combating deficiencies should be made a public health priority, according to experts at a European parliament conference on vitamin D. [Yet they do not recommend getting Vitamin D from sunshine...because it supposedly causes cancer - which misses the point all together, a good dose of sunshine protects you from cancers! Guess what their solution is - profitable supplements, surprise surprise. Fortified food will be next in line no doubt]

Male Fertility

If scientists from Mars were to study the human male's reproductive system they would probably conclude that he is destined for rapid extinction. Only between 5 and 15% of the sperm from young healthy men, on average, is good enough to be classed as "normal" under strict World Health Organisation rules. By contrast, more than 90% of the sperm of a domestic bull or ram, or even laboratory rat, are normal. And it appears that it has more to do with influences as a foetus than with real-time lifestyle choices.

Breast Milk Substance Kills Cancer Cells

Swedish researchers have discovered that a substance found in human breast milk has the ability to kill cancer cells. The substance known as HAMLET (Human Alpha-lactalbumin Made Lethal to Tumor cells), was discovered years ago, but has just recently been tested on humans. The trial breakthrough increases the hopes that HAMLET will be developed into a cancer treatment medication in the future.

Toxic Chinese Sofas

A number of High Street chains have agreed to pay up to US$31m to 2,000 people who received chemical burns from anti-fungal agents in Chinse made sofas. Up to 100,000 of the sofas were sold with "highly sensitising" fungicidal chemical dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inside, which even burnt through clothing.

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