Webpage Cleared of Problems

It's been a steep learning curve! While the trojans that found their way onto my website were cleared a number of weeks ago, I, along with many others continued to be warned about the site via their security programs...apparently it takes time for the website to be rechecked and cleared. I managed to speed that up, and all should show as clear now. It is a new upgraded website (although it looks rather similar to the old one), but still requires some re-jigging along the way. Please bear with me!

Biochar Risks

Biochar is hailed by the coalition as a key plank of Australia's climate change response but the CSIRO says there are still unanswered questions, including whether it could contaminate food and water with dangerous toxins. [Pity noone was quite as cautious when herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilisers were introduced to farming!]

Farmers to 'Own' Soil Carbon Trading

Farmers can only avoid the sharks in the soil carbon market if they take control of it for themselves, says farmers’ group Carbon Farmers of Australia. They can take advantage of the early notice of the coming market in soil carbon to join with other farmers to form trading ‘groups’ and avoid being exploited by low prices for carbon.

Free Marketing Soil Carbon

Michael Kiely of The Carbon Coalition has made comment in response to recent articles on soil carbon of fears of allowing free markets to wheel and deal in soil carbon credits. "The ‘free market’ is like the microbial community. It’s every microbe for itself. Most unedifying. But the outcomes of all this microbial greed are not all negative. All the killing and consuming of each other releases the good energy that spirals upwards and allows us to live. Likewise the transformation of the landscape depends upon mindshifts so deep-seated that we can only trigger them with the Greed Factor.  The trade is not the main game. It is the attention-getter. It is the behaviour change device. But the main game is culture change. This comes when a farmer learns how it feels to work in a carbon rich environment. And comes to rely upon the co-benefits. Trade will be temporary. It's co-benefits could last forever."

Organic Farming Boosts Biodiversity

Organic farming increases biodiversity at every level of the food chain - all the way from lowly bacteria to mammals. This is the conclusion of the largest review ever done of studies from around the world comparing organic and conventional agriculture. Organic farming aids biodiversity by using fewer pesticides and inorganic fertilisers, and by adopting wildlife-friendly management of habitats where there are no crops, including strategies such as not weeding close to hedges, and by mixing arable and livestock farming.

New Pasture Rules for Organic US Dairies

New rules clarify an older requirement that said only that organically raised livestock had to have access to pasture. That left a loophole for some dairies that would put cows out to pasture only during periods when the animals were not giving milk or would feed their animals almost exclusively on grain or other feeds. The new regulations, which go into effect in June, are much more specific. They say that animals must graze on pasture for the full length of the local grazing season.

Organic Food Rort

Whole Foods Market in the US promote organic produce and even local food - but in fact a majority of their produce is shipped in from China, where organic standards are often questioned and certainly not inspected. Consumers are furious and feel completely hoodwinked. All in the name of profits!

Property Rights Inquiry Hobbled

Agricultural Apocalyse?

Today we have the simultaneous events of income deflation and food inflation; two high-speed express trains coming down that tracks at each other, a financial crisis colliding with staggering crop losses, which are cutting deeply into available planetary food reserves. Prices of food are again beginning to soar again just as millions are losing the ability to afford a reasonable diet, though little of this is being observed or reported. [I was challenged by the comment in this article: “This is one of the most serious problems that science has ever faced.” - why science? Is it really only science that can get us out of this?? What about re-learning the basics - the real basics without the extravagant science and financial instruments?]

Three Stories About Planet Earth

Joanna Macy, Ph.D is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She recently gave a presenation to the Bioneers 2009 Conference. She states that if we can free ourselves from the delusions and dependencies bred by the industrial growth society, (the third story she offers) something wonderful can happen. If we manage to steer clear of panic, we may well find at last the wild power of our creativity and solidarity. [Now this is my sort of story and future, and an absolutely wonderful description of where we are, but where we could go too]

26,000 Drill Holes

The waste and pollution from 26,000 gas and coal drills holes is polluting the rivers in the Murray Darling system. They are being drilled to assess how much coal and gas there is to mine in over 25,000 hectares of farming land in these catchments. Yet about 200 litres of water is used to dig a tonne of coal and to dig the 30 million tonnes of coal expected to be mined each year will take about  60 million litres of water a year for the next 20 years; and for every tonne of coal sold the state governments take a tax, and their income from coal and gas sales is expected to be some $40 billion in NSW and Queensland. [Farmer and farms be damned]

Vegetarians Can Harm the Environment Too

Becoming a vegetarian can do more harm to the environment than continuing to eat red meat, according to a study of the impacts of meat substitutes such as tofu. “A switch from beef and milk to highly refined livestock product analogues such as tofu could actually increase the quantity of arable land needed to supply the UK.” [Not sure the assumptions in the article holdup though]

Grass vs Grain Fed

The question of whether intensive animal rearing, like cattle lotfeeding or housed pig and poultry production, is better for the planet than extensive grazing systems is much more complicated than just the issue of greenhouse intensity. Apart from the methane question, the issue needs to take into account land use, water and pollution, though it is also acknowledged that under well-managed grazing, livestock may also be a tool for sequestering carbon in the soil. [Nice to see it slipping into the dialogue - animals are required in the landscape]

Massive US Meat Recall

Huntington Meat Packing Inc has recalled a further 4.9 million pounds (2.2m kg) of meat that was not processed in line with the company’s HACCP plan over the course of almost a year. Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro said the incident showed the US meat industry was unable to police itself as she renewed her calls for a safety overhaul of the sector. [Now that's a lot of meat to be throwing out]

High Sugar Adjunct Beer

“High-sugar adjunct” beers refers to the practice of most commercial brewers of adding up to 30% cane sugar syrup – which ferments to alcohol but adds no body, colour or aroma to the mash - rather than extra quantities of the more expensive malted barley. Since the 1980s small brewers have striven to sensitise our palates to quality beers, and as a result there has been a consolidated growth in all malt beers.

Silica in Your Beer

New analysis of 100 commercial beers shows the hoppy beverage is a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for bone health. Research showed the malting process didn't affect barley's silicon content, which is mostly in the grain's husk. However, pale-coloured malts had more silicon than the darker products, such as the chocolate, roasted barley and black malt, which all have substantial roasting. The scientists aren't sure why these darker malts have less silicon than other malts.[Looks like boutique beers will be better for you too]

Seduberry

A Tasmanian farm is harvesting the first Australian crop of heart-shaped strawberries. Called Seduberries, the berries are the brainchild of young Melbourne entrepreneur, Josh Engwerda, 22. They will soon be for sale on the streets of Melbourne for $2.50 each. He uses a plastic mould for the berries to grow into, which also protects the berries from pests.

Chia Seed

Chia seed (Salvia hispanica) comes from a plant in the mint family. The seeds are rich in protein, fibre and amino acids - and also omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Australia’s The Chia Company is now seeking permission to market its Australia-grown chia seed in the EU and is proposing the seeds be used in bread.

If you need to be convinced of the health benefits of chia seed I highly recommend reading this Nutri-Tech article on this ancient grain. I have been outletting chia seed for quite a few years - and it is fabulous, tasty and versatile. Contact me for more details.

Killing Bugs with Cold Plasma Technology

This patented technology uses cold plasma to create and disperse hydroxyl radicals into the air. These rob bacteria, spores and viruses of their hydrogen atoms. The technology can be used in thawing, chilling, processing and packaging. “[C]old plasma does not require any toxic compounds or harmful high energy [UV] radiation associated with other disinfection processes.” and “Cold gas plasmas are produced under ambient conditions.”

From Silent Springs to Silent Night

Dr. Tyrone B. Hayes's work is transforming biology one battle at a time. Recently his work has gained international recognition for demonstrating how atrazine, a widely used pesticide which is now found in many water sources, has been shown to alter reproductive development (act as an endocrine disruptor) in frogs even at extremely low levels. His lectures are surprising even those who thought they were in the know...

Seeking Women's Views on Biotechnology

Molecular Plant Breeding CRC is seeking women farmer’s opinions of biotechnology and genetic modification. Results of the survey will be used to inform researchers, plant breeders and science policy makers on the views towards agricultural biotechnology. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete - yes, let your voice be heard!

GM Eggplant Moratorium

India has denied permission for commercial cultivation of BT brinjal - a strain of genetically modified (GM) eggplant. This humble vegetable has sharply divided public opinion and the decision to defer its commercial cultivation is bound to have implications for other GM vegetables and crops waiting for approval. Officials say trials of BT tomato, okra and rice are at an advanced stage.

DIY Genetic Engineering

For almost 40 years, genetic engineers have been decoding DNA and transplanting individual genes from one organism into another. But synthetic biologists want to break out of this cut-and-paste paradigm altogether. They want to write brand-new genetic code, pulling together specific genes or portions of genes plucked from a wide range of organisms — or even constructed from scratch in a lab — and methodically lacing them into a single set of genetic instructions. Implant that new code into an organism, and you should be able to make its cells do and produce things that nothing in nature has ever done or produced before.

Zero Carbon Australia 2020

The Stationary Energy Sector Report concludes that there are no technological impediments to transforming Australia's stationary energy sector to zero emissions over the next ten years. Australia can reach zero emissions electricity by 2020 using existing commercialised technology. It apparently only requires 3 - 3.5% of gross domestic product over 10 years to achieve. [It will be interesting to see further commentary on this]

Internet Spreads Support for Sceptics

Public confidence in the supposedly settled science of global warming is in free fall, especially in the English-speaking world. Since November, the proportion of respondents who thought global warming was an established fact largely attributable to human activity fell from 41 per cent to 26 per cent. What we are witnessing, in defiance of officialdom, government propaganda and the bulk of funded researchers in the field, is the collapse of a scientific paradigm. The `climate consensus' may hold the establishment -- the universities, the media, big business, government -- but it is losing the jungles of the web.

A Warming Planet Will Snow

Most climate scientists don't see a contradiction between a warming world and lots of snow. "The fact that the oceans are warmer now than they were, say, 30 years ago means there's about on average 4 percent more water vapor lurking around over the oceans than there was, say, in the 1970s." Warmer water means more water vapor rises up into the air, and what goes up must come down.

Same Data Different Conclusions

How could respectable scientists armed with the same data on electromagnetic fields end up on opposite sides of the spectrum? Studies of power line radiation leave researchers in an unsatisfying "gray area" where it's impossible to prove a risk but also impossible to absolutely rule it out. [Oh, it's like so many other environmental pollutants too]

What's New...

I entered new territory last year by winding up my regular business activities - consulting and retailing - and decided to dedicate my time towards this newsletter and my family. To cover costs I set up a Featured Sponsors advertising program especially designed for those that would like to get their stories out to an appreciative ecoag/health audience. I have just posted out renewals to existing Featured Sponsors for 2010, but thought it might be worth mentioning it in this newsletter so that everyone is clear about how this works, and also in case you happen to know of others that would be interested in this sort of exposure.

Please take the time to wander through the Featured Sponsors gallery - there is an amazing array of businesses all working towards natural solutions, and who have some fantastic stories to tell. I'll enjoy downloading them as the year unfolds.

Biodynamic Postal Vote

Two paths are emerging within Biodynamics Agriculture Australia - one appears to be very commerically focused with a desire to create a powerful executive with an exclusive membership, aligned with overseas interests. The other path holds the desire to maintain an open inclusive organisation focused on education, networking and getting biodynamic practices on the ground. A postal vote is being sent out to all BAA members and I would like to encourage all members to read the history behind holding this extraordinary meeting, and importantly send back their vote on what direction BAA ought to take into the future.

Depsite repeated attempts, an up-to-date membership database will not be released by the current BAA Board (which actually breaks non-for-profit corporate rules), so an old database has had to be used. If you are a recent BAA member, or know of others who are members who have not received their postal vote by the end of February, please contact me immediately.

Carbon Farmer

Carbon Farmers of Australia have just published their newsletter (with the same information on their blogsite) which investigates the confusion about the price of soil carbon and the claims of both the Government and the Opposition. It is not just price that matters -  it is volume. The plot, like the gravy, thickens. They also provide dates for their upcoming two-day Soil Carbon Trading Workshops in Bungendore 23rd - 24th February, Biloela 9th - 10th March and Ayr 15th - 16th March. As they state: You don’t have to believe in Climate Change to believe in the market. The biggest market in history. And farmers can be part of it – or left out.

Namoi Grassland Network

The Namoi CMA has recently launched the Namoi Grassland Network. It is an initiative to improve the understanding and management of Natural Grasslands in the catchment. They are also hosting a string of breakfast field days which will be presented by Dr. Judi Earl across the catchment (Bundella, Mullaley, Cryon, Narrabri, Kelvin). [Looks good]

Discovering Self-Care and Self-Education

Nature provides the keys to keep you in shape and feeling vital and alive. Be inspired, challenged and entertained as Don Tolman delivers his powerful and timely messages of Self-Care and Self-Education at venues around Australia. Sydney 18th February, Brisbane 19th February, Sunshine Coast 20th February, Melbourne 22nd February. [I like the way he thinks!]

Bringing Landscapes to Life

Yes, its me again! I'll be presenting at this free two day landholder workshop in Stroud, 26th - 27th February. I'll do the talking on Friday - connecting cutting-edge ideas to landscape healing, and day two is a field day looking at Keyline techniques, cell grazing trials and biological soil improvement. Should be fun!

"Our Place" Country Town Living 2025 Forum

Bingara and District VISION 20/20 and Gwydir Shire Council are co-hosting a Forum on February 24 & 25th, 2010, to consider just what Our Place - Country Town Living will be like, in the year 2025, just fifteen years away. The Forum is open to all interested persons across the New England / North West Region and beyond, and an excellent group of presenters have been invited to set the scene. Following the workshop members of the RCS "GrowthLink" group (including Terry McCosker), Maarten Stapper and a few others are spending the afternoon in the field - the topic - where to from here?

Agriculture's Quantum Leap

Energy, ecosystems and the human connection. This is a three day workshop designed to take us into the future – what does the future hold for Agriculture, what sort of Agricultural systems will be best placed for that future, and how do we handle the transition from where we are now to where we need to be. The goal is for the participants to debate the information provided, dovetail it with their own knowledge, and then jointly and individually produce a Vision for the future of Agriculture, and for their own businesses. Check out the program. Nundle 22-24th March. For more information email Gary McDouall [I'm aiming to make it!]

Health

Salt Confusions

Concern over the impact of too much salt weighs heavy on governments, pushing them towards costly public health campaigns. Around the world, salt awareness-raising from the top down is being met by bottom-up action from food manufacturers, who are deeply engrossed in reformulation to reduce the salt in their products. But not everyone is convinced salt is all that bad. [Pity this article doesn't travel down the path of also questioning different salt formats, e.g. natural salt vs sanitised, bleached and chemically altered salt]

Energy Shots Warning

German health authorities have issued a 14-page statement warning against over-consumption of energy shots – one of the fastest growing segments of the international beverages market. "In the case of ‘energy shot’ products, such consumer behaviour (considerably excessive intake) cannot be avoided by manufacturer’s advice for intended use...BfR thus recommends that ‘energy shots’ are prohibited from being placed on the market.”

Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

Bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics are becoming disturbingly common in people. More worrying still is that the genes which confer this resistance are also showing up in bacteria found in other animals. But the discovery that animals in pristine environments have few bacteria with resistance genes makes it likely that much of the antibiotic resistance found in these other species is a result of human influence, rather than natural gene-circulation.

Free Radicals to Superbugs

New research has found that low levels of antibiotics boost the production of free radicals which in turn cause mutations in the DNA of bacteria, causing superbugs that are resistant to treatment. “If you don’t kill them off you have a zoo of mutants being produced.” It also means that “we need to be careful and make sure we don’t have low levels of antibiotics in our food sources, our water...And we make sure people complete their full course of antibiotics and don’t demand antibiotics for a cold.”

The Fight Against Fluoride

One town in the US has been fighting water fluoridation since 2002, and suspicion of fluoridation comes from the right and the left. Some see it as a dangerous erosion of liberty. Others believe it's an underhanded way for businesses to get rid of industrial waste. [While the story itself is not new, I really loved the comments below the article - especially the one about nutrition....the same could be said for all the diseases in developing countries and our own poor]

Quote

The food business is far and away the most important business in the world. Everything else is a luxury. Food is what you need to sustain life every day. - Dwayne Andreas

Cartoon

Miscellaneous

This recent Audi ad that depicts 'green' police stirred one Queenslander up so much he wrote the following to the Toowoomba Chronicle:

Dear Sir:

With North America not seeing as much snow since at least 1922, I was bemused and intrigued by Audi's Super Bowl ad.

Audi's "Green Police" (available on YouTube) depicts a country where citizens are arrested -- roughly -- for even minor environmental infractions.  A man at the supermarket asks for a plastic shopping bag and has his head slammed against the counter as he's cuffed by a Green Police officer.

It's a fascinating commercial.  They even got Cheap Trick to re-record "Dream Police" as "Green Police" for the soundtrack.

But just as the satire becomes enjoyable, the message changes.  Instead of some healthy don't-tread-on-me mockery, the moral of the story is that we should welcome our new green overlords and, if we know what's good for us, surrender to the New Green Order.

The premise only works if you take it as a given that this Gorewellian nightmare is inevitable.  But the commercial arrives at precisely the moment when that inevitability is unravelling like an old pair of hemp socks.  The global warming industry is imploding from scientific scandals, inconvenient weather, economic anxiety and surging popular scepticism.

The ad is absurd, of course, but not nearly as absurd as Audi thinks.

What do you think?

Events

* Discovering Self-Care and Self-Education - Sydney NSW 18th February 2010.

* Discovering Self-Care and Self-Education - Brisbane Qld 19th February 2010.

* Discovering Self-Care and Self-Education - Sunshine Coast Qld 20th February 2010.

* Discovering Self-Care and Sef-Education - Melbourne Vic 22nd February 2010.

* Soil Carbon Tradinng Workshop - Bungendore NSW 23rd - 24th February 2010.

* "Our Place" Country Town Living 2025 Forum - Bingara NSW 24th - 25th February 2010.

* Bringing Landscapes to Life - Stroud NSW 26th - 27th February 2010.

* Soil Carbon Trading Workshop - Biloela Qld 8th - 9th March 2010.

* Soil Carbon Trading Worskhop - Ayr Qld 15th - 16th March 2010.

* Agriculture's Quantum Leap - Nundle NSW 22nd - 24th March 2010.

Postscript

Grandma and grandpa were watching a religious healing program on TV. The evangelist called to all who wanted to be healed, to put one hand on the TV and the other on the body part they wanted healed.

Grandma hobbled to the TV and put one hand on the TV and the other on her arthritic hip. Grandpa made his way to the set and put one hand the TV and the other on his crotch.

Grandma looked at him with disgust: "You just don't understand, you old coot...the purpose of this program is to heal the sick, not raise the dead."

Yours Sincerely,
Carolyn Ditchfield