Perhaps some of you have seen this already. Very smooth but one day soon.
July 10, 2009
July 7, 2009
this food safety bill means business; HR 2749
If I was an American small farmer, I'd be sure worrying about HR 2749. I read it for myself before reading the tangled spectrum of spin out there in cyberspace. Read it for yourself.. This Bill, unlike its predecessors that have languished around for awhile, is speeding through and is now before the House. The cards are coming down.
The FDA will determine the practises for production of all food, trace what it decides to, conduct warrantless searches, and charge you for it..... small farms get 2 years to get it together. Very small farms get 3.. how very nice of them.
Oh, and no one is paying any attention now because there were just too many food safety bills out there and we are too busy in our freedom gardens, even though there are a few very wise sources and clear bells in the cyber muck.
The maddening thing for me is the lack of common sense and the easy morality cloak that a draconian bill about safe food can inspire. Small farmers aren't objecting to sound agricultural practises and healthy safe food, we are objecting to centralized, corporate dictate of what, how and if we grow food. This is misplaced authority which properly belongs to the community. But we have given over this freedom: the lack of gmo or nanotech labeling classically reminds us. This is precisely why people are massing toward known sources of their food.
A food safety guideline, education and reinforcement belongs with regions of eaters. It iocal politic - local food producers and elders and independent scholars/ investigators, research, regional vulnerabilites (Uranium mines) and infrastructure. They don't belong to the corporate, global persons who will profit from the dismantling of regional foodsheds and the fabulous food and farm renaissaince we have been experiencing - a surge which is threatening the survival of agribus as we've know it.
Interesting that the Big Genes are pairing with Produce...getting in while its good.
The FDA will determine the practises for production of all food, trace what it decides to, conduct warrantless searches, and charge you for it..... small farms get 2 years to get it together. Very small farms get 3.. how very nice of them.
Oh, and no one is paying any attention now because there were just too many food safety bills out there and we are too busy in our freedom gardens, even though there are a few very wise sources and clear bells in the cyber muck.
The maddening thing for me is the lack of common sense and the easy morality cloak that a draconian bill about safe food can inspire. Small farmers aren't objecting to sound agricultural practises and healthy safe food, we are objecting to centralized, corporate dictate of what, how and if we grow food. This is misplaced authority which properly belongs to the community. But we have given over this freedom: the lack of gmo or nanotech labeling classically reminds us. This is precisely why people are massing toward known sources of their food.
A food safety guideline, education and reinforcement belongs with regions of eaters. It iocal politic - local food producers and elders and independent scholars/ investigators, research, regional vulnerabilites (Uranium mines) and infrastructure. They don't belong to the corporate, global persons who will profit from the dismantling of regional foodsheds and the fabulous food and farm renaissaince we have been experiencing - a surge which is threatening the survival of agribus as we've know it.
Interesting that the Big Genes are pairing with Produce...getting in while its good.
July 4, 2009
an eventful saturday
We had two beautiful hours of sunshine at the market sandwiched between 2 thunder storms the fury of which I haven't seen for a long time. It was directly overhead.. big bolts, crash caboom, sheet rain. It was great. I did bring food back home with me however. And yes, it went out under an awning (in the now sunny) yard. No we pick today - perhaps with the pea picking later this week.
Oh, and no sign of the turtles. Although I had nocturnal visitors of a bovine sort, and I'm scratching my head at how they (the calves) got out and trampled my new salad planting...and then let themselves back in the electric fence, the fence that stands the hair up on my head as I'm flying through the air with the impact if I accidently graze it. Little buggers.
Oh, and no sign of the turtles. Although I had nocturnal visitors of a bovine sort, and I'm scratching my head at how they (the calves) got out and trampled my new salad planting...and then let themselves back in the electric fence, the fence that stands the hair up on my head as I'm flying through the air with the impact if I accidently graze it. Little buggers.
July 3, 2009
Not just Ok, but partnered? .. Nano and Organic
The Organic Agriculture Centre has a "select business partner" in Nano-Gro a product of Agro Nanotechnology Corporation.
It is an Omri approved product because they are "just really small particles made naturally and work like homeopathy". OMRI does acknowledges though (in an email, where I heard the previous sentence) that there is confusion and lack of consensus on a definition for nanotechnology.
The company website offers little help in describing Nano Gro:
"Nano-Gro™ is an organic plant growth regulator and immunity enhancer which stands apart from any product in the market.
Unlike a fertilizer, Nano-Gro™ is not a source of nutrients for plants. And unlike other primers it is not composed of proteins derived from bacteria or other pathogens.
Nano-Gro™ does not contain hormones and does not, in any way, change the genetic structure of plants.
Nano-Gro™ helps plants naturally experience improved growth and health.
Nano-Gro™ is a systemic acquired resistance inducer that works unlike any other primer on the market. It works by delivering information to the plant. Using our proprietary formula, when a plant comes into contact with Nano-Gro™ it is compelled to activate a series of natural processes that help the plant achieve its maximum potential".
OK so what is it?
We can't know because it is "proprietary". We have to trust the word of those thus partnered. I guess.
Or not!
Unlike Canada, the Soil Association (Organic Certifying Body) in Britian has banned nanoparticles from Organic Production.
I think its just a matter of time before the economic argument will hold sway.
It is an Omri approved product because they are "just really small particles made naturally and work like homeopathy". OMRI does acknowledges though (in an email, where I heard the previous sentence) that there is confusion and lack of consensus on a definition for nanotechnology.
The company website offers little help in describing Nano Gro:
"Nano-Gro™ is an organic plant growth regulator and immunity enhancer which stands apart from any product in the market.
Unlike a fertilizer, Nano-Gro™ is not a source of nutrients for plants. And unlike other primers it is not composed of proteins derived from bacteria or other pathogens.
Nano-Gro™ does not contain hormones and does not, in any way, change the genetic structure of plants.
Nano-Gro™ helps plants naturally experience improved growth and health.
Nano-Gro™ is a systemic acquired resistance inducer that works unlike any other primer on the market. It works by delivering information to the plant. Using our proprietary formula, when a plant comes into contact with Nano-Gro™ it is compelled to activate a series of natural processes that help the plant achieve its maximum potential".
OK so what is it?
We can't know because it is "proprietary". We have to trust the word of those thus partnered. I guess.
Or not!
Unlike Canada, the Soil Association (Organic Certifying Body) in Britian has banned nanoparticles from Organic Production.
I think its just a matter of time before the economic argument will hold sway.
we(e) pick
I've been picking all day for the market tomorrow. My hands smell good: cilantro and dill foremost. The peas and carrots are almost ready, I'm letting them grow today, which, if you stay very still you can almost see.
I was thinking about opening things up here to the community on Sunday - put a sign up on the road - because I have a lot of food out there and I've harvested alot today and may be over ambitious for market sales: depends on the weather. And people have been asking if I am going to sell off the farm. So I've got a primed sandwich board ready to paint, and I've decided on farm name! I think I'll pick as people arrive - maybe have a few things ready to offer that are out of their beds, their roots cleansed of the soil.....but I was musing about a We Pick (or a wee pick). Perhaps I'll start a trend tomorrow.
I was thinking about opening things up here to the community on Sunday - put a sign up on the road - because I have a lot of food out there and I've harvested alot today and may be over ambitious for market sales: depends on the weather. And people have been asking if I am going to sell off the farm. So I've got a primed sandwich board ready to paint, and I've decided on farm name! I think I'll pick as people arrive - maybe have a few things ready to offer that are out of their beds, their roots cleansed of the soil.....but I was musing about a We Pick (or a wee pick). Perhaps I'll start a trend tomorrow.
July 2, 2009
July 1, 2009
Organic Food
My Dad has just started blogging. I helped him set it up and while that part was painful, look at him go!:
"There is no doubt that food grown naturally is good for your organs. The organic movement has, by common usage now, co-opted the word that I think in the olden days would have been a misnomer. Organ, is either a musical instrument or a part of anatomy. When I grew up in the small village in Saskatchewan, everyone had a vegetable garden, there were no chemical fertilizers or pesticides I can think of other than Paris Green, and what we grew we ate and canned, or at least my mother did, with glass sealers. There was no plastic. In a sense the organic movement is archaic, of my time and earlier.
The pianist and I went to the farmers market yesterday and bought the most beautiful vegetables, full of sweetness, naturally grown, by slim, healthy, bronzed people. What a pleasure! My daughter is an organic farmer and I know the work entailed to grow that sort of food, in a scrupulous fashion that requires a diligence we never had to provide, in the olden days. There was little or no toxicity then. Though it may, of necessity, cost more than the supermarket, we are so lucky to be able to return to food that is good for our organs."
"There is no doubt that food grown naturally is good for your organs. The organic movement has, by common usage now, co-opted the word that I think in the olden days would have been a misnomer. Organ, is either a musical instrument or a part of anatomy. When I grew up in the small village in Saskatchewan, everyone had a vegetable garden, there were no chemical fertilizers or pesticides I can think of other than Paris Green, and what we grew we ate and canned, or at least my mother did, with glass sealers. There was no plastic. In a sense the organic movement is archaic, of my time and earlier.
The pianist and I went to the farmers market yesterday and bought the most beautiful vegetables, full of sweetness, naturally grown, by slim, healthy, bronzed people. What a pleasure! My daughter is an organic farmer and I know the work entailed to grow that sort of food, in a scrupulous fashion that requires a diligence we never had to provide, in the olden days. There was little or no toxicity then. Though it may, of necessity, cost more than the supermarket, we are so lucky to be able to return to food that is good for our organs."
Molecular Visualization of DNA
To help us understand where everything comes from
Where have I heard the voice in the video before?
Where have I heard the voice in the video before?
June 30, 2009
carrots and chelonians
Curls behind the willow fence beyond some spuds and buckwheat. Have they seen my illusive visitors?
Looking over the garden near the slow moving river up from which they come. Some of their trysts are evident in among the recently planted beds.
a close up of the soil angels seen here in a bed of just emerged late carrots.
There are these soft white round eggs dribbled about here and there...
Nova Scotia has 4 species of fresh water turtle, 3 with ellipsoid eggs and the snapping turtle's are spherical. I haven't dug up the turtle made depression in the carrots, but I should (and will take a photo) excavate a tiny window to see if it is a nest.
If so I guess It will be companion planting of an unexpected but rather lovely kind.
June 28, 2009
saskatchewan settlement experience
I happened upon this wonderful website with some great photographs of the Saskachewan Settlement Experience.
There are even some silent movies.
June 26, 2009
GMO (transgenic) sugar beet transfers its genes to soil bacteria
Transformation of Acinetobacter sp. Strain BD413 by Transgenic Sugar Beet DNA
Frank Gebhard and Kornelia Smalla*
Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Institut für Biochemie und Pflanzenvirologie, D-38104 Braunschweig, Germany
*Corresponding author. Mailing address: Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Institut für Biochemie und Pflanzenvirologie, Messeweg 11-12, D-38104 Braunschweig, Germany. Phone: 49 531 2993814. Fax: 49 531 2993013. E-mail: K.Smalla@bba.de.
Abstract
The ability of Acinetobacter sp. strain BD413(pFG4ΔnptII) to take up and integrate transgenic plant DNA based on homologous recombination was studied under optimized laboratory conditions. Restoration of nptII, resulting in kanamycin-resistant transformants, was observed with plasmid DNA, plant DNA, and homogenates carrying the gene nptII. Molecular analysis showed that some transformants not only restored the 317-bp deletion but also obtained additional DNA.
Top
Abstract
REFERENCES
Bacterial antibiotic resistance genes are still frequently used as markers in transgenic plants. Due to the problems caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the use of antibiotic resistance genes in transgenic plants is subject to debate. It is hypothesized that the introduction of bacterial genes into the plant genome leads to a higher probability of gene transfer from plants to bacteria due to the presence of homologous sequences. However, until now, there has been a lack of clear experimental evidence that successful gene transfer from plants to bacteria can occur at all. Natural transformation, the ability of bacteria to actively take up free DNA, is a way plant DNA can be transferred to bacteria. At present, around 40 species, some of which are soil- or water-borne bacteria, are known to develop the ability (called competence) for natural transformation (13). Prerequisites for natural transformation under soil conditions are the availability of free DNA, the development of competence, and the stable integration of the captured DNA into the bacterial genome. In microcosm experiments, bacterial DNA adsorbed to soil particles was able to transform competent bacteria and to persist in soil (7, 12, 13, 17)
Read the whole article
Frank Gebhard and Kornelia Smalla*
Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Institut für Biochemie und Pflanzenvirologie, D-38104 Braunschweig, Germany
*Corresponding author. Mailing address: Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Institut für Biochemie und Pflanzenvirologie, Messeweg 11-12, D-38104 Braunschweig, Germany. Phone: 49 531 2993814. Fax: 49 531 2993013. E-mail: K.Smalla@bba.de.
Abstract
The ability of Acinetobacter sp. strain BD413(pFG4ΔnptII) to take up and integrate transgenic plant DNA based on homologous recombination was studied under optimized laboratory conditions. Restoration of nptII, resulting in kanamycin-resistant transformants, was observed with plasmid DNA, plant DNA, and homogenates carrying the gene nptII. Molecular analysis showed that some transformants not only restored the 317-bp deletion but also obtained additional DNA.
Top
Abstract
REFERENCES
Bacterial antibiotic resistance genes are still frequently used as markers in transgenic plants. Due to the problems caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the use of antibiotic resistance genes in transgenic plants is subject to debate. It is hypothesized that the introduction of bacterial genes into the plant genome leads to a higher probability of gene transfer from plants to bacteria due to the presence of homologous sequences. However, until now, there has been a lack of clear experimental evidence that successful gene transfer from plants to bacteria can occur at all. Natural transformation, the ability of bacteria to actively take up free DNA, is a way plant DNA can be transferred to bacteria. At present, around 40 species, some of which are soil- or water-borne bacteria, are known to develop the ability (called competence) for natural transformation (13). Prerequisites for natural transformation under soil conditions are the availability of free DNA, the development of competence, and the stable integration of the captured DNA into the bacterial genome. In microcosm experiments, bacterial DNA adsorbed to soil particles was able to transform competent bacteria and to persist in soil (7, 12, 13, 17)
Read the whole article
What exactly is an "energy beet"?
"A farmer in Nova Scotia holds an experimental "energy beet." source
"the energy beet, a hybrid beet that you can't eat, has been grown only experimentally... The first commercial-scale bioenergy plant (of its kind).... would use a genetically engineered sugar beet called an energy beet to produce low-carbon transportation fuel, an advanced biofuel used as a gasoline additive.
Wayne Simmons, a professional engineer who has worked on a similar Maibach project in Nova Scotia for about two and a half years, said the energy beet is a 2- to 3-pound tuber grown in California, Japan and parts of southern Canada."
"It's new to this part of the U.S.," he said.
Read Rapho eyes agri-energy plant
Also read how "companies are trying to cut costs by genetically engineering ethanol crops with built-in enzymes", like alpha-amylase corn and modified sugar beets
See the theme on the side-bar for more on transgenic energy beets for ethanol on prime Canadian agricultural farm land.
Canadian Farmers repudiate transgenic (GM) wheat
Press Release, University of Manitoba. June 25, 2009
A new study on Canadian farmer perceptions toward genetically modified (GM)wheat specifically Roundup Ready wheat (RRW) has just been published in the international peer reviewed journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research. This scientific paper is being released just as the controversy over growing GM wheat is re-igniting.
Unlike a recent industry-sponsored study conducted in the US, it shows that Canadian farmers are categorically opposed to RRW.
Although GM wheat was initially abandoned in 2004, industry groups and their partners are now seeking its reintroduction, and our study on Canadian farmer attitudes toward Roundup Ready wheat is once again very timely, says Dr. Ian Mauro, the lead author of the paper written with Drs. Stephane McLachlan and Rene Van Acker. Mauro, McLachlan and Van Acker are internationally recognized experts on GM crops and their socio-economic and environmental impacts.
This research is the first of its kind to include farmer knowledge in the a priori risk analysis of GM crops and, arguably, is the largest scale, independent-farmer-focused study on GM crops ever conducted. The study, which was initiated in 2004, evaluates farmer attitudes towards the benefits and risks of RRW using both quantitative and qualitative methods. It included responses from 1566 farmers across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and includes organic, conventional, and no-till farmers.
In total, 83% of Canadian farmers disagreed that Roundup Ready wheat should have unconfined release into the environment, says McLachlan,
adding that although many respondents themselves used GM canola, the great majority felt that risks associated with RRW far outweighed any benefits.
Read the journal article from Springer Link
A new study on Canadian farmer perceptions toward genetically modified (GM)wheat specifically Roundup Ready wheat (RRW) has just been published in the international peer reviewed journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research. This scientific paper is being released just as the controversy over growing GM wheat is re-igniting.
Unlike a recent industry-sponsored study conducted in the US, it shows that Canadian farmers are categorically opposed to RRW.
Although GM wheat was initially abandoned in 2004, industry groups and their partners are now seeking its reintroduction, and our study on Canadian farmer attitudes toward Roundup Ready wheat is once again very timely, says Dr. Ian Mauro, the lead author of the paper written with Drs. Stephane McLachlan and Rene Van Acker. Mauro, McLachlan and Van Acker are internationally recognized experts on GM crops and their socio-economic and environmental impacts.
This research is the first of its kind to include farmer knowledge in the a priori risk analysis of GM crops and, arguably, is the largest scale, independent-farmer-focused study on GM crops ever conducted. The study, which was initiated in 2004, evaluates farmer attitudes towards the benefits and risks of RRW using both quantitative and qualitative methods. It included responses from 1566 farmers across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and includes organic, conventional, and no-till farmers.
In total, 83% of Canadian farmers disagreed that Roundup Ready wheat should have unconfined release into the environment, says McLachlan,
adding that although many respondents themselves used GM canola, the great majority felt that risks associated with RRW far outweighed any benefits.
Read the journal article from Springer Link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)