Friday, April 20, 2012
Spring Rain!
This time of the year we enjoy so much more with the gentle spring rains. Today alone we harvested squash, lettuce, turnips, beets, greens, radish, and table onions. There is no more satisfying of a feeling than when you can walk out your door and harvest wholesome, chemical free food for your community and family to enjoy. Just knowing that you are doing one small thing to help your fellow man!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Walmart false advertising on fruits and vegi's
I was in the local Wal mart the other day and noticed a free standing sign saying their produce is locally grown. This is so absurd! The watermelon at that very moment that was being stocked had a sticker on it that clearly said "Grown in Mexico", the Cantaloupe and various other fruits including grapes had stickers or labels that said "product of Chile", now I wonder where they get that their stuff is locally grown, and how do they get away with this false advertisement?
The tomatoes, apples and other thin skinned vegi's had waxy shines, and we all know that we do not grow bananas here! They even had cucumbers and zucchini which are just now starting production here!
I think I will let the corporate office about their false advertising campaign is being noticed by local growers and we are not happy!
The tomatoes, apples and other thin skinned vegi's had waxy shines, and we all know that we do not grow bananas here! They even had cucumbers and zucchini which are just now starting production here!
I think I will let the corporate office about their false advertising campaign is being noticed by local growers and we are not happy!
Monday, April 9, 2012
April 9th, 2012 By Andrew Kimbrell
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently deciding whether or not to approve an application by Dow Chemical for its controversial genetically engineered (GE) corn variety that is resistant to the hazardous herbicide 2,4-D. 2,4-D and the still more toxic 2,4,5-T formed Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam War.
After receiving pressure from organizations like the Center for Food Safety (CFS), the USDA extended its public comment period until April 27–just a few weeks from today. There is overwhelming public opposition to this crop. To date, 155,000 comments opposing approval of 2,4-D corn have been collected by environmental, health, and farm groups.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Dow’s 2,4-D corn, soon to be followed by 2,4-D soybeans and cotton, are the first of many new GE crops designed to launch American agriculture into a new era of increased dependence on more toxic pesticides, reversing decades of progress. Two-thirds of GE crops awaiting approval by USDA are resistant to one to three herbicides each, with many more in the longer-term pipeline. For instance, Monsanto has developed crops resistant to dicamba, a close chemical cousin to 2,4-D.
According to agricultural expert Dr. Charles Benbrook, 2,4-D corn will trigger an astounding 30-fold increase in 2,4-D use on corn by the end of the decade, assuming widespread planting. 2,4-D soybeans and cotton will boost usage still more. Yet USDA has provided no analysis of the serious harm to human health, the environment or neighboring farms that will result.
Farmers, women and children at greatest risk
Farmers are on the front line. While generally healthier than other Americans, farmers suffer higher rates of certain cancers, such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), a cancer of the lymph nodes that kills 30 percent of those afflicted. Numerous studies in Sweden, Canada and by scientists at the U.S. National Cancer Institute have found that farmers who use 2,4-D and related herbicides are more likely to contract deadly NHL. While Sweden, Norway and Denmark have banned 2,4-D based on such studies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refuses to act. Other studies link farmer 2,4-D exposure to greater risk of Parkinson’s Disease.
The rest of us may also be at risk. 2,4-D is known to be a hormone-disrupting chemical, which can affect critical developmental processes in very small amounts. Lactating rats fed low doses of 2,4-D exhibit impaired maternal behavior while their pups weigh less. Children of pesticide applicators in areas of Minnesota with heavy use of chlorophenoxy herbicides like 2,4-D had a disproportionately higher incidence of birth anomalies than in non-crop regions or where these herbicides were less used. 2,4-D is frequently detected in surface water, albeit at low levels.
Based on these and numerous other studies, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) petitioned EPA in 2008 to ban 2,4-D, and recently sued the Agency for its failure to respond. Meanwhile, the latest available data show that 2,4-D is still contaminated with low levels of extremely toxic dioxins, which may or may not be the cause of 2,4-D’s toxicity.
Chemical arms race with weeds
Farmers would have no interest in 2,4-D crops if there weren’t a raging epidemic of weeds resistant to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. Glyphosate-resistant weeds evolved to infest millions of acres of cropland through massive, unregulated use of glyphosate on Monsanto’s Roundup-resistant soybeans, corn and cotton. This epidemic of “superweeds” has alarmed agricultural scientists, triggering a substantial increase in herbicide use, greater use of soil-eroding tillage operations, and a return to weeding crews hoeing hundreds of thousands of acres, dramatically increasing production costs. A National Academy of Sciences committee singled out glyphosate-resistant weeds as an issue demanding national attention, and a leading weed scientist warns they represent a threat to global food production.
As farmers struggle to contend with a problem that Monsanto assured them would never arise, Dow sees a golden opportunity, marketing its 2,4-D crops as a false solution to glyphosate-resistant weeds. Dow scientist John Jachetta excitedly announced in the Wall Street Journal ”a new era” and “a very significant opportunity” for chemical companies in 2,4-D and similar herbicide-resistant crops.
Far from solving the resistant weed problem, however, a recent peer-reviewed study by Penn State weed ecologists suggests that 2,4-D crops (along with Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant crops) will trigger an outbreak of still more intractable weeds resistant to both glyphosate and 2,4-D or dicamba, another salvo in the all-out “chemical arms race” between herbicide-resistant crops and weeds. Weeds resistant to multiple herbicides are already on the rise, prompting an Illinois weed scientist to warn that ”we are running out of options” to confront what is rapidly becoming an “unmanageable problem.” The Center for Food Safety made similar findings in a 2008 report and in Congressional testimony on resistant weeds in 2010. The Penn State study also outlines sustainable weed control techniques that could avert further weed resistance.
Crop damage from herbicide drift
The Penn State scientists also warn that the massive increases in use of drift-prone 2,4-D and dicamba accompanying resistant crops will threaten neighbors’ crops through drift. Soybeans, cotton, most vegetables, grapes and many other crops are damaged by very low levels of 2,4-D. Even now, 2,4-D drift is responsible for more episodes of crop injury than any other pesticide. Farmers agree. Iowa corn and soybean grower George Naylor was recently quoted in a Greenwire story, and speaks for many farmers who are concerned about 2,4-D corn:
Impacts on endangered species
2,4-D drift and runoff will also impact wild plants and animals. Because it is such a potent plant-killer, 2,4-D can harm animals by killing the plants they depend on for habitat and food. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service have found that even now, 2,4-D is likely having adverse impacts on several threatened and endangered species, including salmon and related fishes, the California red-legged frog, and the Alameda whipsnake. USDA’s approval of 2,4-D resistant corn can only make matters much worse, likely placing many other species at risk.
Comment period ends April 27, 2012
If approved, millions of acres of 2,4-D corn could be planted as early as next year. USDA’s public comment period is open until Friday, April 27, 2012. Tell USDA to deny Dow’s petition to approve 2,4-D corn. Comments may be submitted to the agency through the Center for Food Safety’s action link or through Regulations.gov. For more information on 2,4-D corn, see our fact sheet and more extensive Food Safety Review.
Originally published on Huffington Post
After receiving pressure from organizations like the Center for Food Safety (CFS), the USDA extended its public comment period until April 27–just a few weeks from today. There is overwhelming public opposition to this crop. To date, 155,000 comments opposing approval of 2,4-D corn have been collected by environmental, health, and farm groups.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Dow’s 2,4-D corn, soon to be followed by 2,4-D soybeans and cotton, are the first of many new GE crops designed to launch American agriculture into a new era of increased dependence on more toxic pesticides, reversing decades of progress. Two-thirds of GE crops awaiting approval by USDA are resistant to one to three herbicides each, with many more in the longer-term pipeline. For instance, Monsanto has developed crops resistant to dicamba, a close chemical cousin to 2,4-D.
According to agricultural expert Dr. Charles Benbrook, 2,4-D corn will trigger an astounding 30-fold increase in 2,4-D use on corn by the end of the decade, assuming widespread planting. 2,4-D soybeans and cotton will boost usage still more. Yet USDA has provided no analysis of the serious harm to human health, the environment or neighboring farms that will result.
Farmers, women and children at greatest risk
Farmers are on the front line. While generally healthier than other Americans, farmers suffer higher rates of certain cancers, such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), a cancer of the lymph nodes that kills 30 percent of those afflicted. Numerous studies in Sweden, Canada and by scientists at the U.S. National Cancer Institute have found that farmers who use 2,4-D and related herbicides are more likely to contract deadly NHL. While Sweden, Norway and Denmark have banned 2,4-D based on such studies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refuses to act. Other studies link farmer 2,4-D exposure to greater risk of Parkinson’s Disease.
The rest of us may also be at risk. 2,4-D is known to be a hormone-disrupting chemical, which can affect critical developmental processes in very small amounts. Lactating rats fed low doses of 2,4-D exhibit impaired maternal behavior while their pups weigh less. Children of pesticide applicators in areas of Minnesota with heavy use of chlorophenoxy herbicides like 2,4-D had a disproportionately higher incidence of birth anomalies than in non-crop regions or where these herbicides were less used. 2,4-D is frequently detected in surface water, albeit at low levels.
Based on these and numerous other studies, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) petitioned EPA in 2008 to ban 2,4-D, and recently sued the Agency for its failure to respond. Meanwhile, the latest available data show that 2,4-D is still contaminated with low levels of extremely toxic dioxins, which may or may not be the cause of 2,4-D’s toxicity.
Chemical arms race with weeds
Farmers would have no interest in 2,4-D crops if there weren’t a raging epidemic of weeds resistant to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. Glyphosate-resistant weeds evolved to infest millions of acres of cropland through massive, unregulated use of glyphosate on Monsanto’s Roundup-resistant soybeans, corn and cotton. This epidemic of “superweeds” has alarmed agricultural scientists, triggering a substantial increase in herbicide use, greater use of soil-eroding tillage operations, and a return to weeding crews hoeing hundreds of thousands of acres, dramatically increasing production costs. A National Academy of Sciences committee singled out glyphosate-resistant weeds as an issue demanding national attention, and a leading weed scientist warns they represent a threat to global food production.
As farmers struggle to contend with a problem that Monsanto assured them would never arise, Dow sees a golden opportunity, marketing its 2,4-D crops as a false solution to glyphosate-resistant weeds. Dow scientist John Jachetta excitedly announced in the Wall Street Journal ”a new era” and “a very significant opportunity” for chemical companies in 2,4-D and similar herbicide-resistant crops.
Far from solving the resistant weed problem, however, a recent peer-reviewed study by Penn State weed ecologists suggests that 2,4-D crops (along with Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant crops) will trigger an outbreak of still more intractable weeds resistant to both glyphosate and 2,4-D or dicamba, another salvo in the all-out “chemical arms race” between herbicide-resistant crops and weeds. Weeds resistant to multiple herbicides are already on the rise, prompting an Illinois weed scientist to warn that ”we are running out of options” to confront what is rapidly becoming an “unmanageable problem.” The Center for Food Safety made similar findings in a 2008 report and in Congressional testimony on resistant weeds in 2010. The Penn State study also outlines sustainable weed control techniques that could avert further weed resistance.
Crop damage from herbicide drift
The Penn State scientists also warn that the massive increases in use of drift-prone 2,4-D and dicamba accompanying resistant crops will threaten neighbors’ crops through drift. Soybeans, cotton, most vegetables, grapes and many other crops are damaged by very low levels of 2,4-D. Even now, 2,4-D drift is responsible for more episodes of crop injury than any other pesticide. Farmers agree. Iowa corn and soybean grower George Naylor was recently quoted in a Greenwire story, and speaks for many farmers who are concerned about 2,4-D corn:
“It’s a big turning point for agriculture,” Naylor said. “If they are going to keep going down this road by coming up with a quick fix to the problems they created in the first place, then the problems are just going to compound… My neighborhood and a lot of farm neighborhoods are just going to be sacrificed zones,” added Naylor… “There is going to be stuff in the air all the time.”In fact, a new coalition of farmers and food processors–the Save Our Crops Coalition–is organizing to stop 2,4-D crops from concern over huge crop losses due to 2,4-D drift.
Impacts on endangered species
2,4-D drift and runoff will also impact wild plants and animals. Because it is such a potent plant-killer, 2,4-D can harm animals by killing the plants they depend on for habitat and food. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service have found that even now, 2,4-D is likely having adverse impacts on several threatened and endangered species, including salmon and related fishes, the California red-legged frog, and the Alameda whipsnake. USDA’s approval of 2,4-D resistant corn can only make matters much worse, likely placing many other species at risk.
Comment period ends April 27, 2012
If approved, millions of acres of 2,4-D corn could be planted as early as next year. USDA’s public comment period is open until Friday, April 27, 2012. Tell USDA to deny Dow’s petition to approve 2,4-D corn. Comments may be submitted to the agency through the Center for Food Safety’s action link or through Regulations.gov. For more information on 2,4-D corn, see our fact sheet and more extensive Food Safety Review.
Originally published on Huffington Post
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Easter Sunday
Tommorrow the sun will rise and this is the sign to me of the son of God rising to heaven, this is the day that symbolizes him rising up from the grave. As we all go about our Easter celebrations, chores, and lives we need to look to the heavens if just for a moment and praise him, thank him for his ultimate sacrifice. We here at Hummingbird Farm want to wish everyone a beautiful Easter Sunday filled with love, grace and peace!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Who Control Your Foods?
As the country's largest grocery retailer, Walmart sells more than $100 billion worth of food a year, giving it unmatched power in shaping the food supply chain. Walmart has spent millions trying to convince us that they want to help make our food supply healthier. They tell us they are going organic and local and will start trying to help shoppers cut down on salt, sugar and fat with a "Great for You" labeling scheme. But, as is the case with people and corporations that don't always tell the truth, there's more information in what Walmart isn't saying.
A couple of weeks ago, Walmart released a statement that it will begin selling meat that doesn't contain the filler called "lean, finely textured beef trimmings," or "pink slime," but it did not specify whether it would stop selling beef with the filler altogether. Similarly, when asked by more than half a million shoppers to block Monsanto's latest genetically engineered sweet corn, Walmart has been hiding behind a meaningless evasive statement that it doesn't "specifically source" GE foods.
Walmart may not go out of its way to require growers to produce Monsanto's GE sweet corn, but unless it takes affirmative steps to prevent the corn from coming into its stores, it is likely to be purchased and sold alongside regular corn, unlabeled, to unsuspecting consumers. By responding as they do to consumer complaints about GE sweet corn, Walmart is intentionally leaving the mistaken impression that they will not be selling this untested and potentially dangerous product when in all likelihood, it could wind up in its stores' produce section this summer.Since January, nearly 500,000 people have signed a petition asking Walmart to refuse to sell Monsanto's GE sweet corn, more than 150 events have taken place at Walmart stores across the country and 8,500 people have called Mr. Reyes, other top Walmart officials, store and regional managers, and Walmart's customer service line.
Public opinion polls show that a majority of consumers asked would not eat GE food if they had a choice and nearly all -- 95 percent -- are insistent that GE food must at least be labeled so they can make informed choices.
Genetically engineered foods have not been comprehensively tested for long-term impacts on human and environmental health safety, but a growing body of research is uncovering potential health and environmental risks associated with GE crops such as increased food allergies and other long-term health effects. Plus, superweeds and pests have become resistant to GE-affiliated herbicides and pesticides and require many more toxic chemicals to be applied to crops.
Monsanto announced this new sweet corn -- its first variety intended to be eaten on the ear -- in August. Because the seed combines three genetically engineered traits that were approved in 2005 and 2008 (corn-borer resistance, rootworm resistance and tolerance for Monsanto's top-selling herbicide Roundup), it flew through the approvals process even though a vegetable with these three traits have never been consumed directly by people.
Every day, more people are learning that most highly processed packaged foods such as snacks and sugary breakfast cereal contain GE ingredients (such as soy, corn or canola), and are starting to avoid these foods and choosing fresh fruits and vegetables instead. But Monsanto and other GE seed manufacturers are one step ahead of us. In order to keep their market share growing and a stranglehold on our food supply, they must invade a new section of the grocery store. A reporter asked me recently, with the vast majority of the American food supply now genetically engineered, how does stopping this one variety help consumers? If Walmart refuses to stock Monsanto's GE sweet corn, it would send a strong signal that there is no market for this genetically engineered food and could actually stop the seed before it's even planted.
This campaign is one of many battles being waged in a much larger fight to restore control and choice to consumers. Food & Water Watch, our food safety and environmental allies, and concerned eaters in communities across the country are fighting to roll back the prevalence of genetically engineered material in our food supply.
We all deserve the opportunity to choose healthy, sustainable foods that we know where and how they were grown. If everyone who believes this picks up the phone and calls Mr. Reyes, we really, truly can stop this and all untested, unlabeled and potentially unsafe GE foods in their tracks. What are you waiting for?
Follow Wenonah Hauter on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@foodandwater
copied from Huff Post see this from EatGreenDFWNews.
Eat Green Newsletter
This is a link to a wonderfully informational newsletter on different issues affecting where and how we eat as well as laws and big cat companies that control our food. http://eatgreendfw.bubblelife.com/
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
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