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Keeping in Touch:  Boycott Monsanto?  |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 25 2010 : 08:22:43 AM
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And the more of us who make that decision, and maybe try to educate others, the more we can get done. It is discouraging sometimes - the powers that be in the dairy industry have managed in some places to make it so that dairies can't label their milk as rBGH free as that would imply there was something wrong with Bovine Growth Hormone, it makes it hard for people to make informed decisions
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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AliciaNak
True Blue Farmgirl
405 Posts
Alicia
Elko
Nevada
USA
405 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2010 : 09:21:12 AM
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There's another movie too, Fresh (www.freshthemovie.com).
Monsanto is trying to get a gentically engineered alfalfa seed approved by the USDA. You can sign the petition against it at the fresh website.
This really scares me, because there are alfalfa farms all over my area, and central Nevada where my hubby grew up. I hate to envision people I know, that my hubby grew up with, going through lawsuits like the soybean farmer in Food Inc.
Since watching Food Inc. I find myself drawn to this movement even more. Perhaps even going a bit "overboard" on it, if that's even possible!
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.~Ralph Waldo Emmerson
www.blondenak.blogspot.com |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2010 : 11:15:18 AM
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Alicia - I don't think you can go overboard with this - the opposition is so big it's going to take a bunch of us going overboard to get anything done:)
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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October Moon
Farmgirl at Heart
6 Posts
Tracey
Dover
PA
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2010 : 11:40:10 AM
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I took my mother and sister to see Food, Inc. and we were all crying by the end of the movie. The Monsanto situation is terrifying to me but I feel so helpless about what I can do other than continue with my organic garden and talk to people who will listen.
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”— Anatole France
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AliciaNak
True Blue Farmgirl
405 Posts
Alicia
Elko
Nevada
USA
405 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2010 : 11:53:31 AM
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Tracy, I'm not sure where I found this saying, but you can "Vote with your Fork" !!! As they said in Food Inc., we the consumer are more powerful than we think, with our allmighty dollar.
Grow/raise what you can. Support local farmers/ranchers. Go to the Farmer's markets. There's lots of tips/ideas/answers here on MJF!!
I've jotted down some websites that can help you out. These were all listed in the back of Michael Pollan's book The Omnivores Dilemma. Plus a whole lot more. Good book, too.
www.localharvest.com
www.100milediet.org
www.slowfood.com
www.informedeating.org
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.~Ralph Waldo Emmerson
www.blondenak.blogspot.com |
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October Moon
Farmgirl at Heart
6 Posts
Tracey
Dover
PA
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2010 : 12:12:26 PM
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Thanks for the links. I do try very hard to "vote with my fork" but it seems like I'm such the minority. In my area, if I tell people that I eat organically, they think I'm some sort of snob. I haven't read Omnivore's Dilemma yet but I did read In Defense of Food. Pollan is great!
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”— Anatole France
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AliciaNak
True Blue Farmgirl
405 Posts
Alicia
Elko
Nevada
USA
405 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2010 : 12:23:31 PM
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Your welcome Tracey. Perhaps try telling people that you try to "eat local" instead?
For me it's a bit more about eating local, supporting local families and small farms, instead of the giant industrial "food chain". I try to grow my own, and I know that I garden organically, but when I do have to buy something just the word "organic" doesn't mean that it's getting my dollar. I try to consider how far it's had to travel to get to my little corner of Nevada. The gas and resources used to fly/truck it here are just as important to consider.
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.~Ralph Waldo Emmerson
www.blondenak.blogspot.com |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2010 : 2:00:46 PM
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Yeah - and most of the organic food companies whose products you find in the grocery stores are owned by big corporations, so local is definitely a way to "vote with your fork" - I like that!!
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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dawnm
True Blue Farmgirl
92 Posts
Dawn
Blueridge Mts
Va
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - Mar 04 2010 : 9:16:50 PM
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Hi Amy Grace, one needs to be a detective to get wholesome food and not leave a footprint the size of Texas on the environment.
Did anyone read the Barbara Kingsolver book describing how her family provided food for themselves and what they needed to buy they had a policy that they wouldn't buy from a 100 mi radius (I think that was it).
Dawn
Small farm farmers rock! |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Mar 05 2010 : 2:12:16 PM
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Dawn - yes I love that book - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Lots of food for thought, and she is such a good writer too. I read it every spring.
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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textilelover
True Blue Farmgirl
557 Posts
Dianne
Middletown
NY
USA
557 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2010 : 05:33:29 AM
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I'm putting that one on my "must-read" list too. Amy, it's kind of scary how much we have in common! Dianne
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." --Leondardo da Vinci |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Mar 07 2010 : 4:19:02 PM
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I know Dianne - I think that everytime I read one of your posts, hmmmm,
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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sarahf
Farmgirl at Heart
9 Posts
Sarah
Harrison
AR
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2010 : 05:45:33 AM
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Ok I'm sure this is a dumb question but I was wondering if anyone could explain what this company did. I have never heard of them before. Thanks,
Sarah
http://www.homemadelyesoap.net |
Edited by - sarahf on Mar 29 2010 05:46:14 AM |
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KD Earthwork
True Blue Farmgirl
210 Posts
Katie
Gualala
Calif.
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2010 : 05:45:46 AM
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I defintely have changed our reality over the last five years.Even though I'd eaten mostly organic for thirty years(N. Calif,baby!)I was researching GMO's and found that Monsanto had of course done the testing to see if it's safe for human consumption.They(We) let corporations test their own products now.Do you know how easy it is to turn the lab results to whatever favor is desired?
Anyway,they said the first generation of chickens fed GMO corn were fine (?), but the next generation (those chickens baby's) started mutating and having genetic defects.What are we feeding our kids??? Are our grandbaby's going to be healthy ?
I get so mad at my husband now if he feeds our daughter chips, or buys not organic chicken grain or non organic flour,grains etc.
I was really inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's " Animal,Vegetable ,Mineral.I haven't bought a banana for a year.We doubled the size of our very large garden and buy only grain, flour,dairy products (local organic).Micheal Pollan's book "Omnivore's Dilemma" also made me question commercial organic.Costco organic etc.We still buy their butter though.Plus realizing cheap fuel ( not really cheap if you look at the cost of war protecting corporate interests in oil) has fueled this industrialized farming.That the farmers who have learned to grow more corn that ever are not making it either and mostly we are subsidizing the corn prices so corporations can make more profit.
We buy all meat local. My garden's been thriving on seeds that I've saved or let reseed.I buy seed from "Pinetree Garden Seeds" in Maine.A very small company.Also from Baker Creek seed co.I think Territorial seed is now corporate powers owned.
Maybe the country's going to have to change with this economic situation.Maybe the laws can change back to the people who support all this through their taxes, away from the interests of the corporate shareholders.
I don't mean to offend by my views.But I think we all need to be intelligent and really look at what 's going on in our food community,political community,economy.I mean what was this bank bailout all about( oh! I'm really getting riled up now,sorry).Don't give the credit card companies any more money!!Get out of debt.Buy a place you can afford and grow your own food, hopefully have your own water, septic, power.
Do you realize approx. 40percent of our power comes from coal???Change to florescent bulbs,unplug things ,check for energy efficiency.We power our lives here with eight solar panels.Some additional generator time for approx three and a half months a year(half an hour tops up our batteries).
Good luck to you all, Katie |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
1406 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2010 : 06:31:18 AM
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Very well written, Katie, sounds as if you have really done your homework. I was raised in N Ca,Petaluma, and what I miss the most are seeing like minded people every day. Here people listen to me, but kind of treat me as an addled minded aunt. As they munch away on their McDonalds. It is an ongoing process.
Forget buns of steel, I'd rather have buns of cinnamon!
Farmgirl #680! |
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patchworkpeace
True Blue Farmgirl
478 Posts
Judy
Jackson
Michigan
USA
478 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2010 : 3:53:59 PM
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Great info. I'm not sure if everyone realizes that the Monsanto GMO problem is worldwide because Codex Alimentary, a commission connected with FAO (UN group) and the World Health Organization, is pushing GMO food to be used worldwide and particularly third world countries. You can read about it on the Codex Alimentary website (not easy reading) or just do a search - there's a lot of websites out there.
It's sad so much of the world's food is poisoned with GMOs.
Judy
Success is measured not by the position one reaches but by the obstacles one has to overcome to reach it. Booker T. Washington |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
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dawnm
True Blue Farmgirl
92 Posts
Dawn
Blueridge Mts
Va
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2010 : 5:06:38 PM
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I wish that more people would see the movie, Food Inc. or Supersize Me. In my way of thinking the two are closely linked. I can not remember the name of the man who did the documentary Supersize. He used himself as a guinea pig. His plan was to eat from the fast food menus and supersize everything for 30 days. Before the end of the 30 days his doctor recommended he stop the experiment because his health was being seriously compromized.
I read Barbara Kingsolver also. The next book I want to read is the omnivores dilemna.
The masses in our country are clueless or they just don't care about the impact of these huge corporations. They are destroying the environment, health, the small farmers ability to operate.
It makes me sick and you and you and you.....
"though an old man yet, I am a young gardener." Thomas Jefferson |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2010 : 8:06:04 PM
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Katie - such a good point about commercial organic. I have worked in organic foods for 22 years in different aspects - tiny organic fruitstand, tiny organic worker's co-op, distribution, production, and now mainstream retail. I appreciate the job security I have now, I work for a free-standing organic store owned by a conventional supermarket chain, and I appreciate the health benefits I have, but I am so discouraged by the changes I have seen in organic food production over those 22 years. There is one big organic farm that I'm thinking of that uses the same factory farm methods that conventional growers do, very destructive to the land. All mono-cropping,no emphasis on sustainability. It really brings it home to me that you must do your homework, and really be educated. Unfortunately we are facing these issues at a time when we have less and less access to print media, and as a result people as a whole I think are less knowledgeable about the way things like this really do affect their every day life, and quality of life.
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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corabela
True Blue Farmgirl
79 Posts
Laura
Mount Vernon
Ohio
USA
79 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2010 : 06:52:24 AM
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Back in 2003 my mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She went downhill fast and I wasn't sure she would make it. Since she was bed-ridden, she spent all her time researching and studying and finally came to the conclusion that her lifestyle had made her sick...her lifestyle of eating mainstream food and using mainstream products. From the moment she made the connection between her food and her health she has not even so much as touched any sort of non-organic product and it's been about 3 or 4 years now since her illness is gone. Her clear MRI's prove that her "incurable" illness was eliminated by eliminating the corrupted food and chemical products from her life and I have my mother back. : ) Our whole family has been all organic ever since. I only buy local unless it's local organic because local pesticides and gmo's are just a harmful as out-of-state ones. It has made a world of difference in our health and our quality of life.
Have any of you noticed after eating organic for awhile that regular grocery store food just tastes horrible now?
~Laura
Please stop by my blog and my etsy site and say hello : )
www.corabela.blogspot.com
www.corabela.etsy.com |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
1406 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2010 : 07:45:13 AM
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I recently read a study that Jaanese women, in Japan , have a very low breast cancer rate. When they come to the US, within seven years of eatting a "main stream" diet, their breast cancer rate is as high as ours. I don't know who did the study, but wha does that say about our food. Lately there has been a lot of info in the news about school lunches and how over processsed they are. Why can't schools give up a llittle land, and have the kids plant a garden, and here is an idea, serve some of that food for lunch? We grew a garden when I was in sixth grade and it was such an awesome experience, even though we had a garden at home. Just thinkin', Carol
Forget buns of steel, I'd rather have buns of cinnamon!
Farmgirl #680! |
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patchworkpeace
True Blue Farmgirl
478 Posts
Judy
Jackson
Michigan
USA
478 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2010 : 09:24:35 AM
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Carol,
Wouldn't that be great? Not only would they learn where their food came from, they would get exercise and sunshine (Vit-D). I wonder how many kids know where they food comes from - hopefully, most.
Judy
Farm Sister #932
Success is measured not by the position one reaches but by the obstacles one has to overcome to reach it. Booker T. Washington |
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corabela
True Blue Farmgirl
79 Posts
Laura
Mount Vernon
Ohio
USA
79 Posts |
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roseella
Farmgirl in Training
32 Posts
32 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2010 : 12:24:54 PM
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Well, I am finally going to see Food,Inc. I guess I was concerned that I would be overwhelmed with information I couldn't handle. ;-/ Even though we are "organic" consumers. Always reading labels, etc. Buying "organic" "grass fed" beef and organic produce doesn't mean we are always getting the good stuff.
This takes me back to reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carlson many years ago.
http://myviewpaintingstoo.blogspot.com |
Edited by - roseella on Apr 03 2010 12:28:13 PM |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2010 : 5:58:05 PM
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One of the scariest tactics of Monsanto is their recent emphasis on trying to convince the public that they're "green". They are major sponsors of many events and projects here in the St. Louis area and they get a lot of free publicity toting how much they have benefited the economy as well as the ecological realm. It's enough to make you sick when you read about it.
cindy
"Dog is my co-pilot"
Visit my blog at http://www.farmerinthebelle.blogspot.com/ |
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Keeping in Touch: Boycott Monsanto? |
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Boycott Monsanto?
