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Non-factory farmers say they’re producing healthier food by ‘working with nature’
As factory farming has taken over livestock production in the U.S., some small farmers are bucking the trend, vowing to maintain their family tradition of raising livestock humanely and healthfully.
These farmers are producing organic milk and grass-fed meats that they and many consumers believe are healthier for human consumption.
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Tags: · grass-fed meat, healthier food, humane livestock, Humane Society of the United States, Nebraska, organic dairy, Organic Farming, pastured animals, small businesses, small family farms
Dow’s new GE corn would rely on toxic 2,4-D herbicide
In the brave new world of bio-tech agriculture, the big pesticide/herbicide makers have argued for years that their genetic seed inventions would reduce the use of chemicals.
It made sense, to argue for that. Almost everyone agrees that our health and the environment would benefit from reduced pesticide use. And Americans react strongly when they find their food has been compromised by chemicals. Think of the Alar apple scare, or the more recent outcry over strawberries doused with methyl iodide, a fumigant suspected of causing cancer.
Chemical companies tapped into citizen concern about pesticides by promising they could engineer corn and soybeans to resist certain “safer” chemicals, such as Monsanto’s Roundup. That would reduce environmental harm and give farmers a break, because they could use Roundup whenever they wanted without fear of harming their crops. They’d get higher yields with little downside, because the Roundup would biodegrade, and America would feed the world….
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Tags: · 2, 4-D, Beyond Pesticides, chemical farming, Cornucopia Institute, Dow AgroSciences, GE corn, GE crops, GE soybeans, genetically altered food, genetically modified food, Organic Farming
Rodale study: Organic farming is just as productive, less polluting and more profitable than using chemicals
September 29th, 2011 · No Comments
What if you poured herbicides on the weeds, pesticides on the bugs and doused the earth with synthetic fertilizers so you could grow grains and fruits and vegetables?
You’d have a highly productive farm with super high yields. Right?
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Tags: · greenrightnow.com, Organic Farming, Organic Food, Rodale Institute's Farming Systems Trial, soil health, sustainable farming, sustainable food production
Let’s get royally concerned about Monsanto, Roundup and the food we eat
Prince Charles might seem like an unlikely champion for organic farming. But I’ll embrace reason wherever I find it.
During a recent talk at Georgetown University, the prince extolled the virtues of organic farming over conventional farming, because it doesn’t destroy the soil with chemicals. He pointed out that our current methods of blasting crops with chemicals are endangering our ability to continue to even grow crops; which doesn’t make sense ecologically or economically.
Here’s his quote from the Des Moines Register: “Capitalism ultimately depends on capital but our capital ultimately depends on the health of nature’s capital,” the prince said. “Whether we like it or not the two are inseparable.”
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Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, GE food, GE foods, Glyphosate, GM food, GM foods, greenrightnow.com, Monsanto, Monsanto evil, organic, Organic Farming, Organic Food, Organic Milk, Prince Charles, Roundup, soil contamination, soil enrichment
Health, food and farm groups unite against Monsanto’s newly approved GE alfalfa
February 1st, 2011 · 2 Comments
Organic farmers, food companies and advocacy groups have united to oppose the federal government’s de-regulation of Monsanto’s genetically engineered alfalfa.
A new 20-group coalition announced Tuesday that it also would be opposing the regulatory release of other types of GE (also known as GM or genetically modified) crops expected in the coming months if the USDA approves the unrestricted planting of GE sugar beets, corn and soy crops.
These crops have been engineered predominantly by Monsanto to resist specific Monsanto-created pesticides, including the “Roundup Ready” alfalfa, which was approved for unrestricted planting by the USDA last week.
Organic farmers fear the spread of GE crops because they’re dependent on pesticides, which harm the soil and waterways, and because they can contaminate non=GE crops via cross-pollination. When GE crops invade organically raised fields, they destroy the purity of organic row crops and produce and can cost a farmer his organic certification.
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Tags: · alfalfa, Allergy Kids, beets, Beyond Pesticides, Center for Food Safety, contamination of organic crops, corn, Equal Exchange, Eric Schlosser, GE crops, GE foods, greenrightnow.com, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners, Maria Rodale, Michael Pollan, Monsanto, Monsanto chemicals, National Cooperative Grocers Association, NOFA, Non-GMO Project, Organic Farming, Organic Farming Research Association, Organic Seed Alliance, Organic Trade Association, Organic Valley, Robert Kenner, soybeans, Stonyfield Farm, United Natural Foods, USDA
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