Wild sockeye salmon collapse linked to salmon fish farms

By Damien Gillis
Common Sense Canadian

In a blog posting yesterday, following a series of major developments at the Cohen Commission, biologist Alexandra Morton suggests she now has enough pieces of the puzzle to pin much of the blame for collapsing Fraser sockeye stocks on salmon farms.

 

This graph, presented to the Cohen Commission, demonstrates how the introduction of salmon farms on the Fraser sockeye migratory route lines up with the collapse of those wild stocks 

The local food shift: What every public official, political candidate and voter should know

By Michael Brownlee
Boulder Weekly

The local food shift is gaining significant traction in Boulder County, growing well beyond the euphoric early adopter stage into early majority territory. It is unfolding so rapidly and so unpredictably that it could well be called a revolution.

If it hasn’t already, the issue of local food is about to land on the desks of public officials and political candidates, perhaps even in unexpected ways. One candidate, aware of this shift, contacted Transition Colorado and requested “talking points” on this important issue. What follows here is a very preliminary and incomplete briefing intended to help all officials and candidates quickly bone up on some of the major issues and prepare to deal with the challenges that are coming their way.

Wisconsin Fight over 6,000 Cow Factory Farm Moves to Court

By Lisa Buchmeier
Courthouse News Service

MADISON, Wisc. (CN) – Family Farm Defenders sued Wisconsin to try to stop a commercial dairy whose planned 6,270 “animal units” would produce 55.3 million gallons of manure and wastewater a year.

Fifty-five million gallons of wastewater would cover 1 acre 169 feet deep.

Family Farm Defenders and three landowners sued the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Dane County Court.

On the road for food justice

By Kathleen Masterson
Grist

Nothing says commitment to a cause like 11 young adults willing to spend several weeks crammed into a 15-passenger van traveling across the country.  Dubbed “from the hood to the heartland,” the Food and Freedom Ride is a 2,000-mile voyage from Birmingham, Ala., to Detroit, Mich., intended to spread awareness about food justice issues in the U.S.

Letter from prison: Tim DeChristopher speaks

Eco-activist Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to two years for bidding on public lands for which he could not pay. (He later acquired the funds). His act of civil disobedience stopped the illegal auction of oil and gas leases on thousands of acres of public land. No authorities have been criminally charged for the illegal auction. Also see his court speech prior to sentencing.

Here is his letter from prison, sent to Grist.

USGS: Glyphosate pollutes air, rain and rivers in US

By Rady Ananda

Two new studies by the U.S. Geological Survey reveal the pervasive spread of the biocide, glyphosate, mostly used as a weedkiller for crops genetically engineered to resist it.

Used in formulations by Monsanto, Bayer, Dow and others, glyphosate has been linked to spontaneous abortions in livestock, birth defects in humans, insect resistance, and weed resistance.

Worse, regulators have known for years of these links, Earth Open Source reported.

ConAgra Sued Over GMO ’100% Natural’ Cooking Oils

By Michele Simon
Food Safety News

If you use Wesson brand cooking oils, you may be able to join a class action against food giant ConAgra for deceptively marketing the products as natural.

These days it’s hard to walk down a supermarket aisle without bumping into a food product that claims to be “all-natural.” If you’ve ever wondered how even some junk food products can claim this moniker (witness: Cheetos Natural Puff White Cheddar Cheese Flavored Snacks – doesn’t that sound like it came straight from your garden?) the answer is simple if illogical: the Food and Drug Administration has not defined the term natural.

Revolution Is a Potluck

By Cindy Sheehan

“A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.” ~Mao Zedong

First of all, don’t worry, I am not advocating violent overthrow of the Robber Class in this piece—now that your mind is eased (or disappointed), I will go on. [Image]

Inspection finds of dreaded Khapra beetle increase 20-fold this year

By Rady Ananda

The Khapra beetle, “one of the top 100 most-feared pests in the world,” according to Customs and Border Protection, keeps showing up this year, with over 100 finds in personal belongings and commercial imports.  Normally, ag inspectors find the beetle only 3-6 times a year.  [Image]

Trogoderma granarium is incredibly destructive to several crops and resistant to pesticides and fumigants.  It can destroy the agriculture economy, which is a third of the entire US economy, already weakened by Wall Street crimes.

The latest find was in a personal bag of rice at the Chicago O’Hare Airport arriving from India.

Kenya sacks biosafety regulator for allowing GMO imports

By Gatonye Gathura
Daily Nation

A chief executive has been sacked for allowing the importation of genetically modified food.  Dr Roy Mugiira of the National Biosafety Authority was sacked last Thursday over the illegal importation of corn-soy blended relief food.

The authority’s chairperson, Prof Miriam Kinyua said Dr Mugiira had in March written to the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service advising them to allow the World Food Programme to import emergency food from the US without being tested.

Farmers Respond to Monsanto’s Attempt to Dismiss Their Case

By Deniza Gertsberg
GMO Journal

In mid-July, Monsanto filed a motion with the Federal court in New York to have the Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association (OSGATA), et al., case dismissed against it. Monsanto’s motion was in response to a complaint filedearlier this year by eighty-three family farmers, small and family owned seed businesses, and agricultural organizations challenging Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified seeds. The complaint also asked the court to declare that Monsanto cannot sue plaintiffs should the company’s transgenic seed land on their property.

Food Chain Radio: Is living food safe?

By Food Chain Radio

Sprouted seeds, or “sprouts” as they are commonly called, are truly the freshest of foods because they are, well, still living. Sprouts are also the frequent subjects of food contaminations, and thus lead us to ask…

Is living food safe?

This Saturday at 9am Pacific, the Food Chain Radio show with Michael Olson hosts Ken Kimes from New Natives Farm for a conversation about food safety.

Michael Ruppert on the Arrival of the Post-Petroleum Human (video)

By Peak Moment TV

“Petroleum Man is dead. Infinite Growth Man is dead. Post Petroleum Human is alive,” announced Michael C. Ruppert on May 22, 2011.  Members of this emerging “species” know they must live in balance with the Earth, while remembering the lessons of industrial civilization.

Children defy police in D.C., purchase lemonade at Capitol

By Adam Kokesh
Adam vs The Man

In response to a recent wave of lemonade stand shut downs and harassment of children over such petty regulations as are used to shut them down, several activists gathered at the west lawn of the capitol in Washington, DC to sell lemonade and were arrested.

Monsanto GM Corn in Peril: Beetle develops Bt-resistance

By Rady Ananda

Nature herself may be the best opponent of genetically modified crops and pesticides.  Not only plants, but insects are also developing resistance.  The Western rootworm beetle – one of the most serious threats to corn – has developed resistance to Monsanto’s Bt-corn, and entire crops are being lost. [Image]

Farmers from several Midwest states began reporting root damage to corn that was specifically engineered with a toxin to kill the rootworm.  Iowa State University entomologist Aaron Gassmann recently confirmed that the beetle, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, has developed resistance to the Bt protein, Cry3Bb1.

RSF Social Finance makes loan to NY farmshare for expansion

RSF Social Finance, a non-profit financial services organization providing capital to non-profit and for-profit social enterprises, announced today that it has made a loan to Corbin Hill Road Farm (CHRF) a distributor of New York-grown produce to under-served markets in the five boroughs of New York City.

Unexpected growth has accelerated CHRF’s plans for building staff and critical infrastructure.  The enterprise – which has to-date been funded by a combination of community members’ investments, a high-net-worth angel investment, and personally guaranteed bank loans – now requires additional capital to finance the near-term growth of the business.

War on Want: Take back control of our food system

By War on Want

For the first time in human history, over a billion people have been officially classified as living in hunger. This scandal is not a consequence of poor global harvests or natural disasters. Hunger on this scale is the result of a global economy in which hundreds of millions of small farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists and indigenous people have faced ruin through the hijacking of the global food system by large agribusiness and food retailers.

In response, War on Want, in partnership with La Via Campesina and other allies, has published an alternative:  FOOD SOVEREIGNTY: Taking back control of our food system

Citizens adopt European Declaration on Food Sovereignty

By Nyeleni 2011

After 5 days of intense, inspired and constructive exchange, the Nyeleni Europe 2011, European Forum for Food Sovereignty closed on August 22. The Forum adopted the first European Declaration on Food Sovereignty.

Over 400 delegates from European countries committed to strengthening their collective capacity to reclaiming community control over food system, to resisting the agro-industrial system and to expanding and consolidating a strong European movement for Food Sovereignty.

Will Allen and a million pounds of organic food on 3 acres

Using vertical space, Will Allen of Growing Power (based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) shows how 3,000 square feet of growing space is converted to 4,500 square feet.  On his total 3 acres, he says he produces a million pounds of organic food each year.  He also recycles the water used in greenhouses to raise mercury-free fish.

Vaccine-Autism documentary on HD Net tonight, Aug. 23

By EBCALA

Health officials in the U.S. have consistently denied that there is any link between childhood vaccines and autism. So why is the government quietly doling out big settlements to families who say just such a link harmed their children?

Vaccines and Autism: Mixed Signals will air on HDNet Television Tuesday night, August 23, on World Report at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central, 7 p.m. Mountain, and 6 p.m. Pacific. It airs again 3 hours later in each time zone. (Also again Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Central, 9 a.m. Mountain, 8 a.m. Pacific).