Snow can't stop the Missouri Senate--can we?

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: It feels like a long time since the snow started, but it’s only been a week. We got our chores done, everyone settled with food and water, made our run to town for eggs (hens don’t lay eggs in bad weather, FYI if you’re getting hens) and got back in time for the snow to begin in earnest. Then the electricity went off for a day, 24 hours, and we really felt sorry for ourselves. No internet. No TV. No radio. After a day, I started calling neighbors and found out that being cut off is harder on some folks than others. We were generally OK, but one neighbor was having panic attacks at being alone. I tried to get him to go to the gas station and hang out, maybe he did. You know how it is when you get to a certain point and you can’t think what to do? He was at that point. My idea, to get out, seemed brilliant to him and he thanked me over and over. Another neighbor heard the timbers of his barn cracking at night when he was in bed and he was too worried to go out and look. Had the roof fallen completely in? Did it kill his livestock? He couldn’t bring himself to go out. After talking to a few folks, I felt really lucky. Our barn is OK and we have plenty of food in the cupboard and wood in the woodpile. Chilly, but lucky. Everything has been cancelled for the most part, but wouldn’t you know the legislature figured out a way to hold sessions and that old bugaboo, Senate Bill 41, “the polluters’ protection act” is making its way through the Missouri Senate again. We defeated it last year, but Senator Munzlinger, a Farm Bureau puppet, brought it up again. You’d think, as a Republican, that he’d know that his bill takes away constitutional rights of farmers and landowners to protect their property & property rights through the court system. In my neighborhood, the hog CAFO owner nearby does a great job of keeping his place clean and only mildly stinky but he didn’t do that until some of the neighbors threatened a lawsuit and settled out of court. Still, corporate lobbyists have once again convinced some legislators of the need to protect a very small minority of corporate industrial livestock operations at the expense of the property rights of the majority of family farms, rural landowners and other property owners. But, hey, this law wouldn’t affect only rural folks. Anyone living near an industrial facility—a landfill, chemical plant or even a sausage making plant—can be affected by runoff and bad air. SB 41clearly favors the “rights” of corporations over the rights of Missourians, our families and our communities. So, yeah, we’re back on the phone today. Tonight, the legislature goes home and enough snow has melted that I’ll get out tomorrow. A whole new world out there!

Snow Day

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: Under normal circumstances, a 10-inch snow would just mean a holiday for me and the old man. We’d just sit by the fire and google, or I’d catch up on some sewing or reading and he’d play the fiddle. We can entertain ourselves for a week that way. So much so that the neighbors will start to worry and someone will hook up the plow and dig us out, no matter how much we insist that we’re having a fine time. But this week, we have a ton of stuff on the calendar, all of it in town where the plowing has been done. So, yesterday, we bent ourselves to catching up on chores. First, we moved a new big bale of hay in with the mama sheep. I told Marshall to put it as close to the barn as possible, and he managed to get it right at the doorway so they don’t even have to take a step to get it. Unfortunately, while we were doing that, Cappy, one of the donkeys snuck out the open gate. He made his way along the ruts that the tractor tires had made quite happily, got to the spot where the hay had been and found some green grass in the muddy patch. He was delighted with his find and didn’t want to come back, munch, munch. Which meant that we needed to close the gate to the road…Quick!!! Nothing more dangerous than a critter on an icey road. Marshall torqued it to the gate, as much torque as our old tractor can muster, and closed it, then started back to pick up the snowblade to blade the driveway. The blade was frozen solid to the ground and—did I mention that he has a hurt hand, his bowing hand and not his noter, but still… So I persuaded him not to use the blade, but just to run up and down the drive and mash it down with the tires. While I fetched Cappy, who had discovered that the snow was almost up to his belly and he had to lift his feet very high to make progress. He was way off by the hen house. I was afraid he’d wear himself out and then we’d have a situation. I also had to lift my feet very high to make progress, so we were in slow motion, both of us, me with the halter and rope, and didn’t notice that while I was doing that, Marshall was inventing something. He had found a hank of rope and a long black oak log, maybe 8 feet long. He lashed the log so it dragged behind the tractor and started towing it, widthwise, up and down the driveway. Where it dragged, it left a mashed down path. It was brilliant! Meanwhile, I’ve gotten to the donkey and put the halter on him and was trying to figure the shortest way back to the barn. There isn’t one. But Cappy was, by this time, willing to end his adventure and follow me. “Twas the night before Christmas,” I started chanting to amuse him, “And all through the house…” I think I got through all the words pretty well, except some of the reindeer names. Anyway, the rhythm of it kept us both distracted on the long walk. Yes, I know it’s February and months away from Christmas, but what’s a calendar to a donkey?

Humane?

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: From where I sit, I have a great view of two male blue jays pecking at the eaves of the garage. No idea what’s keeping them at it—bugs in the eaves? Melted snow? Something tasty in the paint? Whatever it is, they’ve been pecking for a half hour and they’re doing considerable damage to the wood. In the barn, two pigeons have nested and set up house, dropping poo all over the tractor, chore cart and all the other equipment in there. Last year we had eight or ten and we tried to trap them in live traps like raccoons but no success. We can’t use poisons because we have so many pets around. So I finally had to find a hunter with a shotgun. This year, we’re trying again to find a better way, have strung nets around the barn in hopes of nabbing them without using bullets. Seems like we’re always battling predators. They come after our lambs, our hens, our guineas. Now that the neighbors are reporting mountain lions around, I won’t let anyone go in the woods alone, even just to pick mushrooms. Got to have a buddy and got to make lots of noise. Those are my rules for the woods. But these vegans. They never have problems with mice, cockroaches, ants in the pantry, moths, mountain lions. How do they do it? Well, near as I can figure, they are rich people, movie stars. They don’t worry about fixing the garage and they have someone else take care of the mice, ants, moths. And they banish the animals from their lives. They might have a few pet dogs, vegan ones, but they don’t have goats or calves or even goldfish in their ponds. They want the planet for themselves, humans, only. They want to eat foods from fields nourished with chemicals rather than animal products. A lot of the vegans look unhealthy. Too much sugar and refined flour. Twinkies and chips, sodas and vitamin pills. And, they don’t worry about the people involved in making the things they eat, like the sugar cane harvesters that can’t feed their own kids or the farmers handling dangerous chemicals so they can raise corn for sweeteners and soy for thickening. I read one time that all humane societies begin with horses. Someone sees horses treated cruelly and they protest. Then they move to protecting dogs, cats and finally to protecting humans. Seems backwards, but that’s how it goes. At least that’s what I read. Well, enough for today. February 22, 2013.

Bowman v. Monsanto deliberations

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: The Supreme Court heard the Bowman v. Monsanto case last Tuesday, attracting much more media attention than the 40,000 people who went to D.C. to advocate for the climate. Attorney Seth Waxman, arguing for Monsanto, turned in the classic statement: “Without the ability to limit the reproduction of soybeans containing this patented trait, Monsanto could not have commercialized its invention and never would have produced what is now the most popular patented technology in farming.” Imagine an attorney making that statement for a murderer, thief or kidnapper. “Without the ability to snatch children away from their homes and extract ransom, Monsanto could not have commercialized its invention and never would have produced a system to make money from desperate parents trying to save their kids.” “Without the ability to kill people, Monsanto could not have commercialized its invention . . . Well, you get the picture. But the law depends not on comparisons or fairness but on precedents. Monsanto has plenty of precedents with the Supremes. The judges will have a written opinion in June, the papers say, and we’ll see what they say. This morning, at 8 a.m., the horseshoer called. It wasn’t snowing yet at his place (about 30 miles west of here) but he was expecting it any minute, so he cancelled our appointment. Then, around 9 a.m. the snow started to fall here—big, fluffy flakes. It was warm enough that the snow was accompanied by thunder. We heard it three times. Thunder in February means snow the next October, they used to say. After a couple of hours, it got colder and the flakes got smaller, but it’s still accumulating. I’d say we have 6 to 8 inches already and it’s only 2:00.

The XL pipeline and local foods

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: According to one map, on Wikipedia, a route for the Keystone XL pipeline goes right through my neighborhood, or, as my husband put it, “past our back door.” So I’m particularly glad that an estimated 3,000 Missouri college students went to DC for the protest. Can’t wait to see the few that went from our campus and hear what they think! Here's the address for the map: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline Last night, the PBS news program, Newshour, covered the action and had interviews with a couple of folks with different opinions. I had just locked the sheep in the barn and come into the house, reported to my husband that a swarm of bright red cardinals were cleaning out the suet feeder and he should go look. But he was immersed in the TV where the talking heads were expressing different opinions about just where the tar sands oil, once refined, would go. Would it be piped to a Louisiana port, then traded to Asia for more computers and cars? Or would it help America overcome our fuel deficit with the middle east? Truly, neither of the guys seemed convinced that they knew. To Bill McKibben and the enviros, that doesn’t really matter. The point, to them, is that the planet can’t afford the carbon output, no matter if it’s burned in New York or Beijing. They point to the increase in carbon and the heat it traps, globally speaking. They say, “leave it in the ground and figure out new ways to take care of our needs.” They point to a 10% decrease in fuel consumption since Obama has taken office and say that’s great and we can do better. If a link in the XL pipeline comes through my neighborhood, and what does XL stand for anyway? Extra Large? Extra Leaky? Entirely X-cessive? Well, if it comes here, there’ll be thousands of new jobs and farmers will have to leave. To our biggest neighbors, that would be the end of hours on huge tractors, things they don’t really love to begin with. To the Economic Development people, it’s about good jobs that pay well. To sustainable vegetable farmers like us, it’s the end of community, nature, and our lives. To the eaters that depend on us, it’s back to canned foods from who knows where?

350.org and Daryl Hannah

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: Here are four words I never thought I’d write: “Thank you, Daryl Hannah!” Without her arrest, thousands of protestors outside the White House might not have gotten a line of print in the media. There has been, as far as I can tell, a mainstream media blackout. Only the bloggers covered the “Forward on Climate” protest that brought an estimated 40,000 people to Washington DC today. As Jamie Henn, a writer for Huffington Post put it, “It's a movement that has united nearly every environmental group in the country, from grassroots coalitions like the Indigenous Environmental Network to big green groups like the Sierra Club to a new generation of upstarts like 350.org. But it's also a movement that extends far beyond "traditional environmentalists" -- last Wednesday, civil rights leader Julian Bond, the president emeritus of the NAACP was arrested at the White House in a sit-in against Keystone XL.” Julian Bond, of course, recognizes that the fingers of injustice are long and mean. If a company is willing to create injustice on the earth, stealing land and resources from farmers and indigenous peoples, that same company is willing to create injustice on humankind. 40,000 people. That’s hardly a number that can be ignored. Mass arrests, including Daryl Hannah and Robert Kennedy, Jr. are the way this administration has chosen to send their message. Mass arrests will, they think, stop the protestors. For some folks, that will work. Nobody wants to be arrested time after time, pay a fine, do some time, miss the bus back home. But I think the movement has gone past the stage where people are scared of the police. Indeed, being arrested in DC can become a badge of honor. Protestors, including Sierra Club members, are choosing Civil Disobedience as a tactic to get attention. And, if the media doesn’t cover this, it’s another win for the protestors. They’ll become investigators on their own, and learn what’s been happening behind the curtains of big business and bought-off government. This is how revolutions begin. This is what democracy looks like if the peaceful messages are ignored. Obama can step up to the plate and defuse the anger. He can talk to the protestors, stop the pipeline, make his climate change promises real.

Lessons from the bare ground

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: What a gorgeous day! We’re enjoying the last little shiver of winter, 15 degrees when I went out to feed, and next week it could be 70 again. I took a long walk, picked up a few bits of trash in the pasture—-glass bottles, plastic lids, a big old iron wheel that we can use some time for something. I put them on the pile of recycleables. Last week, I lost a lamb to a predator. That morning, on my walk across the bare ground, I saw a streak of blood on the path but not a trace of the lamb. It was one of our biggest, so this predator is large and choosy. It left the little ones. And I couldn’t see any hair on the fence, indicating the predator might have jumped with it. A big cat? One of our neighbors photographed a mountain lion playing in her pond. Or, could an eagle swoop away a lamb? I saw an eagle in another neighbor’s pasture a couple of weeks ago. And what, pray tell, were my guard donkeys doing on that morning? Obviously, they were playing a game that didn’t include guarding sheep. So I moved the female donkey away from the male and so far so good. I’m also locking everyone up at night, which is not my preferred strategy. Would rather let them stay out. But today is bright and chilly, and the baby lambs are having a blast running around. They make me think about the future. My kids. Grandkids. The world we’re leaving them isn’t the world we inherited 50 or 60 years ago. A lot of what’s here is stuff we put down and it ain’t good. Trashy old wheel hubs. Chemical stuff designed to kill weeds or bugs or rodents or whatever. We kept the yards and fields tidy, but we’ve left stuff with side effects that hurt every living thing. So I see my daughter and her friends spending all their money buying organic, trying to find time and space to keep gardens, wearing themselves out with worry, as if there’s not enough to be worn out about when you have kids. Tomorrow, there will be a protest in Washington DC to demonstrate that citizens are sick of waiting for action on environmental problems. I hope the media is there and the message gets out.

State of the Climate, revisited

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: A reader comments regarding my blog entry, “State of the Climate”, which refers to scientists that apologize for the corporations. Her comment reads: Wow, Margot - what scientists are you reading/listening to? Apparently just a very small sliver, and none of the better thinkers. What sort of scientist would "believe that it doesn't matter if species die, or even entire oceans"? Certainly not the conservation scientists/biologists I've read or worked with! Or that "meat from obese, corn-fed cows and hogs can make healthy food for people"? Is it possible you're confusing the statements of people obsessed with corporate profits and year-end bonuses for those of the true researchers and innovators on which the future of our overburdened planet may well depend? Of course the scientists I refer to are “people obsessed with corporate profits and year-end bonuses” as she puts it. And they work in our universities today. At this very moment, they’re working on ways to make crops immune to 2,4D so that farmers can use more of it. 2,4D, you remember, is part of Agent Orange used to defoliate jungles so that soldiers could find them. It’s a poison that poisons people as well as plants. To greenwash the 2,4D story, they’ve pulled The Nature Conservancy in. TNC will evaluate the benefits of plantings around a Texas 2,4D manufacturing factory. Never mind that 2,4D will be carefully controlled in this factory, but then released to be sprayed in fields all over the planet. TNC, who we would hope are the “true researchers and innovators on which the future of our overburdened planet may well depend” opines: “Nature provides benefits, often called ecosystem services, which we all depend on.” Other ag scientists are convincing the media and politicians, at this very minute, that meat raised in Confined Animal Feeding Operations, fed on corn and other grains, is the only way to feed a growing population. Here’s their carefully worked statement about Bowman v. Monsanto: “The Supreme Court will decide a case this term that has the potential to jeopardize some of the most innovative biotechnology research in the country and alter U.S. patent law in a way that would have profound consequences for a range of industries — from agriculture to medicine to environmental science — that rely on the patent system to make their R&D investments economically viable.” That’s how corporations confuse science. Check out www.innovationatstake.com/

Bowman vs. Monsanto

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: Today, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear Bowman v. Monsanto, a case that tests the patenting law. That’s about all you can say for it, because unless the Supremes overturn the entire history of Monsanto’s carefully-built legal structure, the decision will bring no changes to family farmers. The structure unfolded over roughly two decades, sort of like this: 1. Monsanto developed a soybean variety that could survive repeated drenching with Roundup, a powerful herbicide that killed every green thing in its path. Monsanto patented the seed, arguing that it was innovative. Then they sold it to farmers and, eventually, food processors, arguing that it was the same as normal soybeans. Indeed, if you buy non-organic soy milk, soy sauce, chocolate made with soy lecithin or any other soy products you are eating this innovative patented soybean. 2. Monsanto’s bean wiped out the ordinary beans all over North America. The first year they were out, farmers stopped cleaning their own seeds and saving them to re-plant. This changed business, culture and tradition overnight. 3. Monsanto tested the strength of their patent in court. Many, many times. In 2002, the Supremes ruled that any seed could be patented, whether or not it was “innovative.” Now, Monsanto sees a new chance to test their legal structure, using a case against an old bean farmer from Indiana. As NPR began their story, “Why do so many people hate Monsanto? Is it because this multinational corporation pioneered some enormously successful genetically engineered crops, including corn, soybeans and cotton? Maybe, but I suspect that much of the passion is inspired by Monsanto's hard-line approach to ownership of those crops. Monsanto claims those seeds — and all offspring of those seeds — as its intellectual property. Farmers aren't allowed to save and replant any part of their harvest; if they do, Monsanto takes them to courtand demands large damages. Critics call the company bullying and ruthless.” So what this farmer, Bowman, did, is buy some cheap seeds that were not covered by Monsanto’s label. No patent fee, see? But, since all the beans in Indiana—94%--are Roundup-Ready, patented seeds, he knew they’d have the GMO trait. He sprayed them with Roundup, they survived, he took them to market and then refused to pay the patent fee. Monsanto sued. There ya go. It could be argued that one gene does not a patent make. Sort of like patenting a note on the scale and demanding a fee every time someone plays, say, a G. Or like patenting a color and demanding a fee from artists when they use, say, red. But the law has become so corrupt that an argument for patenting a G or the color red just might fly. Obviously, we need new strategies to kill this legal GMO monster. Farmers need to sue on the basis of side effects of this system, like cotton farmers needing to hand weed half the cotton crop because weeds can’t be killed by Roundup any more. Or folks with allergies should sue on the basis of not being able to kill ragweed with normal herbicides any more. Or farmers with cancer should sue on the basis of exposure to 2,4D or other known carcinogens that USDA has approved for our fields.

State of the Climate

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: Attaboy, President Obama! You mentioned Global Climate Change in the State of the Nation address last night. I didn’t stay to watch the punditry or the response, too busy thinking. If there’s any hope we should be hoping, it’s that the scientists are wrong about global warming. They’re wrong about so many things. They believe, for example, that we can pour poisons on the farmland year after year and still raise good, healthy crops. They believe, for example, that the meat from obese, corn-fed cows and hogs can make healthy food for people. They believe that it doesn’t matter if species die, or even entire oceans. So let’s hope that the planet’s climate isn’t changing and that they’re wrong about this. Of course, for me, as one that farms and lives outside much of the time, the proof is indisputable. We have, for example, armadillos in mid-Missouri. This was a species that we excitedly pointed out in Texas when the kids were little, 30 years ago. And we have consistent 105-plus degree days in the summer, too hot to bother watering the tomato plants. This weekend, busloads of college kids will gather for marches in several major cities. One march is in Washington, D.C. and another in Chicago. When I heard “Grant Park” it reminded me of the Vietnam protest days. It took ten years, but we stopped the war. Global climate change—not immigration, abortion, drones, nor even gun control--is the issue of this new generation of activists and kids. Good luck and safe travel to all of them.

Missouri Lawmakers On The Move--Farmers, too

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: One of the best things about politics is the four-day weekend. Marshall and I drove through Jefferson City Thursday evening to find our favorite restaurants closed—the lawmakers had all gone home & there was no business. We’ll find the same thing if we visit the capital on Monday. Some of the General Assembly don’t ooze back until Monday night or Tuesday. In that four-day weekend, the citizens’ e-mail boxes are full of ACTION ALERTS. The Pollution Protection Act is moving. That’s Senate Bill 41. Also, the bill to count energy from old dams as part of the Renewable Energy Standards is moving. House Bill 44. Missouri has 3 old dams, still creating electricity for the state: Keokuk, Ozark Beach and Bagnell. Since these dams have been in existence for decades, far longer than the nuclear plant or most coal-burning plants, they have proven themselves. We should use more water-produced electricity. But they should not be part of the NEW renewable energy standard (RES) count. That was created to bring NEW renewable to the state, like small dams, windmills and solar. We need new production to offset production that’s driving global warming. Final arguments against Medicaid are being heard and arguments for a law to force Missouri electrical consumers to pay the electric bills of consumers of the future. Ameren wants to make it possible to bill consumers to raise money for speculative additions to the grid, like a new nuclear plant. Today, in contrast, utilities have to raise money for new equipment by borrowing, selling bonds or issuing stock. To make our positions clear, we citizens get on the phone and rattle off a message to the legislative answering machines. We send e-mails and faxes, then we write letters to the editor and send copies to our legislators. Even though the fields are resting, this is the busiest time of year for politically active farmers. But there’s still time for fun. Next week, in Auxvasse, there’s the annual loafer’s week at the community center. Every noon, one of the groups hosts a lunch-time fundraiser and folks turn out to play cards, eat, drink coffee and complain to each other. It’s a pretty wonderful tradition. And, last weekend was the annual wagon, draft horse and mule auction in Boone County. Prices are up—way—and I saw a lot of good animals taken out of the ring without selling because the owners opted to keep them rather than take what I thought was an excellent price. I asked one of the good old boys what he thought was going on. He said he thinks demand is about the same, but fewer folks are raising draft horses and mules. So prices go up. I came home with a new harness, but the wrong size. I have to call the dealer and get a bigger one. My neighbor Barb came home with a new, shiny, four-wheeled cart. “You buying that for yourself or your grandchild?” asked the fellow sitting next to her. She said she had to think about it for a long time before answering, “for myself, I guess.” We had a great time yesterday with our equines and new equipment, just trying it out. The critters—a horse, a pony, a donkey—had as much fun as we did. Lucky we squeezed it in when we did. Today, it’s letters-to-the-editor-writing day and, again, it’s raining.

Boonville and Atrazine

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: A huge shoutout to the village of Boonville, Missouri, on the check they've received from Syngenta AG for pollution of the city water system. Boonville and 88 other Missouri cities sued because Atrazine in the water was costing the citizens money. Altogether, our state gained $10 million in the suit. Atrazine is a farm chemical applied in the spring, our rainy season. It kills weeds but also washes into the creeks, river, clouds, oceans, ground water, and, of course, us. The cities that won the lawsuit were getting their drinking water from surface water--creeks and, in Boonville's case, the Missouri River. No one had done much investication on atrazine, which has been used for decades, until 2002 when the Academy of Sciences found out that 0.1 part per billion could turn male frogs into hermaphrodites. A year later, Mizzou found the chemical contributed to poor semen quality in men. Then they found out it that along with reproductive problems, atrazine can create cardiovascular problems. Atrazine is cheap to produce and cheap to buy, which is why it is in such high use. But the side effects are expensive in terms of human health. This is the truth of most of these agricultural chemicals. We're getting them in our drinking water, and farm land (not to mention farmers) is being ruined for generations to come. The lawsuit against Syngenta is just the first step. These chemical producers and their stockholders should pay. And, in this case, they are paying. Justice at long last.

Missouri Senate Bill 41 protects polluters

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: Back a couple of weeks ago, when the people had prevailed on an issue, my friend John congratulated me and I answered, “we always win.” Of course, I shoulda said, “we always win and then the cheaters come back and we win again and the cheaters come back with more money and we . . .” because that’s how it goes. They wear you down until you’re just exhausted. So, yesterday, I got the e-mail that they’re back at the legislature with “The Pollution Protection Act” that says citizens can’t sue polluters of any kind, including smelly CAFOs or garbage dumps or any nuisance that has gotten a permit. Here it is, short and sweet: 1. A person shall not maintain an action to enjoin, abate, or recover damages for a private nuisance based upon an air emission or water or solid waste discharge, other than the placement of nuclear waste, where the emission or discharge was expressly authorized by and is not in violation of a term or condition of: (1) A statute or regulation; (2) A license, permit, or order that is issued after public comment by a municipal, county, state, or federal government and subject to continuing compliance oversight, periodic review by the issuing agency, and renewal on a periodic basis; or (3) A court order or judgment. 2. The provisions of subsection 1 of this section shall not apply if the permit or order creates a condition not reasonably foreseeable at the time of issuance or if the permit holder purposefully fails to disclose facts or conditions that are relevant in the issuance of the permit or order. So I’ve been on the phone this morning, calling Senators. Vote No on Senate Bill 41. It’s pro-polluter and anti-citizen. And, hey, dear citizen! If you haven’t had this already, it’s coming to your state, too!

Farmers strike back

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes:
        If you've been reading my blogs about what's happening to farms because of the pollution of herbicides and genetically modified crops, you may be wondering what's happening with farmers. You might be thinking to yourself that if you were handling chemicals known to cause cancer and if you were fighting superweeds that cannot be killed with poisons you'd be doing things differently.
        And, add to that list--cancer and superweeds--the growing infertility of livestock and young men, the increased work load due to the failure of GMO crops, the patenting system that prevents farmers from saving the seeds they have raised on their own places, the fact that the only guy making money is the guy selling chemicals, and, quite frankly, the damn doubt about the future. Wouldn't you be doing things differently?
        Well, yes, many farmers are figuring this out. In the last couple of days, I've talked to two guys with a lot of land--probably 2200 acres each--who are transitioning to organic or to non-gmo, saved seeds. They are diversifying the number of crops they raise and looking for new markets. With consumers getting wise also, we can help each other move into a different, cleaner kind of agriculture.
        We don't have a moment to lose.

Dow Chemical and the Nature Conservancy

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: As we've seen, genetic engineering of crops to resist Roundup has resulted in Roundup-resistant weeds all over the Midwest. That is, weeds that can't be killed with this herbicide that killed everything 20 years ago. Industry's solution is to create a new class of genetically altered crops that resist a different herbicide, and they've chosen to use 2,4 D, created by Dow Chemical and other manufacturers. It is obvious that the new poisons will follow the same route as the old poisons, creating new superweeds that will require new genetically altered solutions. To ramp up production of 2,4D, figuring that they'll need tons of the stuff, they're shmoozing with Texas. And, to make the new production a public relations success, they've recruited the Nature Conservancy to manage land around the plant and evaluate the effectiveness of nature in clean up. According to a brochure they've been distributing around Freeport, Texas, on the Brazos River, the lucky winner community will reap the investment of "more than $4 billion" and "more than 325 new jobs" after "4,500 construction jobs" to build the plants. The Nature Conservancy will contribute by: "Publishing papers in appropriate peer-reviewed scientific journals to describe the results from the Freeport pilot; Identifying three green infrastructure projects at Dow sites where the team can determine the viability of natural infrastructure supplanting man-made engineered solutions; Integrating ecosystem services data into Version 2 of BESTCAT, releasing the new version, and publishing a paper on its capabilities and practical applications in scientific literature." So, while thousands of new acres of cropland in the Midwest are impaired and thousands of new cases of human cancer and Parkinson's are risked, Dow will be able to claim the environmental high ground around their plant in Texas.

Yummy Superbowl non-GMO treat

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: All over the neighborhood, people are watching the Superbowl, including us. WE’re waiting to see the commercial with the little filly from Missouri, sponsored by Budweiser. Besides the Clydesdale farm, there are other reasons to be proud of Budweiser (now owned by a company from Germany, I believe.) A few years ago, Budweiser faced down a biotech company that wanted to corrupt the rice supply coming from our state. As a locavore, I depend on that rice supply. So, when biotech announced they were going to plant GMO rice near what we consider good rice, we worried. Fortunately, Budweiser’s threat to stop buying Missouri rice, a prime ingredient for their beer, was enough threat to turn the story around. Pretty interesting to watch a Superbowl. Known for their commercials, we could just count the GMO ingredients. Doritos, probably. Soda pop, most certainly. There’s debate on whether GMOs are really bad to eat. Soaring cancer rates, diabetes, autism are coincidental epidemics, but we need feeding tests to see if GMOs are causative. We’ll never get the tests as long as the biotech companies own all the seed and refuse to let scientists test them. One test showed that rats got tumors and their blood actually changed when they ate GMOs. The corporates refuted, saying the scientists had used the wrong kind of rats, fed them too much, didn’t have enough rats in the control group. So what’s the answer for us consumers? Give up GMOs. Buy organic. Look for the non-GMO label. Get to know a farmer and tell him/her what you want. It’s really not more expensive if you look at the cost of the alternatives. Here’s my favorite non-GMO (so far) superbowl winter finger food: ROASTED VEGETABLES Brussel sprouts, carrots, broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes in bite-size chunks, about 1 inch by ½ inch. Olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay the vegetables out on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in the over and turn on to 350 degrees. They can be in the oven while it pre-heats. After about 10 minutes, stir to coat with oil and seasonings and return to oven. After 10 more minutes, stir again. After 10 more minutes, poke with a fork to determine tenderness. They’ll probably be ready. I like them to be slightly browned, so you might want to finish under the broiler for 3 minutes. Serve with toothpicks to spear them and eat these veggies plain, or with a dip like mustard, ranch dressing or barbecue sauce. If you must have meat, you can put chunks of bratwurst or other sausages on the baking sheet and cook them at the same time.

Dead pests, dead weeds, altered ecosystems

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: It is no exaggeration to say that genetically altered seeds have changed the ecosystems where they are used. Here in mid-Missouri, the genetically altered soybeans and corn planted in every field have created an ecosystem so accustomed to being sprayed with Roundup that the weeds are immune to it. One of the weeds, ragweed, is most immune and with the biggest impact on humans. Of all allergens, ragweed makes the most people suffer. And now it can’t be killed with a spray that’s relatively easy to use. Now people, town and country people, will have to use a more dangerous spray. 2,4D, the herbicide that Dow and Monsanto want to use now, has already proven itself deadly to humans. It is connected with cancers and Parkinson’s disease. Both of these, rare 50 years ago, are rampant in society now. The V.A. sees patients every day with Parkinson’s, victims of the U.S. use of 2,4 D during the Vietnam War. The genetically altered seeds (also called genetically engineered (GE), genetically modified organisms (GMO), or transgenic) are sometimes modified to put a pesticide in every cell. That way, bugs that attack the plant will be killed. For corn, rootworm is a problem, so the corporations have put pesticide in the cells from root to tassel. Including, as you might guess, the kernels that are harvested to be fed to cattle, ethanol plants, and us. So when we eat that corn, we’re eating a poison that kills other creatures. What does that do to us? No clue, because it hasn’t been tested. When California activists started working to pass a law to require labeling of GMO foods, they uncovered some tests that had been run in other countries, and that showed liver problems and blood problems in rats. But the U.S. doesn’t respect those tests and there’s no money for labs to run tests here. We need to talk more about this. Tomorrow . . .