Food and Agriculture

Radical New UN Report On The Right To Food

March 21, 2014 Sonali Kolhatkar, www.truthdig.com Create! Corporatism, Food and Agriculture, Government

In calling for democratic control of our food, De Schutter and Patel are threatening the business interests of some of the world’s largest and wealthiest corporations. Given that De Schutter’s report has been submitted to the highest international representatives of civil society, it has the potential to effect change, but only if there is enough pressure from below. Patel told me the report is “only as good as the mobilization that is able to use it.” Although it provides “ammunition to groups like La Via Campesina in their ongoing fight to be able to democratize the food system,” he warned that there is much work to be done, saying, “we do need to keep organizing and to keep the pressure up and in fact to be dreaming much bigger than we’re allowed to be dreaming by the governments that purport to represent us.”

Duke Energy Caught Dumping Toxic Waste Into Local Watershed

March 19, 2014 Staff, EarthFirstJournal.org Educate! Corporatism, Energy, Environment, Food and Agriculture

The revelation comes less than two months after the Dan River disaster, where at least 30,000 tons of coal ash spilled from another of Duke Energy’s toxic coal ash lagoons. The pumping also came just days before a federal grand jury convenes in Raleigh to hear evidence in a criminal investigation of Duke Energy, the North Carolina Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the handling of coal ash. In these revealing stories in Sunday’s New York Times and Monday’s Los Angeles Times, Duke Energy admitted its workers were pumping coal ash wastewater out of a toxic wastewater pond and into a canal which drains into the Cape Fear River. The Cape Fear River is a source of public drinking water for residents in Fayetteville, Sanford, Dunn, Harnett County, Fort Bragg and Wilmington.

Avoid Eating Genetically Engineered Foods

March 5, 2014 Jeffrey Smith, www.HuffingtonPost.com Educate! Environment, Food and Agriculture, Government

Why are thousands of physicians advising patients to avoid eating GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) [1] and how did these high-risk foods get onto the market in the first place? The answers are disturbing, even shocking, but may help you get healthy and stay healthy. Foods with added bacterial or viral genes were quietly slipped into your diet two decades ago. Using the excuse that GMOs weren't that much different, the FDA didn't require labels or even a single safety study from GMO makers like Monsanto. But a lawsuit forced the agency to release their files and the truth finally came out.

Survey: Organic Farmers Pay The Price For GMO Contamination

March 4, 2014 Staff, www.foodandwaterwatch.org Educate! Food and Agriculture, GMOs

As the U.S. Department of Agriculture wraps up its comment period on the feasibility of genetically engineered (GMO) and non-GMO crops to coexist, Food & Water Watch in partnership with the Organic Farmers’ Agency for Relationship Marketing (OFARM) releases survey results that clearly show contamination from GMO crops is happening and it’s non-GMO farmers who are paying the price. The survey results reveal that the risks and the effects of GMO contamination have unfairly burdened organic and non-GMO farmers with extra work, longer hours and financial insecurity, which has led to a general skepticism of coexistence amongst the organic community. Five out of six responding farmers are concerned about GMO contamination impacting their farm, with 60 percent saying they are extremely concerned. One out of three responding farmers have dealt with GMO contamination on their farm. Of those contaminated farmers, over half have been rejected by their buyers for that reason. They reported a median cost of a rejected semi load (approximately 1,000 bushels) of $4,500.

Grassroots Organizing Rescued West Virginia’s Water Crisis

March 4, 2014 Dana Kuhnline, www.wagingnonviolence.org Organize! Food and Agriculture, Mutual Aid

Only a few hours after news of the spill began trickling out, a grassroots group called WV Clean Water Hub had already begun organizing water deliveries through its Facebook page. That quickly turned into a massive community-organized effort supported by new volunteers, as well as long-established grassroots groups in West Virginia — including Aurora Lights, Coal River Mountain Watch, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, and RAMPS. By working to identify communities in need of clean water and supplies, as well as connecting affected communities with volunteers and donors, this wiki-style relief effort has filled the gap left by larger relief organizations. “There is so much bureaucracy [at the larger relief organizations] that communities fall through the cracks,” said Nate May, a volunteer organizer with WV Clean Water Hub. “We’re hearing directly from the people who need the water. Someone will post on the Facebook page that they need water and we’ll make a meme out of it. Then someone else will post when they can deliver some.”

California Farmers Demand Fracking Moratorium With Water Crisis

March 4, 2014 Staff, Food & Water Watch Resist! Energy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Fracking

With more than 80,000 farms producing about $45 billion in annual profits, California is the nation’s largest farm state, and agriculture is California’s leading industry. In states like Pennsylvania, Colorado and Ohio, grazing animals have gotten sick and died after drinking fracking runoff and water from farm wells near fracking operations. In Kern County, one farmer lost millions of dollars worth of almond and pistachio crops from groundwater contamination from a nearby oil and gas operation. “Farmers are vital to a healthy food system and a healthy economy and they must be protected,” said Adam Scow, California campaigns director for Food & Water Watch. “We call on Gov. Brown to place a moratorium on fracking to protect California farmers from the severe threat of fracking.” “California needs an immediate halt to fracking to protect our state’s precious water from this toxic technique,” said Brian Nowicki of the Center for Biological Diversity. “To safeguard our farmers and others affected by our state’s crippling drought, Gov. Brown should halt fracking in our state to protect the air we breathe and the water we so desperately need.”

Veolia’s Other Offenses

March 4, 2014 Staff, www.globalexchange.org Educate! Corporatism, Environment, Finance and the Economy, Food and Agriculture

Profits over people... Veolia is the largest water privatization business in the world, and has come under attack by water rights activists for many of its contracts that reveal consistent prioritization of private profit at the expense of the environment and public interest. See the 2011 report by Food & Water Watch for more information. While public facilities are accountable to the public, often creating increased transparency and efficiency, private facilities are not. If a company chooses to abuse its privilege by hiking up price rates or cutting costs in ways that are detrimental to the public, it is much more difficult to fight. Worldwide, consumers report that Veolia consistently charges high rates, provides poor service, and fails to make promised improvements.

Fracking Waste Being Dumped Off California Coast

March 3, 2014 Chris Clarke, www.kcet.org Educate! Energy, Food and Agriculture, Fracking

That's the process commonly known as fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing. The fluid pumped into the wells usually gets pumped back out again as wastewater. And if you suddenly have an uneasy feeling about where those offshore rigs dispose of that wastewater, you may well be correct. About half of the state's offshore rigs pump at least some of their wastewater right into the Santa Barbara Channel. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, oil rig operators have federal permits to dump more than nine billion gallons of fracking wastewater into California's ocean waters each year. That's enough wastewater to fill more than 100 stadiums the size of the Rose Bowl brim-full of toxic waste. And CBD wants the Environmental Protection Agency to do something about it.

People Must Protect Their Communities From Fracking

March 2, 2014 Tish O'Dell, www.cleveland.com Organize! Climate Change, Food and Agriculture, Fracking

I know many citizens of Ohio are shocked by the recent revelation based on a public records request that a state-appointed regulatory agency is actually promoting drilling, and working to “convince” the public that it is safe. But I’m not. Call it “lessons learned on the front lines.” Based on personal experience with drilling in my hometown, I was not surprised when I read this information on the Ohio Department of Natural Resource's recently exposed, 10-page memo listing allies, threats, and strategies to convince us that drilling in state parks was a good idea. I was not surprised to read notes that revealed the governor’s office, Halliburton, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, local chambers of commerce and media outlets like the Youngstown Vindicator are “allies” and environmental groups are considered “threats.”

Organic Garden Needed To Combat Climate Change

March 1, 2014 Staff, www.centerforfoodsafety.org Create! Climate Change, Food and Agriculture

In this report, Center for Food Safety examines how industrial agriculture – the dominant method of food production in the U.S. – externalizes many social and environmental costs while relying heavily on fossil fuels. Organic farming, by comparison, requires half as much energy, contributes far fewer greenhouse gasses, and, perhaps most surprisingly, is more resilient in the face of climate disruption. Food & Climate: Connecting the Dots, Choosing the Way Forward also recommends that government agricultural policies and regulations be designed to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and toxic chemicals and calls on the public to pressure elected officials to act now to slow down climate change.

‘Speculative Mania’ Driving Privatization Of US Farmland

February 22, 2014 Carey L. Biren, www.ipsnews.net Educate! Finance and the Economy, Food and Agriculture

“When non-operators own farms, they tend to source out the oversight to management companies, leading in part to horrific conditions around labour and how we treat the land,” Anuradha Mittal, the executive director of the Oakland Institute, a U.S. watchdog group focusing on global large-scale land acquisitions, told IPS. “They also reprioritise what commodities are grown on that land, based on what can yield the highest return. This is no longer necessarily about food at all, but rather is a way to reap financial profits. Unfortunately, that’s far removed from the central role that land ultimately plays in terms of climate change, growing hunger and the stability of the global economy.” In a new report released Tuesday, the Oakland Institute tracks rising interest from some of the financial industry’s largest players.

1.66 Million Europeans Put End To Water Privatization On EU Agenda

February 18, 2014 Pablo Sanchez www.right2water.eu Organize! Europe, Food and Agriculture, Human Rights

The ECI Right2Water has submitted 1.66 million valid statements to the Commission. The representatives of the citizens committee are invited to the European Commission on Monday morning. The European Parliament has a public hearing with the ECI representatives in the afternoon, jointly organised by the 4 committees of the Parliament involved. The President of the Environment Committee (ENVI) Mathias Groote will chair the event with representatives of the Petitions Committee, the Internal Market Committee and the Development Committee. Over 30 Members of the European Parliament will be able to ask questions and we expect many more to attend. The organisers and the President of the ENVI Committee will host a press conference on Monday at 14h00 at the Raoul Wellenberg room at the European Parliament (ASP 5G2) with the President of the Citizens Committee Anne-Marie Perret and Maroš Šefčovič, EU Commissioner.

Attack On Factory Farm Whistleblowers Goes Global

February 17, 2014 Will Potter www.thedodo.com Resist! Food and Agriculture

Since April, a Western Australian Senator named Chris Back has been formulating ag-gag legislation to stop websites like AussiePigs.com that publicize undercover footage. And with the Liberal-National Party Coalition winning by a landslide in September, animal advocates fear that the legislation could become a reality. “We are concerned about the possibility of these laws being introduced into Australia but we are not, in any way, deterred from continuing what we know to be very important work,” says Patty Mark of Animal Liberation Victoria. Mark has been carrying out investigations of factory farms in Australia for 20 years. “What we witness inside animal agriculture is beyond comprehension,” she told me. “The public would not believe us, if we were not able to bring out the video and photographs of the extreme torture, humiliation, deprivation, terror and pain the animals suffer endlessly in their incarceration… Ag-Gag laws won’t stop us.”

Excessive Radiation Put Storage Facility In Shut Down Mode

February 17, 2014 Laura Zuckerman www.reuters.com Educate! Food and Agriculture

Underground sensors have detected excessive radiation levels inside a nuclear waste storage site deep below New Mexico's desert, but no workers have been exposed and there was no risk to public health, U.S. Department of Energy officials said on Sunday. An air-monitoring alarm went off at 11:30 p.m. local time Friday indicating unsafe concentrations of radiation inside the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in what DOE officials said appeared to be the first such mishap since the facility opened in 1999. As of Sunday, the source of the high radiation readings had yet to be determined, and a plan to send inspection teams below ground to investigate was put on hold as a precaution. "They will not go in today. It's a safety thing more than anything. We're waiting until we get other assessments done before we authorize re-entry," DOE spokesman Bill Mackie said. The facility, located in southeastern New Mexico near Carlsbad, is designed as a repository for so-called transuranic waste, which includes discarded machinery, clothing and other materials contaminated with plutonium or other radioisotopes heavier than uranium.

Farmers Face Down Riot Police In March Against Big Ag

February 15, 2014 Jacob Chamberlain, www.commondreams.org Resist! Food and Agriculture, Government

Thousands of farmers marched on Brazil's capital Wednesday in the face of riot police, tear gas and rubber bullets, demanding justice for the millions of landless farmers they say have suffered for years under the country's agricultural policies. The farmers, organized by the Landless Workers Movement (MST), numbered around 16,000 in the streets of Brasília where they were confronted by riot police in the city center as they headed towards the presidential palace. Many of the MST protesters today are angry that President Dilma Rousseff is backtracking from the policies of the past two administrations and allowing "agro-business to undercut chances of land reform." “Dilma’s government has been the worst in terms of land reform,” said Alexandre Conceicao, a member of MST’s national coordination committee.

«1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »

assetto corsa mods

Daily movement news and resources