Archive for the ‘Agriculture’ Category

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity May Not be the Real Problem With Grains After All

Thursday, November 22nd, 2018

Field of Wheat

By Catherine Haug, Thanksgiving, November 22, 2018 (photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

Many Americans are pursuing a gluten-free diet to relieve/avoid gut issues. While that is very very important for those with Celiac disease (an auto-immune disorder), it may not be the best healthful solution for those with “gluten sensitivity.”

What is gluten? And if it is not the problem with non-Celiac gluten sensitivity, what is causing the trouble with grains? (more…)

SF Groundskeeper sues Monsanto (and Roundup) and wins

Saturday, August 11th, 2018

Frankenfood

By Catherine Haug, Aug 11, 2018 (Image, right, from Organic Consumers’ Association (2), used with permission)

I found this article in today’s Daily Inter Lake, but I can’t find it on their website (yet). For the full story, check it out on the LA Times. (1) Read on for a summary. (more…)

Are toxic ag-chemicals winning the battle?

Wednesday, June 20th, 2018

Frankenfood

By Catherine Haug, June 20, 2018 (Image, right, from OCA, used with permission)

Three huge ag company mergers have happened in recent weeks (2):

  • Monsanto and Bayer as Bayer (effective the first week of June, 2018)
  • Dow and Dupont, as DowDupont
  • ChemChina and Syngenta as ChemChina

These three, along with the German ag-chem giant BASF, will control 70 percent of the pesticide market. While the name “Monsanto” will disappear, their toxic ag sprays like Roundup will simply be labeled as Bayer products.

There’s never been a better time for us to support Organic and Regenerative agriculture (see link below), and turn our backs on all GMO foods. This includes meats and eggs from animals fed a GMO diet.

Read on for scary statistics, and for a spark of hope. (more…)

Eating Animals, a new documentary about factory vs traditional farming

Friday, June 15th, 2018

Chicken Factory

By Catherine Haug, June 15, 2018 (photo, right, from factory farming.org)

More and more people are learning about the harm of factory farming – to the animals, and to the people who eat them – but many don’t know how they should be raised. Especially people in cities who have never seen a real farm or seen a chicken or cow in its natural environment.

There’s a new movement afoot to turn this around, and that’s the major topic of this film that is now available in certain theaters around the country (the nearest theater from Bigfork is in Seattle WA).

We – every one of us – are a big part of the problem, because we buy our meats, eggs and dairy from a supermarket where most of these products come from factory-raised animals. We need to start asking for the source of these products, and then look into how the animals are raised, then spread the word. Then switch to locally farmed products, where you can visit the farmer and see for yourself if his animals are raised humanely.

You can read about the film and see the 2 minute trailer (2), or view the trailer on YouTube, below. You can also purchase the book; see Amazon (3) for more about the book, or go to your local library. (more…)

All about bees, our precious pollinators

Saturday, May 5th, 2018

Honeybee

By Catherine Haug, May 5, 2018 (Photo, right, from Bug Guide (5))

I’ve written many posts about the plight of bees, and how to help our native mason bees by providing homes for them. But I’ve not written much about these amazing animals. I hope to correct that by bringing your attention to an article by a British blogger, Clive Harris, who requested I provide a link to his post: The Ultimate Guide to British Bees: How to Protect Their Declining Population (1). While he writes from Britain, we have many of the same bees including honey bees, bumblebees and other ground-dwelling bees, and mason bees. He also goes into a lot of detail about bees:

  • An amazing video about the waggle dance;
  • How do bees make honey and beeswax?
  • How do bees help the garden?
  • What’s the difference between bees and wasps?
  • 4 things you can do to help bees.

His is a long post, but full of lots of great information – share with your kids/grandkids! See Reference (1), below.

Below I include:

  • 3 videos about the waggle dance, and how scientists discovered it’s meaning;
  • List of prior articles on The EssentiaList about bees, including John Holbrook’s articles on mason bees and bee motels;
  • References

(more…)

Online documentary-series: GMOs Revealed

Saturday, March 17th, 2018

Frankenfood

By Catherine Haug, March 17, 2018, and updated same date, for the start date of the series (Image, right, used by permission from the Organic Consumer’s Association)

This new 9-part series, hosted by Dr. Patrick Gentempo, will be available for free viewing beginning today, March 17, 2018  The first episode (almost 2 hours long) is available now (the version on YouTube (1) says Aug 22-30, but that was in 2017). They must be doing a replay now, or this could be an updated version . This first episode features interviews with Dr. Zach Bush, Vani Hari, and Gunnar Lovelace.

You can register (2) to watch the entire 9-part series, GMOs Revealed, for free, prior to the  date the series premier begins, and also any day during the 9-days (but you may not be able to see prior days’ episodes). Each day, a new episode is up for 24 hours and the previous day’s episode is no longer available, for a total of 9 episodes in 9 days. See reference 2 for the link to register for this free showing. (more…)