Archive for the ‘Agriculture’ Category

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GMO and Antibiotic Livestock Feed

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

by Catherine Haug, January 19, 2012

I’ve written about CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) before, but I want to call your attention to a particular aspect of this type of food production. Cows, hogs and chickens are the most common animals raised by this method, which involves tight (confined) indoor quarters without exposure to the outdoors, specially grown and treated food, and often inhumane conditions.

When you consume the meat, eggs and/or milk from such animals, you intake all the problems associated with the method by which they were raised. Even produce, including organic produce can be contaminated from manure used as fertilizer.

Are you aware that most meats, as well as commercial eggs and dairy products come from CAFOs? When you buy these foods, you are making a statement that your are OK with the conditions and the risks that come with the food. Are you sure this is what you want to convey?

View3 minute CBS News video: Antibiotics Risk to Humans embedded below. (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Food-Nutrition-Health, GMO, Health | Comments Closed

Montana’s Congressional Delegation on GMOs

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

by Catherine Haug, Jan 15, 2012

Senators Baucus & Tester, and Representative Rehberg responded to recent comments from their constituency regarding GMOs. As you can see from the complete responses (below):

  • Tester asserts that GMO foods should be labeled, and that there are unanswered questions regarding these foods that need to be addressed.
  • Baucus supports GMO foods as being good for Montana’s Ag economy.
  • Rehberg takes no stand either way, only saying that we need to be ready to make the right decisions based on sound evidence vs cost.

If you believe GMOs should be labeled; if you believe we should not approve any more GMO foods until we know more about the long-term affects on the health of our people, animals and the planet, you might address our legislators accordingly, and cast your votes for those who support your position.

On the other hand, if you believe that GMOs are no different (from a health and ecological perspective) than their non-GMO counterparts, then your address to our legislators or your vote may be different, but no less important.

If you are undecided on this important issue, you might want to read some of my earlier posts on GMOs; see the following link: Cat’s posts on GMOs.

For the complete responses from our legislators, read on. (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, GMO, Health | Comments Closed

GMOs at Tipping Point

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

Frankenfood

by Catherine Haug, December 25, 2011

Image, right, from Organic Consumers’ Association.

I recently wrote about New Legislation Affecting GMOs: new bills in the US House to mandate GMO labeling, and provide stricter safety protections for genetically engineered (GE) products. This awakening of our national legislators to this important health and environment topic is a strong sign that Monsanto, et. al., are no longer in total control.

But this is not the only sign that the balance is tilting in the favor of consumers, small farmers, and those who are concerned about our health and environment.  (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, GMO | Comments Closed

New legislation affecting GMOs

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

Frankenfood

By Catherine Haug, December 14, 2011

Image, right, from Organic Consumers’ Association.

In my opinion, there is good news on the horizon regarding GMOs. Rep. Dennis Kucinich has introduced two new bills affecting GMOs:

  • HR3553  would mandate GMO labeling, and
  • HR3554 would provide stricter safety protections for genetically engineered (GE) products.

To learn more about these bills, refer to ANH Action Alert: GMO Legislation, or see below. If you support for these bills, you can take action on the ANH Action Alert: GMO Legislation website. Alternately, whether you support or oppose these bills:

For more of my articles on GMOs, see ESP Topics: GMO. For more on the two proposed bills, read on.

(more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, GMO | Comments Closed

How GMOs destroy life, soil and your gut probiotics

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, December 11, 2011

I’ve written many articles about GMO/GE crops and foods, hinting at the harm they cause, despite big-Ag’s insistence that GMO foods are no different from non-GMO (see October is GMO Month for list of prior articles on this site). But now, more information is coming out about just how this harm comes about. (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, GMO, Health | 1 Comment »

Certified Naturally Grown Produce Label

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, October 29, 2011

If you sell produce at local farmers markets, and use organic methods to grow them, listen up.

Earlier this week, the produce manager at Bigfork Harvest Foods mentioned he buys from several small local growers that use organic methods but are not Organic certified (such as Loon Lake Gardens), and he wished there were an easier certification for them.

My response: There IS! It’s called Certified Naturally Grown (or CNG). I wrote about this last year (Natural vs Organic), but it is worth discussing again.

Why this label is important

The CNG label is a certification available to local growers who use Organic methods but don’t want to incur the high fees and paperwork required for true Organic certification.   (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Food-Nutrition-Health, Gardening | Comments Closed

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