Archive for the ‘Agriculture’ Category

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Why are GMO Foods NOT Labeled?

Monday, March 21st, 2011

by Catherine Haug, March 19, 2011

This is a question we should all be asking our president and his agencies who are responsible for allowing GMO crops/foods to be approved (FDA, USDA). If we don’t get an answer there, we should all ask our legislators to demand an answer, and then to change the laws so that GMO products are labeled.

As free Americans, isn’t it our right to know what we are getting when we purchase foods that may be GMO? As Montanans, isn’t it our right to a clean and healthful environment (as stated in our constitution), which includes a right to know when GMO crops are being raised in our local area?

If GMO foods are safe, why the refusal to label them? Perhaps because they fear:

  • No one would buy them;
  • There would be a cost to keep track of GMO up the food chain or processing chain (which cows ate GMO feed? which cuts of beef came from GMO-fed cows? which boxed food products contain GMO, etc.);
  • An angry backlash against those who engineered the GMO foods;
  • More money would be spent on research to determine the health and environmental effects of GMO.

If you aren’t as angry as I am over the current state of affairs concerning GMO, read this article from the New York Times Opinion page (Feb 15, 2011) by Mark Bittman:

Why Aren’t G.M.O. Foods Labeled?

See also my post Health Hazards of GMO Foods & Crops.

Posted in Agriculture, GMO, Health | Comments Closed

What Happened to the Dark Meat?

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

Chicken farmer and his hens

by Catherine Haug, February 22, 2011

(photos from the Food Museum (2))

Have you ever wondered, when you browse the chicken section of the meat counter and see a sea of breast meat, what happens to the dark meat? I mean, those breasts came from live chickens with legs and wings, but surely there are way more breasts for sale than legs and wings to go with them. Why is that?

Or when you order chicken nuggets at your favorite fast food, observing that they are made from breast meat, do you wonder what happened to the dark meat?

It used to be that when you bought chicken, you got the whole bird. Back then, chicken was a special dinner, reserved for Sundays and celebrations. The kids usually fought over the drumsticks and wings while the adults enjoyed the white meat. But now, all that has changed. (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Food-Nutrition-Health | 2 Comments »

GMO Alfalfa, Sugar Beets deregulated by USDA; updated

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, February 2, 2011; updated February 17, 2010

Recap of developments: January 28, 2011, the USDA approved and deregulated GMO alfalfa. February 4, 2011 the USDA approved another planting of GMO sugar beets, despite a federal judge’s ruling against the crop in 2010.

Now, according to a Feb 16, 2011 article on Natural News, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) plans to sue the USDA and Monsanto over GMO alfalfa just as it successfully sued over GMO sugar beets last year.

What is GMO/GE? What does this have to do with Organics and Sustainability? Read on for more on all of these topics. (more…)

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

GMO Chicken: Will that be coming soon to a store near you?

Friday, January 21st, 2011

by Catherine Haug, Jan 14, 2010

Researchers in England have successfully produced a live GMO chicken with that will not pass on avian flu (bird flu). It is hoped this modification will stop outbreaks of bird flu from spreading within poultry flocks such as those that caused the slaughter of over 7000 birds a year ago. And it also has the potential to stop new strains of the virus from passing on to humans. (See PhysOrg.com (2) or Time.com (5) for more detail on the research).

At this stage in the research, the bird, once exposed to bird flu virus, will get sick and die; it just won’t spread the disease. But if the bird is butchered for consumption before exposure, it still contains the GMO genetic material. The same is true of the eggs, and chicks raised from those eggs. Do we want this in our food supply?

It’s probably a few years from being introduced in our food supply, but now is the time to start planning ahead if you want to avoid this GMO chicken in your diet.

(more…)

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

More on Honeybee CCD Discovery

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

by Catherine Haug

Earlier this month (Oct 10) I wrote a post: Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder Explained? based on an article in the New York Times, Oct 6, 2010 (1) and his published research article (2). From my post, the latest research by Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk from UM points to:

A lethal combination of a virus (Invertebrate Iridescent Virus or IIV) and a fungal parasite (Nosema ceranae). The bees are able to fight off an infection of either one of these, but when both are present, the bees succumb and die. This deadly combo was found in “virtually all of the bees from CCD colonies” sampled from widely dispersed USA hives from 2006 through 2009.

Conflict of Interest?

Now it comes to light that Dr. Bromenshenk has a conflict of interest that was not disclosed when he published his findings. He received a huge grant from Bayer Crop Science, a company under pressure of lawsuits from beekeepers over the rampant use of pesticides, and specifically neonicotinoids manufactured by Bayer (see Fortune Magazine: What a scientist didn’t tell the New York Times about his study on bee deaths (3)).

I’m sure we’ll hear more about this in the future. Meanwhile, there’s a point I’d like to make about disease in general (not just in bees). (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Health | 2 Comments »

Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder Explained?

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Honeybee

by Catherine Haug

(photo of honeybee from bugguide.net)

On October 6, 2010, Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk of UM in Missoula, along with several other researchers, announced they believe they have found the cause of colony collapse disorder (CCD) that severely affects honeybee hives. It’s a lethal combination of a virus (Invertebrate Iridescent Virus or IIV) and a fungal parasite (Nosema ceranae). The bees are able to fight off an infection of either one of these, but when both are present, the bees succumb and die. This deadly combo was found in “virtually all of the bees from CCD colonies” sampled from widely dispersed USA hives from 2006 through 2009. (1,2)

Dr. Bromenshenk outlines next steps in the publication of his findings (2). While this virus-parasite combo is highly suspect in CCD, more research needs to be done to confirm that it is indeed the cause, and then they can begin to research how to turn this around. (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology | Comments Closed

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