by: Vicki Batts Is India on its way to becoming an entirely organic nation? Just over two years ago, in September 2014, the Indian Government launched their revolutionary Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (National Agriculture Development Program) as a way to encourage organic farming, and decrease dependence on chemical agents. In January 2015, the state of Sikkim […]
organic farming
Regenerative Agriculture: our best shot at cooling the planet?
by Jason Hickel
It’s getting hot out there. For a stretch of 16 months running through August 2016, new global temperature records were set every month.[1] Ice cover in the Arctic sea hit a new low this past summer, at 525,000 square miles less than normal.[2] And apparently we’re not doing much to stop it: according to Professor Kevin Anderson, one of Britain’s leading climate scientists, we’ve already blown our chances of keeping global warming below the “safe” threshold of 1.5 degrees.[3]
If we want to stay below the upper ceiling of 2 degrees, though, we still have a shot. But it’s going to take a monumental effort. Anderson and his colleagues estimate that in order to keep within this threshold, we need to start reducing emissions by a sobering 8-10% per year, from now until we reach “net zero” in 2050.[4] If that doesn’t sound difficult enough, here’s the clincher: efficiency improvements and clean energy technologies will only win us reductions of about 4% per year at most.
Pro-GMO Train Running Off Its Track
By Dr. Mercola
During the 2013 ballot campaign to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Washington State, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) resorted to an illegal money-laundering scheme to protect the identity of members who donated funds to the opposing campaign.
Several major food companies had experienced major backlash from consumers who felt betrayed when their contributions to the 2012 anti-labeling campaign in California came to light.
Those donating to the Washington campaign certainly wanted to avoid the same fate. Fortunately, their scheme did not go unnoticed.
On October 16, 2013, Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed suit against the GMA on behalf of the State of Washington, alleging the association had violated the state’s campaign disclosure laws — both by failing to register a political committee, and by concealing the true source of its campaign funds.
According to Ferguson, the GMA began plotting and planning how to best defeat Initiative 522 back in December of 2012, placing particular emphasis on the establishment of a separate GMA fund to “combat current threats and better shield individual companies from attack.”
TAKE ACTION TODAY! Dial 888-897-0174 to call your Senators, and ask them to reject Sen. Roberts’ version of the DARK Act, and to oppose any compromise that would block or delay Vermont’s GMO labelling law. You can also sign the OCA’s petition to the Senate.
Norway Builds World’s First Bee Superhighway
In an attempt to help out dwindling bee populations, the city of Oslo has installed a new “bee highway” through the city so bees can travel safely.
According to The Local, Oslo has put clusters of bee-friendly plants every 250 meters along a path through the city, which will work as rest stops for the bees as they fly around. Bees have been dying off in large numbers in recent years, and the dwindling bee numbers are very bad news for agriculture, which depends on the insects for pollination. Bees have a difficult time in cities, where there are not a lot of nectar-rich plants around for them to eat. Oslo’s plan is to help counter that with the bee-feeding stations.
Stop Monsanto’s secret plan to Kill GMO Labeling!
Breaking: The Monsanto Protection Act is Back and WORSE than ever! Once again Monsanto and giant food companies are scheming behind the scenes to pass a bill in Congress that would kill mandatory GMO labeling efforts and replace it with a gutted version that will preempt states’ rights and give the illusion of oversight. This week, Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS) has reintroduced an updated version of his deceptive bill, H.R. 1599, AKA the Ultimate Monsanto Protection Act, to try to convince members of Congress to violate state’s rights in an effort to kill GMO labeling.
This is a blatant power grab to deny Americans their basic right to mandatory GMO labeling and protect flawed GMO products – and we can’t allow them to get away with it. We need your help today. Every voice counts!
Welcome to Dogwood Farm’s 2014 Organic Garden
Our size-able garden on Dogwood Farm first grew out of a meditation I had in 2008, which showed me the importance of growing more than a back door garden patch, something I had always maintained.
Why? Simply to see what it would take to be somewhat more self-sufficient. The answer, of course, as any gardener knows, or farmers who have lived for millennium working the earth know: it takes a lot of labor, determination, dedication, consistency, humility and energy — not to mention financial resources — to create a thriving garden.
We created ten raised beds measuring 4×10 feet each made from felled trees on our 40-acre property. These make it possible to tend from both sides without having to walk into the beds themselves. The garden is actually a shade garden, having only six hours of sun a day, so over the years it has taken experimentation to learn what thrives and what does not.
Split rail fencing topped by colored flags usually seen in used car lots seem to dissuade most deer from jumping in to banquet on our garden. They made it over only once this summer, despite not posting our alien-headed scarecrow in the middle this year.
Five New Reasons Monsanto’s ‘Science’ Doesn’t Add Up – Small-Scale, organic farming needed to feed the world
By Katherine Paul and Ronnie Cummins – Organic Consumers Association, February 27, 2014 How long can Monsanto ignore the mounting actual scientific evidence that their technology is not only failing to live up to its promises, it’s putting public health at risk? Jim Goodman, farmer, activist and member of the Organic Consumers Association policy advisory […]