FIESTY FARMER HOWARD VLIEGER EXPLAINS GMOS FIRST HAND & THE IMPORTANCE OF LABELING

Media | Volunteers for I-522:


Grassroots Volunteers Welcomes GMO Expert Howard Vlieger to Washington State in Support of Washington State Initiative 522 for Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food


Weekly Women's GMO Free News Google Hangout Interview with Howard Vlieger and Pamm Larry (August 28, 2013)

Howard Vlieger will be touring Washington State from September 4 beginning in Spokane and ending in Seattle in support of ballot initiate 522, which would require labeling of genetically modified food or GMOs. He will be speaking to a variety of groups regarding his expertise and research regarding genetically modified crops.

About Howard Vlieger

Howard Vlieger is a third generation family farmer who has been a “student of the soil,” studying why and how the soil works as it does, since 1989. Howard lives on the family farm where he was born and raised in northwest Iowa. He assists his son with some of the farming duties. Since 1992 Howard has been a crop nutrition advisor and has founded two companies to help family farmers reduce their dependency on chemical- based farming and transition to biological and or organic production.

Howard works and teaches as an independent crop nutrition adviser, helping crop and livestock farmers all Howard also works with scientists and researchers around the world to develop effective solutions, based on the latest science, for the real-life problems farmers are experiencing because of GMO crops and the chemicals used in growing them. Howard is a co-author and the primary coordinator of a first of its kind scientific study: the feeding of GMO grain and non-GMO grain to hogs for their lifetime as a meat animal. Howard is an internationally recognized speaker on the topic of GMOs. He believes people deserve to be educated and know what is in their food.

Howard serves on the board of directors of the Farm & Ranch Freedom Alliance FARFA) and the Council for Healthy Food Systems (CHFS). He is a strong conservative and for many years has been a delegate for his county to the Iowa State Republican Convention. His greatest accomplishments are being a Christian husband for 32 plus years to his wonderful wife Pam and father to three young adult children & a proud grandfather of one.


Howard Vlieger Washington September Speaking Tour Online Calendar

For more information on Howard Vlieger:

1. Interview with Howard Vlieger on GMOs - Farm And Ranch freedom Alliance (2011)

2. Yet Another Reason GMOs Suck - Nation Of Change (Oct 2012)

3. Food Sleuth Radio, Howard Vlieger Interview (28 minutes)

About Grassroots Volunteers for I-522

Volunteers for I-522 are a group of grassroots organizers & volunteers from around WA State dedicated to spreading awareness and information about GMOs, the importance of labeling and to provide opportunities to get involved.

About Yes on 522

Yes on 522 provides Washington shoppers with more information about what’s in the food they buy so that they can make the best decisions for their families. More than 350,000 signatures were collected to get I-522 on the November 2013 ballot—second highest number of signatures gathered for an Initiative to the Legislature in state history.

I am SO upset right now I can hardly believe... - Connie Marie Gashler

Gardner Ted Gashler with his corn (2010)

I am SO upset right now I can hardly believe it!!!!!!!!!!!! - Connie Marie Gashler:

My father, who is 73 and has his phd in agri-business, loves gardening. His little patio garden at my folks condo is his pride and joy. He looks forward to planting all his amazing heirloom seeds each year, and reaping an unbelievably fabulous bounty from the tiny plot. (he knows agriculture/horticulture like no one else... he's like "the garden whisperer") ...well... the other day a dude with a clipboard came by their condo... he was a representative of the City Council there in Centerville, UT. 

He asked my dad about his garden, and my dad proudly told him about what he does for it, and about all his fantastic heirloom seeds that he has preserved since the 70's and before. He is especially proud of his corn, that he has specially selected, and fine tuned each year... he has saved seeds from the sweetest and juiciest ears and dried them with care, until they grow absolute corn-perfection. He told the man all about his wonderful corn, and then the man moved on. 

Well.. yesterday my dad got a letter from the Centerville city council saying that he has to RIP OUT all his corn because it is not MONSANTO seed!!!!!!!! 

The letter detailed for him how the City of Centerville only allows Monsanto's "serendipity corn" seed to be planting within city borders. !!!!!!! 

So Monsanto obviously must be funneling $$ to this Podunk city so they can actually keep a thug on PAYROLL to go around and harass old people and normal citizens. 

In this world of drought and famine they are going to make folks destroy crops..... How disgusting... Monsanto's filthy tentacles reach everywhere it seems... my dad (photo) has been an outspoken opponent of the company since he worked with farmers in former soviet countries in the 90's... he even testified before congress once about the illegal practices, and damage the company was doing to the planet. 

He was threatened by them then, and he toned it down after that... but here they are again... trying to show a little old man in his 70's that THEY are boss..... what can be done??????? we are all thinking we want to write to the slc tribune, and to the Centerville papers.... ( Kristina Whitley Gashler , would you write one too???? you have strong literary skills) ... this is just so very very wrong.... please post any other ideas here of what we can do.... — with Kristina Whitley Gashler.

I am SO upset right now I can hardly believe it (Part 2)

Comments:

• Laura Baker Yes, Serendipity corn is patented by Syngenta, not Monsanto, and it is also not actually one of their GMO varieties. However, having said that, I still think this is atrocious. Whether GMO or not, Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow and Bayer are all robbing us of our food security while creating their monopolies and I wouldn't give them a dollar of my business, that would be feeding the beasts and helping fund their takeover. What we need are more people like your father, who have that knowledge and expertise, and maybe a community garden can grow his variety! Heirloom veggies are very important to biodiversity and food security. Your father is a valuable member of society and I hope more people see that soon!

  2 minutes ago · Like
• 

  Connie Marie Gashler from what I understand, there are 2 varieties of serendipity that they have on the market, one is ge and one is not. but there is no way really, to know which is which....

Next Meal: Engineering Food

In this half-hour special, QUEST Northern California explores genetically engineered crops in the wake of Proposition 37, the 2012 ballot initiative that would have required foods containing genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled in California. Prop 37 lost, but some 6 million Californians voted in favor of labeling, signaling that many aren't completely comfortable with genetically engineered food.

Are the benefits of genetically engineered foods worth the risks?
Funded by The National Science Foundation
Next Meal: Engineering Food explores how genetically engineered crops are made, their pros and cons, and what the future holds for research and regulations such as labeling.

PR push by ag and biotech industries has a secret weapon: Moms : Business

Betsie Estes is a mother of two young kids who lives in suburban Chicago.

She’s also public relations gold.

Last week, Estes was in the audience at an annual biotechnology industry conference in Chicago, attended by the industry’s power players, Creve Coeur-based Monsanto Co., and its competitors, Bayer, Dow, DuPont, among them.

After the gathering, Estes jotted a few thoughts on her blog. (Twitter: @FieldMomBetsie, Super Suburbs)

“There’s a pervasive thought that the people who are anti-GMO are operating from a purely altruistic place,” she wrote. “But make no mistake, just as there is big money in biotech, there is big money in opposing the technology. Entire brands, both corporate and personal, have been developed around the concept that GM foods are bad.”

That’s the kind of message the industry wants to hear — that they’re not the bad guys — and it’s the Betsie Esteses of the “momosphere” who are, increasingly, being invited to convey it.

“Moms are really important because they’re the most influential consumers in the country,” said David Wescott, director of digital strategy with the public relations firm, APCO Worldwide. “They’re increasingly finding their own peers to be the most credible sources of information.”

So, what does an industry do when it wants to nudge public opinion in its favor? Find moms — preferably with blogs. (Facebook: Super Suburbs - Updated March 20, 2013)

Read More
PR push by ag and biotech industries has a secret weapon: Moms : Business

What are GMOs & Why Do Farmers Plant GMO Crops?

Why do farmers love herbicides? What would take hundreds of man hours to weed can be done in an hour or two.

I wasn’t sure I would want to tackle GMOs with a post, but another blogger who’s doing the A to Z Challenge (Sydney Katt of authorSydneyKatt.com) said she didn’t know much about agriculture and would appreciate knowing more.

My (Pro-BioTech) View on GMOs

I have worked directly with people who invented some of the biotech traits on the market. Knowing their scientific genius (and I don’t use that word lightly at all) and the kind of people they are (truly value family, farm, health, etc and having seen the extensive amount of testing involved in the products — we have all sorts of scientists engaged on health, environment, etc. It is amazing to me how much we invest on this kind of testing and I love showcasing it for others. All of that said, I don’t necessarily think that GMOs are a silver bullet for agriculture, however, I think a lot of people who haven’t taken time to really learn about them or even worse, some who have an agenda against them are prolific in publishing misinformation on the internet. So if I don’t speak my mind, from a point of some first-hand knowledge, how can I expect others to?

Read More
What are GMOs & Why Do Farmers Plant GMO Crops?

Monsanto: A Corporate Profile | Food & Water Watch

You know who Monsanto is. Even if you don’t recognize the company name, you’ve come across some of its products: maybe you’ve used Roundup weed killer on your lawn or garden, you’ve heard about the debate over treating cows with the artificial growth hormone rBGH, you’re worried about unlabeled genetically engineered organisms in your food, or you’ve learned about the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War, maybe from family members, coworkers or friends who suffered the health consequences. These may not seem related, but they all are a major part of Monsanto’s legacy.

The agriculture and life sciences company that’s known today as Monsanto is only a recent development. Most of Monsanto’s history is steeped in heavy industrial chemical production — a legacy that is extremely at odds with the environmentally friendly, feed-the-world image that the company spends millions trying to convey.
Monsanto is a global agricultural biotechnology company that specializes in genetically engineered (GE) seeds and herbicides, most notably Roundup herbicide and GE Roundup Ready seed.GE seeds have been altered with inserted genetic material to exhibit traits that repel pests or withstand the application of herbicides.

In 2009, in the United States alone, nearly all (93 percent) of soybeans and four-fifths (80 percent) of corn were grown with seeds containing Monsanto-patented genetics.The company’s power and influence affects not only the U.S. agricultural industry, but also political campaigns, regulatory processes and the structure of agriculture systems all over the world.

Read Full Report
Download the PDF

GMOs: Food, Money & Control: Part III | Buddhist Global Relief

GMOs: Food, Money & Control: Part III | Buddhist Global Relief

Despite pervasive human intervention, the dynamism of the natural world overcomes virtually all artificial boundaries and limits.  We directly experience nature’s refusal to stay within the lines we draw. Plants penetrate concrete sidewalks; moving water inexorably surmounts or breaks through barriers; nature retakes land abandoned by humans.

Seed dispersal and plant cross-pollination are examples of this dynamic movement in the natural world.  In fact, the plant world depends upon it.   The notion that we can control genetically modified organisms requires a willful blindness to this fundamental fact of nature.

“Guilty by GMO Contamination”

Genetically modified crop seed can contaminate other crops. Seed movement, pollen flow and other causes result in “gene flow”, the transfer of genes from one population to another.  This occurs in a variety of natural ways: via birds, animals, flooding, or wind.  It can also result from human activities such as farm or seed cleaning machinery, spillage during transport, and other human errors throughout the production process.

Transgenic contamination cannot be recalled.  Genetically modified plants continue to reproduce where the seeds are sown or blown and where plants are pollinated. Their traits are passed on to subsequent generations of crops. They also reproduce in nature where genetically modified varieties can forever alter wild relatives, native plants, and ecosystems.

Part I
Part II

Video: Vandana Shiva speaks on International Women's Day and GMOs

Stating categorically that "Capitalist patriarchy has aggravated violence against women", Dr Vandana Shiva was interviewed by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! on International Women's Day.

Dr. Shiva is an Indian feminist, an activist and thinker. She is well known as being the original "tree hugger" who, with friends, saved many trees during her younger days. She speaks out strongly against genetically modified organisms and maintains that no corporation has the right to patent life. Dr. Shiva is an author of many books, with the latest being "Making Peace with the Earth."

In the video, Dr. Shiva discusses the impact on women by what she calls the world’s "violent economic order," and the women-led uproar over sexual violence in India triggered by last year’s brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in Delhi. Amy Goodman then asks Dr. Shiva, a world-renowned physicist, for her take on the recent U.S. Supreme Court case which has pitted an Indiana farmer against the agri-giant Monsanto.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/345226#ixzz2NA5SepzA

We got this email...Subject: do you know what your saying?

(1) We got this email...Subject: do you know what your saying?

Message Body:
GMO crops have been the biggest breakthrough in production agriculture in nearly 50 years. With the pace that our world population is growing without gmo crops we will not be able to keep up with a sufficient food supply. More people will suffer from starvation if we go away from this technology. Almost 20 years ago a single farmer was able to only feed about 90 people, now a single farmer can feed about 155 people. Without these technologies the weed pressure and insect pressure on the crops will only continue to increase and our food supply chain would never be able to withstand the pressure of such a growing population.

Reply:

GMO Free Idaho Thank you for contacting us XXXX. We appreciate the opportunity to have dialogue with everyone.

I agree that GMO crops are likely the biggest change in our food supply, possibly in human history. The introduction of a foreign species via gene splicing is new technology with many implications. This is why we find it very unusual that no long term human safety studies were completed.

There are many reasons that GMOs are not helping to feed a growing population. GMOs are not engineered to increase yield or nutrition. Most all GMOs on the market are only engineered to express their own pesticide or to withstand the spraying of herbicides.

Our exposure to herbicides in our environment is at an all time high. In fact, the US Geological Survey's test results in Mississippi showed Roundup in the streams, air and rain. This is a concern since Roundup has been shown to cause birth defects and endocrine disruption.

World hunger is related to lack of money and democracy. People who have money and resources get to eat. People who do not, starve. GMOs have done nothing to stop this from being true. As a matter of fact, some of the most hungry nations in Africa and Haiti and elsewhere refuse foods which contain GMOs or seeds which have been modified.

The increase in the amount of crop planted per acre increased prior to GMOs. It is a result of monoculture style farming.

I would ask you, if GMOs prove to be a health risk and the exposure to the herbicide they are resistant to makes us sick, are they still the answer to feeding the world?

There are millions of Americans who wish to avoid eating GMOs. In fact, on election day in California over six million people voted for labeling. GMOs are either banned or labeled for consumer awareness in over 60 countries around the world. Those who wish to avoid eating GMOs should be afforded that right. It should not be up to the industry to decide what information we get to have about our food, especially when we both agree, it is the biggest change in food in history.

Thank you again for contacting us. I would be happy to address more of your questions or concerns.

 

Yes to GMO labels

Yes to GMO labels - Boulder Daily Camera


"We think consumers have a right to know what's in their food, and if such a program were in place, Boulder County farmers could capitalize on that and charge a higher price for their crops," we wrote. With a federal label, those farmers could very well appeal to every food producer who wants to woo customers looking for conventional, non-GMO products. And it could create some new opportunities -- more than 50 countries have bans or other regulations regarding GMOs.

Consumers who aren't inclined to make decisions based on farming practices can ignore labels. They will benefit from the fact that some of the biggest food companies in the country, who drive down the costs of food in America compared with other industrialized countries, won't be spending money fighting a hodgepodge of conflicting labeling rules on a state-by-state basis.

Having a federal GMO labeling law would be a uniform way for all food producers to participate on an even playing field, could open up new markets and opportunities, and would better inform the consumers. 

USDA predicts record 2013 corn, soybean crops

USDA predicts record 2013 corn, soybean crops

ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. farmers are expected to harvest record corn and soybeans crops in 2013 as growers recover from the worst drought to ravage the industry in decades, a top agricultural economist said on Thursday.

Normal spring weather would bring yields back to their recent averages, Joe Glauber, the U.S. Agriculture Department's chief economist, told an audience of lobbyists, agribusiness executives and other officials near Washington. He said improved yields would generate a harvest of 14.53 billion bushels of corn and 3.41 billion bushels for soybeans. A year ago farmers overcame bone-dry conditions affecting much of the country to harvest 10.78 billion bushels of corn and just over 3 billion bushels of soybeans.

The recovery should send prices for most oilseeds and grains sharply lower, providing a much-needed reprieve for livestock, dairy and poultry producers struggling with high feed costs and long-term relief for consumers who have paid more for food at their local grocery store, Glauber said. Corn prices are forecast to average $4.80 per bushel, down a third from the average of the prior year, and $10.50 per bushel for soybeans, a drop of 27%. Wheat is seen declining 11% to $7 a bushel.

A record corn crop in 2013 should improve ethanol production margins and lead to more output. USDA estimated 4.675 billion bushels of corn going toward producing ethanol, an increase of 175 million bushels from 2012, but down from 2010 and 2011 when more than 5 billion bushels went to produce the fuel. U.S. ethanol producers were forced to scale back output and about a half dozen plants shuttered altogether, taking millions of gallons of ethanol out of production.

Glauber said growth in ethanol will likely be stunted during the next few years by less gasoline consumption, already high penetration rates of the corn-based fuel in motor fuel and fewer opportunity for exports.

Seed Giants Sue U.S. Farmers Over Genetically Modified Seed Patents In Shocking Numbers: Report

Seed Giants Sue U.S. Farmers Over Genetically Modified Seed Patents In Shocking Numbers: Report

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Feb. 19 in "Bowman v. Monsanto Co.," a landmark court battle that has pitted farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman against the international agriculture corporation over the issue of seed patents. In anticipation, the Center for Food Safety and the Save Our Seeds campaigning groups released a report Tuesday detailing similar cases, titled "Seed Giants vs. U.S. Farmers."

According to the report, Monsanto has alleged seed patent infringement in 144 lawsuits against 410 farmers and 56 small farm businesses in at least 27 U.S. states as of January of 2013. Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta together hold 53 percent of the global commercial seed market, which the report says has led to price increases for seeds -- between 1995 and 2011, the average cost of planting one acre of soybeans rose 325 percent and corn seed prices went up 259 percent.

Seed patents are a type of biological patent, which are legally protected inventions or discoveries in biology. In the case of Monsanto and other major corporations, that often means patents on genetically modified seeds. In recent years, these and other companies have taken farmers to court for alleged seed patent infringement -- meaning they planted seeds without paying for them.

The issue gets murky when you consider that if a farmer plants legally purchased seeds, then replanted seeds culled from the resulting crop, he is committing what some companies consider a crime.

Farmer’s use of genetically modified soybeans grows into Supreme Court case - The Washington Post

Farmer’s use of genetically modified soybeans grows into Supreme Court case - The Washington Post

Farmer’s use of genetically modified soybeans grows into Supreme Court case

AJ Mast/For the Washington Post - Farmer Hugh Bowman poses for a portrait on his Sandborn, Ind. farm, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013.

By Robert Barnes, Published: February 9

In SANDBORN, Ind. — Farmer Hugh Bowman hardly looks the part of a revolutionary who stands in the way of promising new biotech discoveries and threatens Monsanto’s pursuit of new products it says will “feed the world.”

“Hell’s fire,” said the 75-year-old self-described “eccentric old bachelor,” who farms 300 acres of land passed down from his father. Bowman rested in a recliner, boots off, the tag that once held his Foster Grant reading glasses to a drugstore rack still attached, a Monsanto gimme cap perched ironically on his balding head.

“I am less than a drop in the bucket.”

Yet Bowman’s unorthodox soybean farming techniques have landed him at the center of a national battle over genetically modified crops. His legal battle, now at the Supreme Court, raises questions about whether the right to patent living things extends to their progeny, and how companies that engage in cutting-edge research can recoup their investments.

What Bowman did was to take commodity grain from the local elevator, which is usually used for feed, and plant it. But that grain was mostly progeny of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready beans because that’s what most Indiana soybean farmers grow. Those soybeans are genetically modified to survive the weedkiller Roundup, and Monsanto claims that Bowman’s planting violated the company’s restrictions.

1826 Comments

Watch the Trailer for Jeremy Seifert's Food Industry Doc 'GMO OMG' |

Berlin 2013 EXCLUSIVE: Watch the Trailer for Jeremy Seifert's Food Industry Doc 'GMO OMG' | 

THE GMO FILM PROJECT tells the story of a father's discovery of GMOs through the symbolic act of poor Haitian farmers burning seeds in defiance of Monsanto's gift of 475 tons of hybrid corn and vegetable seeds to Haiti shortly after the devastating earthquake of January 2010.

After a journey to Haiti to learn why hungry farmers would burn seeds, the real awakening of what has happened to our food in the US, what we are feeding our families, and what is at stake for the global food supply unfolds in a trip across the United States and other countries in search of answers. Are we at a tipping point? Is it time to take back our food?

The encroaching darkness of unknown health and environmental risks, seed take over, chemical toxins, and food monopoly meets with the light of a growing resistance of organic farmers, concerned citizens, and a burgeoning movement to take back what we have lost. 

Farmers feel label fatigue | Washington Friends of Farms & Forests

Farmers feel label fatigue | Washington Friends of Farms & Forests

Farmers feel label fatigue

Washington Friends

News

Capital press

Editorial
Backers of a Washington state initiative that would require the labeling of genetically modified foods now say they’re doing it to protect the state’s farm exports. Trouble is, farmers aren’t buying it and say they don’t need the protection.

Initiative 522 would require food and seeds produced through genetic engineering and sold in Washington to be labeled effective July 1, 2015.

The Washington State Farm Bureau, Washington Friends of Farms and Forests and Northwest Food Processors all oppose the initiative.

Supporters have delivered about 350,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office. An initiative requires 241,153 valid signatures from registered voters to be certified and sent to the Legislature. If the Legislature doesn’t act on the measure, it will go on November’s general election ballot.

It’s one of 30 efforts in various states across the country.

A similar measure that was rejected by California voters in November. A pair of bills introduced in last spring’s Washington Legislature never cleared the first committee of referral.

Along with the usual arguments, backers of Initiative 522 say they’re looking out for the state’s farm economy.
Ellen Gray, whose Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network is part of the coalition behind the petition drive, said that 49 countries have restrictions on genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. She said labels would protect the state’s agricultural export market.

“This isn’t about whether GMOs are good or bad, it’s about being in an international marketplace,” she said.
Washington farmers would be hard pressed to find where the lack of such a mandate has harmed their ability to sell their goods on the international market.

John Stuhlmiller, the Farm Bureau’s director of government relations, points out that Washington is the third-largest exporter of foodstuffs in the United States. Those exports are worth $15 billion a year.

Nearly 90 percent of Washington’s annual wheat harvest is already bound for the export market, and demand increases each year. An increasing amount of Washington’s hay, fruit and dairy output is going overseas.

Heather Hansen, executive director of Washington Friends of Farms and  Forests, said a GMO labeling law would actually hurt farmers. It would increase costs for producers and consumers by creating separate labeling, packaging and inventories for Washington.

We are always skeptical when any political movement claims to be motivated by the best interests of a group whose business they seek to regulate. Farmers are smart enough to figure out whether Initiative 522 will help them or hurt them. So far, they’re not buying it.

http://www.capitalpress.com/subscribers/jb-gmo-label-edit-011813

GMOs, Enslavement & Poverty Seeds of Freedom

I've always said, even if you don't believe GMO seeds are unhealthy, there are many political reasons to reject the seeds. It's a blueprint for slavery. It turns food into a weapon of mass poverty. The story of seed has become one of loss, control, dependence and debt. It's been written by those who want to make vast profit from our food system, no matter what the true cost. It's time to change the story.

The story of seed has become one of loss, control, dependence and debt. It's been written by those who want to make vast profit from our food system, no matter what the true cost. It's time to change the story. Narrated by Jeremy Irons.

Seeds of Freedom charts the story of seed from its roots at the heart of traditional, diversity rich farming systems across the world, to being transformed into a powerful commodity, used to monopolise the global food system.The film highlights the extent to which the industrial agricultural system, and genetically modified (GM) seeds in particular, has impacted on the enormous agro -biodiversity evolved by farmers and communities around the world, since the beginning of agriculture.

Seeds of Freedom seeks to challenge the mantra that large-scale, industrial agriculture is the only means by which we can feed the world, promoted by the pro-GM lobby. In tracking the story of seed it becomes clear how corporate agenda has driven the take over of seed in order to make vast profit and control of the food global system.

Through interviews with leading international experts such as Dr Vandana Shiva and Henk Hobbelink, and through the voices of a number of African farmers, the film highlights how the loss of indigenous seed goes hand in hand with loss of biodiversity and related knowledge; the loss of cultural traditions and practices; the loss of livelihoods; and the loss of food sovereignty. The pressure is growing to replace the diverse, nutritional, locally adapted and resilient seed crops which have been bred by small-scale farmers for millenia, by monocultures of GM seed.

Alongside speakers from indigenous farming communities, the film features global experts and activists Dr Vandana Shiva of Navdanya, Henk Hobbelink of GRAIN, Zac Goldsmith MP (UK Conservative party), Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace International, Gathuru Mburu of the African Biodiversity Network, Liz Hosken of The Gaia Foundation and Caroline Lucas MP (UK Green party).

This film is co-produced by The Gaia Foundation and the African Biodiversity Network. In collaboration with GRAIN, Navdanya International and MELCA Ethiopia .

Please support the original filmmakers by donating or purchasing the DVD here: http://seedsoffreedom.info.

GMO | Genetic Roulette Clip

Are you and your family on the wrong side of a bet?

When the US government ignored repeated warnings by its own scientists and allowed untested genetically modified (GM) crops into our environment and food supply, it was a gamble of unprecedented proportions. The health of all living things and all future generations were put at risk by an infant technology.

After two decades, physicians and scientists have uncovered a grave trend. The same serious health problems found in lab animals, livestock, and pets that have been fed GM foods are now on the rise in the US population. And when people and animals stop eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs), their health improves.

This seminal documentary provides compelling evidence to help explain the deteriorating health of Americans, especially among children, and offers a recipe for protecting ourselves and our future. IRT

Take a Virtual Tour of Nash’s Organic Produce (Sequim, WA) | Seed Broadcast

Take a Virtual Tour of Nash’s Organic Produce (Sequim, WA) | Seed Broadcast

Nash’s Organic Produce is one of the most successful organic farms on the Olympic Peninsula, and a long partner in OSA’s participatory plant breeding work. Listen to one of Nash’s farmers, Kia Armstrong, talk about the importance of on-farm seed work and their efforts to develop nutritious, regional varieties of carrots and kale. (Produced by Daneau Video Productions)

National FFA Organization - Press Releases

National FFA Organization - Press Releases

INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, Jan. 28, 2013/National FFA Foundation) – FFA members in 15 states can now register for the 2013 FFA Chapter Challenge presented by Monsanto.

The 2013 FFA Chapter Challenge, a third-year program now available to more than 3,800 FFA chapters and 265,000 FFA members and sponsored by Monsanto, challenges FFA members to make meaningful connections with local agriculturists with a new twist.

FFA chapters will now compete in one of two contests with the FFA Chapter Challenge: option one requires FFA members to interview and document local agriculturists who then vote for a chapter, and option two requires FFA members build a portfolio of agriculturist and community member interviews, develop a social media plan and film a video promoting agricultural awareness. Two FFA chapters, one from each contest area, will win the grand prize to attend October’s 86th National FFA Convention & Expo in Louisville, Ky.

Before FFA chapters are eligible for the program, they must register at www.FFAChapterChallenge.com. FFA members in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin are eligible in 2013.

Other prizes will be awarded to each state’s top ten FFA chapters in either category for the FFA Chapter Challenge. Those prizes, a line of credit for use on FFA expenses such as supplies or national convention registration fees, range from $2,500 to $100. As a sponsor of the program, Monsanto will provide more than $300,000 in incentives.

“Monsanto is thrilled to partner again with the National FFA Foundation and support this year’s exciting new changes to the Chapter Challenge competition,” said Elizabeth Vancil, Monsanto customer advocacy outreach manager. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for local FFA chapters to not only learn from those within the agriculture community, but also to develop an outreach plan that will help champion agriculture’s message to those who are part of our broader community.”

“FFA and Monsanto are both delighted to bring the FFA Chapter Challenge in 2013,” said Rob Cooper, executive director of the National FFA Foundation. “This program encourages FFA members to better understand local agriculture, see a variety of potential careers and exhibit the great qualities of FFA members everywhere to the public.”

Syngenta - Social Media on the Farm

Anthony Transou shares how Syngenta uses social media to connect with growers and to help farmers share their story with consumers.