From MAILER-DAEMON Tue Nov 2 00:44:30 1999 Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 00:44:30 -0500 (EST) From: Mail System Internal Data Subject: DON'T DELETE THIS MESSAGE -- FOLDER INTERNAL DATA X-IMAP: 0938756466 0000003503 Status: RO This text is part of the internal format of your mail folder, and is not a real message. It is created automatically by the mail system software. If deleted, important folder data will be lost, and it will be re-created with the data reset to initial values. From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Sat Mar 13 11:32:01 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id LAA17639 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 11:32:01 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id KAA27387 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 10:34:19 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from imo12.mx.aol.com (imo12.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.2]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id KAA27382 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 10:34:14 -0500 (EST) From: Sprinkraft@aol.com Received: from Sprinkraft@aol.com by imo12.mx.aol.com (IMOv19.3) id 7KNIa19425 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 10:33:33 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 10:33:33 EST To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: GMO/organic crop insurance Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 206 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id KAA27383 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 1 I guess my suggestion to inquire about insuring organic crops against GMO contamination wasn't so goofy after all: Spain makes transgenic crop producers pay into insurance fund [BARCELONA] The Spanish government has decided that companies that produce or plant genetically modified crops must contribute to a 90 million Euro (US$100 million) insurance fund intended to cover environmental accidents. The move reflects growing calls for tougher restrictions on such crops from opposition political parties, non-governmental organizations, and consumers' associations. As a result of this pressure, the government's approach to transgenic crops will be debated in parliament this week after two left-wing parties expressed concern that Spain has authorized the planting of genetically modified crops that have not yet been approved in other countries of the European Community. Environmental issues have become more controversial in Spain since last year's ecological disaster, when thousands of tons of toxic waste spilled into the Doñana national park last April after a retaining wall collapsed at the Aznalcóllar mines in Seville. One party, the Bloque Nacionalista Gallego, is seeking either a moratorium or a strict limit on the import of such crops. The movement Ecologists in Action, which includes more than 300 environment-related organizations, has called for a ban on the 22 experimental field trials by the company Monsanto that have already been approved by the country's biosafety commission. Concern has been triggered by the high importation of modified crops, especially maize and soya. Between 15,000 and 20,000 hectares are said to have already been planted with such maize from the company Novartis. The number of licences for test plantings has increased from 36 in 1996 to 124 by January of this year. Transgenic foodstuffs became an issue in Spain in 1996, when seven Greenpeace activists held a protest in Barcelona against a boat containing 45,000 tons of soya, 2 per cent of which was genetically modified. Cristina Narbona, the environment-commission spokesperson of the socialist party PSOE, has urged the government to support demands being made at the biodiversity protocol meeting in Colombia to base the protocol on the so-called "precautionary principle". Xavier Bosch ********************************************************* ********************************************************* Flavio Luiz Schieck Valente Global Secretariat Global Forum on Sustainable Food and Nutritional Security c/o Agora - Associacao para Projetos de Combate a Fome SGAN 905 Conjunto B 70790-050. Brasilia. DF Brasil tel +55 61 347 4914 fax +55 61 274 8822 347 9002 cel + 55 61 972 1455 e-mail agora@tba.com.br *********************************************************** *********************************************************** On Another Front: INDEPENDENT (London) March 12 Land planted with GM crops may fall in value By Charles Arthur, Technology Editor Surveyors warned yesterday that farmers who plant genetically modified (GM) crops could see their land values fall, and that tenants of such land might face bills to make up the shortfall. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) called for the creation of a land register through which potential buyers, and banks, could find out if and when GM crops had been planted or grown on a particular holding. In a separate move, the Government announced that the independent advisory group on planting of GM crops will investigate the effects on British wildlife and biodiversity of commercial growing. Lord Whitty, the environment minister, said that the remit of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (Acre) has been expanded, and a subgroup set up to examine biodiversity issues. "With these regulations in force, British wildlife species should be protected against effects from the commercial use of GM crops," he said in a Lords' written reply. However, the RICS report, sent to the Government's Office of Science and Technology and other departments, warned that growing such crops might lower the value of the land. In the case of tenant farmers, a landlord could, in effect, sue for any shortfall in land value caused by the tenant growing GM crops. Michael Chambers, director of the RICS's policy unit, said that if commercial growing goes ahead, it would require a permanent register of sites where GM crops were or had been. "It's very hard to see how it could be controlled once you grow on a widespread scale in the countryside," he added. ** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. ** To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From london@metalab.unc.edu Thu Mar 11 23:29:45 1999 -0500 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id XAA17480 for ; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:29:45 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id WAA25471 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 22:22:34 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from portal.txcyber.com (IDENT:root@portal.cy-net.net [205.140.147.1]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id WAA25414 for ; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 22:22:28 -0500 (EST) Received: from FLYLO (ppp230.cy-net.net [208.21.195.39]) by portal.txcyber.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id VAA07548 for ; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 21:22:24 -0600 Received: by FLYLO with Microsoft Mail id <01BE6C04.0136F340@FLYLO>; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 21:13:26 -0600 Message-ID: <01BE6C04.0136F340@FLYLO> From: Martha Wells To: "sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu" Subject: prisoners as laborers Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 19:24:48 -0600 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 2 For some reason in Tx anyhow, you have to be grant-funded or some other gvmnt 'charity' org to be allowed prison labor help. I have a friend who runs an environmental outside school for kids, and she is allowed 'trustee' type laborers for most of the heavy work. They do it for community service hours taken off their sentence, and most stay after the term is up, helping her as friends. It is a unique situation here. (martha) To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From london@metalab.unc.edu Fri Mar 12 00:13:06 1999 -0500 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id AAA18232 for ; Fri, 12 Mar 1999 00:13:06 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id XAA01378 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:14:04 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from imo22.mx.aol.com (imo22.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.66]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id XAA01314 for ; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:13:58 -0500 (EST) From: Sprinkraft@aol.com Received: from Sprinkraft@aol.com by imo22.mx.aol.com (IMOv19.3) id 7GFZa12647 for ; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:13:23 +1900 (EST) Message-ID: Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:13:23 EST To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Eat In Wichita Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 206 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id XAA01326 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 3 Eat in Wichita by Steve Sprinkel 11 March 1999 Eat in Wichita, because if you don’t you will starve your way down the Interstate through all of southern Kansas and most of northern Oklahoma. Not that the bloom of fast food logos on the outskirts of Oklahoma City, poking far above the street-side bustle and fumes like mutant electronic dandelions should spur your appetite once you arrive there. Eat in Wichita, when and if the opportunity arises on the southbound route, for you will look nearly in vain for sustenance along I-35 thereafter. However, the short-term fasting may heighten one’s perceptions, but I shall let you be the judge of that. Road Food, which is playfully interpreted as Road Kill in Compostia, Texas, presents for the conscientious traveler a continual meal-time quandary, flanked by dietary and political considerations, time, and the lack of any alternative to what seems like a fabulous array of choices, but in reality are merely the same menu under different trademarks with variously sassy, coy or boisterous marketing strategies. Fried Chunk Food, which is also synonymous with Greasy Junk Food, is the staple design for these vittles and I believe we may have reached a definite apogee concerning their multiplicity as well as their ubiquity. Whole sections of cities are now formatted and zoned to provide for these places. The transportation department serves as their advertising agency on every appropriate off ramp. The entertainment industry pre-links their motion pictures with semi-disposable, quasi-collectable plastic ware, only falling short of creating Jurassic Burgers or DarthVader Dessert Pie. Fast Food, as in: somebody’s pulling a fast one. That other Junk Food outlet, television, and its allies in advertising, mercilessly pound home the message as if it was still necessary. But it's not. I saw the white flag of surrender fluttering in downtown South Haven, Kansas recently one afternoon. It is an agricultural dead-zone to match that big one off the coast of Louisiana.. In towns everywhere across the US Midwest, the echoing emptiness of the failed town-center, where even video-rental and antiques can not subsist, is the sure sign that the battle for the American Appetite is over. The bank doesn’t even post For Rent signs. Make mine Olestra, and keep the TP handy, you freaks. Gimme a double-shot of that fat-free grease, you Zombies! You craven Stalinists! I thought you fought for fifty years to keep us from living under the yoke of Central Planning! And now you say that all you sought was our own convenience. But I could not even obtain convenience. I got off the Kansas toll road at the ramp to Wellington, went through town only noting a crumbling Pizza Hut, turned south on US 81, and figured Rome or South Haven would be able to fix me up. It was after noon, but these small-town café proprietors will usually fry eggs even during the lunch hour. Rome turned out to be a big grain elevator. On the side of the road in "downtown" South Haven was the Blankspace Café. Just "Pepsi" , and then CAFÉ beneath the soda-sell. I walked in, checking first my wallet, and then the walls and the register to see if the magic words VISA or MASTERCARD were glued thereon. I was out of currency and South Haven was a foreign country that did not accept my VISA and which had been passed over by MASTERCARD. I didn’t even bother to ask them about accepting my check, although my bank, NorWest, is nearly as recognizable now as Ronald McDonald . When I said the words" credit card" to the beautiful Kansas matron behind the counter, her reaction was the same as if I had asked her if she had a wine list. Two long-retired couples ate sandwiches and sipped soup, somewhat startled to see anyone new in what was nearly equivalent to their own kitchen at home. Okey-dokey! I returned ravening to my muddy vehicle, thinking. My first thought was that I had been reckless in not loading up on rye bread, nuts and fruit at "Everybody’s" when I left Fairfield, Iowa, the day before. I mean to be pedantic: learn where the safe food is stored across this great wasteland of ours, because the health you protect may be your own. Every day is Y2K on the Interstate, my hippie sisters and brothers. I surveyed the jumbled contents of the Trooper. What do I have in here? I have three bottles of homemade organic pickles that Cissy Bowman made in Indiana. I have two Rye-Krisp ( TM) crackers left over from who knows when, and I have half a head of organic garlic. I also have some TUMS. Natch. I opted for the pickled okra, set aside the garlic as an antidote to my next experience eating a Hardee’s Fish Sandwich, savored the crackers and kept the TUMS in ready-reserve. I thank Providence that I had nearly a gallon of spring water on board. Like a grateful Crusoe, I turned south and headed back down to US 177 which took me to the NAFTAWAY, IH 35, and south towards Texas. Nearly like Dafoe’s hero, I could have called out " Chunks and calories everywhere, but not a bite of food to eat!" MacDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Whataburger, Arby’s, Hardee’s, Grandy’s, Denny’s, Applebee’s, Popeye’s, IHOP, Tastee Freeze, Jack in the Box A and W, In and Out, Long John Silver's, Dairy Queen, KFC, Chick-Fil-A , The Big Boy and Sonic. And that’s just the northern tier. Once you get below 35 degrees North latitude, you hit the Hot Sauce Zone: Taco Bell, Del Taco, Taco Cabana, Chili’s. Only Taco John seems to have carved out a niche for franchised tortilla vending in the northern climes. I could include the parallel food forms, such as those found at Subway, as well as the Italian Flatbread Conspiracy cartel of Pizza Hut, Mr. Gatti’s, and Domino’s. Only Chinese seems to be immune to this twisted menu, probably because fresh vegetables are involved. Beyond Fries, I think the one menu item that really sums up Frytown’s monotony is the battered, fried chicken chunk. I would have said " nugget" but the control on that word is governed by copyright. These generic chunks are what is wrong with not just the food supply, but agriculture generally: the planet is losing its diversity accidentally while greedily pursuing a business plan designed to provide fewer and fewer farmer and consumer choices. It is as if a big Hoover has roamed the countryside, pulling up farms and towns from their foundations. The economic alchemists have emptied the vacuum bag along the Interstates and in the concrete/neon outliers of "civilization". The miraculous recombination of these dissimilar, but formerly interactive and natural parts, being people, farms, animals, soil, merchants, government and service, is unquestioned progress. Libraries and the Lions Club, like the family farm, are endangered species. And the new cable-ready city-states do rule. Scratch cooking is only done for the rich. The homogeneity of the speed-fry menu is mirrored in the sameness of the countryside: its industrial. Its also easy! Its fun! And the kids like it too! Stay all day, and let ‘em wear themselves out in our neoprene playroom. Win free coupons for your favorite stuff, which is also plastic. And best of all, you too can be a stakeholder, with your own easy-to-run, internationally marketed, readily identifiable food product dispensary. Computer: Big Mac! Hold the onions, Hold the lettuce, Hold the tomato. Extra Mayonnaise. Why this is getting to be so darn convenient that someday machines can run the whole enterprise. Just one " partner" at the console, and all he/she has to do is make sure the trucks get unloaded and that the grease stays hot. Keep it cheap though. Got to go for market share and volume of sales in this game. Just like those bushels of corn at the CBOT, fortunes are made in pennies these days. The next idea is entirely contradictory because it relies on technology: Wouldn’t it be nifty to have a website that listed all the sources of organic foods across the country, so that no matter where you were, like in Cantril, Iowa, you would know there was an Amish store in the middle of the block across from the Post Office? Or that every Wednesday and Saturday you could go to Pure Luck Organic Farm in Dripping Springs, Texas, and buy goat cheese and vegetables? Or the location and time of every farmers market? God, I’ll stay off the interstate for that. I won’t mind the STOP signs, the combines and the horse buggies, just so long as I can dodge those chunks. Steve Sprinkel at the corner of Redbud and Bluebonnet Compostia, Texas To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From london@metalab.unc.edu Fri Mar 12 00:13:57 1999 -0500 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id AAA18242 for ; Fri, 12 Mar 1999 00:13:56 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id XAA02070 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:14:40 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from imo25.mx.aol.com (imo25.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.69]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id XAA01970 for ; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:14:35 -0500 (EST) From: Sprinkraft@aol.com Received: from Sprinkraft@aol.com by imo25.mx.aol.com (IMOv19.3) id 7ZIVa13170 for ; Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:13:25 +1900 (EST) Message-ID: <64478596.36e89465@aol.com> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:13:25 EST To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Sinister Dane and the Kickapoo Disco Cosmonauts Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 206 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id XAA01987 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 4 Allen Moody writes from La Farge, Wisconsin: All right folks, by popular demand, here are the latest lyrics for the “I’m Fixin’ to Mutate Rag” arranged by Country Joe McDonald, lyrics by Sinister Dane, as performed by "Sinister Dane and the Kickapoo Disco Cosmonauts" at the Upper Midwest Organic Farmers Conference, with 1200 in attendance. I'm not sure if Country Joe appreciates what we've done because no one asked him. But, if every thing goes right and according to plan, we'll have a big release scheduled for Earth Day in April. Maybe we'll get our fifteen minutes of fame after all, donate all the proceeds to charity, and put Country Joe back on the map. To those of you unaware of what's going on, the following song is sung to the tune of the "I'm Fixin' to Die Rag" (a Vietnam War protest song) made even more famous when Country Joe sang it in front of 300,000 people at Woodstock. If ever we needed a "hip" protest song to rally around, this one is it. As you go through the song, you will find out it is ripe for revision. Write your own lyrics to fit your own mood. There are as many versions to this song as there are people, but the message will always be the same. In the vernacular of the Sixties, "Peace, brother." Allen "I'm Fixin' to Mutate Rag" Verse I D7 Come on all you farming folks G Ol' Monsanto’s blowin smoke D7 They got genetic freaks and corporate greed G You can spray anything but you can't save seeds E7 A7 We’re changin’ Mother Nature’s rules D7 G There’s new genes in the pool CHORUS D/E D/F D/F# G And its one, two , three, what are we spraying for D7 G Don't ask me I don't give a damn, its a chemical promise land D/E D/F D/F# G And it's five, six, seven, get ready to perpetrate (or pollinate) E7 A7 D7 G Ain't no time to wonder why, you can kiss your farm goodbye Verse II Come on farmers, get off your ass Round Up Ready is here at last Sign away your privacy When you buy into technology You can be the first one on your block To grow genuine Frankenstein crops. CHORUS And its one, two, three, what are we spraying for Don't ask me I don't give a damn, its a chemical promise land And it's five, six, seven, get ready to propagate Cause, there ain't no time to wonder why, you can kiss your farm goodbye Verse III Come on scientists don't be slow This world needs GMO’s There's plenty of money to be made Choppin’ those genes with the tools of the trade Ya know we’re not GOD, yeah we’re throwin’ the dice That’s what happens when you cut and splice CHORUS And its one, two, three, what are we spraying for Don't ask me I don't give a damn, its a chemical promise land And it's five, six, seven, let's go exterminate Cause, there ain't no time to wonder why, you can kiss your farm goodbye Verse IV Come on mothers throughout the land Put your fate in Monsanto’s hands Come on fathers don't hesitate To lose your farm before its too late (or, count your sperm, it’s not that great) It’s all right you can trust in me Remember DDT CHORUS And its one, two, three, what are we spraying for Don't ask me I don't give a damn, it's a chemical promise land And it's five, six, seven, get ready to litigate Cause, there ain't no time to wonder why, you can kiss your farm goodbye (This last part is optional and works best in a nice rowdy arena. Don't forget to have everyone singing along with the CHORUS). Repeat FIRST verse and end with following CHORUS twice CHORUS And its one, two, three, what are we FARMING! for Don't ask me I don't give a damn, its a CORPORATE promise land And it's five, six, seven, get ready to TERMINATE Cause, there ain't no time to wonder why, you can kiss YOUR ASS goodbye (repeat twice at end) Allen Moody To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Sat Mar 13 17:57:33 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA21974 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 17:57:33 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id RAA17837 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 17:06:54 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (root@eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.90]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id RAA17813 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 17:06:49 -0500 (EST) Received: from lamar.ColoState.EDU (lamar.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.75]) by eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id PAA52032; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 15:06:50 -0700 Received: from edandsue (dialup0195.PPP.ColoState.EDU [129.82.53.39]) by lamar.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id PAA43348; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 15:06:49 -0700 Message-ID: <002f01be6d9d$019cd120$27355281@edandsue.colostate.edu> From: "Ed and Sue Sparling" To: "John Henning, Eco-Echo, McGill U., Montreal, Ca" Cc: Subject: Re: Key foundation offer to "educators" Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 14:59:37 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5 X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 5 Thanks to John Henning for pointing out the Key Foundation 'offer.' Not to belabor the obvious, but I can't resist copying the list of sponsors of the Key Foundation. Find the list below the next paragraph. Last Spring I renewed acquaintence with a childhood friend whom I discovered was employed virtually full time in running workshops like the one sponsored by the Key Foundation. She described herself as an 'activist' whose mission is to stem the tide of 'misinformation' and 'junk science' which suggests that agricultural chemicals are dangerous. Below is an excerpt from the Key Founation web page: Corporations Abitibi-Price AgrEvo Canada Agrium Avenor Celanese Contemporary Information Analysis Dow Canada DowAgraScience General Electric Canada IMC Kalium Canada Monsanto Canada Procter & Gamble Rhône Poulenc Saskferco Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Shippers Supply Simplot Tetra Pak Industry Associations Canadian Chemical Producers' Association Canadian Fertilizer Institute Coal Association of Canada Crop Protection Institute of Canada Industrial Biotechnology Association of Canada Ontario Forest Industry Association Ontario Waterworks Association Ontario Crop Protection Associaiton Packaging Association of Canada Packaging Career Council of Canada Human Resources Canadian Food Inspection Agency Industry Canada Natural Resources Canada Statistics Canada Private Foundations Donner Canadian Foundation (Toronto, Ontario) To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Sat Mar 13 21:02:37 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id VAA23626 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 21:02:37 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id TAA08602 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 19:27:22 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from ccshst09.cs.uoguelph.ca (ccshst09.cs.uoguelph.ca [131.104.96.18]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id TAA08572 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 19:27:12 -0500 (EST) Received: from csnet.nw.uoguelph.ca (csnet.nw.uoguelph.ca [131.104.232.2]) by ccshst09.cs.uoguelph.ca (8.8.6/8.8.6) with ESMTP id TAA16469 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 19:27:03 -0500 (EST) Received: from CSNET/MAILQ by csnet.nw.uoguelph.ca (Mercury 1.43); 13 Mar 99 19:25:41 GMT-5 Received: from MAILQ by CSNET (Mercury 1.43); 13 Mar 99 19:25:29 GMT-5 From: "E. Ann Clark, Associate Professor" Organization: Plant Agriculture, Univ. of Guelph To: Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 19:25:29 EST Subject: Re: Key foundation offer to "educators" X-mailer: Pegasus Mail v3.40 Message-ID: <9D2AD7B83@csnet.nw.uoguelph.ca> Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 6 Ed S. - I didn't want to bias the discourse, so held off commenting. But since you have gone to the trouble of posting the list, I'll mention that I was once (and only once) invited to make a presentation to a Key Foundation event. Not knowing any different, I made just the type of presentation you'd expect me to make about the dangers of pesticides. I wasn't invited back. This annual, all expenses paid vacation is a clever, or perhaps not so clever, effort to inculcate certain values into people who will then pass along the same values to their students. Each time, apparently, they have a token opposition person, like me. Otherwise, it is solid industry propaganda. Buyer beware. Nothing worth owning is free. Ann ACLARK@plant.uoguelph.ca Dr. E. Ann Clark Associate Professor Crop Science University of Guelph Guelph, ON N1G 2W1 Phone: 519-824-4120 Ext. 2508 FAX: 519 763-8933 http://www.oac.uoguelph.ca/www/CRSC/faculty/eac.htm To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Sat Mar 13 23:35:09 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id XAA25955 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 23:35:09 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id WAA09270 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 22:03:58 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id WAA09257 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 22:03:53 -0500 (EST) Received: from m18.boston.juno.com (m18.boston.juno.com [205.231.101.191]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id WAA04560 for ; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 22:03:49 -0500 (EST) Received: (from eweigel@juno.com) by m18.boston.juno.com (queuemail) id D5MX4BP7; Sat, 13 Mar 1999 22:03:36 EST To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 19:51:19 -0700 Subject: nitrogen scavenging plants Message-ID: <19990313.195236.3582.2.eweigel@juno.com> X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0,7-8 From: Edna M Weigel Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 7 Dear SANETers: I recall someone looking for a non-nodulating alfalfa for scavenging excess nitrogen. There was much discussion about why one would want such a plant but don't remember any such alfalfa being reported. I just ran across a statement in Peaceful Valley's catalog description for TriosTriticale (Triticum X Secale) which is described as having an aggressive root system: "Use this crop to uptake excess nitrogen." Maybe this would do the job. --Edna ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Sun Mar 14 10:38:36 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA09226 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 10:38:36 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id IAA16502 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 08:46:02 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from iac20.navix.net (iac20.navix.net [207.91.5.26]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id IAA16437 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 08:45:45 -0500 (EST) Received: from navix.net (xyp111p1.navix.net [206.158.218.11]) by iac20.navix.net (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with ESMTP id HAA16721 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 07:42:09 -0600 Message-ID: <36EBDDB0.9361815A@navix.net> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 08:02:56 -0800 From: Richard Mazour X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu" Subject: Re: nicotine and Nabisco crackers References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 8 Interesting story on RJR Nabisco. As a small investor in IRA's and SEP's, where do I find information on companies who's values are similar to mine? ( organic farmer not even hooked on coffee.) Thanks Rich Maroc wrote: > Misha, here's the NYT article on RJR's breakup, it's all greed and money, > human misery is not part of the equation except as it stimulates > litigation, which is more greed and money for lawyers. > > NYTimes: March 10, 1999 > > End of a Disaster: Dismembering RJR Nabisco > > By FLOYD NORRIS > > It's over. A decade after RJR Nabisco was bought in the > largest leveraged buyout in history, the company is being sliced into three > pieces. It is a sad saga for almost all involved. > "The story is what happens when you really overpay for a > company, and the debt levels are just too high," said Stephen F. Goldstone, > who will be the last person to hold the job of chairman and chief executive > of RJR Nabisco. > When all is finished, the only real winners will be those > who cashed out in 1989 -- primarily the shareholders who sold and the > investment bankers who arranged the buyout. > The losers include R.J. Reynolds and Nabisco, which almost > certainly would have been more vigorous competitors had they not been > saddled with more than $25 billion in debt from the buyout. Kohlberg Kravis > Roberts, the leveraged-buyout firm that engineered the deal, lost more in > reputation than it made in money. > Among the sufferers are investors who bought RJR Nabisco > stock in 1991, when the company went public again, two years after Kohlberg > Kravis took it private. > A $100 investment then is now worth $51. Over the same > period, the Dow Jones industrial average more than tripled. > Kohlberg Kravis gave up in 1994, trading its RJR Nabisco > stock for ownership of Borden Inc., the troubled food company. So far that > looks like a doubtful investment at best. > What went wrong at RJR Nabisco? The tobacco business proved > not to be as good a cash cow as the buyers thought it would be. The great > advantage of selling to addicted customers was reduced when price wars broke > out among cigarette companies. > Tobacco litigation proved to be a significant threat. > Those problems hurt RJR Nabisco more than its competitors. > Philip Morris, the largest tobacco company and the owner of Kraft Foods, has > seen its share price about double since 1991, while RJR Nabisco's price has > been cut in half. One difference was that Philip Morris had enough financial > flexibility to invest in promoting its products, including Marlboro > cigarettes and Maxwell House Coffee, while debt-ridden RJR Nabisco was > forced to cut back on promotional spending for Winstons and Oreos. Over > time, it hurt. > Now RJR Nabisco will sell its international tobacco business > for $8 billion to Japan Tobacco. That money, after taxes, will go to pay > debt. Then the domestic tobacco business will be spun off into a separate > company, with just $1 billion of debt. Shareholders of the current RJR > Nabisco will get the shares in that operation. > The remainder will be Nabisco, which will have two kinds of > common stock. One type, the Nabisco Holdings shares that already trade, will > have a stake in the profits from such products as Chips Ahoy and Ritz > Crackers. The other will have a stake in the same profits. But as the former > parent of the tobacco company, it will also be burdened with the possibility > of residual liability if lawsuits manage to bankrupt the tobacco company. > The discount between those two prices will show just how scared investors > are of tobacco litigation. > When all that is done, things will be almost back to where > they were in 1985, before R.J. Reynolds acquired Nabisco. Nabisco will again > be an independent company, albeit a weaker one than its predecessor. R.J. > Reynolds will also be independent, with a smaller market share in this > country and an international business that had to be sold to pay debt taken > on in one of the most misguided deals in Wall Street history. > In a more just world, the investment banks that made > hundreds of millions from the RJR Nabisco buyout might now join in the > suffering. Instead, they will collect more fees for their services in > dismembering the hobbled company. > > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "unsubscribe sanet-mg". > To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > > All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: > http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Sun Mar 14 10:42:34 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA09340 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 10:42:34 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA27691 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 09:10:40 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mail.caribe.net (root@mail.caribe.net [209.91.196.5]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA27651 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 09:10:32 -0500 (EST) Received: from ddworley (ppp192.203dip.netdial.caribe.net [209.91.203.192]) by mail.caribe.net (8.9.0/8.9.0) with SMTP id KAA22429 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 10:13:00 -0400 (AST) Message-Id: X-Sender: ddworley@mail.caribe.net X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0 Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 09:37:44 -0400 To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu From: Richard Wolfson (by way of Daniel Worley ) Subject: GEN3-11; Fwd, Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 9 [Reposted with permission] On March 11, the Agriculture and Forestry Committee of the Canadian Senate released its interim report on Genetically engineered BGH. They were very much against it. The full report can be found at: http://www.parl.gc.ca/36/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/agri-e/rep-e/repint ermar 99-e.htm Here are the main recommendations: LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS 1.The Committee recommends that Health Canada ensure full adherence to its conflict of interest guidelines and, in cases of perceived conflict of interest, publicly declare its reasons for accepting the appointment of any individuals for whom a conflict is perceived. (page 10). 2.The Committee recommends that decisions about the safety of drugs for humans, and the safety and efficacy of drugs for animals, be left with Health Canada evaluators (page 11). 3.The Committee, having heard the suggestion of some witnesses, recommends that the government conduct an evaluation of Health Canada's drug approval process to ensure that it fully safeguards human and animal health and safety. This evaluation should be undertaken by independent experts, either in conjunction with any follow-up activities of the Auditor General of Canada regarding the Health Protection Branch or subject to review by the Auditor General (page 13). 4.The Committee recommends that no Notice of Compliance be issued for rBST until the manufacturer submits the long-term studies identified by Health Canada's rBST internal review team as data missing from its submission and until a review of those studies more precisely determines any risks to human safety (page 17). 5.The Committee recommends that Health Canada ask that the study requested by the evaluators of the former Central Nervous System/Endocrine/Antiparasitic Division be conducted and submitted in order to meet the requirement of section C.08.004.(2) of the Food and Drug Regulations (page 18). 6.The Committee recommends that once human and animal health and safety are assured, the government establish an ongoing mechanism that would stimulate public discussion on economic, trade, social, ethical and other considerations related to drugs and medical devices that are being considered by Health Canada. This mechanism should involve the Canadian Food Inspection Agency where relevant, and may be one outcome of the Health Protection Branch's Transition initiative (page 21). 7.The Committee recommends that Health Canada officials appear before the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry no later than June 1999 to provide information about the initiatives undertaken to resolve the management problems identified in this report (page 22). 8.The Committee recommends that any federal government department asked for information by a parliamentary committee fulfill that request completely and as expeditiously as possible. Information that the department believes to be proprietary should be presented to committees in camera, with a rationale for maintaining confidentiality (page 24). 9.The Committee recommends that Health Canada, and in particular the Health Protection Branch, explore means by which ongoing consultation with the public, and information dissemination to it, can continue following the Transition initiative (page 24). ....... Here is an inspiring personal report from: Paul Davis in UK Fri, 12 Mar 1999 Subject: B-GE: UK TV Brilliant TV program last night!!!! Covered the whole Pusztai story, 'substantial equivalence', Caul Mosaic Virus, lack of control in US, GM in baby food ....... Dr. Pusztai came out like a hero. Putting his reputation on the line because he found something wrong, even though he was the man who originally said the snowdrop lectin was fine. He was very calm, clear and like a shining light in contrast to his devious and unbelievable opponents. Nice touch in an american supermarket. At the check-out, the reporter asked which products contained GM - check-out girl had no idea. 'Has anyone asked you that before?', 'No sir, you're the first'. Good interview with an american scientist pointing out how unpredictable the science is. Also Dr. Howard of Liverpool, a leading expert in child toxology, had a great impact. His concerns for children's & babies health came over as very genuine. Prof. James of the Rowett must be fuming!!! Everyone is now qouting him as saying the current regulations are not comprehensive enough!!!! And Minister Jeff Rooker ranted on again how fed up he is people talking about the potato - 'This potato is not on the market'. However at the end of the program the reporter said that they had research Government & EU papers and had found that a number of crops containing the snowdrop gene are in the pipeline for approval - cauliflower, rice, maize..... and a POTATO!!!!! ....... posted by MichaelP Royal Society sets up inquiry on Pusztai expts. INDEPENDENT (London) March 11 Inquiry into work of GM food scientist By Steve Connor, Science Editor A high-powered team of scientists has been appointed to investigate the work of Dr Arpad Pusztai, whose findings triggered a furore over genetically modified (GM) food. The Royal Society, Britain's most eminent body of scientists, has asked six of the country's leading scientists to review the data that led Dr Pusztai to warn that people who eat GM food are "unwitting guinea pigs in a mass experiment". The six specialists were selected by the Royal Society for their expertise in different disciplines and their independence from the Pusztai affair. None has commented publicly on the controversy. It is almost unprecedented for the Royal Society to establish what is effectively an independent peer review of a scientist's unpublished work. It was brought about because of the intense publicity associated with the Pusztai affair. Last August, the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen suspended Dr Pusztai after he claimed in a television interview that rats fed GM potatoes had stunted growth and a defective immune system. The institute said Dr Pusztai had no evidence on which to base his assertions and claimed that he had become "muddled" over experiments that had not taken place. In February, 20 scientists, mostly friends of Dr Pusztai, signed a memorandum supporting him, citing new evidence. The members of the review team include experts in statistics, nutrition, animal genetics, epidemiology and pharmacology. They will report their findings next month. ........... Here is a recent Natural Law Party Press from release that I was forwarded from Europe: http://www.natural-law-party.org E-mail: nlp@euronet.nl 11 March 1999 SCIENTISTS ALERT MPs TO BAN GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS A special all-party briefing for MPs of the British parliament was held on 8 March in London in a House of Commons committee room, given by scientists concerned about the introduction of genetically modified foods. Professor John Fagan, an eminent molecular biologist with 23 years of experience at the cutting edge of molecular genetics techniques in cancer research, called for greater caution in the introduction of genetically modified foods. "If genetic engineering is to be used in agriculture and food production, its implementation should be guided by the same kind of rigorous science and testing that is now used to assess new pharmaceuticals and food additives. Stringent short-term and long-term safety testing and environmental assessment are essential," Dr Fagan told MPs. An imprecise and uncontrolled process Using detailed charts to explain the process of genetic engineering, Dr Fagan showed how the insertion of specific new genes into an organism is an imprecise and uncontrolled process that may influence biological functioning in unpredictable ways. "There is always the risk that genetically engineered foods may contain unintended allergens and toxins, and may be reduced in nutritional value. Furthermore, genetically engineered crops may disrupt the ecosystem by reducing bio-diversity, damaging soil fertility, inducing the development of new pathogens, pests, and weeds, and increasing the use of toxic and carcinogenic agrochemicals." Dr Fagan is Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. He initiated world-wide debate on genetics research in 1994 when he returned almost two million dollars of grants from the US National Institutes of Health because of concerns about the dangers of genetic engineering and the hazards of releasing GM organisms into the environment. Dr Fagan is also chief scientific adviser to Genetic I.D., a company that provides genetic testing services to food, nutritional, and agricultural industries throughout the world. The tests Dr Fagan has devised are significantly more sensitive than any currently utilised by British authorities and can detect the minutest trace of any GMO. Medical and agricultural applications of genetic engineering Dr Michael Antoniou, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Pathology and head of a research group at one of London's leading teaching hospitals, explained the difference between clinical and agricultural applications of genetic engineering. "Genetic engineering in medicine tries to correct a genetic defect that is either inherited, as in muscular dystrophy or cystic fibrosis, or acquired, as in cancer. Strict regulations quite rightly demand that the use of genetic modification (GM) in medicine does not result in the intentional release of viable GM organisms (GMOs) into the environment," Dr Antoniou said. "In marked contrast, the use of GM in agriculture tries to 'repair' plants that have nothing inherently wrong with them. In agriculture, GMOs are produced specifically for their intentional release into the environment. "In medicine a new drug or therapy produced using GM must undergo pre-clinical and, more importantly, clinical trials to assess not only efficacy but also to detect any unexpected, undesirable side-effects. However, for GM food no tests with human volunteers are required by law for either toxicity or allergic reactions prior to marketing. "Medicines are clearly labelled, and they are taken voluntarily, and the effects are carefully monitored. None of this applies to GM foods. Under current EU regulations most foods (90%) containing GMO-derived ingredients need not be labelled. The lack of effective segregation means the public has no choice as to whether to eat GM foods or not, and finally post-release monitoring is non-existent. Any problem that subsequently arises would therefore be virtually impossible to trace," he said. Respecting natural boundaries "If BSE has taught us anything it is that we should think twice about using a technology in a manner that violates well established natural boundaries. Nature works according to the principle of 'least action' (maximum economy) suggesting that everything exists for a purpose. Natural boundaries or laws can be seen as the means by which the evolutionary direction and integrity of life is maintained. "We should not lull ourselves into a false sense of security: we should not think that by regulating something which is inherently unpredictable and uncontainable it automatically becomes safe," he said. Dr Antoniou is the author/co-author of more than 50 publications and is biotechnology adviser to many organisations including the Soil Association and the Society for the Promotion of Nutritional Therapy. A total ban Dr Geoffrey Clements, leader of the British Natural Law Party and a physicist by training, emphasised that the scientific knowledge behind the so-called technology is totally inadequate to guarantee that the GMOs now being produced are free from hazards. "It is like expecting a physicist trained under Newton to operate a nuclear reactor," Dr Clements said. "The actual methods employed are intrinsically dangerous and highly unnatural," he said, referring to the fact that genetic modification can involve pieces of DNA from scorpions, fish viruses, bacteria and other species being implanted in the DNA of cereals, vegetables, fruits and animals. "Contrary to the arguments being put forward, these are mutations of the DNA that could never occur in nature. They are being made to occur in isolated species over a time scale of one or two years. In nature, evolution of the DNA usually takes place over millions of years, in a natural environment of all species living together in balance. "This means that we have no way at all of predicting any adverse results that may happen. When the methods of genetic modification are understood - that they involve pieces of virus and bacterial DNA, for example - it is clear that we are unleashing potential disaster for all life forms. "The only safe way forward is a total ban on all new GM crops and foods, and a recall of all crops and products already being grown and prepared." The Natural Law Party was the first political party to declare itself opposed to GM foods, and it is now actively campaigning on the issue in 80 countries. ........ GM Farmers have Grounds for Concern Experts warn of fall in land values similar to effect of contamination or disease CHRISTOPHER CAIRNS Environment Correspondent Scotsman 11th march 1999 GENETICALLY modified crops could reduce the value of agricultural land across Britain and leave tenant farmers open to legal action, the Government has been told. In a warning which has sent tremors through the already crisis-hit farming industry, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has said GM crops could have the same effect on land values as contamination or the outbreak of disease. The RICS has sent a report to the Office of Science and Technology and several other Government departments calling for the setting up of a land register through which potential buyers and banks could find out if and when GM crops had been grown on a particular holding. Environmentalists have backed the RICS and warned of disastrous consequences for British agriculture if the Government presses ahead with commercial scale GM crop trials. ....... [This is top story for Mar 11, 1999 on OneWorld News [http://www.oneworld.org/news ] AGRICULTURE: Death To Monsanto, Say World Scientists By Ranjit Dev Raj NEW DELHI, Mar 11 (IPS) - Conscientious genetic engineers and activists from across the world Thursday called for a slow but sure death for Monsanto, the U.S seed giant they say threatens life on earth with its genetically modified crops. ''It must be death by a thousand cuts,'' said Tony Clarke, director of the Polaris Institute in Canada which assists social movements to develop tools, skills and strategies for fighting economic globalisation and corporate power. Clarke was among participants selected to devise future strategies against 'Genetic Engineering and Patents on Life' at the close of the two-day 'Biodevastation II' meet here. Monsanto figured high on the agenda because of stiff resistance put up in this country by farmers and activists to field trials in 40 widely separate locations of genetically engineered Bt cotton carried out by the corporation on doubtful authorisation. Said Pushpa Bhargava, a distinguished India biotechnologist who has the French Legion d'Honneur to his credit, ''clearance for the trials should have come from Indian Council of Agricultural research (ICAR) - instead clearance came from the Department of Biotechnology and after the trials had begun.'' ........ The Christian Science Monitor March 10, 1999, Wednesday SECTION: USA; GLOBAL REPORT; Pg. 1 Signs of the food fight to come BYLINE: Laurent Belsie, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor DATELINE: ST. LOUIS HIGHLIGHT: Gene-spliced plants and hormone-treated beef raise ethical questionsabout how much to fool with nature. BODY: Geneticists are on the verge of revolutionizing agriculture and medicine in much the same way computers have transformed business. Labs around the world are working on crops that could feed a growing planet, plants that could clean up contaminated soils, and pigs whose organs may one day get trans-planted into people. But to do these things, scientists are fooling with nature's basic building blocks. As they do, they are kicking up dissent around the world as one nation tries to sell its genetically altered foods to another's grocers. The current food fight between the United States and Europe - over hormone-treated beef and genetically altered soy beans - could be just a prelude of arguments to come. That's because the greatest risks probably don't lie with today's simple genetic alterations. Future rounds of exotic agriculture pose bigger threats because they will put organisms to completely new uses. The fundamental question: How much should science manipulate nature to care for mankind? And there's no going back, scientists say. Consider the US experience. While Europeans debate how far to proceed with the new technology, Americans are quietly ingesting the new foods, often without knowing it. "The genie can't be put back," says Marshall Martin, an agricultural economist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. "Anyone who eats pizza or cheese on their hamburger has consumed genetically modified food.... We pulled the cork out of the bottle in a sense with the discovery of DNA." For example, three-quarters of America's cheese gets its start with a bioengineered enzyme. Nearly 1 out of 6 dairy farmers injects his cows with a genetically engineered growth hormone to boost milk production. And genetically modified crops are increasingly taking over farmlands - with some 70 million acres planted worldwide, 60 million of it in North America. This planting season promises more inroads. For example, half of America's soybeans, perhaps more of its cotton, and a third of its corn could be genetically modified - a remarkable adoption rate in the four years since the new seeds were introduced. Other countries are also moving rapidly to incorporate the technology. Last year, some 650,000 farmers in China planted genetically modified cotton. And this year Monsanto, which produces the cotton seed, expects to double that number. Even the European Union has approved bioengineered soybeans and corn. Small quantities of corn, genetically modified to resist pests, are being grown in Spain and, if approved by France's high court, could start showing up in the fields of Europe's largest corn producer. ....... Daily Express 12 March 99 Why soya is a hidden destroyer Exclusive by Mark Townsend Fresh fears over the safety of genetically modified foods surfaced faced yesterday after new research revealed that food allergies relating to soya Increased by 50 per cent last year A study by Europe’s leading specialists on food sensitivity found health complaints caused by soya - the ingredient most associated with GM foods - have increased from 10 in 100 patients to 15 in 100 over the past year. Researchers at the York Nutritional Laboratory said their findings provide real evidence that GM food could have a tangible, harmful impact on the human body. The findings were sent to Health Secretary Frank Dobson last night as scientists urged the Government to act on the information and impose an instant ban on GM food, while further safety tests are carried out. Dr Michael Antoniou, senior lecturer in molecular pathology at Guy's Hospital, Central London, said: "This is a very interesting if slightly worrying, development. It points to the fact that far more work is needed to assess their safety. At the moment no allergy tests are carried out before GM foods are marketed and that also needs to be looked at." John Graham, spokesman for the York laboratory, said: "We believe this raises serious new questions about the safety of GM foods because it is impossible to guarantee that the soya used in the tests was GM-free." It is the first time in 17 years of testing that soya has crept into the laboratory's top 10 foods to cause an allergic reaction in consumers. __________________________________ Richard Wolfson, PhD Consumer Right to Know Campaign for Mandatory labelling and long-term testing of genetically engineered food 500 Wilbrod Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N2 email: rwolfson@concentric.net http://www.natural-law.ca/genetic/geindex.html subcription to genetic engineering news is $35 for 12 months. __________________________________ To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Sun Mar 14 18:01:07 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id SAA22912 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 18:01:06 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id RAA03616 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 17:05:56 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from igc7.igc.org (igc7.igc.org [192.82.108.35]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id RAA03546 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 17:05:46 -0500 (EST) Received: from igce.igc.org (igce.igc.org [192.82.108.49]) by igc7.igc.org (8.9.2/8.9.2) with ESMTP id OAA29689; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 14:05:10 -0800 (PST) Received: from [4.9.244.107] (PPPa21-PhiladelphiaA1-3R76.saturn.bbn.com [4.9.244.107]) by igce.igc.org (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA10583; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 14:04:52 -0800 (PST) X-Sender: libby@pop.igc.apc.org Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 17:08:34 -0500 To: OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU From: "Libby J. Goldstein" Subject: Spring Garden Rally Cc: Sally Wendkos Olds , sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu, Blaine Bonham , COMFOOD-L@SARDONYX.TUFTS.EDU, community_garden@ag.Arizona.EDU, jeg30@columbia.edu, SeyNah@aol.com Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 10 >Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 14:06:51 -0500 >From: Rachel Treichler >Subject: Spring Garden Rally >To: cyberpark@treebranch.com >Cc: Ted Lewis >X-Sender: ecobooks@pop.interport.net >Reply-To: cyberpark@treebranch.com > >===================================================== >The CYBERPARK mailing list >===================================================== >WHAT WOULD SPRING BE LIKE WITHOUT GARDENS? >IF WE DON'T ACT NOW, WE MAY FIND OUT! > >>From Mayor Giuliani's Plan to Auction Off >Community Gardens, To The Admission Fee at the >Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Our Access to Urban Green Space >Has Never Been So Threatened! > >JOIN US FOR AN EQUINOX CELEBRATION ADN RALLY! > >Rally to Save Our Community Gardens >Protest the Entrance Fee at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden >Celebrate the Arrival of Spring > >MUSIC (BRING AN INSTRUMENT!) GAMES, INFORMATION AND MORE > >WHEN: Sunday, March 21, 2:30 pm >WHERE: Eastern Parkway Entrance to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden > (between the library and museum) > Take the #2 Train to Eastern Parkway > >Sponsored by the Park Slope Greens >Call Ted Lewis at 718-437-2758 for more info > > > >=================================================================== >You are in Cyberpark, a public place. All opinions expressed here >are of the authors themselves, and not necessarily those of the >associations hosting this list. To remove yourself from Cyberpark, >send e-mail to listserv@treebranch.com with only the words >UNSUBSCRIBE CYBERPARK in the body of the e-mail. >To join send SUBSCRIBE CYBERPARK >=================================================================== >Add your events to the Treebranch Network Calendar! >http://www.treebranch.com/cgi-bin/calendar/calendar.cgi >=================================================================== >Cyberpark is a project of Neighborhood Open Space Coalition, Friends of >Gateway, and the Treebranch Network. Visit http://www.treebranch.com. >=================================================================== > libby@igc.apc.org Libby J. Goldstein phone & fax: 215-465-8878 Philadelphia USDA zone 7A Sunset zone 32 My garden must be n-dimensional if it's out here in cyberspace. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Sun Mar 14 18:51:08 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id SAA24288 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 18:51:08 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id RAA04540 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 17:58:57 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from rs1s2.datacenter.cha.cantv.net (rs1s2.datacenter.cha.cantv.net [200.44.32.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id RAA04536 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 17:58:52 -0500 (EST) Received: from redfox (nas4-103.ras.mbo.cantv.net [161.196.247.232]) by rs1s2.datacenter.cha.cantv.net (8.9.1a/8.9.1/1.0) with SMTP id SAA27204; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 18:58:42 -0400 (VET) Message-ID: <0ed401be6e6f$802cd6c0$11ecc4a1@redfox> From: "Red Fox" To: , "Libby J. Goldstein" Cc: "Sally Wendkos Olds" , , "Blaine Bonham" , , , , Subject: Links to the World Labor Markets Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 19:07:48 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.0810.800 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.0810.800 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 11 http://members.tripod.com/lagofox Links to the World Labor Markets, Bolsas Electronicas, and Information on Career Planning and its Life Cycle. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Sun Mar 14 20:05:06 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id UAA26186 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 20:05:06 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id TAA19943 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 19:13:32 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id TAA19875 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 19:13:27 -0500 (EST) Received: from UNLVM.UNL.EDU (unlvm.unl.edu [129.93.200.1]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id TAA20873 for ; Sun, 14 Mar 1999 19:13:26 -0500 (EST) Received: from phcglen (12.2.59.7) by UNLVM.UNL.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R4) with TCP; Sun, 14 Mar 99 18:14:27 CDT Message-Id: <2.2.32.19990315000719.00697860@unlvm.unl.edu> X-Sender: phrc031@unlvm.unl.edu X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 2.2 (32) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 17:07:19 -0700 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu From: Jane Sooby Subject: answers to simple-minded question Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 12 Following are some of the direct responses to my question, > Can someone briefly explain why antibiotics are used as > growth promoters in livestock? Aside from controlling minor diseases, certain antibiotics increase feed use efficiency, presumably by reducing the amount of energy spent growing big crops of bacteria in the gut. Dale Wilson It seems to have something to do with a thinning of the intestinal layers-of course has not been well studied, but it was found that the animals absorb more caloric value from their feed. I think you'll have trouble finding much of a mechanistic explanation, given the hostility toward basic science research which has persisted now for many years. They noticed faster weight gain, so they decided to feed antibiotics. L. Muldowney Antibiotics are used in livestock for a higher feed efficiency. The livestock have a better rate of gain meaning the farmer will not have to feed the animals as long. What it all translates to is that in these highly competative times, if the farmer's neighbor is using it he better use it as well or he won't be farming very long and the other farmer will get farther ahead and be in a better position down the road to make purchases such as equipment and additional land and leaving him in a stronger position all around. Paul To use antibiotics as weight gaining substances seems bizarre to me. If the payoff is that the antibiotics we need to fight infection in humans are losing their effectiveness, is this a choice our society wants to make? It intrigues me how this issue brings together so many disparate factors. Jane Sooby University of Nebraska-Lincoln alternative crops research technician Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society western organizer High Plains Ag Lab 3257 Rd. 109 Sidney, NE 69162 308-254-3918 308-254-2402 (FAX) 308-254-0725 (HOME) To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 10:10:26 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA18886 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:10:25 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id IAA15767 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 08:46:28 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from igcb.igc.org (igcb.igc.org [192.82.108.46]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id IAA15697 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 08:46:22 -0500 (EST) Received: from igce.igc.org (igce.igc.org [192.82.108.49]) by igcb.igc.org (8.9.2/8.9.2) with ESMTP id FAA12349 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 05:46:18 -0800 (PST) Received: from [4.9.122.69] (PPPa47-NewYorkB2-1R163.saturn.bbn.com [4.9.122.69]) by igce.igc.org (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id FAA25810 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 05:46:08 -0800 (PST) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 05:46:08 -0800 (PST) X-Sender: corevaluesne@pop2.igc.org Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu From: corevaluesne@mothers.org (CORE Values Northeast) Subject: Job Opening Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 13 Job Opportunity: Please Post EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Leading green consumer education and advocacy organization seeks dynamic, hands-on Executive Director that's always looking over the next hill to orchestrate all phases of organization development and growth, including long-range and programmatic planning, staff and board development and management, fiscal management, public relations and communications. Requirements: strategic leadership skills in non-profit fundraising, organizational and financial management and administration/operations; strong communications and interpersonal skills; proven team building and problem solving skills; demonstrated interest in environmental health issues, food and agriculture, and consumer activism; high level of motivation and drive; lots of energy; creativity, and a zest for what you do. Apply: Send resume to ED Search, Mothers & Others, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011; fax, 212-242-0545; email, wgordon@mothers.org Francine Stephens Program Associate Mothers & Others "Take Your Planet Personally" To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 10:39:07 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA19859 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:39:07 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA15886 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:36:53 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA15806 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:36:46 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.214] (term6-22.vta.west.net [205.254.241.214]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id GAA18016 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:35:02 -0800 (PST) X-Sender: colibri@west.net (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:36:24 -0700 To: From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: Spain: Transgenic Crop Producers Must Pay into Insurance Fund Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id JAA15819 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 14 Spain makes transgenic crop producers pay into insurance fund [BARCELONA] Saiu na Nature v397n6721, pp636.... The Spanish government has decided that companies that produce or plant genetically modified crops must contribute to a 90 million Euro (US$100 million) insurance fund intended to cover environmental accidents. The move reflects growing calls for tougher restrictions on such crops from opposition political parties, non-governmental organizations, and consumers' associations. As a result of this pressure, the government's approach to transgenic crops will be debated in parliament this week after two left-wing parties expressed concern that Spain has authorized the planting of genetically modified crops that have not yet been approved in other countries of the European Community. Environmental issues have become more controversial in Spain since last year's ecological disaster, when thousands of tons of toxic waste spilled into the DoÒana national park last April after a retaining wall collapsed at the AznalcÛllar mines in Seville. One party, the Bloque Nacionalista Gallego, is seeking either a moratorium or a strict limit on the import of such crops. The movement Ecologists in Action, which includes more than 300 environment-related organizations, has called for a ban on the 22 experimental field trials by the company Monsanto that have already been approved by the country's biosafety commission. Concern has been triggered by the high importation of modified crops, especially maize and soya. Between 15,000 and 20,000 hectares are said to have already been planted with such maize from the company Novartis. The number of licences for test plantings has increased from 36 in 1996 to 124 by January of this year. Transgenic foodstuffs became an issue in Spain in 1996, when seven Greenpeace activists held a protest in Barcelona against a boat containing 45,000 tons of soya, 2 per cent of which was genetically modified. Cristina Narbona, the environment-commission spokesperson of the socialist party PSOE, has urged the government to support demands being made at the biodiversity protocol meeting in Colombia to base the protocol on the so-called "precautionary principle". Xavier Bosch To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 10:39:12 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA19868 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:39:12 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA16096 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:37:19 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA16006 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:37:07 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.214] (term6-22.vta.west.net [205.254.241.214]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id GAA18081; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:35:27 -0800 (PST) X-Sender: colibri@west.net (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:36:49 -0700 To: , From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: Canada: Climate Change Called Farm Issue Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 15 Canada: Climate Change Called Farm Issue Western Producer March 11, 1999 Internet: http://www.producer.com/current_news/this_week/news/03111999news03b.html Imagine farming with more drought, more wind and more hail. Those are some reasons farmers should worry about climate change, natural resources minister Ralph Goodale told the recent Canadian Federation of Agriculture annual meeting. "Most of the available models predict that the world can expect more severe and more frequent climatic change," he said. "We all need to move more decisively to mitigate the threat." Goodale urged more participation by the agricultural industry in meeting the climate change challenge. He said producers should be concerned because they could face a significant amount of adaptation. Agriculture generates at least 10 percent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, which are causing climate change, he said. Identifying agricultural soils as carbon sinks is one way Canada can help meet its Kyoto Protocol commitment to reduce emissions to six percent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. "Work done by Agriculture and Agri-food Canada indicates that, within a few short years, agricultural soils will have shifted from being a net source of greenhouse gases to a net sink," Goodale said. He added that Canada has made progress in having agricultural soils recognized, but officials need more research and arguments to convince other countries. "The Canadian position is clear," Goodale told delegates. "We see the carbon-storing capacity of the soil as a tremendous opportunity for farmers around the world to be part of the climate change solution." He said agriculture research needs to be broadened to include climate change factors. For example, work on soil conservation, the use of pesticides and fertilizers, water quality and manure management all have greenhouse gas implications. Research has shown that reduced tillage and less summerfallow help soils incorporate carbon dioxide. Goodale said including sinks in the climate change equation would be incentive for sound land management, and an accompanying improvement in soil quality, plant production, water conservation and the bottom line. Ken Kelly, a delegate from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, asked Goodale if there would be any tangible compensation for early action by farmers. Goodale said that is being discussed as part of a crediting system for early action by any sector. "If we can produce such a program ... that would be a very green program," Kelly said. Delegates passed a resolution calling on the CFA to lobby for minimum-till agriculture to be recognized as a carbon sink, and to lobby against increasing input costs through a carbon tax without compensating farmers for the carbon they are removing. OFA delegate Sharon Rounds said large corporations shouldn't be given credit for work done in other countries. "We feel that we have the best carbon sink mechanism," she said. "We're dreaming in technicolor when we think we can plant rainforests in other countries." Bob Down, also from Ontario, said it's "time to get our oar in the water on this issue." Delegates heard that same message from Chris Pierce of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. He told them to be innovative in how they plan to live and work in a carbon-constrained world. "Make sure your voices are being heard in Ottawa," he said. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 10:44:24 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA20296 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:44:24 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA15885 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:36:54 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA15807 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:36:46 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.214] (term6-22.vta.west.net [205.254.241.214]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id GAA18022 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:35:05 -0800 (PST) X-Sender: colibri@west.net (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:36:26 -0700 To: From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: CARE Rejects Plan to Work with Monsanto Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 16 CARE Rejects Plan to Work with Monsanto St. Louis Post-Dispatch; 03/12/99 After meetings in St. Louis this week, the international relief agency CARE said it would not enter a partnership with Monsanto Co. because of worries by farmers in developing countries about Monsanto's genetically engineered crops. Milo Stanojevich, CARE's chief of staff, said Thursday that it became clear at the end of two days of discussions that brought CARE representatives from around the world that his organization had no interest in an alliance that St. Louis-based Monsanto was suggesting. The partnership could have meant contributions from Monsant for CARE's projects. The rejection is a setback for Monsanto, which stood to boost its image around the world and perhaps counter suspicion of its genetic technologies that exists widely outside of North America. But Stanojevich said his organization wasn't persuaded that genetically modified crops would benefit subsistence farmers in developing countries where CARE works. He said the concerns reflected fears by many farmers that they could become dependent on Monsanto if the use of modified seeds becomes dominant in farming. "There are concerns about the dependence it may create on one company," Stanojevich said, speaking by telephone from Atlanta. "What we said was that at this point, there are open questions about this technology and that we didn't really see how continued bilateral talks would be fruitful." But he added that CARE hopes to involve other organizations in future discussions about genetic engineering with biotechnology companies. CARE is one of the world's largest privately run relief and development organizations, operating in 60 countries. It was founded in 1946 as a means to help European survivors of World War II. Monsanto's chief operating officer, Robert B. Shapiro, had suggested the St. Louis meetings, which drew a 10-member CARE delegation to St. Louis from as far away as Africa and Asia. Shapiro also took part in the discussions. Monsanto asserts that its technologies can help farmers in developing countries to combat pests and drought, and that farmers will always have a choice in the seeds they plant. Philip Angell, **Monsanto**'s chief of corporate communications, described the meetings with CARE as preliminary. He said that they were not aimed at reaching an agreement on details of a partnership, although such an arrangement might have evolved later. "It was designed to start these two organizations talking to each other," he said. A partnership, Angell added, "would only have been a decision after dialogue and more back and forth." Soybeans, corn and other crops modified by genetic engineering are rapidly taking root in the United States. But in most of the rest of the world, it is another story. Europe and many developing countries have erected barriers to commercial production of modified crops. They worry that the safety hasn't been demonstrated over time and that its introduction could disrupt their farm economies and give a few companies too much control over their food and farmers. Those concerns were voiced loudly last month at U.N. biosafety negotiations in South America. In those talks, the United States, Canada and a handful of allies blocked a drive to establish global regulations governing the trade in modified organisms. Monsanto tried last year to establish an alliance with another respected international entity - the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. The Grameen Bank is famous in development and lending circles for "microcredit" - loans to small farmers and the disadvantaged. But after being scolded by advocacy groups around the world, the bank backed out of an arrangement in which Monsanto had promised $150,000 to support its activities. Exactly what kind of partnership that Monsanto and CARE were talking about was unclear. CARE's Stanojevich said that "philanthropy" by Monsanto had been discussed but that the talks hadn't reached the point of specifics. CARE has a range of partnerships from licensing agreements in which companies use CARE's name on their products to simpler deals in which companies donate to help with projects in parts of the world where they do business. Two of CARE's best-known partnerships are with Starbucks and Delta Airlines. The main critic of **Monsanto**'s attempted alliances is Rural Advancement Foundation International, an advocacy group with offices in the United States and Canada. With its e-mail and fax network, the foundation already had begun to pressure CARE to avoid an alliance with Monsanto. Rural Advancement's executive director, Pat Mooney, said: "I think some of this is quite genuine on Monsanto's part and that they might have something to help solve problems. The danger in working with farmers who are the poorest of the poor is giving them loans tied to Monsanto's technology." To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 10:47:49 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA20405 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:47:48 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA16123 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:37:22 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA15987 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:37:04 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.214] (term6-22.vta.west.net [205.254.241.214]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id GAA18057 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:35:19 -0800 (PST) X-Sender: colibri@west.net (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:36:40 -0700 To: From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: LA Times: Japanese Choke on American Biofood Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 17 Sunday, March 14, 1999 Japanese Choke on American Biofood Genetically altered produce reaps opposition. But moves to label it threaten $11 billion in U.S. sales. By SONNI EFRON, LA Times Staff Writer TOKYO--The video whirs, and an American food exporter's nightmare rolls across the screen. A potato bug is shown munching on the deep green leaf of a potato plant--genetically engineered in the United States, the narrator says, to produce a toxin that kills Colorado potato bug larvae. The bug falls off the leaf, flailing its legs in the air in what looks like insect agony. "They say this is safe, but I don't want to eat it. Do you?" asked the filmmaker, Junichi Kowaka, in an interview. Surveys show that most Japanese do not. In this land where food is considered most delicious when eaten raw or as close to its natural state as possible, genetically manipulated food is seen as synthetic, unwholesome and definitely unappetizing. To blunt a nascent consumer rebellion, the Japanese government has proposed labeling bioengineered food to give consumers the freedom to reject it. That in turn has alarmed the United States, which fears that the move could threaten its $11-billion annual sales--including about $1.3 billion from California--to Japan, the No. 1 market for U.S. agricultural exports. Japan is not the only nation gagging at the idea of genetically altered fare. A truly global food fight is underway. The outcome of the regulatory, marketing and public perception battle that has been joined in Japan could have far-reaching effects on what U.S. farmers plant next year, on the skyrocketing U.S.-Japan trade imbalance and on the struggle between biofood promoters and foes for the hearts and palates of consumers around the world. At issue in the emotional political debate that has erupted worldwide is how much to regulate and whether and how to label genetically modified organisms, known in biospeak as GMOs. These organisms are created when new genes--sometimes from another species--are introduced into a plant or animal to produce "desirable" traits, such as resistance to cold, pests, disease, spoilage or even a particular brand of herbicide. While U.S. farmers are quickly increasing the acreage planted with GMO seeds--to 40% or more of some crops--there is growing opposition in Europe, Japan and in some Third World countries on environmental, health, philosophical or religious grounds. The European Union has slapped restrictions on genetically modified plants and passed a law requiring GMO foods to be labeled. Well-organized environmental groups are crusading against what they have branded "Frankenstein food," fanning doubts about the products from Iceland to New Zealand. Anti-GMO protests have been staged in the Philippines, India and Hungary, according to activists, who are flooding the Internet with virulent attacks on biofoods. In London, where foes dumped bags of bioengineered soybeans onto Downing Street in protest last month, a poll by the Independent newspaper found that 68% of Britons were "worried" about eating GMO food. Only 27% said they were happy to eat it. Not all countries are hostile to foods altered by gene-splicing: GMO seeds reportedly have received a warm welcome in Russia, China and Argentina. And plenty of consumers have nothing against GMO foods so long as they know what is on the menu. A 1994 poll in Australia, for example, found that 61% were happy to try GMO foods, but 89% wanted them labeled. Australia and New Zealand are now trying to set up a common labeling system. New Zealand Prime Minister Jenny Shipley said earlier this month that consumers have a right to know whether their food contains GMOs. Nevertheless, a heated battle broke out last month at a U.N.-sponsored conference in Cartagena, Colombia, where delegates from more than 130 countries failed to agree on an international treaty to govern biosafety and trade in GMOs. The U.S. government warned that the restrictions being debated in Cartagena would paralyze international trade. According to media reports and conference participants, the United States and five other agricultural exporters that opposed labeling GMOs were bitterly accused by the other nations of torpedoing a global environmental pact to safeguard the interests of their farmers and biotech firms. The debate is by no means limited to food. Genetically modified material is being used in a wide range of products, from textiles to pharmaceuticals. Food Draws the Most Emotional Response Yet it is food that seems to generate the most emotional response. Consumer advocates say that people must have the right to know--and thus reject--food that has been subjected to genetic "tampering." Biotech backers say that requiring such labels is tantamount to branding demonstrably safe food as inedible and would raise food prices for all consumers. Proponents of bioengineering also say "genetically enhanced" species are essential to generate the crop yields needed to nourish the world's exploding population and to reduce use of herbicides and pesticides. They say the foods have been exhaustively tested and demonstrated to be safe enough to pass muster with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as international regulators. Foes assert that long-term studies on the effects of eating GMO foods have been inadequate. They question the environmental risks of developing pest-resistant or chemical-resistant crops, and they fear that bionic organisms could crowd out native species. A subtext in many countries is suspicion of scientific "miracles," new technologies and imperfect regulators, and the perception that the U.S. biotech industry has been heavy-handed in trying to shove new foods down frightened consumers' throats, said Beth Burrows, president of the nonprofit Edmonds Institute in Edmonds, Wash., who attended the Cartagena conference. Europeans have been sensitized to food-safety issues by the outbreak of "mad cow" disease. In Japan, the credibility of the Ministry of Health and Welfare was severely damaged by the 1996 revelation that its bureaucrats had knowingly allowed the sale of HIV-tainted blood products--a scandal that broke the same year that the ministry approved the first of 22 GMO crops for human consumption here. Availability of GMO foods in Japan has not led to acceptance. More than 80% of those questioned in a 1997 government survey said they have "reservations" about such foods, and 92.5% favored mandatory labeling. Unease is beginning to translate into action. The city of Fujisawa, near Tokyo, has banned all GMO foodstuffs from its school lunches. A tofu maker has begun advertising its product as "recombinant-DNA-soybean free." And a number of powerful food-buying co-ops--which claim nearly 20 million members, or about 1 in every 6 Japanese--are trying to screen out or label GMO foods. "It seems Americans only care about the quantity of their food, but Japanese are concerned about the quality," filmmaker Kowaka said. "Nobody wants to eat this stuff." Kowaka is a food-safety activist with the Japan Descendants Fund, a nonprofit group that has succeeded in provoking widespread concern among Japanese consumers about chemical-emitting plastics in food packaging and the use of post-harvest chemicals on food. Last year, a number of ramen makers changed their packaging after Kowaka's group reported that chemicals suspected of disrupting the human endocrine system leached from the plastic bowls when boiling water was poured over the dried noodles. Kowaka's current video, titled "The Dangers of Recombinant-DNA Food," has sold about 1,000 copies at $130 each and is being shown at lectures and gatherings by consumer, environmental and religious groups, he said. The Japanese government is countering anti-GMO groups like Kowaka's with a campaign to convince a skeptical Japanese public that genetically altered foods are not only safe but desirable. In fact, despite its draft proposal for a GMO labeling law, the Japanese government has been actively promoting biotechnology as a vital technology for the coming century and is investing billions to try to turn Japan into a world-class competitor. It is even attempting to genetically engineer strains of rice that will be tastier and hardier than conventional varieties. The politics of genetically engineered food here have been complicated by the fact that all the GMO foods offered for sale so far have been imported. Japanese companies have not dared introduce gene-spliced foods of their own, and although farmers can legally plant GMO seeds, so far none has chosen to do so, said Kazuhiko Kawamura, who deals with the labeling issue at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Foreign food producers complain that Japan's powerful agricultural interests are trying to scare off consumers from GMO foods as part of a campaign to boost domestic agriculture. "Over the last 30 years, there has been a concerted effort here in Japan to paint imported foods as being dangerous, as being less desirable," said Dennis Kitch, Japan director of the U.S. Grains Council. The effort has included everything from asserting to Japanese that their intestines are ill designed for digesting Western beef to convincing them that foreign produce is more chemical-laden than home-grown fare. Though false, U.S. officials and industry sources say, such claims have succeeded in instilling alimentary xenophobia. Kowaka's video is no exception. As the narrator warns that "we Japanese are being used as guinea pigs" for inadequately tested GMO foods, the camera shows unwitting children eating French fries--by suggestion, those made from genetically altered plants that kill potato bugs--at that archetypal American eatery, McDonald's. "They think all imported food is bad. That gets to be protectionist," said a U.S. government official who argues that GMO labeling should not be used to reinforce unfounded consumer fears. U.S. Wants Japan to Accept Standards The United States has decided to require labels on genetically altered foods that are nutritionally different from traditional fare, that might contain allergens or that pose religious problems--such as a plant containing a pig gene--if and when any are introduced. Yet it doesn't require labeling of foods whose chemistry is essentially unchanged, solely on the basis of genetic origin. GMO foes in the United States have filed suit in an attempt to reverse that decision, but meanwhile, the U.S. government is lobbying Japan to accept its standards. "We're asking them not to have a labeling requirement that stokes the fear that these foods are bad without any basis in fact," said a U.S. official, adding that there is no evidence these foods are unsafe. Kowaka insisted, however, that a potato with an inborn insecticide is no ordinary spud, and should bear a warning label if it cannot be banned altogether. The Japanese committee studying labeling for the Agriculture Ministry has not yet ruled on the issue or decided what any label would say. The influential American Chamber of Commerce in Japan warns that GMO labeling "will create new nontariff trade barriers to imports." And while U.S. officials are trying to keep their criticisms scientific and low-key, they also have hinted to Japan that they may protest any mandatory labeling requirement to the World Trade Organization--as they have done over the European Union law. Japanese consumer advocates are outraged by the American stance. Setsuko Yasuda, who runs the "No! GMO" campaign for the Consumers Union of Japan, said Americans should not meddle with Japan's right to regulate food safety and quality. If Americans truly believe in free trade and consumer choice, she said, they should label GMO food for what it is and let international customers make up their own minds. "But to try to hide information [about product origin] and force-feed people what they don't want to eat . . . is wrong," Yasuda said. "It is American arrogance, and it will provoke anti-American sentiment here. You will lose hearts around the world." For Japan and the United States, the stakes in the GMO battle are high. Japan absorbs nearly 20% of all U.S. food exports. With the American farm economy ravaged by the Asian economic crisis, the affluent Japanese market is one that farmers and food processors can ill afford to lose, grain lobbyist Kitch said. Japan's decision on labeling will be vital, and not just because of the size of its market; Tokyo's decisions tend to influence regulators in other Asian capitals. For Japanese, who must import more than half of the calories they consume each day, the increasing prevalence of GMOs in their food supply reinforces a feeling of food vulnerability. For example, 97% of Japan's soybeans are imported, mostly from the United States, and are turned into tofu, fermented miso, natto and other staples of the Japanese diet. However, 28% of last year's U.S. soybean crop came from GMO seeds, according to the American Soybean Assn. That percentage could double when farmers plant this spring's crop. "We will have to find non-GMO sources," Yasuda said, adding that if American farmers want Japan's business, they will have to segregate crops. Trouble is, U.S. farmers often plant GMO and traditional crops in the same field, use the same machinery to harvest and transport them, and pour their grains into container ships that bring a river of food across the Pacific to Japan. However, DNA testing is so sensitive that it can detect one GMO part per trillion, Kitch said. That means a few stray kernels of GMO corn could "contaminate" bushels. To certify a product GMO-free would require costly testing and segregation at every stage in the processing and distribution chain, he said. These obstacles have so far prevented Europe from fully implementing its labeling law, industry sources said. As GMO crops or livestock come to dominate the U.S. market, genetically pristine products will become scarcer and more costly. No one knows how much more expensive--though some estimate a "GMO-free" label could add 30% or more to the price, and wonder whether Japanese consumers will be willing to pay it. Japan's draft proposal on labeling does not specify how pure a non-GMO product would have to be. But without a threshold standard, a can of California tomato paste containing a smidgen of cornstarch that might have been made partly from GMO corn could wind up with a warning label--even if the tomatoes are all natural, Kitch said. Consumer advocate Yasuda and her allies say that imperfect labeling is better than none. And the fewer the "food miles" from farm to dinner table the better, they argue, even if home-grown fare is more costly. "Now, with globalization, we don't know where our food comes from, how it is produced, and what kind of contaminants it might contain," Yasuda said. "Does free trade automatically mean that the cheapest food is the best food? We don't think so." Copyright 1999 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 10:49:17 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA20459 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:49:16 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA15976 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:37:03 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA15913 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:36:56 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.214] (term6-22.vta.west.net [205.254.241.214]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id GAA18032; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:35:08 -0800 (PST) X-Sender: colibri@west.net (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 06:36:30 -0700 To: , From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: Genetic Engineering, Factory Farming, & Organics Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 18 Genetic Engineering, Factory Farming, & Organics Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston Rural America / In Motion Magazine URL: http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/geff.html News from Europe, India, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston Little Marais, Minnesota In what the Financial Times of London characterized on February 23 as a "public relations disaster for transgenic foods," global resistance to Monsanto and genetic engineering (GE) has sharply intensified over the past 60 days. As reported previously Monsanto Under Attack: Global Pressure Builds Against Monsanto, the international anti-GE movement is rapidly developing into a serious threat to Monsanto and other biotechnology titans. The growing crisis over gene-foods has reached the point where financial analysts are warning the Clinton administration that the European Union will not back off on efforts to label untested GE foods. Many believe this controversy could spawn a major trade war within the World Trade Organization (WTO). In Britain, commentators have similarly warned Prime Minister Tony Blair that his cozy relationship with Bill Clinton and Bill's favorite corporation, Monsanto, could do severe damage to Blair. It has been a rough last several months for Monsanto and the ag biotech special interests. Here is a chronological blow by blow account: * The Fall/Winter 1998 issue of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Gene Exchange warns of recent US research showing that genetically engineered Bt crops are building up Bt toxins in the soil, thereby damaging the soil food web and harming beneficial insects. * On December 15, 1998 attorneys from the Center for Food Safety, on behalf of a broad coalition, filed a legal petition in Washington, D.C. against the FDA to have rBGH taken off the market. The legal action received major attention from the mass media, including a widely-viewed segment on ABC TV national news. The CFS petition cites mounting evidence that the original testing of rBGH was flawed. In 1990 the FDA said BGH was "safe for human consumption." Part of its findings were based on 90-day rat feeding studies in which they reported "no toxicologically significant changes..." Based largely on this conclusion, FDA did not require human toxicological tests usually required for a veterinary drug. However in April of 1998, researchers from Health Canada, the Canadian equivalent to FDA, issued a report which contradicted FDA's findings. Canadian researchers found studies showing that rats were absorbing rBGH after all. In fact, between 20 and 30 percent of the rats were developing distinct immunological reactions. Additionally, cysts formed in the thyroid of some male rats and infiltrated the prostate--both warning signs for potential cancer hazards. "These are toxicologically significant changes in the rats and they should have triggered a full human health review, including assessment of potential carcinogenic and immunological effects," said Dr. Michael Hansen, an expert on rBGH and a scientist with the Consumer Policy Institute, a division of Consumers Union. According to CFS attorneys it is "unclear" how or why these results were overlooked in the original FDA review of rBGH. Monsanto says it submitted the studies to the FDA, while the agency says it only saw summaries of the rat tests. "We're going to go to the courts and say--you were lied to," said Andrew Kimbrell, lead counsel for the CFS. "Essentially it was fraud by the agency and fraud by Monsanto in telling the court that there were no human health effects possible from consuming these products made with rBGH treated milk." The EU has already banned rBGH, but this policy comes up for review later this year. The US government has warned that they will file for damages under the WTO if the EU continues to ban Monsanto's rBGH. * Australian trade authorities announced on Jan. 8, the largest shipment of canola (rapeseed) ever exported from Australia. The $16.5 million dollar shipment is bound for oilseed crushing plants in Europe. According to Graham Lawrence, managing director of the New South Wales Grains Board, "Europe has moved to become a major buyer this year because Australia is the only country to guarantee non-genetic modified canola." Canada has lost $300-400 million in canola sales to Europe over the last year because government authorities have followed the US model of co-mingling GE and non-GE grains. This year over 50% of Canada's 13.4 million acres of canola are genetically engineered. * The mid-January 1999 issue of the California Farmer magazine reports that Bt resistance has emerged among pink bollworms, a major cotton pest, in Arizona cotton fields Biotech critics have warned for years that genetically engineered Bt crops will cause major crop pests to develop resistance to Bt, thereby destroying the usefulness of the world's most important natural biopesticide. * On Jan. 14 Canadian government officials announced that they were not going to allow Monsanto's controversial recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH or rBST) to be injected into Canada's dairy cows. The ruling came after nine years of heavy lobbying by Monsanto and a major nationwide debate. Although the Canadian government and the media stressed that the permanent ban on rBGH was based primarily on animal health concerns, the data posted on their web site by the Canadian scientists who reviewed the drug made it clear that human health hazards were also a consideration, namely increased antibiotic residues and elevated levels of a potent human growth hormone factor and cancer promoter called IGF-1 found in rBGH-derived milk and dairy products. (For further information on the hazards of rBGH, see and ) * * On Jan. 22, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported that financial difficulties were forcing Monsanto to slash 1700 employees from its global workforce of 28,000. As indicated in previous Food Bytes, Monsanto now finds itself strapped for cash in the wake of last fall's failed merger with the American Home Products Corp. Monsanto's recent aggressive multi-billion dollar acquisitions of seed companies, research labs, and grain trading operations have increased their power and control over world markets, but have drastically reduced their available capital and lowered their stock values, leaving them potentially vulnerable to an unfriendly takeover by Dupont or Dow or another mega-corporation. Wall Street investment analyst William Fiala told the St. Louis Post Dispatch, "It seems like they (Monsanto) bit off more than they could chew after the merger collapsed. They are taking a risk that they could cut too deep in terms of personnel or could sell things out of necessity that are still good investments. Their debt is beyond Monsanto's comfort level and beyond most analysts' comfort level." * * Almost 200 cotton farmers in Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina are suing Monsanto for damages after crop failures of Monsanto's Bt and Roundup Ready cotton seeds, according to a news story in the Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle on Jan. 25. In a separate lawsuit 25 cotton farmers in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana are suing Monsanto for fraud and misrepresentation--also in regard to Bt cotton crop failures. * * On Feb. 5, Carrefour, France's largest supermarket chain, announced that they were taking all genetically engineered foods off their shelves. A representative from Greenpeace France, Arnaud Apoteker, told anti-biotech activists at an conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico on Feb. 7 that Greenpeace and their allies were planning on driving all GE foods and crops out of France by the end of next year. * * On Feb. 12 front-page headline stories in the British press revealed that Dr. Arpad Pusztai's explosive research findings on the potential human health dangers of genetically engineered potatoes--first aired in the UK media last August--had been verified by a panel of 20 international scientists. Dr. Pusztai, a world renowned researcher on plant lectins, was fired last August from the government-funded Rowett Institute in Scotland, under very suspicious circumstances, shortly after he went public with research indicating that laboratory rats fed genetically engineered potatoes had suffered significant damage to their immune systems, thymuses, kidneys, spleens, and guts. According to press reports, Pusztai's firing and the ensuing scientific coverup by the UK government were a direct consequence of ongoing White House pressure on Tony Blair to keep the door open to Monsanto and other biotech companies to market and grow GE products in Britain and across the EU. * When Dr. Pusztai fed conventional potatoes and snowdrop lectin (GNA) to rats, no damage occurred. But when Pusztai fed the rats an equivalent amount of potatoes which were gene-spliced with the snowdrop lectin, significant and startling damage became quickly evident. Despite deliberately false U.K. government allegations that Dr. Pusztai's experiments were purely theoretical, a number of biotech companies are currently carrying out similar lab and field tests on gene-spliced potatoes, rapeseed, rice, and cabbage, calculating that snowdrop-spliced food crops will repel crop pests. * Perhaps even more alarming than Pusztai's mutant potatoes, scientists have subsequently pointed out that Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a gene routinely spliced into millions of acres of US corn, cotton, and potatoes is now considered to be a form of lectin. And more alarming yet, another scientist, Dr. Stanley Ewen, said that a commonly used vector or production aid in gene-splicing, the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus, may have caused serious damage to the stomach and internal organs of the rats in Pusztai's study. If the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (CaMV) is confirmed as being hazardous to mammals, this could literally become the "Chernobyl of Biotech"--since Roundup Ready soybeans, Bt corn, and most other GE crops are produced using the CaMV as a genetic splicing vector. * On Feb. 13, eight days after Carrefour's announcement in Paris, a major British supermarket chain, Asda, announced that they were going to remove all genetically engineered ingredients from their own-brand goods. Asda's move comes in the wake of similar moves by other UK retail chains, including Iceland and Marks and Spencer. As Sheila McKechnie of the UK Consumers Association pointed out in the Daily Mail newspaper on Feb. 11, grocery chains banning GE foods like Carrefour will now "have an enormous competitive advantage" in the marketplace. * Bloomberg News reported on February 13 that EU authorities had rejected Monsanto's request to grow GE Roundup Ready and Bollgard Bt cotton plants in Europe. Two days earlier the European Parliament voted to tighten GE regulations, demanding that GE corporations be compelled to purchase liability insurance to cover any and all damages resulting from gene-altered crops or foods. The Parliament also demanded stricter measures for the prevention of gene transfers from GMOs to other crops or wild species, as well as a ban on antibiotic-resistance marker genes in genetic crops. * On February 18, an international coalition of public interest organizations, led by attorneys from the Center for Food Safety (Food Bytes and the Campaign for Food Safety are affiliated with the CFS) filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. to have all Bt crops taken off of the market because of the hazards they pose to the environment and public health. The February 18 Bt lawsuit was announced at a well-attended press conference in Washington, and generated significant coverage in the US press. Last May (see Food Bytes #13) the Center for Food Safety sued the FDA to have all genetically engineered foods taken off the market on the grounds that they are neither properly labeled nor safety-tested, and that lack of mandatory labeling illegally restricts the freedom of choice of those who would choose--on religious or ethical grounds--to avoid GE foods. * "Genetically engineered crops are a threat to farmers, consumers, and the environment," said Charles Margulis, a spokesperson for Greenpeace, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director of the Center for Food Safety stated, "EPA has shown a blatant disregard for federal law and its own regulations by approving Bt crops without fully assessing their environmental safety. Their continuing failure to regulate this untested technology forces us to turn to the courts for protection." For further information on these lawsuits see * On Feb. 23, the Daily Mail newspaper in the UK reported that three of Britain's fast-food giants--McDonald's, Burger King, and Kentucky Fried Chicken--are responding to customer pressure by eliminating genetically engineered soya and corn ingredients from their menus. According to McDonald's spokesperson Jackie Graveny: "Our aim is to have McDonald's GM (genetically modified) free as soon as possible." Similarly Burger King stated: "The company is set to ban GM food as soon as possible." In a related development the Agriculture Minister in the UK, Nick Brown, announced on Jan. 31 that UK restaurants will soon be required to start labeling "meals which contain certain types of genetically modified food." * With more and more major food retailers, restaurants, and processors in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Scandinavia, the UK, and other nations going "GE-free" a tremendous market now exists for certified "non-GE" and organic products. This makes it increasingly difficult for governments such as the US, Canada, and Brazil to keep telling farmers that their "no labeling and no segregation" policies on co-mingling GE and non-GE grains and crops make good economic sense. * On Feb. 23 India's Supreme Court ruled that all field trials of Monsanto's genetically engineered Bt Cotton must be halted. The court ruling and temporary legal injunction came in response to a legal petition filed by veteran Indian activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. According to Dr. Shiva, "This case does not merely have national significance, it has international significance. Around the world scientists, environmentalists, consumer groups and farmers are calling for a moratorium on commercial releases of genetically engineered crops because of growing evidence of ecological hazards and threats to food safety." The court ruling comes in the wake of months of protests by Indian farmers and consumers, many of whom have organized themselves into a Monsanto "Quit India" movement. Dr. Shiva and other activists brought together over 100 grassroots organizations in Hyderabad on Jan. 7 to launch a nationwide campaign against Monsanto. * A major backlash has developed against the United States and major transnational biotech corporations after an international Biosafety Protocol treaty was sabotaged in Cartagena, Colombia. The Biosafety Protocol, supported by over 135 nations and public interest groups worldwide, would have tightened regulations on the international transfer and trade of genetically engineered seeds, grains, and foods. In a vote on Feb. 24 the US and five of its allies, the so-called "Miami Group" (Canada, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile) managed to prevent the passage of the internationally binding treaty. As US biosafety expert Beth Burrows of the Edmonds Institute told the New York Times, "There was no moral high ground here (on the part of the US). There was no scientific higher ground. It was just cheap power politics." According to the Financial Times of London and other EU sources, the US' bully boy tactics at the Biosafety Protocol meetings will only serve to exacerbate anti-biotech feelings in Europe. A recent statement by George Monbiot in the London Guardian (Feb. 19) aptly sums up the mood of EU consumers: "Food scares happen... because people feel they have no control over what they eat. Our decisions are made for us by invisible and unaccountable corporations." * On Feb. 25 a group of US activists in San Francisco calling themselves fabRAGE (Fabulous Resistance Against Genetic Engineering) stripped off their clothes and disrupted a conference panel on genetically engineered cotton featuring a speaker from the Monsanto Corporation. "We'd rather go naked than wear genetically modified cotton!" shouted Biogrrl, a fashion diva at the event, as half a dozen activists charged through the room and stripped off their biohazglam gowns, chanting: "We don't want it, won't buy it, and won't wear it. Super Gene Girl, in a biohazard suit shouted, "Gene-spliced cotton is not sustainable!" Monsanto representatives appeared apoplectic in the face of the action. * On Feb. 27 Greenpeace activists in Mexico City hung banners protesting "Genetic Imperialism" and the US sabotage of the Biosafety Protocol on a historic monument, the Angel of Independence, in the center of the city. Police arrested the demonstrators, but the banner-hanging generated significant coverage in the Mexican media, where until recently there has been very little discussion of the GE foods controversy. * On March 2 the Reuters news agency reported that the UK's Advertising Standards Authority wil soon "censure" Monsanto for a misleading series of ads on the safety of genetically engineered foods which appeared last year in the British press. _____________________ Ronnie Cummins is National Director of the Pure Food Campaign (PFC) http://www.purefood.org a non-profit, public interest organization dedicated to building a healthy, safe, and sustainable system of food production and consumption in the U.S. and the world. The PFC's primary strategy is to help build a national and international consumer/farmer/labor/progressive retailer boycott of genetically engineered and chemically contaminated foods and crops. To subscribe to the monthly electronic newsletter, Food Bytes, send an email message to: < majordomo@mr.net > with the simple message: subscribe pure-food-action _________________________________________________________________ Email, Opinions & Discussion If you have any thoughts on this or would like to contribute to an ongoing discussion in the E-mail, Opinions & Discussion column click here to send e-mail to publish@cts.com. _______________________________ <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The address for any administrative command like unsubscribe, subscribe or help is: GENTECH-REQUEST@gen.free.de The searchable WWW list archive is available at http://gen.free.de/archives.html To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 11:22:23 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id LAA21891 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:22:23 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id KAA12726 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:18:57 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id KAA12707 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:18:52 -0500 (EST) Received: from uni03mr.unity.ncsu.edu (uni03mr.unity.ncsu.edu [152.1.1.166]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id KAA06910 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:18:50 -0500 (EST) Received: from unity.ncsu.edu (2405p200.ppath.ncsu.edu [152.1.176.53]) by uni03mr.unity.ncsu.edu (8.8.8/8.8.8/UR01Feb99) with ESMTP id KAA17189 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:18:51 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <36ED25A0.B12C5FAB@unity.ncsu.edu> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:22:08 -0500 From: Russ Bulluck X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en] (Win95; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Sustainable Ag Subject: Re: Prison labor, free labor References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 19 I've been watching this thread with much interest. Many of you have some very good points. I live (and work/go to school) in North Carolina, where prison labor is used in many different ways. Here prisoners are only allowed to work for the state, which comes in handy when I need to harvest tomatoes at one of the two research stations I did research on. As for how the prisoners are compensated, the way it was explained to me (by a prisoner) is that there are several levels, based on security risk. Level five prisoners make ~$0.75 a day. These are prisoners often seen in "chain gangs," at least 2 guards, with shotguns, feet shackled, etc. There are gradations to level 1. A prisoner must work his way up (get promoted if you will) to a level 1. These prisoners make ~$5.00 per day. They are more like work-release prisoners, and several of the ones I've worked with, I wouldn't hesitate to hire. They are mainly hard workers, many of whom can operate heavy equipment expertly. While I don't believe prisoners should be forced to work (and I don't believe _any_ of the prisoners in North Carolina are forced to participate), I also don't think that these people should be able to sit in an air-conditioned cell and watch TV all day. It costs a large amount of money for each prisoner (I can't remember the latest figure I heard, but I'm sure it was more than $30,000 a year) to house, clothe, and feed them. By allowing them to work (that's right allowing them to _choose_ to work or not to work) we can offset some of those costs, save money for the state in other ways (i.e. our tax dollars), and possibly provide a work ethic for someone who didn't have one. One more factor. Prison laborers are often released early (either by through early parole, or because pay was not only $5.00 a day, but also a day off the sentence). By the way, in 1997, we harvested approximately 2000 lbs of organically-grown processing tomatoes (made a great sauce). Since they were produced at a State-owned research station, we couldn't sell them. Several hundred pounds went to the state prison where several of the inmates were housed. I realize that this probably only adds fuel to the fire, and hopefully everyone will read this far before getting generally annoyed at a grad student with an attitude. I am opposed to prison labor being used by the general public or corporations. I do believe, however, that prisoners should be allowed to work for the state, and contribute to their own room and board. Last year, after a hurricane, level 1 prisoners were sent to farms to set up tobacco plants. I'm sure they cost less than the National Guard. . .Just my two cents worth. . . (okay. . .maybe a buck's worth). . .Russ -- Russ Bulluck Ph.D. Student Department of Plant Pathology North Carolina State University PO Box 7616 Raleigh, NC 27695-7616 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The soil population is so complex that it manifestly cannot be dealt with as a whole with any detail by any one person, and at the same time it plays so important a part in the soil economy that it must be studied. --Sir E. John Russell The Micro-organisms of the Soil, 1923 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 12:53:08 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id MAA25630 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 12:53:08 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id LAA08037 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:56:20 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id LAA07978 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:56:14 -0500 (EST) Received: from server1.mich.com (IDENT:root@server1.mich.com [198.108.16.2]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id LAA09555 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:56:13 -0500 (EST) Received: from [207.74.178.57] (pm002-017.dialip.mich.com [207.74.178.81]) by server1.mich.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id LAA17541 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:56:10 -0500 X-Sender: donald@mail.mich.com Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:58:57 -0500 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu From: donald@mich.com (Donald E Davison) Subject: Big Business into Organic Farming Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 20 ------------ Forwarded text ------------ Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 09:27:24 +0100 To: "English edition dispatch" From: Le Monde diplomatique Subject: Le Monde diplomatique - March 1999 Sender: LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE _________________________________________________________________ Le Monde diplomatique english edition March 1999 ORGANIC FOOD: LIES AND PROFITS Bio business is big business * by Chantal Le Noallec What is the future for suppliers of organic produce now that the big marketing and distribution companies are moving in? Will they survive the shock? As a result of the "mad cow disease" panic, organic farming is enjoying an unprecedented boom. Consumer demand has never been so strong. The major retail stores are filling more and more of their shelves with organic produce. Organic shops and supermarkets - or at least claiming to be organic - are shooting up everywhere. However, now that organic farming is coming into its own and is also receiving subsidies, it has become a juicy market niche ripe for exploitation. Faced with the encroachment of big business, the organic lobby seems uncertain which way to turn. http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/03/16bio.html Translated by Ed Emery - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Joke: God created the mule and told him: "You will be mule, working constantly from dusk to dawn, carrying heavy loads on your back. You will eat grass and you will lack intelligence. You will live for 50 years." The mule answered: "To live like this for 50 years is too much. Please, give me no more than 20." And it was so. Then God created the dog and told him: "You will hold vigilance over the dwellings of Man, to whom you will be his greatest companion. You will eat his table scraps and live for 25 years." And the dog responded: "Lord, to live 25 years as a dog is too much. Please, no more than 10 years." And it was so. God then created the monkey and told him: "You are the monkey. You will swing from tree to tree, acting like an idiot. You will be funny, and you shall live for 20 years." And the monkey responded: "Lord, to live 20 years as the clown of the world is too much. Please, Lord, give me no more than 10 years." And it was so. Finally, God created Man and told him: "You are Man, the only rational being that walks the earth. You will use your intelligence to have mastery over the creatures of the world. You will dominate the earth and live for 20 years." And the man responded: "Lord, to be Man for only 20 years is too little. Please, Lord, give me the 30 years the mule refused, the 15 years the dog refused, and the 10 years the monkey rejected." And it was so. And God made Man to live 30 years as a man, then marry and live 20 years like a mule working and carrying heavy loads on his back. Then, he is to have children and live 15 years as a dog, guarding his house and eating leftovers after they empty the pantry; then, in his old age, to live 10 years as a monkey, acting like a fool to amuse his grandchildren. And it was so. *** To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 13:01:08 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id NAA25947 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:01:08 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id LAA08445 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:57:01 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from vesuvius.gr8brdg.net (vesuvius.gr8brdg.net [209.96.136.2]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id LAA08370 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:56:54 -0500 (EST) Received: from greatbridge.net (cox139ppp190.gr8brdg.net [209.96.139.190]) by vesuvius.gr8brdg.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id LAA08295 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:56:53 -0500 Message-ID: <36ED3C9D.3076E9E5@greatbridge.net> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 12:00:13 -0500 From: Ben and Sasha Goldberg Reply-To: goldberg@greatbridge.net X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win95; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: sanet-mg Subject: Care: Support Care: Make a Donation Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------C143C241A5F805C4522A355B" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 21 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------C143C241A5F805C4522A355B Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Below is the on-line site for CARE if anyone is interested sasha http://www.care.org/support/donation.html --------------C143C241A5F805C4522A355B Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii; name="donation.html" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline; filename="donation.html" Content-Base: "http://www.care.org/support/donation.h tml" Care: Support Care: Make a Donation
ProgramsInfo CenterInternationalSupportMarketplace
CARE HomeSupport Care
Make a Donation
 


Donate Online
Donate by Phone
Donate by Mail
Donate Your Delta Sky Miles
 

You CAN Change The World

It is possible. At CARE, we see it happen every day, thanks to the generosity of hundreds of thousands of supporters worldwide. With your support, we can help communities and families find lasting solutions to poverty and the misery it imparts.

Our programs work because they provide the most essential ingredient of social change -- opportunity. The chance to start a business; learn to read; grow more food; protect natural resources; build a village well; raise a healthy family. We believe people can change their own lives. Our mission is to give them the opportunities they need to overcome social and economic barriers. Please help us.

 
 


CARE HomeSite MapFeedbackWhat's NewSite Search
--------------C143C241A5F805C4522A355B-- To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 13:20:18 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id NAA26754 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:20:18 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id MAA27703 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 12:29:17 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id MAA27670 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 12:29:12 -0500 (EST) Received: from catena.soils.umn.edu (root@catena.soils.umn.edu [128.101.77.1]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id MAA10119 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 12:29:12 -0500 (EST) Received: from S431B.soils.umn.edu (x160-75.soils.umn.edu [134.84.160.75]) by catena.soils.umn.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id LAA27333 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:29:12 -0600 (CST) Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.19990315172904.00f5f0ec@soils.umn.edu> X-Sender: alewand@soils.umn.edu X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.4 (32) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:29:04 -0600 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu From: Ann Lewandowski Subject: Re: nitrogen scavenging plants Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 22 ARS researchers at the University of Minnestoa, and an environmental remediation company have been using non-nodulating alfalfa to clean up an anyhdrous ammonia spill from a rail accident in North Dakota. They are using a variety called Ineffective Agate. For information, see the magazine article in the February/March 1998 issue of Soil and Groundwater Cleanup, p.11. Or contact Michael Russelle (USDA-ARS) at the University of Minnesota. -Ann Lewandowski At 07:51 PM 3/13/99 -0700, you wrote: >Dear SANETers: > I recall someone looking for a non-nodulating alfalfa for >scavenging excess nitrogen. There was much discussion about why one >would want such a plant but don't remember any such alfalfa being >reported. I just ran across a statement in Peaceful Valley's catalog >description for TriosTriticale (Triticum X Secale) which is described as >having an aggressive root system: "Use this crop to uptake excess >nitrogen." Maybe this would do the job. >--Edna > >___________________________________________________________________ >You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. >Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html >or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > > ______________________________________________ Ann M. Lewandowski NRCS Soil Quality Institute Department of Soil, Water, and Climate 1991 Upper Buford Circle University of Minnesota St. Paul, MN 55108-6028 alewand@soils.umn.edu 612-624-6765 fax: 612-625-2208 ______________________________________________ To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 16:05:23 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id QAA02654 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:05:23 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id PAA00824 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 15:09:01 -0500 (EST) Received: from luna.oit.unc.edu (luna.oit.unc.edu [152.2.22.4]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id PAA00737 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 15:08:54 -0500 (EST) Received: from titan.oit.unc.edu (titan.metalab.unc.edu [152.19.254.14]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id PAA00359 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 15:14:44 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (london@localhost) by titan.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id PAA03741 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 15:08:53 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: titan.oit.unc.edu: london owned process doing -bs Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 15:08:53 -0500 (EST) From: Larry London X-Sender: london@titan.oit.unc.edu To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Rampaging Rustics! Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 23 Rampaging Rustics! By David Ivins >From the New York Times In case you city dwellers and suburbanites haven't noticed, be warned: the countryside is slowly creeping up on you. Like a rapidly growing weed that smothers everything in its path, rural areas are encroaching on our cities and suburbs, and no one -- not our elected officials, public interest groups or citizens -- is doing anything to stop this rural sprawl. In countless confrontations, rural extremists are preventing businesses from building industrial parks, shopping malls, condominiums, single-family homes, theme parks, airports and sports arenas. They are even fighting the construction of new highways! What would the country be without the network of freeways and parkways linking our cities, suburbs, shopping malls, theme parks and sports arenas? Rural sprawl began quietly with the infiltration, in ever-increasing numbers, of wildlife -- squirrels, rabbits, songbirds and other small, cuddly, apparently innocuous creatures -- into our suburbs and the fringes of our major cities. Now it seems that these small animals were only the advance guard of a cunningly planned invasion that also includes deer, coyotes, beavers, mountain lions, bears and other despoilers of our cherished suburban and urban habitats. Areas that otherwise would be given over to job creation and highly profitable logging, strip mining and oil drilling are being expropriated by wild animals, which are inherently valueless since they contribute nothing to our economy. Once these beasts establish themselves, shielded by hellbent wildlife-protection groups and misguided politicians from Al Gore to Christie Todd Whitman, they can never be dislodged. But these animals are only the unwitting servants of the quaint-seeming "country folk" whose diabolical plan is to eradicate or make unlivable our suburbs and cities by covering our streets, sidewalks and highways with grass, shrubbery and trees. They want to inundate shopping malls and sports arenas with lakes, ponds and streams; replace our condo developments with "picturesque" villages and hamlets and our suburban tract homes with drafty, old-fashioned farmhouses. The ultimate goal of these fanatical rustics is to return all of us to lives of unsophisticated rural primitivism. Is this the kind of life we want to lead? Fight rural sprawl now, before it's too late! David Ivins is a freelance writer. Copyright 1999 The New York Times 2/25/99 To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 17:01:24 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA04498 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 17:01:24 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id PAA13929 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 15:29:17 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id PAA13856 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 15:29:12 -0500 (EST) Received: from aae.wisc.edu (aae.wisc.edu [144.92.122.133]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id PAA14174 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 15:29:10 -0500 (EST) Received: from mojo.aae.wisc.edu ([144.92.244.223]) by aae.wisc.edu (8.9.1a/8.9.0) with SMTP id OAA10674 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:29:10 -0600 Message-Id: <199903152029.OAA10674@aae.wisc.edu> Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Michele Gale-Sinex/CIAS, UW-Madison" To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:28:59 -0500 Subject: OP poisoning/Fresno Co./ProMED X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.53/R1) Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 24 Howdy, all-- Thought this might interest you pesticide watchers. From the ProMED list. peace mgs >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ORGANOPHOSPHATE PESTICIDE POISONING - USA (CALIFORNIA) ********************************************************** A ProMED-mail post [This is posted to emphasize that it is not only the Third World that suffers pesticide poisoning problems - Mod.JW] Date: Sat 13 Mar 1999 From: ProMED-mail Source: CDC MMWR February 19, 1999 / 48(06);113-116 [edited] Farm Worker Illness Following Exposure to Carbofuran and Other Pesticides -- Fresno County, California, 1998 In California, suspected pesticide-related illnesses and suspected work-related illnesses and injuries are reportable conditions. On July 31, 1998, the Occupational Health Branch of the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) received a report from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) of a pesticide exposure incident in Fresno County involving 34 farm workers. CDHS investigated this incident by reviewing medical records of the 34 workers and interviewing 29. The findings indicated that the workers became ill after early reentry into a cotton field that had been sprayed with a cholinesterase-inhibiting carbamate pesticide. On July 31 at 4 a.m., a cotton field was sprayed aerially with a solution containing as active ingredients 0.26% carbofuran (n-methyl carbamate), 0.05% abamectin (macrolytic lactone), and 0.05% mepiquat chloride (growth regulator). Although carbofuran, when used on cotton, has a restricted entry interval (REI) ** of 48 hours and requires both posting of treated fields and oral notification of workers, neither warning was provided. At 6 a.m., the 34 workers (age range: 13-64 years; median: 31 years) entered the field to complete weeding begun the previous day. After weeding for approximately 4 hours, the workers were transported to a second field 2-1/2 miles away that had been sprayed 2 days earlier with a solution containing cyfluthrin (synthetic pyrethroid), diclofol (organochlorine), and mepiquat chloride. The REI for these pesticides is 12 hours. Within approximately 1/2 hour of entering the second field, the workers began feeling ill and stopped working. Symptoms most commonly reported by the 34 farm workers were nausea (97%), headache (94%), eye irritation (85%), muscle weakness (82%), tearing (68%), vomiting (79%), and salivation (56%); the most commonly observed signs were bradycardia (21%), diaphoresis (15%), and miosis (pupillary constriction) (12%). Thirty (88%) workers were transported immediately to a medical clinic; the other four went home, showered, and sought medical care 3-17 days later. All workers evaluated at the clinic were decontaminated by clothing removal and showering and were sent to six area hospitals. Twenty-nine were evaluated and released the same day. One worker was hospitalized overnight for new-onset atrial fibrillation. All workers received hospital treatment for symptoms, and most (28 {82%}) lost at least 1 day of work. - -- **No worker without prescribed protective clothing should enter a treated area to perform a hand labor task until the REI expires. The length of the REI depends on the specific pesticide but generally can be no less than 12 hours. [MMWR] Editorial Note - -------------------------------- Pesticide exposure can cause serious acute illness among farm workers. In the incident described in this report, workers entered a field well before the end of a label-specified REI and incurred pesticide exposure that resulted in moderately severe illness (as defined by the American Association of Poison Control Centers {1}). The incident demonstrates that 1) posted and oral warnings based on the REI are necessary to prevent illness among workers performing hand labor in fields recently treated with pesticides and 2) failure to adhere to an REI can result in substantial morbidity among exposed workers. Because this incident demonstrates that sole reliance on these control measures may be inadequate, the substitution of safer, less toxic alternative pesticides should be adopted when feasible. Prompt, appropriate medical attention, including decontamination by clothing removal and showering, probably prevented more acute illness in this incident. However, some exposed workers went home before decontamination, increasing the potential for secondary contamination of children and other family members. Secondary contamination can be reduced by developing in advance appropriate procedures for decontaminating clothing, homes, and vehicles (2). Illnesses among family members exposed to the workers were not reported. Although the incident involved exposure to several pesticides, the agent with the greatest acute systemic toxicity is the broad-spectrum insecticide/nematocide carbofuran. Carbofuran exposure was the probable cause of illness based on biologic evidence (foliage and clothing samples and urine metabolites), signs and symptoms of cholinergic excess (voluntary and involuntary muscle movement, exocrine gland overactivity, and central nervous system effects), and laboratory evidence of cholinesterase depression. Although atrial fibrillation has been reported with other cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides (3), this is the first report following carbofuran exposure. In 1995, 248,000 lbs of cholinesterase-inhibiting carbamate pesticide were used in California, primarily on alfafa, rice, table and wine grapes, and cotton (4). During 1995, carbamate pesticides composed 1.8%, by weight, of all pesticides used and alone caused 30 (1.9%) of pesticide-related illnesses reported to CDPR. Clinical diagnosis of carbamate toxicity is based primarily on known or suspected history of carbamate use and presence of cholinergic symptoms and signs (5). Isolated cases may be less recognizable, resulting in delays in diagnosis and treatment. Because cholinesterase inhibition by carbamates is rapidly reversible, cholinesterase testing may be unreliable in diagnosing carbamate poisoning. The incident described in this report also illustrates the importance of limiting the time between cholinesterase collection and analysis, placing specimens on ice, and using the most appropriate analytic techniques to conduct cholinesterase assays (6). Measurement of urinary metabolites may be useful to confirm suspected carbamate-related illness, but because this assay is highly chemical-specific and is performed only by certain reference laboratories, it is not a practical tool for most clinicians. Treatment of carbamate poisoning includes decontamination, supportive care, and the use of atropine in severe exposures. References - ---------------- 1.Litovitz TL, Smilkstein M, Felberg L, Klein-Schwartz W, Berlin R, Morgan JL. 1996 annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers Toxic Exposure Surveillance System. Am J Emerg Med 1997;15:447-500. 2.Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Managing hazardous materials incidents. Vol. I-II. Atlanta, Georgia: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, CDC, 1992. 3.O'Malley MA. Systemic illnesses associated with exposure to Mevinphos in California, 1982-1989. Sacramento, California: California Department of Pesticide Regulation, California Environmental Protection Agency, 1992. 4.California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Pesticide use report, 1995. Sacramento, California: California Department of Pesticide Regulation, California Environmental Protection Agency, 1996. 5.World Health Organization. Carbamate pesticides: a general introduction. Environmental Health Criteria 64. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 1986:90. 6.Wilson BW, Sanborn JR, O'Malley MA, Henderson JD, Billitti JR. Monitoring the pesticide exposed worker. Occup Med: State of the Art Reviews 1997;12:347-63. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Michele Gale-Sinex, communications manager Center for Integrated Ag Systems UW-Madison College of Ag and Life Sciences Voice: (608) 262-8018 FAX: (608) 265-3020 http://www.wisc.edu/cias/ >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dennis: Anarcho-syndicalism is a way of *preserving* freedom! His Wife: Oh, Dennis, *forget* about freedom! We 'aven't got enough mud! To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 17:21:10 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA05136 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 17:21:10 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA09982 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:17:33 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from renoir1.spidernet.net (renoir1.spidernet.net [194.154.128.10]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA09969 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:17:27 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail0.spidernet.net by renoir1.spidernet.net (ElectricMail-MESSAGE-2.0-GAMMA) id XAA00977; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 23:23:53 +0200 Received: from spidernet.com.cy (nic-c53s01-l111.spidernet.net [194.154.136.239]) by mail0.spidernet.net (ElectricMail-MESSAGE-2.0-GAMMA-SSM1.1-ANTISPAM) id XAA27694; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 23:18:52 +0200 (EET) Message-ID: <36ECCFB7.260C2ABB@spidernet.com.cy> Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:15:35 +0200 From: Lee Row X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en] (Win95; I) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: [Fwd: ECON: Small farmers' seed rights up for grabs?] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 25 -------- Original Message -------- Subject: ECON: Small farmers' seed rights up for grabs? Date: Sat, 6 Mar 1999 21:43:04 -0500 From: "Kelly J. Morris" Reply-To: "Kelly J. Morris" To: TOGO-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM COTONOU, (Mar. 5) IPS - Entering the global economy, some African researchers say, calls for trade-offs, and Francophone nations recently had no trouble trading small farmers' rights to store and exchange seed. Francophone members of the African Organization of Intellectual Property (OAPI) put their signatures to the 1991 Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants Convention (UPOV 91) in the Central African capital of Bangui. Inventors of new crops now have their discoveries protected in the OAPI countries as per the terms of UPOV 91. Adopted in Paris in 1961, this Convention has been amended several times, but most members follow its 1978 Convention which is widely interpreted by governments to allow farmers to save and exchange seed. But UPOV's 1991 Convention assumes that farmers cannot save seed unless governments permit specific exceptions, and up until the signing last week by the OAPI countries, only 11 developed countries had adopted the 1991 Convention. The Francophone members of the OAPI are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Togo. While the Canadian-based International Rural Advancement Foundation (RAFI) believes that African countries may have been pushed too quickly into the arms of a western-dominated intellectual property cartel, Francois Adande of Benin says Africa must create "trust" that it can protect intellectual property rights. Adande, head of judicial and trademark services at Benin's National Center of Industrial Property (CENAPI), believes that the UPOV Convention is important in so far as it protects inventions coming from Western countries that are much more able and equipped in research, especially in genetic engineering. "Globalization is scaring the whole world. Those who have something are scared. Infringements are occurring more and more, and if Western inventions are not protected, they will be investing in research at a loss," Adande says. Africa, he continues, can only gain by creating trust in its ability to protect acquired crops. "But if one does not create that trust, there will not be any kind of technological transfer, since each would guard their own secret and our situation would improve much more slowly." Other Francophone African experts also are not so alarmed by RAFI's concern that the more than 20 million small farmers in the Francophone African nations would have no right to store and exchange seeds, because of their governments' signing UPOV 91. The 1991 Convention, argues Badiou Ouattara, head of a crop research centre in Burkina Faso, "has nothing to do with seed supply for farmers. "It's like a musician that writes music. The whole world can buy a tape, but it is registered internationally under the composer's name," Ouattara continues. Hien Mathieu, head of the Intellectual Property Services in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Crafts of Burkina Faso, oh the other hand, says that while African nations must be cautious in negotiations on intellectual property rights, globalization requires trade offs. "If after investment-financed research someone finds varieties of millet or corn (suitable) for the Sahel, they must be compensated for their discovery," Hien says. "Our countries must make the necessary arrangements and adjustments, because globalization is here. We cannot afford to marginalise ourselves," Hien adds. "We need a rational policy on research. If the Europeans come to do research, you have to be a partner to them so they do not take and protect everything over there." Hien adds that the protection, in this case UPOV 91, does not mean that no one else can use "your product", but that whoever has developed a crop can use it or permit others to use it. Bassane Jean Toe in Burkina Faso's Ministry of Agriculture says that adding the Francophone African nation's signatures to UPOV 91 is like adding a "voice of reason." "It's a necessity. African nations have ample knowledge of UPOV, so they have nothing to worry about," Toe says. ***************************************************************************** This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. The sender does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the message, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder. ****************************************************************************** ~~~~~~~ TOGO-L - THE FRIENDS OF TOGO DISCUSSION GROUP ~~~~~~~ Too much mail every day? Send mail to: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM In the body of the message, type: SET TOGO-L DIGEST Sign off the List? Send mail to: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM In the body of the message, type: SIGNOFF TOGO-L Need more help? Send mail to: TOGO-L-request@listserv.aol.com ~~~~~~~~ FRIENDS OF TOGO FUFU BAR www.visitweb.com/togo ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~JOIN FRIENDS OF TOGO NOW! SEND $20 ANNUAL DUES TO: ~~~~ FRIENDS OF TOGO, INC., P.O. BOX 9436, WASHINGTON, DC 20016 USA To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 17:26:23 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA05341 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 17:26:22 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA00784 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:53:13 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA00756 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:53:08 -0500 (EST) Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA16815 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:53:07 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.137] (term5-9.vta.west.net [205.254.241.137]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id NAA23411 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:51:25 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:52:47 -0700 To: From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: EPA Extends Comment Period on Proposed Rule to Expand Chemical Right-to-Know Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 26 EPA Extends Comment Period on Proposed Rule to Expand Chemical Right-to-Know On January 5, 1999, the EPA issued a proposed rule to lower the reporting thresholds and to add certain persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals to the Toxics Release Inventory. This proposed action will potentially increase reporting about the public's Chemical Right-to-Know by 25 percent. In response to several requests, the EPA is extending the comment period on this proposed rule by 30 days. The EPA has determined that extending the comment period is appropriate and that it will not cause a significant delay in the evaluation of the proposed rule. The comment period was scheduled to close on March 8, 1999; it will now close on April 7, 1999. Written comments must be received by the EPA on or before April 7, 1999. Comments may be submitted by mail, electronically, or in person. For further information contact Daniel R. Bushman, Petitions Coordinator, 202-260-3882, e-mail: bushman.daniel@epamail.epa.gov. For specific information on the proposed rule or for more information Community Right-to-Know, contact the Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 5101, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460. You may also call toll free: 1-800-535-0202, and in Virginia and Alaska call: 703-412-9877 or call toll free TDD: 1-800-553-7672. Electronic copies of this document and the January 5, 1999, proposed rule can be obtained from the EPA Internet Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/ . On the Home Page select "Laws and Regulations" and then look up the entry for this document under the "Federal Register - Environmental Documents." You can also go directly to the "Federal Register" listings at: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 17:28:17 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA05417 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 17:28:16 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA00803 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:53:19 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA00793 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:53:15 -0500 (EST) Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA16829 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:53:14 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.137] (term5-9.vta.west.net [205.254.241.137]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id NAA23460 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:51:32 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:52:54 -0700 To: From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: EU Scientific Committee decides against rBGH Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 27 Conclusions and Recommendations of the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare on the Animal Welfare Aspects of the Use of Bovine Somatotrophin (Adopted 10 March 1999) Full text is on website http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scah/out21_en.html General conclusion BST is used to increase milk yield, often in already high-producing cows. BST administration causes substantially and very significantly poorer welfare because of increased foot disorders, mastitis, reproductive disorders and other production related diseases. These are problems which would not occur if BST were not used and often results in unnecessary pain, suffering and distress. If milk yields were achieved by other means which resulted in the health disorders and other welfare problems described above, these means would not be acceptable. The injection of BST and its repetition every 14 days also causes localised swellings which are likely to result in discomfort and hence some poor welfare. Recommendation BST use causes a substantial increase in levels of foot problems and mastitis and leads to injection site reactions in dairy cows. These conditions, especially the first two, are painful and debilitating, leading to significantly poorer welfare in the treated animals. Therefore from the point of view of animal welfare, including health, the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare is of the opinion that BST should not be used in dairy cows. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 17:31:29 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA05507 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 17:31:29 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA21554 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:38:11 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA21513 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:38:06 -0500 (EST) Received: from fw1.phibred.com (firewall-user@fw1.phibred.com [204.233.143.2]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id QAA16417 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:38:03 -0500 (EST) Received: by fw1.phibred.com; id LAA14004; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:23:44 -0600 Received: from orion.phibred.com(170.54.241.13) by fw1.phibred.com via smap (4.1) id xma006557; Mon, 15 Mar 99 11:18:33 -0600 Received: by orion.phibred.com with Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) id ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:18:33 -0600 Message-ID: <8FEE1BDA0910D111BEB500805F1999C7FFC025@vela.phibred.com> From: "Wilson, Dale" To: "'Jane Sooby'" , sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: RE: answers to simple-minded question Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:18:31 -0600 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 28 Jane, Paul said > Antibiotics are used in livestock for a higher feed efficiency. > The livestock have a better rate of gain meaning the farmer will > not have to feed the animals as long. Jane said > To use antibiotics as weight gaining substances seems bizarre > to me. If the payoff is that the antibiotics we need to fight > infection in humans are losing their effectiveness, is this a > choice our society wants to make? When you put it like that, of course not. But what do you think of use of classes of antibiotics that cannot, or for some reason, will not be used in human disease control? Also, there are apparently other (non-antibiotic) ways to manipulate intestinal flora, such as special strains of bacteria, and foods that promote their growth. A lot of work is underway on this subject. Dale To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Mon Mar 15 17:32:07 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA05535 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 17:32:07 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA28849 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:47:58 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mailhost.rodaleinst.org (mailhost.rodaleinst.org [205.147.214.3]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA28833 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:47:52 -0500 (EST) Received: from kmaure.rodaleinst.org ([205.147.214.43]) by mailhost.rodaleinst.org (Netscape Mail Server v1.1) with SMTP id AAA8567 for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:41:04 -0500 Received: by kmaure.rodaleinst.org with Microsoft Mail id <01BE6F03.D3242920@kmaure.rodaleinst.org>; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:49:43 -0500 Message-ID: <01BE6F03.D3242920@kmaure.rodaleinst.org> From: Laura Gurk To: "'sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu'" Subject: Job posting Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 16:49:39 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id QAA28834 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 29 Job Opportunity: Please post Tour Guide Internship Do you enjoy working with children and adults? Do you enjoy spending time outdoors in a rural farm setting? If you answered "yes" to these questions, then an internship at The Rodale Institute Experimental Farm is waiting for you. There are intern position(s) currently available to become a Rodale Institute tour guide from May 1st through October 31st. Learn about organic gardening and farming first-hand, while giving tours of the gardens and farm to children, youth and adult groups. Flexible working hours (approx. 25 hours/week) in a Tuesday-Saturday work schedule. A willingness to learn and a bright, cheery attitude is all that is required to become part of The Rodale Institute family. To apply: Send a resume to: Rodale Institute Experimental Farm, c/o Tour Guide Internship, 611 Siegfriedale Rd. Kutztown, PA 19530; fax to: (610)683-9175; or email: Lgurk@rodaleinst.org. The Rodale Institute is located in Kutztown, Pennsylvania which is between Allentown and Reading, PA. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 05:28:52 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id FAA26107 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 05:28:51 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id EAA26057 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 04:32:34 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id EAA25868 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 04:32:24 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail.iatp.org (iatp-2.InnovSoftD.com [208.141.36.66]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id EAA26370 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 04:32:22 -0500 (EST) Received: from markbert ([208.141.36.107]) by mail.iatp.org (Netscape Messaging Server 3.56) with SMTP id 543; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 03:36:33 -0600 Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990316033449.030ebb80@iatp.org> X-Sender: mritchie@iatp.org X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 03:34:49 -0600 To: Gary Elliott , Shoshanah Inwood From: "Mark Ritchie" Subject: Re: Prison labor, free labor Cc: "Michele Gale-Sinex/CIAS, UW-Madison" , sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu, iffs@nal.usda.com, wrdc@execpc.com, dkaufman@discover-net.net, rlwills@execpc.com, fgoodman@mwt.net, cclp@mwci.net, pln2@wtrt.net, klemme@aae.wisc.edu, pjdietma@facstaff.wisc.edu, stevenson@aae.wisc.edu, mister3d@pbi.net, yolanda.p.cruz@oberlin.edu, Marylee Haughwout , Jenna Hill In-Reply-To: <36E9ECD2.E8A8AC21@london.skyscape.net> References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 30 Greetings, Great postings on the prison labor conversation. Thought I might put my two cents worth in the pot on prison labor. First of all this is not the way we build a sustainable society ... locking up young men who applied 100 times for a job at Company "X" on the street and was told he was not qualified, instantly becomes qualified to work in prison for Company "X" when he gets 25 years for possession of crack cocaine ... so much for free enterprise. A little history: Prison industries, using inmate labor to manufacture goods was a booming business right after slavery up to the 1930's. Here in Alabama a lot of the mining was done by contract prison labor (and a lot of those prisoners were enslaves that were picked up on flaky vagrancy laws for the express purpose of creating a prison labor pool). As a matter of fact, entire prison facilities here in Alabama were leased out to private manufactures and farmers so they could use the prisoners for cheap labor (that is documented by a University of Alabama professor, I will have to find the title of the book again... he has great stories and documentation of prison labor practices and conditions during this time period). Any way in in the 1930's the sale of "open market prison made products" was banned by Congress. Labor was crying foul and the man on the street was out of work do to the depression. Fast forward... in 1979 Congress quietly lifted the ban on the interstate transportation and sale of prison made goods providing that they passed the "Private Industry Enhancement Certification Program". Basically this program certifies that inmate workers are paid local prevailing wages(jive talk) and the local work forces is not displaced by prison labor . The largest player in the prison labor game is the mighty Federal Prison Industries ($495.4 million in sales FY 1996) that is a half of billion folks ... serious cash money . Please check out Occupational Training or Slave Labor by David Martin: http://www.zolatimes.com/V2.13/FPI.html You might also want to read "Workfare" And Prison Forced Labor: New Strategies To Reduce Wages by Mark Cook: http://metalab.unc.edu/prism/Nov96/forced.html Tracy Huling, I do agree with you concerning the "bored and angry" phrase. It is trash talking in its purest form. We need to look at the real social and economic consequences of expanding the prison labor work force. We also need to understand true implication when a state like California corrections budget is larger than the entire state budget for higher education. And of course every year more prisons are being build to capitalize on ____________. You fill in the blank. Stan Johnson stanjj@mindspring.com http://www.alarise.org Mark Ritchie, President Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy 2105 First Ave. South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 USA 612-870-3400 (phone) 612-870-4846 (fax) mritchie@iatp.org www.iatp.org/iatp To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 06:25:06 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id GAA27185 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 06:25:05 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id FAA12524 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 05:43:10 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from hil-img-7.compuserve.com (hil-img-7.compuserve.com [149.174.177.137]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id FAA12506 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 05:43:06 -0500 (EST) Received: (from mailgate@localhost) by hil-img-7.compuserve.com (8.8.6/8.8.6/2.18) id FAA12896 for sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 05:42:37 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 05:40:13 -0500 From: BILL DUESING <71042.2023@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Organic Farming Economics Responce To: SANET-mg Message-ID: <199903160542_MC2-6E16-FACE@compuserve.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 31 In this country, 80 cents of every dollar spent on food is used to get the food from the farm to the eater. Only 20 cents gets to the farmer who spends on average 15 cents on inputs (labor, etc.) It seems that shrinking that 80 percent sector might prove more productive than shrinking the 15 percent one. And, according to USDA, the whole dollar is spent on agriculture-even when it buys Madison Avenue's services, TV time, packaging, supermarket shelf fees, etc. Bill Duesing To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 09:36:46 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id JAA01618 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:36:46 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id IAA03086 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:34:47 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from webserf.net (webserf.net [204.77.122.1]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id IAA03056 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:34:42 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199903161334.IAA03056@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu> Received: from bluestem [204.77.126.155] by webserf.net (SMTPD32-4.03) id ADD381D2007A; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 07:34:11 CST From: "Bluestem Associates" To: "sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu" Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 13:30:46 Reply-To: "Bluestem Associates" X-Mailer: PMMail 98 Professional (2.01.1600) For Windows 98 (4.10.1998) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Organic Farming Economics Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 32 On Tue, 16 Mar 1999 05:40:13 -0500, BILL DUESING wrote: >In this country, 80 cents of every dollar spent on food is used to get the >food from the farm to the eater. Only 20 cents gets to the farmer who >spends on average 15 cents on inputs (labor, etc.) That's on produce. For commodities it's often 10 cents or less. John Ikerd and Charles Benbrook have each done some excellent work in this domain that is, alas, substantially more discouraging than your numbers. Benbrook has compared the ensemble of US production agriculture to other sectors of the agri-food industry, and the results are not pretty. Farming's aggregate return on gross revenues is 2.1%, compared to Food Service -- 3.4%; Retail Grocery -- 4.6%; Pesticides -- 5.9%; Food Processing -- 7.0%; and Seeds -- 12%. When looking at profits against assets, things are worse yet. Food Service -- 16.1%; Retail Grocery 10.6%; Food Processing -- 9.1%; Pesticides -- 3.9%; Seeds -- 3.7%; and finally, Farming -- a piddling 0.4%. If you adjust Benbrook's profits against assets numbers to account for average equity in those assets, farming's return on investment (ROI) is *still* under 1% (and actually closer to 0.7% !) That is roughly one-seventh the ROI to be had by putting the same money in a totally-safe US Treasury bond. And let's remember, too, that over three-quarters of US farmers have gross revenues under $50,000 and on average show a net *loss* of $3,000 per year. >It seems that shrinking that 80 percent sector might prove more productive >than shrinking the 15 percent one. Yes, indeed, though I'm not convinced that organic production (in itself) is the answer. As organics is currently evolving, we have a $4.00 box of organic corn flakes for which the farmer sees about 4 cents. Please explain how that is a substantial improvement on $3.00 conventional corn flakes, for which the farmer sees 3 cents. To survive, farmers need to think more like the shareholders of a corporation, focusing *first* on maximizing ROI. Getting our hands on a bigger chunk of that 80 per cent is a major element of that process. Most farmers, unfortunately, are content to work as staff for a business that has no over-arching internal management structure. As a result, the functions of VP Finance usually end up in the hands of the Banker. The role of VP Production goes to major input suppliers. And VP Marketing is most often the Buyer. All these external people are understandably trying to fatten their own bottom lines, which is how you end up with the kind of comparative returns that Benbrook cited. Farmers have a greater chance of financial success if they think *more* like business people, not less, and that success at least allows them the option of taking better care of their land. Farmers who have their backs against the wall financially are not particularly willing to change *anything* because they simply can't afford to make a mistake. Therein lies the core of our challenge in popularizing sustainable and organic agriculture. Attempting to address the agronomic issues before the management challenges are resolved it unlikely to be especially satisfying or effective. Bart Hall, Lawrence, Kansas To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 09:36:47 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id JAA01622 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:36:47 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id IAA01304 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:30:38 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mail.caribe.net (root@mail.caribe.net [209.91.196.5]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id IAA01233 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:30:28 -0500 (EST) Received: from ddworley (ppp202.203dip.netdial.caribe.net [209.91.203.202]) by mail.caribe.net (8.9.0/8.9.0) with SMTP id JAA27818 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:33:12 -0400 (AST) Message-Id: X-Sender: ddworley@mail.caribe.net X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0 Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 05:44:00 -0400 To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu From: Richard Wolfson (by way of Daniel Worley ) Subject: GEN3-13; Fwd, Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 33 [Reposted with permission] ...... Sydney Morning Herald Saturday, March 13, 1999 Label gene food, says jury By DEBORAH SMITH After deliberating through the night until dawn, a citizen's jury at Australia's inaugural consensus conference brought down a unanimous report yesterday recommending that all genetically modified (GM) foods be labelled. The 14-member lay panel also called, in effect, for a short moratorium on any new commercial releases of GM foods in Australia, or the importation of unlabelled ones, until a better regulatory system was in place. It criticised the present regulatory bodies, including the Australia and New Zealand Food Authority which assesses the safety of new GM foods, for not serving community interests. It said: "The decision-making process is currently inaccessible and open to bias." It recommended a new statutory authority be established to oversee the introduction of gene technology, and that its deliberations be public. "The speed at which GM organisms have been developed and introduced by multinational companies and the scientific community has left many people completely unaware of and uninvolved in the process," the panel said. ........ posted by To: Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 PUBLICATION: The Spectator (UK) DATE: Fri 12 Mar 1999 BYLINE: Laurent Belsie Guess what's coming to dinner!: We are what we eat. But what are we eating? Gene-spliced plants and hormone-treated beef raise serious ethical questions about the way the world is fooling with Mother Nature Geneticists are on the verge of revolutionizing agriculture and medicine in much the same way that computers have transformed business. Labs around the world are working on crops that could feed a growing planet, plants that could clean up contaminated soils, and pigs whose organs may one day get trans-planted into people. But to do these things, scientists are fooling with nature's basic building blocks. As they do, they are kicking up dissent around the world as one nation tries to sell its genetically altered foods to another's grocers. The current food fight between the United States and Europe -- over hormone-treated beef and genetically altered soy beans -- could be just a prelude of arguments to come. That's because the greatest risks probably don't lie with today's simple genetic alterations. Future rounds of exotic agriculture pose bigger threats because they will put organisms to completely new uses. The fundamental question: How much should science manipulate nature to care for mankind? And there's no going back, scientists say. Consider the U.S. experience. While Europeans debate how far to proceed with the new technology, North Americans are quietly ingesting the new foods, often without knowing it. ``The genie can't be put back,'' says Marshall Martin, an agricultural economist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. ``Anyone who eats pizza or cheese on their hamburger has consumed genetically modified food ... We pulled the cork out of the bottle in a sense with the discovery of DNA.'' For example, three-quarters of America's cheese gets its start with a bio-engineered enzyme. Nearly one out of six dairy farmers injects his cows with a genetically engineered growth hormone to boost milk production. And genetically modified crops are increasingly taking over farmlands -- with some 70 million acres planted worldwide, 60 million of it in North America. This planting season promises more inroads. For example, half of America's soybeans, perhaps more of its cotton, and a third of its corn could be genetically modified -- a remarkable adoption rate in the four years since the new seeds were introduced. Other countries are also moving rapidly to incorporate the technology. Last year, some 650,000 farmers in China planted genetically modified cotton. And this year Monsanto, which produces the cotton seed, expects to double that number. Even the European Union has approved bio-engineered soybeans and corn. Small quantities of corn, genetically modified to resist pests, are being grown in Spain and, if approved by France's high court, could start showing up in the fields of Europe's largest corn producer. Biotech companies such as Monsanto hope that resistance to the technology will crumble once European farmers begin to adopt the new strains. That move is likely, companies say, because the new-fangled crops typically improve yields and cut costs. ``It's likely to be adopted because the value of the benefits will be recognized,'' says Philip Angell, a Monsanto spokesman. Take cotton, one of the world's most pest-prone crops. By incorporating the genes of a natural insecticide, scientists have created a pest-resistant strain that requires fewer chemicals. It ``has been massively beneficial,'' says Val Giddings, a vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization in Washington. In the three years since they began using it, U.S. farmers have saved the equivalent of 850,000 gallons of pesticides -- the equivalent of 48 railroad tank cars of chemicals. Cutting pesticide use saves money. According to newly released figures by one of Britain's leading plant-research centres, bio-engineered soybeans saved farmers an average $30 US a hectare (because they used 40 per cent less herbicide. Pest-resistant corn saved $42 per hectare. (A hectare represents some 2 1/2 acres.) Doug Powell, associate professor in the department of plant agriculture at the University of Guelph sees genetic engineering as ``one additional tool that allows farmers and food processors to provide nutritious, low-cost food. ``We always need to be vigilant but I am confident there is a system in place for this.'' Despite these benefits, environmentalists worry the new crops pose a bigger hazard to human health and the environment. They've caught the ear of many Europeans. The environmental group Greenpeace, for example, has mounted an effective campaign across Europe to block the sale of genetically modified food. In February, it persuaded biotech giant AgrEvo (Hoechst) not to conduct field trials of such crops in Austria. In January, it organized anti-bio-engineering protests at the national offices of three European food companies in nine countries. Thanks to a Greenpeace suit, France's highest administrative court in December upheld its preliminary ban on genetically modified corn from a Swiss firm. The debate rings loudest in Britain, where memories of the government's mishandling of ``mad-cow'' disease remain fresh. The issue has gone all the way to the top: Prime Minister Tony Blair is risking his popularity to support genetically modified foods, while Prince Charles says he will never eat any of them. Further confounding the issue have been the findings of Arpad Pusztai, a Scottish researcher who ignited the whole controversy. Last summer he was quietly feeding potatoes to rats. Then he went public with concerns about the genetically modified rations he was using. On one hand, the researcher claims he's enthusiastic about bioengineering's potential. But he warns that it has to be done right because genetically modified potatoes stunted the growth of rats and depressed their immune system. Pusztai has not released his full results for review by other scientists -- a traditional practice. And when an internal audit committee evaluated his study, it disputed the findings. But 20 scientists, including one from Canada, have come forward since, saying Pusztai may have a point. Whatever the outcome, even biotech executives acknowledge the controversy is likely to continue. ``I think we have to be very, very careful about how these technologies are applied,'' says Richard Gill, senior vice-president and general manger of BTG International Inc., a tech-transfer company with offices in the US, Britain, and Japan. ``There needs to be ... more information shared with people in a form that can be understood.'' Even in the United States, activists remain hopeful they can slow down the technology. Dairy farmer associations and consumer groups, for example, continue to battle the milk-boosting growth hormone. ``Americans are expressing their concern with genetic engineering and agribusiness in general, not in a political way but in the marketplace,'' says Ben Lilliston of the Center for Food Safety. That's why organic products are growing so rapidly, he says, and why some 200,000 citizens complained when U.S. agricultural officials proposed including bio-engineered food as organic. Concern is justified, scientists say, because no one can predict how nature will react when new organisms appear. ``We're not talking about killer tomatoes. We're talking about plants that will pick up genes,'' says Norm Ellstrand, a geneticist at the University of California at Riverside. Genes can only transfer to relatives. So genetically modified corn in Iowa doesn't pose much danger because it has no wild relatives there. But planted in central America, it could create super-weeds that could out-compete the corn. And the risks increase as more of these genetically modified plants get released into the wild and interact. __________________________________ Richard Wolfson, PhD Consumer Right to Know Campaign for Mandatory labelling and long-term testing of genetically engineered food 500 Wilbrod Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N2 email: rwolfson@concentric.net http://www.natural-law.ca/genetic/geindex.html subcription to genetic engineering news is $35 for 12 months. __________________________________ To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 09:46:46 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id JAA01750 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:46:45 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id IAA01252 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:30:31 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mail.caribe.net (root@mail.caribe.net [209.91.196.5]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id IAA01169 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:30:23 -0500 (EST) Received: from ddworley (ppp202.203dip.netdial.caribe.net [209.91.203.202]) by mail.caribe.net (8.9.0/8.9.0) with SMTP id JAA27764 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:32:56 -0400 (AST) Message-Id: X-Sender: ddworley@mail.caribe.net X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0 Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 05:38:59 -0400 To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu From: Richard Wolfson (by way of Daniel Worley ) Subject: GEN3-14; Fwd, Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 34 [Reposted with permission] Here is a newsletter of GE news Mothers for Natural Law Biweekly News 99/03/14 1. Industrial Enzymes are Top Allergens 2. Australia: Study reveals side effects of synthetic insulin 3. Yield of GE crops 4. Bt resistance has emerged among pink bollworms 5. Australia: Label gene food, says jury 6. Malaysia: GM food must be labelled 7. NZ: DOCTORS WANT EXTREME CAUTION ON ALTERED FOOD 8. Australia: Gene food conference says more information needed 9. Third World rejects GM 10. UK: Fast-food outlets turn against GM food 11. S.Africa produces first gene-modified maize Articles have been aggressively shortened. ------------------ Subject: Industrial Enzymes are Top Allergens Summary of an article in the Swiss health magazine "PulsTip" posted by: creuss@bluewin.ch (Christoph Reuss) Industrial enzymes are top triggers of allergies and asthma, according to a new dissertation from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). A study with 110 participants showed that for 90% of asthma patients and 80% of neurodermitis patients, the symptoms either disappeared or were strongly reduced by eliminating industrial enzymes from their diet and from laundry detergents. Neurodermititis and food allergies have boomed since the 1960s when the industry started to artificially add enzymes to foods and laundry detergents. Industrial enzymes are used in a wide range of foods, to improve gains, processability, shelf-life, taste and other properties in flour, starches, pop drinks, fruit juices, oils, beer, whine, cheese and meat. These artificially-added enzymes don't have to be declared on the labels, and it is hard to avoid them. Many of these enzymes are produced by genetically modified organisms (GMOs), usually molds and bacteria. Since the produced enzymes are subsequently separated from the GMOs, the use of GMOs doesn't have to be declared. However, the separation is often incomplete, and residuals of the molds and bacteria are the main culprits of allergies. Industrial enzymes are a vast business. Novo Nordisk, the Danish market leader, makes about $500 million per year with industrial enzymes. The gains in the food industry by using these enzymes and the market of anti-allergy drugs are even bigger (billion$). It's not surprising that the industry and allergy research establishment refused to comment or cooperate on the new ETH research. ------------------ Copyright 1999 AAP Information Services Pty. Ltd. AAP NEWSFEED March 10, 1999, Wednesday Nationwide General News; Australian General News Study reveals side effects of synthetic insulin Up to 40,000 Australian diabetics may unwittingly be suffering adverse side-effects from taking genetically engineered synthetic insulin, The Sydney Morning Herald reported today. The paper was quoting British research completed six years ago but only now released. It said the availability of animal-derived alternatives, which doctors agreed suited some patients better, was about to be further limited by the withdrawal of the main brand of cattle-derived "beef" insulin from the market. Novo Nordisk would withdraw from the market in July, citing commercial reasons. The Herald said "pork" insulin was withdrawn in 1990 although the firm made it available to some people on "compassionate grounds". The UK research, commissioned by the British Diabetics Association, had found up to 10 per cent of diabetes patients might suffer side effects as a result of taking synthetic "human" insulin, the paper reported. ------------------ http://members.tripod.com/~ngin/farming.htm Low yielding GM-beet and rape in UK Farmers Weekly (UK) for the 4th December 1998 reveals that the latest crop trials from the UK's National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) show yields from GM winter oilseed rape and sugar beet were up to 7% and 8% less than high yielding conventional varieties when the crops were managed using conventional weed control techniques. Even with the use of a total herbicide on the GM-beet, to which it was modified to be resistant, only a 2% improvement in yield was achieved in 1997 and 1998, leaving it still significantly outperformed by the conventional varieties. Interestingly, this appears to be the first report in the popular farming press of GM trial crop performance results for varieties grown in the UK. The usual source of performance information is the biotechnology companies themselves. http://www.ucsusa.org/Gene/su98.rain.html Low-Yielding Bt cotton in Arkansas According to the April 1998 Cotton Grower, Bt-cotton growers in Arkansas had less than a banner year last season. A University of Arkansas study of several Bt and non-Bt cotton fields showed that on average Bt cotton yielded fewer pounds and lower income per acre. One farm showed a remarkable difference in yield--Bt cotton produced 168 fewer pounds per acre than the non-Bt variety. Bt cotton, on the farms studied, yielded an average of 24 fewer pounds per acre. Also, the new varieties required more growth regulator to synchronize plant development and had to be picked twice at harvest. Non-Bt cotton is typically picked only once. ------------------ FOOD BYTES #17 March 2, 1999 Ronnie Cummins & Ben Lilliston The mid-January 1999 issue of the California Farmer magazine reports that Bt resistance has emerged among pink bollworms, a major cotton pest, in Arizona cotton fields Biotech critics have warned for years that genetically engineered Bt crops will cause major crop pests to develop resistance to Bt, thereby destroying the usefulness of the world's most important natural biopesticide. ------------------ Sydney Morning Herald Saturday, March 13, 1999 Label gene food, says jury By DEBORAH SMITH After deliberating through the night until dawn, a citizen's jury at Australia's inaugural consensus conference brought down a unanimous report yesterday recommending that all genetically modified (GM) foods be labelled. The 14-member lay panel also called, in effect, for a short moratorium on any new commercial releases of GM foods in Australia, or the importation of unlabelled ones, until a better regulatory system was in place. ------------------ Copyright 1999 New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad New Straits Times (Malaysia) March 11, 1999 GM food must be labelled ... genetically-modified foods taste and look very much like their naturally-grown counterparts. The unsuspecting and uninformed consumer thus is totally unaware that he is buying GM food. Although the dangers of consuming these food have not been scientifically established, evidence is mounting that they can cause increased levels of toxins in humans and animals, a higher susceptibility to allergies and resistance to antibiotics. The more troubling aspect of these GM foods is that no quick scientific method exists to identify these produce. Adding to the problem, is the fact that these foodstuffs are not labelled. Information on these GM foods had been available over the past several years. But only in specialised publications and science articles. But thanks to a food security conference held in Penang last week the controversial issue was extensively discussed and publicised. The gist of the discussions was the call for the need to label these foods. The conference organiser, F. Josie of Consumers International's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, pointed out the problems these foodstuffs would pose. For one, the European Union has banned these foods. Thus countries like Malaysia are at a "high risk of being treated as a dumping ground for these items". For another, nothing is being done to prevent the entry of such foods. More importantly, we do not have any law that requires description of how the food was produced. Clearly then the Government must act fast before the dangers of consuming the GM food manifest themselves at the cost of the health, and worse, the lives, of consumers. It must enforce legislation that lets the people know what they are buying and eating. ------------------ Copyright 1999 AAP Information Services Pty. Ltd. AAP NEWSFEED March 10, 1999, Wednesday Nationwide General News; Overseas News NZPA News Bulletin DOCTORS WANT EXTREME CAUTION ON ALTERED FOOD WELLINGTON - Doctors have warned the Government to take "exceptional caution" about genetically modified food because research was incomplete and biased. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners chairman Ralph Wiles said much of the research on genetically altered food raised serious health and environmental safety concerns. "Much of the information available is from the proponents of the technology - who stand to make a lot of money if it's widely approved - but we're now hearing more from independent scientists whose research points to significant risks," Dr Wiles said in a statement. "It's not being alarmist to urge that exceptional caution be applied until such time as we have available sufficient information to satisfy a reasonable person that the products of this technology are safe." ------------------ Copyright 1999 AAP Information Services Pty. Ltd. AAP NEWSFEED March 13, 1999, Saturday Nationwide General News; Australian General News Gene food conference says more information needed By Stephen Spencer CANBERRA, March 12 AAP - A landmark conference today called for the comprehensive labelling of genetically modified food and a halt to its import and development until a new regulatory regime is established. However the food industry welcomed the findings, saying they gave the green light to genetically modified foods to be sold here, and earn billions of dollars in exports. The consensus conference brought together 14 lay people who questioned experts of genetically modified foods and others with an interest in the topic. Their report released today was hailed by Australian Democrats Deputy Leader Natasha Stott Despoja, because of its call for comprehensive labelling to allow consumers to decide whether or not they bought such foods. ------------------ Sunday Independent (London) Feb 28, 1999 Third World rejects GM By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Correspondent The world's hungriest nations have resolved to oppose genetically modified foods. A senior Ethiopian government official last night told the Independent on Sunday they were "absolutely united" in resisting US plans to "decide what we eat". Dr Tewolde Gebre Egziabher was speaking after last week's talks collapsed in Cartagena, Colombia, following the United States' accusation that the developing countries were endangering free trade. An international treaty to regulate trade in GM produce had been discussed by 132 nations. ------------------ http://news2.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid%5F292000/292829.stm Monday, March 8, 1999 Published at 16:39 GMT UK Fast-food outlets turn against GM food Some restaurants are banning GM ingredients A survey has revealed further signs that consumers are turning against genetically-modified (GM) food. Almost half of the UK's leading fast-food outlets are turning their backs on GM food, according to research conducted by environmental group Friends of the Earth. The organisation asked 11 fast food chains with 50 or more outlets whether they were going to remove GM ingredients from the food they sold. Between them the 11 companies have 3,548 outlets across the UK. Three of the chains - Wimpy, Pizza Express and Domino's Pizza - already believe they are GM-free. Two others - Burger King and KFC - are in the process of removing all GM ingredients from their products. And McDonald's and Perfect Pizza said they were currently considering going GM-free. ------------------ S.Africa produces first gene-modified maize 10:06 a.m. Mar 05, 1999 Eastern By Allan Seccombe PRETORIA, March 5 (Reuters) - South Africa's first genetically modified grain has been grown commercially and will be sold on the market mixed with other grains, a leading seed seller said on Friday. ``Up to 50,000 hectares of genetically modified maize has been planted this season and will be sold in the commercial market,'' he said. Two strains of yellow maize, both resistant to stalk borer, a pest that attacks maize, were being commercially cultivated. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ Mothers for Natural Law http://www.safe-food.org ==================================================== ......... Sunday Independent 14 Feb 1999 (UK) Stop GM Foods - Scientists find banned soya in UK products Government controls fail to stop illegal beans entering the food chain, writes Rachel Sylvester UNLICENSED genetically modified crops are entering the food chain in Britain because the Government is unable to control the import of ingredients. Traces of genetically modified soya beans which have not been licensed as safe for human consumption in Europe have been identified in products on sale in this country. ....... Sunday Indpendent (UK) 14 Feb 1999 Stop GM Food - Stray seeds land farmer in court By Marie Woolf in Bruno, Saskatchewan Farmers who find that stray genetically modified seeds have blown on to their land from neighbours' fields and then taken root could face massive fines if the agrochemical giant Monsanto wins a test case in a Canadian court. Percy Schmeiser, a farmer in Saskatchewan, Canada, is being pursued by Monsanto for damages and the profits from his fields because the company claims that the patent on its genetically modified (GM) seeds has been violated. GM canola (rape) plants from Monsanto seeds were found growing among his crops. The farmer believes that the seeds blew on to his land. If Monsanto wins the test case, due to go to court this autumn, British farmers in similar situations could also face court cases culminating in having to pay thousands of pounds in compensation. But Mr Schmeiser never signed a contract to grow Monsanto's GM canola and says he is not liable to the big fines the company imposes for using seed from crops. His fields run along a main road which links a grain silo and a rubbish dump where used seed sacks are thrown away. The prairies can be windy and cut crops are often blown on to neighbouring fields. ....... Sunday Independent 14 Feb Secret deal will ban GM crops until 2002 By Marie Woolf, Political Correspondent Genetically modified crops are to be banned for three years under a landmark deal being secretly negotiated between the Government and biotechnology companies. After weeks of confidential talks, ministers are poised to announce a breakthrough. Seed companies will agree to a voluntary freeze on growing GM crops in Britain until at least the year 2002. The deal, expected to be announced within the next three weeks, will mark a victory for campaigners, including the Independent on Sunday, who have called on the Government to delay planting GM crops in Britain until there have been more tests on their environmental effects. The new freeze will allow scientists to examine the effect of growing GM crops on other plants, birds and animals. __________________________________ Richard Wolfson, PhD Consumer Right to Know Campaign for Mandatory labelling and long-term testing of genetically engineered food 500 Wilbrod Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N2 email: rwolfson@concentric.net http://www.natural-law.ca/genetic/geindex.html subcription to genetic engineering news is $35 for 12 months. __________________________________ To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 10:45:37 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA03174 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 10:45:37 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA09788 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:37:37 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from bean.epix.net (bean.epix.net [199.224.64.57]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA09598 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:37:27 -0500 (EST) Received: from epix.net (qrvl-243ppp102.epix.net [205.238.243.102]) by bean.epix.net (8.9.3/8.9.0/1998093001/Philippe Levan) with ESMTP id JAA21904; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:37:24 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <36EE6D27.727BA0DC@epix.net> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:39:36 -0500 From: Steve Groff Reply-To: sgroff@epix.net Organization: Cedar Meadow Farm X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en] (Win95; I) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Bluestem Associates CC: "sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu" Subject: Re: Organic Farming Economics References: <199903161334.IAA03056@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 35 Bluestem Associates wrote: > And let's remember, too, that over three-quarters of US farmers have > gross revenues under $50,000 and on average show a net *loss* of $3,000 > per year. > Bart, Is this actually true? How can 75% of US farmers have under $50,000 gross when we have all these big farms? Example: A 400 acre corn farmer @ only 100 bu/acre x 2.00 bu. is $80,000 gross. Something doesn't seem right about this info or maybe my personal intuiton is on the blink today. Steve Groff -- "New Generation Cropping Systems": the cutting edge of sustainable agriculture http://www.cedarmeadowfarm.com Steve Groff Cedar Meadow Farm 679 Hilldale Rd Holtwood PA 17532 USA Ph. 717-284-5152 To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 11:17:30 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id LAA04264 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:17:30 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id KAA08707 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 10:28:34 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from cornell.edu (cornell.edu [132.236.56.6]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id KAA08647 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 10:28:29 -0500 (EST) Received: from [128.253.49.40] (D5640.DIALUP.CORNELL.EDU [128.253.49.40]) by cornell.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id KAA25880 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 10:28:26 -0500 (EST) X-Sender: rjt5@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu Message-Id: In-Reply-To: <36EE6D27.727BA0DC@epix.net> References: <199903161334.IAA03056@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 10:28:14 -0500 To: "sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu" From: Bob Torres Subject: Re: Organic Farming Economics Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 36 At 9:39 AM -0500 3/16/1999, Steve Groff wrote: >Bluestem Associates wrote: > >> And let's remember, too, that over three-quarters of US farmers have >> gross revenues under $50,000 and on average show a net *loss* of $3,000 >> per year. >> > >Bart, >Is this actually true? How can 75% of US farmers have under $50,000 gross when >we have all these big farms? Example: A 400 acre corn farmer @ only 100 >bu/acre >x 2.00 bu. is $80,000 gross. Something doesn't seem right about this info or >maybe my personal intuiton is on the blink today. > >Steve Groff Hi, Seems to me that Bart's figure is right. I've been digging through the census of ag for the last few weeks looking at exactly this data. The majority of counties have a majority of farmers (somewhere quite close to that 75% figure) which sell less than $50,000 per year. Although this is an eye opener, these results might be misleading on their own because of the way in which the census categories a farm...the minimum income to be considered a farm is low, (can't remember the exact amt., though I think it is around $2000 in sales) so this might skew things downward and count lots of part time farms. But it is still quite telling of the state of ag in the US. Bob Torres -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Bob Torres Ph.D. Student Department of Rural Sociology Cornell University 133A Warren Hall Ithaca, NY 14853 tel:607-255-9672 fax:607-254-2896 To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 12:08:22 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id MAA05319 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 12:08:21 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id LAA08763 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:20:06 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from hevanet.com (root@hevanet.com [198.5.254.1]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id LAA08747 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:20:01 -0500 (EST) Received: from [204.119.60.82] (pa-ppp46.hevanet.com [204.119.60.82]) by hevanet.com (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id IAA21543; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:19:59 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <199903161619.IAA21543@hevanet.com> X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express for Macintosh - 4.01 (295) Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:22:16 -0800 Subject: FW: A Salad That Diamondback Moths Can't Resist From: "Lon J. Rombough" To: Bargyla Rateaver CC: SANET , OGL@lsv.uky.edu Mime-version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 37 ---------- From: "ARS News Service" To: "ARS News List" Subject: A Salad That Diamondback Moths Can't Resist Date: Tue, Mar 16, 1999, 6:45 AM STORY LEAD: A Salad That Diamondback Moths Can't Resist ----------- ARS News Service Agricultural Research Service, USDA March 16, 1999 Tara Weaver-Missick, (301) 504-1619, tweaver@asrr.arsusda.gov ----------- What's a good way to stop hungry diamondback moths from nibbling on a farmer's cabbage, broccoli, kale and other cole crops? Agricultural Research Service scientists have an answer: give the pests a heaping serving of collard greens. Entomologist Everett Mitchell, at the ARS' Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Fla., says giving the pest collards spoils its appetite for cabbage. The moths can't resist the all-you-can-eat collards when they're planted completely around cabbage field edges, a strategy called trap cropping that could also work to protect other cole crops. Invading diamondbacks stop and deposit their eggs on the collards rather than on adjacent cabbage plants. Diamondback populations continue to re-cycle in collards as long as plants remain green and continue to grow. Diamondback moths, named for the diamond-shaped markings on their wings, are becoming resistant to many chemicals. Spraying pesticides can be costly, ranging from about $10 to $21 an acre for each application, depending on which pesticides are used. It typically costs growers $80 to $168 per acre or more each season to produce a crop. Mitchell conducted recent experiments on farms in northeast Florida that showed the moths prefer to feed on highly fertilized collard plants. He tested this approach for more than two years. In all cases, he says, damage to cabbage by diamondback moth larvae was minimal. This simple, low-tech, cost-effective method also reduces pesticide use. Cabbage fields surrounded by collards required 75 to 100 percent fewer sprays to control diamondback moth than fields treated conventionally with pesticides. An in-depth article on this research appears in the March issue of Agricultural Research magazine. The story is also on the World Wide Web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar99/diam0399.htm ARS is USDA's chief research agency. ---------- Scientific contact: Everett Mitchell, ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, Fla., 32604, (phone) 352-374-5710, (fax) 352-374-5804, emitchell@gainesville.usda.ufl.edu. ---------- This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. * Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv@ars-grin.gov. * ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD 20705-5128, (301) 504-1617, fax 504-1648. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 12:09:36 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id MAA05339 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 12:09:36 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id LAA08640 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:19:11 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from aurora.nal.usda.gov (aurora.nal.usda.gov [192.54.138.38]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id LAA08557; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:18:20 -0500 (EST) Received: by aurora.nal.usda.gov with Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) id ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:21:23 -0500 Message-ID: From: Sustainable Agriculture Network To: "'sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu'" Cc: "'san-comm-mg@ces.ncsu.edu'" Subject: Excerpts from SAN cover crop book on the web Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:21:22 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 38 Sanet: Most of you know already about the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) publication on cover crops: Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 2nd Edition. 1998. We have posted excerpts of the full book on the web at http://www.sare.org/san/mccp2/ Hope you'll find these of interest! See the chapter on Cereal Rye for an idea of the comprehensive information on each cover crop. See also http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/pubs/ for excerpts or full text of other SAN publications. Andy Andy Clark, Ph.D. Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) Coordinator c/o AFSIC, Room 304 National Agricultural Library 10301 Baltimore Ave. Beltsville, MD 20705-2351 PH: 301-504-6425 FAX: 301-504-6409 san@nal.usda.gov http://www.sare.org To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 16:01:26 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id QAA12029 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:01:26 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id OAA09222 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:50:52 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id OAA09211 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:50:47 -0500 (EST) Received: from eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (root@eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.90]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id OAA08304 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:50:43 -0500 (EST) Received: from lamar.ColoState.EDU (lamar.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.75]) by eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id MAA61596 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 12:50:46 -0700 Received: from edandsue (dialup0381.PPP.ColoState.EDU [129.82.53.225]) by lamar.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id MAA136262 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 12:50:36 -0700 Message-ID: <005401be6fe5$7da34ac0$e1355281@edandsue.colostate.edu> From: "Ed and Sue Sparling" To: Subject: Monsanto & GM seeds to be subject of NPR "All Things Considered" Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 12:44:56 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_004F_01BE6FAA.CBB34700" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 39 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_004F_01BE6FAA.CBB34700 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable This afternoon "All Things Considered" will feature a special on = Monsanto and its GM seeds. A related item: DuPont is buying the rest of Pioneer Hybrid (see NY = Times or Wall St Journ). Ed Sparling Ag Econ Dept Colorado State Univ.=20 ------=_NextPart_000_004F_01BE6FAA.CBB34700 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
This afternoon "All Things = Considered"=20 will feature a special on Monsanto and its GM seeds.
 
A related item: DuPont is buying the = rest of=20 Pioneer Hybrid (see NY Times or Wall St Journ).
 
Ed Sparling
Ag Econ Dept
Colorado State = Univ. 
 
 
 
 
------=_NextPart_000_004F_01BE6FAA.CBB34700-- To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 16:59:12 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id QAA13952 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:59:11 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id PAA17528 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:56:54 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id PAA17454 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:56:47 -0500 (EST) Received: from aae.wisc.edu (aae.wisc.edu [144.92.122.133]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id PAA09638 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:56:43 -0500 (EST) Received: from mojo.aae.wisc.edu ([144.92.244.223]) by aae.wisc.edu (8.9.1a/8.9.0) with SMTP id OAA03338; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:56:45 -0600 Message-Id: <199903162056.OAA03338@aae.wisc.edu> Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Michele Gale-Sinex/CIAS, UW-Madison" To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu, iffs@nal.usda.gov Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:56:38 -0500 Subject: Health problems/pesticide and fertilizer mixes CC: len.maurer@ccmail.adp.wisc.edu, dkaufman@discover-net.net, rlwills@execpc.com, klemme@aae.wisc.edu, stevenson@aae.wisc.edu, mperry@hsph.harvard.edu X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.53/R1) Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 40 Howdy, all-- The following story can be found at: http://www.news.wisc.edu/thisweek/Research/Bio/Y99/pesticide.html Thought it would interest some of you. peace misha >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Pesticide, fertilizer mixes linked to range of health problems (posted 3/15/99) The natural mix of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, such as occurs when agricultural chemicals seep into groundwater, may have a broad range of effects on human and animal health, a new study shows. The study, published in the current issue of the journal Toxicology and Industrial Health, suggests that combinations of commonly used agricultural chemicals, in concentrations that mirror levels found in groundwater, can significantly influence the immune and endocrine systems as well as neurological health. Conducted over five years, the study of mice suggests that current methods used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others for studying the toxic effects of low-levels of pesticides may be flawed. "The single most important finding of the study is that common mixtures, not the standard one-chemical-at-a-time experiments, can show biological effects at current concentrations in groundwater," said Warren P. Porter, the lead author of the study and a UW-Madison professor of zoology and environmental toxicology. Although used worldwide, "tests for these compounds in combination are very rare, although they frequently co-occur." The experiments performed by Porter's group suggest that children and the developing fetus are most at risk from the pesticide-fertilizer mixtures. Their influence on developing neurological, endocrine and immune systems, said Porter, portend change in ability to learn and in patterns of aggression. The privately funded Wisconsin study focused on three commonly used farm chemicals: aldicarb, an insecticide; atrazine, a herbicide; and nitrate, a chemical fertilizer. All three are in wide use worldwide and are the most ubiquitous contaminants of groundwater in the United States. In the series of experiments, when mice were given drinking water laced with combinations of pesticides and nitrate, they exhibited altered immune, endocrine and nervous system functions. Those changes, according to Porter, occurred at concentrations currently found in groundwater. Effects were most noticeable when a single pesticide was combined with nitrate fertilizer. This was true for herbicide as well as insecticide, said Porter, and chips away at the notion that herbicides have no significant influence on animals. "Herbicides can have neurological impacts and hormonal impacts and immune impacts," he said. "They are not the harmless chemicals they are sometimes portrayed to be. They can be every bit as biologically active as insecticides or fungicides." The apparent influence of pesticide and fertilizer mixtures on the endocrine system -- the system of glands such as the thyroid that secrete hormones into the bloodstream -- may have a cascade effect, spilling over to the immune system and affecting fetal brain development. "Thyroid disruption in humans has multiple consequences," Porter said. Some of these include effects on brain development, level of irritability, sensitivity to stimuli, ability or motivation to learn, and altered immune function. A curious finding of the study is that animals may be more vulnerable to the influence of such chemicals depending on the time of year: "Our current working hypothesis is that animals are seasonally vulnerable because of subtle modulation of natural seasonal variation in hormone levels," according to Porter. "For example, thyroid hormone level varies seasonally and we have now shown that two different chemical mixtures will modulate thyroid hormone levels." The new study, Porter contends, adds to a growing body of evidence that current testing methods required for the registration and use of chemical pesticides are fundamentally flawed. In addition to a lack of testing of combinations of chemical compounds, Porter said there is a narrow focus on looking principally for carcinogenic effects or obvious cell mutations. Neurological, immune and endocrine tests for pesticides have been mandated by federal law for almost three years, but there has been no enforcement of these laws, Porter said. "Toxicological testing so far has been extremely limited in scope and focused on mechanisms that require extensive mutations or cell damage to show any effects. They do not adequately assess the potential for biological effects under real world exposure scenarios." Co-authors of the paper include James W. Jaeger of the UW-Madison Department of Zoology, and Ian H. Carlson of the Endocrinology Laboratory, University of Wisconsin Hospital. C 1999 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System Source: UW-Madison Office of News and Public Affairs <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Michele Gale-Sinex, communications manager Center for Integrated Ag Systems UW-Madison College of Ag and Life Sciences Voice: (608) 262-8018 FAX: (608) 265-3020 http://www.wisc.edu/cias/ >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you knew what life was worth, you would look for yours on earth. --Bob Marley To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 17:07:46 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA14483 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:07:46 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA21094 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:04:07 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from ccshst09.cs.uoguelph.ca (ccshst09.cs.uoguelph.ca [131.104.96.18]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA21065 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:04:03 -0500 (EST) From: EWALL@envsci.uoguelph.ca Received: from fesnet.nw.uoguelph.ca ([131.104.238.2] (may be forged)) by ccshst09.cs.uoguelph.ca (8.8.6/8.8.6) with ESMTP id QAA10728; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:03:54 -0500 (EST) Received: from FESNET/SpoolDir by fesnet.nw.uoguelph.ca (Mercury 1.31); 16 Mar 99 15:53:38 GMT-5 Received: from SpoolDir by FESNET (Mercury 1.31); 16 Mar 99 15:53:26 GMT-5 Organization: Environmental Science To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu, rvanstaveren@iatp.com, cpieri@worldbank.org, csas001@unlvm.unl.edu, cflora@iastate.edu, Ray Bollman , Elin Gwyn , Helen Aitkin , Anne Wilcock , gr6xu@geonet.css.uoguelph.ca Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:53:24 EDT Subject: Call for Papers reminder for April 1 X-mailer: Pegasus Mail v3.1 (R1a) Message-ID: <131BEDB12818@fesnet.nw.uoguelph.ca> Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 41 Hello: Just a reminder to get your abstracts in to me by April 1; details are repeated below. Information about our conference can be found at our web site: www.oac.uoguelph.ca/FSR/ Apologies for duplications. Please pass on to interested colleagues. ***CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS*** Sustaining Agriculture in the 21st Century: Thinking "Outside the Box" Biennial Meeting - North American Chapter Association for Farming Systems Research and Extension (AFSR/E)October 20-23, 1999 University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, CANADA Linkages between agriculture and the changing social, economic, and bio-physical environment need to be understood and optimized if agriculture is going to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We invite you to submit abstracts for papers, posters, and panels that relate to one or more of the following 4 topics: 1. Farming Systems and Environmental Management Increasingly, agri-environmental schemes are being seen not only as vehicles for environmental enhancement, but also as a potentially important factor in marketing. Papers for this session should focus on: * Local, national and international standards for environmental management systems * Farming systems approaches to improve management of bio-physical resources * Public policy as a stimulus or constraint to implementation of environmental management systems. 2. Farming Systems and Technological Innovations In Ontario and throughout North America, consumer demand for food and food products that come from sustainable operations is on the increase. Papers for this session should focus on: *Identifying and exploiting new marketing opportunities *Farm level impacts of volatile financial markets and changing consumer preferences *Improving market access through alternative production practices and biotech products. 3. Farming Systems and Rural Communities Agriculture continues to dominate the physical landscape and cultural history of most regions even though its economic impact at the community level is reduced. Papers in this session should focus on: * Agriculture's role in re-building and enriching rural community life in the 21st century * Strategies that foster positive community-agriculture interactions * The effect of rural community change and service sector restructuring on the viability and quality of farm life 4. Farming Systems and Human Health Recent concerns about food safety have led directly to investigations about farming practices and their consequences for food production. Papers in this session should focus on: * Preventing food contamination on the farm * Implications of vertical integration for food safety * Occupational Health and Safety in agricultural production. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The conference will combine formal paper sessions, panel discussions, and poster presentations along with informal conversations with local farmers experienced in "out of the box" thinking. Abstracts (maximum 250 words), should be submitted to the conference contact by April 1/1999. Abstracts accepted will be printed and made available to conference participants. An edited collection of selected papers will be published in a refereed conference proceedings to be made available in the year 2000. Details concerning the preliminary program, registration, and accommodation will be supplied in a second circular to be distributed in April, 1999. Conference Contact: Ellen Wall Email: ewall@envsci@uoguelph.ca Phone: 519 824 4120 ext 8480; Fax : 519 763 8933 Check the FSR website for more details: http://www.oac.uoguelph.ca/FSR/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ellen Wall Research Scientist Farming Systems Research Plant Agriculture University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 phone: 519 824 4120 ext 8480 fax: 519 763 8933 To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 18:37:06 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id SAA17449 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:37:05 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id RAA23509 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:43:53 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id RAA23482 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:43:48 -0500 (EST) Received: from eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (root@eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.90]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id RAA12791 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:43:43 -0500 (EST) Received: from lamar.ColoState.EDU (lamar.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.75]) by eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id PAA63824 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:43:45 -0700 Received: from edandsue (dialup0515.PPP.ColoState.EDU [129.82.54.104]) by lamar.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id PAA181474 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:43:43 -0700 Message-ID: <001201be6ffd$a7b4b700$68365281@edandsue.colostate.edu> From: "Ed and Sue Sparling" To: Subject: Re: Dupont--Pioneer Article Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:37:10 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 42 >From NY Times March 16, 1999 DuPont Paying $7.7 Billion for Pioneer Hi-Bred, Top Supplier of Farm Seed Related Article Dupont and Pioneer Discussing the Possibility of a Combination (March 13) Forum Join a Discussion on Merger Mania By DAVID BARBOZA uPont Co., seeking to create an agricultural powerhouse to match its giant chemical business, said Monday that it would pay more than $7.7 billion in cash and stock to buy the remaining 80 percent of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, the world's largest producer of seed corn. The deal -- which the companies had said on Friday was in the works -- is part of DuPont's effort to push aggressively into the life sciences arena, where it would compete in the race to create and develop genetically engineered seeds and crops. In acquiring Pioneer, a company that sells corn, soybean and other seeds, DuPont hopes to develop genetically altered seeds and sell them directly to farmers worldwide in tandem with DuPont's herbicides and pesticides. DuPont, which already owned 20 percent of Pioneer, said on Monday that it would acquire the remainder by paying the equivalent of $40 a share, with 45 percent of that in cash and 55 percent in stock. Shares of Pioneer, which is based in Des Moines, rose $4.0625 on Monday, or 11.8 percent, to $38.375. DuPont, based in Wilmington, Del., fell $1.50, to $56.25. Over the last year, analysts say, some of the world's largest drug and life sciences companies have been scrambling to position themselves in the fast-growing field of genetically engineered crops and drugs, and companies like DuPont want to be involved with seeds to guarantee greater access to that business. "The seed companies are the key to the whole world of biotech," said Leonard G. Teitelbaum, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. "How do you get your seeds to the farmer? You don't put them in an envelope and mail them. It's through seed companies." At a news conference on Monday, Charles O. Holliday Jr., the chief executive of DuPont, said that while DuPont had not expected to make a large acquisition that might weaken the company's stock, rapid developments in the life sciences made such a deal urgent. Calling it "one of the most important mergers in U.S. history," Holliday said the acquisition of Pioneer would allow DuPont to participate in the creation of higher-yielding crops and more nutritious foods in a world where the amount of available arable land will soon be inadequate to handle a growing population. When asked why such a deal needed to take place now, he replied: "Speed. Speed. Speed." The company simply could not sit around and wait for things to happen, he said. If the acquisition is approved by regulators, DuPont will take control of the last remaining giant seed company, making DuPont a formidable competitor to Monsanto Co., which has acquired more than $8 billion worth of large seed companies over the last two years, adding the heft of being the world's largest seed company to its strengths in herbicides and genetic research. Monday's announcement appears to preclude any deal between DuPont and Monsanto, coming just weeks after executives close to the companies said the two were considering a giant combination that would join their life sciences and pharmaceutical divisions. Wall Street analysts say a deal between Monsanto and DuPont could now run into antitrust problems because of their dominant positions in seeds. Analysts praised Monday's deal, saying that there were indications that Pioneer had pushed itself into a marriage with DuPont after reports circulated about a DuPont-Monsanto deal. Still, several analysts said they were puzzled by the deal and how swiftly it had occurred. Beginning in late 1997, DuPont spent about $1.7 billion for a 20 percent stake in Pioneer, and the two companies agreed to collaborate on research and development. But under the terms of the agreement, DuPont agreed not to increase its stake for 16 years. The two companies have scrapped that agreement and over the weekend the boards of both companies agreed to the deal, which lets Pioneer retain its name and its headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa. "Pioneer had to be looking over its shoulder, and DuPont was looking to get deeper into life sciences," said George S. Dahlman, an analyst at Piper Jaffrey. "They had a chance to work with each other, so that made the deal easier." DuPont said that financing for some of the cash portion of the offer would come from the $4.4 billion raised in the spinoff last year of the Conoco energy unit. Holliday acknowledged that DuPont, which had revenue of more than $25 billion last year, had shown lackluster earnings growth last year. But he said DuPont was steering a new course toward pharmaceuticals and agriculture. DuPont said last week that it would create a separate tracking stock for its life sciences business to allow the operations to participate more actively in industry consolidation. The company also said that it planned to seek alliances in the pharmaceuticals business. Pioneer, which was founded in 1926 by Henry Wallace, who was a vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt, has about 5,000 employees; DuPont has about 92,000 employees. The Wallace family currently has a 14 percent stake in Pioneer. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 18:48:33 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id SAA17719 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:48:33 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id SAA09450 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:10:19 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id SAA09337 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:10:14 -0500 (EST) Received: from eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (root@eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.90]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id SAA13224 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:10:10 -0500 (EST) Received: from lamar.ColoState.EDU (lamar.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.75]) by eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id QAA49698; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:10:10 -0700 Received: from edandsue (dialup0515.PPP.ColoState.EDU [129.82.54.104]) by lamar.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id QAA114276; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:10:08 -0700 Message-ID: <002e01be7001$587e4120$68365281@edandsue.colostate.edu> From: "Ed and Sue Sparling" To: Cc: Subject: NPR Report on Monsanto Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:04:27 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_002B_01BE6FC6.AB0B3A00" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 43 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_002B_01BE6FC6.AB0B3A00 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dear Sustainable Ag Network Subscribers: How did you all react to the "All Things Considered piece on Monsanto?" = My reaction was that the Monsanto PR dept had a big hand in it. = Interesting that Clinton is going to give Fraley (former PR man for = Monsanto) a medal. Ouch!=20 I have to wonder if tommorow's part 2 will incorporate a serious = consideration of concerns about the effects of bt GM plants on the = organic farming sector. It seems pretty irresponsible reporting if Dan = Charles (NPR reporter) hasn't talked to Charles Benbrook (for example).=20 Ed Sparling Professor Emeritus Dept Agric Economics Colorado State University ------=_NextPart_000_002B_01BE6FC6.AB0B3A00 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Dear Sustainable Ag Network=20 Subscribers:
 
How did you all react to the = "All Things=20 Considered piece on Monsanto?" 
 
My reaction was that the Monsanto PR = dept had a=20 big hand in it.  Interesting that Clinton is going to give Fraley = (former=20 PR man for Monsanto) a medal.  Ouch! 
 
I have to wonder if tommorow's part = 2 will=20 incorporate a serious consideration of concerns about the effects of bt = GM=20 plants on the organic farming sector.  It seems pretty = irresponsible=20 reporting if Dan Charles (NPR reporter) hasn't talked to Charles = Benbrook (for=20 example). 
 
Ed Sparling
Professor Emeritus
Dept Agric Economics
Colorado State=20 University
------=_NextPart_000_002B_01BE6FC6.AB0B3A00-- To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 18:58:50 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id SAA17915 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:58:50 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id SAA15863 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:21:11 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from scaup.prod.itd.earthlink.net (scaup.prod.itd.earthlink.net [207.217.120.49]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id SAA15807 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:21:04 -0500 (EST) Received: from ip176.wheeling2.wv.pub-ip.psi.net (ip176.wheeling2.wv.pub-ip.psi.net [38.30.202.176]) by scaup.prod.itd.earthlink.net (8.8.7/8.8.5) with SMTP id PAA25994 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:21:01 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <36EF10FF.292F@earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:18:39 -0800 From: Robert DuBoff & Heather Crocker Organization: Hero Enterprises, Inc. X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.0 (Win95; I; 16bit) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: npr story on monsanto GE References: <199903161332.IAA02238@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 44 Hi all- Just finished listening to a story on National Public Radio - All Things Considered about Monsanto's difficulties with selling the world on GE seeds. Much of the story was Monsanto reps talking about what a blessing Roundup Ready and seeds with Bt are to farmers. The rest covered resistance in the UK and India, and some discussion of terminator technology. Except for a BRIEF interview with Hope Shand from RAFI, there was inadequate explanation of the potential adverse consequences of GE. Another segment on Monsanto/GE is scheduled for tomorrow (3/17) on All Things Considered. I'm about to scurry around getting some hard data to send in my response to the story - does anyone have any suggestions for a concise but really thorough stats on GE? Would love to hear other people's impressions of the story too - anybody hear it? Thanks! Heather Crocker St. Clairsville, OH To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 21:20:19 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id VAA21056 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:20:19 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id UAA13739 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:34:24 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA13612 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:34:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.236] (term6-34.vta.west.net [205.254.241.226]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id RAA25156 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:32:30 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:34:00 -0700 To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: DuPont Press Release on Merger w/Pioneer Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id UAA13647 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 45 Pioneer Merger Another Major Step in DuPont Life Sciences Strategy As reported in yesterday's news flash edition of Network News, DuPont and Pioneer HiBred International have announced a definitive agreement for a stock and cash merger that will result in DuPont's complete ownership of Pioneer. DuPont currently has a 20 percent interest in Pioneer. "This transaction is another major step in DuPont's life sciences strategy and will strengthen and accelerate its capability to discover, develop and commercialize a new generation of products across the value chains for food and feed crops, food ingredients, industrial applications and nutrition science," according to a news release issued yesterday. Under the terms of the agreement, Pioneer shareholders will receive USD 40 per share, with 45 percent of the shares receiving cash and 55 percent of the shares receiving DuPont stock. Pioneer shareholders will have certain rights to elect which form of consideration they receive. The merger is expected to close during the summer of 1999. The total equity value of the transaction is estimated to be approximately USD 7.7 billion for the 80 percent of Pioneer not currently owned by DuPont. "One of the Most Important Mergers in U.S. History" "I believe this is one of the most important mergers in U.S. history," DuPont Chairman and CEO Chad Holliday said at a news conference in New York City yesterday following the announcement of the merger agreement between DuPont and Pioneer. "We are joining with an old friend, to fundamentally improve the quantity and quality of food per acre." Chad went on to make six points: "We do have the critical mass to lead now" in life sciences. "With Pioneer we are leaders in the input and output traits of farming" (adding value for the farmer and for the ultimate consumer). "Pioneer is a leader in germ plasma." "Pioneer has a first-rate management, under Chuck Johnson." "Our interests are closely aligned." "Pioneer will operate under its own name, in its own home of Des Moines, Iowa, and with its own culture." Chuck Johnson, chairman and CEO of Pioneer, said: "This will be the most powerful agricultural technology force in the world. We know DuPont and we have a common vision of increased production for farmers and the quality of the products they grow. Plant genetics are the only way for farmers to increase production without opening up new, fragile land." In answer to a question, he said Pioneer had some 60 hybrids in the pipeline and "a whole stream of opportunities to add traits" in the years ahead. DuPont Chief Financial Officer Gary Pfeiffer said the deal was expected to be closed by the end of the third quarter. In a later interview on CNBC TV, Chad said: "By August this year there will be six billion people in the world and it is our ambition to feed them the most nutritional food possible." He reiterated that "DuPont is a science company" incorporating different kinds of science, including materials science. Chad: "Let's Welcome the People of Pioneer" In his latest letter to employees, DuPont Chairman and CEO Chad Holliday talks about the acquisition of Pioneer, declaring: "It is a major step in our sustainable growth strategy and our plans to increase shareholder value. "This transaction will strengthen and accelerate our ability to discover, develop and commercialize a new generation of products for food and feed crops, food ingredients, industrial applications and nutrition science," he continued. "It fully supports our goal of helping improve the world's food supply by increasing the quantity and quality of nutrition per acre. It is truly another 'leap' for DuPont Ö and will enhance an already outstanding science and technology platform and marketing capability. It will Ö accelerate the integration of DuPont's biology, chemistry and genomics with Pioneer's leading market position and research and development capabilities. The end result should be significantly increased shareholder value. "Both of our companies share a strong focus on customers and have compatible cultures and values," he concluded. "Please join me in welcoming the people of Pioneer fully into the DuPont family." DuPont Pioneer Merger Provides Mutual Benefits Commenting on the agreement for DuPont to acquire Pioneer, The Wall Street Journal noted yesterday that there were mutual benefits. "DuPont, whose scientists have probably had the most success at genetically altering the nutritional attributes of crops, would get direct control of the world's biggest proprietary seed bank as well as a global seed sales force," the article suggested. "Pioneer's agreement to be acquired represents a big cultural change for the 73-year-old company, which was founded by one-time U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace," The Wall Street Journal pointed out. However, it noted benefits to Pioneer, including what DuPont brings to the table in terms of genes and "deep pockets". Subscribers to The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition can read the full report at http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB921268716949898331.htm --------- Further info: http://www.dupont.com/corp/whats-new/newsfile/990316.html#one To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 21:22:41 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id VAA21079 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:22:41 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id UAA12230 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:33:06 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA12051 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:32:56 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.236] (term6-34.vta.west.net [205.254.241.226]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id RAA24816 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:31:10 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:32:40 -0700 To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: Fwd: Korean Action Against Genetic Crops Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 46 DATE: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:20:29 From: DAMN To: damn@tao.ca Title: Korean Action Against Genetic Crops Date: 12-MAR-1999 Source: "Antti.rautiainen" Korean students and environmental activists today organized a direct action against the irresponsible use of GM(genetically-modified) technology, at the center of Korean agricultural biotechnology - the National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (NIAST). NIAST, funded by the Korean Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), proclaims itself to be the key research institute responsible for the development of sustainable agricultural technologies that are environment-friendly. However, it was revealed last year that NIAST had secretly carried out the field trials of GM crops even though Korea did not have anylegislations regarding the release of GMOs into the environment. On February this year, the Rural Development Administration (RDA) announced that NIAST developed eight different GM crops, including Rice, Cayenne,Chinese cabbage, Tobacco, and Tomato. According to the RDA, these GM crops will be put on market by 2001. And yet, the Korean government keeps silent about the issues of biosafety and bioethics. The action started at 11 a.m. when about ten students and activists occupied and blockaded the greenhouse at the NIAST, where the field trials of GM crops were being conducted. They placed a big banner with the "X" symbol over the greenhouse, and chained themselves to its entrance. Other activists demonstrated outside the greenhouse with placards raised, which read "No Genetic Engineering". "Koreans are shaken by the fact that the government allows the field trials of GM crops while it does not even have a legislation or agency to monitor and regulate the experiments," said one participant. "Genetic engineering is good for the economy, they say. But can this be a good excuse for ignoring the environment, public health and ethical considerations?" "We're here today to let the government and those researchers involved know how the public feels about their incompetence, arrogance, and lack of responsibility." The students and activists called for: 1) Immediate ban on the release of GMOs into the environment (including GM foods and field trials) 2) Immediate ban on the import of GM crops and foods. 3) Moratorium on agricultural R&Ds using GM technology. until strict legislations regarding biosafety and bioethics have been enacted and come into force. They also demanded: 4) Establishment of an independent institution to organize democratic debates on the health, ecological, societal and ethical consequences of Genetic Engineering. 5) Democratic participation in the regulatory decision-making. The action wasstopped around 3 p.m. when the police intervened to break the protest. Some of the activists and students were arrested and were released after being held for 3 hours. This is the DAMN News Email list http://damn.tao.ca To unsubscribe, send an email to majordomo@tao.ca Asking to: unsubscribe damn ***DAMN DISCLAIMER - IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE*** DAMN receives many unsolicited reports and tries but can not verify all information contained within. DAMN therefore disclaims responsibility for the information in this message and urges you to contact the reporter personally for further verification. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 21:25:08 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id VAA21106 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:25:08 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id UAA05598 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:22:45 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA05590 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:22:40 -0500 (EST) Received: from sp2n17.missouri.edu (sp2n17-t.missouri.edu [128.206.2.27]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA14964 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:22:37 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail.coin.missouri.edu (Mizzou-AS2-10.missouri.edu [128.206.205.58]) by sp2n17.missouri.edu (8.9.0/8.9.0) with ESMTP id TAA729172 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 19:22:14 -0600 Message-ID: <36EF0503.3EA126F1@mail.coin.missouri.edu> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 19:27:32 -0600 From: Kevin Webb Reply-To: kwebb01@mail.coin.missouri.edu Organization: b01 X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: NPR Report on Monsanto References: <002e01be7001$587e4120$68365281@edandsue.colostate.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 47 Was there a story too? I just heard the commercial for Monsanto... Ed and Sue Sparling wrote: > Dear Sustainable Ag Network Subscribers: How did you all react to the > "All Things Considered piece on Monsanto?" My reaction was that the > Monsanto PR dept had a big hand in it. Interesting that Clinton is > going to give Fraley (former PR man for Monsanto) a medal. Ouch! I > have to wonder if tommorow's part 2 will incorporate a serious > consideration of concerns about the effects of bt GM plants on the > organic farming sector. It seems pretty irresponsible reporting if > Dan Charles (NPR reporter) hasn't talked to Charles Benbrook (for > example). Ed SparlingProfessor EmeritusDept Agric EconomicsColorado > State University To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 21:31:12 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id VAA21203 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:31:12 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id UAA21105 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:48:21 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net (snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net [207.217.120.62]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA21003 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:48:15 -0500 (EST) Received: from earthlink.net (pool033-max1.ds6-ca-us.dialup.earthlink.net [207.217.230.33]) by snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net (8.8.7/8.8.5) with ESMTP id RAA12541; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:48:08 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <36EE72FE.72F0AF8A@earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 07:04:30 -0800 From: Bargyla Rateaver X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Argall Family CC: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: UW release: acid linked to soil aging References: <000901be6c17$13d498a0$2b3325cb@p2> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 48 It is easy to see why the writers zeroed in on legumes and blame them. They will tell any kind of lies to support their opposition and sneering at organic methods, which in this case is done in a slanting/hidden way. Of course it is a lie. Everyone knows that legumes build up soil value, in any kind of rotation. I am grateful to these writers to hear about acacia value. I see that they readily fall down, did not know it was helpful to cut them at year 3 and utiize their soil addition. Also the idea of a legume monoculture. Thanks for that info. ===================== Argall Family wrote: > I am newly subscribed to Sanet. I have had a (very small) certified organic > orchard in south eastern Australia for some years, previously did some > conventional cattle farming, also very small. > > Steve Diver wrote > > >1. Why did the researchers suggest that natural sources of > nitrogen such as legumes (clovers, vetches, cover crops) > cause as much acidification as chemical nitrogen sources > (ammonium nitrate, anhydrous ammonia, etc.)??? > > This generalisation about plant effects does seem to need qualification. > Acacia spp actually raise pH while also fixing nitrogen. Hence, the value of > allowing/encouraging natural [here in Australia] regeneration of wattle > [Acacia] trees in an orchard when it is young. The wattles, a major pioneer > species here, grow quickly, most of them would if left alone fall over at > age 15-20, but if removed at 3 years or so will noto nly have done a major > job opening rock with invasive root systems, but also will (easily observed) > produce a nitrogen effect in the root area, for other trees/plants/pasture > for a couple of years at least. The rotting root systems also provide soil > benefit, apart from the nitrogen nodulation. These trees do not sucker, > unlike the nitrogen fixing pioneer Alder. > > Sadly, these facts on the value of wattles are known better to permaculture > people than to conventional farmers here, who clear out wattles (woody > weeds) and plant pasture adding superphosphate, believing that the rapid > performance of the newly cleared land is due to the phosphorus when it is > probably almost entirely due to the clearance of the nitrogen fixers and the > sulphuric acid in the super bag. > > I would think a major distinction should be made between use of legumes as > rotation, where they die or are dug back in, and constant maintenance of a > leguminous pasture. I have always had the (intuitive) view that no nitrogen > fixing plant with any brains, any more than any other organism, is concerned > about looking after others rather than itself. Maximum nitrogen effects are > likely to arise from allowing a succession away from the nitrogen fixer. > Keeping a nitrogen fixer in one place for a long time is likely to have > deleterious effects as with any other monoculture. > > Which is not to say that I disagree with the following, which emphasises > that it is not the legumes per se but the cultural practices associated with > their use which impact on soil negatively or positively. > > >If you think [Steve said] about long-term studies and real life situations > where > side by side farms are managed by organic or conventional > methods, I am pretty sure you'd find wide enough differences > in soil quality characteristics to disprove the statement that > nitrogen from legumes is just as harmful as chemical nitrogen.... > especially when viewed from a whole farm perspective, there are > humus complexes and soil foodwebs that can bind and fix nitrogen > thus preventing its ability to contribute towards soil acidification. > > Steve also wrote: > > >Interestingly, compost is known to raise the pH of acid soils > closer to neutral, as well as lowering the pH of basic soils > closer to neutral. Compost helps soils adjust towards neutral > whether the pH is high or low. > > ...which is why it is useful to regard composting as essentially simply an > acceleration, centralisation and intensification of good soil building > techniques, with some further health benefits if high temperatures are > established. > > One green manure technique for bringing available calcium into the > biological content of the soil, which is inexpensive on a small property, is > to spread inexpensive feed oats and cut the young (calcium scavenging) crop, > before it goes to seed. > > Dennis Argall > > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "unsubscribe sanet-mg". > To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > > All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: > http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 21:36:23 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id VAA21263 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:36:23 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id UAA21417 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:48:42 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net (snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net [207.217.120.62]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA21287 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:48:31 -0500 (EST) Received: from earthlink.net (pool033-max1.ds6-ca-us.dialup.earthlink.net [207.217.230.33]) by snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net (8.8.7/8.8.5) with ESMTP id RAA13132; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:48:28 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <36EE84C3.6AE82950@earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:20:19 -0800 From: Bargyla Rateaver X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "Anita Graf (Staff)" CC: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: prison labor in organic ag References: <124471940958@agecon.uga.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 49 One main thing I heard from Ms. Sneed, was how/why so many of those people turned to crime. She really understands the frustration of those who have so many strikes on them to start with, and to the same hopeless environment to which they have to return.. She tries to give them some hope for something better, altho knowing some mayl never really change. The overall record for her is success--this program has really changed thinking of some, and all get something better to do than just sit inside and hate. I think people should all see her and hear her talk ==================== Anita Graf (Staff) wrote: > Hi Loren, > I just had to tell you that I think you were really harsh on the > person who proposed prison labor for organic farms. He/she might have > been totally off base for the reasons you mentioned, but I fully > believe that his/her intentions were good and didnt' deserve such a > cyber bashing. Maybe prison labor shouldn't be "farmed" out to > commercial operations, but surly the plight of prisoners is a sorry > one (and those of all the rest of us who then have to live with > criminals who come out of prisons even worse than when they entered) > and seeking solutions to this should be applauded, even if those > solutions need some tweeking. I almost never hear anyone proposing > anything constructive and regenerative for prisoners to do; all I ever > see on tv are people wanting to "lock 'em up forever and throw away > the key." Personally, I think there's enough work to go around for > all and prisoners just like immigrants aren't ever going to be in a > position to swipe all those good paying jobs from the rest of us. I > would rather see prisoners working on something constructive than just > honing their criminal skills and deepening their anger and violence > toward themselves and the rest of us (either we're "paying" their > salaries). So, please, stop screaming and overreacting to one > person's vision of a viable solution. > > > Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 12:41:47 -0800 > > From: Loren Muldowney > > Subject: Re: Organic Farming Economics > > > > > I've surmised that organic agriculture is so expensive because > > > the labor is so expensive. There is a free labor source waiting to be > > > tapped--prisons. > > > > This is probably a joke. I hope so. If I believed it could be sincere, > > I would respond with the following: > > > > - ------------------------------------- > > > > I may never stop screaming. > > > > I specifically boycott all goods made by prison labor, since it is > > exploitative of not only of prisoners, but more importantly of those > > working people who have NOT turned to crime as a lifestyle. > > > > The organic agriculture paradigm was created by shunning short-term > > economic theory. I don't think this will ever fly, if the consumers > > know about it; it would have to be kept from them intentionally. Since > > the point of organic marketing is to make full information available to > > the consumer, this lovely scenario would be better pursued in the > > "conventional" agriculture sphere. I just heard they are cutting the > > tails off of dairy cows for "economic" reasons, so probably they > > wouldn't bat an eye at this suggestion either. > > > > Not only that, but some our more sleazy mall stores have been using the > > "made in america" marketing, which appeals to those who deliberately > > support working non-criminal fellow citizens, to label goods made by > > prisoners as "made in america." It is a "solution" which "works" right > > at this moment, because many people are simply unaware that it is going > > on. Most people currently believe it to be illegal, being so clearly > > repugnant a concept. > > > > I can't wait to post this incredible suggestion at the natural foods > > coop and see everybody mobilize for the boycott. > > > > Anita Graf > 313-F Conner Hall > Dept. of Agricultural and Applied Economics > University of Georgia > Athens, GA 30602-7509 > (706) 542-1915 phone > (706) 542-0739 fax > agraf@agecon.uga.edu > > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "unsubscribe sanet-mg". > To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > > All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: > http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 21:36:56 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id VAA21272 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:36:56 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id UAA21486 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:48:47 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA21277 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:48:31 -0500 (EST) Received: from snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net (snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net [207.217.120.62]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA15432 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:48:28 -0500 (EST) Received: from earthlink.net (pool033-max1.ds6-ca-us.dialup.earthlink.net [207.217.230.33]) by snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net (8.8.7/8.8.5) with ESMTP id RAA12864; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:48:19 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <36EE806B.38E8738A@earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:01:47 -0800 From: Bargyla Rateaver X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Shoshanah.Inwood@oberlin.edu CC: Loren Muldowney , sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu, yolanda.p.cruz@oberlin.edu, jenna.hill@oberlin.edu Subject: Re: Organic Farming Economics Responce References: <1658552.3130251199@pac2.public.oberlin.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 50 Ms Sneed was "lucky" to be able to use a large empty field right beside the prison. She never suggested that prisoners be sent to farms to learn how to grow food. She tried to find a way to give them ssomething productive to do, and realized the pleasure they would get from seeing a plant they grew by themselves--something creative, something productive from their own hands. Most of them would never have even a yard to use, but some would go on and utilize the new skill. But at least it was good for them to work thiss way, and they were never required, just offered the chance. It was a wonderful idea and helped many in several ways. You should just hear her and see her slides. ================== Shoshanah.Inwood@oberlin.edu wrote: > --On Fri, Mar 12, 1999 4:40 PM -0500 "Shoshanah Inwood" > wrote: > > > Thank-you Michael for so eloquently explaining Catherine Sneeds program at > > the San Francisco prison. I believe her program is a model that can be > > expanded and applied throughout the country. > > > > Loren allow me to respond to your comments and expand on my initial > e-mail: > My initial e-mail was written in very simplistic terms and ideas for a > number of reasons. I was looking to gage the responsiveness of participants > in the field of organic/sustainable agriculture. I am fully aware that just > stating that prisoners should be put to work on organic farms is an > idealistic statement that leads to endless questions: such as how many and > what types of prisoners should be allowed to work on farms and how to ensure > farmer, community and prisoner safety. > I was looking to see how receptive people are to this idea especially the > farmers, where is their level of convertibility at? > > All one needs to do is read a newspaper to see how high recidivism rates > are. This indicates that the present criminal justice system is not > effective at deterring crime or "rehabilitating" prisoners. You object to > supporting those who have chosen a "criminal lifestyle", we need to ask why > have they chosen that life style. And if this is the only means of survival > they know, then it is logical to conclude that they will return to this > lifestyle once released from prison unless they are presented with other > alternatives. I am curious why you think that training prisoners to do farm > labor is so wrong, especially if it is non-exploitive. By boycotting > products made by prisoners you deny their existence and their right to be > productive citizens. People who are in prison have broken the law and > usually deserve to go to prison. But once they aquire the label of > "prisoner" do they automatically loose their humanity and all of their > rights? And I might add that even if an individual is in prison they are > still an American. > > > >> Many programs throughout the country involving prisoners growing > food(such as Sneed's project in San Francisco) donate a portion of the crop > to soup kitchens, back to the community from which many of the prisoners > came from. The prisoners are working to give something back to their > community and are learning about responsibility and building marketable job > skills. By working on farms, especially small organic farms prisoners would > have the opportunity to learn about marketing, accounting and advertising, > giving them experiences, which can open up worlds to them never before > known. > > > > Why would consumers not be told about who was growing there food? I > > would think people would appreciate knowing that the food they are buying > > is also an investment in their community. To reduce the anger and reduce > the crime rate, isn't this one of the major concerns in almost every city > and town in America? I have been a member of many different types of co-ops > and one of their commonalties is to promote and support improving local > communities: socially, politically and economically. Prison labor would be > helping local growers to increase their crop yield and their economic > survival. > > The future is a rapidly changing place, everyday we learn more about the > agri-chemical/life science companies genetically engineered products, along > with the effects of herbicides and pesticides. The challenge to organic > farming is to make it more cost effective so that it can be marketed and > readily available to a greater number of people at a lower cost. Yes this > is our capitalistic society. These are the confines we must operate within. > Sometimes you play with the bosses rules in order to win the game > > Shoshanah Inwood > > On Fri, 12 Mar 1999, Loren Muldowney wrote > >> > >> ------------------------------------- > >> > >> I may never stop screaming. > >> > >> I specifically boycott all goods made by prison labor, since it is > >> exploitative of not only of prisoners, but more importantly of those > >> working people who have NOT turned to crime as a lifestyle. > >> > >> The organic agriculture paradigm was created by shunning short-term > >> economic theory. I don't think this will ever fly, if the consumers > >> know about it; it would have to be kept from them intentionally. Since > >> the point of organic marketing is to make full information available to > >> the consumer, this lovely scenario would be better pursued in the > >> "conventional" agriculture sphere. I just heard they are cutting the > >> tails off of dairy cows for "economic" reasons, so probably they > >> wouldn't bat an eye at this suggestion either. > >> > >> Not only that, but some our more sleazy mall stores have been using the > >> "made in america" marketing, which appeals to those who deliberately > >> support working non-criminal fellow citizens, to label goods made by > >> prisoners as "made in america." It is a "solution" which "works" right > >> at this moment, because many people are simply unaware that it is going > >> on. Most people currently believe it to be illegal, being so clearly > >> repugnant a concept. > > > > > > > >> I can't wait to post this incredible suggestion at the natural foods > >> coop and see everybody mobilize for the boycott. > > > > > > >> > Much of the prison population is illiterate, farm work is a learned low > >> > skill profession that does not require literacy. Individuals would be > >> > outside growing food which would provide emmence psychological and self > >> > esteem benefits as well as practical job skills for their futures after > >> > prison. > >> > >> Sounds like a great idea, if you propose that these people should be > >> taught to grow their own organic food for their own consumption. They > >> would learn all the skills and improve their diets. > >> > >> > What happens when > >> > they are released? How are they any better off? > >> > >> Then when they are released, they will know enough to begin organic > >> farming, and ride the crest of this wonderful wave of commerce. Surely > >> that's what you mean? > >> > > > > > > > > I'm curious if there are any farmers out there, who > >> > contract out to prisoners, and how open growers are to this idea. > >> > >> I suppose we'd all like to know that! Well, here's one more reason to > >> only buy from people we know personally. So much for the integrity of > >> commerce. > >> > >> Just when I think I can no longer be surprised..... > >> > >> Loren Muldowney > >> > > > > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "unsubscribe sanet-mg". > To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > > All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: > http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Tue Mar 16 21:45:32 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id VAA21397 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:45:32 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id UAA20905 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:48:11 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net (snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net [207.217.120.62]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA20772 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:48:04 -0500 (EST) Received: from earthlink.net (pool033-max1.ds6-ca-us.dialup.earthlink.net [207.217.230.33]) by snipe.prod.itd.earthlink.net (8.8.7/8.8.5) with ESMTP id RAA12293; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:48:00 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <36EE6FDB.6637A65A@earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 06:51:08 -0800 From: Bargyla Rateaver X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Bluestem Associates CC: "sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu" , "steved@ncatark.uark.edu" Subject: Re: UW release: acid linked to soil aging References: <199903111459.JAA24887@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 51 Oh, Oh, I think I recognize your name. Too bad. Anyway, I just must reply because there is a basic error in all of this, and that is the old, definitely outdated idea of ion absorption. People apparently just can't get out of this old rut. Plants do NOT absorb ions, they absorb whole molecules or particles, that are collections of molecules. The old idea, pictured in textbooks, of a root as being a naked projection of the stem, is floating in a soil solution of ions off the clay particles. That makes a nice neat picture, with 50 cents worth of ions from the root exchanging places with 2x25 cents worth from the clay particles--that kind of "exchange". All false. Based on academia's determination to get chemical fertilizer company grant money. Plants absorb molecules by endocytosis. It is time for everyone in agriculture to wake up and see what the real truth is. There was a time when endocytosis was a new discovery, with only a few scientists utilizing their electron mics to show this, but now you can find literally THOUSANDS of reports on endocytosis in plants, yes, in plants, in addition to the many more thousands of reports on endocytosis in other living entities. Also, calcium's importance is not concerning pH, but the actual tissue need by plants of this mineral. Albrecht was a strong advocate of the need for calcium, and altho his followers avidly quote almost all he said, and he based his writings on his extremely carefully acquired data from careful experiments, they still are stuck with the cation CEC stuff. He had to segregate individual ions to prove his point about the need and use of each mineral, but his followers have extrapolated, extended that to mean all fertilizing has to be properly based on CEC. They all forget that he stated that "nutrients to not have to be SOLUBLE to be AVAILABLE ". That was a very penetrating comment, esp. since at his time the electron mic photos were not extant. Had he seen those, I feel sure he would have corrected the huge trend today to continue basing ideas on CEC. His followers are not able to see how brilliant he was to recognize, without photographic proof, that plants could absorb items not is soluble (ionic) form. Albrecht was very insistent on the need for calcium because of what calcium does, as a mineral, not as a part of CEC. Current science literature is loaded with fairly new info on the many ways calcium is utilized by plants. For him to say it was the "prince of nutrients" was very smart of him, and now the current literature proves him right. Now there are whole books written about the important calcium uses. He should have lived to our time to see that. He was right, academia was wrong. Bluestem Associates wrote: > On Wed, 10 Mar 1999 19:56:55 +0000, Steve Diver wrote: > > >> Thirty-seven years of data collected from a plot at the University > >> of Wisconsin-Madison's Arlington agricultural research station is > >> yielding alarming results: acidification from excess fertilizer is > >> wearing out the soil. > [snip] > >A couple of points come to mind: > > > >1. Why did the researchers suggest that natural sources of > >nitrogen such as legumes (clovers, vetches, cover crops) > >cause as much acidification as chemical nitrogen sources > >(ammonium nitrate, anhydrous ammonia, etc.)??? > > > [snip] > >2. The report also noted the importance of calcium, magnesium, > >and potassium; cation exhange capacity; and liming. > > > >This brings to mind the notion that eco-farming advisors who've > >been emphasizing base saturation and high calcium lime all these > >years may have clued into an important principle of good soil > >management way ahead of their time. > > I have not read the original paper yet, so what I say should be seen > more as an observation triggered by the comments than as a dierct > response to them. > > It seems at least reasonably logical that natural sources of nitrogen > will have somewhat the same effect as chemical analogues, especially in > high rainfall areas when nitrification rates are high. All nitrates are > soluble --- at least I can't remember a single metal that would > precipitate nitrate out of a solution --- so high nitrate situations > will result in calcium leaching, given enough water. > > Removing calcium from a soil has some fairly unfortunate effects on its > structure, usually reflected as a greater susceptibility to compaction. > Compaction robs yields, and as yields disappoint, what is the response > of most farmers (and Extension folks) ? --- more nitrogen --- which > strips more calcium, and off we go. I think this is one of the > least-appreciated vicious cycles in all agriculture, and there's no > compelling agronomic reason why it can't happen with leguminous > nitrogen or manure nitrogen, especially if the nitrogen is being > cranked up to push the yields. [editorial comment: just what we need, > eh? more #2 yellow corn ...] > > The "destruction of CEC" part of that article is intriguing. One > possibility might actually be only indirectly related to nitrogen. The > tendency in Wisconsin has been to keep soils absolutely awash in > soluble potash, while largely ignoring calcium. Apart from potatoes and > a couple of other horticultural crops, calcium is added to the soil > only to the extent that it is incidental to liming intended to adjust > pH. In high nitrate soil environments much of the exchangeable calcium > will be stripped off colloids, but that (in itself) shouldn't damage > the exchange site. > > Here's where the potassium may come into play. Those potassium ions can > sneak between the layers on the clay particles and (especially with > certain types of clay), pull the two clay layers together around the > ion, and lock the whole thing up. Those exchange sites will be > effectively lost to the soil from then on. So I'm speculating that the > nitrogen (by stripping calcium) *enables* potash to tighten up the > edges of certain clays, making their exchange sites unavailable for > future use. > > The effect may be particularly pronounced in conventional agriculture, > owing to that system's marked tendency to sacrifice organic matter for > short term yields (which may also feed into this whole loop by > increasing the compaction effect). Typical organic matter has a CEC of > about 200 meq/100g, or roughly ten times that in a clay loam. > Consequently, 2% OM in a soil is responsible for about 4 meq of CEC. On > the good organic farms there is enough OM in the soil that the portion > of CEC attributable to the clay fraction is of reduced functional > significance. > > Most university researchers try to hold equal all factors except those > under study. In the case of the UW work it leads me to suspect that in > the "organic" systems potash levels were kept just as high as on the > conventional side. If potash is actually a significant part of the > problem it would be quite likely that organic sources of nitrogen would > have something of the same effect as the "chemical" sources. > > I'd have to read the details of experimental design and see the data > before I went any farther down this path, but I don't think it's an > outrageous stretch to suggest that calcium and potash management may > have at least as much to do with the observed phenomena as the nitrogen > > Bart Hall > Lawrence, Kansas > > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "unsubscribe sanet-mg". > To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > > All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: > http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 02:54:24 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id CAA25712 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:54:23 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id CAA12140 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:05:20 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id CAA12113 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:05:12 -0500 (EST) Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id CAA19812 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:05:08 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.236] (term5-21.vta.west.net [205.254.241.149]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id XAA01818 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 23:03:24 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 23:04:54 -0700 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: USTR Working on Draft Retaliation List In Hormone-Raised Beef Spat With EU Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 52 Daily Report for Executives Tuesday, March 16, 1999 USTR Working on Draft Retaliation List In Hormone-Raised Beef Spat With EU The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is finalizing a list of European Union products that could be subject to trade retaliation as early as July in a long-standing dispute over hormone-raised beef, U.S. Special Trade Negotiator for agriculture Peter L. Scher said March 15. Scher spoke to reporters after a Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade hearing on agriculture trade with China and the European Union. "We will exercise our rights," he said, affirming USTR's stance that the EU will face sanctions if it fails to meet a World Trade Organization deadline for bringing its regime into compliance with its international obligations. The USTR has already taken steps to slap $520 million in retaliatory tariffs on Europe for the EU's banana regime, which was twice ruled WTO-illegal. Importers of various products are required to post bonds on certain products to cover potential 100 percent tariffs. In beef, the WTO Appellate Body in January 1998 confirmed an earlier ruling by a WTO dispute settlement panel that the decade-old EU policy of banning hormone-treated beef was illegal under WTO rules. A WTO arbiter last May ordered the EU to comply with the ruling and lift the ban by May 13, 1999. The senators were skeptical. "My guess is come May 13 we're still talking," subcommittee chairman Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said. Scher reiterated that USTR will seek retaliatory tariffs as soon as 60 days after May 13, as allowed under WTO rules. And he pointed to the banana case as evidence of the administration's resolve. "This is not about bananas. This is about rules," he said. "... If we're willing to go to that mat on bananas, we're certainly willing to go to the mat on beef." The EU has expressed interest in a compromise that would require U.S. beef to be labeled as originating in the United States. But differences remained over how the labeling was to be done--and the EU asked for more time for additional studies, a request USTR denied. The special negotiator said no fewer than 17 EU studies on hormone-treated beef have already been conducted. "This has been a ban in search of a justification for 10 years now," he said. Biotechnology Key In a related area, a State Department official testified at the hearing that the most pressing agricultural trade concern with the EU may be the broader area of biotechnology, including genetically modified organisms. "Within a few years, virtually 100 percent of U.S. agricultural commodity exports will be genetically modified or mixed with GMO products," he said. "... We of course respect the EU's right to have a system of government oversight for GMOs. No government can abdicate its responsibility to have a system in place to ensure the safety of food, feed, and the environment. But the system must be predictable, transparent, efficient, and scientifically based--and in the case of the EU, it is none of the above." A significant problem is the negative public perception of biotechnology in Europe, due to media misinformation, he said. "This has so slanted the European public's views on the issue that governments are reluctant to undertake perfectly appropriate, but politically difficult, regulatory decisions," Eizenstat said. The State Department and other agencies are developing a public-relations campaign for Europe on hormone-treated beef and biotechnology in general, he said. Sanctions Bill in Works In comments to reporters after the hearing, Eizenstat said the Clinton administration is working with Sens. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del) on a sanctions-reform bill. "We think it's important to have comprehensive sanctions reform," Eizenstat said. Lugar has introduced bills in the 106th Congress that order the president to review all unilateral economic sanctions (S. 101) and that prohibit agricultural products from being included in future sanctions packages (S. 566). The latter bill mirrors a measure, H.R. 817, introduced by Rep. Thomas W. Ewing (R-Ill.) in the House. Eizenstat said the administration is willing to supplement any bill with executive orders. By Chad Bowman To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 02:54:25 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id CAA25716 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:54:25 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id CAA12145 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:05:22 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id CAA12119 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:05:14 -0500 (EST) Received: from alpha.matrixinet.com (alpha.matrixinet.com [205.254.232.10]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id CAA19815 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:05:10 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.236] (term5-21.vta.west.net [205.254.241.149]) by alpha.matrixinet.com (8.9.1a/8.9.1) with SMTP id XAA01821 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 23:03:27 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 23:04:57 -0700 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: UK: re: the cost of segregating GMOs Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id CAA12121 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 53 HOW TO PRICE WHAT WE PUT ON OUR PLATE New Scientist 27 February 1999 By Debora MacKenzie FOR MOST PEOPLE, the main question about GM food is: do I have to eat it or not? If we are to have that choice, GM crops will have to be segregated from plough to plate and all products containing GM food labelled as such. The US government claims that this would impose heavy costs on its food suppliers. It threatens a trade war if the European Union responds to public pressure by demanding segregation of GM crops within US exports. But a new analysis suggests that the costs of segregation and labelling are manageable, and could even enhance trade. "This could be the only key to easing public acceptance of biotechnology," says Allan Buckwell, an agricultural economist at Wye College near Ashford, Kent. Buckwell presented his findings in Brussels earlier this month. He says that similarly stringent segregation--although not on the basis of genetic modification--is already widespread. "Different varieties of wheat, for bread or pasta, are already strictly separated from farm gate to production plant," he says. And in the US, soya growers already distinguish beans used in different kinds of tofu for export to Japan. The cost of such segregation is not prohibitive, say Buckwell and his colleague Graham Brookes. For example, soya growers and processors in the US separate and label beans with different protein and oil contents for an extra cost of just 6 to 9 per cent compared with unsegregated beans. Soya growers in Brazil distinguish GM from non-modified soya for a premium of 10 to 15 per cent. European dealers separate maize with a high oil content for 17 per cent extra cost, while US producers do it for 6 per cent. Canadian farmers distinguish GM from normal oilseed rape, or canola, for an 8 per cent premium. And costs will come down, says Buckwell, if segregation becomes widespread. The organisation that commissioned the Wye College study remains sceptical, however. The Food Biotech Communications Initiative, which represents companies such as Monsanto, Coca-Cola and NestlÈ, concludes that segregation will increase food costs by "as much as 150 per cent". But this interpretation assumes that food labelled as non-GM has to be absolutely pure. In practice, regulators are likely to allow food to carry such a label if contamination with GM materials is below a certain level. The EU, which is currently debating its labelling criteria, is considering tolerances for GM contamination for individual ingredients of around 1 per cent. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 10:20:01 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA01792 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 10:20:00 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA08897 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:11:29 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA08867 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:11:23 -0500 (EST) Received: from envsci.rutgers.edu (envsci.rutgers.edu [165.230.5.130]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA26579 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:11:21 -0500 (EST) Received: from LOCALNAME (monk-a-asy-6.rutgers.edu [165.230.176.74]) by envsci.rutgers.edu (8.8.8+Sun/8.8.8) with SMTP id JAA29376; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:07:26 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <36EFE311.6AF1@envsci.rutgers.edu> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:14:57 -0800 From: Loren Muldowney Reply-To: loscott@envsci.rutgers.EDU Organization: Individual X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win16; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU, homestead@listserv.oit.unc.edu CC: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Monsanto & GM seeds to be subject of NPR "All Things Considered" Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 54 If you can use the RealAudio software, you can hear the NPR piece on genetically modified seed and the Monsanto company for yourselves at: http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/archives/1999/current.html That's for today, for tomorrow, you'll probably have to hunt through the archives, but it will still be accessible somehow. Transcripts may also be ordered for some cost. LM To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 10:52:18 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA02473 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 10:52:18 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA29704 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:44:45 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mailgw.cc.uga.edu (mailgw.cc.uga.edu [128.192.1.101]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA29638 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:44:38 -0500 (EST) Received: from agecon.uga.edu (agecon1.agecon.uga.edu) by mailgw.cc.uga.edu (LSMTP for Windows NT v1.1b) with SMTP id <0.009EE4BF@mailgw.cc.uga.edu>; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 9:44:39 -0500 Received: from AGECON/SpoolDir by agecon.uga.edu (Mercury 1.43); 17 Mar 99 09:44:36 EST5EDT Received: from SpoolDir by AGECON (Mercury 1.43); 17 Mar 99 09:44:22 EST5EDT From: "Anita Graf (Staff)" To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:44:19 EST5EDT MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Monsonto's price In-reply-to: <199903161332.IAA02238@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu> X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.54) Message-ID: <12B645E001B2@agecon.uga.edu> Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 55 > "The speed at which GM organisms have been developed and introduced by > multinational companies and the scientific community has left many people > completely unaware of and uninvolved in the process," the panel said. I was talking to a friend of mine today who happens to be stock broker and I asked him what's going on with Monsonto stock (wondering to myself how all this bruhaha we've been reading about lately re. the backlash against GMOs is effecting the bottom line over there) and he told me that it had been in a holding pattern for some time, but recently it's gone up (!!). He says that there are rumors of a takeover. Anyway, it would seem that whatever resistence to GE is brewing out there, it isn't giving off any economic signals yet to dampen the GE enthusiasm... Anita To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 10:55:31 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA02558 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 10:55:31 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA28067 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:43:20 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from imo21.mx.aol.com (imo21.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.65]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA27969 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:43:14 -0500 (EST) From: Sprinkraft@aol.com Received: from Sprinkraft@aol.com by imo21.mx.aol.com (IMOv19.3) id 7TJRa08602 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:42:24 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:42:24 EST To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Agrogastronomia Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 206 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id JAA27988 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 56 Agrogastronomia 900 miles south to Zapopan, Jalisco from Austin, mostly on Mexico 54, a major portion of the inter-American freight route that doesn’t compare well even with Iowa’s county blacktops. 54 is getting beat up day and night by CFI, Schneider and a lot of trucks with Arkansas plates no doubt hauling for Walmart. Mexico needs Walmart like a another sunny day. I don’t mean to hammer Mexican road-builders, its just that one doesn’t drop NAFTA into a glass of water and expect it to turn into Cabernet Sauvignon. That hollering one hears in Texas about the massively increased north-south truck traffic-and the lack of federal planning to handle it- resonates quite well here in Mexico. The big fellahs are tearing up roadbed and bridges built when Lazaro Cardenas was president, and few of them will bear the increased pounding once a lot more of the smaller light- manufacturing operations go on-line. That eventual burden will be in addition to the increase in local rubber bumping along. The short-haul tankers, belly-dumps, low-boys, buses and farm tractors all tread along, amid fretfully groping Gringos pulling an Izusu Rodeo behind their motels on wheels. Aiy-Chihuahua. I saw one 100 horsepower Deere hauling a 12 foot disc rip up two feet of pavement a hundred meters in front of me as he pulled across the thoroughfare - the pavement frequently drops off 6-8 inches to the "shoulder" ( abyss). Up went the front wheels, down went the discs, traction, and up came the asphalt. He didn’t look back, so it must be a commonplace. Seen often are what everyone in anything less than a Suburban should justly fear rolling aside them on the interstate: the "doble-remolques", twin forty- foot trailers hauled in tandem behind a driver who should have a wide-angle video remote on the tail-end in order to see what is going on behind this chopped-off escapee from a railroad. The iron horse is pulling its weight though: I saw a seemingly endless line-up of empty double-decker cattle cars headed south when I was coming into Laredo. Which sort of brings me around to the food part of my essay. Having learned from my last fast in Oklahoma, I hauled some stuff with me this time: the fruit, trail-mix, Scandicrackers and garlic saw me through the desert between Saltillo and Zacatecas. It was a real desert, not just a metaphor, i.e., where fast-food is the sand and coke is the water. Got lost in Zacatecas at noon- time trying to intuit an eatery, then turned back around south for Guadalajara, and saw El Fuente minding its own business on the side of the road in Cieneguillas across from a fairly new Fanta soda pop plant. Ah: factory, plus restaurant equals lunch. Just in the nick of time, I walked in before the plant personnel poured across the highway. El Fuente means" The Source. It was aptly named and this is what I got for three dollars and seventy cents: a beer, a bowl of soup, a little plate of rice, some homemade pork rinds, 6 homemade corn tortillas and a plateload of pork chile verde and beans. I ignored the pork rinds and analyzed the soup and rice. The soup was approximately 2/3 of a quart in volume with fresh carrots, onions and zucchini surrounding a thick bone to which five good bites of beef were still attached. Like the soup, the rice also had scratch vegetables in it. The main course was unnecessary but I cleared it off like the good gourmand that I am. I just looked it up to be sure that "gourmand" also infers indulgence, but according to Microsoft it doesn’t, therefore they’re wrong and I ate the chile verde because it tasted so good. Between Zacatecas and Zapopan the desert slowly unclenches and fields, watered by aqueducts running down from local impoundments, begin to green. The further south you run, the more irrigated agriculture you encounter, until bananas and guavas and avocados begin to show up. These are watered by the sky. I was absolutely charmed by small patches of alfalfa, some no more than 2000 square feet in area, groomed and cared for like they were filled with snapdragons and delphiniums. I had to pull off to make sure one field was carrots and it was. The corn is laid into upright stacks and then a farmer with a PTO driven grinder cuts the piles into pieces and sacks it up for livestock back at the corral. Tomatoes are still coming on, while spent fields are on the other side of the road. The citrus and guavas were uneven in appearance. Being that they were on hillsides where its hard to bring fertility, it may have been a nitrogen deficiency, but I guessed mites too. Although it might have been last year’s freeze that knocked them back. Outside of Villanueva the eucalyptus trees are growing out from the roots, with tall dead trunks above them. There was wheat about a foot and half high and some nice stands of oats, and women and children were having a lot of fun knocking down nuts from trees with sweat-marked poles I imagined their parents might have used years ago. Heading into Jalisco I began to see roadstand signs that read "coffee" and "mangos". I fear it is too dry though, and has been droughty for awhile. Some of the reservoirs have three-year vegetation growing in their far reaches. Some irrigation authority should suggest that the farmers not water at midday with a twenty knot wind blowing, but for all the know-how we have north of the Rio Grande, that sort of caution goes unheeded as you can readily see throughout the southwestern deserts we have borrowed with all that dammed up water. Hook it up, fire it off and walk away. It is old technology, but I am a real sucker for aqueducts, especially the little ones made of bricks and concrete running alongside a nice patch of black dirt. And the furrow-irrigation, so outmoded and wasteful, is still so satisfying to maintain and coax along all the way to, hopefully, the end of the row. Don Miguel Torres made us water corn like that in California. I wanted to put out drip tape, and he said: " Get out of here with your plastic. The corn wants a lot of water, and when the water goes down to the roots the roots keep following the water and then the corn won’t fall over. Let me water this corn like I want to." Anything you say boss, and he was all that. Production problems associated with shallow watering in concert with synthetic fertilizer at the root zone tend to reinforce the idea that deep watering does make some sense. Short roots from drip irrigation; short roots, greater risk. But in the coming age of water scarcity, I think we’ll see more drip tape in agriculture before we see fewer golf courses in the small ball meccas of Arizona. Six hours out of Zacatecas I cleared the ridge above Guadalajara, having had the good fortune to have passed an achingly slow freighter ominously marked " Materiales Peligrosos" ( Dangerous Materials) on the last brief straight-away before entering twenty five kilometers of hairpins, cliffs, and deep drops into the Achichito and Rio Verde watersheds. Parked "safely" in the confines of Hell-Bat-Town, Jalisco, I had that old mealtime dilemma once again confronting me. At least I found hotel quarters before the sun went down. These drivers seem to speed it up once the delivery vans are parked, and its a regular Daytona in downtown Guadalajara after dark. I wished I could change out of my Red Wings so I could carry myself a little more quickly across the boulevards. " No problem," the hotel desk clerk said, " There is a Burger King around the block on the Avenida Avilla Camacho." When I winced slightly, she pointed out that there was also a typical grill just down the Jorge Alvarez del Castillo. So I showered and walked down to " Ruben’s", and for four dollars and twenty cents I had the following: First, I got a basket of small, fried corn tortillas, four big containers filled with salsas and pico de gallo, and a bowl of guacamole that you would pay four bucks American for in Austin. The waiter alerted me to the fact that with my order of cerdo adobado I got a free trip to the salad bar. I nixed the iceberg and loaded up on beets, garbanzos, onions and cucumbers. No dressing. The beets were scratch, and I could tell because there was a small, knobby, double-rooted beet cut up in the server, and they were earthy and crunchy- fresh. My, what big garbanzos you have, Guadalajara! I destroyed the guacamole. Then, superfluously, came the meal: Way too much grilled pork loin in adobado sauce, fried scratch potatoes that tasted like potatoes, a bowl of charro beans, a pile of sliced tomatoes, a soup bowl filled with fresh, sautéed onions and jalapenos, the corn tortillas that I watched the woman make from behind her glassed-in theater, and two beers. I made up my mind to take a long walk after dinner and skip breakfast. The perfumed streets were lined with flowering trees, and I noted that one distinct proof against graffitti is to cover the wall with a living thing like Bougainvilla or ivy. Ruben’s throws you a real curve-ball. You walk in thinking: this is going to be too Gringofied, since its pretty close to the University and is across the street from an English language school. Just a hunch. And its sharp, and gleaming and had two TV sets tuned to dueling, different soccer games, one in Germany, the other in Peru. The waiters walk by with their arms loaded with food, watch one play for half the trip across the room, and then focus on the other game as they reach their destination. When the announcer yells: GOAL! in there, I’ll bet it gets interesting. Do not succumb to the Romanticized observations of one lucky traveler, because we all rhapsodize about these fundamental, probably fleeting, food truths of Mexico. Though scratch cooking is definitely more available, particularly where a novice is least inclined to experiment, like the public market, Mexico is hurtling toward processed convenience with a Keep Up With the Joneses vengeance. The big supers are wall to wall with the name brands most good Greens have learned to avoid like the plague they are. I remember how disappointed I felt when my friend Angel Perea told me that his wife, an ace scratch cook, was "enchanted" by McD’s French fries. And Ralph Nader owns stock in DuPont. Now that I am once again in a place where they give away avocados, I want to know what happened to the US avocado market. Something doesn’t seem to fit, and its not because I have been eating too many. After all the hard work that Angie Dickinson and Calavo did getting people to eat them, the large, quality avocado is mysteriously missing. And the resulting guacamole is like green caviar: dearly priced. Even in California all one sees at retail are small sizes, and when encountered in Minneapolis or Iowa City at $1.39 each for around four bites of overripe mush, I have to figure either the avo-deal has a life of its own or has evolved into retail loss-leader diversification without rationale, like hustling star fruit and plantains makes sense because Frieda Kaplan has written it on her stone tablets. Not to be unnecessarily tough on Frieda’s Finest; man what a sticker program, which may yet prod a doubting public to eat more winter squash. Not organic though. I took a nice meeting with them ten years ago on that subject: not enough margin to share in the pipeline. In a word, savvy. Frieda’s already walks and talks like uncommon product, somehow making production practices immaterial because of all that purple hype: a strange halo of wholesomeness graces these exotic experiments on behalf of the global palate. Avocado production is a big NAFTA battle ground. Being fairly freeze intolerant, they won’t thrive much above San Luis Obispo on the California coast, and their prime growing areas, particularly the flat ground around Escondido and Ventura, has gone under the blade, leaving production to the tender hillsides, which are more susceptible to a host of management problems, including harvesting and erosion of the already thin and unstable soils. They also don’t like smog. Stateside scarcity leads at least to dependably steady prices. I remember the avo-rollercoaster years when growers just let them drop. And then, there was Angie. Meanwhile, today in Mexico, where they are native, avo export is a built machine stymied by protectionism masked by phytosanitary fears. I am completely in conformance with the idea of not importing another exotic baddie where they aren’t already, but the idea of bringing a disease into the US on the fruit begs one to imagine how a spent avocado shell will get pitched into a disease-free orchard and engender the calamity. Stranger disasters have happened, and some of them were unintended reversals of theory. Instead of shipping them whole, the going industry here is sending frozen avo- puree, either because of the fresh export restrictions or because trucking a highly perishable product of which a significant portion is not utilized, except as compost, ends up being too great a percentage of the actual value. Fifteen dollars a box, FOB Uruapan sounds like a money maker to me though. Five or six bucks per to get it up to Nogales or Laredo and to cross it, five per to shove them around some more, and that’s guacamole. If that sounds too simple, it probably is. Two years ago when I was rambling around in Michuoacan I saw whole mountains planted to three to five year old Hass orchards, and observed quite a few commercial nurseries filled with trees close to planting age. I readily own up to my schizophrenia over globalization. Is the export market supposed to make sense, is the most cogent question. Will the Free-For-All to come be self-equalized by the market valves, self-activating with textbook facility instead of historical upheaval? Consumers can generally take or leave the avocado, but people who have planted them and waited five years to market them are less likely to shrug it off if corporate fields in Chinzamvia throw the fruit at the consumer’s basket for momentary pennies, waiting for market monopoly to kick in. Round and Round it goes, and where it stops, nobody knows. But those who pretend are better paid than popular journalists. How the Hass outclassed the rest of the field is intriguing as well. Ever eaten, or for that matter seen a Bacon, a Rincon or a Fuerte? None of them have bumpy black skins. The bumpy helps the shelf-life, the black tells you they are ripe without having to mash them into guac at point of purchase. I think they tend to have if not a superior flavor one that isn’t inferior to any other, and the Hass tend to be not as watery as Bacons and Rincons. My grandparents had a massive Fuerte in the backyard which we ate from and made dubious charity from among the passive neighbors in the middle-class southern California town where they lived for decades. " Uh, yeah sure, Morris. Thanks, and say hi to Edna for us," Mr. Blankenship might mumble, semi-startled to suddenly have a 15 pound bag of them thrust upon him. " Are you sure he likes them, grandad? " I cautiously inquired as we returned to the Pontiac. " Seems to!" He said, hopefully defiant. In 1972 I odd-jobbed for a millionaire coot in Escondido, hauling empty picking bins into and full ones back from his avocado orchards. He had carefully pinned a recording plate on every tree and measured each year’s yields, hand-punching the year and yield in each patinaed plate. Some of his Hass trees each gave over a ton of fruit in their prime. But he had made his fortune in salvage when storm water flushed a 40’s-era army base full of first cut redwood planks onto his riparian ground. I think he was prouder of that than of the trees, but he was already sideways with reality. Years later, Steve and Ben Moore let me live in their avocado orchard, where I gained much admiration for this exceptionally sustaining food. Seven years among the Hass, and the only thing I’m spoiled over was the price. If they hit the ground, they were either mine, Miguel’s , the Moores, or a lucky find for a coyote. A key market rule is that grounders don’t get shipped. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 13:06:08 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id NAA07076 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 13:06:08 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id LAA11219 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 11:52:27 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id LAA11117 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 11:52:21 -0500 (EST) Received: from enaila.nidlink.com (root@enaila.nidlink.com [216.18.128.8]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id LAA00117 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 11:52:18 -0500 (EST) Received: from benbrook.nidlink.com (pm5-44.nidlink.com [216.18.141.51]) by enaila.nidlink.com (8.9.0/8.9.0) with SMTP id IAA18279; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 08:52:16 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <2.2.32.19990317171519.00943ef8@mail.nidlink.com> X-Sender: benbrook@mail.nidlink.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 2.2 (32) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:15:19 -0800 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu From: Charles Benbrook Subject: NPR Piece on Monsanto,Etc Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 57 Much could and needs to be said about the NPR piece on Monsanto (part I), the Dupont-Pioneer deal, Monsanto's stock price, and the prospects for farmers to make a living growing soybeans in the U.S. But for now just a few points. The NPR piece shows what good PR can do and get for a company that knows how to "work with" the media. Not a bright day for NPR. What amazes me is that senior Monsanto officials can get away, unchallenged, with saying things like "RR beans lowered their (farmers') costs and raised their yields." The evidence is now overwhelming and indisputable that average yields of RR varieties are about 4-6% less than conventional varieties. The definitive and most recent comparative analysis was carried out by Dr. E.S. Oplinger of the Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, who has managed a North Central regional project assessing soybean varietal performance for years. Dr. Oplinger compared yields of 5,172 conv. varieties paired with 3,067 RR varieties in 8 states in 1998. The RR varieties yielded between 86% and 113% of the conv., and average yields were 96% of conventional. There were just two areas where RR did better -- Illinois and southern Michigan. Outside these areas the average yield drag was greater, on the order of 6% to 8% (data from "Performance of Transgenetic Soybeans -- Northern US," Dr. E.S. Oplinger, M.J. Martinka, and K.A. Schmitz, Dept. of Agronomy, UW-Madison). This places the minimal average yield drag at about 2 bushels per acre, or $10.00 (and it was much more on many farmers). That $10.00 plus the technology charge, plus the 2-3 applications of Roundup (not the one alleged in the piece), plus the 2 or 3 other herbicide a.i.s that must be applied make for the most expensive soybean seed+weed management system in modern history -- between $40.00 and $60.00 per acre depending on rates, weed pressure, etc. Not long ago, in 1985, the average seed plus weed costs on farms in Illinois was $26.72 per acre (USDA cost of production data), and represented 23% of total variable costs; now, they represent 35-40%. (For details and data sources, see the paper I did for the Univ. of Illinois symposium at ). No wonder Monsanto is throwing in free resprays and replanting, and other crop insurance-like benefits as an added bonus. Every independent set of data, recent analysis of RR beans I have seen reaches the same conclusion; the technology increases costs somewhat, but imposes a "price" farmers are willing to pay for the simplicity/robustness of the weed management system. Oplinger et al. end their paper saying: "It is anticipated that soybean growers will continue to increase acres planted to RR varieties and will sacrifice yield for ease of weed control." They will also sacrifice some net income per acre. This is a perfectly rational reason for farmers to adopt the technology; weed management is probably the number one management challenge all soybean farmers face. Monsanto should not be ashamed to cite these reasons in explaining why the technology is being adopted. But Monsanto needs to drop the "feeding the world", "lowering costs", "lowering pesticide use" claims because they do not hold water and will undermine, further, the reputation of the corporation, and in so doing feed the already considerable cynicism abroad about the trustworthiness of this company. While Monsanto does not seem to worry much about losing consumer trust in Europe and Japan, U.S. farmers (and the U.S. government) should be concerned and will, in the end, pay the price if the effort to drive RR beans down the throats of Europeans backfires into a search for non-GMO soybeans from other countries. Plus, things are not getting any better down on the farm. Soybean prices are way down, export markets are soft. As weed shifts continue in areas planted heavily to RR beans, and as resistance spreads to additional weed species (the first signs of tolerant weeds are appearing in several states), farmers will have to increase rates of Roundup applications and intensify use of other active ingredients, to fill gaps in control. Costs will rise, the income squeeze will get even worse. Contrary to a Monsanto scientist's claim on the NPR piece, Roundup does not kill everything green except for transgenic crop varieties. If that were the case, most farmers using RR systems would not be applying at least 2, and on many farms, three additional active ingredients. Someone posted that Monsanto's stock price is holding. Keep watching that space. The Dupont-Pioneer deal seals off the most likely route to salvation for Monsanto -- Dupont's deep pockets. Monsanto is desperate for a new partner to help cover its $700 million plus cost of capital, etc from the seed mergers of the past few years. Not too many companies around that can float that sort of cost. There remain a couple of major deals to go in the pesticide and seed industries, and then it will be, for all intents and purposes, over. Expect Monsanto, Zeneca, American Home Products, Novartis, and Bayer to be involved in a few additional mega-deals in the next 12-24 months. We will have one industry where we used to have two, and 4-6 major players where there used to be a couple of dozen, and many dozen regionally significant players. No one has much of an idea, nor any credible way to project the consequences of these changes. Its unchartered water in turbulent times. We are all invited along for the ride, which will be exciting and at times divisive, as the economic interests of one part of the agricultural system (probably farmers) suffer at the expense of other players. There will be many surprises, positive and negative. What seems clear to me, in any event, is that public institutions and policies, like those governing research, technology returns, intellectual property, markets, information, are not keeping up and that new forces shaping the performance of the new seed+pesticide industry will largely emerge within the private sector, from the demand side, both farmers for inputs and consumers for food. chuck benbrook Charles Benbrook 208-263-5236 (voice) Benbrook Consulting Services 208-263-7342 (fax) 5085 Upper Pack River Road benbrook@hillnet.com [e-mail] Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 http://www.pmac.net To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 13:13:12 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id NAA07304 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 13:13:11 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id MAA27559 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 12:16:57 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id MAA27549 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 12:16:52 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail.iatp.org (iatp-2.InnovSoftD.com [208.141.36.66]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id MAA00554 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 12:16:49 -0500 (EST) Received: from markbert ([208.141.36.107]) by mail.iatp.org (Netscape Messaging Server 3.56) with SMTP id 494; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 11:21:56 -0600 Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990317075222.00b87200@iatp.org> X-Sender: mritchie@iatp.org X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 07:52:22 -0600 To: "Ed and Sue Sparling" , From: "Mark Ritchie" Subject: Re: NPR Report on Monsanto Cc: In-Reply-To: <002e01be7001$587e4120$68365281@edandsue.colostate.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 58 I was on an previous NPR show about biosafety/biotech in which my impression from the NPR producer was that they she and NPR were pro-biotech and pro-monsanto. On the show that was aired I had one sentence and then there were 4 strong proponents of biotech. How about some calls to NPR to complain?? At 04:04 PM 3/16/99 -0700, Ed and Sue Sparling wrote: >>>> Dear Sustainable Ag Network Subscribers: How did you all react to the "All Things Considered piece on Monsanto?" My reaction was that the Monsanto PR dept had a big hand in it. Interesting that Clinton is going to give Fraley (former PR man for Monsanto) a medal. Ouch! I have to wonder if tommorow's part 2 will incorporate a serious consideration of concerns about the effects of bt GM plants on the organic farming sector. It seems pretty irresponsible reporting if Dan Charles (NPR reporter) hasn't talked to Charles Benbrook (for example). Ed Sparling Professor Emeritus Dept Agric Economics Colorado State University <<<< Mark Ritchie, President Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy 2105 First Ave. South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 USA 612-870-3400 (phone) 612-870-4846 (fax) mritchie@iatp.org www.iatp.org/iatp To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 15:04:15 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id PAA09619 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 15:04:14 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id OAA02398 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:11:50 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from imo14.mx.aol.com (imo14.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.4]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id OAA02379 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:11:46 -0500 (EST) From: PetersFarm@aol.com Received: from PetersFarm@aol.com by imo14.mx.aol.com (IMOv19.3) id fSCAa14285; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:06:50 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <1cb2d19a.36effd4a@aol.com> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:06:50 EST To: rdhc@earthlink.net, sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Re: Re: npr story on monsanto GE Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 2.7 for Mac sub 3 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 59 Well, you know, we SANeters are bound to be disappointed (as I was) by any program about biotech, just because we've already been so well informed, thanks to SANet. Frankly, I'm glad to see/hear ANYthing on the subject from ANY of the media (as long as it's not a Monsanto commercial). If that program gets 10 people thinking about an issue they were not even aware of, I call that a Good Thing. (Betty) Ann Gras To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 16:00:54 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id QAA11098 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 16:00:54 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id OAA17696 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:44:11 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id OAA17640 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:44:06 -0500 (EST) Received: from aae.wisc.edu (aae.wisc.edu [144.92.122.133]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id OAA03833 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:44:03 -0500 (EST) Received: from mojo.aae.wisc.edu ([144.92.244.223]) by aae.wisc.edu (8.9.1a/8.9.0) with SMTP id NAA22640; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 13:44:06 -0600 Message-Id: <199903171944.NAA22640@aae.wisc.edu> Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Michele Gale-Sinex/CIAS, UW-Madison" To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu, CIAS.staff@aae.wisc.edu Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 13:43:58 -0500 Subject: (Fwd) Greenspan Says World Troubles Hurt U.S. Farmers CC: fhbuttel@facstaff.wisc.edu X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.53/R1) Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 60 Howdy, all-- So, since when has Alan Greenspan set himself up as spokesdude for the J. Random Powerful Pinstriped Guy Ministry of Agricultural Production System Expertise? This appeared in today's /SF Chronicle/. Notice that his touted "characteristic ambiguity" doesn't include his advice to farmers. Efficiency...productivity...latest technology. Keep saying it. Sooner or later my eyes are bound to glaze over. pax misha ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Greenspan Says World Troubles Hurt U.S. Farmers Fed chairman sees technology as means to increase efficiency Sam Zuckerman, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, March 17, 1999 Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan came to San Francisco yesterday to speak just hours after the Dow Jones industrial average briefly crashed through the 10,000 barrier for the first time ever. But the Fed chairman didn't utter a word about the market because high finance wasn't on his mind. Greenspan, who has frequently voiced his worries about speculation in stocks and coined the phrase ``irrational exuberance'' several thousand Dow points back, chose the occasion to speak about the U.S. farm economy. While the overall U.S. economy experiences a remarkable mix of robust growth, low unemployment and low inflation, ``agriculture has been one of the more notable soft spots,'' Greenspan noted, hurt by worldwide weakness in commodity prices. Greenspan's choice of San Francisco as a venue to speak about farming wasn't as odd as it seemed at first glance. His audience at the Moscone Center consisted of more than 2,000 community bankers in town for a convention of the Independent Bankers Association of America, many from small-town banks that specialize in loans to farmers. The Fed chief's outlook for the broader economy was, as usual, ambiguous and delivered in his characteristic on-the-one-hand, on-the- other-hand style. The healthy U.S. economy ``is partly the result of influences that may prove transitory, but a number of fundamental strengths imply more lasting benefits,'' he said. Greenspan noted that, after eight years of economic growth, ``the economy appears stretched in a number of dimensions, implying considerable upside and downside risks to the economic outlook.'' Weakness in farm prices reflects the sick economies of key trading partners such as Japan and Russia, which have cut back their imports of U.S. agricultural products. Farmers won't see better times until troubled economies overseas recover, he warned. To survive under these conditions, farmers must keep on making themselves more efficient and more productive by using the latest technology, Greenspan said. c1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page B1 To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 21:59:51 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id VAA19310 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 21:59:51 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id VAA00776 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 21:08:20 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mail.inreach.com (mail.inreach.com [209.142.0.3]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id VAA00761 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 21:08:16 -0500 (EST) Received: from walacres.ptdprolog.net (209-142-19-236.oak.inreach.net [209.142.19.236]) by mail.inreach.com (8.8.8/8.8.6/(InReach)) with SMTP id RAA26305 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 17:56:20 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990317181131.007d16d0@mail.inreach.com> X-Sender: farmbox@mail.inreach.com X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 18:11:31 -0500 To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu From: Diane Joy Goodman Subject: NPR Piece on Monsanto Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 61 I did not listen to the broadcast but know that NPR does listen to response and frequently will air program segments that have valid opposing information. I don't believe individual comments to NPR would be very effective against Monsanto's PR savvy, but a letter noting Chuck Benbrook's RR soybean yield statistics, references to the European movement refusing gmo soybeans, and substantial additional scientific data from credible authorities, organized in a timely way and signed by nationally visible organizations may lead to equal air time. NPR needs only to be convinced (which would not be difficult to do) that there is as much unavailable information about the negative impact of Monsanto's promotion of its gmo products as there is of the perceived benefits. Anyone care to jump in on this ? Chuck? Diane Joy Goodman farmbox@inreach.com To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 22:26:36 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id WAA19904 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 22:26:36 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id VAA17722 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 21:32:18 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mailhub.cns.ksu.edu (grunt.ksu.ksu.edu [129.130.12.17]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id VAA17710 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 21:32:14 -0500 (EST) Received: from facts.ksu.edu (mailhost.facts.ksu.edu [129.130.156.200]) by mailhub.cns.ksu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1/mailhub+tar) with ESMTP id UAA13226 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 20:32:15 -0600 (CST) Received: from FACTS/MERCURY by facts.ksu.edu (Mercury 1.21); 17 Mar 99 20:32:14 CST6CDT Received: from MERCURY by FACTS (Mercury 1.21); 17 Mar 99 20:30:45 CST6CDT Received: from FACTS by facts.ksu.edu (Mercury 1.21); 17 Mar 99 20:30:39 CST6CDT From: "Charlie Griffin" To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 20:29:54 -600 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Re: NPR Piece on Monsanto In-reply-to: <3.0.5.32.19990317181131.007d16d0@mail.inreach.com> X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.01d) Message-ID: <13B8B9E13743@facts.ksu.edu> Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 62 I heard the piece tonight on the evening NPR while on the road. Help me understand if I heard one part correctly. I believe it was said that Monsanto "agents" go around to fields suspected of having planted illicit seeds and go onto the property and spray a few selected soybean plants with Roundup, then come back the next day and see if the plants died. If not, they consider it evidence of having RR beans and pursue legal recourse. Is this really the way it happens? And if they go onto private land of a producer not dealing with RR beans, spray Roundup and kill some plants, have they not damaged someone's crop, even if it is just a few plants? And if it were an organic operation, would they not have just ruined someone's certification by introducing spray? Please tell me this isn't the way it's really happening? Perhaps I've missed some vital details along the way. Charlie Griffin To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 22:28:53 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id WAA19924 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 22:28:53 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id VAA21547 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 21:42:36 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from cornell.edu (cornell.edu [132.236.56.6]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id VAA21507 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 21:42:32 -0500 (EST) Received: from cu-dialup (D1824.DIALUP.CORNELL.EDU [132.236.236.108]) by cornell.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id VAA06446 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 21:42:29 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19990317214147.00e2a7c4@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu> X-Sender: gwg2@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.3 (32) -- [Cornell Modified] Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 21:41:47 -0500 To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu From: "Gilbert W. Gillespie Jr." Subject: Articles in The Futurist Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id VAA21509 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 63 Those SANETters suffering from low blood pressure may find relief in the latest issue of The Futurist (April 1999, volume 33, No. 4). (Warning: this is merely a testimonial, the safety and efficacy of this treatment have been neither established scientifically nor approved by the FDA.) Steven C. Blank, an extension economist from UC-Davis and author of "The End of the American Farm?" (pp. 22-27), draws from his 1998 book–The End of Agriculture in the American Portfolio–to argue that agriculture is becoming uncompetitive in the US and that we ought to give up the outdated notion of producing food in the U.S. and import it from places that can produce it more cheaply. If I were to criticize Blank, I would do so for not mentioning the promise of biotech for eliminating agriculture all together (a prospect that should prevent rational land grant administrators from hiring any new production scientist faculty members younger than 50). Some excerpts that I hope fairly capture the main content: "Most Americans could not care less if farming and ranching disappear, as long as they get their burgers and fries. Americans will waddle on. The U.S. economy no longer needs agriculture and is rapidly outgrowing it...family farms have become an expensive lifestyle that America cannot afford; it is an inefficient use of resources that is becoming a hobby that leads to bankruptcy...The high costs of producing food in America, compared with the costs in poorer countries are pushing American producers out of business as foreign competitors develop enough to serve the same markets" (p. 22). "Some people may worry that leaving agriculture behind and shifting to imported commodities may cause Americans to miss a meal or two. But the United States has been importing an increasing amount of food for years, and American's waistlines are growing not shrinking" (p. 23). "Is this decline in farm numbers [about 33,000 farms per year since 1969] something to fear? No, it is an improvement in the efficience of American's economy" (pp. 24-25). [On two unnamed rural sociologists, one from Missouri and one from Iowa] "The sociologists are so busy worrying about the institution of family farming that they ignore the bottom line: There is no ‘rural America' anymore, and the people trying to hang on to the outdated version of farming are simply holding on to a bad investment...American agriculture is heading for the last roundup...Especially at this point in history, when American agriculture leads the world in almost every way, it is startling to think that the country will not need farmers or ranchers for much longer. But it is true...We need to strip away the romance and nostalgia surrounding agriculture and see it for what it is: a business. It is a type of business that has limited potential for long-run profits because of its competitive nature. The whole world can do it" (p. 25) [On demand for farmland from urban people seeking rural amenities] "It is ironic that many farmers and ranchers retiring in the future will be thankful for the flood of city folks into rural America...That irony is lost on many Defenders of the Farm. Several groups, such as the American Farmland Trust (AFT), still strive to preserve the nation's farmland" (p. 26). "...AFT has created a ‘Purchase of Development Rights' program...In other words, when the value of land is too high to justify farming it, AFT will buy it at market prices so that land can sit idle instead of being developed into something useful. This is an example of shooting yourself in the foot...Clearly the end of Agriculture in America is near, but some people refuse to see the signs and are hurting themselves in an effort to resist the inevitable. A classic example of this comes from reports that retiring farmers are passing their livelihoods on to young enthusiasts through a growing number of programs that match retiring farmers with younger ones in order to keep alive a family farm and a way of life...The idea...was developed in 1990 by a think tank in Nebraska...Yet, all the analysts agree that these programs are not going to change the faces of agriculture...Americans...must learn to let go of farming and ranching...In the long run, this means becoming citizens of the world, dependent on others for food commodities while Americans produce the marvels and the know-how for the future...accept that farming, although it enabled America to move into its dynamic future, is part of a proud past. Job well done" (p. 27). Robert B. Shapiro (who, perhaps some will recognize as the CEO of a firm headquartered in Missouri and mentioned lately in posts to SANET) authored "How Genetic Engineering Will Save Our Planet" (pp. 28-29). This is drawn from a speech published by the Center for the Study of American Business, Washington University, St. Louis. What he writes may not surprise you; my reading of his argument is as follows: The prospects for massive population increases require us to rethink how to feed the world. On top of that, people are demanding higher quality diets that include more animal products and oils. Therefore, we need to double or triple food output in the next few decades. Given the prospects for greatly increased demand for food, what we have done in the past is not sustainable. We have come to the limits of increasing land under cultivation and wildlife habitats are threatened. Biotechnology and information technologies are the only viable alternatives to accomplish this AND make sustainability and development compatible. Plants bioengineered to repel or kill pests are important examples of this. Note for purposes of perspective on the above: If you are not familiar with The Futurist, it is a publication of the World Future Society. The society is not particularly exclusive (I believe the main requirement for membership is $35 for dues). I suspect (but don't know) that its membership is mainly relatively politically-conservative and technologically-optimistic types. I find The Futurist interesting and stimulating because publishes all sorts articles and news notes on interesting ideas, projections, and cutting-edge technologies (e.g., using explosives to tenderize meat--p. 8 of the April issue). Like with National Public Radio, one needs to be able to read between the lines to gauge the perspectives and commitments of the authors. I would judge that most articles (like the two I described above) are consistent with the perspective of its main membership group. The general thrust of most articles is projecting current trends into the future with a new wrinkle or maybe two and conjecturing about some of the implications. Other articles, those more consistent with my tastes, identify novel and unexpected possibilities. Finally, some of the technologically-optimistic authors propose some downright whacky schemes with an unself-conconscious seriousness that I find, at the same time, very entertaining and very scary. Gil Gillespie To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Wed Mar 17 22:50:21 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id WAA20277 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 22:50:21 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id WAA06484 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 22:05:43 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id WAA06388 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 22:05:37 -0500 (EST) Received: from m18.boston.juno.com (m18.boston.juno.com [205.231.101.191]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id WAA12094 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 22:05:34 -0500 (EST) Received: (from eweigel@juno.com) by m18.boston.juno.com (queuemail) id D5X9R4AK; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 22:05:11 EST To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 19:53:41 -0700 Subject: re: N scavenging plants Message-ID: <19990317.195410.3542.2.eweigel@juno.com> X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0,7-16,18-26,28,30-33,35-36,38-41,43-46,48-49,51, 53-54,56,58-61,63-64,66,68-79,81,83-86 From: Edna M Weigel Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 64 SANETers: The following is an informative Email I received about N scavenging plants. This is only an academic interest for me since I live in a desert with low/moderate available nitrogen (my county agent thinks I need to add lots more nitrogen, but I grow vegetables just fine with a little added compost, mulch, and water). However, I thought it might be of more interest to some of you who live in areas plagued by nitrate groundwater pollution. regards, Edna --------- Begin forwarded message ---------- From: Michael Russelle To: eweigel@juno.com Subject: N scavenging plants Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 13:51:58 -0600 Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19990317135158.0084dcd0@soils.umn.edu> A colleague of mine sent me a copy of the note you had submitted on SANET. You may wish to share this with others in the discussion group. The USDA-ARS Plant Science Research Unit in St. Paul, MN, has developed a couple of alfalfa types that form ineffective nodules with rhizobia and cannot fix N symbiotically. They were developed for research on N2 fixation, but a few years ago, we found that they are 30-40% better in absorbing nitrate from the soil than regular alfalfa. We are using these in field trials to clean up excess nitrate. In one trial in North Dakota, Ineffective Agate removed twice as much N as corn silage, even though above ground dry matter yields were the same. There is very little seed available for these two alfalfas. Even if seed were readily available, however, we would not recommend that farmers plant them, since they either have to be fertilized or seeded in soil with very high inorganic N supply. It turns out that even regular, N2-fixing alfalfas do a pretty good job at removing inorganic N from the soil. Incidentally, planting a crop that has 'an aggressive root system' is no guarantee that it will remove N efficiently. Nitrogen removal is a function of dry matter (yield) and N concentration. If the crop will not yield particularly well at the location, it will not be especially effective in removing N. Those crops with higher N (or protein) concentration will remove more N than crops with lower N concentration, given the same yield. Of course, the crop needs to be able to produce roots at the depths where the nitrate is found in the soil -- one advantage of alfalfa is that it can be very deeply rooted (roughly 4-6 feet per year) and can get to nitrate in the deep subsoil that other crops cannot reach. Perennial crops are generally better than annuals, in that they use water over a longer part of the growing season and have higher yield potential. The water use question is important, because nitrate moves through the soil with excess water. One concern in using crops to remove excess nitrate is that herbage can develop high concentrations of nitrate-N, too. If the forage is to be used for livestock feeding, it should be ensiled to reduce nitrate concentrations, or the hay or green material should be tested for nitrate. Concentrations above 2000 to 3000 mg nitrate-N/kg dry matter may be toxic. Such feed can be used if mixed with other materials to effect dilution of the nitrate. Hope this is of some help. Michael Russelle - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Michael P. Russelle voice: 612-625-8145 USDA-Agricultural Research Service FAX: 651-649-5058 439 Borlaug Hall e-mail: russelle@soils.umn.edu University of Minnesota http://www.umn.edu/arspsru/plantsci.html St. Paul, MN 55108-6028 http://www.dfrc.wisc.edu/profiles/mpr.html USA --------- End forwarded message ---------- ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 01:20:43 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id BAA22638 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 01:20:43 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id AAA25386 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 00:20:45 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mailhub.iastate.edu (mailhub.iastate.edu [129.186.1.102]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id AAA25323 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 00:20:40 -0500 (EST) Received: from oemcomputer (dial54.ppp.iastate.edu [129.186.97.54]) by mailhub.iastate.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id XAA07358 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 1999 23:20:38 -0600 (CST) Message-Id: <4.1.19990317231522.00bc4a10@pop-1.iastate.edu> X-Sender: ehurley@pop-1.iastate.edu (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.1 Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 23:20:26 -0600 To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu From: Eric G Hurley Subject: Re: NPR Piece on Monsanto Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 65 For those of you who missed it, the NPR Monsanto piece can be heard on NPR's website at: http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/archives/1999/990316.atc.html You need to download RealAudio and have a soundcard to make it work. Eric G. Hurley ************************************************************* "Since the achievement of our independence, he is the greatest patriot who stops the most gullies." --Patrick Henry Eric G. Hurley 829 Douglas Ave #3 Ames IA 50010-6221 515/232-2568 ehurley@iastate.edu To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 09:43:35 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id JAA28606 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 09:43:34 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id IAA00395 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 08:05:48 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mail.caribe.net (root@mail.caribe.net [209.91.196.5]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id IAA00328 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 08:05:40 -0500 (EST) Received: from ddworley (ppp237.203dip.netdial.caribe.net [209.91.203.237]) by mail.caribe.net (8.9.0/8.9.0) with SMTP id JAA23275 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 09:08:30 -0400 (AST) Message-Id: X-Sender: ddworley@mail.caribe.net X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0 Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 09:03:40 -0400 To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu From: Richard Wolfson (by way of Daniel Worley ) Subject: GEN3-16; Fwd, Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 66 [Reposted with permission] The Observer (UK) Sunday March 14, 1999 Outrage over Monsanto's underhand tactics in EU By Gregory Palast An international consumer group is calling for world trade authorities to withdraw a key endorsement of Monsanto's controversial growth hormone for cows in the wake of Observer revelations that the company had obtained access to confidential EU documents. In a letter to the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (Jecfa), London-based Consumers' International demanded the agency void its approval of the bovine growth hormone BST. The consumer watchdog, which participates on the scientific committee, charges that Monsanto's privileged access to restricted documents 'damaged the objectivity and credibility' of the investigation of the hormone. Jecfa reports to the Codex Commission, the world's food safety arbitrator. In June this commission will vote on approving Monsanto's drug for international trade. Last week CI's director, Julian Edward, accused a US Food and Drug Administration official on the panel, Dr Nick Weber, of professional misconduct and 'breach of trust' in passing copies of sensitive papers to Monsanto. The Observer identified Dr Weber as the source of the leak to Monsanto. Weber has not responded to phone calls to his office, but the Jecfa panel's chairman, Dr John Hermann, stated that, following the Observer story, Weber had admitted passing the confidential documents to Monsanto prior to a crucial meeting last February in Paris. Herrman defended Weber, as he did another US Food and Drug Administration official in the controversy, Dr Margaret Miller. The Observer reported that Miller, a former Monsanto BST analyst, took part in the Jecfa review of the hormone.Herrman concedes that Miller participated in the talks and drafted the committee's report, but she excused herself from the actual vote approving the hormone as safe. Before heading Jecfa, Herrman, too, worked for the FDA. A spokesman for the Consumer Policy Institute of New York decried 'the disturbingly close relationship between FDA and Monsanto'. The Institute's BST expert, Dr Michael Hansen, a Jecfa adviser, said there were indications from test data that milk from cows injected with the hormone may promote cancers in humans. In Canada, the Senate Agriculture Committee last week demanded that Ottawa withdraw its seal of approval for BST following the Observer' disclosure that a scientist representing Canada on the Jecfa panel had been suggested by Monsanto. Senator Mira Spivak of Manitoba said senators were stunned to find in their own investigation that 'a registered Monsanto lobbyist was part of Canada's delegation to Codex'. The committee's report recommended conducting new studies of BST. The senator said her committee'learned that BST files were stolen at Health Canada' and that government scientists who expressed doubts about Monsanto's safety tests had been 'muzzled after they began to talk publicly about the drug review'. The Observer also reported that Monsanto had sued several hundred US farmers for 'seed piracy' - planting seeds taken from crops originally grown from Monsanto's copyrighted genetically modified seeds. Now a rival seed company has accused Monsanto of the same offence. Iowa-based Pioneer Hi-Bred International has just filed a suit in the US Federal Court accusing Monsanto of 'genetic misappropriation'. A Hi-Bred spokesman told The Observer that Monsanto 'buys our seeds' and hunt for rare copies of proprietary genetic codes. Monsanto denies that it has done anything illegal. Analysts say the suit by Hi-Bred, the leading US supplier of farm genetics, has major implications for Monsanto. In India, meanwhile, Monsanto lost a key legal battle in its ongoing conflict with the subcontinent's cotton farmers when India's Supreme Court barred Monsanto from new test plantings until it completes a judicial review of human rights claims against Monsanto. Farmers fear that the GM cotton, which incorporates an insecticide within its genetic code, could lead to the evolution of insects resistant to natural insecticides. ........ posted by: jim@niall7.demon.co.uk (jim mcnulty) Daily Express 12 March 99 Why soya is a hidden destroyer Exclusive by Mark Townsend Fresh fears over the safety of genetically modified foods surfaced faced yesterday after new research revealed that food allergies relating to soya Increased by 50 per cent last year A study by Europe's leading specialists on food sensitivity found health complaints caused by soya - the ingredient most associated with GM foods - have increased from 10 in 100 patients to 15 in 100 over the past year. Researchers at the York Nutritional Laboratory said their findings provide real evidence that GM food could have a tangible, harmful impact on the human body The findings were sent to Health Secretary Frank Dobson last night as scientists urged the Government to act on the information and impose an instant ban on GM food, while further safety tests are carried out. Dr Michael Antoniou, senior lecturer in molecular pathology at Guy's Hospital, Central London,, said: "This is a very interesting if slightly worrying, development. "It points to the fact that far more work is needed to assess their safety. At the moment no allergy tests are carried out before GM foods are marketed and that also needs to be looked at." John Graham, spokesman for the York laboratory, said: "We believe this raises serious new questions about the safety of GM foods because it is impossible to guarantee that the soya used in the tests was GM-free." It is the first time in 17 years of testing that soya has crept into the laboratory's top 10 foods to cause an allergic reaction in consumers. The vegetable has moved up four places to ninth end now sits alongside foodstuffs with a long history of causing allergies, such as yeast, sunflower seeds and nuts ......... CBC Internet news Mar 16, 1999 Fear grows over 'Frankenstein foods' LONDON - There's a new type of food that people around the world are having a hard time swallowing -- genetically modified products. Such food is becoming more and more common around the world. In Britain, so is the public outcry. There, memories of mad cow disease are still fresh on people's minds, and the issue is being described as another food crisis. To bio-technology companies, their ability to genetically alter fruits and vegetables is the dawn of a brave new world. It provides agriculture with the means to grow cheaper, healthier foods. Tomato plants, for instance, have been modified to produce fruit that doesn't ripen too quickly. By inserting genes from one plant into another, scientists can also improve a crop's resistance to insects or weeds. "We believe that bio-technology and genetically modified foods is an important component and an important future," says Nigel Poole of Zeneca Food Sciences. "This is only just the first 10 metres in a marathon race." Zeneca sell more than a half-million tins of their genetically modified tomato paste every year -- and they're not alone. Nearly 60 per cent of Britain's processed foods contain some genetically modified ingredients. But environmental and consumer groups are trying to turn back the tide of so-called GM foods. Their message is blunt -- altering the genetic code of grains and vegetables is creating "Frankenstein foods" that threaten human health and the environment. The groups are demanding more research and a moratorium on growing modified crops. "We've asked (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair to conduct a root-and-branch reform of the regulatory system immediately," says Julie Sheperd of Britain's consumers association, "and until that's done, not to allow new GM food products onto the market." Environmental activists recently ripped up a field of genetically modified canola in the British countryside, saying that even growing such plants for research could lead to contamination of other farmers fields. The refrain of worry is being picked up by retailers across the United Kingdom. A growing number of fast food outlets and major supermarkets say they don't want genetically modified ingredients in their products. Burger King and Domino's Pizza are the latest to join the movement. And Iceland Frozen Foods is producing its own line of products using unmodified Canadian soya flour. Iceland Foods' Bill Wadsworth says genetic modification provides a scientific shortcut to food production, but the alteration may be toxic -- now or in the future. "What we're concerned about is the fact that ... nobody can tell us what the risk is," Wadsworth tells CBC News. But some scientists say public fear over genetically modified foods is getting way out of hand. "People seem to be ignoring the real scientific basis of what is being done in respect of genetic modification. And I think there's very little understanding of the true issues," plant physiologist Mike Black tells CBC News. Ultimately, the battle over genetically modified ingredients will be won or lost in supermarkets, with consumer's choices on the store shelves. The British government is about to bring in new regulations for labelling, requiring anyone who sells food, whether in a restaurant or in a supermarket, to warn customers if it contains genetically modified ingredients. That way, it would be consumers who cast the final vote on the future of GM food. _________________________________________________________ Richard Wolfson, PhD Consumer Right to Know Campaign, for Mandatory Labelling and Long-term Testing of all Genetically Engineered Foods, 500 Wilbrod Street Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N2 tel. 613-565-8517 fax. 613-565-1596 email: rwolfson@concentric.net Our website, http://www.natural-law.ca/genetic/geindex.html contains more information on genetic engineering as well as previous genetic engineering news items. Subscription fee to genetic engineering news is $35 for 12 months, payable to "BanGEF" and mailed to the above address. Or see website for details. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 09:47:09 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id JAA28691 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 09:47:09 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id IAA12035 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 08:25:01 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com (dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com [206.214.98.4]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id IAA11960 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 08:24:51 -0500 (EST) Received: (from smap@localhost) by dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com (8.8.4/8.8.4) id HAA28820; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 07:24:13 -0600 (CST) Received: from wor-ma1-16.ix.netcom.com(205.184.168.48) by dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com via smap (V1.3) id rma028787; Thu Mar 18 07:23:51 1999 Message-ID: <020401be7142$69b67ce0$55a8b8cd@guldann.ix.netcom.com> Reply-To: "Dan Hook" From: "Dan Hook" To: , "Gilbert W. Gillespie Jr." Subject: Re: Articles in The Futurist Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 08:22:41 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3115.0 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 67 Gil sent: > >Steven C. Blank, an extension economist from UC-Davis and author of "The >End of the American Farm?" (pp. 22-27), draws from his 1998 book–The End of >Agriculture in the American Portfolio–to argue that agriculture is becoming >uncompetitive in the US and that we ought to give up the outdated notion of >producing food in the U.S. and import it from places that can produce it >more cheaply. If I were to criticize Blank, I would do so for not >mentioning the promise of biotech for eliminating agriculture all together >(a prospect that should prevent rational land grant administrators from >hiring any new production scientist faculty members younger than 50). Some >excerpts that I hope fairly capture the main content: > >"Most Americans could not care less if farming and ranching disappear, as >long as they get their burgers and fries. Americans will waddle on. The > Yikes this is a scary one, but I really don't see this as true. While many Americans are happy when things they want to buy just appear on the shelves, they can be awakened (albeit usually temporarily) when something endangers or appears to endanger their American comfort ie: attention to mad cow, e-coli, etc. I think if Americans were asked they would say they would prefere that most of our food was grown here, they're aware that having your "pantry" behind another countries borders could prove dangerous, war, export difficulties etc. I don't even think rural american is "disappearing" being chipped away at but not disappearing (fingers crossed). And while many Americans put their interest in things natural or agricultural on the back burner something I read in "Farms of the Future Revisited" struck me as meaningful I paraphrase and include my own opinions, people crave a connection with farms hence the sucess of petting zoos, farm stands, and probably pony rides. If you can get John and Jane Q Public on a farm they usually "see" how beautiful it is. Getting them there another story. Another quote I read and I appologize I do not remember the author if I find it I will post it: "You can not love what you don't know" Wow that about says it. Beth To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 10:26:45 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id KAA29667 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 10:26:45 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id JAA03688 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 09:03:23 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA03644 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 09:03:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com (dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com [206.214.98.4]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id JAA04741 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 09:03:15 -0500 (EST) Received: (from smap@localhost) by dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com (8.8.4/8.8.4) id IAA02980; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 08:02:06 -0600 (CST) Received: from wor-ma1-16.ix.netcom.com(205.184.168.48) by dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com via smap (V1.3) id rma002893; Thu Mar 18 08:01:34 1999 Message-ID: <024001be7147$aea024a0$55a8b8cd@guldann.ix.netcom.com> Reply-To: "Dan Hook" From: "Dan Hook" To: "Michele Gale-Sinex/CIAS, UW-Madison" , , Cc: Subject: Re: (Fwd) Greenspan Says World Troubles Hurt U.S. Farmers Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 09:00:23 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3115.0 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 68 >Weakness in farm prices reflects the sick economies of key trading >partners such as Japan and Russia, which have cut back their imports >of U.S. agricultural products. Farmers won't see better times until >troubled economies overseas recover, he warned. > >To survive under these conditions, farmers must keep on making >themselves more efficient and more productive by using the latest >technology, Greenspan said. > >c1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page B1 You survive a lessened market by making yourself more efficient and productive (with the lastest bell and whistles of course) so that you have lots of stuff to not sell? He's an ecomomist? Beth To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 13:37:18 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id NAA04752 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 13:37:18 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id MAA19248 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:12:36 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from garnet.sover.net (garnet.sover.net [209.198.87.53]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id MAA19157; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:12:29 -0500 (EST) Received: from oemcomputer (arc0a346.bf.sover.net [209.198.83.254]) by garnet.sover.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id MAA22530; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:12:27 -0500 (EST) Comments: SoVerNet Verification (on garnet.sover.net) oemcomputer from arc0a346.bf.sover.net [209.198.83.254] 209.198.83.254 Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:12:27 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <001f01be7162$cf66b120$fe53c6d1@oemcomputer> Reply-To: "farm connection" From: "farm connection" To: , Subject: Re: sanet-mg-digest V1 #905 Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 11:57:31 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 69 why are so many of you surprised at the pro monsanto leanings at npr - this is the same "public" radio that gets major support from archer daniels midland, mobil corp et al. do you really suppose that the grumbling of lowly listeners who contribute maybe $50 will matter to them? -----Original Message----- From: sanet-mg-digest To: sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu Date: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 6:56 PM Subject: sanet-mg-digest V1 #905 > >sanet-mg-digest Wednesday, March 17 1999 Volume 01 : Number 905 > > > >In this issue: > > Monsonto's price > NPR Piece on Monsanto,Etc > Re: NPR Report on Monsanto > Re: Re: npr story on monsanto GE > (Fwd) Greenspan Says World Troubles Hurt U.S. Farmers > >See the end of the digest for information about sanet-mg-digest. > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:44:19 EST5EDT >From: "Anita Graf (Staff)" >Subject: Monsonto's price > >> "The speed at which GM organisms have been developed and introduced by >> multinational companies and the scientific community has left many people >> completely unaware of and uninvolved in the process," the panel said. > >I was talking to a friend of mine today who happens to be stock >broker and I asked him what's going on with Monsonto stock (wondering >to myself how all this bruhaha we've been reading about lately re. >the backlash against GMOs is effecting the bottom line over there) >and he told me that it had been in a holding pattern for some time, >but recently it's gone up (!!). He says that there are rumors of a >takeover. Anyway, it would seem that whatever resistence to GE is >brewing out there, it isn't giving off any economic signals yet to >dampen the GE enthusiasm... Anita > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > >------------------------------ > >Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:15:19 -0800 >From: Charles Benbrook >Subject: NPR Piece on Monsanto,Etc > > Much could and needs to be said about the NPR piece on Monsanto >(part I), the Dupont-Pioneer deal, Monsanto's stock price, and the prospects >for farmers to make a living growing soybeans in the U.S. But for now just >a few points. > > The NPR piece shows what good PR can do and get for a company that >knows how to "work with" the media. Not a bright day for NPR. What amazes >me is that senior Monsanto officials can get away, unchallenged, with saying >things like "RR beans lowered their (farmers') costs and raised their >yields." The evidence is now overwhelming and indisputable that average >yields of RR varieties are about 4-6% less than conventional varieties. The >definitive and most recent comparative analysis was carried out by Dr. E.S. >Oplinger of the Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, who has managed a North Central >regional project assessing soybean varietal performance for years. Dr. >Oplinger compared yields of 5,172 conv. varieties paired with 3,067 RR >varieties in 8 states in 1998. The RR varieties yielded between 86% and >113% of the conv., and average yields were 96% of conventional. There were >just two areas where RR did better -- Illinois and southern Michigan. >Outside these areas the average yield drag was greater, on the order of 6% >to 8% (data from "Performance of Transgenetic Soybeans -- Northern US," Dr. >E.S. Oplinger, M.J. Martinka, and K.A. Schmitz, Dept. of Agronomy, UW-Madison). > > This places the minimal average yield drag at about 2 bushels per >acre, or $10.00 (and it was much more on many farmers). That $10.00 plus >the technology charge, plus the 2-3 applications of Roundup (not the one >alleged in the piece), plus the 2 or 3 other herbicide a.i.s that must be >applied make for the most expensive soybean seed+weed management system in >modern history -- between $40.00 and $60.00 per acre depending on rates, >weed pressure, etc. Not long ago, in 1985, the average seed plus weed costs >on farms in Illinois was $26.72 per acre (USDA cost of production data), and >represented 23% of total variable costs; now, they represent 35-40%. (For >details and data sources, see the paper I did for the Univ. of Illinois >symposium at ). No wonder Monsanto is throwing in >free resprays and replanting, and other crop insurance-like benefits as an >added bonus. > > Every independent set of data, recent analysis of RR beans I have >seen reaches the same conclusion; the technology increases costs somewhat, >but imposes a "price" farmers are willing to pay for the >simplicity/robustness of the weed management system. Oplinger et al. end >their paper saying: "It is anticipated that soybean growers will continue to >increase acres planted to RR varieties and will sacrifice yield for ease of >weed control." They will also sacrifice some net income per acre. This is >a perfectly rational reason for farmers to adopt the technology; weed >management is probably the number one management challenge all soybean >farmers face. Monsanto should not be ashamed to cite these reasons in >explaining why the technology is being adopted. But Monsanto needs to drop >the "feeding the world", "lowering costs", "lowering pesticide use" claims >because they do not hold water and will undermine, further, the reputation >of the corporation, and in so doing feed the already considerable cynicism >abroad about the trustworthiness of this company. > > While Monsanto does not seem to worry much about losing consumer >trust in Europe and Japan, U.S. farmers (and the U.S. government) should be >concerned and will, in the end, pay the price if the effort to drive RR >beans down the throats of Europeans backfires into a search for non-GMO >soybeans from other countries. > > Plus, things are not getting any better down on the farm. Soybean >prices are way down, export markets are soft. As weed shifts continue in >areas planted heavily to RR beans, and as resistance spreads to additional >weed species (the first signs of tolerant weeds are appearing in several >states), farmers will have to increase rates of Roundup applications and >intensify use of other active ingredients, to fill gaps in control. Costs >will rise, the income squeeze will get even worse. > > Contrary to a Monsanto scientist's claim on the NPR piece, Roundup >does not kill everything green except for transgenic crop varieties. If >that were the case, most farmers using RR systems would not be applying at >least 2, and on many farms, three additional active ingredients. > > Someone posted that Monsanto's stock price is holding. Keep >watching that space. The Dupont-Pioneer deal seals off the most likely >route to salvation for Monsanto -- Dupont's deep pockets. Monsanto is >desperate for a new partner to help cover its $700 million plus cost of >capital, etc from the seed mergers of the past few years. Not too many >companies around that can float that sort of cost. There remain a couple of >major deals to go in the pesticide and seed industries, and then it will be, >for all intents and purposes, over. Expect Monsanto, Zeneca, American Home >Products, Novartis, and Bayer to be involved in a few additional mega-deals >in the next 12-24 months. > > We will have one industry where we used to have two, and 4-6 major >players where there used to be a couple of dozen, and many dozen regionally >significant players. No one has much of an idea, nor any credible way to >project the consequences of these changes. Its unchartered water in >turbulent times. We are all invited along for the ride, which will be >exciting and at times divisive, as the economic interests of one part of the >agricultural system (probably farmers) suffer at the expense of other >players. There will be many surprises, positive and negative. What seems >clear to me, in any event, is that public institutions and policies, like >those governing research, technology returns, intellectual property, >markets, information, are not keeping up and that new forces shaping the >performance of the new seed+pesticide industry will largely emerge within >the private sector, from the demand side, both farmers for inputs and >consumers for food. > > chuck benbrook > > > > > > >Charles Benbrook 208-263-5236 (voice) >Benbrook Consulting Services 208-263-7342 (fax) >5085 Upper Pack River Road benbrook@hillnet.com [e-mail] >Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 http://www.pmac.net > > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > >------------------------------ > >Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 07:52:22 -0600 >From: "Mark Ritchie" >Subject: Re: NPR Report on Monsanto > >I was on an previous NPR show about biosafety/biotech in which my >impression from the NPR producer was that they she and NPR were pro-biotech >and pro-monsanto. On the show that was aired I had one sentence and then >there were 4 strong proponents of biotech. >How about some calls to NPR to complain?? > >At 04:04 PM 3/16/99 -0700, Ed and Sue Sparling wrote: >>>>> >Dear Sustainable Ag Network Subscribers: > >How did you all react to the "All Things Considered piece on Monsanto?" > >My reaction was that the Monsanto PR dept had a big hand in it. >Interesting that Clinton is going to give Fraley (former PR man for >Monsanto) a medal. Ouch! > >I have to wonder if tommorow's part 2 will incorporate a serious >consideration of concerns about the effects of bt GM plants on the organic >farming sector. It seems pretty irresponsible reporting if Dan Charles >(NPR reporter) hasn't talked to Charles Benbrook (for example). > >Ed Sparling >Professor Emeritus >Dept Agric Economics >Colorado State University > ><<<< > > >Mark Ritchie, President >Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy >2105 First Ave. South >Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 USA >612-870-3400 (phone) 612-870-4846 (fax) >mritchie@iatp.org www.iatp.org/iatp > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > >------------------------------ > >Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 14:06:50 EST >From: PetersFarm@aol.com >Subject: Re: Re: npr story on monsanto GE > >Well, you know, we SANeters are bound to be disappointed (as I was) by any >program about biotech, just because we've already been so well informed, >thanks to SANet. Frankly, I'm glad to see/hear ANYthing on the subject from >ANY of the media (as long as it's not a Monsanto commercial). If that >program gets 10 people thinking about an issue they were not even aware of, I >call that a Good Thing. > >(Betty) Ann Gras > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > >------------------------------ > >Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 13:43:58 -0500 >From: "Michele Gale-Sinex/CIAS, UW-Madison" >Subject: (Fwd) Greenspan Says World Troubles Hurt U.S. Farmers > >Howdy, all-- > >So, since when has Alan Greenspan set himself up as spokesdude for >the J. Random Powerful Pinstriped Guy Ministry of Agricultural >Production System Expertise? > >This appeared in today's /SF Chronicle/. Notice that his touted >"characteristic ambiguity" doesn't include his advice to farmers. > >Efficiency...productivity...latest technology. Keep saying it. Sooner >or later my eyes are bound to glaze over. > >pax >misha > >- ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- > >Greenspan Says World Troubles Hurt U.S. Farmers >Fed chairman sees technology as means to increase >efficiency > >Sam Zuckerman, Chronicle Staff Writer >Wednesday, March 17, 1999 > > >Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan came to San Francisco >yesterday to speak just hours after the Dow Jones industrial average >briefly crashed through the 10,000 barrier for the first time ever. > >But the Fed chairman didn't utter a word about the market because >high finance wasn't on his mind. > >Greenspan, who has frequently voiced his worries about speculation in >stocks and coined the phrase ``irrational exuberance'' several >thousand Dow points back, chose the occasion to speak about the U.S. >farm economy. > >While the overall U.S. economy experiences a remarkable mix of robust >growth, low unemployment and low inflation, ``agriculture has been one >of the more notable soft spots,'' Greenspan noted, hurt by worldwide >weakness in commodity prices. > >Greenspan's choice of San Francisco as a venue to speak about farming >wasn't as odd as it seemed at first glance. His audience at the >Moscone Center consisted of more than 2,000 community bankers in town >for a convention of the Independent Bankers Association of America, >many from small-town banks that specialize in loans to farmers. > >The Fed chief's outlook for the broader economy was, as usual, >ambiguous and delivered in his characteristic on-the-one-hand, >on-the- other-hand style. > >The healthy U.S. economy ``is partly the result of influences that >may prove transitory, but a number of fundamental strengths imply >more lasting benefits,'' he said. > >Greenspan noted that, after eight years of economic growth, ``the >economy appears stretched in a number of dimensions, implying >considerable upside and downside risks to the economic outlook.'' > >Weakness in farm prices reflects the sick economies of key trading >partners such as Japan and Russia, which have cut back their imports >of U.S. agricultural products. Farmers won't see better times until >troubled economies overseas recover, he warned. > >To survive under these conditions, farmers must keep on making >themselves more efficient and more productive by using the latest >technology, Greenspan said. > >c1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page B1 > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > >------------------------------ > >End of sanet-mg-digest V1 #905 >****************************** > > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the comannd >"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 15:41:50 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id PAA10289 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:41:49 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id OAA10399 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 14:33:05 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (root@eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.90]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id OAA10383 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 14:33:00 -0500 (EST) Received: from lamar.ColoState.EDU (lamar.ACNS.ColoState.EDU [129.82.100.75]) by eagle.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id MAA39448; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:32:57 -0700 Received: from edandsue (dialup0128.PPP.ColoState.EDU [129.82.52.227]) by lamar.ColoState.EDU (AIX4.3/UCB 8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id MAA180138; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:32:51 -0700 Message-ID: <007d01be7175$53268be0$e3345281@edandsue.colostate.edu> From: "Ed and Sue Sparling" To: Cc: Subject: ATC Piece on Monsanto and Genetic Engineered Crops Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:27:09 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_007A_01BE713A.A4749C20" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 70 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_007A_01BE713A.A4749C20 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable To Whom it May Concern: =20 Please find below a post from Dr Charles Benbrook, author of the book, = "Pest Management at the Crossroads," 1996, Consumers Union, Yonkers, = NY.,=20 and formerly Executive Director of the Board on Agriculture for the = National Academy of Sciences. =20 Dr. Benbrook is addressing one inaccuracy (misrepresentation by = Monsanto) of Part I of the ATC piece of this week. Benbrook's points = are well substantiated. In particular, he gives several references which = can be checked with a web crawler. In addition to checking these leads, ATC needs to follow up by delving = more deeply into the reasons responsible scientists and organic farmers = are so concerned about Monsanto's approach to marketing genetically = engineered crop seed. Dr Benbrook would be an excellent resource for = your reporters. Please find his post below my signature line. Yours Truly, =20 Ed Sparling Subscriber, KUNC Professor Emeritus, Agricultural Economics Colorado State University =20 =20 =20 NPR Piece on Monsanto,Etc =20 Charles Benbrook (benbrook@hillnet.com) Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:15:19 -0800=20 =20 Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]=20 Previous message: Anita Graf: "Monsonto's price"=20 =20 Much could and needs to be said about the NPR piece on Monsanto (part I), the Dupont-Pioneer deal, Monsanto's stock price, and the = prospects for farmers to make a living growing soybeans in the U.S. But for now = just a few points. =20 The NPR piece shows what good PR can do and get for a company that knows how to "work with" the media. Not a bright day for NPR. What = amazes me is that senior Monsanto officials can get away, unchallenged, with = saying things like "RR beans lowered their (farmers') costs and raised their yields." The evidence is now overwhelming and indisputable that average yields of RR varieties are about 4-6% less than conventional varieties. = The definitive and most recent comparative analysis was carried out by Dr. = E.S. Oplinger of the Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, who has managed a North = Central regional project assessing soybean varietal performance for years. Dr. Oplinger compared yields of 5,172 conv. varieties paired with 3,067 RR varieties in 8 states in 1998. The RR varieties yielded between 86% and 113% of the conv., and average yields were 96% of conventional. There = were just two areas where RR did better -- Illinois and southern Michigan. Outside these areas the average yield drag was greater, on the order of = 6% to 8% (data from "Performance of Transgenetic Soybeans -- Northern US," = Dr. E.S. Oplinger, M.J. Martinka, and K.A. Schmitz, Dept. of Agronomy, = UW-Madison). =20 This places the minimal average yield drag at about 2 bushels per acre, or $10.00 (and it was much more on many farmers). That $10.00 plus the technology charge, plus the 2-3 applications of Roundup (not the one alleged in the piece), plus the 2 or 3 other herbicide a.i.s that must = be applied make for the most expensive soybean seed+weed management system = in modern history -- between $40.00 and $60.00 per acre depending on rates, weed pressure, etc. Not long ago, in 1985, the average seed plus weed = costs on farms in Illinois was $26.72 per acre (USDA cost of production data), = and represented 23% of total variable costs; now, they represent 35-40%. = (For details and data sources, see the paper I did for the Univ. of Illinois symposium at ). No wonder Monsanto is throwing in free resprays and replanting, and other crop insurance-like benefits as = an added bonus.=20 =20 Every independent set of data, recent analysis of RR beans I have seen reaches the same conclusion; the technology increases costs = somewhat, but imposes a "price" farmers are willing to pay for the simplicity/robustness of the weed management system. Oplinger et al. end their paper saying: "It is anticipated that soybean growers will = continue to increase acres planted to RR varieties and will sacrifice yield for ease = of weed control." They will also sacrifice some net income per acre. This = is a perfectly rational reason for farmers to adopt the technology; weed management is probably the number one management challenge all soybean farmers face. Monsanto should not be ashamed to cite these reasons in explaining why the technology is being adopted. But Monsanto needs to = drop the "feeding the world", "lowering costs", "lowering pesticide use" = claims because they do not hold water and will undermine, further, the = reputation of the corporation, and in so doing feed the already considerable = cynicism abroad about the trustworthiness of this company.=20 =20 While Monsanto does not seem to worry much about losing consumer trust in Europe and Japan, U.S. farmers (and the U.S. government) should = be concerned and will, in the end, pay the price if the effort to drive RR beans down the throats of Europeans backfires into a search for non-GMO soybeans from other countries. =20 Plus, things are not getting any better down on the farm. Soybean prices are way down, export markets are soft. As weed shifts continue in areas planted heavily to RR beans, and as resistance spreads to = additional weed species (the first signs of tolerant weeds are appearing in several states), farmers will have to increase rates of Roundup applications and intensify use of other active ingredients, to fill gaps in control. = Costs will rise, the income squeeze will get even worse.=20 =20 Contrary to a Monsanto scientist's claim on the NPR piece, Roundup does not kill everything green except for transgenic crop varieties. If that were the case, most farmers using RR systems would not be applying = at least 2, and on many farms, three additional active ingredients. =20 Someone posted that Monsanto's stock price is holding. Keep watching that space. The Dupont-Pioneer deal seals off the most likely route to salvation for Monsanto -- Dupont's deep pockets. Monsanto is desperate for a new partner to help cover its $700 million plus cost of capital, etc from the seed mergers of the past few years. Not too many companies around that can float that sort of cost. There remain a couple = of major deals to go in the pesticide and seed industries, and then it will = be, for all intents and purposes, over. Expect Monsanto, Zeneca, American = Home Products, Novartis, and Bayer to be involved in a few additional = mega-deals in the next 12-24 months. =20 We will have one industry where we used to have two, and 4-6 major players where there used to be a couple of dozen, and many dozen = regionally significant players. No one has much of an idea, nor any credible way to project the consequences of these changes. Its unchartered water in turbulent times. We are all invited along for the ride, which will be exciting and at times divisive, as the economic interests of one part of = the agricultural system (probably farmers) suffer at the expense of other players. There will be many surprises, positive and negative. What seems clear to me, in any event, is that public institutions and policies, = like those governing research, technology returns, intellectual property, markets, information, are not keeping up and that new forces shaping the performance of the new seed+pesticide industry will largely emerge = within the private sector, from the demand side, both farmers for inputs and consumers for food. =20 chuck benbrook =20 Charles Benbrook 208-263-5236 (voice) Benbrook Consulting Services 208-263-7342 (fax) 5085 Upper Pack River Road benbrook@hillnet.com [e-mail] Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 http://www.pmac.net =20 To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". =20 All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail =20 Previous message: Anita Graf: "Monsonto's price"=20 =20 =20 ------=_NextPart_000_007A_01BE713A.A4749C20 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
To Whom it May Concern:
 
Please find below a post from Dr Charles Benbrook, = author of=20 the book, "Pest Management at the Crossroads,"  1996, = Consumers=20 Union, Yonkers, NY.,
and formerly Executive Director of the Board on = Agriculture=20 for the National Academy of Sciences.
 
Dr. Benbrook is addressing one = inaccuracy=20 (misrepresentation by Monsanto) of Part I of the ATC piece of this = week. =20 Benbrook's points are well = substantiated. In=20 particular, he gives several references which can be checked with a web=20 crawler.
 
In addition to checking these = leads,  ATC=20 needs to follow up by delving more deeply into the reasons responsible=20 scientists and organic farmers are so concerned about Monsanto's = approach to=20 marketing genetically engineered crop seed.  Dr Benbrook would be = an=20 excellent resource for your reporters. Please find his post below my = signature=20 line.

Yours Truly,
 
Ed Sparling
Subscriber,=20 KUNC
Professor Emeritus, Agricultural = Economics
Colorado State = University
 
 
 
NPR Piece on = Monsanto,Etc
 
Charles Benbrook (benbrook@hillnet.com)
Wed, = 17 Mar 1999=20 09:15:19 -0800
 
    Messages sorted = by: [ date ][=20 thread ][ subject ][ author ]
    Previous message: = Anita=20 Graf: "Monsonto's price"
 
Much could and needs to be said = about the NPR=20 piece on Monsanto
(part I), the Dupont-Pioneer deal, Monsanto's stock = price,=20 and the prospects
for farmers to make a living growing soybeans in = the U.S.=20 But for now just
a few points.
 
The NPR piece shows what good PR can = do and get=20 for a company that
knows how to "work with" the media. Not = a bright=20 day for NPR. What amazes
me is that senior Monsanto officials can get = away,=20 unchallenged, with saying
things like "RR beans lowered their = (farmers')=20 costs and raised their
yields." The evidence is now overwhelming = and=20 indisputable that average
yields of RR varieties are about 4-6% less = than=20 conventional varieties. The
definitive and most recent comparative = analysis=20 was carried out by Dr. E.S.
Oplinger of the Univ. of Wisconsin, = Madison, who=20 has managed a North Central
regional project assessing soybean = varietal=20 performance for years. Dr.
Oplinger compared yields of 5,172 conv. = varieties=20 paired with 3,067 RR
varieties in 8 states in 1998. The RR varieties = yielded=20 between 86% and
113% of the conv., and average yields were 96% of=20 conventional. There were
just two areas where RR did better -- = Illinois and=20 southern Michigan.
Outside these areas the average yield drag was = greater, on=20 the order of 6%
to 8% (data from "Performance of Transgenetic = Soybeans=20 -- Northern US," Dr.
E.S. Oplinger, M.J. Martinka, and K.A. = Schmitz,=20 Dept. of Agronomy, UW-Madison).
 
This places the minimal average = yield drag at=20 about 2 bushels per
acre, or $10.00 (and it was much more on many = farmers).=20 That $10.00 plus
the technology charge, plus the 2-3 applications of = Roundup=20 (not the one
alleged in the piece), plus the 2 or 3 other herbicide = a.i.s=20 that must be
applied make for the most expensive soybean seed+weed = management=20 system in
modern history -- between $40.00 and $60.00 per acre = depending on=20 rates,
weed pressure, etc. Not long ago, in 1985, the average seed = plus weed=20 costs
on farms in Illinois was $26.72 per acre (USDA cost of = production=20 data), and
represented 23% of total variable costs; now, they = represent=20 35-40%. (For
details and data sources, see the paper I did for the = Univ. of=20 Illinois
symposium at <www.pmac.net/IWFS.pdf>). No = wonder=20 Monsanto is throwing in
free resprays and replanting, and other crop=20 insurance-like benefits as an
added bonus.
 
Every independent set of data, = recent analysis=20 of RR beans I have
seen reaches the same conclusion; the technology = increases=20 costs somewhat,
but imposes a "price" farmers are willing = to pay=20 for the
simplicity/robustness of the weed management system. Oplinger = et al.=20 end
their paper saying: "It is anticipated that soybean growers = will=20 continue to
increase acres planted to RR varieties and will sacrifice = yield=20 for ease of
weed control." They will also sacrifice some net = income per=20 acre. This is
a perfectly rational reason for farmers to adopt the=20 technology; weed
management is probably the number one management = challenge=20 all soybean
farmers face. Monsanto should not be ashamed to cite = these=20 reasons in
explaining why the technology is being adopted. But = Monsanto needs=20 to drop
the "feeding the world", "lowering = costs",=20 "lowering pesticide use" claims
because they do not hold = water and=20 will undermine, further, the reputation
of the corporation, and in so = doing=20 feed the already considerable cynicism
abroad about the = trustworthiness of=20 this company.
 
While Monsanto does not seem to = worry much about=20 losing consumer
trust in Europe and Japan, U.S. farmers (and the U.S. = government) should be
concerned and will, in the end, pay the price = if the=20 effort to drive RR
beans down the throats of Europeans backfires into = a=20 search for non-GMO
soybeans from other countries.
 
Plus, things are not getting any = better down on=20 the farm. Soybean
prices are way down, export markets are soft. As = weed=20 shifts continue in
areas planted heavily to RR beans, and as = resistance=20 spreads to additional
weed species (the first signs of tolerant weeds = are=20 appearing in several
states), farmers will have to increase rates of = Roundup=20 applications and
intensify use of other active ingredients, to fill = gaps in=20 control. Costs
will rise, the income squeeze will get even worse.=20
 
Contrary to a Monsanto scientist's = claim on the=20 NPR piece, Roundup
does not kill everything green except for = transgenic crop=20 varieties. If
that were the case, most farmers using RR systems would = not be=20 applying at
least 2, and on many farms, three additional active=20 ingredients.
 
Someone posted that Monsanto's stock = price is=20 holding. Keep
watching that space. The Dupont-Pioneer deal seals off = the most=20 likely
route to salvation for Monsanto -- Dupont's deep pockets. = Monsanto=20 is
desperate for a new partner to help cover its $700 million plus = cost=20 of
capital, etc from the seed mergers of the past few years. Not too=20 many
companies around that can float that sort of cost. There remain = a couple=20 of
major deals to go in the pesticide and seed industries, and then = it will=20 be,
for all intents and purposes, over. Expect Monsanto, Zeneca, = American=20 Home
Products, Novartis, and Bayer to be involved in a few additional = mega-deals
in the next 12-24 months.
 
We will have one industry where we = used to have=20 two, and 4-6 major
players where there used to be a couple of dozen, = and many=20 dozen regionally
significant players. No one has much of an idea, nor = any=20 credible way to
project the consequences of these changes. Its = unchartered=20 water in
turbulent times. We are all invited along for the ride, = which will=20 be
exciting and at times divisive, as the economic interests of one = part of=20 the
agricultural system (probably farmers) suffer at the expense of=20 other
players. There will be many surprises, positive and negative. = What=20 seems
clear to me, in any event, is that public institutions and = policies,=20 like
those governing research, technology returns, intellectual=20 property,
markets, information, are not keeping up and that new = forces=20 shaping the
performance of the new seed+pesticide industry will = largely=20 emerge within
the private sector, from the demand side, both farmers = for=20 inputs and
consumers for food.
 
chuck benbrook
 

Charles Benbrook 208-263-5236=20 (voice)
Benbrook Consulting Services 208-263-7342 (fax)
5085 Upper = Pack=20 River Road benbrook@hillnet.com=20 [e-mail]
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 http://www.pmac.net
 
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with = the=20 command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: = Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with = the=20 command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
 
All messages to sanet-mg are = archived at:
http://www.sare.org/san= /htdocs/hypermail
 
    Previous message: = Anita Graf:=20 "Monsonto's price"
 
 
------=_NextPart_000_007A_01BE713A.A4749C20-- To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 16:55:53 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id QAA11863 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:55:53 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id PAA01670 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:58:15 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mail.iatp.org (iatp-2.InnovSoftD.com [208.141.36.66]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id PAA01597 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:58:08 -0500 (EST) Received: from renskebert.iatp.org ([208.141.36.78]) by mail.iatp.org (Netscape Messaging Server 3.56) with SMTP id 522; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:03:25 -0600 Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990318151447.007c6870@iatp.org> X-Sender: rvanstaveren@iatp.org X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:14:47 -0600 To: sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu From: "Renske van Staveren" Subject: Antitrust chief to meet with producers about mergers Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 71 Mpls/St. Paul Star Tribune, 17 March 1999 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department's chief enforcer of antitrust laws will be in Minnesota next month to meet with producers about their concerns with agribusiness mergers. Joel Klein will be accompanied by Michael Dunn, the Agriculture Department's undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., also may attend. The meeting will be April 18, but no location has been set. "This is going to give [Klein] an opportunity to hear first-hand the concerns of . . . producers all over the Upper Midwest," said Andy McDonald, a spokesman for Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn. Klein's office is reviewing plans by Cargill Inc. of Minnetonka, the nation's No. 1 grain company, to buy the worldwide operations of second-ranked Continental Grain Co. Livestock producers long have been complaining about declining competition among meatpackers. -- Associated Press __________________________________________ Ms. Renske van Staveren, Coordinator International Forum on Food & Agriculture (IFA) c/o Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) 2105 First Avenue South Minneapolis, MN, USA 55404-2505 ph: 612-870-3423 fax: 612-870-4846 rvanstaveren@iatp.org> http://www.iffah.org __________________________________________ "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." - Dom Helder Camara To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 17:00:56 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA12022 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 17:00:55 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA04095 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:00:51 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mail.iatp.org (iatp-2.InnovSoftD.com [208.141.36.66]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA04078 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:00:45 -0500 (EST) Received: from renskebert.iatp.org ([208.141.36.78]) by mail.iatp.org (Netscape Messaging Server 3.56) with SMTP id 125 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:06:04 -0600 Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990318151726.00851100@iatp.org> X-Sender: rvanstaveren@iatp.org X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:17:26 -0600 To: sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu From: "Renske van Staveren" Subject: The first line says it all... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 72 >From Mpls/St. Paul Star Tribune, 16 March 1999 A special pledge to MPR: Two more radio stations Noel Holston and Ann Merrill / Star Tribune If a $66 donation to Minnesota Public Radio is good for a souvenir tote bag or a "Morning Edition" mug, what do you get if you give MPR a pair of million-dollar-plus radio stations? The gratitude of public-radio listeners statewide and a tax deduction to boot. Jim Cargill and his wife, Susan, called their gift of two commercial radio stations -- KLBB (1400 AM) and WLOL (1470 AM) -- a gesture of support for public broadcasting at a time when state policymakers are debating whether to wean such broadcasters off public funding.... http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=MPR16&date=16-M ar-99&word=cargills&word=cargill __________________________________________ Ms. Renske van Staveren, Coordinator International Forum on Food & Agriculture (IFA) c/o Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) 2105 First Avenue South Minneapolis, MN, USA 55404-2505 ph: 612-870-3423 fax: 612-870-4846 rvanstaveren@iatp.org> http://www.iffah.org __________________________________________ "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." - Dom Helder Camara To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 17:21:40 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id RAA12520 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 17:21:40 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA16467 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:22:57 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from VM1.MCGILL.CA (VM1.McGill.CA [132.206.27.2]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id QAA16451 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:22:50 -0500 (EST) Received: by VM1.MCGILL.CA (IBM VM SMTP V2R4a) via spool with SMTP id 6505 ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:24:36 EST Received: from MUSICB.MCGILL.CA (NJE origin MUSICB@MCGILL1) by VM1.MCGILL.CA (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 3855; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:24:36 -0500 Message-Id: <18MAR99.17722748.0308.MUSIC@MUSICB.MCGILL.CA> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:24:35 EST From: "John Henning, Eco-Echo, McGill U., Montreal, Ca" To: Cc: Debra Viskelis , Subject: Co-op-ting Organic/Le Monde X-Mailer: MUSIC/SP V5.1.0 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 73 I just got round to reading the article referenced in a recent post by Donald E Davison. It contained a short abstract of an article that appeared recently in Le Monde. For those of you who may have not had a look, at the full article, you should. It is in English by the way. It is quite well done and takes dead aim at the issue of the growing interest and influence of large enterprise (aka agro-industrial complex) in the organic sector. From: donald@mich.com (Donald E Davison) Subject: Big Business into Organic Farming ORGANIC FOOD: LIES AND PROFITS Bio business is big business * by Chantal Le Noallec http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1999/03/16bio.html On a related note, there will be an organic conference in Lyon France this December which will touch on these and related issues. More on the conference later. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 19:15:22 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id TAA15105 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:15:21 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id SAA09235 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:32:09 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from big.seorf.ohiou.edu (ab210@big.seorf.ohiou.edu [132.235.1.252]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id SAA09213 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:32:04 -0500 (EST) Received: (from ab210@localhost) by big.seorf.ohiou.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) id SAA25185 for sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:32:04 -0500 (EST) From: Kevin Smyth Message-Id: <199903182332.SAA25185@big.seorf.ohiou.edu> Subject: 17 year locusts To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:32:04 -0500 (EST) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL25] Content-Type: text Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 74 Friends - This is the year for the 17 year locusts (I heard they were actually cicadas), and I am wondering what effect they might have on our vegetable crops here in SE Ohio. We grow 2.5 acres organic vegetables for a CSA here. Anybody know? Kevin Smyth ab210@seorf.ohiou.edu To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 19:43:11 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id TAA15514 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:43:10 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id SAA15085 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:43:25 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from eclogite.geo.umass.edu (eclogite.geo.umass.edu [128.119.45.20]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id SAA14960; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:43:19 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost by eclogite.geo.umass.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id SAA03517; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:43:20 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:43:19 -0500 (EST) From: Beth Rennekamp X-Sender: bethr@eclogite To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu cc: sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Respons to Charlie Griffin's post In-Reply-To: <199903181308.IAA01281@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 75 -When a farm purchases RR soybeans they have to sign a contract allowing monsanto to come onto their farm and inspect it for up to five years. So, as long as the fields being tested are those of farmers who have signed this contract (which is ALL farmers who use RR soybeans), then (unfortunatly) this is legal. As for other fields-- I'm unsure. (I would hope that these agents would know better thatn to test on the fields of an organic farmer-as RR resistence would be of no use). Beth Charlie Griggin's questions are below. I heard the piece tonight on the evening NPR while on the road. Help me understand if I heard one part correctly. I believe it was said that Monsanto "agents" go around to fields suspected of having planted illicit seeds and go onto the property and spray a few selected soybean plants with Roundup, then come back the next day and see if the plants died. If not, they consider it evidence of having RR beans and pursue legal recourse. Is this really the way it happens? And if they go onto private land of a producer not dealing with RR beans, spray Roundup and kill some plants, have they not damaged someone's crop, even if it is just a few plants? And if it were an organic operation, would they not have just ruined someone's certification by introducing spray? Please tell me this isn't the way it's really happening? Perhaps I've missed some vital details along the way. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 19:49:34 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id TAA15601 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:49:34 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id TAA00732 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:07:58 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id TAA00662 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:07:53 -0500 (EST) Received: from acme.sb.west.net (acme.sb.west.net [205.254.224.2]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id TAA20655 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:07:48 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.210] (term6-18.vta.west.net [205.254.241.210]) by acme.sb.west.net (Postfix) with SMTP id A26F2249CA for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:07:43 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:07:25 -0700 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: UK: New research reveals [GE?] soya food allergies increased 50% last year Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 76 Why soya is a hidden destroyer Daily Express 12 March 99 Exclusive by Mark Townsend Fresh fears over the safety of genetically modified foods surfaced faced yesterday after new research revealed that food allergies relating to soya increased by 50 per cent last year. A study by Europe's leading specialists on food sensitivity found health complaints caused by soya - the ingredient most associated with GM foods - have increased from 10 in 100 patients to 15 in 100 over the past year. Researchers at the York Nutritional Laboratory said their findings provide real evidence that GM food could have a tangible, harmful impact on the human body. The findings were sent to Health Secretary Frank Dobson last night as scientists urged the Government to act on the information and impose an instant ban on GM food, while further safety tests are carried out. Dr Michael Antoniou, senior lecturer in molecular pathology at Guy's Hospital, Central London, said: "This is a very interesting if slightly worrying development. It points to the fact that far more work is needed to assess their safety. At the moment no allergy tests are carried out before GM foods are marketed and that also needs to be looked at." John Graham, spokesman for the York laboratory, said: "We believe this raises serious new questions about the safety of GM foods because it is impossible to guarantee that the soya used in the tests was GM-free." It is the first time in 17 years of testing that soya has crept into the laboratory's top 10 foods to cause an allergic reaction in consumers. The vegetable has moved up four places to ninth end now sits alongside foodstuffs with a long history of causing allergies, such as yeast, sunflower seeds and nuts. Mr. Graham said researchers tested 4,500 people for allergic reactions to vegetables including soya. Among the range of chronic illnesses it caused were irritable bowel syndrome, digestion problems and skin complaints including acne and eczema. "People also suffered neurological problems with chronic fatigue syndrome, headaches and lethargy. It is worrying," Mr Graham added. Researchers measured the levels of antibodies in a person's blood. If increased levels were detected it showed the person suffered an adverse reaction to a particular food. Soya, the wonder crop of the 20th century is found in 60 per cent of all processed foods sold in the UK - from bread to baby food, ready-to-eat curries to vegetarian lasagne. But because GM and natural soya are mixed at source in America - the world's biggest supplier - it has become increasingly difficult for retailers to guarantee the purity of any products. Last month campaigners from Greenpeace dumped four tons of GM soya beans from America at the gates of Downing Street in protest. The Consumers' Association yesterday renewed its demand for the Government to investigate the safety of GM foods. A spokesman said: "We just don't know what health problems could arise in the future. " Waitrose yesterday announced that it would be stocking its own-label GM-free foods by the end of the month. Managing director David Felwick said: "We believe customers should be able to make an informed choice about the products they are buying." To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 19:51:48 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id TAA15668 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:51:47 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id TAA00839 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:08:06 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id TAA00745 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:07:59 -0500 (EST) Received: from acme.sb.west.net (acme.sb.west.net [205.254.224.2]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id TAA20657 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:07:51 -0500 (EST) Received: from [205.254.241.210] (term6-18.vta.west.net [205.254.241.210]) by acme.sb.west.net (Postfix) with SMTP id A4C6A249CB for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:07:43 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 16:07:27 -0700 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu From: colibri@west.net (Beth von Gunten) Subject: LA Times: Pesticides May Harm Brain, Study Says Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 77 Pesticides May Harm Brain, Study Says Health: Fetuses and young children in farm areas are at highest risk, research suggests, with intelligence, motor skills and personalities affected. By MARLA CONE Los Angeles Times Environmental Writer Monday, March 15, 1999 Children exposed to pesticides in the womb or at an early age may suffer permanent brain defects that could change their lives by altering their behavior and their ability to do everything from drawing a picture to catching a ball, according to new scientific research. Widely used pest-killing chemicals, in amounts routinely found in the environment in farm areas, seem to be capable of skewing thyroid hormones, which control how the brain of a fetus or young child develops, according to a study published today. Scientists say the study and other recent research support an emerging theory that pesticides may exact a toll on the intelligence, motor skills and personalities of infants, toddlers and preschoolers. "Data suggest that we may be raising a generation of children with learning disabilities and hyper-aggression," said Warren Porter, a University of Wisconsin professor of zoology and environmental toxicology. Porter's study, published today in the journal Toxicology and Industrial Health, shows that a common mix of insecticide, herbicide and fertilizer found in drinking water altered the thyroid hormones of young mice. It also changed their aggressiveness--measured by attacks on other mice--and suppressed their immune systems. Although a study of mice alone is not overly compelling, the theory is bolstered by recent research on human beings. In tests in the state of Sonora, Mexico, scientists found striking differences in hand-eye coordination and other mental and physical skills when comparing Yaqui Indian preschoolers in an agrarian region with those in adjacent foothills where no pesticides are used. Four- and 5-year-olds living in the farm valley had trouble performing a variety of simple motor skills--drawing stick figures, catching a 12-inch ball from almost four yards away and a tennis ball from more than a yard away, and dropping raisins into a bottle cap from a distance of six inches. They also had poorer memory skills and stamina, were more prone to physical aggression and angry outbursts, and were less sociable and creative while playing. Farm and household pest-killers are widely used there, and high levels of multiple pesticides have been found in the cord blood of newborns and the breast milk of mothers in the area. Another study, in rural western Minnesota, found increased birth defects in children conceived during the spring growing season. Most of the new research detects problems in agricultural communities--places found not just in rural regions but also in more urbanized areas, including Southern California. No one knows yet what it might mean for people who consume small traces of the chemicals in their food. Earlier this month, Consumers Union reported that many fruits and vegetables contain concentrations of pesticides that may be unhealthful for children. The new hormone studies add to a growing body of research from around the world suggesting that dozens of commonly used pesticides and other chemicals mimic the hormones that control sexual and neurological development. Called endocrine disruption, this is arguably the most controversial environmental issue of the past decade. >From alligators in Florida to polar bears in the Arctic, wild animals in pollution hot spots have been feminized by hormone-disrupting chemicals that imitate estrogen or block testosterone, scientists say. But the impact on human beings--who generally are exposed to much lower levels of pollution--is more controversial and uncertain. In addition to the possible neurological effects, some researchers theorize that the hormone disrupters could be reducing men's sperm counts or increasing diseases of the reproductive system. Pesticide company representatives--and some toxicologists and other scientists -- remain skeptical that commonly found levels of pesticides can alter human thyroid and sex hormones. "I'm kind of dubious that low-level exposures to chemicals are raising all kinds of havoc with the endocrine system," said John McCarthy, vice president of a group representing pesticide manufacturers, the American Crop Protection Assn. "The human system has so many protective mechanisms, and our bodies are bombarded with all kinds of things." Still, he said, the industry is highly concerned about the findings suggesting neurological damage, and would like to see a comprehensive review to evaluate all existing studies and figure out what they collectively show. "We ought to be taking a very hard look at it," McCarthy said. "There's almost a study a week of one type or another, and it's hard to see how it all fits together. We have to take some time to say, 'OK, what does this all mean? Is this something that should require some abrupt change [in pesticides] or fine-tuning or more research?'" No one knows how many pesticides out of 77,000 used in the United States might alter sex or thyroid hormones. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires tests that screen pesticides for cancer and birth defects--but not for hormone effects. A committee last year devised new testing requirements--supported by the pesticide industry--that are expected to take effect in 2001. It has long been suspected that various environmental pollutants can damage brain development. Industrial compounds called PCBs have been linked to learning disabilities in children of women who ate contaminated Great Lakes fish. The link to pesticides is far from definitive, however, and big gaps in knowledge remain. Questions abound: How do the contaminants disrupt thyroid levels? What does that physically do to the brain? What dose of exposure does it take? Does the human body have some defense mechanism to fend off low levels of hormones? What do mixes of various man-made and natural hormones do to people? Some scientists suspect that the damage is passed from a mother to her unborn child early in the first trimester, before most women even know they are pregnant. Thyroid hormones guide the nerve cells that dictate how the brain of a fetus develops and the number of brain cells created. One theory is that if a mother receives a dose of pesticides during this critical phase, it can interfere with her thyroid levels -- sometimes raising them, sometimes lowering them--irreversibly altering the child's nervous system. How the child's brain circuitry develops determines his or her hand-eye coordination, motor skills and learning ability. Thyroid hormones also can change behavior--an excess can make people quick to anger, while a low count could have the opposite effect. The hormones also can alter steroids that control aggression and immune systems. "Thyroid hormones are important to brain development, and that's been known for a long time," said Dr. Harley Kornblum, a pediatric neurologist at the UCLA Medical Center. But, he and other neurologists say, it's debatable how important the mother's thyroid level is to the fetus, and it's even more uncertain what role environmental contaminants may play. Porter said children up to age 8 who have developing brains and immune systems are "especially vulnerable" to changes in thyroid hormones. Some symptoms of children exposed to pesticides are similar to attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, which have been increasingly diagnosed in American children. Some medical research supports a link between thyroid hormones and those disorders, but the connection, especially with pesticides, remains unclear. The implication for adults, and whether pesticides might cause thyroid disorders, also is unknown. In the study of 50 Mexican children, the scientists, led by anthropologist Elizabeth Guillette of the University of Arizona, said genetic and social factors--including income, education and health services--are so similar between the farm valley and the foothills that they cannot explain the differences in the youngsters' cognitive ability. "These children share similar genetic background, diets, water mineral contents, cultural patterns and social behaviors. The major difference was their exposure to pesticides," Guillette and Mexican researchers said in a report published in June in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Most of the stick-figure drawings by the 4- and 5-year-olds in the farm valley were unrecognizable as human beings--they look like the scribbles of a 2-year-old. In contrast, drawings by the foothill children had heads, eyes, torsos, arms and legs. Experts say that the inability to draw a person indicates a breakdown between the brain's ability to process visual information and its ability to control fine muscles. "Some valley mothers stressed their own frustration in trying to teach their child how to draw. In addition, two valley children drew pictures composed of boxes, arches and lines, claiming these pictures were people," the researchers reported. Other tests pointed to recollection and stamina problems. One foothill child could jump for 336 seconds--over three times longer than the best-performing valley child. Some scientists remain dubious of the results because the tests on the children were unusual, and are intrinsically subjective and difficult to interpret. Dr. Richard Jackson, director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said his staff was "unimpressed by the scientific rigor" of the work in the report. McCarthy said that although the differences between the two populations of children seem striking, other hidden factors, rather than pesticide exposure, cannot be ruled out. Other studies, meanwhile, show that pesticide exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy increases birth defects. The University of Minnesota and the federal EPA in a 1996 study found a high rate of birth defects in the children of Minnesotans who work as pesticide appliers as well as the general population of western Minnesota, a major farm region with heavy pesticide use. The defect rate was the highest among babies born nine months after the spring season, indicating that the risk rises for children conceived during the time when pesticide use increases. In Porter's 5-year study of mice, the animals drank water containing a mixture of two pesticides--aldicarb and atrazine--and nitrates from fertilizer. The concentrations ingested by the mice were similar to those found in ground water in many agricultural areas, Porter said. Aldicarb, atrazine and nitrates are the three most abundant agricultural contaminants in the United States, although they do not rank high in use in California. While the mix of the three chemicals altered the mice hormones, each one alone did not. That points out a gaping hole in the federal effort to protect consumers--the EPA only tests for effects of pesticides individually, not cumulatively. The EPA tests, Porter said, "generate a great deal of false confidence in the safety" of pesticides. Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, June 1998. Copyright 1999 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 20:34:59 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id UAA16471 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 20:34:59 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id TAA00783 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:52:00 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from uranium.nb.net (uranium.nb.net [209.161.64.33]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id TAA00764 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:51:53 -0500 (EST) Received: (qmail 1578 invoked from network); 19 Mar 1999 00:51:51 -0000 Received: from squash-39.breezewood.nb.net (HELO cass) (209.161.71.139) by uranium.nb.net with SMTP; 19 Mar 1999 00:51:51 -0000 Message-Id: <4.1.19990318193337.00953e40@nb.net> X-Sender: cpete@nb.net X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.1 Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:49:13 -0500 To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu From: Cass Peterson Subject: Re: 17 year locusts In-Reply-To: <199903182332.SAA25185@big.seorf.ohiou.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 78 At 06:32 PM 3/18/1999 -0500, Kevin Smyth wrote: >Friends - This is the year for the 17 year locusts (I heard they were >actually cicadas), and I am wondering what effect they might have on our >vegetable crops here in SE Ohio. We grow 2.5 acres organic vegetables for >a CSA here. Anybody know? Kevin-- Remembering all this from 1986, when the 17-year cicadas hatched hereabouts. No prob with the veggies. If you have young trees, you may want to protect them with netting for six weeks or so after the cicadas emerge. After emerging, the cicadas basically just want to mate and lay eggs, which they prefer to do in twigs. If the trees are young and small, the egg-laying from so many cicadas could do enough damage to admit secondary fungal infections. When the eggs hatch, the larvae drop to the ground and burrow in, and they feed on the roots of the tree/shrub for the next 16 years. Again, a young tree probably can't handle that much blood-sucking. Mature trees won't be damaged. Cicadas don't lay their eggs on annual veggies. The only damage we observed was in areas that were cleared when we bought the farm but apparently were tree-covered at the time of the last cicada hatching. The cicadas came up so hot and heavy that they actually uprooted newly transplanted seedlings. (In Washington, DC, they came up through asphalt laid down where trees had stood 17 years earlier.) If your land has been cleared for at least 17 years, you may have no problem at all. If it was forested back then, get yourself some ear plugs. Like annual cicadas, the 17-year guys are music-makers. And there are a lot more of them. Cass Peterson www.flickerville.com To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 20:56:31 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id UAA16752 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 20:56:30 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id UAA11298 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 20:09:58 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from westbyserver.mwt.net (westbyserver.westby.mwt.net [156.46.73.3]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id UAA11279 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 20:09:53 -0500 (EST) Received: from oemcomputer (ppp9.sabin.mwt.net [156.46.75.109]) by westbyserver.mwt.net (8.8.7/8.8.6) with SMTP id TAA07190 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:07:33 -0600 (CST) Message-ID: <000f01be71a4$bdd23dc0$6d4b2e9c@oemcomputer> From: "Julie M." To: Subject: Study of Farm Women Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:06:37 -0600 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3155.0 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3155.0 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 79 Forwarded from the Farmbiz-L list: For Immediate Release For More Information: Lydia Zepeda (608) 262-9487 zepeda@calshp.cals.wisc.edu STUDY DOCUMENTS WOMEN'S IMPORTANCE IN MAKING DECISIONS ON FARMS Auntie Em did the laundry and the cooking, and was referred to as a "farm wife." But farm women today bristle at that term. Now farm women consider themselves farmers, too. And well they should: They manage and care for calves, milk and feed the cows, take charge of farm finances, and do artificial insemination. They also have a much larger role in decision-making than economists give them credit for. Until agricultural economist Lydia Zepeda did her research, all the economic models of technology adoption assumed that farms had one decision-maker, typically the male head of the household. "What I found was women involved in every task on the farm except crops and machinery," said Zepeda, professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Human Ecology. Zepeda's observations were drawn from two studies of Wisconsin dairy farmers. In the first, she surveyed 600 couples to determine how men and women spent their time and made decisions. In the second, she interviewed 19 couples from the survey in four focus groups, separating men and women. She asked all participants to describe a long-term decision they had made about the farm, and to imagine what they'd do if they had an extra $500 per month. Zepeda's survey, which was supported by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, revealed not only that women have undertaken a diversity of tasks, but also that they spend longer hours at work than men do. Women spent 61 percent of the day doing the combination of farm work, housework and off-farm work, while men spent 55 percent of the day in those jobs. For both men and women, the rest of their day was devoted to sleep, personal care and leisure activities. Men said they spent 45 percent of their day on farm work, two percent on off-farm work and eight percent on housework. Women spent 21 percent of the day on farm work, 11 percent on off-farm work and 29 percent on housework. Some of the women worked 40 hours a week off the farm. Women's off-farm work not only helped provide benefits, but also gave the women a sense of pride. "It gives them a better bargaining chip," Zepeda said. "Naturally they have more clout with money." What do they do with that bargaining chip? They use it to expand their role in making decisions. Some women said that when they were children, there might have been only one decision-maker on the farm, typically the father or grandfather. Now, couples tend to make long-term decisions together, while the spouse who performs a daily activity makesthe decisions about that activity on a day-to-day basis. One man said, "On a major decision, we both make the decision. But I don't consult her on what bulls I'm going to use, and she doesn't consult me when it comes to raising the calves. If she sees a sick calf, she doesn't have to check it out with me before she takes care of it, you know." Similarly, a woman said, "I do most of the stuff with the cows, and I basically make our decisions there. The crop stuff, he basically takes care of that." On the other hand, a man recalled a major mistake he'd made early in his marriage. He and his wife had been discussing another site for their double-wide mobile home, but hadn't come to a decision yet. One day when she was at work, he just decided to move it. The other farm men in the focus group shook their heads and asked him, "How could you have done that?" And that, in stronger terms, was exactly what his wife asked once she found the home. Both men and women in the focus groups stressed the need to have common goals and share decision-making. Men, however, thought their wives had equal roles in making decisions. Women weren't as convinced. Some women thought their role was to approve decisions their husbands had made. Others laughed as they mentioned manipulating their husbands into making decisions. One woman said, "I think sometimes you have to push a little here and there, let them think it's their decision." Zepeda's focus groups showed that women make decisions about milking and caring for calves, while men made decisions about feed. The survey found the men responsible for most of the decisions about crops, pastures and feeding. On the other hand, the survey found that women made most of the decisions about child care, their own off-farm work and family leisure time. As for the budget, most people said it was either a joint decision or a woman's decision. Most farmers now own computers for financial records. "The women knew more than their husbands did about computers," Zepeda said. The men knew how much debt they carried, but because women did most of the bill-paying and shopping, they knew how it affected purchasing decisions on a day-to-day basis, Zepeda said. While farm women may not be recognized off the farm as farmers yet, at least their husbands express appreciation for them. Zepeda said she was moved by the way farm men talked about how much their wives meant to them. One man said, "When I got out of the service in '58 the first thing I did was find a wife. It didn't take long. That was the best decision I ever made." ### farm women 3/99 writer: Mary Conroy (608) 262-0111 mjconroy@students.wisc.edu ******************************************************************** Bob Cooney, press service editor College of Agricultural and Life Sciences University of Wisconsin-Madison 440 Henry Mall Madison WI 53706 phone (608) 262-2679 FAX (608) 265-3042 rjcooney@facstaff.wisc.edu To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 23:31:08 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id XAA18992 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 23:31:07 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id WAA15458 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 22:33:25 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from amani.ces.ncsu.edu (amani.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.51]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id WAA15440 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 22:33:20 -0500 (EST) Received: from sp2n17.missouri.edu (sp2n17-t.missouri.edu [128.206.2.27]) by amani.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id WAA23689 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 22:33:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail.coin.missouri.edu (Mizzou-AS8-43.missouri.edu [128.206.209.139]) by sp2n17.missouri.edu (8.9.0/8.9.0) with ESMTP id VAA701002 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 21:32:54 -0600 Message-ID: <36F1C6AB.85FB6D5C@mail.coin.missouri.edu> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 21:38:21 -0600 From: Kevin Webb Reply-To: kwebb01@mail.coin.missouri.edu Organization: b01 X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: LA Times: Pesticides May Harm Brain, Study Says References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 80 Much of this article seems to have been based on the book "Our Stolen Future : Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?-A Scientific Detective Story" by Theo Colburn, et al (ISBN: 0452274141). The book is a must read for anyone seeking an articulate and definitively damning critique of our societys use of chemicals. Theo Colburn is an experienced and respected scientist with a gift for writing clearly and concisely (a rare feat for most scientists). I highly reccomend it. Kevin Webb To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 23:31:08 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id XAA18993 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 23:31:07 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id WAA17760 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 22:36:47 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from ram.wlink.com.np (IDENT:qmailr@ram.wlink.com.np [206.82.134.33]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id WAA17677 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 22:36:37 -0500 (EST) Received: (qmail 17900 invoked from network); 19 Mar 1999 03:36:32 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO mail) (206.82.134.50) by ram.wlink.com.np with SMTP; 19 Mar 1999 03:36:31 -0000 Message-Id: From: Yamuna Ghale Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 9:07:48 +0545 To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: sanet-mg-digest MIME-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-Mailer: TFS Gateway /310000000/310104525/310104495/310400190/ X-Engine: "TFS Engine Release 3.12 Build 132e" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id WAA17726 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 81 Date: 03/19/1999 10:07 am (Friday) : Yamuna Ghale To: tfs:"sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu" Subject: sanet-mg-digest sanet-mg-digest -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yamuna Ghale ACTIONAID Nepal Lazimpat GPO Box no. 6257 Kathmandu Nepal My E-mail address is: yamunag@actionaidnepal.org Tel: 419115, 421232, 410929, 436477 Fax: 977 (01) 419718 Visit our web site at: http://www.actionaidnepal.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Thu Mar 18 23:33:44 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id XAA19026 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 23:33:44 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id WAA23223 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 22:41:20 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from sp2n17.missouri.edu (sp2n17-t.missouri.edu [128.206.2.27]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id WAA23206 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 22:41:15 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail.coin.missouri.edu (Mizzou-AS8-43.missouri.edu [128.206.209.139]) by sp2n17.missouri.edu (8.9.0/8.9.0) with ESMTP id VAA725298 for ; Thu, 18 Mar 1999 21:40:49 -0600 Message-ID: <36F1C887.EF72D06B@mail.coin.missouri.edu> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 21:46:17 -0600 From: Kevin Webb Reply-To: kwebb01@mail.coin.missouri.edu Organization: b01 X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: 17 year locusts References: <199903182332.SAA25185@big.seorf.ohiou.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 82 I've never heard of cicadas harming vegetables. I know that they can hurt trees (they deposit their eggs typically between a limb and the trunk). I'm not sure what they eat in the interim, I've never seen them in our fields, though. Kevin Smyth wrote: > Friends - This is the year for the 17 year locusts (I heard they were > actually cicadas), and I am wondering what effect they might have on our > vegetable crops here in SE Ohio. We grow 2.5 acres organic vegetables for > a CSA here. Anybody know? > Kevin Smyth > ab210@seorf.ohiou.edu > > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "unsubscribe sanet-mg". > To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command > "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > > All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: > http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Fri Mar 19 04:45:48 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id EAA21720 for ; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 04:45:47 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id EAA14685 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 04:02:12 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from imo21.mx.aol.com (imo21.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.65]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id EAA14628 for ; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 04:02:06 -0500 (EST) From: DGreen47@aol.com Received: from DGreen47@aol.com by imo21.mx.aol.com (IMOv19.3) id 7RLOa24548 for ; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 04:01:22 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 04:01:22 EST To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Re: LA Times: Pesticides May Harm Brain, Study Says Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 4 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: RO X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 83 So _that's_ why it's so difficult for the masses to see what's so obvious to the rest of us? Dori Green Ash Grove Community Farm & Center for Sustainable Living Corning, NY http://www.agrove.com To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Fri Mar 19 06:53:09 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id GAA22563 for ; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 06:53:09 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id FAA27563 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 05:51:50 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from mail.caribe.net (root@mail.caribe.net [209.91.196.5]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id FAA27540 for ; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 05:51:43 -0500 (EST) Received: from ddworley (ppp222.203dip.netdial.caribe.net [209.91.203.222]) by mail.caribe.net (8.9.0/8.9.0) with SMTP id GAA03156 for ; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 06:54:25 -0400 (AST) Message-Id: X-Sender: ddworley@mail.caribe.net X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0 Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 06:53:10 -0400 To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu From: Richard Wolfson (by way of Daniel Worley ) Subject: GEN3-17; Fwd, Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 84 [Reposted with permission] French environmentalists want longer gene crop ban March 16, 1999 PARIS, Reuters [WS] via NewsEdge Corporation : French environmental groups, spurred on by talk of a possible freeze on gene-crops in Britain, on Monday called for a longer, broader moratorium in France so wider tests could be carried out. ``This is a sign of encouragement which should push the French government to reconsider the risks from gene modified foods,'' said campaigner Etienne Vernet at Ecoropa. ``We want a moratorium on all types of GM food for three to five years so we can do more tests. If Britain did impose a three year freeze, France should do the same thing.'' Greenpeace France Director Bruno Rebelle also backed a freeze on GM crops until at least 2002 and more rigorous tests. France imposed a two-year freeze on genetically engineered oilseed varieties last July after concerns the modifications could be transmitted to other crops. ........ Here are the Conclusions and Recommendations of the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare on the Animal Welfare Aspects of the Use of Bovine Somatotrophin (Adopted 10 March 1999). Full text is on website http://europa. eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scah/out21_en.html General conclusion BST is used to increase milk yield, often in already high-producing cows. BST administration causes substantially and very significantly poorer welfare because of increased foot disorders, mastitis, reproductive disorders and other production related diseases. These are problems which would not occur if BST were not used and often results in unnecessary pain, suffering and distress. If milk yields were achieved by other means which resulted in the health disorders and other welfare problems described above, these means would not be acceptable. The injection of BST and its repetition every 14 days also causes localised swellings which are likely to result in discomfort and hence some poor welfare. Recommendation BST use causes a substantial increase in levels of foot problems and mastitis and leads to injection site reactions in dairy cows. These conditions, especially the first two, are painful and debilitating, leading to significantly poorer welfare in the treated animals. Therefore from the point of view of animal welfare, including health, the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare is of the opinion that BST should not be used in dairy cows. ......... March 17, 1999 Canada Approved Genetically Modified Canola Tolerant to an Herbicide Causing Birth Defects by Joe Cummins, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Genetics, University of Western Ontario e-mail: jcummins@julian.uwo.ca Canada has approved genetically engineered canola patented by the multinational chemical company Rhone Poulenc for their herbicides Bromoxynl and Ioxynil. The herbicide Bromoxynil has a history of controversy in its use after it was found that it caused birth defects in rats and mice. In the United States, the use of Bromoxynl on cotton was a source of controversy. However, in Canada (where government departments of Agriculture and Health take multimillion dollar payments from chemical companies) the herbicide was quietly approved and used extensively to control weeds in grain crops that are innately tolerant to the herbicide. The herbicide Bromoxynl is sprayed on the Bromoxynl-resistant canola. As the herbicide is very persistent in treated soil, when farmers rotate crops, Bromoxynl residues can accumulate in grains rotated on the same land. Residues of the teratogenic herbicide are likely to accumulate in the harvested canola oil and in the cattle and pig food from the residues recovered from pressing canola seed to recover oil. Such pressing residues have also been used as fertilizer on organic farms, a procedure that should be reviewed on the basis of transferring genetic modifications and teratogenic herbicides. The journal Biotechnology noted that there was a very high likelihood that the herbicide tolerant gene would be transferred to unpatented canola and to at least seven wild plant species but the transfer to wild plant was a minimal threat as the resistant species could be controlled by other herbicides as they became weeds. The impact of use of the genetically modified crop on biodiversity was given brief discussion with no data and no fundamental knowledge of biodiversity. Another genetically modified canola, Liberty Ready canola, also employs a highly teratogenic herbicide glufosinate. Importers of canola oil or animal feed from pressed seed should be made aware of these developments and that the products are not labeled. Clearly the Canadian approval process bears the stamp of the millions of dollars from chemical companies. The information on approval of Bromoxynil resistant canola was taken from Plant Biotechnology Canada August 19,1998 .......... ASHDOWN URGES SPECIAL WTO GROUP ON GENETIC FOODS GENEVA, March 11 (Reuters) - Britain's outgoing Liberal Democratic leader Paddy Ashdown said on Thursday the controversial issue of genetically-modified crops should be part of the next global round of trade liberalisation talks. Speaking after talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and with trade ambassadors of the European Union and the United States, he warned tha t the issue could become a "huge problem" that could poison relations between the two powers. "The WTO regulations were not set up to handle GMOs," he told a news conference, using the acronym for genetically-modified organisms which are rapidly emerging as a potentially explosive topic in international trade. ........ From: genetics Subject: GE - news 17th March Greenpeace welcomes major global steps to get out of genetically modified food AMSTERDAM, March 17, 1999 - Greenpeace International today welcomed two major steps towards a genetically modified (GM) free food supply at two different ends of the world. Monsanto, the world's most aggressive seller of genetically engineered seeds yesterday announced that it had withdrawn applications for approval of their herbicide resistant (Roundup Ready) soyabeans in Brazil. The step comes after massive protests by environmental and consumers organisations as well as scientists and lawmakers in Brazil. Brazil is the worlds second biggest exporter of soyabeans. Soyabeans are used in 60 per cent of processed supermarket food products including bread, pasta, yoghurt, chocolate and ice-cream. At the same time the UK retailer J. Sainsbury's announced that it will not sell any genetically engineered products under it's own label. Sainsbury's also revealed that it had formed a consortium of major European retailers, including Marks & Spencer (UK), Carrefour (France), Superquinn (Ireland), Migros (Switzerland), Delhaiz (Belgium) and Effelunga (Italy), who will jointly source GM-free products. "This is the beginning of the end of trying to forcefeed consumers unwanted and unneeded genetically manipulated food", commented Greenpeace International's campaigner Benedikt Haerlin. "We hope to see more supermarket chains and food producers join the GM-free consortium in the next few days." Haerlin added that other major food producers and retailers, such as Unilever in Germany and Austria, and 90 percent of all supermarkets in Austria and countless small producers have already declared that they are GM free. "No supermarket or food producer can claim that it was not possible to avoid GM ingredients in their products." _________________________________________________________ Richard Wolfson, PhD Consumer Right to Know Campaign, for Mandatory Labelling and Long-term Testing of all Genetically Engineered Foods, 500 Wilbrod Street Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N2 tel. 613-565-8517 fax. 613-565-1596 email: rwolfson@concentric.net Our website, http://www.natural-law.ca/genetic/geindex.html contains more information on genetic engineering as well as previous genetic engineering news items. Subscription fee to genetic engineering news is $35 for 12 months, payable to "BanGEF" and mailed to the above address. Or see website for details. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From owner-sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Fri Mar 19 09:24:00 1999 Received: from shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (shasta.ces.ncsu.edu [152.1.45.61]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.8.6/8.8.6/rchk1.19) with ESMTP id JAA24698 for ; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 09:23:59 -0500 (EST) Received: by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id IAA11478 for sanet-mg-outgoing; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 08:30:43 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: shasta.ces.ncsu.edu: majord set sender to owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu using -f Received: from aurora.nal.usda.gov (aurora.nal.usda.gov [192.54.138.38]) by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id IAA11468 for ; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 08:30:38 -0500 (EST) Received: by aurora.nal.usda.gov with Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) id ; Fri, 19 Mar 1999 08:33:45 -0500 Message-ID: From: Andy Clark To: "'sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu'" Cc: "'voces@igc.org'" Subject: FW: Position announcement, Rural Development Center Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 08:33:39 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by shasta.ces.ncsu.edu id IAA11469 Sender: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Precedence: bulk Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 85 Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, in March or April, 1999. A detailed resume and related information and material should be sent to the Rural Development Center, P. O. Box 5415, Salinas, CA 93915 Contact RDC for more information (831)758-1469 -----Original Message----- From: Selene Jaramillo [mailto:voces@igc.org] Sent: Thursday, March 18, 1999 6:53 PM Subject: Position announcement-please post and distribute Program Representative Rural Development Center: Farmer Training and Technical Assistance Program The Rural Development Center (RDC) seeks a self-motivated, innovative individual to help promote the development of a new Farmer Training Center and Technical Assistance Program. Over the past 13 years, the RDC has built a solid record of training family farmers in sustainable farming systems, and has provided limited technical assistance and outreach to Latino farmers throughout the Monterey Bay Area. The goal of the new program is to expand and adapt RDC's training program to the specific needs of hillside farmers in and around the Elkhorn Slough Watershed, to coordinate outreach activities with other technical assistance partners and collaborators, and to secure adequate support for the development and staffing of a training facility in the area. The proposed Farmer Training Center is part of a collaborative project to promote appropriate land management, natural resource conservation, and sustainable farming practices among farmers and rural residents around the Central Monterey Bay Wetlands. The project targets three types of actions to achieve this goal: Watershed Communication and Education, Farmer Training and Technical Assistance, and Land Management Incentives. These activities will be achieved through the combined efforts of public and private organizations including the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, local Resource Conservation Districts, UC Cooperative Extension, and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. The RDC is the lead partner in the Farmer Training and Technical Assistance component of this collaborative effort. The Program Representative will initially be based at the RDC (south of Salinas) to benefit from the resources and experience of the RDC and to learn the training approach used there. The focus of the work, however, will be on establishing a comprehensive research, demonstration and training program on alternative crops, production methods, and marketing appropriate to hillside farmers who tend to be of Mexican ancestry with limited financial resources. The program goal is to establish permanent systems of support, reduce the personal risk to farmers who agree to try alternative production systems, and encourage collaboration within the farming community to reduce environmental impacts of current farming practices. The primary tasks for the first year are to: · Conduct a survey of farmers and landowners that will participate in and benefit from the project; · Coordinate discussions and or