Realfarmacy, By: Justin Gardener, 08/18/2013

Contrary to claims by Monsanto and government conspirators, we can indeed meet the world’s hunger without the use of genetically modified seed and manufactured chemicals. Bumper crops of rice, potatoes, and wheat are being grown in India using methods of Agroecology.

Agroecology is a dynamic agricultural approach that uses scientific information and local knowledge to produce practical methods that are low-cost and ecologically sound. This is quite a contrast to the “one size fits all” approach of GMO crops and chemical inputs being peddled by Monsanto and friends.

For more on this story visit www.realfarmacy.com

Naturalsociety, By: Christina Sarich, 07/14/2013

The National Beekeeping organizations and the National Honey Bee Advisory Board have joined forces to protect bee keepers and the food supply in an appeal against the EPA for its approval of a highly toxic pesticide called Sulfoxaflor. This toxin has been classed a fourth generation neonicotinoid which scientists worldwide have linked to colony collapse disorder (CCD), resulting in the massive and widespread death of so many bees. Even NASA has said that this particular pesticide is ‘highly toxic’ to bees and other pollinators. Dow Chemical Company, Inc. makes this chemical and currently sprays it on cotton. It is meant to be used on other crops soon.

For more on this story visit www.naturalsociety.com

By: centerforfoodsafety.org, 07/01/2013

Today, the Oregon Senate passed a bill to ban commercial production of canola (rapeseed) until 2019 inside the 3 million acre Willamette Valley Protected District, one of the world’s pre-eminent vegetable seed producing regions.

HB 2427, which passed the Senate 18-12 after passing the Oregon House last week 37-22, rolls back a controversial new policy adopted by the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) in February 2013 that would have allowed 25,000 acres of canola to be planted over the next decade in a region where the production of the plant for its seed has been banned since 2005.

For more on this story visit www.centerforfoodsafety.org

By: Silver629 & Desert Gypsy

Sugar, or rather sugar beets are a major agricultural cash crop. Sugar is in almost everything we eat or drink today.  Half of the white sugar sold in the Unites States comes from sugar beets. Like most people, I thought that most of the sugar manufactured in the United States came from sugar cane. However, this is not the case.  In fact, the general public knows very little about farming practices surrounding the raising of sugar crops, specifically sugar beet crops.  Besides being sweet GMO’s, sugar beets receive generous applications of pesticides, fungicides, and chemical fertilizers.

First, sugar beet seed is treated with fungicides. Fungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms that kill Fungi and prevent its growth. Prior to planting, the soil is also treated with fumigants: Any biological organism present at that time, including mice, ground squirrels, and gophers are effectively destroyed.  Applications of these products are repeated during the growing season.