Agriculture
WELCOME TO THE AGRICULTURE SECTION OF THE ADC WEBSITE
Here you will find a wide variety of pdf files and other information on critical agriculture issues facing all of us. The United States, other countries, and a myriad of corporations are engaged in a wide variety of experiments that are now having profound impacts on agriculture, water supplies, our honey bees and other pollinators, and human health.
Geoengineering, ongoing experimental weather modification programs, and other atmospheric programs are also threatening crop production and our water supplies. Solar Radiation Management (Geoengineering) will reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the earth and our croplands. These programs will reduce photosynthesis and lower crop production while polluting our air, water, and soil with toxic chemicals. (See the photosynthesis poster below.)
Cropland is also being taken out of production at staggering rates in order to put ethanol in our gas tanks. Trees are now being harvested for ethanol production threatening to bring back clear-cutting (now being done in several areas in the United States and Canada), in order to be used, on a one-time only basis, for fuel in our gas tanks. Clear-cutting should be stopped everywhere today. Sustainable methods of tree cutting for homes is better using trees and crops for this one-time use in our gas tanks.
Genetically modified foods and seeds are finding their way into the food chain and are now being heavily promoted here in the United States by President Obama and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack. GM seed and chemicals companies are working together to make sure that the only seeds and food we can eat are those that they own. The profits from control of our food is enormous and they power that the can wield with this monopoly is staggering in scope.
The corporate privatization of our water is underway across the United States. And one has to be aware that once privatized those that own it can do with it anything they want with this prized resource; sell it to the highest bidder at the highest prices. Americans need to stand together and stop the privatization of our water supplies. Once a private corporation owns our water they can add any chemicals without restrictions and charge any amount of money for their product. Agriculture will no longer be viable due to increased costs from privatization of water.
There is a video at the end of the pdf files on the factory food that you may be eating at any time now or in the future. It is what awaits us if we fail to speak out and take action today against these policies. Eating factory and genetically modified food is the choice we all make by not speaking out against these policies.
The Environmental Protection Agency has been protecting and cleaning up our water supplies for many years. They enforce air and water pollution under the Clean Air and Water Acts. Now, President Obama and the U.S. Congress is moving toward radically cutting their powers to enforce this act and their staffing to implement protections we have all depended upon for clear water, air, and soil. Action is needed today to protect the Clean Air and Water Acts and their staffing to enforce these acts. (See the EPA Section of this website.)
Weather and Climate has a tremendous impact on agriculture production. If you would like to know more about the ongoing weather modification programs in the United States please visit this Section of the ADC Website: http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/?q=weather-modifications
The Honey Bee & Other Pollinators Section of the ADC Website is located at the following link: http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/content/categories-agriculture-defense-coalition-and-california-skywatch?q=honey-bees
The Genetically Engineered Section of the ADC Website is located at the following link:
ttp://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/content/agriculture-gm-seedscrops
The Herbicide, Pesticide, Insecticide Section of the ADC Website is located at the following link: http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/content/agriculture-chemicalspesticides
If you need information about water contaminants, air pollution, health impacts, toxicology reports, and other issues in the State of California go to the following link: http://www.calepa.ca.gov/
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/2011/12/brs_actions.shtml
DAS-40278-9 Corn: For Public Comment
U.S.D.A APHIS is also making available today a PPRA and a draft EA to address a request from Dow, Inc. seeking a determination of nonregulated status of its DAS-40278-9 corn. This corn has been genetically engineered to provide tolerance to 2,4-D and aryloxyphenoxypropionate (AOPP) acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitors, also known as “fop” herbicides. DAS-40278-9 corn has been field tested in the major corn growing regions of the continental United States as well as Hawaii. APHIS’ risk assessment indicates that DAS-40278-9 corn is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk. APHIS is making available for public comment the Dow petition for nonregulated status, APHIS’ PPRA and draft EA. These documents can be found at:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/news.shtml
The public comment period will close on Feb. 27, 2012.
See Other Biotechnology Regulatory Actions (Genetically Modified Crops) below and their U.S.D.A. Deadlines.
Items of Interest
3A 2009 Biologists Consulted Again Interior Secretary-Obama SF Chronicle April 29, 2009.pdf
3A 2010 CA STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DRINKING WATER TEST RESULTS.pdf
3A 2010 Grandma Has A Calf February 25, 2010 Santa Rosa, CA The Press Democrat News.pdf
3ADC Agriculture Picture Cows for ADC Website 2003 CA.pdf
3ADC Agriculture Picture for ADC Website 2008.pdf
3ADC Agriculture Pictures for ADC Website 2008.pdf
Please visit the Honey Bee & Other Pollinators Section of this Website for more information
3B 2006 Loss Of Pollinators Critical October 19, 2006 S.F. Chronicle-See Section on Honey Bees.pdf
California Agriculture Issues
3C 2004 California Climate Wine BBC August 17, 2004.pdf
3C 2006 California Pear Decline Mendocino & Lake Counties 2006 Fiscal Problems-Bankruptcy.pdf
3C 2006 Tomato Production Decline November 1, 2006 California Farm Bureau.pdf
3C 2007 Stunted Rangeland Feed Growth Ukiah Daily Journal March 9, 2007-Lack of Direct Sunlight.pdf
3C 2008 California Water Primer LAO Reports October 20, 2008.pdf
3C 2008 Chinook Salmon November 4, 2008 CA Weighs 85 Pounds-See Photographs Redding.com.pdf
3C 2008 Drinking Sewage NYTimes August 10, 2008 Southern California.pdf
3C 2008 Northern California Vineyards April 23, 2008 Press Democrat Unusual Cold Weather-Crops.pdf
3C 2008 Press Democrat Grapes Weather 2008 Sonoma + Napa + Mendocino Counties-California.pdf
3C 2008 Vegetation Problems April 23, 2008 The Press Democrat Grapes+Other Crops.pdf
3C 2009 California Gravenstein Apples July 28, 2009 The Press Democrat Sonoma County, CA.pdf
3C 2009 Climate Change Could Put the Heat on California Crops U.C. Davis Study LATimes July 2009.pdf
3C 2009 Wheat Crop Threat-Fungus Los Angeles Times June 14, 2009 Los Angeles Times.pdf
3C 2010 Fish vs Agriculture California Water Issues February 22, 2010.pdf
3C 2010 Geraniums Could Help Control Devastating Japanese Beetle EurekAlert AAAS March 8, 2010.pdf
3CW 2009 California Water Woes San Francisco Chronicle December 8, 2009 Peripheral Canal is Back.pdf
3CW 2010 Desalinization-Salton Sea Reconsidered for CA Water Needs February 18, 2010.pdf
3CWZ 2011 Carlyle Group Wants Water in California+Montana January 4, 2011 Daily Paul News.pdf
3CZ 2009 California Water Disasters Mercury News March 1, 2009.pdf
3CZ 2009 Heat on California Crops U.C. Davis Study LATimes July 2009.pdf
The Privatization of Water & Other Critical Issues
3D 2006 Farm Bureau Water+Drought Critical Issues December 13, 2006.pdf
3D 2007 World Bank Water Development 1997-2007 Summary Report Released FEB 2010.pdf
3D 2008 NYTimes August 21, 2008 Water Privatization Vermont Water.pdf
3D 2009 Algae Problems Midwest Waterways September 27, 2009 AOl News Agriculture Links.pdf
3D 2009 Legal for Colorado Residents to Collect Rain Water NYTimes June 29, 2009 NYTimes.pdf
3D 2009 No Water, No Jobs, No Food = No Jobs July 25, 2009 Southern California Food Belt.pdf
3D 2009 Wyoming University of Wyoming Assessing the Future of Water Resources 2009 Report.pdf
3D 2010 Colorado Water Issues-Drought+Increasing Demands for Water January 17, 2010.pdf
3D 2011 Groundwater Depletion is Detected From Space NYTimes May 30, 2011 Entire Article.pdf
3D 2011 Groundwater Depletion is Detected From Space NYTimes May 30, 2011 See Graphic Page 1.pdf
3DR 2009 Nature Reports Southeast Drought October 22, 2009 Cause Rising Demand for Water.pdf
State & U.S. Government Agencies-General Information
3E 2008 Wetlands Protected Under Clean Water Act + Proposal April 26, 2008 U.S. Map.pdf
3E 2010 EPA Glossary of Terms March 3, 2010.pdf
3E 2010 NYTimes March 7, 2010 Deal to Save Everglades May Rescue United States Sugar Firm.pdf
3E 2010 U.S. FDA Regulators Rejected Hen Vaccine Despite British Success August 24, 2010.pdf
3E 2010 Use of Potentially Harmful Chemicals Kept Secret Washington Post News January 4, 2010.pdf
FOOD & FACTORY FOOD & OTHER ISSUES
3F 2008 Moyers Journal April 11, 2008 Rising Food Prices Wages.pdf
3F 2008 Moyers Journal April 4, 2008 Part I Food Problems.pdf
3F 2008 Moyers Journal November 28, 2008 Transcript - Food.pdf
3F 2008 Rice NYTimes June 17, 2008 Food Revolution Uphoff.pdf
3F 2009 ETC Group November 2009 Communique on Who Will Feed Us.pdf
3F 2009 Pumpkin+Other Food Shortages November 19, 2009 Illinois+Other Midwestern States AOL News.pdf
3FF 2008 ETC Group Who Owns Nature November 13, 2008 Report on Corporate Food Chains.pdf
3FF 2010 Majority of French Restaurants Using Ready-Made Factory Food FEB 22, 2010.pdf
3FF 2010 NOW PBS Food Inc-Secrets that Giant Food Companies Hide-Transcript March 5, 2010.pdf
3FF 2011 Fake Foods from China The European Union Times February 2011.pdf
3FFZ 2011 Meat Secrets Exposed Today+Tonight Australia News Expose March 23, 2011 Exclusive.pdf
3FZ 2010 No Comment 2010 Food Shortages Decemeber 17, 2009 by Eric deCarbonnel - Market Skeptics.pdf
For More Information on Genetically Modified Foods, Seeds & Chemicals visit the Genetically Modified Section of this Website.
3G 2008 Vanity Fair Investigation May 2008 Monsanto Harvest of Fear-Entire Article.pdf
3GE 2009 GE Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use November 2009 by Benbrook.pdf
3GE 2009 USDA January 9, 2009 1st Drug From DNA-Altered Animals Approved Soon.pdf
3GE 2010 Genetically Engineered Corn Causes New Plant Pest March 25, 2010.pdf
3GZ 2008 Genetically Engineered Food Center for Food Safety April 6, 2008.pdf
3GZ 2009 AAEM Corporate Members __ The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM).pdf
Health Issues
3H 2002 WHO State of Science Endocrine Disruptors Chapter 1 Executive Summary 2002.pdf
3H 2002 WHO State of Science Endocrine Disruptors Chapter 2 Background+Issues 2002.pdf
3H 2002 WHO State of Science Endocrine Disruptors Chapter 3 Endocrinology+Toxicology 2002.pdf
3H 2002 WHO State of Science Endocrine Disruptors Chapter 4 Wildlife 2002.pdf
3H 2010 NYTimes March 7, 2010 The Spread of Superbugs Myriad of Problems+Agribusiness Overuses.pdf
3HZ 2009 San Francisco Examiner Goats Milk+Prions August 3, 2009 Warning.pdf
Organic Foods
The introduction of genetically modified seeds and the release of atmospheric chemicals are endangering Organic Food production in the United States and other countries. Cross-Pollination of crops and other issues threaten the very existence of Organic Foods. And now with Geoengineering, weather modification, and other upper atmospheric experiments being conducted at record levels all agriculture production is threatened not just the organic food markets.
3I 2007 Biodiversity Fundamental to Economics March 9, 2007 BBC News.pdf
3I 2007 Organic Food FDA Loosens Rules June 9, 2007 PD.pdf
3I 2010 Divide and Diminish by Judson March 16, 2010 NYTimes Commentary on Reducing Biodiversity.pdf
3IZ 2009 AJC Article Organic Foods + U.S.D.A July 25, 2009.pdf
3IZ 2009 No Comment Organic Food Association July 8, 2009.pdf
3IZ 2010 Biodiversity March 15, 2010 Belongs to All of Us + Worth Preserving Monbiot.pdf
3IZ 2010 USDA Wallace Center Winrock International News March 8, 2010 Website-Funded by USDA.pdf
Factory Farms & Waste Problems
3J 2005 Chickens - Factory Farms 2005.pdf
3J 2008 USDA Court Bars Meatpacker Tests for Mad Cow Disease Reuters August 29, 2008.pdf
3J 2009 Down on the Farm an Endless Cycle of Waste Manure NYTimes December 29, 2009 by Fountain.pdf
3J 2009 NYTimes June 27, 2009 Rebellion on the Range Over Cattle ID Plans Page 1.pdf
3J 2009 NYTimes June 28, 2009 Rebellion on the Range Over Cattle ID Plans Page 2.pdf
3J 2010 Cows on Antibiotic Drugs Harm Human Health-Long Term Consequneces NYTimes April 18, 2010.pdf
3J 2010 Union of Concerned Scientists USDA Releases Strong Organic Pasture Rule-March 2010.pdf
3J 2011 Meat Packing Companies Consolidation+Price Collusion January 30, 2011 Page 1.pdf
3J 2011 Meat Packing Companies Consolidation+Price Collusion January 30, 2011 Page 2.pdf
Weather, Climate, Drought, Extreme Weather Events & Experimental Weather Modification
are all a threat to Agriculture Crop Production and our Water Supplies.
3KD 1996 Drought on Southern Plains UCAR Report Press Release April 4, 1996.pdf
3KD 2006 Drought New York Times March 21, 2006 Western States.pdf
3KF 2011 U.S. Army Corps Blows Up Missouri Levee-Floods Rich Farmland Areas May 2, 2011 NYTimes.pdf
3KR 2009 Drought - Rain - Snow Rosenfeld Google Search December 25, 2009 Page 4.pdf
3KR 2009 Drought Rosenfeld Rain Clouds Snow Studies Google Search December 25, 2009 Page 1.pdf
3KR 2009 Drought Rosenfeld Rain Clouds Snow Studies Google Search December 25, 2009 Page 2.pdf
3KR 2009 Drought Rosenfeld Rain Clouds Snow Studies Google Search December 25, 2009 Page 3.pdf
3KS 2002 USDA Soil Moisture Experiments March 23, 2002.pdf
3KS 2008 USDA Topsoil Moisture July 27, 2008 10 Year Mean Second U.S. Map.pdf
3KS 2008 USDA Topsoil Moisture July 27, 2008 10 Year Mean U.S. Map.pdf
3KS 2010 ETC Group February 28, 2010 The Issues Erosion-Technology-Concentration.pdf
Laws & Legal Issues
3L 2010 USDA February 17, 2010 Rules & Regulations on Animal Pasture Feed.pdf
3L 2010 Western Water Law March 6, 2010 http___wwa.colorado.pdf
Agriculture and Forest Lands are now being used to produce Ethanol for our Gas Tanks and Aviation. These uses will mean severe food shortages in the near future along with rising costs in food prices. We should not be using prime agriculture and forest lands for Ethanol production.
3M 2008 Aviation Alternatives - Biofuels Spreading Hunger + Deforestation May 2008 Monbiot.pdf
3M 2010 NYTimes March 18, 2010 Farmers Sell Land for City Expansion+Industrial Use-Less Food.pdf
3M 2010 Vanishing Farmland-Destabilizing American Food Supplies May 28, 2010 AOL News.pdf
3M 2011 Secret Report Biofuels Caused World-Wide Food Crisis July 3, 2008 Guardian.co.uk News.pdf
3MZ 2009 Monbiot Peak Oil - Save Farming November 2009.pdf
3MZ 2010 Biofuel Controversy Explodes as New Concerns Emerge February 17, 2010 Climate Action.pdf
General News Items
3N 2007 Buckmann United Nations Presentation September 5, 2007 Bio-Restoration Alternative.pdf
3N 2008 Algae Important Information.pdf
3N 2008 China Food From China Contaminated NYTimes November 1, 2008 Boycott Needed.pdf
3N 2008 NYTimes December 8, 2008 Fire Ants-Problem from Cultivation-Questions.pdf
3N 2009 French Sea Weed Toxic Problems Due to Agriculture Runoff August 10, 2009 Northern France.pdf
3N 2010 Arctic Seed Doomsday Vault Hits Half-Million Seed Mark March 12, 2010 The Independent.pdf
3N 2010 Corn Stalk With 27 Ears Puzzles Farmers in Mason City Iowa August 18, 2010 KCRG-TV9 News.pdf
3N 2010 Square Watermelon Photograph from Japan Invention.pdf
3N 2010 Square Watermelons March 14, 2006 Japan Notes in the News.pdf
3N 2010 The Death of High Fructose Corn Syrup Princeton Study March 25, 2010 BNET News.pdf
3N 2010 Union of Concerned Scientists-Food & Agriculture March 2010.pdf
New Threats to Agriculture - Reduced Photosynthesis
Geoenigneering Shemes, Global Dimming , and Man-Made Clouds are Reducing the Amount of Direct Sunlight reaching the Earth. This is changing our weather, local micro-climates needed for crop production, and reducing the amount of Photosynthesis that all plants and trees need to survive and produce crops. If we artificially reduce the amount of direct sunlight reaching the Earth crop production will be reduced.
3P 2006 Sunlight Less January 13, 2006 But Temperatures Rise.pdf
3P 2009 Nature Reports July 9, 2009 Shrinking Sheep - Why Less Grass Feed.pdf
3PA 1976 Aluminum Oxide Aerosols + Effects of Pollutants on Plants from Rockets Abstract 1976.pdf
3PA 1977 Aluminum Oxide Rocket Exhaust Effects on Plants Vandenberg AFB NOV 1977 Abstract.pdf
3PA 1978 Aluminum Oxide Rocket Fuel Gas Effects on Plants 1978 Abstract.pdf
3PA 1983 Aluminum Oxide+HCL Ground Cloud-Vegetation Impacts Abstract 1983 Rockets.pdf
3PA 2009 Photosynthesis Poster.pdf
Air Pollution Damages Plants & Trees
3Q 1996 Air Pollution Plants 1996 Study.pdf
3Q 1996 Air Pollution Damage to Plants 1996 Auburn University Study.pdf
3Q 1999 EPA Jet Fuel Emissions Report April Poster-Crop Damage.pdf
3Q 2009 Agriculture U.S.D.A + Battelle Air Quality Monitoring-Waste.pdf
Agriculture in Foreign Countries - Problems
3R 2000 Panama Banana Destructive Disease 2000.pdf
3R 2003 France BBC News Heatwave August 11, 2003 Records.pdf
3R 2005 Drought in Lambir Hills National Park 2005-Pollination Ecology and the Rain Forest Book.pdf
3R 2006 China Problems Chicken 2006 Processing.pdf
3R 2007 Australia NYTimes June 18, 2007 Light Brown Apple Moth Crop Damage.pdf
3R 2007 Food Globe Life Made in Canada Foods Via China 2007.pdf
3R 2008 China Food From China Contaminated NYTimes November 1, 2008 Boycott Needed.pdf
3R 2008 Food Crisis India Flooding August 2008 Reuters India News.pdf
3R 2009 Africa Kenyan Miracle Biofuel Weed Crop Disaster October 4, 2009 Yahoo News-Time.pdf
3R 2009 Agriculture Food Shortages-Problems April 22, 2009 Scientific American Magazines.pdf
3R 2009 Liberia Caterpillars Trigger Emergency January 27, 2009 AOL News.pdf
3R 2010 Decaying Infrastructure of Dams=Threats NYTimes August 21, 2009.pdf
3R 2010 Singapore Water Usage-Rice Production March 5, 2010 EurekAlert AAAS.pdf
3R 2010 World Bank Water Development Report 1997-2007 Released February 2010 Information.pdf
3R 2011 Columbia Heat Damages Coffee-Rising Prices NYTimes March 9, 2011.pdf
3RD 2003 Australia Drought January 15, 2003 ENS.pdf
3RD 2009 Africa Drought NYTimes April 17, 2009 Patterns Found.pdf
3RD 2009 Drought in India - Agriculture NYTimes September 2009.pdf
3RD 2009 India Drought in India Agriculture Impacts-Food Shortages NYTimes September 2009.pdf
3RD 2009 Yemen Drought Profits Leaving Food+Water Shortages NYTimes November 1, 2009.pdf
3RD 2010 NOW PBS On Thin Ice Water Issues March 12, 2010 Transcript.pdf
3RZ 2010 China Financial-Industry Website Food February 9, 2010 China+India Notes.pdf
3RZ 2010 India IFFCO Expects New Fertilizer Subsidy Regime Soon Reuters News February 11, 2010.pdf
3RZ 2010 WHO CODEX March 9, 2010 Many Questions About CODEX.pdf
3RZ 2010 Worldwide-World Bank-Palm Oil Mistake October 15, 2010 NYTimes.pdf
Pesticides, Herbicides, Insecticides & Other Chemicals
3S 2006 WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard 2006.pdf
3S 2008 Pesticide Controls European Union BBC News December 19, 2008.pdf
3S 2009 Report on Impacts of GE Crops+Pesticide Use Increases 13 Years by Benbrook NOV 2009.pdf
3S 2010 NOW PBS Gasland March 26, 2010 Water Pollution Hazards-Natural Gas Drilling Chemicals.pdf
3S 2010 Pesticide Action Network Information Updates March 10, 2010.pdf
3S 2010 WHO Chemicals Assessment March 9, 2010.pdf
3S 2010 WHO Pesticides March 9, 2010.pdf
3S 2010 WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard March 9, 2010.pdf
3SA 2008 TPS Aluminum Cereal Crop Seeds Resistance 2008 Abstract Studies.pdf
3SM 2007 Apple Moth Chemical Checkmate CA Gov S. Backs Aerial October 25, 2007 .pdf
3SM 2007 Apple Moth Don't Spray California Action 2008.pdf
3SM 2007 Apple Moth September 26, 2007 Control Santa Cruz.pdf
3SM 2008 Apple Moth Spraying Lawsuit 2008 Note Honey Bee Problems.pdf
3SM 2009 CA Obama's EPA Asks Court to Suppress Identify-Apple Moth Chemicals 2009.pdf
3SM 2009 LBAM Chemical Spraying - Apple Moth Documents + Timeline 2008-2009.pdf
3SN 2009 WHO Nanotechnologies in Food+Agriculture-Food Safety Implications June 2009.pdf
Tree Issues
3T 2000 Banana Wars by Porter NYTimes December 29, 2009 GATT+WTO.pdf
3T 2005 GE Apples Trees Cloned Apples Trees-Grafting GE August 1, 2005.pdf
3T 2006 Agriculture Cherry Crops Down June 14, 2006 Farm Bureau.pdf
3T 2006 Agriculture Fruit & Nuts Chilling Requirements - Frost 2006.pdf
3T 2006 Farm Bureau 2006 Lack of Winter Chill Hours.pdf
3T 2006 Olives Farm Bureau August 23, 2006.pdf
3T 2007 DOE Lawrence Livermore Agricultural Crops March 2007 Warming Temps-Cereal Crops.pdf
3T 2007 Ozone Levels Hampering Plants LA Times July 26, 2007.pdf
3T 2008 NCAR News - Plants Emit Aspirin Chemical September 18, 2008.pdf
3T 2008 NYTimes August 26, 2008 Deadly Florida Pathogen Harms Citrus Groves.pdf
3T 2009 Drought May Caused Own Downfall by Cutting Forests NASA October 6, 2009.pdf
3T 2009 U.C. Davis Study Warming Climate Threatens Furit + Nut Production July 21, 2009 Website.pdf
3TZ 2008 Agriculture Fruit Trees Strange Fruit Monbiot September 2, 2008.pdf
3TZ 2009 U.C. Davis Study Warming Climate Threatens Fruit + Nut Production July 21, 2009 Website.pdf
Markets & Ponzi Schemes
3U 2010 NYTimes March 11, 2010 Rapid Rise in Seed Prices Draws U.S. Scrutiny-Entire Article.pdf
3U 2010 NYTimes March 12, 2010 Rapid Rise in Seed Prices Draws U.S. Scrutiny Page 1.pdf
3UZ 2010 Reap What you Swap NYTimes August 10, 2010 by Jensen Derivatives+Agriculture Swaps.pdf
Experimental Weather Modification Programs in the United States
3W 2000 Farmers Skeptical of Weather Modification Programs AP News 2000.pdf
3W 2001 Economic Losses from Weather Disasters Each State UCAR Press Release January 16, 2001.pdf
3W 2005 Climate Change Small Farmers October 8, 2005 Rainfall - Drought Issues.pdf
3W 2008 BBC News September 25, 2008 BBC News France Heat Wave.pdf
3W 2008 USDA Climate Change Glossary May 2008.pdf
3W 2008 USDA May 27, 2008 Climate Change Press Release-Note Noted Weather Modification Programs.pdf
3W 2009 Drought California May Cause Irrigation Water Cut to Food Producers Feb 20, 2009 Reuters.pdf
3WA 2008 NWV What Your Meteorologist Are Not Telling You 2008 Article by Rosalind Peterson.pdf
U.S. Government Policies & Regulations
3X 2008 Fish NOAA 2004 Fish Deaths in 2008 from Rewriting of Water Facts Bush Administration.pdf
Farmers & Ranchers
3Y 2010 ETC Group Latest Publications February 28, 2010 Human Rights+Farmers Rights.pdf
3Y 2010 GRASS FED BEEF HEALTHIER THAN FEEDLOT FATTENED CATTLE NYTimes March 2010.pdf
3Y 2010 U.S. Farmers Plant Fewest Wheat Acres Since 1913 ABC News January 12, 2010.pdf
No Comment
3Z 2009 Agriculture ASABE abstract May 2009 Technical Research Library.pdf
3Z 2005 Orion Magazine Renewing Husbandry by Berry October 2005 Issue.pdf
3Z 2007 US House Bill 1091 Harmful Algae Bloom Research February 15, 2007.pdf
3Z 2008 No Comment Agriculture WND May 5, 2008 Raw Milk.pdf
3Z 2008 No Comment Biofuels Agriculture Crime Against Humanity Monbiot NOV 2007.pdf
3Z 2008 Small is Beautiful June 2008 Monbiot Agriculture.pdf
3Z 2008 USDA PIPRA June 2008.pdf
3Z 2009 No Comment Drought Map + Article by Holly Deyo August 19, 2009.pdf
3Z 2009 No Farm Land Protection in Farm Bill-Changes Needed NYTimes 2009.pdf
3Z 2009 Southern California Dust Bowl July 26, 2009 Rick's Gardening Tips .pdf
3Z 2010 A Menu for Feeding 9 Billion People on Earth by Revkin NYTimes February 12, 2010.pdf
3Z 2010 CRS Summary+Bill Status S510 2009-2010 Food Safety Bill.pdf
3Z 2010 Towering Lunacy Vertical High-Rise Agriculture by Monbiot August 16, 2010.pdf
3Z 2011 Low-Input Agriculture to Feed World March 10, 2011 Casaubon Book.pdf
"Heat & Harvest" Quest PBS Program - September 28, 2012 - 2 Videos
"...Like what you see in the supermarket produce section? Enjoy, because things may be changing there – the prices, even the mix of available fruits, nuts and veggies. Long acknowledged as "the nation's salad bowl," California's farm belt is facing some thorny challenges from our changing climate: rising temperatures, an uncertain water supply and more abundant pests that threaten multi-billion-dollar crops. The half-hour documentary Heat and Harvest, a co-production of KQED and the Center for Investigative Reporting, examines these threats and some potential solutions..."
"...The first story in the program, Uncool Cherries, looks at the challenges facing cherry growers near Stockton. Life is hardly a bowl of cherries if you're trying to grow them in California lately. Cherries and other major fruit crops need a certain number of "chilling hours" in order to produce healthy blossoms and fruit. But in recent years, the spring nights have brought warmer temperatures and less of the legendary Valley fog that helps keep the chill on. (Reporter: Mark Schapiro / Producer: Serene Fang)..."
"...The second story, Dry and Salted, examines the major wildcards in California's farming future: water and salt. Growers are having to learn to get along with less of the first and more of the second. That can mean leaving once-productive fields fallow or having to find less water-intensive crops and irrigation methods. But water quality is also presenting a challenge as growers find themselves having to cope with salt in their groundwater and the threat of encroaching saltwater from rising seas. (Reporter: Mark Schapiro / Producer: Serene Fang)..."
"...Heat and Harvest ends with Some Bugs Like it Hot: Climate Change and Agricultural Pests, a look at how climate change is making agricultural pests more abundant in the state’s fields. A tiny insect that didn’t used to pose a problem for California farmers is now transmitting a disease that damages potato chips and threatens the state’s tomato crop. Are more pesticides the answer? We talk to farmers and scientists to see what's being done to meet the challenge. (Producer: Gabriela Quirós / Program Host & Reporter: Craig Miller)..."
More from QUEST
•Some Bugs Like it Hot: Climate Change and Agricultural Pests
•Uncool Cherries
•Dry and Salted
•The Heat is On For California Wines
•Napa Wineries Face Global Warming
C-SPAN Interview-Video - Washington, DC - Sunday, August 12, 2012 "...This week on Newsmakers, Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, talks about the impact of the drought on farm lands in 32 states. Secretary Vilsack also discusses the impact of the drought on food prices for U.S. consumers, the Obama Administration’s response on disaster aid for farmers and ranchers, and the future of the Farm Bill that was recently passed by the Senate but awaiting action in the House of Representatives. Our guest reporters are Ron Nixon, Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, and Alan Bjerga, Agriculture Policy Reporter for Bloomberg News..."
Todd Tucker, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch joins Thom Hartmann for an Interview on: What is in your food and where is it coming from? Do you now what's REALLY on your dinner plate? Well - it's becoming increasingly difficult for you to find out and there may be very little our lawmakers can do about it. Do you know what's in your dinner? Chances are...you probably don't. That's because recent rulings by the World Trade Organization (WTO), have made it harder and harder for Americans to know if what they're eating is safe - and exactly where it came from. For example - the WTO recently struck down a law passed by Congress and signed by the President in 2008, that required labels on all meat so that we know in what country the cattle was born, raised, and slaughtered. Think about that for a second - laws passed by our elected Representatives are being struck down by foreign bureaucrats and corporations through the World Trade Organization. Also this year - the WTO struck down dolphin-safe tuna labels - arguing that it would do economic harm to foreign fishing fleets that slaughter dolphins in the process of catching tuna. So why is this? Why is it suddenly illegal for us to know more about what's in the food we eat? And why are we as a nation bending at the will of the WTO? Factory Food-Insufficient or no labels...food created in a test tube and processed for human consumption. What is in our future?
Home Project - May 12, 2009 Video
We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have ten years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate. The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort. The HOME project has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.
You can watch the full version here: http://youtu.be/jqxENMKaeCU
INDUSTRY-WIDE: Meat Pieces Glued Together to LOOK like Prime Cuts. March 23, 2011
CLICK ON THE ABOVE LINK TO VIEW THE FACTOR FOOD VIDEO. This shows the Factory Food that you may be eating the next time you go to a restaurant or buy a food product in your grocery store.
*Food, Inc. PBS NOW March 10, 2010 Video
"...Americans have a longstanding love affair with food—the modern supermarket has, on average, 47,000 products. But do we really know what goes into making the products we so eagerly consume? This week, David Brancaccio talks with Robert Kenner, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Food, Inc.," which takes a hard look at the secretive and surprising journey food takes on the way from processing plants to our dinner tables. The two discuss why contemporary food processing secrets are so closely guarded, their impact on our health, and another surprising fact: how consumers are actually empowered to make a difference. Find out why you'll never look at dinner the same way./This show was originally broadcast on June 5, 2009/..."
By Aaron Hepker
SEPTEMBER 12, 2011 at 7:11 PM CDT
"...WEST CHESTER, Iowa — Crop yields could hit a 20 year low in Southeast Iowa. Farmers say extreme heat and few rain showers are to blame for the severe drought. In the Washington area, much of the farmland turned from green to yellow to brown. The lack of rain not only looks bad, but for farmers, it’s drying up a big chunk out of their bottom line...Smaller corn yields means fewer bushels and less money. “It’s less that we have to sale to add to our bottom line,” said Rob Stout. But the drought didn’t spare livestock. Their hogs haven’t gained enough weight to pull in top dollar. “They didn’t get as heavy because the heat really halted their weight. We put sprinklers in their buildings and we tried to keep them wet, but they can only gain so much with the hot weather,” said Rob Stout. So they’re about 20 pounds light, making each one worth about $17 less. “It doesn’t take very much loss in yield or hog prices to get into a loss position,” said Bob Stout..."
The Daily Video on Pink Slime - March 5, 2012:
http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/03/05/030512-news-pink-slime-2-3/
Partners in ‘Slime’
Feds keep buying ammonia-treated ground beef for school lunches
By David Knowles Monday, March 5, 2012
PHOTO: infinite.unknown
A look inside the Beef Products Inc. plant in South Sioux City, Neb., where “pink slime” is made.
PHOTO: Greg Zabilski/ABC
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver demonstrates the ammonia-treated beef process.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s continued purchase of so-called pink slime for school lunches makes no sense, according to two former microbiologists at the Food Safety Inspection Service.
“I have a 2-year-old son,” microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein told The Daily. “And you better believe I don’t want him eating pink slime when he starts going to school.”
It was Zirnstein who first coined the term “pink slime” after touring a Beef Products Inc. production facility in 2002 as part of an investigation into salmonella contamination in packaged ground beef. In an email to his colleagues shortly after the visit, Zirnstein said he did not “consider the stuff to be ground beef.”
Made by grinding together connective tissue and beef scraps normally destined for dog food and rendering, BPI’s Lean Beef Trimmings are then treated with ammonia hydroxide, a process that kills pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli.
The resulting pinkish substance is later blended into traditional ground beef and hamburger patties.
For retired microbiologist Carl Custer, a 35-year veteran of the Food Safety Inspection Service, the idea of mixing in BPI’s Lean Beef Trimmings into more nutritious, pure ground beef was itself problematic.
“We originally called it soylent pink,” Custer told The Daily. “We looked at the product and we objected to it because it used connective tissues instead of muscle. It was simply not nutritionally equivalent [to ground beef]. My main objection was that it was not meat.”
Custer said he first encountered the product — which gained fame recently as “pink slime” in part due to the efforts of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver — back in the late 1990s. Despite voicing his concerns to other officials at the food inspection service, however, the USDA ruled that Lean Beef Trimmings were safe. “The word in the office was that undersecretary JoAnn Smith pushed it through, and that was that,” Custer said.
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, Smith had deep ties with the beef industry, serving as president of both the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and the of the National Cattlemen’s Association.
“Scientists in D.C. were pressured to approve this stuff with minimal safety approval,” Zirnstein said.
A baseline study conducted by Zirstein and Custer classified the trimmings as a “high risk product.” Zirnstein says the food inspection service ignored their findings, and commissioned a separate study to assess the safety of BPI’s meat.
The USDA, which plans to buy 7 million pounds of Lean Beef Trimmings from BPI in the coming months for the national school lunch program, said in a statement that all of its ground beef purchases “meet the highest standard for food safety.” USDA officials also noted that the sole role of the food inspection service is to determine the overall safety of the nation’s food supply, not to make judgments on a product’s relative merits.
But Zirnstein and Custer say that the USDA now finds itself in the odd position of purchasing a product that has recently been dropped by fast-food giants McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell.
“My objection with having it in the schools is that it’s not meat,” Custer said.
In 2005, the USDA limited the amount of ammonia-treated Lean Beef Trimmings in a serving of ground beef to 15 percent, but lax labeling requirements mean that it is virtually impossible as a consumer — and for parents of children at a schools where “pink slime” is a part of lunch — to know whether a given package of ground beef or hamburger patty contains it.
“The USDA-AMS [Agricultural Marketing Service] does allow for the inclusion of BPI Boneless Lean Beef in the ground beef they procure for all their federal food programs and, according to federal labeling requirements, it is not a raw material that is uniquely labeled,” Amy Bell, spokeswoman for the California Department of Education Food Distribution Program, told The Daily in an email. “Accordingly, there is no way to tell from simply looking at a package of finished product if BPI Boneless Lean Beef is in the product mix.”
Last year, the USDA said that 6.5 percent of the beef it purchased for the national school lunch program came from BPI.
In part, it’s the lack of clear labeling that rankles both Zirnstein and Custer.
“It’s more like Jell-O than hamburger, plus it’s treated with ammonia, an additive that is not declared anywhere,” Custer said.
“They’ve taken a processed product, without labeling it, and added it to raw ground beef,” Zirnstein said. “Science is the truth, and pink slime at this point in time is a fraudulent lie.”
Neither BPI, nor Smith, who now serves on the board of directors at Tyson Foods, responded to The Daily’s request for comment on this story.
CNN News - March 21, 2012
Safeway Stores to Stop Using Pink Slime-Good Definition of this Hamburger Meat Filler on CNN Report
"Fake Organic Foods Proliferate From China"
Published 22 June, 2010 05:20:00 BBC - The World
Think those "organic" strawberries from China are better for the environment? Think again.
This story was originally reported by BBC PRI's The World. For more, download and listen to the audio.
"...The organic label is meant to signify that a food is relatively environmentally friendly: Organic producers are forbidden from using many synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. When that organic food comes from China (and other countries), however, that label may not mean much..."
ABC 7 News Report - WJLA.com Whole Foods Organic Food From China Story - May 2008
Whole Food's Dirty Little Secret (other grocery stores also should be included on list): What do you know about Organic Foods from China sold in your local food stores?
This video is (from an unknown date), produced by I-Team ABC News (www.wjla.com news), about Whole Foods deception on their brands. USDA does not inspect imported foods-certifies private inspectors to do the job. Whole Foods employs QAI Quality Assurance International and uses their Certification Sea on their products. This seal is not valid as validating inspected organic farms in China. AQI has not certified any products from China.
It is difficult to track food from China-like strawberries, nuts, peas, frozen vegetables, peanut butter, carrots, etc., hundreds of food products and vegetables. Most Organic Whole Foods are imported from China. What is the name of the third party inspectors doing inspections for Whole Foods which includes USDA accredited agency that inspects organic foods produced from China and other countries?
How does Whole Foods know these products are organic? Products stated certified organic like California Blend of Vegetables while it printed with small letters in the back "Product of China" in very small type.
Growing concern about quality of food and safety from China like pesticides. Organic foods from China are proliferating in the United States and are not inspected like organic food production in the United States.
(I-Team Went to: Fresh Farm Markets of Dupont Circle they also sold organic Whole Food labeled foods from China to customers.)
U.S. Government Agencies are not protecting the public.
LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY: http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0508/521743.html
This page has been removed since the story is older (and possibly not online at this time) along with any documents that were once available on their website. Requests for information can be sent to ABC 7 www.WJLA.com
April 18, 2012 - ABC News & Video
USDA to Let Industry Self-Inspect Chicken
“…Chicken is the top-selling meat in the United States. The average American eats 84 pounds a year - more chicken than beef or pork. Sorry red meat, chicken is what’s for dinner.average American eats 84 pounds a year - more chicken than beef or pork. Sorry red meat, chicken is what’s for dinner. Now, the USDA is proposing a fundamental change in the way that poultry makes it to the American dinner table.
As early as next week, the government will end debate on a cost-cutting, modernization proposal it hopes to fully implement by the end of the year – a plan that is setting off alarm bells among food science watchdogs because it turns over most of the chicken inspection duties to the companies that produce the birds for sale.
The USDA hopes to save $85 million over three years by laying off 1,000 government inspectors and turning over their duties to company monitors who will staff the poultry processing lines in plants across the country.
The poultry companies expect to save more than $250 million a year because they, in turn, will be allowed to speed up the processing lines to a dizzying 175 birds per minute with one USDA inspector at the end of the line. Currently, traditional poultry lines move at a maximum of 90 birds per minute, with up to three USDA inspectors on line.
Whistleblower inspectors opposed to the new USDA rule say the companies cannot be trusted to watch over themselves. They contend that companies routinely pressure their employees not to stop the line or slow it down, making thorough inspection for contaminants, tumors and evidence of disease nearly impossible. “At that speed, it’s all a blur,” one current inspector tells ABC News.
“I think that there needs to be a critical evaluation of this program,” said Amanda Hitt, director of the Food Integrity Campaign, an organization that empowers industry whistleblowers and citizen activists. “People need to have an opportunity to question some of these results and different things that the agency is coming up with in regard to the safety of this program.
“We’re listening to the people that are actually doing [the inspections] and they’re saying unequivocally the traditional inspection produces higher quality and safer poultry,” Hitt said.
According to OMB Watch, a government accountability organization, cutbacks at the USDA have coincided with a significant rise in salmonella outbreaks. The group says 2010 was a record year for salmonella infection and 2011 saw 103 poultry, egg and meat recalls because of disease-causing bacteria, the most in nearly 10 years.
The USDA, which has been running a pilot program of the changes in 20 U.S. poultry plants, says the new system is not about cost-cutting, but about bringing food safety up to date.
“You can’t see pathogens. You can’t see campylobacter,” Alfred Almanza, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service, told ABC News.
The USDA admitted the new system does not employ more lab tests that can see salmonella and other bacteria.
Critics said some companies are not to be trusted when it comes to testing because they cheat the system by rigging the test.
“We do not have evidence of that,” Almanza said. “But when we’re told of anything of that nature we take those allegations seriously.”
Watchdog groups insist a combination of increased testing and government inspection is needed to lower salmonella and other disease outbreaks from chicken.
“The proposed inspection system will better protect the public from foodborne illnesses by reducing reliance on old-fashioned visual and sensory inspection and moving to prevention-oriented inspection systems based on actual risk to consumers,” Ashley Peterson, vice president of science and technology at the National Chicken Council, said in a statement. “It is the goal and primary focus of the chicken industry and USDA alike to provide consumers with safe, high-quality and wholesome chicken. This proposed rule does not change that goal.” End
See Video at Link Above & Entire Article – ABC News
USDA Website: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations_&_Policies/Poultry_Slaughter_Inspection/index.asp
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background On January 27, 2012, FSIS published a proposed rule, ``Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection'' (77 FR 4408). In that document, the Agency proposed a new inspection system for young chicken and turkey slaughter establishments that would replace all of the existing inspection systems except for traditional inspection. Key elements of the proposed new inspection system include: (1) Requiring that establishment personnel sort carcasses and remove unacceptable carcasses and parts before the birds are presented to the FSIS carcass inspector; (2) reducing the number of on-line carcass inspectors to one; (3) permitting faster line speeds than are permitted under the existing inspection systems; and (4) replacing the existing Finished Product Standards (FPS) with a requirement that establishments that operate under the new inspection system maintain records to document that the products resulting from their slaughter operations meet the definition of ready-to-cook poultry. In addition to the proposed new inspection system, FSIS also proposed changes that would require, among other things, that all establishments that slaughter poultry other than ratites develop, implement, and maintain written procedures to prevent contamination of carcasses and parts by enteric pathogens and fecal material, and that they incorporate these procedures into their HACCP plan or sanitation standard operating procedures (SOP) or other prerequisite programs.