Category Archives: GMO’s

GMOs Impact on Gut and Mental Health

There is SO MUCH happening in the realm of genetically modified food- the lead story being that Obama signed the “Monsanto Protection Act” last week.  So that you will know how horrible that piece of legislation is, we present just a few of the other recent news items pertaining to the most important health, environmental, social and legal issue of our day: growing and eating genetically modified food and the patenting of life.  The story on the legislation Obama signed will then follow.  The information presented here is small, a tiny part of the total catastrophe that is genetically modified food and the patenting of life.

Superbacteria, ever-rising cancer rates, superweeds, superbugs, the massive decline of honeybees, increased rates of emotional and mental disorders and the steep increase in life-threatening allergies can ALL be linked to GMOs and industrial agriculture. If only Healthy Mayor and second richest man in America Bloomberg really cared about school kids he would ban GMOs and GMO-raised meat from NYC school cafeterias as soon as possible.  How much you wanna bet Bloomberg eats almost only organic, like Obama, Clinton, Bush and Romney?

 

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Go with your Gut.  Common sense, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Indian Ayurvedic medicine have always known that your gut is a second brain. Now it is known that 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the digestive process.  A key nuero-transmitter, acetylcholine, is intimately involved in digestion.  Over 30 nuero-transmitters (brain chemicals) are involved with digestion and gut bacteria. That GMOs and their herbicide RoundUp® have a terrible effect on digestive bacteria is proven- watch the first video below and the following stories of farmers discussing their livestock and then check the science on how Monsanto’s RoundUp® harms gut bacteria.  (not to mention it has also been shown to cause birth defects and tumors!)

Poor digestion creates cascades of physical and emotional problems. (See Scientific American article below). The New York Times just reported that 20% of high-school aged boys are diagnosed with ADHD, and fully 10% are prescribed addictive amphetamines for treatment. What’s news is that poor digestion and poor “gut health” is often the culprit- caused by a poor, though “normal”, western diet. This is now proven because many children’s ADHD symptoms have been mitigated by eating a clean diet. Dr. Lidy Pelsser claims that “food is the main cause of ADHD.”  Poor digestion can even cause autism.

Most GMOs are raised for cheap animal feed (though 70% of processed food also contain them).  Livestock that are fed with GMOs are usually killed within a few months, so the cancer and tumors uncovered by Giles Seralini’s research is rarely an issue, but other health issues with GMO fed livestock are very common, including constant diarrhea.  If GMOs cause digestion issues in animals, then wouldn’t they cause digestion issues in humans as well?  Poor digestion (not necessarily diarrhea) causes nutrient deficiencies.  A deficiency in just one mineral like magnesium can cause tremendous emotional and cognitive problems.  And supplementing with pills won’t help much because digestion is so poor!  So what happens when we eat the meat from livestock fed exclusively on pesticide-drenched GMO’s, growth hormones and antibiotics?  And pesticide-drenched vegetables and grains?  RoundUp’s® glyphosate has been found in 100% of urine samples at 5-20 times the limit for drinking water. Monsanto’s RoundUp® harms gut bacteria.  Keep eating it and sooner or later there is a strong chance it will harm you.  And small children are especially vulnerable.

Because GMOs alter livestock digestion, livestock must be given even more antibiotics just to keep them alive.  This industrial agriculture method has now created drug resistant bacteria, which some epidemiologists predict could have even more wide ranging, dire consequences like that already found in our hospitals.  Antibiotics disrupt gut flora in everyone who takes them. Cattle manure is then often spread on vegetable patches, and the antibiotics enter the vegetables!  From the Times article: ”The C.D.C. director, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, likened the rising rates of stimulant prescriptions among children to the overuse of pain medications and antibiotics in adults”.

Italy serves all it’s public school children organic food.  Guess what?  ADHD rates are MUCH lower in Italy.

Don’t eat CAFO meat.  CAFO stands for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, or typical American factory (torture) farming.  Look for animals humanely raised and antibiotic-free, even when you eat in a restaurant.

For beef, grass-fed is the best.  Otherwise the meat is so infected it is now being radiated and doused in ammonia to kill the pathogens.  That is what NYC is feeding it’s schoolchildren.  Think organic is too expensive?  ”An A.D.H.D. diagnosis often results in a family’s paying for a child’s repeated visits to doctors for assessments or prescription renewals. Taxpayers assume this cost for children covered by Medicaid…”

Video of European egg producer who found drastic improvements in the health and production of his hens after changing from GM to non-GM soy feed 

Pigs’ Health Improved Drastically After Switching to a GMO-Free Diet

 Roundup harms beneficial gut bacteria – study

New study by scientists at Leipzig University which found that Roundup herbicide, used on Monsanto’s herbicide resistant crops negatively impacted the gastrointestinal bacteria of poultry in vitro. The researchers found that highly pathogenic bacteria resisted Roundup, whereas beneficial bacteria were moderately to highly susceptible to it. The study provides a scientific basis to farmer reports of increased gastrointestinal disease in animals fed GM Roundup Ready soy, which is tolerant to Roundup.

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Think Twice: How the Gut’s “Second Brain” Influences Mood and Well-Being

“The second brain informs our state of mind in other more obscure ways, as well.  ”A big part of our emotions are probably influenced by the nerves in our gut,” Mayer says. Butterflies in the stomach—signaling in the gut as part of our physiological stress response, Gershon says—is but one example. Although gastrointestinal (GI) turmoil can sour one’s moods, everyday emotional well-being may rely on messages from the brain below to the brain above. For example, electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve—a useful treatment for depression—may mimic these signals, Gershon says.
Serotonin seeping from the second brain might even play some part in autism, the developmental disorder often first noticed in early childhood. Gershon has discovered that the same genes involved in synapse formation between neurons in the brain are involved in the alimentary synapse formation. “If these genes are affected in autism,” he says, “it could explain why so many kids with autism have GI motor abnormalities” in addition to elevated levels of gut-produced serotonin in their blood.”
While good bacteria died, highly pathogenic bacteria were unaffected by glyphosate.

 

President Obama knowingly signed the Monsanto Protection Act over the insistence of more than 250,000 Americans who signed an urgent letter asking that he use his executive authority to veto H.R. 933 and send it back to Congress to remove the Act from the bill. Regretfully, President Obama failed to live up to his oath to protect the American people and our constitution. The passage of the Monsanto Protection Act is another sign of how out of touch Congress and the White House are with the sentiment of the American public. Since losing a court case in 2010 to Center for Food Safety for the unlawful planting of GMO sugar beets, Monsanto and other biotech companies have been desperate to find a way around court mandated environmental impact statements required as a result of a U.S. district court’s ruling.” From Food Democracy Now

“In this hidden backroom deal, Senator Mikulski turned her back on consumer, environmental, and farmer protection in favor of corporate welfare for biotech companies such as Monsanto,” Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety, said in a statement. “This abuse of power is not the kind of leadership the public has come to expect from Senator Mikulski or the Democrat Majority in the Senate.”

Senator Mikulski Apologizes for Monsanto Rider Mistake

There is a fierce urgency in the fight over the Monsanto Protection Act for family farmers and food activists across the country as 13 new genetically engineered crops await approval at the USDA and AquaBounty’s GMO salmon could be approved by the FDA next month. The passage of this rider in an unrelated budget spending bill could open the floodgates for these new approvals, even if the budget agreement only lasts for the next six months.  From Food Democracy Now

So the company that helped invent and supply Agent Orange for chemical warfare in Vietnam is the leading seed supplier (both GMO and non-GMO seeds) and makes GMO crops that are proven to disrupt ecosystems, cause terrible harm to animals and humans- are NOW protected from the constitution for at least 6 months thanks to our broken political system.  Many farmers want out of the GMO treadmill, but since Monsanto bought most of the seed companies, non-GMO seeds can be hard to find!
We were promised that genetically modified crops would increase yields and decrease pesticide use- instead yields are the same or less and pesticide use has risen dramatically- at the expense of our health, our children’s health and the health of the environment.  But since these crops can be patented- ENORMOUS, global profits are at stake.  Food is the biggest business of all, and the giant corporations want total control of it, and our government is helping them get it.  In essence, you are now licensing the right to eat your food- you do not own it- if you purchase GMO seed.  You are also risking your physical and emotional health, especially of your children.  These crops basic DNA has been tinkered with- and the  results are downright scary.  Watch this 15 minute Greenpeace video “Growing Doubt” or this video on how animals are changed when fed GMO feed.

Deadly Bacteria That Resist Strongest Drugs Are Spreading  NYTIMES

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the organisms “nightmare bacteria” during a telephone news conference, and noted that they could pass their trait for drug resistance — encoded in a scrap of genetic material called a plasmid — along to other bacteria.  The problem is most common in the Northeast, particularly in hospitals in New York City, officials said.
 Much of the public forgets the gut when it comes to warding off the flu and other more threatening diseases, but the gut—and its army of beneficial bacteria—are essential in protecting us from harm. That’s why eating genetically modified and/or conventionally farmed food could be a direct assault on your own health. Most recently, research has shown that Monsanto’s herbicide, known as Roundup, is destroying gut health, threatening overall health of animals, people, and the planet significantly.

The journal Current Microbiology recently published a study that caught Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide’s active ingredient, glyphosate, suppressing beneficial bacteria in poultry specimens. Given that gut health is directly linked to chronic illnesses and overall health, this isn’t exactly welcome news for people who can’t always afford or who lack access to organic, locally grown food.

But it gets worse. While good bacteria died, highly pathogenic bacteria were unaffected by glyphosate. These pathogens include several strains of Salmonella and the class Colstridia, anaerobic bacteria known to be some of the deadliest known to us, including C. tetani (tetanus) and C. botulinum (botulin). Although botulin is used to ease overactive muscles and in Botox, America’s most popular cosmetic procedure, it takes but 75 billionths of a gram to kill someone weighing 75 kg (165 lbs).

This is a documentary thriller about how Agro-Chemical multinational corporations victimize international scientists to prevent them from publishing their scary findings.
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Vandana Shiva has started a Seed Satyagraha – nonviolent non-cooperation around seed laws – has gotten millions of farmers to sign a pledge to break those laws.
http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Shiva

Fruit Flies Live Longer when Fed Organic Diet

 In Italian government-sponsored research, (v) mice that were fed Monsanto’s GM corn, showed a wide range of immune responses. The mice had an increase in cytokines (substances that are secreted by specific cells of the immune system which carry signals locally between cells, and thus have an effect on other cells). The specific cytokines (interleukins) that were elevated are also higher in humans who suffer from a wide range of disorders. See the table below:
Elevated interleukins Associations
IL-6 Rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, various types of cancer (multiple myeloma and prostate cancer)
IL-13 Allergy, allergic rhinitis, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
MIP-1b Autoimmune disease and colitis
IL-12p70 Inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis

As you can see, two of the elevated interleukins are associated with inflammatory bowel diseases and one is specifically associated with colitis.

How will I know if meat and poultry products are irradiated?
Consumers cannot recognize irradiated food by sight, smell, taste, or feel. Irradiated foods can be recognized by the presence of the international symbol for irradiation on the packaging along with the words “Treated with Radiation,” or “Treated by Irradiation.”
SYMBOL BELOW MEANS THIS FOOD HAS BEEN RADIATEDradura2
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“Our Children’s Bodies Have Become Garbage Cans”

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French scientist Giles Seralini has been viciously attacked since his study on Monsanto’s glyphosate was published in a prestigious scientific journal last year. It was the first long-term study ever accomplished on genetically modified soy and it’s attendant herbicide- glyphosate.  Studies done by Monsanto last only 90 days- Seralini’s lasted two years.  Almost all the poor lab rats suffered massive tumors.  And almost all other studies done on the pesticide glyphosate have been kept secret.

Seralini and his team exposed the deception and the danger.  As did Carrasco in Argentina last year. As Seralini states “What matters is that our children’s bodies have become garbage cans! Everyday, I cry because of those diseases simply caused by the environment. More people have died because of chemicals than during World War II. Those who don’t want to see any cause for concern in our studies will have to answer for their serious dishonesty.”

CHILDREN ARE ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO PESTICIDES AND HERBICIDES  -they are proven to increase the rate of Cancer, ADHD, Allergies, gastro-intestinal disorders, endocrine disorders.  Read more on the science of it all here- A Generation In Jeopardy.  Genetically modified food crops often have a pesticide engineered into every bite of food- every cell of the plant!  Genetically modified foods are designed to be sprayed with massive amounts of pesticides and herbicides.  Is that why the USA is last of all industrialized nations in terms of it’s health, despite spending twice the amount on healthcare as any other nation?

Both GE soy and its attendant herbicide glyphosate were implicated in the cancers found in Seralini’s peer-reviewed study.  Any honest scientist would react with the desire to do more studies.  But bio-tech industry funded scientists only attacked Seralini’s methods and the data. The integrity of science is at stake! Read the Paris Match article here.  The journal that published his study has refused to retract it, despite enormous pressure from the bio-tech industry to do so.

DOCTOR SPEAKS ON SERALINI, GM SAFETY, AND INDUSTRY “SCIENCE”

American public health physician John Day MD explains how industry designs its “safety” studies on GMOs and pesticides to avoid finding harm.

http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14468

 Agent Orange Corn Delayed By One Year.

Plans to include 2,4-D (half the formula for the notorious defoliant/war chemical used by the United States in Vietnam) as part of a new genetically modified corn have been put on hold.  DOW chemical will have to wait one more year for approval.  Over 450,000 negative comments were received by the FDA. Add your name to the list.  A history of DOW chemical here

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A Salmon And An Eel Have A Baby

Genetically engineered Salmon is about to be approved for human consumption and it will not be labeled.  With all the scientific data saying that GE food is dangerous, will you want your family to eat salmon that had been engineered to grow twice as fast?

Sign the petition to try and stop it

 

Patented Chimpanzees 

A chimpanzee whose immune system was altered by genetic engineering has been patented.  Over 660 animals have been patented.  Should life forms be patented?  Shouldn’t society be debating this?  What are the implications?  Have you heard any debates on this issue?  Wh can GMO soy and corn be patented, yet remain unlabeled?

 

Supporters of genetically modified food often distort the debate by claiming that anyone that is opposed to GMO’s are “anti-science”.  But is that a scientific argument?

 

Many scientists, including many working in the biotech field, are opposed to GMO’s as food.  These scientists understand the many risks and valid criticisms of GMO’s.

 

This claim of “anti-science” is so completely wrong that it can only be understood as a deliberate falsehood meant to distract from discussing the truth: The truth is what the science says: GMO’s have not been proven to be safe.  Instead they have been proven to very dangerous and completely unnecessary.

 

Many of the scientists that support GMO crops are in fact employed by the companies that produce these crops. Not very scientific.

UK: ALTERING THE GENES WE PASS ON TO OUR CHILDREN. DO YOU WANT A SAY?
A small team of British scientists is calling for the legalisation of a technique for creating babies with altered genes, but there is no good medical argument for doing this, says Dr David King of Human Genetics Alert (HGA). The technique, mitochondrial replacement, would forever alter the genes we pass on to our children – in other words, the genetic changes will be passed on down the generations. Alteration of the human germline is rejected as unethical and risky by most governments and many scientists. But according to HGA, the UK is the weak link in the otherwise strong consensus against human germline genetic tinkering.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14494

WHO WANTS HUMAN GM?
In the UK there’s an entire lobby devoted to pushing human genetic engineering, spearheaded by the Science Media Centre, its corporate funder AstraZeneca, and groups and individuals with links to the pro-corporate technophile cult, Living Marxism. New material added to Powerbase:
http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Category:Human_Genetics

GMOs were presented by biotech firms to the public with the promise that these new “scientific” crops would reduce pesticide use.

 

 

No one likes pesticides except chemical companies.  (Monsanto is and always has been a chemical company.  Only fairly recently did they “diversify” into agriculture- in order to sell more chemicals!)

 

GMO’s have been such a spectacular failure at pest control that pesticide use has actually risen since they were introduced in the 1990’s.

 

Boycott GMO’s and meat from livestock that was fed using GMOs.  Join Pesticide Action Network.  Download their new report on pesticides.  Join the Center For Food Safety.  Explore the website GMWatch.

 

GMOs are the single most important health issue, environmental issue, legal issue and social issue of our time.

 

Don’t let chemical companies like Monsanto and DOW and Bayer (formerly known as IG Farben) control the debate.  Get involved and educated.  Your health and your children’s health is at stake.

 

Here is some good news! 

Cotton growers in India are turning their backs on GM Bt cotton and returning to indigenous varieties.

http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14500

 

GMO labelling laws are up for consideration in 30 more states in the USA.

La Via Campsina says no to GMO’s
Hungary and Poland ban GMOs
Peru bans GMOs

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Best Videos on GMO’s and CAFO’s

Farmer feeds GMO corn to his pigs: they all become sterile.

What Monsanto Doesn’t Want You To Know

Genetic engineering: The world’s greatest scam?

 

Genetic Roulette Movie Trailer

The Health Dangers of Genetically Modified Foods

 

The World According To Monsanto

 

The video the meat industry doesn’t want you to see.

 

How GMO foods alter organ function and pose a very real health threat to humans

GMO Foods, Genetically Modified Organisms, Wake Up America

 

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GM Soy Linked to Illnesses in Farm Pigs

Danish Farmer Reverses Illnesses in pigs by switching to a GM-free diet for his animals, which is yet further evidence for the toxicity of glyphosate tolerant GM crops.  SOURCE : The Institute For Science In Society


A Danish farmer has gained huge public recognition for publishing his simple method for ridding his pigs of illness- removing genetically modified (GM) ingredients from their diet.

Published in the farming magazine Effektivt Landbrug on 13 April 2012 [1], the farmer Ib Borup Perderson describes how his pigs suffered from symptoms including chronic diarrhoea, birth defects, reproductive problems, reduced appetite, bloating, stomach ulcers, weaker and smaller piglets, and reduced litter sizes. This was not just a problem for the animals themselves but also the profitability of the farm, with fewer healthy animals, mounting costs of medicines and added labour costs.

After researching the health hazards of GM foods and associated herbicides, Pederson decided to stop feeding his 450 sows with GM soybean, replacing them with fishmeal and non-GM soybean instead. He began to notice health benefits after two days of a GM-free diet. The farmer’s account has since been published in an English dossier compiled by scientist Brian John of GM-free Cymru (Wales), with collaboration from Pederson, published online by GM Watch [2].

This finding adds to the continual flow of new evidence appearing in peer-reviewed scientific studies, farmers’ reports and witness accounts of the devastating health impacts of glyphosate-based herbicides and the associated GM crops modified to tolerate it. Birth defects from glyphosate exposure were detected in the 1980s in lab animals performed by Monsanto (see [3] EU Regulators and Monsanto Exposed for Hiding Glyphosate ToxicitySiS 51, [4] Lab Study Establishes Glyphosate Link to Birth DefectsSiS 48, 5Glyphosate Kills Rat Testes Cells, SiS 54).  Residents of heavy agrochemical-use zones in Argentina have seen startling increases in birth defects, adult and human cancer rates as well as other illnesses (see [6] Argentina’s Roundup Human TragedySiS 48, [7]Pesticide Illnesses and GM SoybeansSiS 53). Argentinian tobacco farmers have recently filed a lawsuit against Monsanto for birth defects suffered by their children following claims by the corporation that the chemical was safe to use [8]. Animal feeding studies have shown GM soya feed to cause sterility, stunting and death in rats (see [9] GM Soya Fed Rats: Stunted, Dead, or SterileSiS 33). This is also not the first time that livestock illness including reproductive problems has been linked to glyphosate-tolerant crop derived feed. Professor Emeritus Don Huber of Perdue University, a senior scientist of USDA (US Department of Agriculture) has been studying crop health for over 20 years, and warned how reduced mineral content of glyphosate-tolerant crops lead to nutritional deficiencies in livestock that in turn cause reproductive problems (see [10] USDA Scientist Reveals AllSiS 53). Reduced mineral content in crops results from glyphosate’s metal chelating properties, rendering essential minerals unavailable. Nutrient deficiency effects are independent of direct glyphosate toxicity that causes endocrine disruption, birth defects and cancers among other illnesses.  The identification of a novel pathogen in glyphosate-treated crops, reproductive organs of livestock as well as aborted foetal tissue may also be a contributing factor (see [11]Emergency! Pathogen New to Science Found in Roundup Ready GM Crops?,SiS50).

Improvements in health with GMO-free diet

The dossier [2] presents following effects since removing GM produce from the pigs’ diets, as described by Pederson:

1. Within 2 days, diarrhoea virtually disappeared in the farrowing house, whereas before, 50-100 ml Borgal / day [an antibacterial drug] had to be used.

2. Since switching, there had been no death from bloat in sows or death by ulcers, as opposed to minimum 1 per month previously (36 sows died due to stomach related sickness over the last two years before switching).

3. No sows have died through loss of appetite, whereas 2 sows died from this cause last year.

4. Even without washing between farrowings, diarrhoea does not reappear; previously failing to wash between sows would result in more diarrhoea.

5. Previously the farmer had struggled with diarrhoea in first layer sows, no more problems there.

6. Two years ago when the diarrhoea was as its worst, there were months with nearly 30% dead in the farrowing house. At that time it was impossible to find sows that could nurse piglets.

7. Before it was unusual to have a sow with 13 piglets weaned. The average was about 10.5 per sow plus spare mothers. Now the farmer is getting over 12 piglets on average weaned and 14 piglets weaned per sow is common. There are fewer nursing sows, simply because the sows are milking better and eating more.

8. Sows farrow better and there is 0.3 more live births per sow, of which 0.2 is gained from fewer stillborn. There have been 14.9 live born and 1.6 stillborn averaged over the past 7 months.

9. The piglets weaned are stronger and more evenly sized.

10. Man-hours are reduced by 20-30 hours per month, partly by washing less and because everything is easier.

Pedersen adds: “Independent researchers have shown Roundup to be both a powerful and non-selective biocide and an endocrine disruptor, leading to birth deformities, abortion, cancer and changes in microflora in the gut of mammals, so that clostridia becomes a problem. This, I think, is the direct reason for chronic Botulism in cattle. I know that the diarrhoea and bloated sow problems… which we had — and which disappeared with the changed diet — were due to clostridia bacteria”. Birth defects were a significant problem with “13 malformed piglets (about one in 700) [were] born over the last nine months on the GM diet, most of them live born”.

Economic Improvements with GMO-free diets

The widespread illnesses were burdening the farm with extra costs, including medical costs to deal with rampant stomach problems. Following 12 months of GM-free feed, Mr Pederson now uses half of the national average of antibiotics, compared to above average usage prior to the feed conversion. The savings made by reducing medicinal use by two-thirds was sufficient to cover the extra expense of GM-free feed which has totalled 28,500 DKr. Further, with an extra 1.8 piglet weaned per sow, and 12 less sows dying from stomach problems per year, the farm is making an extra profit of 250,000 DKr a year, translating to roughly an extra £55 per sow.

Danish Government will perform new safety tests

In response to the public interest generated by Mr Pederson’s story, the Danish National Pig Research Centre has decided to investigate effects of non-GM and GM Soya on pig health, stating that there has been no clear scientific study performed to date.   The research aims to map stomach changes in pigs fed GM soya-treated with glyphosate from 30 kg bodyweight to slaughter at 110 kg, compared to GM- and glyphosate-free soya.

Brian John, although welcoming the positive move to address the problem, has rightly questioned some of the study design. Feeding pigs from 30 kg instead of 7 kg onwards may miss an opportunity to observe effects that would take place at a younger age, and there is no information as to what they will be fed prior to the GM diet. Effects on reproduction will not be addressed by this study either, which appears to be one of the major concerns.

Scientific investigations have until now been stifled. Regional and national records in many EU countries and the US where GM feed is widely used are inadequate, as government regulators are abandoning their obligations to monitor harmful effects of livestock feed in order to protect food security and public health. Nonetheless, other farmers are sharing personal experiences; another farmer in Denmark, Mr Christensen, has similarly improved his pigs’ health through switching to GM-free feed last year.

To conclude

Farmer’s testimonies need to be taken seriously. They are witness statements from experts in field whose findings are corroborated by laboratory and clinical studies exposing the detrimental and even lethal effects of glyphosate-tolerant crop technologies.

References

1. “Svineproducent høster gevinst af gmo-fri soja”,  Effektivt Landbrug , April 13 2012 (in Danish).

2. “GM soy linked to health damage in pigs – a Danish Dossier”, http://gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/13882, GMWatch.com Dossier, 8th May 2012.

3. Sirinathsinghji E and Ho MW. EU Regulators and Monsanto Exposed for Hiding Glyphosate Toxicity.Science in Society 51, 46-48, 2011

4. Ho MW. Lab study establishes glyphosate link to birth defects. Science in Society 48, 32-33, 2010

5. Sirinathsinghji E. Glyphosate Kills Rat Testes Cells, Science in Societ4 54, to appear.

6. Robinson C. Argentina’s Roundup human tragedy. Science in Society 48, 30, 2010

7. Sirinathsinghji E. Pesticide Illnesses and GM Soybeans. Ban on Aerial Spraying Demanded in Argentina. Science in Society 53, 42-43, 2012

8. “Monsanto sued for poisoning farmers”. http://rt.com/usa/news/monsanto-farmers-tobacco-use-809/, RT.com, 8thMay 2012.

9. Ho MW. GM Soya Fed Rats: Stunted, Dead, or Sterile.Science in Society 33, 4-6, 2007

10. Sirinathsinghji E. USDA scientist reveals all – glyphosate hazards to crops, soils, animals and consumers. Science in Society 53, 36-39, 2012

11. Ho MW. Emergency! Pathogen new to science found in Roundup Ready GM crops?Science and Society 50, 10-11, 2011

 

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Pork Industry FIGHTS BACK! With Monty Python-style video!

 

photo source credit:Wikipedia

Meat sales are plummeting in the USA, as more and more of us become aware of the horrific conditions that livestock endure on factory farms.  These livestock feeding centers are called CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations).  Many of us- average, caring human beings are so repulsed by this treatment of our animal cousins that we are refusing to eat the factory-farmed meat, opting instead for grass-fed, humanely raised meat.  So many of us have discovered the terrible facts about CAFOs that it is becoming a crime in many states to photograph them.

How does the Pork Industry respond to the plummeting sales?  By allowing their pigs access to fresh air and sunlight and “normal behaviors” characteristic of the species?  By cleaning up the giant lagoons of pig excrement that cause asthma and respiratory ailments and also pollute streams and groundwater? By giving them non-GMO feed so they don’t get so sick?  But that would cost them money!  It wouldn’t be “efficient”.  Instead they produce propaganda videos like this one, trying to convince us that everything is just fine with the pigs.  Take a look and see.  At first I thought it was a joke.

By the way, the corn they feed these breeding sows is probably NOT GMO, as GMO feed makes animals sterile, (and probably humans as well) as can be seen in this mind-boggling report from livestock farmer Jerry Rosman.

Don’t eat factory meat.  When you or your children eat this kind of meat you are getting antibiotic-ridden, pesticide-laden, torture produced, GMO-fed pollution creating health disasters, that drive small, humane farmers out of business all around the world.  Choose to eat healthy meat.  CAFOs are the primary symbol and reality of all that is wrong with corporatism.  CAFOs are also the single largest user of poisonous, pesticide-laden GMOs. Food connects everything.  We must put pressure on the NYC Dept. Of Education to stop feeding CAFO meat to our kids.

These giant factory farms have driven millions of small farmers out of business.  Because of free-trade agreements, other countries have to accept this meat and this technology.  Now China is importing the technology and the pigs needed to make it work.  But you don’t have to eat it!

The pigs you will see in the video are breeding sows, from a type of pig developed by American agribusiness to be especially large.  They are not “normal” pigs.  The reason they do not leave their new and improved “sow-crates” (which have been banned in other countries, is because these pigs are so fat they can barely move. They are grotesque creations of the new corporate agribusiness model.  I’ve seen rescued ones at Farm Sanctuary. In the State of Michigan, is has recently become a crime to own other types of pig, which are now named feral pigs.

Mentioned in the video is that growth hormones are not used- this is true.  Growth hormones are used on cows to make more milk.  The pigs get antibiotics, which make them grow faster.

 

Watch “Pig Business” by the Center For Food Safety for more information!  And this NY Times article about “sow-crates”, also called gestation crates.

 

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Paying Them To Do it

Most GMOs are fed to slaughterhouse animals like cows, pigs and chickens.  These animals are raised in CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations).  These CAFOs are a relatively recent invention designed to produce meat as cheaply as possible.  What the designers of CAFOs invented was a torture chamber.  We are feeding our children (and ourselves!) meat that was raised under the most horrific conditions imaginable.

These CAFO’s not only torture their inhabitants, they also produce massive amounts of  fecal matter pollution.  CAFOs are also a business model that is being exported overseas via free-trade agreements.  And every time one of us eats CAFO meat, we are paying them to do it!

It’s the trifecta of poison: Poison the environment with GMO crops: Poison and torture CAFO animals by feeding them pesticide laden GMO crops, adding growth hormones and antibiotics, no sun or fresh air: Poison our children by feeding them the cheap meat.  Let’s cut down the rainforest while we are at it to grow the GMO soy (as is being done in Brazil).  And let’s pay these large corporations to do it every time we eat factory farmed meat.

Make the choice that makes a difference:  Eat only humanely raised chicken, beef and pork, and free-range eggs; and cheese made from grass fed cows.  We must also demand that the New York City Department of Education (the worlds largest food purchaser after the Pentagon) stop serving poison meat to our children!!

CAFO the book  (great site!)

GMO pesticides killing bees

1500 beekeepers protest GM crops in Warsaw

Bill Gates and GMO crops

New survey shows 91% of US consumers support labeling of GM foods – only 5% oppose.

Glyphosate (Monsanto’s GMO herbicide) linked to numerous abnormalities

Monsanto and friends target schoolchildren

How NPR Got It Wrong on Monsanto’s Superweeds

Boycott bad meat!

“The present system of producing food
animals in the United States is not sustainable
and presents an unprecedented level of risk to public health and damage to the environment,
as well as unnecessary harm to the animals
we raise as food.”

—Robert Martin, Director of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production

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The Bitter Secret about GMOs

Food connects everything.  It connects us to the earth.  It connects the sun the plants the animals to humans to the air and water and soil. It connects the countryside to the city.  It connects and bonds a culture.  To really connect with someone you share a meal.  Almost all holidays and ceremonies involve food.  We worship our lives with food.  Feelings of gratitude emerge along with customs of prayer when a meal is set before us.  Offerings to the gods are made with food.  Gods themselves become food.  Food is healing and comforting or conversely, food can make you sick.  You are what you eat is a literal truth.

image: butter sculpture

Food is the biggest business of all, dwarfing oil, pharmaceutical and transportation.  Food means big money, and as you follow the money and the control of agriculture, you discover the bitter secret behind GMO’s and what that secret means for our food and our health.  (GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism)

The Way To A Man’s Heart Is Through His Stomach

I’ve been actively involved in trying to get GMO’s out of the American food supply for many years.  GMO’s are defined by the World Health Organization as “foods derived from organisms whose genetic material has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally”.  To accomplish this modification requires cutting-edge modern science, using a process that involves altering DNA.  As we learned in high school or college or on our own, DNA is the blueprint, the software, the building block of our physical self.  DNA was only discovered in 1953, yet science is now so powerful that it can purposefully alter these building blocks to great effect.  To some scientists this purposeful alteration represents a powerful and exciting development, while to others, GMOs are “Frankenstein” foods- dangerous and potentially tragic.  The vast majority of scientists and consumers feel is still too early to risk exposing ourselves and the environment to such untested and unpredictable tinkering.  Most of us do not even know we are eating GMOs, because if we did know, polls say, we would not purchase them or eat them.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) first came to my attention after my daughter developed serious asthma fourteen years ago.  Asthma is an auto-immune disorder which is very often triggered by environmental toxins.  So I became a toxin hunter.  As often happens while exploring, a vast new world was discovered.  As one man’s toxin is another man’s happy hour, defining exactly what a toxin is can be difficult.  In determining what is healthy and what isn’t, I encountered scientific deceit bolstered by public-relations spin, behind which stood huge corporate profits and the centralization and control of our food supply, with the entire process subsidized with taxpayer money!  A cover-up of all the toxic consequences of eating and growing genetically engineered food was in full swing.  And that made me mad.

To alter a plant’s DNA, genes are taken from completely different species, or even different kingdoms, and randomly inserted into another living plant’s (or animal’s) DNA: This new living thing takes on new characteristics.   An early genetic experiment involved taking genes from a cold-water fish (Winter Flounder) and inserting them into a tomato!  It was thought that this new tomato would be frost-resistant, and that we could then forever after enjoy fresh tomatoes throughout the winter!  Are you seeing the dollar signs yet?  This tomato never reached our dinner plates.  It was truly a monster, a Frankenstein, a mess.   Despite billions and billions of dollars in research and development, very few advantageous new traits have been created in plants by tinkering with their DNA in laboratories.  Despite what you may have heard, GMO plants do not produce higher yields, they are not more nutritious, and pesticide use has gone way up since they were introduced, which is the exact opposite of everything we were told.  The one advantage they really have are government price supports:  Uncle Sam will purchase your GMO soy or corn crop for a set price, guaranteed.  If you plant GMOs you are guaranteed a profit due to price supports on corn and soybeans!  Now that’s an advantage that has nothing to do with the laboratory.

Toxic Overload

In just fifteen years since their arrival in our supermarkets, GMO’s have reached a saturation point in the American diet, and the health of the average American is in steep decline.  Since that time we have seen skyrocketing numbers of severe food allergies and auto-immune disorders like asthma.  ADHD and mood disorder rates, which many nutritionists link to digestion and gut flora, are increasing.  The cancer rate is still climbing and so are nervous disorders like Alzheimer’s.  Huge increases in obesity and diabetes can be linked to the ultra-cheap corn and corn syrup supplied by GMO corn.  Many, many studies have consistently shown genetically modified food to be dangerous and unhealthy, and it’s showing up in our health, especially in the health of our children, who are much more vulnerable to the effects of toxic food.

Whether GMOs actually affected my daughter’s asthma is not provable, since no human testing has been done on GMOs.  To understand why GMOs have never been tested on humans brings us to the sensitive issue of political corruption.   The Food And Drug Administration is the federal agency tasked with protecting us from dangerous substances.  They can and do use SWAT team raids to shut down raw milk operations or organic cheese producers.  They also put the warning labels on cigarettes and made the law that keeps them out of reach of children.  Yet they have refused to mandate labels on GMOs.  Internal memos of FDA scientists prior to the approval of GMOs have revealed that many, many red flags were flying and warning signals were sounding from the FDA’s own tests.  Yet when a major bio-tech corporation (Monsanto) had their own lawyer installed in high places at the FDA, (Michael Taylor) the approval for GMOs was fast-tracked.  George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama are all complicit in this, as they all were responsible for the FDA appointees.  Al Gore, Mr. Green, is a huge supporter of GM foods.  Monsanto, which has a terrible history of corporate criminality, and is primarily a chemical company, was effectively allowed to run the safety and approval division of the Food And Drug Administration!  Which means that we are not being protected from monsters.   GMOs are now in 75% of all packaged and processed food in America, while the ingredient label is silent.

GMO’s have been proven to heighten and cause allergic responses, and a body already fighting one allergy can become susceptible to other allergies- in effect creating an overactive immune system.  This is called toxic overload, which can lead to numerous immune disorders like lupus, or chronic fatigue syndrome.  Also provable is that the American public has been sold a bill of goods that is absolutely not in their best interest, and especially their children’s best interest.  And that makes me mad.

Terrible allergies are only one concern about GMOs.  Farmer Jerry Rosman describes the infertility he and twenty-five farmers in his area experienced in their breeding sows that were fed GMO corn. Other serious concerns relate to the pesticides that are used in conjunction with GMOs.  The single advantage resulting from cross-species genetic manipulation has been in making certain plants like soy and canola able to withstand huge dosing of chemical herbicides.  These are broad-spectrum herbicides, like Agent Orange-a Monsanto product- that kill everything, every plant, except the modified plant.  As a result herbicide use has greatly increased, even though we were told it would decrease.  And the main GMO herbicide, glyphosate, is now implicated in numerous human and animal illnesses, diseases and death.  Purdue University Professor Emeritus Don Huber explains his concerns about new pathogenic soil organisms that he believes are generated by GMOs.  He also addresses the infertility issue.  A recent study even showed that everyone now has glyphosate in their urine! Even the pollen from GMO plants can cross breed with pollen from natural plants and contaminate them.

Believe it or not there are still more serious concerns with GMO plants and animals.  A different “advantage” conferred on GMO crops is the insertion of a pesticide toxin, called Bt, into every cell of the plant- the idea being that when a pest eats the plant it will die.  The idea worked, except will also eat that toxin in their food.  The bacteria in our gut can even incorporate that toxin-making DNA into their own DNA, making our stomachs pesticide factories.  This approach has backfired, as predicted by many scientists.  Because of overplanting, some pests are no longer affected by the toxin- they are now officially classified as super-bugs.  Super weeds have been reported as well.  All the while, gastroenterological disorders are on the rise. Unhealthy intestinal bacteria are linked to numerous disorders. This Bt GMO toxin is now found in the breast milk of almost every nursing woman in the USA!  It is in almost all of us.  It has been found in fetuses. The FDA does not have your best interest in mind when they approved these completely unnecessary crops.

Darker Still

One of the reasons GMOs have been forced on us by successive administrations has nothing to do with us at all.  It is for geo-political reasons, whose goal is to control the world’s food supply.  It appears that our food policy is being dictated by the same people that make our nuclear weapons and drone bombers!

Henry Kissinger sponsored a study in 1974 “entitled National Security Study Memorandum 200. This report stressed that only 13 countries are projected to account for 47 percent of the world population increase by the year 2050. It further argued that this would undermine the stability of countries friendly to the US and therefore harm the “national security” of the US as well “.  .   It was recently shown that the US State department has instructed its diplomats to push “GM crops as a strategic government and commercial imperative”.

Monsanto’s stated goal to The Anderson Consulting Group was “that 100% of all seeds in the world to be modified and patented”!  Since all GMO products are patented, this is an achievable goal, however unrealistic it sounds.  Monsanto has long ties to the Pentagon, most famously as the makers of Agent Orange, used to defoliate the jungles during the Vietnam war.  It is estimated that 500,000 children were born with birth defects in Vietnam as a result of massive chemical bombardment.

Monsanto has been aggressively buying smaller conventional see companies.  They also sue farmers when their GMO crops blow on to a conventional farmer’s fields from neighboring fields.  They expect these farmers to pay them for their products!  With a huge budget for litigation, these small farmers often just start growing GMOs to avoid the hassle.  Organic farming increases yields, but the plants cannot be patented, so there is no possibility for control.

The Rest Of The World Not So Gullible

Peru recently called for a 10 year moratorium on the planting of genetically modified food crops.  France just upheld a ban on the planting of genetically modified maize.  All GMOs are outlawed in Japan and Ireland.  One of the world’s leading bio-tech companies has completely abandoned the European market due to public and farmer opposition.  That company is Bayer, the same company that made cyanide gas for the concentration camps under Hitler.  Bayer’s GMO division has relocated to the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina, finding a more favorable business climate here. GMOs are viewed with extreme hostility in all of the European Union.  If a product contains even a trace amount of GMO material it must be labeled as such.  China and Russia have severely limited them, China having just announced that after a seven year long study they will not develop genetically engineered rice.  Not so in the United States, where the vast majority of GMO research, development and production occurs.   GMO alfalfa was just approved, a new strain of GMO sweet corn for human consumption was just approved, and many think that approval of GMO salmon will soon be announced.  GMO trees are being tested.  Cloned pigs have been approved.

Just Label It

California has a ballot initiative up for vote in November.  It requires that all genetically modified foods be labeled as such so that Californians know what they are eating. Trans-fats, salt and sugar are labeled- why not GMOs? Is it because according to polls, many Americans would choose not to eat them?

Let Food Be Your Medicine, Let Medicine Be Your Food

I could go on and on.  It is a complicated story with a lot of history and it is taking place all over the world.  The good news is that we as consumers hold the winning cards in this battle. We must refuse to purchase and eat GMO food.  If we don’t buy, they can’t sell it.  This isn’t easy right now because GMOs aren’t labeled.  If the California ballot initiative can pass, it will be a huge victory for health, truth and justice.  Stop by their website today and give them a donation.  If you live in California, give them a hand.  Boycott GMOs, especially for your children.  The simplest way is to cook as much of your own food as possible.  75% of all packaged food contains GMOs. Most of the GMOs are used for animal feed, so try to eat only organically raised meat.  GMO crops are also used for making cooking oil.  So avoid cottonseed oil, canola oil, corn oil and soy oil, as these are the four main GMO crops.  Since corn and soy are in almost all processed foods, stay away from packaged foods that contain these ingredients.  GMO ingredients are not allowed in certified organic products either.  Good food makes you healthy and happy.  Go for it, and do the whole world a favor.  Oh and by the way- my daughter is 17 now, takes no medication, and she hasn’t had an asthma attack in many years.

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Criticism of Genetically Modified Food Finally Goes Mainstream

 

The bad news about the many horrible effects of laboratory-modified, GMO food is finally going mainstream in the United States, where the vast majority of their research, development and production occurs.

Genetically Modified foods (called GMOs, for genetically modified organisms) have been commercially farmed and consumed only since 1996.  Since that time we have seen skyrocketing numbers of severe food allergies and auto-immune disorders like asthma.  ADHD and mood disorder rates, which many nutritionists link to digestion and gut flora, are increasing.  The cancer rate is still climbing and so are nervous disorders like Alzheimer’s.  Huge increases in obesity and diabetes can be linked to the ultra-cheap corn and corn syrup supplied by GMO corn.  Many, many studies have consistently shown genetically modified food to be dangerous and unhealthy, and it’s showing up in our health, especially in the health of our children, who are much more vulnerable to the effects of tainted food.  Since no human testing has been done on GMOs(!), this correlation of ill health and GMO consumption has not been conclusively proven, but the sheer weight of all the evidence is now overwhelming.

The Atlantic Magazine recently ran an article entitled “The Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods”. Forbes Magazine recently ran an excellent story so well written and compelling that a Monsanto associate (Monsanto is the worlds leading creator and advocate of genetically modified seeds and the “crop-protection chemicals” they need to be effective) felt the need to attack and belittle it.  The writer had simply urged that foods containing GMOs be labeled! OK, so it wasn’t in their actual magazine, it was a blog post on the Forbes website.  But Still! Forbes! Amazing!  And over at The American Conservative Magazine, the cover story last month was called “Frankenstein’s Farm”, by superstar farmer Joel Salatin.  Huffington Post has raised the issue for years, and the “The World’s #1 Natural Health Website” has some of the best information on why we should avoid GMO’s.

Did you know that the United States ranks 50th in the world in terms of life expectancy, yet spends the most in the world on healthcare!  Think diet has something to do with it?  Of course it does. Think Monsanto and GMO’s have something to do with the American diet?  Believe it.  75% of all packaged, processed food contains GMOs.  Almost all our meat is fed GMOs.  See what it does to them, is an excellent interview with farmer Jerry Rosman.  Why aren’t they labeled?  Perhaps it’s because former Monsanto vice-president Michael Taylor is now running things over at the FDA, in the department of FOOD SAFETY!! After all, they were responsible for Agent Orange, Dioxin, PCB disasters, and have been fined many time for false advertising, all over the world!

“For nearly 40 years, corporate giant Monsanto routinely dumped toxic waste into West Anniston Creek while producing now-banned industrial coolants called PCBs. They also dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into open-pit landfills – and proceeded to spend decades covering it up even after confirming that fish submerged in the creek turned belly-up within seconds.

Monsanto knew exactly how dangerous PCBs were, but decided not to warn the community – instead, ordering the conclusion of a study done on rats to be changed from “slightly tumorigenic” to “does not appear to be carcinogenic.” The company had enjoyed a four-decade-long monopoly over the PCB market and, as an internal memo revealed, decided that “We can’t afford to lose one dollar of business”. In fact, to this day Monsanto hasn’t apologized or taken responsibility despite the fact that they were forced to pay $700 billion in fines in 2003.” Source: “America’s Top 10 Worst Environmental Disasters”

Monsanto dictating United States food policy is like having BP drill for oil in your kitchen.

Get educated about GMOs by following some of the links in this article.  The best way to avoid them, until the California initiative to have them labeled passes, (most of the rest of the world requires them to be labeled) is to eat organically grown food as much as possible.  USDA certified organic food does not allow GMOs.

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The Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods

FINALLY!!!  Some mainstream press from The Atlantic Magazine about science that really condemns GMOs as dangerously unsafe!  Some of this information  has been available to the press for years.  Why, with few exceptions, are they so silent?  Why is the New Yorker so silent?  New York Magazine. Why NPR?

Check it out-  it’s about new knowledge of how DNA and RNA really work.

New research shows that when we eat we’re consuming more than just vitamins and protein. Our bodies are absorbing information, or microRNA.

 

Chinese researchers have found small pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the blood and organs of humans who eat rice. The Nanjing University-based team showed that this genetic material will bind to proteins in human liver cells and influence the uptake of cholesterol from the blood.

 

read more

 

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Farming needs Adam Smith’s invisible hand, not finance capitalism

 

Dr Colin Tudge trained as a biologist and is a 3-time winner of the Science Writer of the Year Award. His career includes serving as Features Editor at New Scientist. He’s the author of numerous works on food, agriculture, genetics, and species diversity.

 

*Even the establishment faces at the Oxford Farming Conference recognise all’s not well – the theme this year is ‘power’

All we need to feed everyone well and to stop the Earth being wrecked is farming that’s based on well-directed science and good old-fashioned capitalism, all rooted in what might be called common morality – a true desire to take care of each other and of our fellow creatures.

The people in power – big governments, the corporations, the banks, and their attendant battalions of intellectuals and experts – will claim that this is what they have provided. Yet 1 billion out of 7 billion are undernourished; half our fellow creatures are in danger of extinction; the Earth as a whole is falling apart before our eyes – and it’s due not to the fecklessness of humanity or the shortcomings of the Earth but to truly destructive strategies imposed from above. For present policy and all the science that goes with it are not designed to provide good food but to make as much money as possible in the shortest time so as to “compete” in the global market. That may sounds too childishly crude to be true, but alas it is the case.

READ MORE  source The Guardian

Farming designed to maximise wealth is diametrically opposite in structure and technique to farming that is intended to feed people. Properly directed science tells us that we need farms that are as diverse as possible, meaning maximally mixed – for diversity is the key to resilience and long-term yield. Common sense tells us that in a finite world, farming must be low-input, which means as organic as possible. Mixed, low-input farming is complex and must be skills-intensive; there is little advantage in scale-up so the default farm size is small to medium. All this needs excellent science and technology – but small scale, and focused on biology rather than industrial chemistry.

If economists were concerned with on-the-ground reality they’d see that Britain now needs a million more farmers – at least 10 times the number at present; closer to 10% of the workforce than today’s 1%. For a country with 2.5 million unemployed, including a million young people, many of them graduates, skills-intensive farming should be a godsend – not just a short-term expedient but the permanent base of the economy. Good disciples of Adam Smith would welcome small farms and small shops, too, because Smith’s “invisible hand”, which ensures fair play, works best if there’s a host of providers, and doesn’t work at all if there aren’t.

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