Author Archives: Farmer John

Whole Foods Market Creates non-GMO product line

July 7, 2009 – 8:53 am

I just got this in an email from…

The GE News List is produced by Thomas Wittman and the Ecological Farming Association, and supported by a generous donation from the Newman’s Own Foundation.

Whole Foods Market® Partners With Non-GMO Project to Label Company’s
Private Label Food Products Using New Third-Party Standard

Whole Foods Market Encourages Other Retailers & Branded Product
Manufacturers to Make Similar Commitment to Non-GMO Food Supply Chain

Press Release
Source: Whole Foods Market
On Tuesday July 7, 2009, 9:16 am EDT
AUSTIN, Texas, July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Whole Foods Market
(Nasdaq: WFMI – News), the leading natural and organic grocer, today
announced a commitment to the Non-GMO Project – a non-profit
collaboration of manufacturers, retailers, processors, distributors,
farmers, seed breeders and consumers – to use the Non-GMO’s Product
Verification Program (PVP) in connection with Whole Foods Market’s
private label products.


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090707/DA42720)
The PVP is the nation’s first system designed to scientifically test
whether a product has met a set of defined standards for the presence
of genetically engineered organisms.

“From the moment GMOs were approved for use in the U.S., we
recognized the need for transparency, but there was no definitive
standard by which to evaluate or label products,” said Margaret
Wittenberg, Whole Foods Market global vice president of quality
standards. “We searched high and low for years for a way to do this
and now, thankfully, the Non-GMO Project has answered that challenge
by creating a standard and a practical system by which manufacturers
may measure their products. At last, shoppers concerned about foods
made with genetically modified ingredients will be able to make
informed choices.”

According to the FDA, as much as 75 percent of processed food in the
United States may contain components from genetically modified crops.
Despite the abundance of products with genetically modified
ingredients, a Pew Initiative study on Food and Biotechnology shows
that 59 percent of Americans are unfamiliar with the issue of
genetically modified ingredients in food.

“In 30 other countries around the world, including Australia, Japan
and all of the nations in the European Union, there are significant
restrictions or outright bans on the production of GMOs, due to
environmental impact and concerns about GMO safety,” said Megan
Thompson, executive director of the Non-GMO Project.

While Federal law requires organic producers to comply with certain
non-GMO requirements identified in the USDA organic standards, there
is no standard for labeling GMOs in non-organic products.

The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to
allowing consumers to make informed choices and to working toward the
sustained availability of non-GMO options. Whole Foods Market is a
member of the group, which is a collaboration of manufacturers,
retailers, processors, distributors, farmers, seed breeders and
consumers. Together these members have established a working standard
and have developed North America’s first independent third-party
Product Verification Program.

The PVP uses a process that combines on-site facility audits,
document-based review and DNA testing to measure compliance with the
standard. For a product to bear the seal it must undergo a process
through which any ingredient at high risk for genetic contamination -
soy or corn, for example – has been shown to meet the non-GMO
standard through avoidance practices and testing.

Once a product has been approved through the PVP it can be described
as being verified by the Non-GMO Project and/or be labeled with the
Non-GMO Project’s compliance seal. The first Whole Foods Market
private label products to bear this seal are expected to be in stores
before the end of the year.

“Since there is no U.S. regulation regarding disclosure on products
manufactured with GMO ingredients, we are committed to helping our
shoppers make confident choices by knowing that what they are buying
has been verified as meeting the standards of the non-GMO Project,”
said Michael Besancon, senior global vice president of purchasing at
Whole Foods Market. “We are excited to partner with the Non-GMO
Project, and we strongly encourage other manufacturers and retailers
to act now and submit their products to the PVP as well. Taking a
stand together will make a more significant impact on our overall
food supply, which will help the environment and consumer choice in
the marketplace.”

Whole Foods Market applauds The Natural Grocery Company, The Big
Carrot Natural Food Market and Good Earth Natural Foods, the early
partners of the Non-GMO Project, and the companies that have lent
major support to the project and participated in the initial piloting
of the PVP including Eden Foods, Organic Valley, Lundberg Family
Farms, Nature’s Path Organic and United Natural Foods, Inc. Together
with numerous other companies and organizations, they created an
authoritative non-GMO standard.

Whole Foods Market invites the industry to join an educational
webinar on Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 1 p.m. CDT, to learn more about the
Non-GMO Project and the PVP. Webinar details are available at
www.wholefoodsmarket.com/nongmoproject.

“As you can imagine, the level of diligence involved will require an
enormous amount of effort at every step in the manufacturing
process,” said Joe Dickson, Whole Foods Market quality standards
coordinator and Non-GMO Project board member. “The more participation
we have in the program, the more rapidly the industry will realize
efficiencies. Economies of scale will ultimately have a real and
lasting impact on the available supply of non-GMO ingredients.”

Since 2004 Whole Foods Market strives to offer private label products
made with ingredients that have not been genetically modified. By
using a system that includes the evaluation of products, ingredients
and manufacturing facilities through audits, on-site facility
inspections and testing, Whole Foods Market is furthering that
commitment.

About Whole Foods Market®

Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market
(www.wholefoodsmarket.com), a leader in the natural and organic foods
industry and America’s first national certified organic grocer, was
named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” in 2008 by Health
magazine. The Whole Foods Market motto, “Whole Foods, Whole People,
Whole Planet”(TM) captures the company’s mission to find success in
customer satisfaction and wellness, employee excellence and
happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and
environmental improvement. Thanks to its more than 50,000 Team
Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the “100 Best
Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 12
consecutive years. In fiscal year 2008, the company had sales of $8
billion and currently has more than 275 stores in the United States,
Canada, and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market, Fresh & Wild(TM),
and Harry’s Farmers Market® are trademarks owned by Whole Foods
Market IP, LP. Wild Oats® and Capers Community Market(TM) are
trademarks owned by Wild Marks, Inc.

Contacts:  kate.lowery@wholefoods.com – 512 542 0390

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Seeds, Bees and Rwanda

February 17, 2009 – 10:07 am

We received this email today and wanted to address Molly’s question for all of our readers.  First here is the email….

“Hello,
I came to your site via the beecharmers site which I loved!

Your seed project also sounds amazing. I am living in Rwanda and one of the
things I am talking about with some folks is starting a national seed saving
program. There are NO seed saving skills here among farmers and most of the
seeds that you can buy in town are single generation monsanto seeds. It is
such a shame, and the audacity of a company to sell single seeds to people
who cannot afford to buy them every year. Ugh.

Anyway, I am contacting you because I am working with some beekeeping
associations (who work with beautiful tree-trunk hives around one of the
national parks) to get some of their honey into a national market so they
can generate some income and keep their beekeeping tradition alive. Though I
am not sure we will ever pursue organic certification, we would like to have
our trainings include organic methods and record keeping.  Where can I find
organic standards for apiaries if there aren’t really any organic standards?
What standards do you use? And for record keeping, are there some good
samples of record keeping for organic hive management. Currently there are
no records being kept and so we are starting from scratch. I would really
appreciate anything you can pass along.  I hope when I come back to the
states I can visit  you. It sounds like you have some amazing and important
stuff going on!”
Many thanks,
Molly

First off, thanks so much for writing us Molly!!  It is good to hear the perspective from some who is in Africa.  I was reading a new book on seed last month written by woman in Africa who was championing Monsanto for bringing Genetically Modified seed to her country.  She thought their seed would be an answer to the starving she has seen throughout her life.  She went on to validate all of Monsanto’s rhetoric in her book.  I was beginning to wonder if Monsanto didn’t pay for this book to be published as it is a know fact that most GMO seed has in fact produced less yields instead of more.  This woman was extremely well educated holding multiple degrees and yet she saw Monsanto as some sort of knight in shining armor.  At first I found the book interesting from another person’s perspective, but then I just got so sick to my stomach that I was physically ill.   I literally through the book down in utter disgust.

I’m so sad to hear that people there are not saving seed.  Even when people do save seed it is threatened by contamination from GMO pollen.  I remember a teacher here in California growing corn for the Hopi Indians of the South West part of North America.  When we asked him why he said their homeland was being contaminated with GMO pollen.  The corn they had grown for thousands of lifetimes was no longer growing the way that it had in the past.  Strange mutations were occurring and crop losses were causing corn shortages.  The Hopi people had sent some of the last uncontaminated seed to our teacher who was growing it here in an isolated region and then sending it back to them yearly so that they could have clean seed stock from which to grow their food.

The sad truth is there is no where safe anymore we have learned.  A couple of months ago we had a picnic with a dear friend.  She had invited a friend of hers who used to be a climatologist in England to the gathering.  This lady laughed at our ideas of growing seed in isolated areas.  She said they had conducted extensive weather samples on the coast of North America looking for pollutants that travel across the ocean from China’s coal factories.  They found plenty of pollution, but the one thing that stunned them was the amount of GMO pollen that was in those samples.  China is one of the world’s largest growers of GMO plant material.  They even have entire genetically modified forest of trees for their lumber industry.  Now here was proof that Gentically Modified pollen was traveling the trade winds to be dumped on our “isolated” gardens here on the West Coast of North America!

If we can do anything to help the people of Rwanda let us know.  We can start a seed saving campaign on our seed company website.  We could send you seed from open pollinated heirloom seeds gathered by anyone who wants to participate.  We could form a network of seed savers in fact just for this purpose.  I feel an idea hatching!  Perhaps, each year we can send seed to a different group of people throughout the world.   Incredibly important would be teaching people how to save seed.  One of the best books I know of is Suzanne Ashworth’s Seed to Seed.  I’m having lunch with her on the 19th, perhaps we can talk about publishing her book in different languages.  Maybe she already has.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to send seeds and information on how to save them to people who’s only choice now is Monsanto?  What do you think?  Would you be willing to start this on your end?

As for the bees….

I would love to see pictures of the hives you describe there!  Can you send us photos to share?  Sadly, there is not a standard here for “organic” honey production.  However, there is a source called International Quality Assurance. If you click on that link it will give you some excellent guidelines to consider when trying to produce “organic” honey.  Also, I’m sure you have heard of Makana Meadery in South Africa, but in case you haven’t they have some excellent ideas we have used ourselves.  So many people here in North America rely on buying the bee keeping supplies they need never giving a thought of how to create the things they need themselves like our grandfathers did.  Makana gives excellent “how to” manuels of making your own foundations for exmaple.  I would get in touch with them if you already haven’t as they seem to be an excellent source of information.

Let us here from you please!  I would love to post your response here.  Lets get this program up and going.  I will put an announcement on our seed company website.  I will talk to Suzanne about her book.  Let’s see if we can change the world one seed at a time!  Farmer John

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The Creation of a Seed Company!

February 6, 2009 – 3:59 pm

Ok, so we have been quiet and nothing has been posted here in a while.  That normally means we are up to something!

In this case it is the creation of an heirloom open pollinated seed company….Sustainable Seed Company

The web is not totally finished as we have not got all the pictures, descriptions and seeds in yet.  AND we haven’t gotten all the bugs, spelling mistakes and grammar issues out!  But it is up for the the world to see because we didn’t want anyone ordering their spring seeds and not knowing we started a seed company!

You will have to read the web to find out the reason for all this….

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Your Future Well Being Depends on Your Actions Now

November 16, 2008 – 8:51 am

Table of contents for Act Now

  1. Your Future Well Being Depends on Your Actions Now

I get so frustrated with people I know and love who bury their heads in the sand of unconsciousness.  We all have our gifts, something we do better than others.  Mine has been feeling the pulse of humanity years before things would actually happen.  For years I’ve tried to find the courage to tell people what I felt was on the horizon for humanity and the United States in general.  Like others, I felt it was past time for a radical change in how we live our lives.  Most people listened politely, but thought I was nuts despite the fact I was not alone in my thoughts. Now as things come to pass (like our failing economy, global warming, etc…) those same people I wish I could say were realizing what is happening in the world and acting, but they are not.  They have simply taken a look outside their shells long enough to realize what they are “aware” of scares the hell out of them and they feel power less to do anything.  Most believe it is out of their hands anyway and the new president will fix everything.  The troubles our world faces is beyond the scope of one newly elected president no matter how well intentioned.

What should you do then? Disentangle yourself from non essential affairs that are not enhancing your chances of survival. Yes, I said survival!  This includes emotional, physical and financial attachments. Your new vehicle is not going to ’save’ you, it’s usefulness is limited and it’s future is already determined, it has a very short lifespan. That home you love is the same, if it’s not sustainable (for example: Do you control your water supply?  Where does your food come from…can you grow it?) and is located in an area that is not sustainable or saamerofe, then this emotional and financial attachment will wind up killing you. Sell it while you still can before the bank takes it from you or it becomes worthless and you can’t even give it away.

The global economic crash that is happening now will affect everyone.  Can you really afford to wait for housing prices to continue to fall before you make your relocation move? Use any monetary assets you have now to invest with others that have the same goals.  Find land or communities to buy into.  The “AMERO” (our new currency to be representing US, Canada and Mexico) will be hitting the market as soon as the U.S. cannot afford to pay the interest on it’s debt any longer.  Which is projected by some to happen as early as February 2009!  At that point your dollar will be worth whatever the government decides it will be.  Some say the buy back could be as low as two pennies on the “AMERO”.  I know, almost does not sound real, but google it and see for yourself.  Educate yourself!

crackedearth1Wake up to the present situation and circumstances. Stop kidding yourself. Assess your own dependency upon the entire system – it’s what’s keeping you alive right now. Without it, you would die. Learn to live without it’s support if you can. Disentangle yourself more and more, working on it constantly so that you become self-reliant and self-sufficient and capable of dealing with a world in chaos. Dependency is also a one way street and has created a world full of incapable humans who really cannot take care of themselves. They lack even the basic skills to survive. The future won’t permit that, so do something about it.

Get educated, get trained, put real skills into daily experience and learn how to take care of your own needs.  Learn practical skills in self-sufficiency, gardening, animal husbandry, mechanical repair, including bicycles,  seed saving and alternative construction. Raising food is going to be essential for localized citizens and how to do it. Food storage, preservation and preparation will be essential skills. Start learning how to do this now while mistakes are easy and survivable. Seasonal crops are an easy way to try out your green thumb. Learning to grow things isn’t hard, but it does take time to learn from your mistakes, so get started now.

This is what we have done and why we have joined FOSL.  We have liquidated everything of value and invested in supplies, heirloom seeds, farm animals, fruit trees, tools, sustainable technologies and information.  We have allied ourselves with people that have the necessary skills and know how for our continued existence.  We attend workshops with the folks to continue our knowledge and most importantly we are laying the foundation of community.  FOSL currently has one property that when finished may sustain 15 people.  This property has been slated for retirees desiring to be close to health care facilities.

However, there is a larger group of us who are searching for the right piece of land to build another community on.  One that would sustain many more people and would be much more rural in its location.  FOSL is a non-profit land trust.  FOSL needs land for communities. One of its many missions is to protect farmland and help create community based agriculture.  Community farms not only produce food, but involve as many people as possible in that production and distribution.  Since FOSL is a land trust, a not for profit organization, part of FOSL’s mission is to educate.  FOSL seeks to involve communities in social issues associated with agriculture and care of the land.

Our future survival and well being depends on agricultural land.  It depends on community.  Community is people coming together for a common good or cause.  Your future depends on your ability to act now.  Please, bring your knowledge, will to create a brighter future, physical resources, monetary resources, whatever you have and join us now.  Time is running out.  If you are reading this article you all ready know this on some level or you wouldn’t be here.  Trust your feelings.  This is not about fear, I see it as an opportunity to enrich our lives with community. A type of community that our grandparents knew, but with a new awareness.  It is a challenge and we will have to change the way we live on this earth if we are going to survive.  If our children are to survive and prosper.  I’m not asking you to change the world, but start with something you can change…yourself.  Open your mind and heart to an awareness of what is happening around you in the world.  Decide that you do want to change and join us in making that change.  We need you and we need your help.   Will you help us?  Will you help yourself?  The choice is ultimately yours…

If you have land you would like to discuss placing in a land trust please contact us.  If you are interested in joining FOSL or have questions contact us immediatly.

Posted in Community, Front Page, Land for Communities, Safety | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Are You Prepared? What You Need to Survive an Emergency or Depression.

October 22, 2008 – 7:35 am

DCrisis Preparedness Handbook: A Complete Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survivalo you have enough drinking water and food should you lose power for a few days?  How about something a little more longer like an earthquake or hurricane?  Still even more urgent, will you be able to feed yourself or your family in the trying times to come?

We maintain a pretty good list here on this web, but it is always growing.  The real purpose of today’s blog is to get people to participate in forming this list as well as their own. Most of us don’t have unlimited resources so we really need to think about what is important to stockpile in case of an emergency or long depression.  I’m inviting people from many different Yahoo groups today to participate in what they would consider is the top 20 things they would have on hand.

I would like you to think past the three day preparedness kit.  I think most of us know what we would need to survive for three days.  I want us to imagine having to be self-reliant for weeks or longer.  What would you want?  What would you need to live?

Please post your list under the comment section (below) for all to see or email me and I will post the result tomorrow.

Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Family Safe in a Crisis US Army Survival Manual: FM 21-76

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What flavor of poison would you like on your produce today sir?

October 18, 2008 – 7:32 am

So I’m reading an organic agriculture book last night and it was talking about how Methyl bromide was used in “conventional” agriculture. It is sprayed on the dirt (before they plant) to kill “bad bugs”, it is used to turn tomatoes red, it is on strawberries (you are nuts to eat a store bought strawberry if you had any clue what is on them anyway), broccoli, sweet potatoes and the list goes on.  So I do a little search on Methyl bromide…

topmbusers“Methyl bromide, a widely used fumigant in agriculture, is one of a number of chemicals—including refrigerants such as freon—being phased out of use worldwide under the Montreal Protocol signed by the U.S. and 182 other countries. The Protocol is an international treaty aimed at reducing or eliminating use of chemicals that contribute to the depletion of the atmosphere’s ozone layer.”

The EPA says “Methyl bromide is irritating to the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract.  Dermal exposure to methyl bromide can cause itching, redness, and blisters in humans. Neurological effects, including lethargy, forelimb twitching, tremors, and paralysis, have also been observed in animal studies.  In a human mortality study, a higher incidence of death from testicular cancer was identified in men occupationally exposed to methyl bromide.”

What idiots would put this on food or in the soil where food is grown?  WOW, not only are they spraying the sprayingmbstuff on our veggies, but it depletes the ozone? It gets deeper because it is now being phased out the agricultural industry is now using something even “BETTER”…chloropicrin!  What is chloropicrin you ask?

Lets go to Wikapedia… “Chloropicrin was used in World War I as a chemical weapon, called ‘PS’ by British, ‘Aquinite’ by French, and ‘Klop’ (green cross) by Germans. After WW II, however, the importance of chloropicrin for military use decreased and, today, has vanished. In the chemical industry, it is widely used for organic synthesis, in fumigants, in fungicides and insecticides, and for the extermination of rats.

Chloropicrin vapor is highly poisonous if inhaled. As a chemical warfare agent it is a powerful irritant from the group of pulmonary agents. It causes lachrymation, vomiting, bronchitis, and pulmonary edema; the lung injury can be fatal. Very low concentrations cause burning sensation of the eyes, which may serve as a warning.”

Don’t worry you are not inhaling it, you are just consuming it.  The label only says its toxic if inhaled. Ok, I don’t know about you, but has the world gone completely mad? Knowing things like this and the GMO factor why would you ever buy another piece of fruit or veggie that didn’t come from your own garden or trusted ORGANIC farmers market?

Chew on that for a while…

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We are ready to move…

October 17, 2008 – 10:23 am

farm2As wonderful as this small piece of land has been we are currently at, we have out grown it (picture is not our place, but places are what we are looking for).  We have learned a great deal about living near the coast and living on the north side of a mountain and are thankful for the experience.  BUT….

We are ready to move on and continue growing.  The community land seems to be trying to manifest in a few places with land owners, lawyers and community members doing their best.  However, there is not a place to call home yet and we need a place to live where we can be more self-sustaining…more sustainable!  We need to continue growing Open Pollinated vegetables and grafting heirloom fruit trees, but on a bit large scale than the 1/4 acre we currently have.  The need to continue breeding the perfect dual purpose chicken who lays well, but makes a tasty meal. More land so that we may grow our own chicken food and not have to buy GMO contaminated farm3feed from the feed store.

We need an old barn to hang seed to dry, corn for the winter and a place for the new dairy goat we having been dying to get.  We want to try our hands at goat cheese and share the bounty with our friends.  Our heritage turkeys need a place for new babies (sure to come next spring) to graze on green pastures.  Our honey bees need fields of wildflowers to gather nectar in for that liquid gold they make. Land is needed for us to raise enough fresh food for us and our neighbors in the challenging times ahead.

We are asking everyone we know!  Maybe you know of someone who has old farm land sitting fallow.  Some great sunny space populated with old barns that are crying out for new life.  A farmer ready to retire or someone who just inherited such a place and doesn’t know what to do with it, but knows we don’t need anymore track housing.   I just read a book of such a retiring organic grower in Maine.  He was complaining about no new blood to take over in his footsteps and what he wouldn’t give to see his life’s work not go fallow.  I would love to partner with someone like this, but I don’t want to move to Maine!  No, I would like to farmstay here in California if ya don’t mind!

So I’m putting it out here!  I learned long ago I can’t get what I want if I don’t ask for it.  So I’m asking.  If ya don’t mind the crow of a rooster waking you in the morning, the taste of fresh eggs for breakfast or the taste of homegrown honey on your bisquits let us know!  We don’t mind sharing in the hard work or the good times.  In fact some of the best times I remember were making sure my grandparents had enough wood to last them for the winter.  Yeah, it was hard work, but it was from my grandfather that I learned how to use an axe.  At a young age I was instilled with love, knowledge and the confidence that I could take care of not only myself, but others.  We have trying times ahead and during these times I know with a lot of hard work, love and paitients we will be just fine.  However, in order to take care of all the above mentioned we need land.  So, if ya know of a little old farmstead for lease let us know!  You’ll be glad ya did!

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Is the food you eat killing you? Can you trust Kellogs?

October 14, 2008 – 9:53 am

Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds

This new book by Claire Hope Cummings reads like a science fiction novel about some other planet.  It is hard to believe we have allowed big business and governments to do the things they have done to our food supply.  I’ve followed GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) for a while now, but have a hard time finding real facts on the web.  However Claire has done the research and better than that she has seen the industry first hand.  She was an environmental lawyer for twenty years, four of them with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.  She gives clear and shocking facts for all those that care about the future of monsantofood to see. (I’m assuming you already know a bit about GMOs and know they are already in your food supply.)

Here are some of the startling facts:

  • 97% of 75 vegetables whose seeds were once available from the USDA are now extinct.
  • Everything imaginable has been engineered into food.  There is corn that produces the hepatitis B virus, corn with a human contraceptive, corn with jellyfish genes that glow in the dark, and corn with chicken genes. There are human genes in tobacco, sugar cane, and rice!   (Remember despite company claims these engineered plants are know to be transgenic!  Meaning they cross these species barrier and don’t just stay in the one engineered plant!  BT (designed to kill bugs biting the plant) which was designed to stay in corn has now been found in the guts of honey bees where it destroys the “good bacteria” responsible for food digestion.  It is also found in humans or anything that eats this corn!!)
  • There are now many world wide studies confirming that GMOs are hazardous to human and environmental health.  One out of Ireland showed that food-related disease doubled during the same time that GMO food was introduced.
  • Rats fed GMO corn had blood cell formation problems, and those fed GMO soy had liver problems, which were even worse in rats red GMO canola.
  • These companies are not required to label food products is the US containing GMOs as they are in Asia and Europe.
  • Between 1999 and 2005, there were 115 documented case of GMO contamination, twice as many in the US as in any other country.
  • Monsanto, Syngenta, Pioneer/Dupont and Bayer now have a decade of experience with contamination.  They have been fined, chastised by consumers, and sued by farmers, but they have done nothing.
  • Over 80% of processed foods sitting on the grocers shelves contain GMOs.

Don’t think you have eaten GMO’s?  Think again, one study tried to find at least one small group of people without GMO contamination for a comparative study and could not find one person that wasn’t already contaminated!  You eat Nabisco or Kraft foods?  Then you eat GMOs. Kraft Foods spun off from Altria Group (formerly Phillip Morris) and became its own public company in 2007.  Phillip Morris…mmm…you remember the tobacco with human genes in it?  Mmmmm wonder what that is used for.  Hope you don’t smoke!

How about eating anything made by General Mills?  General Mills manufactures breakfast cereal, yogurts, baking mixes, dinner mixes, fruit snacks and grain snacks, among other products. In 2007, the Minneapolis-based company employed 28,100 people and reported sales of $12.4 billion.  General Mills has not provided transparent information about its use of genetically engineered products and has fought proposed regulations requiring the labeling of GMO foods.

How about Kellogs? Kellogg’s produces several lines of breakfast cereal and foods, such as frozen waffles and toaster pastries. The company, based in Battle Creek Michigan, employs over 26,000 people. In 2006, Kellogg’s reported sales of $10.9 billion. Kellogg’s has worked to block US legislation requiring producers to label items containing GMOs.

Are you starting to get the point?  You are being experimented on by big business.  You think the government protects you?  Think again, GMO slips through the cracks and is a self-regulated industry providing their own reports to the government on safety.  Hundreds of these companies executives now sit in key positions in our government.

monsanto1Your tax dollars even went into the development of the terminator gene! Complements of the USDA and your hard earned tax dollars!  Now Monsanto uses it in there seed so farmers must by seed from them every year instead of saving it from year to years as humans have done for millenia.  Now one large company controls the very food you put in your mouth.

Cargill, the second largest privately owned corporation in the US and one of the largest producers of GMO,s (read this link to understand the depth of which this company owns the food supply) owns the following companies or supplies them with GMO laden foods either directly or through animal feeds:

  • McDonalds
  • J.M. Smuckers
  • Coca Cola
  • ACCO Feeds
  • Nations second largest beef processor
  • You know I have to stop here, the list is exhaustive!!!  I could type for another hour and not get them all down here, but you get the point.  Research it for yourself.  Learn, educate yourself and start growing your own food.

How do you stop this from happening to your food?  With your $, stop buying contaminated food.  Next time before you shop go to this web who keeps an an on big business and find out what is in your food.  You vote with your $ when it comes to big business.

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Sustainable can Mean Recycling. Restoring an Old WoodStove.

October 13, 2008 – 9:34 am

sustainable_developmentIt seems to be a buzz word many more people are using…”sustainalbe”, but what does it really mean?  One dictionary says “Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment”. Wikipedia says it is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but in the indefinite future (see graphic).

One of the best ways I know how to remain sustainable is to reuse or retool what we already have.  Recyle if you will.  Our nation is a throw away society.  So when we need something here the first place we look is not at the store, but on Craigslist or stove1garage sales.  Not only is it cheaper than something new, but you are reusing an item that may have made its way to a land fill.  The planet as a whole saves the resources, pollution and carbon footprint that it would have taken to make, in this case another woodstove.  When we needed a woodstove we started looking in the above mentioned places.  Now it may take a bit longer to find the one you want, but there is something very satifying in the hunt.  Many county dumps are now setting aside things like this and building materials at there dump sites.  Some charge a small fee and others give it away.   I’ve heard of entire houses being built from these dumps!

stove2Once you get your “treasure” you now have to restore it to working order as in the case of our woodstove.  It was a bit rusty, the joints needed to be recaulked, sanded, and painted.  I can’t say I had ever done this before, but it was all pretty straight forward and simple.  First I needed to get the rust off the stove so I used a wire brush attachment on a drill.  Wear a mask of course to keep the dust out of your lungs and saftey goggles wouldn’t be a bad idea either.  Next you spend a few hours sanding the stove trying to get most of the rust off.  The process can take stove4a while, but this is actually the longest part of the restoration.  Once you have completed getting the rust off (pic to the right) you need to turn your attention to recaulking the joints in the wood stove.  You want the stove to be as airtight as possible so every little crack takes away from that. This is an easy process, but can be a bit messy.  First you will need furnace/fireplace caulk.  This caulk is black and can sustain heat up to 2000 degrees F.  I’ve found that using a putting knife is easy to get the first bit in, but your fingers are much better with the fine work.  Make sure to have a wet rag handy.  It helps to dampen the area first stove5then apply the caulk.  Once applied I wipe off the excess.  Here on the left you can see what it looks like before I wipe the excess off.  The stuff dries in a couple of hours, but you don’t want to wait too long in wiping the excess.  If you do you will have to sand it off later.

You must also pay attention to the door.  Many times the seal or gasket as it is called around the door will need to be replaced.  Take the old one out, sand down the channel it sits in, paint (coming up) and then replace it sealing the bottom part in stove6with a little of your furnace putty.  This is pretty easy the only advice I would give is to not use too much putty.  You want just enough at the bottom of the channel to hold the gasket in place.  Another thing to watch for is you want the gasket nice and fluffy, not squeezed into the channel.  It has to make contact with the stove body and keep air in.

Next you should wipe down the whole stove so that no dust or rust particles are left.  Let it dry in the sun and now you are ready to paint.  You must use a fireplace paint.  Normal paint will not withstand the heat from the stove and can out gas toxic fumes into your house.  Painting is pretty easy and stove7needs no explanation here other than to read your directions on the paint.  The one thing you will have to do is “cure” the paint job OUTSIDE at least three times.  This means putting a small fire (less than 240 deg.F) for the first few times to help the paint cure and finally a much hotter (over 500 deg. F) for the final cure.  Your paint can should tell you all the details.  However, be sure to do this outside as it will off gas toxic fumes as it cures!

All that is left now is to move that baby inside to enjoy the heat, the savings in $ and knowing you did your part to reuse instead of consuming more planetary resources.

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Sun Dried Tomatoes…tis the season!

October 6, 2008 – 4:30 pm

Principe Borghese One of our favorite tomatoes is the Principe Borghese and we have many starting to come in from the garden.  The Borghese is a favorite here in California for sun drying.  It is an old Italian heirloom tomato that becomes amazingly intense with a rich flavor as it dries.  We dry them and then store them in mason jars for later cooking.  A handful thrown into a salad or sauteed with fresh garlic, olive oil and pasta make a yummy meal.  I’ve had some stored now for over 3 years that still retain a rich deep flavor.

An easy tomato to grow and a prolific bearer you can’t go wrong with these tasty little tomatoes.   Sauce of course can be made from these tomatoes, but this year we are using are Roma tomatoes for that.  We also had a wonderful friend give us a box full of Brandywine tomatoes that are going into the sauce along with basil, garlic and rosemary straight from the garden.  Last year we put away 18 jars of sauce.  It was just enough, but we didn’t dry any of the Borghese.  So this year we should be prepared for the wonderful flavor of summer during those dark, dreary winter days.  Seeds can be obtained at one of our favorite heirloom nurserys.

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