Kevin Hayden – TruthisTreason.net

Source: Rodale Institute via Cryptogon

• Organic yields match conventional yields.
• Organic outperforms conventional in years of drought.
• Organic farming systems build rather than deplete soil organic matter, making it a more sustainable system.
• Organic farming uses 45% less energy and is more efficient.
• Conventional systems produce 40% more greenhouse gases.
• Organic farming systems are more profitable than conventional.

The hallmark of a truly sustainable system is its ability to regenerate itself. When it comes to farming, the key to sustainable agriculture is healthy soil, since this is the foundation for present and future growth.

Organic farming is far superior to conventional systems when it comes to building, maintaining, and replenishing the health of the soil. For soil health alone, organic agriculture is more sustainable than conventional. When one also considers yields, economic viability, energy usage, and human health, it’s clear that organic farming is sustainable, while current conventional practices are not.

As we face uncertain and extreme weather patterns, growing scarcity and expense of oil, lack of water, and a growing population, we will require farming systems that can adapt, withstand or even mitigate these problems while producing healthy, nourishing food....

Kevin Hayden – TruthisTreason.net

Source: Natural News

TruthisTreason.net – Kevin Hayden

Source: Natural News

This short animation depicts an armed FDA raid on a raw milk farmer who sells raw milk at the local farmer’s market. Today, the FDA and state agriculture officials are staging armed SWAT-style raids against farmers across the country, arresting innocent people, destroying their milk, stealing their cash and charging them with felony crimes.

See also:

Rawesome Foods and the Exceptional Lemmings, an Editorial About the Raw Food Police State

Animation scripted, produced and voiced by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger.
Courtesy of www.NaturalNews.com...

TruthisTreason.net – Kevin Hayden

Source: Intel Hub

The U.S. Department of Transportation, in an Agenda 21 style order, has moved to essentially ban a large part of family farms.

For hundreds of years family farms have been passed from generation to generation and it has been a way of life for younger family members to learn and work on their farms.

New rules being prepared in Washington could change that forever.

Apparently discussions are now under way to require farmers to have a commercial drivers license to operate farming equipment. This would require farm owners to hire expensive commercial drivers instead of using members of their family.

ABC 25 Waco

The time-honored initiation into working the family farm could one day be a thing of the past, with discussions underway in Washington to require operators of farm equipment to have a commercial driver’s license, or CDL.

Ned Meister’s work in agriculture began similarly at the age of ten.  Meeting with News Channel 25 Wednesday at the Texas Farm Bureau, Meister explained the critical role of family on the farm.

“The vast majority of our farms are family farms, operators of equipment are usually family members, and if [those changes] were to take place, that would eliminate some of the family participation in the farm operation.”

*******

Farmers also fear the prospect of replacing family help with expensive professional drivers, something that could end up costing everyone — if it doesn’t break the bank. 

“When you consider salaries and benefits and all the other things that go with hiring people that otherwise would have been doing by your family, well it’s just a more expensive proposal,” says Meister.

...

Kevin Hayden

TruthisTreason.net

What Exactly is a GMO?

Hayden’s Note: Most of the technology related information is outdated – from 2006-2007 – but still serves as a great foundation for understanding GMOs.  I published this over a year ago, but thought it was still prudent and informative.

A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process of taking genes from one species and inserting them into another in an attempt to obtain a desired trait or characteristic, hence they are also known as transgenic organisms. This process may be called either Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM); they are one and the same.

But haven’t growers been grafting trees, breeding animals, and hybridizing seeds for years?

Genetic engineering is completely different from traditional breeding and carries unique risks.

In traditional breeding it is possible to mate a pig with another pig to get a new variety, but is not possible to mate a pig with a potato or a mouse. Even when species that may seem to be closely related do succeed in breeding, the offspring are usually infertile—a horse, for example, can mate with a donkey, but the offspring (a mule) is sterile....

Kevin Hayden

TruthisTreason.net

What more can I say about gold and food inflation that every other finance, economic or statistical website hasn’t already? 

I know it’s exciting that gold is skyrocketing, but let’s keep in mind that the Euro is trading higher, as well.  By all means, acquire some precious metals for either bartering, investment or a simple store of wealth, but don’t get too caught up in the gold bugging that’s occuring everywhere.  Make long-term, sensible investments and diversify into tangibles, such as land, quality firearms, ammunition and even food.  I’m not promoting an “end of the world” scenario, but let’s look at food as an investment…

Wheat futures (for December delivery) have jumped well over 55% since July, along with just about every other commodity.

That WILL translate into higher food prices eventually (and very soon!).  Let’s say you spend, on average, $250/month at the grocery store.  Would a prudent investment not be to buy low?  Your $250 grocery bill will be $290 by the end of the year and will blow past $300-$325 by early next year if not more.  And that’s the “Positive, glass half full” outlook....

Source: Food Freedom

Senate Bill 510, the Most Dangerous Bill in the History of the US

Dec. 20th Update: The modified version of SB 510 passed the Senate late Monday night in a sneaky voice vote.  All Senators voted for it, Republicans and Democrats alike.  Not a single U.S. Senator - not even Oklahoma’s Tom Coburn – objected to its passage.  The bill now returns to the House of Representatives for a final vote as HR 2751.  This is absolute betrayal by our representatives and public officials.

Dec. 1st Update: The House of Representatives have challenged the passage of SB 510, stating that it includes tax provisions – violating a Constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions originate in the House.  It returns to the Senate for correction and drags out the lame-duck session.  It should be noted, for what it’s worth, a hot mic left on during the Senate vote Tuesday morning caught a senator complaining that the process of setting the agenda (what will be heard and debated, namely the Food Safety Act) during the lame-duck session is “rigged.”

Nov. 30th Update: The Food Tyranny Act has been passed by the Senate today.  The bill passed 73 to 25, with Sen....

Source: Associated Press

Wholesale prices rose more than expected last month as food prices surged by the most in 26 years.

The Labor Department said the Producer Price Index rose by 0.7 percent in March, compared to analysts’ forecasts of a 0.4 percent rise. A rise in gas prices also helped push up the index.

Still, there was little sign of budding inflation in the report, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, wholesale prices rose by 0.1 percent, matching analysts’ expectations.

Food prices jumped by 2.4 percent in March, the most since January 1984. Vegetable prices soared by more than 49 percent, the most in 15 years. A cold snap wiped out much of Florida’s tomato and other vegetable crops at the beginning of this year.

Gasoline prices rose 2.1 percent, the department said, the fifth rise in six months.

In the past year, wholesale prices are up 6 percent, with much of that increase driven by higher oil prices. But excluding food and energy costs, they have risen only 0.9 percent....

Source: Walletpop

Monsanto: The Evil Corporation in Your Refrigerator

When we consider the rogue’s gallery of devilish, over-sized, greedy and disproportionately powerful corporations, we generally come up with outfits like Microsoft, Bechtel, AIG, Halliburton, Goldman-Sachs, Exxon-Mobil and the United States Senate. Yet somehow, Monsanto, arguably the most devilish, over-sized, greedy and disproportionately powerful corporation in the world has been able to more or less skulk between the raindrops — only a household name in households where documentaries like Food Inc. are regarded as light Friday evening entertainment. My house, for example. But for the most part, if you were to ask an average American for their list of sinister corporations, Monsanto probably wouldn’t make the cut.

It should.

Founded by Missouri pharmacist John Francis Queeny in 1901, Monsanto is literally everywhere. Just about every non-organic food product available to consumers has some sort of connection with Monsanto.

Anyone who can read a label knows that corn, soy and cotton can be found in just about every American food product. Upwards of 90% of all corn, soybeans and cotton are grown from genetically engineered seeds, also known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs)....

Source: USA Today

via Cryptogon

Beef containing harmful pesticides, veterinary antibiotics and heavy metals is being sold to the public because federal agencies have failed to set limits for the contaminants or adequately test for them, a federal audit finds.

A program set up to test beef for chemical residues “is not accomplishing its mission of monitoring the food supply for … dangerous substances, which has resulted in meat with these substances being distributed in commerce,” says the audit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General.

The health effects on people who eat such meat are a “growing concern,” the audit adds.

The testing program for cattle is run by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which also tests meat for such pathogens as salmonella and certain dangerous strains of E. coli. But the residue program relies on assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency, which sets tolerance levels for human exposure to pesticides and other pollutants, and the Food and Drug Administration, which does the same for antibiotics and other medicines.

Limits have not been set by the EPA and FDA “for many potentially harmful substances, which can impair FSIS’ enforcement activities,” the audit found....

Source: Common Dreams

via BlackListed News

Sidestepping a stalled Senate confirmation vote, yesterday President Obama recess-appointed Islam Siddiqui to be chief agricultural negotiator in the office of the U.S. trade representative. Dr. Siddiqui’s nomination was held up in the Senate and was opposed by the Center for Biological Diversity and more than 80 other environmental, small-farm, and consumer groups. More than 90,000 concerned citizens contacted the White House and Senate to oppose the nomination. Siddiqui is a former pesticide lobbyist and is currently vice president of science and regulatory affairs at CropLife America, a biotech and pesticide trade group that lobbies to weaken environmental laws.

“Dr. Siddiqui’s confirmation is a step backward,” said Tierra Curry, a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “His appointment ensures the perpetuation of pesticide- and fossil-fuel-intensive policies, which undermine global food security and imperil public health and wildlife.”

As undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Siddiqui oversaw the development of the first national organic labeling standards, which allowed sewage sludge-fertilized, genetically modified, and irradiated food to be labeled as organic before public outcry forced more stringent standards....

Source: Daily Futures U.S. Economy The U.S. Labor Department said that jobless claims were down 14,000 last week to 442,000, less than expected. The U.S. Treasury sold $32 billion of 7-year T-notes at a median yield of 3.29% with a disappointing bid-to-cover ratio of 2.61. The June U.S. T-bonds closed down 26/32nds at 115.01/32nd, the lowest close in four weeks. Pimco's Bill Gross told Bloomberg Radio today that "bonds have seen their best days" (see article). He expects higher inflation to result from excessive government borrowing. Grains and Cotton - New Low Wheat The USDA said that, as of last week, 2009-2010 exports of: Corn improved from up 6% to up 7% from a year ago. Soybeans remained up 34% from a year ago. Wheat remained down 21% from a year ago. Cott

Source: Permaculture.com

Busting the Ethanol Myths

Myth #1: It Takes More Energy to ­Produce Ethanol than You Get from It!

Most ethanol research over the past 25 years has been on the topic of energy returned on energy invested (EROEI). Public discussion has been dominated by the American Petroleum Institute’s aggressive distribution of the work of Cornell professor David Pimentel and his numerous, deeply flawed studies. Pimentel stands virtually alone in portraying alcohol as having a negative EROEI—producing less energy than is used in its production.

In fact, it’s oil that has a negative EROEI. Because oil is both the raw material and the energy source for production of gasoline, it comes out to about 20% negative. That’s just common sense; some of the oil is itself used up in the process of refining and delivering it (from the Persian Gulf, a distance of 11,000 miles in tanker travel).

The most exhaustive study on ethanol’s EROEI, by Isaias de Carvalho Macedo, shows an alcohol energy return of more than eight units of output for every unit of input—and this study accounts for everything right down to smelting the ore to make the steel for tractors....

Sorry about the lack of Commodity News lately!  I've been slacking off! Source: DailyFutures U.S. Economy The U.S. Commerce Department said that personal incomes were up .3% in December while consumer spending was up .2%. For all of 2009, personal incomes were down 1.4%, the biggest decline since 1938. The Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing index increased from 54.9 to 58.4, much stronger than expected. The March 2011 eurodollars were down .03 at 98.60. The U.S. Census Bureau said that construction spending was at an annual rate of $902.5 billion, down 1.2% from November's pace. For all of 2009, construction spending totaled $939.1 billion, down 12.4% on the year. Even so, March lumber closed up its $10 daily limit at $258.50, the highest in eight weeks. Grains and C

Source: DailyFutures U.S. Economy The U.S. Labor Department said that jobless claims were up 11,000 last week to 444,000, more than expected. The March 2001 eurodollars closed up .065 at 98.475. The U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales were down .3% in December, weaker than expected. They also said that inventories were up .4% in November, more than expected. The U.S. Treasury sold $13 billion of 30-year T-bonds at a median yield of 4.61% with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.68. The March U.S. T-bonds closed up 27/32nds at 116.25/32nds. Grains and Cotton The USDA said that, as of last week, 2009-2010 exports of: Corn remained up 5% from a year ago. Soybeans increased from up 38% to up 42% from a year ago. Wheat slipped from down 28% to down 29% from a year a