"GLOBALISATION CHEAPENS EVERYTHING."-- The True Cost of Cheap Food.

[vfem]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/12/14-5

The latest business practices. If you snooze, you lose.

Geez... So what kind of effect are they having on heirloom and non-GMO seed sellers?!

And where is the info on the percent of control they have in other global countries?

 

[Ladyhawke1]

I think the best we can do is educate others. We also need to support those companies from whom we buy our seeds. I am willing to support any companies who promote "REAL" organic and the saving of seeds.

By supporting them and helping others like we do on forums like these, I believe our future, and the impending food security issues will have less of an adverse impact on our food sources. That is because, it will be control by us and not by some mega corporation just wanting to make a profit at the risk of all life on this planet.

That last statement I made is NOT hyperbole. The theory of terminator technology is that if the gene that turns off the life force in that seed gets into the environment, it could mutate into the environment and maybe turn off the reseeding ability of ALL plant life. That means NO seed would be able to reproduce, grow, germinate. How many ways can you say it? Now wouldnt that be a fine thing for this world.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

My friends,

I think this article also belongs on this thread, but tread gently......!!

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/11/business/la-fi-food-monopoly12-2010mar12


Hattie

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Some GOOD NEWS NOW....!! SMALL & QUALITY & COMPASSION are now fighting back........

I think many of you will be very interested in this article but I feel I must warn you that it is about SLAUGHTER HOUSES just in case you feel sensitive about that subject ( not a criticism; there are days I can't face certain subjects !).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/03/16/ST2010031603046.html

I got to hear about this through the authors own website which I subscribe to:

http://www.chewswise.com/chews/2010...ail&utm_campaign=Feed:+ChewsWise+(Chews+Wise)


Hattie

 

[Ridgerunner]

Again, a couple of good articles. I am not naive enough to believe that the cost of seeds does not enter into the equation, but I do believe it is only a part ,and possible a small part, of why the Indian producers are going bankrupt after a bad season. I suspect the answer is a little more complicated.

Like the Oklahoma lawsuit against the Arkansas chicken interests for possibly polluting the Illinois River by fertilizing fields with chicken manure, this one will be (I hope) decided on the legal issues. Although I know that political influence factors in these decisions, I'd like to think that our system is a system of laws, not a system of the whims of whoever happens to be in power at the time. I do favor competition, by the way. While some may find this to be proof of something, I notice that it is in process, not concluded. I'm kind of reminded of a recent thread over on the chicken forum. People were all up in arms over a law that had been passed. Turned out the law had not been passed, it was a proposed law. It had been proposed in the previous legislative session, not the current one. It had been soundly defeated. It was a non-issue but I agree I would have considered it a bad law, had it actually passed.

T&E, for example, sells conventional ground beef for $2.67 a pound. The local ground beef, from animals without antibiotics or hormones, goes for $3.50 a pound, and local grass-fed beef runs $3.99 a pound.

I wish the article had given the cost of comparable ground beef in the local supermarkets or health and natural food stores, wherever you could buy comparable products. Just quoting prices does little for me unless, at that snapshot in time, I have something to compare them to. Since being competitive to feed the masses worldwide instead of filling a niche market is (I think) a portion of this discussion, I think the article would have been a lot more informative with that information.

I'm trying, and failing, to rationalize why grass fed beef is more expensive than beef without hormones and antibiotics. The implication is that the hormone and antibiotic free beef is still feed lot finished, so they had to buy feed and provide the labor to feed and water. With grass fed beef, you have to maintain fences, fertilize and maybe lime the fields and wait until the cattle grow big enough to butcher. Should be less expensive, but maybe when you factor in the time value of money if you are operating on borrowed money (or looking at what your money invested could have been earning had it been invested elsewhere), factor in the cost of the extra land you need to grass feed, or maybe consider the smaller size of the grass fed animal at a comparable age due to slower growth on grass since it is a cost per pound basis?

I can only apply my knowledge and experiences to what I read. I am cynical enough to believe that some people, especially those with a passion for a cause, may be just a bit biased or simplistic in their writing or may be even a bit loose in their logic and reasoning. I have been involved in enough stories that made the media to know, since I had inside knowledge, that the reporter usually got some basic facts wrong. Not their fault. They are trained to report and usually don't have the detailed technical background to know when something is not quite right or maybe when some other piece of information would be pertinent to the story. I do try (and sometimes fail) to not fall in the trap of believing the conclusions I want to believe and ignoring things that don't jibe with my preconceived conclusions. I do occasionally change my conclusions.

Hattie, again thank you for pertinent and informative articles.

 

[digitS']

A little passion from farmers against Big Ag:

Busting Big Ag in Iowa

S'

 

[Hattie the Hen]

A little passion from farmers against Big Ag:

Busting Big Ag in Iowa

S'

Dear digitS' Thank you so much for posting this -- so heartbreaking to hear their stories but heart-warming to hear their intention to fight back. They need all the support we collectively can give them. I was particularly affected by the last man speaking who was pointing out that this was not just a US problem but a WORLD WIDE one. It is very important that we do not loose sight of this as it our & our children's future that is hanging in the balance RIGHT NOW.......!!

We have to try to get the news of what is happening to more people because that is where it will make the difference. If they won't buy the products the producers will be forced to change. Consumers apathy (often through lack of knowledge or economic poverty) is what they are banking on; we ALL can help with that by passing on our little bits of knowledge & our skills.

If you find any relevant information please take the time to post it on this thread so we can pass it on to others. Gosh!.... I hope Nifty & the Mods approve............. .....otherwise I'm in real trouble...!!

 

[digitS']

Well Hattie, I think that what "it" really requires is a willingness to prepare our own meals . . .

I don't want to over-simplify but as long as we eat so much processed food -- that require 47 million processing steps -- we will be dependent on the food industry.

Then there is the "eat local" side of things but if we are working with fresh produce, that just becomes a natural drift to our food purchasing.

Really, honestly, fresh just tastes better.

Steve

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Just a little more information on how we are being manipulated by large companies. This is happening all over the world & it is so difficult to unravel. I find I am spending so much time reading depressing stories of underhand dealings nowadays. I used to be such a trusting soul & now ............ ....... .............

So have a look at this, please:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/03/22-5
[careful , polite replies are greatly appreciated.............we are doing so well with keeping this thread open..........so far! ]


Springtime Greetings to everyone! So good to see the sun & feel the heat of it on your back & in the soil as you work outside.


:bee Hattie :bee

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Thank you Hattie for bring this to our attention. The most interesting thing are the replies below the article, there is a statement by a CEO, which is unusual. I guess someone hit a nerve, and he can see that people are paying attention.

Unfortunately, as one person put it, most of us do not have co-ops nearby. However, some people in the comments section are providing links for more information. Maybe if the American people get serious enough we can make safe food a priority and support more local options. There is a new term for local resources and I believe it is called Locavore.

From Wikiepedia:

A locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles (240 km). The locavore movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers markets or even to produce their own food, with some arguing that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better. Locally grown food is an environmentally friendly means of obtaining food, since supermarkets that import their food use more fossil fuels and non-renewable resources.

"Locavore" was coined by Jessica Prentice from the San Francisco Bay Area on the occasion of the 2005 World Environment Day to describe and promote the practice of eating a diet consisting of food harvested from within an area most commonly bound by a 100-mile (160 km) radius. "Localvore" is sometimes also used.

The New Oxford American Dictionary chose locavore, a person who seeks out locally produced food, as its word of the year in 2007.[6] The local foods movement is gaining momentum as many people prefer the taste and more environmentally sound effects of foods that are fresh, seasonal, and grown close to home. Some locavores draw inspiration from the The 100-Mile Diet or from advocates of local eating like Barbara Kingsolver whose book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle chronicles her family's attempts to eat locally. Others just follow their taste buds to farmers' markets, community supported agriculture programs, and community gardens.

A study in the 2007 Dewey Health Review revealed that a locavore diet (the study included 100 individuals ages 1855 eating local food grown within an 80-mile (130 km) radius) resulted in a 19% increase in sturdiness of bowel movement and an overall drop in sleep apnea and night terrors

From Locavore Central ...this is Ladyhawke1 signing off. :bee