Monsanto: A Corporate Profile

"Monsanto is a global agricultural biotechnology company that specializes in genetically engineered (GE) seeds and herbicides, most notably Roundup herbicide and GE Roundup Ready seed.GE seeds have been altered with inserted genetic material to exhibit traits that repel pests or withstand the application of herbicides. In 2009, in the United States alone, nearly all (93 percent) of soybeans and four-fifths (80 percent) of corn were grown with seeds containing Monsanto-patented genetics.The company’s power and influence affects not only the U.S. agricultural industry, but also political campaigns, regulatory processes and the structure of agriculture systems all over the world."

This link contains a downloadable PDF file.

Where Do Seeds Come From?

Starting a home vegetable garden can be overwhelming at first.  High Mowing's article offers helpful information.

How to Choose? Open-Pollinated vs. Hybrid Varieties

 
Choose well now.  Our options are diminishing rapidly.

According to the report, Monsanto has alleged seed patent infringement in 144 lawsuits against 410 farmers and 56 small farm businesses in at least 27 U.S. states as of January of 2013. Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta together hold 53 percent of the global commercial seed market, which the report says has led to price increases for seeds -- between 1995 and 2011, the average cost of planting one acre of soybeans rose 325 percent and corn seed prices went up 259 percent. 

Buy organic seeds.  Grow of your own food.  Get together with neighbors and start a community garden.  Learn how to save your own seed.  NOW.

Hunger and Proverty Worldwide

Control, initiative, education.  What is the answer?  The G8 met this week at Camp David.  What is the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition?  See the following comments on this disturbing turn of events.  Exactly where are we headed with giant corporations taking control of our food choices?

Monsanto's Commitment

"Plans include improved access to financial services through a partnership with Opportunity International, continued work with Tanzanian scientists through the Water Efficient Maize for Africa project to introduce new maize hybrids suitable for Tanzania and available royalty free to seed companies, support of a new depot in the agricultural corridor and strengthening of agro-dealer networks to provide more choice to farmers, support of a new initiative led by the Earth Institute of Columbia University focused on soil health to encourage best management practices, and creation of opportunities that provide farmers with improved access to markets.

"Monsanto will also partner with additional organizations on the ground in Tanzania, including Farm Input Promotion Services on farmer education programs and Muunganisho Ujasiriamali Vijijini (MUVI) on the formation of farmer cooperatives that enable farmers to collectively negotiate and market their harvest."^[13]

Critique

Jill Richardson wrote that "The G8 scheme does nothing to address the problems that are at the core of hunger and malnutrition but will serve only to further poverty and inequality."^[14] She went on to tell stories of African peasant farmers who made more money by switching to organic farming than by using synthetic fertilizer.
Eric Holt Gimenez of Food First also criticized the New Alliance in an article titled "Nothing New About Ignoring Africa's Farmers."^[15] He wrote:

"There's a good reason why the 45 members of the New Alliance don't want to hear from the people actually growing the food in Africa... farmers would say that Africa is actually a rich continent and it is the continued extraction of wealth by foreign corporations that causes poverty and hunger -- that the first Green Revolution did not "bypass" Africa; it failed. A new one spearheaded by the same institutions presently spreading GMOs and land grabbing throughout the continent will do more harm than good."

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy was even more harsh, calling the New Alliance a "sad excuse of an aid program."^[16] They wrote:

"How bad is this idea? Money is money, right? Wrong! The private sector is not just like government, only a little different. It is ENTIRELY different. Corporations are accountable to their shareholders, obliged to make a profit. They are not charities. They are bound by law, but not by the public interest... Corporations are not parties to the human rights covenants that oblige most governments to realize the universal human right to food."

Oxfam International was also critical the new effort with a release titled "G8 Food Security Alliance Answers Question Hungry People Have Not Asked."^[17] They say that the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition "focuses too heavily on the role of the private sector to tackle the complex challenges of food insecurity in the developing world." Instead, they called on G8 leaders to "keep the promises they have already made to help developing countries invest in sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty." They add that "While there is a positive role for the private sector in the fight against global hunger, the plan's top down approach does not reflect what many people in poor countries say they want or need" and that this new effort is "passing the buck on global hunger."

Discovering Curry

Red Lentil Curry Some recipes to experiment with my new red lentils.  I love red lentils!!!  And miss the Indian cooking of my old friend Saroj Patel.  Now where to find Basmati Rice in Princeton, Maine...

The Future of Food

More on the Food Crisis....escalating prices...from Economist.com

"Influences outside agriculture make matters worse: a weaker dollar makes restocking cheaper in local currencies..."

The Great Food Crisis of 2011

"It is no longer conflict between heavily armed superpowers, but rather spreading food shortages and rising food prices -- and then political turmoil this would lead to -- that threatens our global future..." (Tunisia, Egypt, and others)

Read the whole article, The Great Food Crisis of 2011, by Lester R. Brown

Recovery, Inflation, Food Prices

The Automatic Earth sums up - Recovery, Inflation, and Food Prices in Zombie Money Kills Real People
..."There will be a Keynesian factor which clings to the theory that says it is indeed possible to borrow your way up, but that's a mere mirage, since it would require a surge in real productivity, i.e., outside of the service industry...manufacturing today counts for 10% of US jobs."

..."I'm all for a society, a government, that takes care of the weakest in its midst. I'm all against a government that props up the strongest in its midst, in this case the bankers with bonuses larger in one year than the weaker among us can make in a lifetime, the same bankers who lost more money in bad wagers than the entire country can cough up, and still be economically viable. We're fast becoming zombie societies."

..."What we know for sure is that the zombie money we elected to have flow through our financial systems is going to kill a lot of people this year. Want to plead innocence? How long do you think that excuse will be accepted?

Cue Tunisia.

Where our zombie money kills real people. Today."

Food Supplies Down, Prices Up

"Prices for grains and other farm products began rising last fall after poor harvests in Canada, Russia and Ukraine tightened global supplies. More recently, hot, dry weather in South America has cut production in Argentina, a major soybean exporter. This month's flooding in Australia wiped out much of that country's wheat crop."

World Moves Closer to Food Price Shock

More on the world Food Crisis...

And Its' Back...

taken from Science blogs by Sharon Astyk, January 12, 2011

"The Food Crisis, of course. In fact it never really left - since 2007 we've had more hungry people on the planet than ever before in human history, and while we've seen brief declines in the numbers of the hungry worldwide, those declines were of such short duration that they were essentially meaningless - earlier this year when the UN trumpeted that the number of the hungry had dropped back below 1 billion, it admitted that this excluded the Pakistan flood victims, the impacts of the crisis in the Russian wheat crop and a host of other late-year issues."

"Why is it back? Well a combination of factors..."

Tomatoes

YUM!!

Wisdom From Eating

"Either we restrict the foods we eat when we have a choice, or our diet will eventually be restricted by chronic diseases." (CHS, May 9, 2009)

When Should I Eat?

Biggest Loser Nutritionist Tip- Meal Skipping Promotes Weight GAIN not loss
by Cheryl Forberg, RD

Contestants arriving at the Biggest Loser Ranch for the first time are often surprised to learn that one of the reasons they’ve gained so much weight is because they've had a habit of skipping meals. It sounds counterintuitive, but skipping meals can actually contribute to weight gain, not loss.

Metabolism journal documented a meal-skipping study at the National Institute on Aging. They found that people who skipped meals during the day and had all of their calories at one nightly meal exhibited unhealthy changes in their metabolism, similar to unhealthy blood sugar levels observed in diabetics. The non-meal skippers on the other hand, consumed the same number of calories each day, but the calories were distributed throughout the day at 3 regular meal intervals. The non meal skippers maintained healthy blood sugar levels.

Another problem with skipping meals is that by the time meal time rolls around, you're so hungry, it’s easy to eat too much and very often choose the wrong things. Who wants to nibble on carrot sticks when you’re starving? Fat has more than twice as many calories as protein and carbohydrate. It satisfies hunger very quickly and often plays a big role in unhealthy meal choices made by meal skippers.

The other problem with skipping meals is that when you wait too long to eat, you lose sight of your body's natural hunger cues. You don’t really know when you’re hungry anymore (and when you’re too full). Here is a sample of a hunger scale from Lisa Sasson MS RD, a clinical professor of Nutrition at NYU.

Hunger Scale

1. Famished /starving (don’t allow yourself to be this hungry; this is what happens when you skip meals
2. Very hungry; can’t think of anything else but eating; maybe cranky; low energy
3. Hungry; stomach feels empty
4. Just starting to think about eating again; maybe a little bit hungry
5. Satisfied; not really thinking about eating; stomach feels fine; alert and good energy level
6. Fully satisfied
7. Had plenty to eat; may take a few more bites because it tastes so good even though you know you probably shouldn’t
8. Very full; probably ate a little too much but it tasted really good
9. Very uncomfortable; bloated; tired; don’t feel great
10. Stuffed (need to loosen your clothing) never allow yourself to be this uncomfortable

It is recommended that you start eating at #3 and stop around #5 or #6. Always stay between #3 and #8.
ASSIGNMENT: If you're not in the habit of eating regular meals throughout the day, try to set up a schedule that works for you.

How Much Do YOU Eat?

Found this blog entry when looking for a photo of measuring cups.
What an incredible amount of information all in one place.
Definitely check it out. Here's a short excerpt:


Cheryl Forberg, dietician for NBC's Biggest Loser program.
Weight Loss Secret -- It Pays to Measure

One of the first things The Biggest Loser contestants learn about is the importance of a food journal. Not only is it one of the key secrets to a successful weight loss plan, it's often a very loud wake-up call. Most of us eat (and drink) much more than we think....until we start recording it.
The more detailed your food journal entries are, the more accurate your calorie count for the day will be. The first thing you need to know is -- how big is a serving size? Weighing and measuring food is crucial in order to calculate an accurate number of your daily calories.
For this, you will need
a liquid measuring cup (2-cup capacity)
a set of dry measuring cups (1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup and 1/4 cup sizes)
a set of measuring spoons (1 tablespoon, 1 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, 1/4 teaspoon)
food scale
calculator
The food scale should measure pounds and ounces as well as grams. Most measurements will be in ounces but some foods are very concentrated sources of calories so the portion sizes will be smaller (nuts are a good example of this).

Clean up with WATER

A frequent reason for an elderly person to visit an emergency room is altered mental status. Often the cause of altered mental status is a urinary tract infection! What connection does the urinary tract have with the brain? Water. Keep yourself hydrated. Drink water first thing in the morning. Reach for a glass of water first before you choose to eat. Drink water instead of soft drinks, coffee, tea, commercial power drinks or vitamin drinks, and even fruit juice.

Water has ZERO calories and works to clean the body inside and out. Drinking plenty of water refreshes every cell in your body including the brain.

As you change your eating habits, your body will seem likes it’s rebelling. It is only beginning to function at a healthier level. Water will help in the transition by flushing out of your system any cell waste your body had stored up.

Get clean! Drink water!

Are You Insane?

FAMILY BIGGEST LOSER EVENT– 4

The definition of insanity is continuing to do what you have always done while expecting different results.

Practice saying out loud, “No, thank you. None for me right now.”
In order to give you added incentive to begin the change, here’s your next assignment.

ASSIGNMENT Think about the number of pounds that you would like to lose. Go to the supermarket. Take your cart to the aisle of baking ingredients and put into it enough 10 lb. bags of flour, 5 lb. bags of sugar, and 1 lb. packages of butter to equal your weight loss number. Study it. Try carrying it all. Think of how much more comfortable you would be if you lost that many pounds.

Food Pyramid

FAMILY BIGGEST LOSER EVENT – PYRAMID


For an explanation of this Healthy Eating Food Pyramid see:
www.foodpyramid.com/food-pyramids/healthy-eating-pyramid

If you haven’t really chosen a particular diet but prefer to create your own healthy eating program, this Healthy Eating Food Pyramid should be quite helpful.

Compare the healthy pyramid to the one you use to use:

Let's Get Started

FAMILY BIGGEST LOSER EVENT– 3

A favorite routine or habit of mine is stopping at Crown Bakery on my way home from a doctor’s appointment. I always buy a medium coffee with cream and sugar and a coffee ring (a rich, sweet, raised dough with raisins, almonds, and coarsely granulated sugar on top - yum). This is not a single roll but a whole ring. I can finish it off in two days all by myself.

Getting mentally ready to change a habit takes some serious thought. A year and a half ago I blogged the following:

"Hi, my name is Wildblues. I'm a foodaholic.

In the course of our spiritual journey we discovered the spirit-mind-body connection. When one of the links is weak, the whole chain is weak. The health of the body lends to the health of mind and spirit. With over 59 years of habitual do-what-you-want-to attitude as far as what and when to eat, making an improvement is not so easy.With the help of ChileChews Discretionary Eating Challenge we made a decision to change our eating behavior. Well... That's like sending a soldier into battle without boot camp. So we've put ourselves into Food Rehab. This boot camp for healthy living is a concentrated effort to weed out intemperate habits and learn to just say "no". "

2010 arrived with no significant change in my eating habits. No wait, I changed to coffee with milk and no sugar. Feeling pretty pathetic here.

OK, so yesterday I went to a doctor’s appointment…the question came up. Should I go into the bakery and find a healthy choice of comfort food or just skip the stop? I decided to stop, or rather I didn’t say “no” to a habit. Thankfully they were closed for vacation!

Today is a new day. A new beginning. A new decision to change a habit. Have you ever driven on a dirt road after the mud has dried? The road becomes two cemented tire ruts and it’s very difficult to not drive in the ruts. Time to create a new road! Time to get out of the rut!!

GOALS

1. Admit you need help controlling your eating habits
2. Admit that help is available
3. Seek out that help
4. Surrender your current eating habits
5. Follow a designated plan (use the buddy system if necessary)
6. Practice the plan until "no" is as loud as "yes"
7. Graduate to independent eating choices

ASSIGNMENT: OK, it’s time to put up that photo, write the date in your notebook, and weigh in. If you still don’t have a plan in mind, a list of possibilities is coming via email. A couple of you have chosen a pseudonym and are willing to share numbers. That’s fabulous and serious business. Others are still getting ready to begin. That’s fine. Keep at it.

What Motivates You?

FAMILY BIGGEST LOSER EVENT – 2

What motivates you? A healthier life style brings with it positive results – some more attractive to you than others – for instance…

Lower blood pressure
Lower cholesterol or triglyceride level
Lower fasting glucose
Less or no joint pain
Smaller clothing size
Smaller hip measurement
More natural energy
More restful sleep
Easier movement
More strength and coordination
Better circulation of oxygen to brain and muscles
A more attractive you

Besides weighing in once a week, choose other goals that will motivate you.
It’s about time for our first weigh in. Select a day, time of day and an outfit (or lack of outfit) so each week your weigh in will be consistent. Get yourself a little notebook to record your progress. Along with date and weight, I think change in hip measurement will also go in my notebook.
Remember this is a gradual process.

Slow and steady equals success.

ASSIGNMENT: Think about what most motivates you and set goals. Get a small notebook to record progress.

Study Yourself

FAMILY BIGGEST LOSER EVENT - 1
There will be announcements, updates, informational material, just general encouragement and presents!

Welcome.
The group consists of thick and thin, older and younger, active and sedentary, alone or with family, female and male, single and married, with medical issues and without, vegetarian and not, with religious affiliation or not, Republican, Democrat and Undeclared.
No matter where you fit in, we all have one thing in common –
We each desire to make a change to a healthier life style.

Some of you checked out this height/weight chart with photos.
www.cockeyed.com/photos/bodies/heightweight.shtml .
It’s kind of fun.

Let’s take a good close look at ourselves:
Get dressed in clothes that make you look your best. Dress for a photo.
Yup. The “before” photo. The photo for your refrigerator door or somewhere in sight. Have someone take a photo of you, maybe several different angles or do it yourself if you are that skilled with a camera.
This is how everyone sees you.

Of course, there are certain aspects of ourselves that we cannot change – eye color, height, bone structure, shoe size, age, ancestry. But…
we can choose to change our habits.

This will not be a how to lose weight program but encouragement to make a change, to find a healthy life style that works for each of us, and to stay with it until our habits change.

ASSIGNMENT: Make a print of your before photo. Study it. Think about your current habits. Which of them would you like to change? Choose a diet/health program that you would like to try. If you don’t know of a program, we will put together a list of possibilities. (And get rid of those left over holiday treats! Trash them, freeze them, or eat them, but make them disappear.)