Monsanto and Dow were 2 of the 9 wartime contractors hired by the US government to create Agent Orange, a combination of the toxic chemicals 2,4-D, and 2,4,5-T, just over 40 years ago. The damage these chemicals have perpetrated on our health and environment did not end with the Vietnam War though.
A development in East Chicago, Indiana has been confirmed to have toxic lead levels up to 30 times what is considered safe. This is especially devastating for the families who live there, as high lead levels are known to decrease children’s IQs as well as contribute to further developmental issues that may affect them for the rest of their lives. [1]
The same technological advances that brought us the Internet are about to change farming forever, though some say it’s a bittersweet way to make sure the world gets its organic produce on schedule.
The technologies used for the old-paradigm mono-crop are getting more high-tech than ever, but will this affect the slow-food movement, and the desire of consumers to access high quality, non-GM, organic food from their farmer down the lane?
Healthy soil contains billions of tiny microorganisms that help plants to thrive and our food supply to remain abundant. A paper, published in Nature Communications, used large-scale data comparisons of soil from 78 global drylands and from 179 locations across Scotland to study diversity of soil microbiota. The researchers found that diversity is absolutely imperative for supporting ecosystems.
We know that pesticides are harming the animals – from creatures who live in the oceans, to larger animals living on farms, in jungles, on prairies, and even flying above our heads. But even more worrisome, they seem to be a threat to endangered species roaming the earth.
Beekeepers have instinctively known this all along, but a new landmark study has linked insecticide dust to damaged beehives. This is a sad but welcome confirmation of what beekeepers in Minnesota have been trying to tell the world for years now.
It should come as no surprise that crop dust – that is, dirt and other contaminants that accumulate mostly during harvest season – is full of some questionable ingredients. What one farmer found when he sent some dust from his hog building outside his brother’s and father’s farms where they grow Liberty Link and Roundup Ready corn is a little more shocking.
Dr. Ramon Seidler, a retired senior scientist from the US Environmental Protection Agency, has become a leading spokesperson against genetically modified foods and the increasing use of pesticides with GM crops. Dr. Seidler has published numerous papers on the subject of GMOs, arguing against them, rather than for them, as many other industry puppets do.
It doesn’t matter if you have acres of space to plant your herbs, vegetables, and fruit, or if you are starting with a few small pots in a window sill; beginning your own organic gardening is a cinch when you know how to get your seeds growing right from their first stages.
Here are 5 unknown gardening tips to start and grow your own organic seedlings.
Mother Earth has experienced five extinction events, but she’s still standing.
Like a prizefighter, she is the Milky Way Galaxy Grand Champion.
Our tenacious planet is armed to fight and conquer global warming without fancy gadgets or special geo-engineering techniques. She can do it on her own, having proven herself time and again, restoring one extinction event after another, and the rest.
We only have to give her a chance, some elbow room to strut her stuff.
