Manna Storehouse Interview

This is a followup to my past post directed as a general query to the homesteading community readers, asking for confirmation of any details and wanting to sort fact from rumor in the case of the recent Manna Storehouse/Stowers Family foodstuffs confiscation.

In reply to a recent email of mine requesting information from the Stowers themselves about what happened to them, they directed me to the attorney in charge of responding to the public's questions. I haven't had the time to go that route yet, but just got a comment from the Runyons directing me to this YouTube video published on their site.

This is the Stowers' recent video interview. Thank you to Steve and Paula for the heads up!


Following the links in the video will take you to The Buckeye Institute site, where this recent article can be found. Here is an excerpt:

"The Stowers' constitutional rights were violated over grass-fed cattle, pastured chickens and pesticide-free produce," Buckeye Institute 1851 Center of Constitutional Law Director Maurice Thompson said. "Ohioans do not need a government permission slip to run a family farm and co-op, and should not be subjected to raids when they do not have one. This legal action will ensure the ODA understands and respects Ohioans' rights."

Click here to see a pdf copy of the complaint filed against the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Lorain County General Health District.

Comments About Manna Storehouse Raid

...otherwise entitled "Robbyn's Rules of Commenting." ;-)

A day or so ago, I posted a question trying to verify if an email I'd received was correct. It stated that Manna Storehouse, located in a private home, had been raided and their inventory and computers, etc, confiscated while the family was held at gunpoint. The reason I was particularly interested in this story is because the family business/buying co-op is the sort that helps others buy grassfed meats and organic foods at affordable prices. I was wanting to separate the fact from the fiction.

I am waiting for an official press release, which will come soon. When it does, I'll post it.

I have concerns for our constitutional rights and freedoms and that there may be some blatant injustices in small farmers, etc, being targeted in differing ways. I found it very difficult to believe that a dispute over licensing details could have actually resulted in a family's home being searched in the way it seems (by the accounts I've read) to have been. I'm still waiting for details.

An online friend of mine posted her concerns that this particular news story be correctly verified, and expressed her personal perspective as the wife of a law enforcement officer who each day is often required enforce the law while at the same time protecting himself. It is the reality of every family member of loved ones in law enforcement that their job requires the risk of their own lives. Her comments spoke to this and to the fact that often police are following orders. She also stated that she has a concern that farmers and homesteaders are being unfairly targeted more and more. She made her comments respectfully. They reflected her opinions, and the last time I looked, this is what our Constitution protects the right to express. Therefore, I thank her. I am thankful for our Constitution.

As a rule, I seldom edit or refuse to publish comments based on whether I agree or not with them. This will be one of those exceptions. Here is why--

I came home from work to an In Box with several more comments, all of which I appreciated reading. The part I had a problem with was that rather than address the content of my post, which was to get to the bottom of what really happened at Manna Storehouse, it began to be a dialogue among the commenters. Whatever has really happened, it has touched a nerve and involves very important issues. These issues include the role of law enforcement, Constitutional rights, the targeting of small groups (even families) without grounds or due process, potential abuses of privacy and other rights in the name of "security" or "compliance," and the ethical conundrum of those involved (law enforcement, etc) when the choice must be made to participate (or not) if it's obvious an injustice is being perpetrated under the guise of law.

These are tremendously important concerns!

Though I had no idea this would bring about such important discussion, I welcome it...within the confines of respect. That's the rule here... you can say hard things and I don't have to agree with you, nor do any commenters have to agree with each other. BUT. It has to be expressed respectfully.

I know...if you're the friends of the family who just got held at gunpoint, you're entitled to rant. Please do! But let's put things on the table without attacking others. That's my requirement.

I did not post the following comments in full, not because I wish to edit the convictions behind them, but because they became personal to one of the commentors, going beyond the realm of this blog in its ability to adequately foster dialogue. I thought they were borderline hostile, though it was probably wasn't meant personally. But to me, it did sound a bit too personal to other commenter's thoughts...an attack is different than dialoguing.

Here are some of the concerns I can post, excerpted from some of the comments in my In Box. I did not include whatever other valid parts of their comments that were directed to prior commentors. The discussion is out on the table for all, not to target an individual. My thanks to those who took the time to express your concerns:

#1 I wonder to what extremes tactical teams will just do their jobs... At some point, individuals have to be responsible for their actions which further tyranny, "just following orders" is no excuse.

#2 (sic throughout) I'm baffeled at the posted dialog. What have we come to? Yes, it's true. This family, who is providing a healthy source of organic FOOD, YES FOOD, NOT DRUGS or any kind of illegal product, was stormed upon by a SWAT team, in full riot gear, and had fully automatic guns pointed at them, including the children. No phone call, no explenation. Private property was taken, including a signifcant amount of food, valued at possibly $10,000.00. Yes, IT'S TRUE. This is a perfect example of the tyranny we can expect from our goverment in the days to come. THEY WERE GROWING HEATHLY FOOD. And every civil right we claim to cherish in this country was violated. What about those children? Did they deserve that experience? What did that teach them about thier country, thier leaders, thier goverment, thier law enforcment?

#3 At some point, even the ordinary swat team guy must take responsibility for what he does.

The point of some of the edited-out portions pointed to historical injustices (in particular the holocaust) and raised the issue of individual responsibility vs. following commands. Several folks stated this in various ways. I edited another part that used a religious rebuke in an insulting way. If you want to direct it to me, I'm fine with that...I initiated the topic. But leave heavyhanded personal remarks to other commentors out of it. I defend your own right to comment on my blog without being insulted as well.

These are important issues, and often emotional ones.

My heartfelt thanks to all who feel protective of our rights and our freedoms and who are hopping mad at injustice. We have every right to be.

I am thankful for our Constitution, for the law enforcement in this country who enforce it, and the freedom we have to appeal within that system to right any injustices or corruptions both within and without. There is much that needs to change.

I'd like to get the facts before going any further with this.

Thank you, Dina, for your link. :) I did see it. I'm awaiting the press release from the actual family, when they have made it official.

And right now, like Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

Transgenics: The Economics of Putting Mouse in Pig

Another email digest from the OCA in my In Box, and I just have to share...

Ugh. It gets more and more chilling.

Let me back up a second. Tonight we went out shortly before dark to run some errands. There on the side of the highway was a fairly large wild boar, snacking on seedheads or other finds just at the edge of (what's left of) the woods...a big but not fat black boar with a long narrow snout, rooting around for nature's leavings.

I'm not a huge pig fan because pigs don't figure in largely into my sphere. We don't eat them, don't plan to raise them, and I just smile and wish them well when I see them elsewhere. They're not much on my radar. I'm actually ambivalent to them, pretty much, but even so, I would not take one and mess around with its DNA and decide that Pig is better when mixed with Mouse because of some perceived convenience or monetary benefit I might receive. Is this doing new things by breeding for certain characteristics? that's not new...selective breeding animals has been done for millenia. Have at it...breed for a straight tail rather than a crooked, cross-eyed pigs or pigs with spots or with a bigger carcass or pigs that fit in the palm of your hand or have no bristles or that oink at strangers...whatever. But they're still pigs, with their DNA intact.

Not so with the "progress" of the bio-tecchies. Ugh. Why are our governments playing with this stuff, so so cozy with the huge producers and corporations?

Now they are trying to get around the Big Ag dilemmas rather than solving them, by fiddling with DNA. Case in point, putting mouse DNA into hog DNA in order to (now get this, how to say delicately?) to have more environmentally-friendly poop...to create an "Enviropig." The FDA will be trying to bring it to you really soon. I kid you not. Here's a quote:

These are Enviropigs, developed by researchers at the University of Guelph to poop out more environmentally friendly waste. The trademarked pigs are just one of dozens of genetically engineered animals at research institutions around the world whose genes have been altered for human benefit. (<-----Robbyn's interjection: What the heck???)And, due to a recent move in the U.S., the Enviropig may be the first to arrive on your dinner plate.

And of course there's no consumer labeling, so we don't get to decide whether we especially WANT mouse DNA in pig meat.

For me, this is hardly a dilemma, since I'm Jewish and eat neither pig nor mouse. But it's a moral dilemma because in my faith, the Bible is very specific that in both the plant and the animal worlds, living things are delineated into things "of their own type." That does not forbid hybridization but it does forbid what creation itself cannot achieve without human forcefulness and mad science, the forcible mixing of unlike things. You just won't see a lion mating with a hyena, or a giraffe with a water buffalo in nature.

I believe there's a good reason for that.

And what business do we have fiddling with ANY living thing so that it fulfills the propaganda of being crafted and edited "for human benefit"??? This is not the same thing as deciding between a pony and a draft horse depending on its best use. It's not the same thing as breeding a dog to hunt or to herd or to retrieve. This is putting part of other animal and plant DNA INSIDE existing DNA from another species altogether to freaking "play God" and it's the ultimate insult to the universe.

(That's my decidedly objective opinion...) ;-)

Aside from what I believe on those scores, I believe what drives this bio-tech frankenscience is the not-so-almighty dollar/yen/euro.

Here's a quote from the article where you can find the detailed report:

Despite ethical concerns, Ronald Stotish, the CEO and president of Aqua Bounty Technologies, based in Waltham, Mass., is confident genetically engineered animals will make the leap from the lab to the farm - and soon.
"It's the way of the future," he says. "This technology has the capability of making beneficial changes in production agriculture."

Let's demystify this quote.

It's like a house For Sale in the classifieds listed as a "cozy handyman special..." there are more to those words than you might bargain for.

"Production agriculture" is Big Ag, and Big Ag is no friend of the consumer, nor even of your mainstream farmers. Big Ag does whatever it takes to force more into less for fewer dollars into the shortest amount of time for the biggest projected return. It's controlled by large corporations whose interest in money overrides concerns about truthful labeling, plant and animal health, humaneness, consumer health and protections, and other consumer interests. Now they're playing nastier by changing the living things themselves...not by hybridizing, which is how their propaganda would suggest nature does things anyway, but rather by forcing different TYPES of living things into creations that cannot even be created by mating...rather the DNA has to be forced into the DNA of something else...by man.

What arrogance. What foolishness and shortsightedness!

Please read the article by Megan Ogilvie of the Toronto Star, and you'll see what I mean.

Genetically modified and engineered animals and plants MUST be labeled, as there has been no adequate long-term testing on humans.
It must be labeled, so that consumers have a choice.
It must be truthfully spoken about...the misinformation campaign on the part of the big corporations is staggering. Things done in the name of "health" and "environmentally-friendly" are NOT being truthful with their advertising campaigns...changing animal DNA to FURTHER industrial large-scale production has NOTHING to do with REAL CHANGE needed to heal the disconnect and bring production back to smaller local producers, which is more environmentally-concious AND healthy.
Do NOT believe that the FDA is the Benevolent Big Daddy who will handle "all those confusing concerns" for a trusting public...no way. Choice and responsibility lie FIRST with the CONSUMER (that's us) and WE should decide what we eat...and should have the benefit of labels not intended to deceive us in that decision-making process.

I INSIST this MUST be OUR choice...no one else's.

Here is their contact link if you'd like to add your two cents to others voicing their concerns:

In Canada, please write to Health Canada to voice your strong opposition to the approval of this and other genetically engineered animals. They can be reached at novelfood_alimentnouveau@hc-sc.gc.ca
In the US, let the FDA know how you feel via their contact page http://www.fda.gov/comments.html or by writing toFood and Drug Administration 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, Maryland 20857

Raw Milk Raw Deal in PA

This in recently, from Weston A. Price Foundation:


Unwarranted Raw Dairy RecallsPut Spotlight on Hostile Regulatory Procedures

Washington, DC--Sept 17, 2008-

A series of rush-to-judgment raw dairy recalls and actions against raw milk farmers around the country, has exposed inappropriate protocols used to assess the safety of raw milk and extreme bias on the part of investigators.

On September 12, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) rescinded Telford, Pennsylvania raw milk farmer Trent Hendrick's raw milk permit, based on a few recent cases of food poisoning. Without any test results showing that the Hendricks Farm milk was contaminated, the state issued a press release naming the farm and circulated warnings against the consumption of all raw milk.

Today all independent tests came back negative, not only for campylobacter but for all other pathogens as well. The state based their decision on reports of three families that were customers of the dairy, several members of which were afflicted with intestinal pain, cramping and diarrhea. According to Hendricks, two of the families were on vacation at the time and were exposed to other possible sources of pathogens, including questionable water sources. However, investigators for the Pennsylvania health department discounted other likely vectors of disease and neglected to determine whether non-raw milk drinkers had also contracted the illness.

Prior to this incident, The Hendricks farm has been lauded by the PDA as being an exceptional raw dairy producer, one who operated by permit and had a superlative safety record. The farm's raw milk cheeses have won several American Cheese Society awards.

Hendricks had requested that the PDA wait until test results were in before issuing the press release. The shut down of his operation and press release resulted in financial hardship and considerable negative publicity for the dairy."I have jumped through hoops in an attempt to meet or surpass the state requirements," said Hendricks. "Our farm has an excellent track record on test results, and we even go above and beyond by testing the milk weekly for pathogens. All of our good faith efforts and compliance didn't amount to a hill of beans. When we needed the benefit of the doubt from the state, it wasn't there. We take food safety very seriously. All we asked is that PDA have evidence before they convict us. Instead, they insisted on putting out a press release damning our product before test results were back--before they had any conclusive proof.""

Until recently, the PDA did not suspend permits or issue press releases until appropriate testing confirmed the presence of pathogens in culture tests, says Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nutrition education foundation that encourages the consumption of raw milk from pasture-fed cows. "In fact, they waited until they got two negative culture results, because pathogen testing is subject to error."

Also on September 12, the PDA carried out its third raid against Mark Nolt's farm. Nolt, a passive resister to the state permitting process, claims a constitutional right to sell the products of his farm without a permit. To date, the state has seized over $65,000 worth of product and equipment.

According to Nolt, the judge's order giving the PDA authority to seize and discard products from his farm was lifted on August 5, 2008 and the courts have denied the PDA a permanent injunction against the sale of raw milk. "The seizure and destruction of our farm products was an unlawful action by the state," says Nolt. PDA head of dairy safety William Chirdon has frequently stated that Nolt would be able to sell his raw milk without interference as long as he obtained a permit.

"Friday's actions demonstrate that PDA has no qualms about harassing raw milk farmers who have permits," said Taaron Meikle, president of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. (FTCLDF) "This is why more and more raw milk farmers are choosing to operate outside the permitting system. They consider the raw milk permit a 'permit to harass.'"

In light of these two incidents, Jonas Stoltzfus, farmer and President of the Pennsylvania Independent Consumers and Farmers Association (PICFA), called for the immediate ouster of William Chirdon. "The FDA's negative statements about raw dairy have resulted in an aggressive stance against raw dairy farmers by state agencies across the nation. Persecution of Pennsylvania raw milk farmers began under Bill Chirdon's regime. His actions of September 12 demonstrate his willingness to persecute and prosecute farmers on no evidence at all," said Stoltzfus.

"We are concerned about extreme PDA bias against raw milk," says Meikle, "It is inappropriate for the state to issue warnings against the consumption of all raw milk when raw milk has helped thousands of Pennsylvania consumers overcome health problems and has a long history of safety. Last year, three people died from contaminated pasteurized milk in Massachusetts and thousands have been sickened by fresh produce. Where are the warnings against consumption of pasteurized milk and raw produce?"

Meikle notes that tainted, heat-processed baby formula killed three infants and sickened over one thousand babies in China, during the week of the PDA actions against raw milk. Fallon notes that a recall of raw cream in California highlights similar inappropriate protocols in that state. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) recalled the raw cream when it tested positive for campylobacter after 12 days of highly specialized laboratory culturing. No illnesses from the raw cream were reported and CDFA admitted to a sample mix-up that sent the cream to the wrong lab. "Not only did the cream travel over 900 extra miles and sit for several days at the wrong laboratory before being sent to the correct laboratory, the source milk from which the cream was well under the mandated 10 coliform limit-- it was 6 coliforms, pathogen-free and campylobacter-free. CDFA officials consider this the gold standard for raw milk testing," said Fallon.

"We are waiting for Governor Schwarzenegger to sign SB201, the 2008 California Fresh Raw Milk bill, into law. This legislation will eliminate the 10-coliform limit, which is very difficult for raw milk dairies to pass on a consistent basis, and mandate frequent intensive testing for pathogens like campylobacter instead. Campylobacter is not a coliform and so it is missed by the coliform standards currently in force.

Raw milk defenders note that coliforms are mostly beneficial bacteria, which have pro-biotic effects. "The presence of good bacteria is one reason consumers want to drink raw milk," says Fallon. "The official attitude that the only good bacteria is a dead bacteria is a discredited paradigm based on 40-year-old science."

The Weston A. Price Foundation is a 501c3 nutrition education non-profit, dedicated to fostering a return to nutrient-dense foods and traditional farming methods. The Foundation promotes the consumption of raw milk and pasture-feeding of livestock. The Weston A. Price Foundation is based in Washington DC and has 400 chapters and 10,000 members worldwide.

Websites: westonaprice.org and realmilk.com

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund provides legal defense for sustainable farms engaged in raw milk production and direct farm-to-consumer sales. Website: farmtoconsumer.org.

The Pennsylvania Independent Consumers and Farmers Association is a group of Sustainable Farmers and the Consumers that support them. Their mission is to help defend the rights of farmers to provide humanely raised meats and farm fresh dairy products direct to consumers who value these foodstuffs without government interference.
CONTACTS:
Kimberly Hartke, WAPF Publicist (703) 860-2711 or (703) 675-5557, kimberly@hartkeonline.com
Jonas Stoltzfus, Pennsylvania Independent Consumers and Farmers Association Home 717-536-3618, cell 717-275-3016 mailto:jstoltz@pa.net
Maureen Diaz, Weston A. Price Chapter Leader, Pennsylvania 717-303-3832 cell 717-253-0529 mailto:motherhenof9@comcast.net

Why Be Normal?

I wanted to buy a Tshirt with just that slogan printed on the front when I was a kid. My mom took a long look at me and said "Well, that pretty much sums you up..." I took it as a compliment :)

My husband and I have a running joke. He'll look at me and say "You're weird...I mean, special! And then he laughs, and I laugh, too, say to him "You meant weird. You got it right the first time." And then he says he likes me this way and that must mean he loves Weird. Ha!

What IS normal, anyway? What's abnormal? Maybe it's a way of thinking and living as an original...outside the box? If that's the case, vive l'abnormale !

I enjoy the momentum of people who value creating their own world and filling it with meaning -- their way -- beyond the hype of the escalating mono-culture of the mainstream. I think it's a more comfortable place to be. They will often ask questions, experiment, think, and appreciate others who do the same. They do not define life by the number of good or bad hair days.

I'm among those who march to their own beat, I guess, and it's where I'm most comfortable. It's not what I chose, it's where I found myself, so whatever it's called, I'm happy...as are most of the many unconventional folks I know. It's impossible to categorize us, because we don't define ourselves by comparing ourselves with others, and we tend to be deliberate problem-solvers, have strong independent streaks, and may have some things (relationships, politics, values, freedoms) we tenaciously hold dear.

Maybe the mainstream is an aberrance of our collective perception, because I've found that when you get someone one-on-one, nearly every individual I've ever met is a surprising mix of wonderfully varied and conflicting qualities. Maybe we've assumed there IS such a thing as normal...

Not so in the homesteading community! We embrace uniqueness and that questing forward motion...which many times is the art of surviving and thriving our way.

This online homesteading community is replete with originals, rather than clones, and it's so enjoyable to peruse the many blogs and see how so many diverse people live their lives and problem-solve. Despite our differences, there are usually many things that end up overlapping, and those of us who are off the beaten path, so to say, find a real kinship. What a find :)

There's a new blog on the horizon now, conceived and authored by Kathie at TwoFrogHome, who has pulled together some additional ladies to contribute their unique perspectives collaboratively in blog entitled "Women Not Dabbling in Normal." This group includes some recognizable and much-loved greats from homesteading blogland, such as Jessica from Practical Nourishment, Gina from Cauldron Ridge Farm, Kristine from Dancing in a Field of Tansy, and Phelan from A Homesteading Neophyte. I've been asked to contribute, too, and I'm so honored! Our writings will be varied and will celebrate being far beyond the bounds of "Normal." Each lady will post on a designated day of the week, and Fridays will be left open to answering reader questions.

The new blog kicks off tomorrow (Sunday) with Kathie's introductory post, and throughout the initial week each of the other contributors will introduce themselves.

Be sure and stop in to share in the fun, where we can all enjoy each others' company and just be ourselves!

Photo: http://mrpotatohead.net/wearables/whynormal.jpg

Raw Milk and SB201

The Fresh Milk Act of 2008

New news from the Weston A. Price Foundation I found in my email box about the next steps for AB201:

LET'S CLEAR THE LAST COMMITTEE HURDLE FOR SB201, The Fresh Milk Act of 2008!

We are getting closer to passage of SB201, the Fresh Milk Act of 2008, which will replace AB1735 (the "sneak attack" against raw milk) and guarantee the future of raw milk in California.

We appreciate all your support so far in making calls, which helped the bill pass unanimously out of two committee hearings. The fate of SB201 will have a big impact on raw milk throughout the country so we are sending this action alert to all WAPF members.

Once past the Appropriations Committee, we are expecting a vote by the full California House and Senate before the end of the summer.

ACTION TO TAKE
Please take a few moments on Monday and Tuesday to make your calls to committee members. SB201 will be heard on Wednesday, July 16 in the Appropriations Committee. With your support we can make it to the Assembly Floor.

Please call the Assembly Members below before Wednesday with this short message: "Please support SB201 this Wednesday July 16th in the Assembly Appropriations Committee." Let's inundate them with calls!

ASSEMBLY SPEAKER
Karen Bass • 916-319-2047

APPROPRIATIONS MEMBERS
Anna Caballero • 916-319-2028
Mike Davis • 916-319-2048
Warren Furutani • 916-319-2055
Ted Lieu • 916-319-2053
Pedro Nava • 916-319-2035
Jose Solorio • 916-319-2069

Your Calls Have Made a Huge Impact - Thank You and Keep it up!

Expelled: The Movie

Here's a movie Jack and I got to see at the theater tonight. Has anyone else out there heard of it? If so, I'd love to hear what you thought of it.

I'll have a lot more to comment on later, but it's late and the clock is ticking.

Just reallyyyyy thought this movie raised a lot of important questions, and issues that need examination. It's a very important movie no matter what side of the conversation a person is on...

Here are a couple of trailers

Algae in the News

This post subject, from Jack...one of his favorite new topics... Algae... (the stuff of his countless recent Google expeditions) continues to appear in headlines.

It seems a new industry is hoping to see green...or greenbacks, from algae's many possibilities. Here's one of the latest ones related to the possibility of utilizing algaes for the production of fuels:

Vindu's View: Algae Startups Chase Dreams of Fuel from Pond Scum

(above link updated to a pdf article...first link I posted wouldn't go past the newspaper sign-in page, oops!)

A whole new meaning to "green fuel"...

Dust that Rocks

Restoring the mineral content of soil is the aim of proponents of applying rock dust as an amendment. It's not an entirely new idea, but is highly likely an idea whose time has come. I first read about rock dust, I believe, in PathToFreedom's site.

But the impetus of my post (this one) was having read the excellent latest entry (02/02/20008) on Stuart and Gabrielle's Permaculture In Brittany blog site about their own adventures finding an affordable source locally...local to Brittany, that is :) I love following their progress in adapting many approaches with a permaculture emphasis. You'll love seeing Stuart's search for a locala rock dust source. Looks like he hit the mother lode!

I'll be following this topic with interest, as scientific trials expand, per the article here.
According to the article

...The recognition of the healing powers of rock dust comes after a 20-year
campaign by two former schoolteachers, Cameron and Moira Thomson. They have been
battling to prove that rock dust can replace the minerals that have been lost to
the earth over the past 10,000 years and, as a result, rejuvenate the land and
halt climate change.
To prove their point, the couple have converted six
acres of open, infertile land in the Grampian foothills near Pitlochry into a
modern Eden. Using little more than rock dust mixed with compost, they have
created rich, deep soils capable of producing cabbages the size of footballs,
onions bigger than coconuts and gooseberries as big as plums...

...The couple say that the rock dust means that crops don't need water to
produce harvests of magnificent vegetables. 'It would be perfect for Third World
countries that are usually unable to grow crops because the land is so dry,' Ms
Thomson said. 'This could hold the solution for them'...

Here is Permaculture Magazine's article about Rock Dust.

And here is the link to the SEER Center, with testimonials.

And one final link, from Remineralize the Earth.

A Whole New Meaning to the Phrase "Radio Programming"

I've heard it now multiple times, and that's saying alot since we're very media-minimalist around here...we don't get TV broadcasts and seldom listen to the radio except when in the car.



Even so, now I've heard this multiple times. Remember the good ol' "public service announcements"? Something critical it was timely to air via radio waves for the public good??



Who out there besides myself has heard the recent "public service announcement" (that's what they're calling it!) called "a Bio-genetic Minute"??



A man's soothing voice introduces the topic of bio-genetics by reassuring The Public that genetic altering has been happening now for thousands of years, and that the recent "advances" in science have allowed for remarkable strides in producing foods that are resistant to all those baaad badddd things out there. Biogenetics good! Resistance to Progress bad!!!



SHEESH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



It infuritates me!!!



THAT on top of the announcement I heard yesterday that just this week The U.S. food regulator this week sanctioned cloned foods (See article HERE)

GROSS.........

This is the SUBSTANCE production from cloned matter born of chemical soups, and transgenic animals (Transgenic animals, i.e., engineered to carry genes from other species)


I'll elaborate more soon, but our futuristic nightmares compound daily. Exponentially out of control.

Something has to be done. Is it too late??

One thing we can do. We can be the resistance who refuses to participate as much as possible, mostly by taking control of our OWN consumption and production by getting our hands on our OWN food and growing it ourselves. Until that becomes somehow against the law...

About the National Animal Identification Program and Individual Responsibility

Please read here about why this affects anyone who eats...not just the farmer or rancher.

In the interest of controlling outbreaks of widespread disease, legislation has too broadly been applied to the individual farms and farmers who are responsibly and sustainably counteracting mass industry. There seems to be little recognition on the part of the general public of just where that last cheeseburger really originated. A tour of a feedlot is a whole different proposal than a tour of a grass farm's cattle. An in-depth investigation into the origins and types of supermarket-driven produce easily reveals how diametrically opposite the chemically and genetically-altered food machine is in comparison to the small, pesticide-free local grower...and the mindset of sustainability.

I'm neither an anarchist nor someone who thinks legislation is our primary option in solving consumer health problems arising nationwide. I believe the first step is to begin reclaiming our own individual responsibility, and to educate ourselves, since many precedents of legislative change are set oftentimes without consumer awareness or understanding. It is upon these that a lot of interpretation, and even abuses, can occur if we remain ignorant of their reach and impact.

At the heart of many of today's consumer health issues is a fundamental issue...that of Who Gets to Decide. There is a movement, very widespread and encompassing nearly every aspect of our consumerism, to educate and preserve the responsibility of health back to the individual. This affects our individual responsibilities across the page...being involved means impacting our world with our voices and some elbow grease, rather than pointing fingers without being willing to get into the messier parts of the argument in action rather than theoretically.

There are those working to preserve the freedoms to individually be a force and a voice, and yet there are many who remain uninformed as to the specifics and ramifications of current legislation and proposed "reforms" ..and I fall into that same category. I am trying to educate myself away from what I've assumed are issues for a particular group to hash out. Since I tire easily of political rhetoric, I've stayed away from arguments and issues altogether...until I am seeing how, if people like myself remain stubbornly aloof from them, I will be impacted whether I like it or not,and I will give away my right to making my own responsible choices.

There is a lot of misinformation about the origins of our food, about what healthy foods are, about the food cycle from field to table, about the economics of the above, and about the ethics relating to modern scientific ability to alter any of the above. Sometimes, mistakenly, these issues become shrouded in larger political agendas or parties, and the public opts out to their party's favorite traditional arguments and agendas....as in "All liberals are tree-huggers and are for government programs as the answer...all Conservatives are for big business and wealth."

I'm zeroing in on particulars right now in my family's life. Despite the political party of the moment, the government regulations that are or aren't in place, and the tide of public misinformation/misunderstanding/ignorance about any specific, I still have to try to do the right thing for my own family, and my future family.

This is my particular resolve...I have to take responsibility as a human, a citizen, a parent, a neighbor, and a forbear of the next generation. And I say utilize all available resources to protect the freedom for us to keep deciding, educating ourselves, and making changes to protect, recover, or maintain what we MUST preserve as a basic human right...the right to determine for ourselves choices as basic as what we eat, the ability to grow it/raise it without restrictions, freedom of movement and ownership within our own nation, freedom from regulation and harrassment or ostracization as we make those choices.

Please....BEWARE of sanitized language and rhetoric...language is a powerful door of entry for ideas. The word "PROTECT" should not be used in conjunction with handing over our individual RESPONSIBILITY and RIGHT to DECIDE. Mobilizing a Thinking People is a different matter than reassuring an uninformed and fearful audience.

We've got to:

1. Educate ourselves...set out to know ALL sides of any argument or proposed change, and to query its ramifications for the present AND the future...what precedents would this change, or LACK of change, introduce or allow an open door for for the future? How could it be abused? What do we need to do to allow for progress while preserving the integrity of certain standards or absolutes that should not be compromised?

2. Have some absolutes. Relativism can kill our creativity, security, individuality, and will to participate as a thinking and responsible individual. With relativism, we opt out of some fundamentals that SHOULD be absolutes...and in doing so, we give way to initiatives of others who very much have agendas that may be very contrary to what we hold dear. We cannot escape moral implications in our decision-making. Opting out of making decisions is still a form of decision-making. As a result, we have lost our ability to determine many of our own choices freely.

3. Learn how to effect change. I'm only just learning. Reading from a variety of sources is a great start, but what about the action part? Doing it ourselves...changing our own habits and way of doing something, is the best place to start. But sweeping reforms can still undermine our ability to continue those efforts...when the Powers That Be hear from constituents from an educated and fervent reference point, that is a beginning. It can result in dialogue, and help educate others. It can halt or change legislation. It can present a viable voice to an issue formerly assumed in the minority. But we have to know where to start.

Focusing a bit on the NAIS issue, we have to start by educating ourselves. Often legislation is a REACTION rather than a solution, and this is how I see NAIS regulations that are being implemented...or some could say forced. We don't need to responde with an additional REACTION, but with informed and persistent action to change what we believe is not in the best interests of the farmer, animal, and constitutional (even basic human) freedom.

There are so many other sites and books that detail the specifics of the NAIS issue. If you think your state is untouched by this issue, do a Google search with your state name and "Animal Identification System" and you'll find the official websites with your state's regulations. My state is Florida. What I found is that registration of farms is voluntary, but a few sentences further, I found this statement:

As of September 15, 2005, more than 1,025 Florida premises were registered into
the system. This methodical start set the foundation for further development of
the program with approximately 85% of cattle being on registered premises since
January 2005, the beginning of the project.

Florida is a big beef-producing state by nationwide standards. If 85% of the cattle were on registered premises as of two years ago, that is hardly an accident...there was surely a big campaign to convince farmers to adopt that. What needs to concern me further is the statement about the further development of the program. Seemingly, the 85% participation figure was at the OUTSET, before FURTHER regulations were instituted or enforced.

I MUST become familiar with what EXACTLY this means, rather than allowing it to sit like a convenient statistic in my mind.

I have to get out there and look for myself and ask questions.

Then we need to raise our concerns...audibly and consistently.

Here are two of Monica's posts about some of the serious ramifications of the registry system, the identification issue, and what can happen if it's enforced. It IS being enforced to differing degrees in different states.

I'm going to begin digging into this issue further, for myself. After all, we want a small farm and do not ever want to register our animals with any government registry. I don't mind cooperating with interstate traffic laws that already exist. But I don't want a Big Brother dictating my private farming decisions, when we get to that point, or keeping my PRIVATE business data in a data base...ANYWHERE.

This, folks, is just as crucial as the healthcare privacy reforms, and any other privacy issue. THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO RIGHT TO USE ANY FORCE TO VIOLATE OUR PRIVACY OR OUR INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO MAKE RESPONSIBLE PERSONAL CHOICES.

And now, to find out more...(the search begins)

Legislation and the Term "Organic"

I'm short on time, but this article is worth noting...and acting upon.

Let's not let the term "organic" be further made a joke.

http://www.scientificblogging.com/news/organic_food_definition_will_soon_contain_38_more_inorganic_ingredients