Call to Action: Say NO to GM Alfalfa
“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”
~Thomas Jefferson, 1781
I’m sure you’ve heard about the controversy surrounding the possible approval of Monsanto’s genetically modified Round-Up ready alfalfa. The approval of yet another GMO crop is very troublesome to me. I know a lot of people who own small organic farms and the approval of GM alfalfa will affect their way of life. They may no longer be able to find organic hay and may lose their organic certification because of gene pollution.
I’m pretty outspoken about my concerns with genetically modified crops both for health and environmental reasons. They don’t reduce the use of chemicals and have wide genetic pollution results and other environmental concerns. Here in Ohio we now have 6 superweeds thanks Monsanto’s Round-Up ready GMO crops, read this article and check the map to see how many super weeds are in your state. Click on the map below to go to the New York Times page where you can see the progression of superweeds in the country over the past 10 years. (image from NYTimes.com)
If you’re concerned about the approval of genetically modified alfalfa please contact Tom Vilsack or President Obama right away as the decision is supposed to be made in the next couple of days. You can head over to Food Democracy Now and send a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. You can also email the USDA about this issue at: biotechquery@aphis.usda.gov and you can reach the White House at 202.456.1111. In addition I’d recommend that you encourage your Congressperson to contact House Agriculture to express support for Secretary Vilsack’s coexistence option. Find your Congressperson here (there’s a great letter in the comments here that you can copy and paste).
I have my doubts that this will do any good, since Vilsack seems to be on the side of BioTech. (why do I say this? ) As Iowa state governor, he originated the seed pre-emption bill, that blocked communities from regulating where GMO’s could be planted. He was the founder and former chair of the Governor’s Biotechnology Partnership, and was named Governor of the Year by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the biggest biotech group. As part of the Iowa Values Fund he gave 9 million dollars and 6 million in tax relief to TransOva to help develop cloned dairy cows.
I have my doubts that writing him will make any difference, I personally don’t think that politicians (left or right) are on the side of the citizens but rather the corporations that pay for their campaigns and give them high-paying jobs when they leave office. At least sending a letter makes me feel like I did something, even though the outcome may not be the one I was hoping for. What else can I do? Besides of course not buying anything that contains GMO ingredients and supporting small local farms, especially organic ones. That’s really the best way, vote with your dollars!
Are you concerned about genetically modified crops?
Some Links for Further Reading:
Organic Consumers Association: Six Reasons Why Obama Appointing Monsanto’s Buddy, Former Iowa Governor Vilsack, for USDA Head Would be a Terrible Idea
Radio Iowa: TransOva given nine-million from Iowa Values Fund
Bio.org: Iowa’s Vilsack Named BIO Governor of the Year
GM Watch: Supreme Court’s Ruling on Monsanto’s GE Alfalfa
Grist.com: Supreme Court’s ruling on Monsanto’s GE alfalfa: Who won?
Co-Op Stronger Together: Background on the GE Alfalfa Issue
Reuters: Lawmakers ask USDA to deny Monsanto GMO alfalfa
Food & Water Watch: Food and Agriculture Biotechnology Industry Spends More than Half a Billion to Influence Congress
Denis Kucinich on GMO’s & food labeling
Stonyfield Farm: We Can’t Let GE Alfafa Ruin Organic Dairy
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Quote of the Day: Lope de Vega
“With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy.”
Lope de Vega
Gardening really does help cultivate the simple life, at least for me. I don’t think many things ground you as much as growing a few flowers and vegetables in a little bit of soil. I find I’d rather be out in the garden than doing just about anything else. It truly has helped me live without envy, I’m too busy gardening!
What has gardening helped cultivate in your life? patience? happiness? contentment?
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Oh No – Flaky Internet
My super expensive business class extra speedy internet from Time Warner is flaking out on me, deleted a post I wrote for today *GRRRRRR* so I’m hoping I can get this posted quickly – hopefully it starts working soon.
Don’t you just hate it when you’re paying top dollar for something that doesn’t work like it’s supposed to?
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The Indoor Garden
I have a lot of plants inside the house, some of them are outdoor plants that spend the winter indoors because they’re warm weather plants and some of them live inside all year long. There’s at least one plant in almost every room of the house.
They’re tucked all over the house, taking up almost all the window space. I have a lantana between the dryer and the hot water heater by the laundry room door, it gets just enough light from the window in the door. I also have a few fig trees, other tropicals, and a lot of herbs under some grow lights in the basement.
All of my houseplants are organic just like my outdoor gardens. Once a year they get a fresh layer of worm castings on top of the soil, usually they’re mixed with some Dr. Earth Organic All Purpose Fertilizer. They also receive some fish emulsion occasionally as well. My miniature citrus trees get fed on Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day with a special organic citrus fertilizer. I also put all my old tea leaves on my house plants, kind of like mulch.
I don’t usually have any trouble with my houseplants, they’re pretty happy and healthy. If I ever have any kind of pests I use a homemade insecticidal soap, but I’ve only had to use it once over the past couple years. I simply mix a little Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Soap with some water in a small spray bottle. I just used this earlier this week, I bought a rosemary plant last month and put it by my dwarf variegated citrus. I noticed earlier this week that there were some little white furry insects on my citrus tree. I carefully sprayed each little insect with my homemade soap and now they’re gone.
I really do enjoy having houseplants, they’re not only beautiful, but they help keep the indoor air clean. Houseplants can absorb all sorts of chemicals that pollute the air in your home (and they don’t use any electricity to clean the air). I wrote a blog post about this specifically a while ago, it includes all the different plants and what chemicals and VOC’s they help clean out of the air.
I especially love this pothos that helps clean the air in our office. This particular plant was on the stage at our wedding twelve and half years ago. It’s been thriving in our various residences since. It has produced a lot of offspring as well, I have a few of them in other rooms around the house.
Do you keep houseplants in your home? What’s your favorite?
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Time to Start Spring Cleaning
Yesterday afternoon I took down all the Christmas decorations both inside and out. It’s always sad to do this as the house seems empty and bare afterwards. I miss the warm glow of the light in the evenings and the smell of pine in the house. For me this signals the start of spring cleaning.
All of the Christmas decorations were taken down, cleaned, organized and put into boxes. I try to make sure everything goes back in great condition so that it’s quick and easy to put up next year. It was the perfect day, sunny and bright. That made the outside work seem warmer than the 18 that it was, and it made cleaning the living a much sunnier task.
All of the fresh pine garland and the tree get put outside on the brush pile. They provide great habitat for snakes, rabbits and other animals. We have a pile that we’ve been building since we bought our house. It’s out back by the edge of the woods by the compost piles. It’s important provide this kind of habitat for animals in your garden. I keep hoping for a big black snake to move into mine.
Now that Christmas is down, it’s time to start moving furniture, cleaning the floors, and getting all those spring cleaning chores checked off the list. I like to get my spring cleaning done in winter, spring can get awfully busy around here with maple sugaring and seed starting.
Do you spring clean? When do you start?
