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Oppression, Depression, Suppression, Repression

2011-05-31T20:11:00Z

Confession Time: where are the leaders the Christians to say enough is enough. People fight and often not for what is right but fight nonetheless. Right now about so much that is so important there is silence. A void of dialogue and exchange. No one is talking and no wonder, intimidation and group think have always been good at controlling the ones tempted to tell the truth - or a least question, pondering, discuss, investigate. But intimidation keeps a lid on all who might lift an eye or ear to speak up and out and grow the courage to give what they know to others; driven by the will to do right rather than protect self from ridicule and the threats of rejection and outright banishment. What happens to leaders who lead the way to truth; unrelenting to taunts and threats driven to fight through lies by revealing them. What happens to those who stay silent when they know the truth. How do we live hiding from what we are called to do? Rationalizing, justifying; who is to know they think as the silent hide in huddles that include the vigilant oppressors to appear not so bad as complacency strengthens the numbers of the oppressors with those who accept through their lack of action. There is not safety in the silence as the evils that will and do remain unimpeded allowed to persist at their hurried pace through the silent crowds.

EcoFarm: Food and Farming government funding bill ALERT

2011-05-25T22:51:36Z

Please call your Senators to defend conservation, extension, renewable energy, and rural development programs

Yesterday afternoon, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee adopted a government funding bill that if passed would turn back decades of progress to achieve a more sustainable and just food and farming system

This 2012 bill makes a second round of steep cuts to conservation, extension, research, renewable energy, and rural development programs.   And just like in fiscal year 2011, none of the cuts are directed at crop subsidies, the largest federal agricultural spending item. The bill takes a total of $2.7 billion (13.4%) out of the food and agriculture budget including:

·    Farm bill conservation funding would be cut by nearly $1 billion. The bill would force USDA to break contracts it has already signed with farmers enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program!

·    Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE) funding would be cut by $3 million. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) would be cut by $40 million.

·    Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program would be cut by $6.4 million. Rural Micro-lending program would be completely eliminated.

·    The Renewable Energy for America Program (REAP) and the Biomass Crop Assistance (BCAP) would both be completely eliminated

·    Doing the bidding of multinational meat and poultry conglomerates, the bill forbids USDA from using any funds to write or publish the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule to make livestock and poultry markets fairer and more competitive, a rule Congress directed USDA to write as part of the 2008 Farm Bill.

This bill has yet to become law until it passes the Senate. In this climate - every call counts! Let your Senators know we support a healthy, just and sustainable food and farming system. Letters from Senators stating their appropriations priorities are due Friday.

Go to Congress.org and type in your zip code. Click on your Senator's name, and then on the contact tab for their DC phone number. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Senator's office: 202-224-3121.

If in California:

Call Fienstein's DC office: 202-224-3841

Call Boxer's DC office: 202-224-3553

    ·    Tell them to reject the House Agricultural Appropriations Bill.

    ·    Tell them to support full funding for farm bill conservation programs, to reject cutting jobs and growth with cuts to research, energy and rural development programs, and to stand up for farmers by protecting the GIPSA rule from meat packer interference.

For more information, visit the blog of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition: http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/

Thank you for supporting sustainable agriculture!

The Ecological Farming Association (EcoFarm) nurtures healthy and just farms, food systems, communities and environment by bringing people together for education, alliance building and advocacy.

"What's the Urgency?" Answers from Food Democracy Now

2011-05-25T21:58:45Z

Sharing the work of the Food Democracy Team: Letter received Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Dear Lisa,

Earlier this year when the Obama administration approved Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa for planting they set off a firestorm of criticism from farmers and citizens across the country. Many felt betrayed by the administration as the approval came despite the fact that more than 200,000 American farmers and citizens submitted public comments requesting that the U.S. government deny the approval and the fact that 93% of the alfalfa hay grown in the U.S. does not use any herbicides at all, making this Roundup Ready crop unnecessary to most farmers.

Subsequent to this decision, more information came to the attention of the public when it became known that internationally-recognized plant pathologist, Dr. Don Huber, had written a letter to Secretary Vilsack. Dr. Huber asked him to delay his decision on Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa and provide support for further scientific study in light of evidence that he and a team of other scientists had discovered a link between Roundup Ready crops, massive crop failures and spontaneous abortions and infertility in mammals.

When Dr. Huber sat down for a taped interview with Food Democracy Now! in March, he detailed his grave concerns about the discovery of an unidentified organism associated with these problems farmers were seeing in their fields and livestock herds. His question to Secretary Vilsack and the USDA was: "What's the urgency?" Why add to the problem by approving more Roundup Ready crops when we have serious problems needing further scientific research, he asked.

Click here to watch Dr. Huber explain the threat that Monsanto's GMO alfalfa poses to our farmers, livestock and food supply.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/385?ak_proof=1&akid=.264989.opwIkH&t=8&akid=318.197662.ucX1Ab

All Dr. Huber asked for was a little more time and some assistance from the federal authorities to help complete a number of the studies that were urgently needed to help protect farmers, their animals and the public.

Click on the link below to join Dr. Huber in the call to halt the further sale and planting of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa until more independent science can be conducted.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/370?ak_proof=1&akid=.249387.sXvRG5&t=10&ak_proof=1&akid=.264989.opwIkH&akid=318.197662.ucX1Ab

Now, the first planting of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa has been put in the ground across the country and conventional non-GMO and organic farmers face the real threat of genetic contamination and the major loss of economic income that those crops bring to their farms. Experts predict that in less than 5 years, there will be no organic or conventional alfalfa left in America.

Not heeding Dr. Huber's warning could spell disaster for organics, the economic well being of farmers and potentially the health of the American people.

Click on the link below to automatically add your name to the letter to tell President Obama and Secretary Vilsack to halt the sale and planting of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa until more independent science can be conducted.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/370?ak_proof=1&akid=.264989.opwIkH&t=12&akid=318.197662.ucX1Ab

Please join more than 40,000 Food Democracy Now! members who have already added their voice to this letter. If we can get 50,000 co-signers, we’ll fly out to DC ourselves and deliver the letter. We’ll show Secretary Vilsack photos of affected plants and livestock, and ask him directly how he can justify letting planting go ahead while these serious questions are unanswered.

And if we can raise just $2,000 for travel, we'll deliver your signatures directly to the USDA, and take a farmer and a scientist with us to explain the serious concerns regarding plant diseases and livestock infertility associated with Roundup Ready corn and soybeans that have already caused farmers serious economic harm.

Pitch in $25 here to help deliver your message to Washington DC:

http://fdn.actionkit.com/go/372?ak_proof=1&akid=.264989.opwIkH&t=15&akid=318.197662.ucX1Ab

Please join us in telling the administration and the USDA to halt the sale and planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa immediately until independent scientific research can be completed. Let this administration know that we demand that they determine the safety of genetic engineering of our food before we eat it and feed it our families.

We are committed to this fight now, more than ever - please join us. Together, our voices will create the future we deserve.

Thank you for participating in food democracy-

Dave, Lisa and the Food Democracy Now! Team

On January 17, internationally recognized plant pathologist Dr. Don Huber, wrote a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack warning of the discovery of a new pathogen and a possible link between Roundup Ready® (GMO) corn and soybeans and severe reproductive problems in livestock as well as widespread crop failure.

Less than 3 weeks later, the Obama administration approved 2 new Roundup Ready® GMO crops, set to be planted this spring... Read on about Dr. Huber's discovery. If it gives you pause, sign our petition to ask Secretary Vilsack to stop these seeds from being planted until further research is done.

Roundup Ready® seeds are genetically engineered to be resistant to Monsanto’s top selling weed killer Roundup, which is made up of Glyphosate and a trademarked formula of component chemicals. In 2007, more than 185 million pounds of Glyphosate were sprayed on America's soils and crops and that amount has only continued to rise as more weeds develop resistance to Glyphosate. [+]

SEE VIDEO

Recently a team of top U.S. scientists discovered an organism associated with this rise in plant diseases in Roundup Ready® corn and soybeans which form the foundation for animal livestock feed in the U.S. The organism is observable only by an electron microscope, and was previously unknown to science. [+]

SEE VIDEO

In response to the published and emerging science, Dr. Huber wrote a letter to Secretary Vilsack asking him to delay his decision to approve Roundup Ready® alfalfa expressing his grave concerns about the long-term implications of more Roundup Ready® crops on the market. [+]

SEE VIDEO

A growing body of scientific evidence has shown that the overuse of Roundup and Glyphosate has created severe micronutrient deficiencies in the soil and plants causing an epidemic of diseases, such as Goss's Wilt on Roundup Ready® corn and Sudden Death Syndrome in Roundup Ready® soybeans. [+]

SEE VIDEO

This new organism, along with nutritional deficiencies in the Roundup Ready GMO corn and soybean feed, has been associated with a sharp rise in animal infertility including a 20% failure to conceive rate among cattle and hogs and up to a 45% rate of spontaneous abortions within cattle and dairy operations. [+]

SEE VIDEO

Who is dr. don M. Huber?

For 50 years, he's been a scientist studying plant diseases in the U.S. and around the world and spent 35 years at Purdue University as Professor Emeritus of plant pathology.

He has a 41-year military career as a retired Colonel, evaluating natural and manmade biological threats, including germ warfare and disease outbreaks.

He coordinates the “Emergent Diseases and Pathogens Committee” as part of the USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System under Homeland Security.

View the full video interview with Dr. Huber here

Did you know...

In 2010, more than 365 million acres were planted worldwide with genetically engineered (GMO) seeds.

The U.S. leads the world with more than 165 million acres of GMO crops, mostly Roundup Ready® crops.

Monsanto owns patents on the genes of more than 93% of soybeans, 80% of corn, and 95% of sugar beets planted in the U.S. -- all genetically modified to be resistant to the weed killer Roundup.

In 2007, more than 185,000,000 lbs. of Roundup were applied to U.S. crops, the year the Bush administration halted reporting of the herbicide's application rates.

In 1992, U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle announced that GMO foods would not be "hampered by unnecessary regulation", freeing Monsanto of the burden of independent testing or labeling of GMO foods for the American public.

Are you eating GMOs?

Tell the Obama administration to stop the planting of GMO alfalfa & sugar beets

Tell the Obama Administration to Stop the Planting of GMO Alfalfa & Sugar Beets

Dear President Obama and Secretary Vilsack,

I urge that you halt the sale and planting of Monsanto’s recently approved Roundup Ready® GMO alfalfa and sugar beets until independent, peer-reviewed studies can be conducted to determine whether or not these products pose a threat to plant, animal and human health.

On January 17 of this year, Dr. Don Huber, an internationally recognized plant pathologist, wrote Secretary Vilsack an urgent letter warning of a credible threat to animal and human health and our food supply. The letter warned of a link between Roundup Ready GMO crops, the use of the herbicide Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) and serious plant diseases and animal infertility and abortions.

Dr. Huber’s letter detailed the discovery of an organism previously unknown to science by a team of U.S. scientists that had been linked to alarming levels of infertility and spontaneous abortions in livestock. The organism has been found in high concentrations in Roundup Ready corn and soybean meal and distillers grain fed to these animals, resulting in infertility rates as high as 20% and spontaneous abortion rates as high as 45% in cattle herds.

Unfortunately, the administration and USDA have failed to heed this warning and properly respond, despite serious and credible concerns laid out in his letter. Rather than proceed with caution after receiving such alarming information, the Obama administration chose to bow to pressure from vested interests in the agriculture industry and fully deregulate Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® alfalfa and sugar beets less than 3 weeks after receiving Dr. Huber’s letter.

As a result of this failure to conduct due diligence, the decision to deregulate these crops should be reversed, and the White House and the USDA should impose a moratorium on the sale and planting of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready alfalfa and sugar beet seeds until independent studies have been conducted documenting their safety.

Furthermore, the practice of allowing Monsanto and other companies to provide internal, corporate-funded studies, while interfering with and intimidating independent scientists and researchers, must end.

It is vital to the future of our democracy and the safety of American citizens that scientists and governmental agencies conduct and review independent scientific studies on the environmental, animal and human health implications of genetically modified crops and foods.

Read the full letter

An Ugent Appeal From Food Democracy Now!

2011-05-04T19:00:00Z

Tell President Obama & Secretary Vilsack to halt the planting of Monsanto's GMO alfalfa and sugar beets.

Dear Lisa,

On January 17, 2011, Dr. Don Huber, an internationally-recognized plant pathologist and Professor Emeritus at Purdue University, sent a private letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warning him of a serious problem facing U.S. agriculture. This letter, marked “CONFIDENTIAL and URGENT”, warned Secretary Vilsack of a previously unknown pathogen, “new to science” that “should be treated as an emergency”. ¹

Huber’s letter discussed the new pathogen in the most dire terms, saying that the findings of this team of top scientists had already discovered a link between the new pathogen and the steady rise of plant diseases in Roundup Ready corn and soybean crops and in association with high rates of infertility and spontaneous abortion rates of 45% of cattle and dairy herds consuming feed that had been treated with the number one selling weed killer Roundup.²

Huber warned Secretary Vilsack that the discovery of the new pathogen was “highly sensitive information that could result in a collapse of U.S. soy and corn export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies.”

On Feb 4th we saw Dr. Huber speak to a room of 200 commodity corn and soybean farmers in Des Moines, Iowa about the problems of Roundup that they were seeing in their fields. When the letter leaked on the internet, we decided to investigate and Dr. Huber agreed to go on camera to let the American people know about this real threat to our food supply.

Watch Dr. Huber explain the science and find out why he was so concerned about the approval of GMO alfalfa:

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/371?akid=314.197662.4zbv_p&t=7

In the letter, Huber requested assistance from the USDA and other federal agencies to help complete these scientific findings and urged Secretary Vilsack to delay the approval of any more genetically engineered Roundup Ready crops. The USDA chose to ignore this warning, and less than three weeks later, approved two new GMO crops, including Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa (the primary grazing feed for US meat and dairy cows) and sugar beets.⁴

Earlier this spring, Food Democracy Now! caught up with Dr. Huber to investigate these new findings and uncover the latest science behind this threat to our food supply. We were greatly alarmed by what we learned and appreciated Dr. Huber’s courage in coming forward to warn the Obama administration about this credible and serious threat to the livelihoods of farmers, animal livestock and our global food supply.

It’s planting season now. If these new Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa seeds go in the ground, there will be little hope of preventing contamination of all alfalfa, as scientists and experts have warned. This puts the number one forage crop at risk, placing the majority of America’s food supply, livestock, and ultimately our families' health at risk.

We have drafted a letter to President Obama and Sec. Vilsack asking them to suspend the sale and planting of Monstanto’s Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa and sugar beet seeds until further research can be done. Will you sign on?

Sign the letter:

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/370?akid=314.197662.4zbv_p&t=9

If we can get 50,000 co-signers, we’ll fly out to DC ourselves and deliver the letter. We’ll show Secretary Vilsack photos of affected plants and livestock, and ask him directly how he can justify letting planting go ahead while these serious questions are unanswered.

And if we can raise just $2,000 for travel, we’ll fly an affected farmer out with us, so Secretary Vilsack has to look him in the eye and explain to him the decision to approve more Roundup Ready crops in light of the stark concerns with plant diseases and livestock infertility that have already caused farmers serious economic harm.

Pitch in $25 here to help fly an affected farmer out to Washington DC:

http://fdn.actionkit.com/go/372?akid=314.197662.4zbv_p&t=12

This immediate crisis around Roundup Ready GMO alfalfa and sugar beet seeds, while alarming, is an opportunity for us, working together, to hold the Obama Administration accountable for not putting the safety of America’s farms and families ahead of Monsanto’s corporate interest. This can be an important step toward the long-term goal of reforming US agriculture policy so it favors building a sustainable food system that protects our natural environment, sustains farmers and nourishes families.

We are committed to this fight now, more than ever - please join us. Together, our voices will create the future we need.

Thank you for participating in food democracy-

Dave, Lisa and the Food Democracy Now! Team

Sources:

1."Senior Plant Pathologist Warns Secretary Vilsack of Discovery of New Organism, Threat to U.S. Agriculture", Food Democracy Now! February 27, 2011.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/365?akid=314.197662.4zbv_p&t=14

2. "Monsanto - Statement About Alleged Plant Pathogen Potentially Associated with Roundup Ready Crops", Monsanto, February 22, 2011.

3."Scientist Warns of Safety of Monsanto's Roundup", Reuters, February 24, 2011.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/368?akid=314.197662.4zbv_p&t=16

4. "U.S. Approves Genetically Modified Alfalfa", New York Times, January 27, 2011.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/366?akid=314.197662.4zbv_p&t=18

Can you help?

2010-11-29T03:52:00Z

Wildfire is seeking sponsors for local projects!

Immediate needs include:

White 4-door truck or SUV to transport and deliver 'Going and Growing' garden projects between farm and participants and for the Youth To Youth art collaborative project.

Digital Camera to photograph all aspects of projects and development.

Please contact Lisa at 831.277.1189.

THANK YOU

2010-05-11T07:58:06Z

THANK YOU BSIM RUNNERS AND THEIR GENEROUS SUPPORTERS! YOU MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE, REALLY!

A huge thank you to the amazing Sally at the Big Sur International Marathon for keeping track of so many things for the marathon and for the community and all it reaches. Three Marathoners raised funds for Wildfire and we are very grateful as these gifts are the first since our early grant from the Arts Council for Monterey County.

If you would like to run and run for Wildfire will you please contact Wildfire at info@knowgivego.org so we can be in touch with you. You can also sign our guestbook with your inquiry.

Our organization turned 3 in March and we are finally able to survey the land from a standing and running position like many other 3 year olds!

Our big news is a trip in the planning to Ethiopia. Our runners raised hundreds though not a thousand so the team will be ONE person unless we can increase our reach with a bit more support soon.

Please keep in touch and look for more information regarding the planning process and the collaborative creative project.

As always thank you for your prayers and support!

L