Tech talents trying to rethink farming

Nevermind kids’ games like “Farmville”, the folks who brought you the computer revolution have set their sights on transforming agriculture. They might make a lot of money doing it, but how much do they care about food quality, the sustainability of ecosystems, and decentralized politics of production? Perhaps only time will tell.

By Heather Somerville, San Jose Mercury News (TNS)

“TRACY, Calif. — Investors and entrepreneurs behind some of the world’s newest industries have started to put their money and tech talents into farming — the world’s oldest industry — with an audacious agenda: to make sure there is enough food for the 10 billion people expected to inhabit the planet by 2100, do it without destroying the world and make a pretty penny along the way.

Silicon Valley is pushing its way into every stage of the food-growing process, from tech tycoons buying up farmland to startups selling robots that work the fields to hackathons dedicated to building the next farming app.

That’s not Cricket, or is it?

“Cricket flour is made from slow roasted milled crickets, making a light brown flour that resembles brown sugar.

My grandfather was in the Air Force for 23 years and fought in three wars. He slid down tarps on the sides of mountains in Greenland, climbed on the wings of planes mid-air to conduct repairs, and always managed to come home not only alive and well, but with gifts for my grandmother.

The most amazing story he has to tell, however, is of his week-long survival mission when he and his fellow Airmen were dropped in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a few lard rations, left to survive on their own in the wilderness for one week. Think Carlton Cuse’s Lost, but with a rescue crew after seven days.

Canada’s Bill C-18 bad news for farmers as well as for all “persons” who eat food

“Persons” whose status as persons is purely legal (ie corporations) on the other hand may very well be in favour of this. But we elect our representatives to represent the living, breathing and eating kind of people. Thanks to the Green Party of Canada for warning us about this bill. From their news release:

OTTAWA – The Green Party of Canada is concerned that Bill C-18, the Agricultural Growth Act, which was debated for the first time on Monday, will actually restrict farmer’s ability to grow crops in Canada.

By forcing a stricter regime of intellectual property into the growing process in the form of Plant Breeders’ Rights, this bill will restrict the ability of farmers to engage in the age-old practices of saving, storing, cleaning, and treating their own seed.

“At a time when farmers are struggling, what this bill gives with the right hand is only a small piece of what it takes away with the left. It installs a very limited farmer’s privilege to store one year’s worth of seed only after taking away the currently implicit farmer’s privilege to store as much seed as they see fit,” explained Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Saanich–Gulf Islands.

New Zealand to be “Lord of the Seeds”?

From InvestmentWatchBlog.com:

New Zealand coat of arms via Wikipedia. Click image to go.

“I was shocked to learn from a friend on the weekend that a new Food Bill is being brought in here in New Zealand.  The new bill will make it a privilege and not a right to grow food.

I find two aspects of this bill alarming.  The first is the scope and impact the new bill has, and secondly that it has all happened so quietly.  There has been VERY little media coverage, on a bill which promises to jeopardise the future food security of the country.

Video of Dr. Thierry Vrain in Surrey; India’s own Monsanto Protection Act; GMO alfalfa comes to Canadian fields

Edited and compiled  by Raoul Bedi, BASc (www.biofield.ca ). This is a sampling of some important articles and campaigns in the world of anti-GMO activism during the month of June 2013. 

1. Dr. Thierry Vrain in Surrey, BC  – A Critique of GE Agriculture

By Tony Mitra

Dr. Thierry Vrain

Dr. Thierry Vrain visited Surrey, BC on June 5 to address the general public at the Northwood United Church. He made an hour long speech accompanied by  a powerpoint presentation projected on a large screen behind him. Thierry, in his soft and patient manner, untangles the long story of how  GMOs came to interest farmers on the promise of lowering labour for weed and pest control efforts, by replacing it with easily available and applicable pesticides, and also by using specialized genetically engineered crops that are either tolerant to specific pesticide/herbicides or produce toxins themselves, that would kill the pests without the need for additional pesticide. That, initially, worked like magic, and saved a lot of labour for the farmers. But, the gain proved to be short lived, while the damage and danger, turned out to be rather ominous for the health of  people as well as the sustainability of a biologically diverse ecology.

The illusion of nutrient dense foods

From the Soil to Sustenance blog:

““Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.“ – Hippocrates

In my wayward vegetarian days, before finding Weston A. Price and eventually Paleo, I ate my fair share of faux food:  soy ground beef crumbles, egg substitutes made from tofu, heart-healthy margarine, and my favorite, seitan (pure wheat gluten).  For those of you that don’t know what I am talking about, check out this 30 second “public service announcement” from Ron Swanson of NBC’s Parks and Recreation.

Most of us recognize the foods listed above as imitations, but what about locally purchased vegetables, eggs, and grass-fed meats?  Clearly these whole foods are leaps and bounds ahead of the imposters, but do they contain an abundance of vitamins and minerals as nature intended?  The answer, to a great extent, depends on the care and stewardship of the soil in which they were grown.

The Gene Revolution with Dr. Thierry Vrain; GMO Free Langley Shines

by Raoul Bedi, BASc

Dr.Vrain spoke about “The Future of Agriculture” at TED talks on May 23, 2013

A: Introduction

Building on the theme of collaboration and synergy, in the work of food security,  anti-GMO awareness and public education, through the examples of interviews (Vandana Shiva May 1, 2013), writings (Dr. Thierry Vrain’s May 23 GMO Dangers essay), podcasts, activism and rallies, I continue this process with a summary about the recent June 5 “Community Forum on GM Food” and lecture by retired GM Scientist Dr.Thierry Vrain  in Surrey BC that was sponsored by Phil Harrison, the Council of Canadians ( www.canadians.org ) and others.

Emcee Phil Harrison and Dr.Thierry Vrain fielding questions from the audience (Photo by Raoul Bedi http://www.biofield.ca). Click image for more photos from Surrey GMO forum.

Apart from disseminating the information shared with the audience by Dr. Vrain, it is also useful to provide some background on the organizational and activist elements involved, so that towns and regions across Canada may more easily and quickly replicate and build upon this work.

How the CFIA defines “local”, “natural”

Remember the story that was in the news April 2nd about that Alliston gourmet burger restaurant that ran afoul of the CFIA when someone apparently complained that their “advertised as local” burgers weren’t local enough. How was local described there?

“The CFIA has told him the term local can only be used if the product was manufactured, packaged or processed in the municipality where his business is located or its neighbouring municipalities, which in this case includes Adjala-Tosorontio, Essa, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Innisfil, King and Caledon….”

Doesn’t sound like a very definitive definition, does it? Not exactly something you could apply to any other situation or locality. Well now, at least, we’ve got a better definition from the CFIA. And it’s a very strict definition.

Report on the raw milk underground

Video below from Rachel Simone James. Story from Pacific Network TV.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/52815174]

“Amid the rhetoric and sharply drawn battle lines in the controversy over raw milk, it can be difficult to parse out the facts without getting mired in scientific jargon.  Used as a cure for a myriad of ailments around the turn of the century, only to disappear with the advent of pasteurization, raw milk is back in fashion, the result of growing interest in whole foods, sustainability and homesteading.  It is also extremely difficult to obtain, with sales restricted or illegal in most states.  In fact, in most of the United States, it’s easier to buy a gun than raw milk.

Backlash against western food — U.S. pork in Russia — Coca-cola in Bolivia

From Pakalert Press:

“On December 7, 2012 Russia’s Federal Agency for Agricultural Control, Rosselhohznadzor, banned the imports of meat containing ractopamine. This is a food additive that allows to reduce the content of fat in beef and pork. The drug is added to food so that animals grow the muscle mass instead of fat.

According to researchers, ractopamine affects the human cardiovascular system, and in some cases can cause food poisoning. This drug is banned for use in 160 countries, including China and Russia. It is allowed in 24 countries, including Canada and the United States. Codex Alimentarius of the World Health Organization, adopted in July 2012 in Rome by representatives of 186 countries, allows the contents of ractopamine in meat.