Tag Archives: gmo

bmtv102 Failure to Yield

The Union of Concerned Scientists put out a report recently which runs down the last decade of genetically modified crops. As you know thats a topic that greatly concerns this website; what genetically modified crops have done to and for the world.

Although GMO crops have only been in use for about a decade, the? report looks at this decade in terms of yield/production? as well as the impact these crops have had on the environment. The results, as you can read and hear about, are poor for a technology that is supposed to save the world from hunger. In fact, it turns out there are a few other methods that have proven far more productive than genetically modified crops.

In this video entry I go over the biggest conclusions of the report. I recommend you also have a look for yourself, don’t just take my word for it.

Omnivores Unite!

Its sunday and I’ve been throwing myself all over a frisbee field all day, so rather than doing deep research or extensive writing, I bring you a recommendation from my listening over the last few days.

Michael Pollan is an author that many of you recommended to me during the time I was focused on the soy industry, and over the last few months he has certainly made the rounds on the radio.? For the last few months I myself have been skipping around his book, the Omnivore’s Dilemna, going back and forth between chapters.

Pollan was a guest on Democracy Now last thursday and he gets into alot of important issues. Among them, genetically modified crops, high-fructose corn syrup, farm subsidies, swine flu, and the FDA.? Interestingly he points out that for the first time in a very long time, the FDA (food and drug regulator of the US government) is actually investigating food companies and enforcing rules on nutrition and production.

He also gets into a recent study on genetically modified food and production statistics that warrants a post and perhaps a video unto itself.? For now I simply recommend, if you’re concerned about what you and your children eat, and also concerned about how food producers are behaving, listen, read or watch this segment.

bmtv96 25C3 Talk Highlights

Just a collection of odd moments from my 25C3 talk. Don’t expect to learn too much, this is more the moments that I laughed at myself, which I thought to share with you.

Note: Full credit to the 25C3 video team who put out this video and I then chopped it up into this. Thanks my friends.

bm288 Genetically Modified Sugar

The things you may not have known about GMO sugar in your food.

Shifting Focus to Soy

Jetlagged and back in Amsterdam, I wanted to announce an issue that will be one of my primary focuses for the rest of the year. After a very good experience speaking about urban farming at the Last Hope Conference, where I received alot of enthusiastic and warm responses, I’m now looking to tackle something more difficult, that I feel warrants my attention as well as yours.

That topic is the soy industry.? You’ll recall the podcast a few months ago on Responsible Soy, which not only opened my eyes to alot of facts that I had not previously considered but gave me alot of leads as to who to talk to and what rocks to look under.? And when we’re talking about the soy industry, there are plenty of creatures players hiding under the preverbial rock.

From organizations to corporations, from trade unions to government agencies, from activists to scientists, I intend to look at how soy is grown, processed,? and ultimately distributed in your part of the world. Because this industry is much larger than I ever imagined and engaging in practices that have gone without sufficient criticism or scrutiny.

Besides podcasts, I hope to present this issue and my investigation at my most favorite annual gathering in December, the Chaos Communication Congress (25th edition this year).

Why make such an announcement? Because this site is not only dedicated to reporting and commentary, it is also a place where I can present ideas like a drawing board. Only this is a drawing board that is open to you the readers and listeners, where you can know and observe how these ideas develope and (should I be so lucky) you can also suggest tactics or ask questions that will become part of the process.

Visited ASeed

While much of Amsterdam was outside enjoying yes another day of sunny spring weather, I ventured over to the zoo neighborhood to visit with Nina at the ASeed offices.  Aseed is a nongovernmental organization that focuses on issues related to agriculture in Europe and throughout the world. My interest in meeting them today was to discuss the soy industry and what is going on in terms of who is doing most of the soy growing and what is its effect on the environment and society in general.

When I arrived at the building I realized it was a familiar squat (or former squat at this point) where I, in the past, had visited the wonderful artists of pipslab.  The kind of  building where the doorbells alone indicate that in this place, very creative, unique, and possibly crazy people- work. Naturally I felt welcome and most certainly in my kind of place.

Nina greeted me and led me into a large former auditorium of some sort, which let in lots of natural light, making it easier to see the large signs on the ground.  The signs were being prepared by the Aseed people for an upcoming summit in Bonn, which I’ll be watching for developments that I might bring to you.

From the 19th to the 30th of May, Bonn, Germany will host a global summit on biodiversity.  Though eventually 5,000 participants will make their way to Bonn, many activists, farmers, and concerned citizens will also be converging on Bonn.  The issue is as important as ever; fighting for the rights of small farmers versus the mammoth multinational agribusiness corporations, and questions surrounding genetically modified crops and food – the growing lobby at the EU level, and much more.

In my few hours at Aseed Nina did sit down with me and we recorded a podcast on the Soy industry.  She also informed me about alot of related topics which I hope to pursue in the coming weeks and months.  Look for the podcast at the end of the weekend.