PLANET IN PERIL

by Max Ajl - Solve Climate - Sep 22nd, 2009 The future is now. What used to be scientific predictions of climate change are now upon us. This makes a major switch to organics even more urgent...

Last Updated: Friday, August 7, 2009 - CBC The City of Winnipeg has begun treating American Elm trees on private and public property with the chemical Dursban to control elm bark beetles, the carriers of Dutch Elm Disease. Click headline for more. Eds. Note - Nine years ago, (2000), after the most extensive assessment of any chemical in its history, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided that Dursban may be more dangerous to people than once believed. It removed use of the pesticide, also known as chlorpyrifos, from products sold over-the-counter there. A "sister" pesticide, Lorsban, containing the same active ingredient and with similar chemical properties, became a nightmare for a Manitoba family when it was sprayed on a nearby crop. l.p.

* Press Release Organic Consumers Association, July 30, 2009 Straight to the Source CONTACT: Ronnie Cummins/Alexis Baden-Mayer Click headline for more.

By Marion Nestle, Huffington Post. Posted August 4, 2009. When it comes to nutritional value the study says no -- but the research fails to look at pesticides, the environment and animal welfare. Click headline for more. Photo by L.P.

Please read comment & links after this story. Manitoba C0-Operator 7/31/2009- An independent British review of organic foods compared to conventionally-grown foods has found "no important differences" in the nutritive content, or in any additional health benefits for organics. Photo by the Telegraph ============ COMMENT; Johanne said... Not everyone agrees that the FSA is so neutral in its study about organic food. The french coverage on Canada's national radio, Radio-Canada, left no doubt about the validity of this study. A little more reading from people who know better is very revealing: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1203343/JOANNA-BLYTHMAN-A-cancerous-conspiracy-poison-faith-organic-food.html http://www.theecologist.co.uk/News/news_analysis/295416/organic_food_fsa_study_leaves_bad_taste_in_the_mouth.html http://www.examiner.com/x-3975-Knoxville-Green-Living-Examiner~y2009m7d31-FSA-organic-food-report-is-misleading http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

by Alice McKeown/ July 23, 2009 - Worldwatch Institute Click headline for full story.

By Ari LeVaux, AlterNet. Posted July 9, 2009. Since Dean Foods acquired Silk it has ditched support of domestic organic farms. Click here for full story. ======= Editor's Note - I have been chided in past for suggesting that certifying bodies ought to deal harshly with large corporations when they step out of line. Please read this story and let me know if I am wrong. Let's boycott Silk! L.P.

The Co-Operator - submitted by Dave Bedard - 6/23/2009 Broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and spinach breeding will soon include a new player as U.S. seed and agriculture chemical firm Monsanto hooks up with Dole Fresh Vegetables for a five-year collaboration deal. Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Plant breeding will be used to improve the "nutrition, flavour, colour, texture, taste and aroma of these vegetables," the two companies said in a joint release Tuesday. The program will focus on those four specific vegetables, the companies said, and "any new products realized from this collaboration could be commercialized by Dole in North America." "The consumer wins because Dole's market knowledge combined with our research and development capabilities will help bring new healthy and flavourful products to consumers," said David Stark, vice-president of consumer traits at St. Louis-based Monsanto, in the release. Monsanto said its "agricultura

Jun 26,'09 By RICK CALLAHAN Associated Press Writer The organic dairy industry was thriving when Allen and Jean Moody bought a 200-acre Wisconsin dairy farm in 2006 and joined the ranks of farmers churning out milk raised without growth hormones, pesticides or other chemicals. Click on headline for full story.

By Ari LeVaux, AlterNet. Posted May 1, 2009. The first garden has spurred a race to plant flags on other high-profile plots and lay claim to various other gardening firsts. Read more here.

Martin Entz, pictured above, is a professor at the University of Manitoba's Department of Plant Science. In 1992 Martin Entz started growing crops in an un-Western way to prove to himself that it couldn’t be done. But after nearly 17 years of comparing organic and conventional agricultural practices at research farms around Winnipeg the plant scientist delightfully notes his assumptions were wrong. The Glenlea long-term organic/conventional crop rotation study is Canada’s oldest and it’s providing valuable insights into natural farming systems. A major finding pertains to soil health, specifically, the microorganisms living in it. (To re-cap from a first-year Biology course, over 95 per cent of vascular plants have fungi in their roots and this association benefits the plants in numerous ways.) In Year 13, graduate student Cathy Welsh, working with Entz and soil sciences’ Mario Tenuta, compared the plots’ fungal spore density and diversity – a hallmark of soil health, and indi