Vermont Defies Monsanto, And They Want To Sue The State!

 

While GMO's are illegal in a number of countries, including Mexico, Poland and France, in our country the Big Corporations are going to take the state of Vermont to court (and if they win, presumably the taxpayers themselves can Pay Monsanto Even More Money)................for insisting on the right to let people know what's in their food, and labeling products GMO if they are.  Just think:  you can not only be NOT ALLOWED to know if you're eating GMO corn, or salmon, but you can end up paying taxes to reimburse Monsanto, Bayer, and other corporations for any profits they may have lost as a result of people not wishing to purchase their products.

Support Vermont, and support what's left of democracy.

IN VERMONT, the GMO battle between the people and corporate greed rages on. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed GMO Labeling Bill H.112 into law 2 days ago. But the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), made up of companies like Kellogg's, Nestlé and Monsanto, seems to be allergic to the democratic process - and fearing that consumers will reject genetically engineered foods - has announced that it will sue Vermont to overturn the law. This suit is in addition to their attempts at the federal level to outlaw states' rights to pass laws mandating GMO labeling.

Vermont vows to fight. And you can help. The state has created Food Fight Fund VT to accept donations from anyone who wishes to help VT implement and administer its new law, and mount a powerful defense against the GMA lawsuit. Learn more and donate here: http://www.foodfightfundvt.org/

READ: http://www.liattorney.com/scales-of-justice.html
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/08/vermont-first-us-state-gm-labelling-food
‪#‎Vermont‬ ‪#‎VT‬ ‪#‎H112‬ ‪#‎PeterShumlin‬ ‪#‎ItsLaw‬ ‪#‎VTRightToKnowGMOs‬ ‪#‎gmo‬ ‪#‎labelgmos‬ ‪#‎GMA‬ ‪#‎FoodFightFundVT‬ ‪#‎NeedToKnowGMO‬ ‪#‎gmofreecanada‬ ‪#‎gmofreeusa‬

Show at Newburgh Healing Arts Center, & Film "The World According to Monsanto" this Weekend

 

I'm delighted to be able to share the paintings from my Rainbow Bridge Oracle, as well as some of the "NUMINA - Masks for the Elemental Powers" collection at the Studio at 75 Broadway in Newburgh, New York this weekend.

Tomorrow, August 9th,  I will be reading from my Deck at the Gallery.  The Opening and Reception is from 6:00 to 8:00 on Saturday, August 10th, and will be followed by a performance of masks in the upstairs Gallery.  If you are in the area, please come join Lisa Gervais, Holly Boughton-McPhee,  and myself for a lovely evening!

 

 

Born innocent, one
- that’s I- strives hard to become
an adult, no longer childish,
worldly-wise in one’s art, one’s love,
one’s life…

Then discovers:
that no one ever becomes an adult,
becomes either delightfully childlike
or pitifully juvenile…

Discovers:
one’s art to be outside the art game
one’s faith outside the religious game
one’s love outside the sex game

Discovers:
one’s own little song and dares to sing it
in all variations, unsuited as it may be
for mass communication…

For perhaps here and there
someone will hear it
and listen and know
and say

Ah! Yes!

Frederick Franck
Art as a Way: A Return to the Spiritual Roots

On Sunday, August 11 at  6:30 at Newburgh Brewing, 88 Colden Street, Newburgh, N.Y. 12550,  we will be introducing the documentary THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO,  a 2008 film directed by Marie-Monique Robin. Originally released in French as Le monde selon Monsanto, the film is based on Robin's three-year long investigation into the corporate practices around the world of the United States multinational corporation, Monsanto. The World According to Monsanto is also a book written by Marie-Monique Robin, winner of the Rachel Carson Prize (a Norwegian prize for female environmentalists), which has been translated into many languages.

 *** And if you can't be there, you can see the film for free at:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-world-according-to-monsanto/

One Man, One Cow, One Planet

http://www.onemanonecow.com

/
 It's very important now to find hope, and there are heroes all over the place, I've found, people doing great things for both the present and the future, and yet you rarely hear of them.  New Zealander  Peter Proctor and his wife are such Heroes, quietly creating a revolution with biodymanic agriculture.  As we face the consequences of big business farming and an unsustainable future, here is another movie that is freely available, and very important.  

What they have to say: 

"What does an environmentally friendly biodynamic food system  actually look like? Here's  a blueprint for a post-industrial future.  The outcome of the battle for agricultural control in India may just dictate the future of the earth.  Our existence on this planet is precarious. Desertification, water scarcity, toxic cocktails of agricultural chemicals pervading our food chains, ocean ecosystem collapse, gmo, soil erosion and massive loss of soil fertility. Our ecosystems ore overwhelmed. Humanity's increasing demands are exceeding the Earth's carrying capacity.

Modern agriculture causes topsoil to be eroded at 3 million tons per hour. (that’s 26 billion tons a year)- Human mass is replacing biomass and other species. The carrying capacity of the earth is almost spent.  The mantra of free trade has failed the world’s poor. There is a better way.

Biodynamic agriculture may be the only answer we have left."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y1xMauClzU

A Farm Bill Only Monsanto Could Love

Farmer spraying his crops. (photo: AP)

I felt this article was important to share.More proof that lobbying really does work, and if they have their way we'll not only eat "Frankenstein" foods, but we'll not be free to demand that they be labeled so we at least know what we're putting on the plate.(Thanks to Janie Rezner for this article). 

A Farm Bill Only Monsanto Could Love

By Corey Hill, Yes! Magazine

05 October 12

Three provisions in the bill would make it more difficult to regulate the safety of genetically modified crops. Consumers fight back with a flurry of organizing.

idden among the cluttered news cycle of this election season is a crucial debate about genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

September 30 marked the expiration of the 2007 Farm Bill, and the 2012 replacement is now sitting in the House of Representatives. It is unlikely that Congress will vote on the bill until after the elections, so food-safety advocates are ramping up their outreach efforts around this issue in advance of any decision.

What's the big deal with the new bill? Most importantly, the House version of the 2012 Farm Bill contains three industry-friendly provisions, numbered 10011, 10013, and 10014. Collectively, they have come to be known as the "Monsanto Rider," and the name is entirely appropriate. If passed, this bill would make it more difficult to stem the tide of GMO foods hitting store shelves.

These three provisions in the 2012 Farm Bill would grant regulatory powers solely to the United States Department of Agriculture, preventing other federal agencies from reviewing GMO applications and preventing the USDA from accepting outside money for further study. The bill would also shorten the deadline for approval to one year, with an optional 180-day extension.

And here's the kicker: the approval time bomb. If the USDA misses the truncated review deadline, the GMO in question is granted automatic approval.

Though the average time for approval of GMO applications is now three years, the USDA has never denied a single one. Environmental activists currently have the ability to delay introduction of an iffy crop by keeping approval held up for months at a time pending further review. If the 2012 Farm Bill is approved with the Monsanto Rider, this tool is removed from the arsenal.

Food-safety advocates like the Organic Consumer Association point to polling that shows nine out of ten American consumers want GMO labeling, and to the strength of the organizing in favor of GMO labeling through California's Proposition 37 ballot initiative. The Organic Consumers Association and allied organizations like the Center for Food Safety are calling upon their membership base to let their elected officials know where they stand on this issue, through phone calls, letter writing, and protest.

"People understand that the GMO foods entering our food supply have not been safety tested," said Alexis Baden-Mayer, Political Director at the Organic Consumers Association. "There isn't enough science backing them, and people want to know when food is genetically engineered. That opinion is very strong, and hopefully members of congress will be paying attention to the widespread opposition, and they'll connect with voters. Hopefully, they'll understand that [voters] matter more than the campaign donors."