biosolids
Someone had just posted an inquiry for info on use of biosolids (organic residuals from wastewater treatment). The URL below is to an article that just appeared locally on the use of biosolids in urban environments to reduce "bioavailability" of lead in soils. http://admin.urel.washington.edu/uweek/archives/issue/uweek_story_small.asp?id=899 ___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
Re: Ordo Templi Orientis and RS
The following references should corroborate Peter-R. Koenig's finding that Steiner had no involvement with OTO(http://www.cyberlink.ch/~koenig/steiner.htm) and shouldclarify Steiner's attitude even toward less controversial "Orders": Chapter XXXVI of Steiner's autobiography, and letters of that time to Marie Steiner-von Sivers dated 25th Nov. 1905 and 30th Nov 1905 (pp. 68 and 75 of Correspondence and Documents 1901-1925: Rudolf Steiner and Marie Steiner-von Sivers). ___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
Re: [globalnews] US Use of Depleted Uranium in Iraq, Kuwait, andelsewhere a horrendous warcrime
Title: FW: [globalnews] US Use of Depleted Uranium in Iraq, Kuwait, and elsewhere a horrendous warcrime I've not read this thread, so this may have been said already. I happened to catch snippets of that KUOW interview. Of interest, it seemed one interviewee's concern was as much or more for the straightforward chemical toxicity of uranium as for the radioactivity.___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA On Sun, 19 Jan 2003 13:42:17 -0500 "manfred" [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: In addition to this, here is an url dedicated to the illumination/clarification of the medical issues regarding DU: http://www.umrc.net/index.asp There was also an enlightening live radio interview in Seattle area early this week with the director of the umrc. ( a personal friend) and a less informed w.h.o. doctor. MD/S.P.I.N. www.kuow.org
Fw: Seeds of Life
Title: Seeds of Life - Forwarded Message - From: Dominique Guillet [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 20:18:39 +0100 Subject: Seeds of Life Association Kokopelli is a non profit organization devoted:- to the protection of vegetable and grain biodiversity, - to the production of organic seeds of heirloom vegetables and grains (planetary collection of 2 500 varieties) - and to the support of farmers in Third World countries (we gave 150 000 seed packets during the past 2 years in Africa, Asia and South-America) in the development of sustainable organic agriculture.We are happy to announce the opening of the English version of our web site (http://www.kokopelli.asso.fr/en/ ) and the publication of our book "The Seeds of Kokopelli". This book "The Seeds of Kokopelli" is hard-cover, large size with 440 pages (88 pages in colour). It is a very precise manual of production of seeds for home gardening and small farming as well as a very detailed presentation of our planetary collection. You may consult a few extracts of it in the "News" page of the web-site. (http://www.kokopelli.asso.fr/actu/actu_menu.cgi?lang=ang Thanks a lot to pass this information.Dominique Guillet.
Re: Kirschenmann speech
[snip] and integrates new knowledge into--junk science. It's a way of discrediting another person's basic belief system and rationalizing your own refusal to have a dialogue with that person. TO SAY NOTHING OF HAVING A DIALOGUE WITH NATURE, AS ENCOURAGED IN THE ESSAY BY STEVEN TALBOTT CITED NEAR THE END OF THE SPEECH (p.13). [snip] that professor. No. He probably gets dropped. Think about Velikovsky whose writings refuted the bases of many disciplines. He was not accepted at all by them, yet now...guess what? SCIENCE IS NONETHELESS THE SOCIAL VENTURE OF A SOCIETY OF EXPLORERS, A COMMUNITY OF SCIENTISTS (p.11). NOTICE THE CASE OF VALID EVIDENCE AGAINST RELATIVITY JUSTIFIABLY BEING IGNORED IN THE FACE OF EINSTEIN'S COMPELLING WORLD VIEW, AS POLANYI POINTED OUT IN HIS BOOK PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE, (SEE p.25 OF THE HAROLD L. DAVIS PAPER CITED ON p.11 BY KIRSCHENMANN). [snip] understand. In a nice way, he attacking the scientific basis of industrial agriculture. THE DAVIS PAPER CITED ON p.11 HAS A GREAT PASSAGE IN THIS REGARD: THIS BELIEF IS LIKE ANNOUNCING TO WALL STREET THAT THE PURSUIT OF FINANCIAL GAIN IS A MISTAKE AND IS WRECKING THE ECONOMY. ___ Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
Fw: Hillbillies Fight Back
The campaign below came across a local e-list. My reply follows: ** Mr. Leslie MoonvesCBS Television City7800 W Beverly BoulevardLos Angeles, CA 90036(323)575-2345[EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear Mr. Moonves, It is egregious that rural people should be made the butt of a situation comedy putting them in an urban environment. Their plight is largely at the expense of a food system geared for the benefit of the urban consumer (please read "The Unsettling of America" by rural agrarian, Wendell Berry). I'd suggest you rather put affluent urban folks in a situation comedy putting them in a rural environment. That might teach the nation!___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA ** The Center for Rural Strategies, based in Whitesburg, KY, is appealingfor nationwide help in stopping a proposed CBS Television program, "RealBeverly Hillbillies," that demeans rural people. Details on their campaign are available on the Center's website: http://www.ruralstrategies.org CBS plans to take a real family from rural America and put them ondisplay in a Beverly Hills mansion as part of a new reality-basedprogram. The producers of the so-called Real Beverly Hillbillies arelooking for a low-income, multigenerational family from a rural area tobe the real-life cast. They want a family with limited education andminimal exposure to travel. The joke is that this family won't know how to live with money,servants, modern appliances, prepared food, and other conveniences of21st century life. But lots of folks aren't laughing. Because CBS's show will ridicule andmock people based on stereotypes and economic status. You can help stop CBS and show the network that deriding rural peoplefor the sake of corporate profit is wrong.
Re: FW: CSA's
On Sun, 5 Jan 2003 14:20:48 -0500 Allan Balliett [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: [snip] Leigh- A lot of my concerns fall back to my belief in the inspired validity of 3-Fold Economics. I believe that farming has no place in the economic realm and has suffered tremendously because of efforts of both governments and farmers to put it in the economic realm. Intuitively, for me, farming is NOT a business and should have a different relationship with the community. This belief, of course, [snip] This was indeed a point stressed by Trauger Groh in a workshop at the November BDFGA conference. ___ Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
Joly to speak in Oregon Feb 15
For those on the west coast and who do not receive mailings from the BDFGA (this workshop doesn't appear to be posted on www.biodynamics.com calendar as yet): Nicolas Joly, proprietor of Coulee de Servant, Savennieres, France and author of Wine From Sky to Earth will be giving a workshop titled The Truth of a Place: Rebirth of the Appellation and Biodynamics, on Saturday, February 15, 2003, from 10:00 to 4:00 at Cooper Mountain Vinyards, 9480 SW Grabhorn Road, Beaverton Oregon. Fee $100 includes lunch Contact BDFGA 888.516.7797 ___ Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
Anthroposophy in print in Nature 12Dec02 vol. 420 p.611
Fancy this. I nearly fell off my chair. Came upon the word "Anthroposophy" in print in the journal Nature while reading a "concepts" article just out by Senior Editor Henry Gee which is denying that evolution is progressive. First some quotes of Gee's viewpoint: "It [evolution] is not a force, an entity separate from the materials on which it acts." "It is directionless with respect to history; if there is direction in evolution (perhaps biased by developmental constraint), it is not propelled by any inherent drive for improvement." "...mindless selection." Gee asks "So why, almost a century and a half after Darwin, do we still so readily accept this view of evolution as progressive?" He then answers "I blame nature philosophy, a remarkable movement that flowered in Germany in the eighteenth century, and whose adherents were both acutely scientific and breathlessly romantic at the same time." Gee then gives a dandy quote from Oken: " 'What is the animal kingdom other than an anatomized man, the macrocosm of the microcosm?' " [Anyone know source of that passage?] and moves on to Goethe. Then smack dab in the middle of the page, Gee writes: "Although nature philosophy is long dead, such sentiments still find ready acceptance among alternative or 'holistic' philosophies. Anthroposophy--the world view of twentieth-century philosopher Rudolf Steiner--draws heavily on Goethe, and a germ of nature philosophy survives, if buried, in every anti-scientific, anti-establishment eco-warrior." Not exactly a flattering presentation of anthroposophy. Yet, Gee does close his opinion piece thus: "Perhaps there is a nature philosopher in us all."___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
Re: WENDELL BERRY: The Agrarian Standard + FRESH AND LOCAL
And also in Western Washington, there is Puget Sound Fresh program: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/farms/___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA On Sun, 08 Dec 2002 14:08:30 -0800 BP Bell [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: G'day:In Washington state we have:: "From the Heart of Washington - support your local growers, buy Washington products."http://www.heartofwashington.com/pressroom/farmkt.htmlcontact:Pam PerryParsons Public Relations206-789-5668[EMAIL PROTECTED]Cheers, PenelopeHugh Lovel wrote: Fresh and Local! Anyone have a FRESH AND LOCAL initiative in their area? (LOCAL HERO is a similar program.) Dear Allan, This we have in Georgia. Contact Gary Brown of Georgia Grown, 770 786 1933 or cell 404 213 8470 Best, Hugh Visit our website at: www.unionag.org .
OT (1) Fw: [biotech_activists] ProdiGene CEO is an advisor to USAID!
- Forwarded message -- Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2002 15:35:21 -0600 Subject: [biotech_activists] ProdiGene CEO is an advisor to USAID! Biotech Activists ([EMAIL PROTECTED])Posted: 11/18/2002 By [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2002 11:58:40 -0500 From: ISE Biotechnology Project [EMAIL PROTECTED] AgProfile interview with Anthony G. Laos Anthony G. Laos, president and chief executive of ProdiGene, Inc. was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the Board for International Food and Agriculture Development (BIFAD). Mr. Laos will serve a four-year term, expiring on July 28, 2005. BIFAD, which consists of seven members all appointed by the President, provides advice to the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on international food issues such as agriculture and food security. BIFAD also assists and advises the U.S. Government Inter-Agency Working Group on Food Security in carrying out commitments made in the U.S. Country Paper for the November 1996 World Food Summit and on the Plan of Action agreed to at the summit. I am honored to be appointed to this position by President Bush, Laos says. I welcome the opportunity to work with my fellow colleagues in promoting USAID policy and increasing world food production. ProdiGene, headquartered in College Station, TX, is a private biotechnology company that is developing and manufacturing industrial and pharmaceutical proteins from a transgenic plant system. --- | Check out the neRAGE biotechnology news wire at | |http://www.neRAGE.org| --- | Institute for Social Ecology, Biotechnology Project | | Northeast Resistance Against Genetic Engineering| | 1118 Maple Hill Road| | Plainfield, VT 05667| | (802) 454-7138 | --- |[EMAIL PROTECTED] | www.neRAGE.org | --- How to Use this Mailing List You received this e-mail as a result of your registration on the biotech_activists mailing list. To unsubscribe, please send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message type: unsubscribe biotech_activists For a list of other commands and list options, please send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message type: help Please direct content questions about this list to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please direct technical questions about this service to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
OT (2) Fw: [biotech_activists] Monbiot: THE COVERT BIOTECH WAR
- Forwarded message -- Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 00:29:33 -0600 Subject: [biotech_activists] Monbiot: THE COVERT BIOTECH WAR Biotech Activists ([EMAIL PROTECTED])Posted: 11/19/2002 By [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,843103,00.html The Guardian (London) Tuesday November 19, 2002 by GEORGE MONBIOT The battle to put a corporate GM padlock on our foodchain is being fought on the net The president of Zambia is wrong. Genetically modified food is not, as far as we know, poison. While adequate safety tests have still to be conducted, there is as yet no compelling evidence that it is any worse for human health than conventional food. Given the choice with which the people of Zambia are now faced - starvation and eating GM - I would eat GM. The real problem with engineered crops, as this column has been pointing out for several years, is that they permit the big biotech companies to place a padlock on the food chain. By patenting the genes and all the technologies associated with them, the corporations are manoeuvring themselves into a position from which they can exercise complete control over what we eat. This has devastating implications for food security in poorer countries. This is the reason why these crops have been resisted so keenly by campaigners. The biotech companies have been experimenting with new means of overcoming their resistance. Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, all of which are suffering from the current famine, have been told by the US international development agency, USAID, that there is no option but to make use of GM crops from the United States. This is simply untrue. Between now and March, the region will need up to 2m tonnes of emergency food aid in the form of grain. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation says that there are 1.16m tonnes of exportable maize in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa. Europe, Brazil, India and China have surpluses and stockpiles running into many tens of millions of tonnes. Even in the US, more than 50% of the harvest has been kept GM-free. All the starving people in southern Africa, Ethiopia and the world's other hungry regions could be fed without the use of a single genetically modified grain. But the US is unique among major donors in that it gives its aid in kind, rather than in cash. The others pay the world food programme, which then buys supplies as locally as possible. This is cheaper and better for local economies. USAID, by contrast, insists on sending, where possible, only its own grain. As its website boasts, the principal beneficiary of America's foreign assistance programs has always been the United States. Close to 80% of the USAID contracts and grants go directly to American firms. Foreign assistance programs have helped create major markets for agricultural goods, created new markets for American industrial exports and meant hundreds of thousands of jobs for Americans. America's food aid programme provides a massive hidden subsidy to its farmers. But, as a recent report by Greenpeace shows, they are not the only beneficiaries. One of USAID's stated objectives is to integrate GM into local food systems. Earlier this year, it launched a $100m programme for bringing biotechnology to developing countries. USAID's training and awareness raising programmes will, its website reveals, provide companies such as Syngenta, Pioneer Hi-Bred and Monsanto with opportunities for technology transfer into the poor world. Monsanto, in turn, provides financial support for USAID. The famine will permit USAID to accelerate this strategy. It knows that some of the grain it exports to southern Africa will be planted by farmers for next year's harvest. Once contamination is widespread, the governments of those nations will no longer be able to sustain a ban on the technology. All that stands in the way of these plans is the resistance of local people and the protests of environment groups. For the past few years, Monsanto has been working on that. Six months ago, this column revealed that a fake citizen called Mary Murphy had been bombarding internet listservers with messages denouncing the scientists and environmentalists who were critical of GM crops. The computer from which some of these messages were sent belongs to a public relations company called Bivings, which works for Monsanto. The boss of Bivings wrote to the Guardian, fiercely denying that his company had been running covert campaigns. His head of online PR, however, admitted to the BBC's Newsnight that one of the messages came from someone working for Bivings or clients using our services. But Bivings denies any knowledge of the use of its computer for such a campaign. This admission prompted the researcher Jonathan Matthews, who first uncovered the story, to take another look at some of the emails which had attracted his attention. He
Re: VIDEO/DISCUSSION Groups\ ANOTHER VIDEO TO ADD
[Perhaps this was mentioned on this list a while ago?:] Sierra Club's Genetic Engineering Committee also may yet send gratis a 26 minute video entitled HEARTBREAK IN THE HEARTLAND: THE TRUE COST OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS. I don't see the video featured on their web site presently www.sierraclub.org/biotech/, but contact Laurel Hopwood mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Fri, 15 Nov 2002 08:21:33 -0800 Merla Barberie [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: [snip] I will be glad to make my copy of NOT FOR SALE available to you. I http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/nfs.html I think MY FATHER'S GARDEN should be in this too because it http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/mfg.html Bullfrog Films does have a great catalog and looks like a great resource one could even work with directly. Quite reasonable for 3 day rentals. Usually $45 and you pay insurance and return shipping. Discounts for teachers and grass-roots organizations. ___ Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
Re: 9/11 conspiracy \ Helliwell
Thanks, Steve, for answering my query. I thought maybe there was a Tanis Helliwell connection in what you wrote below about Van Gogh. I'd heard that this book refers to Steiner. However, having just read Helliwell's Summer with the Leprecauns (passage where leprecaun meets Steiner is on pp. 82-87), I feel that the phrase as per Steiner's instructions you use below must be qualified. The leprecaun tells Helliwell that he'd met a human in his realm who'd told him I've been talking with your elder scholars about getting together a group of elementals from all castes to work with humans. We are looking for ones who think for themselves and have curiosity and courage. Interested? At the end of the passage and chapter, the author calls to the leprecaun as he is disappearing in that scene Who was the human you met almost a hundred years ago?--Steiner. Rudolph Steiner, came the faint echo. That is the only reference to Steiner in the book. The Steiner-character gives no instructions to the elemental Kingdom in the book, as might be construed from the remarks below. You do preface your remark saying Heliwell, who claims to have communion with the elemental kingdom... She has elementals working as humans (eg Van Gogh) and humans working with elementals (eg herself). I get the inkling she may have heard of Rudolph via Jean Houston's work (she is one of the people acknowledged as having helped bring the book to fruition, but I am unfamiliar with any particulars of Houston's work myself) or some other secondary source. The leprecaun told Helliwell about Van Gogh. The leprecaun also takes Philippine psychic surgeons at face value (p.45). Certainly we work with the elementals. Indeed, Hugh Courtney's theme in this weekend's Biodynamic Conference was our aiding the awareness of the Christ in the realms of subnature through the use of the preps. Not to put you on the defensive, Steve, but for the sake of clarity, I just want to be sure that all understand that the above, and what is referred to below, comes strictly from Helliwell, not Steiner. ___ Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA On Tue, 12 Nov 2002 22:15:30 EST [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: face in the Sun. Van Gogh was an advanced being, a high level elemental incarnated in human form, he was experiencing the future, just look at his paintings. Well, in publications of Van Gogh's letters he spoke of this, I would have to research the particular letter for an exact date. In the Podolensky lectures he speaks of the way Van Gogh drew his plants, that they look like they are biodynamically grown. And Tanis Heliwell, who claims to have communion with the elemental kingdom, said that she has been told that Van Gogh was such, a high level elemental taken Human form, as per Steiner's instructions to the elemental Kingdom due to human neglect, so they may continue their evolution. The future; Christ in the etheric, look at his paintings, then lets talk again...SStorch
Re: FW: (a 9-11 reminder...) For the Michael Age
Not to diminish the value of these words,but just to set the record straight, I merely point out that--similar to the popular "Genius has boldness" verse attributed to Goethe--this verse has origins in Steiner's work, but is not actually directly from his pen or mouth as such. For those who are interested, I'll paste below exerpts from three emails that appeared on the anthropos-sciencelist this time last year that spelled this out. On Mon, 28 Oct 2002 09:55:14 -0500 Jane Sherry [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Subject: a 9-11 reminder... For the Michael Age We must eradicate from the soul All fear and terror of what comes towards Man Out of the future And we must acquire serenity In all feelings and sensations about the future We must look forward With absolute equanimity to everything that may come And we must think only that whatever comes Is given to us by a world directive full of wisdom It is part of what we must learn in this age, Namely to live out of pure trust Without any security in existence. Trust in that ever present help of the spiritual world. Truly, nothing else will do If our courage is not to fail us. And we must seek this awakening within Ourselves Every morning and every evening. Rudolph Steiner, from a lecture given in 1910 -- End of Forwarded Message [first exerpt] This "trust meditation" is one of several translations of several versions that are in circulation. The editors at the Rudolf Steiner Archive, however, have pointed out that none of these versions were ever given as such by Rudolf Steiner. They were created by unknown persons by patching together and modifying various passages from Steiner's lectures (or possibly from elsewhere). The first six lines in the above version, for example, are an abbreviated passage from Steiner's lecture "Cognition and Immortality" (Bremen, Nov. 27, 1910), which has been published only in the Archive newsletter (Beiträge zur Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe, #98, p. 10). The remaining lines come from the end of Emanuel Zeylmans' biography of his father, "Willem Zeylmans van Emmichoven. Ein Pionier der Anthroposophie" (Arlesheim 1979, p. 358). The son relates that at his father's death he found a slip of paper in his father's wallet with these lines, which supposedly came from Rudolf Steiner. Although this is entirely possible (Willem was a friend of Steiner's and became the General Secretary of the Dutch Anthroposophical Society), the editors at the Rudolf Steiner Archive have not been able to independently verify the source of these words.The foregoing facts do not necessarily affect the truth of the whole "verse," but readers should be aware that it was not given as such by Rudolf Steiner and that it therefore probably does not have the occult power inherent in Steiner's other meditative verses. [exerpt two] I think the reference everyone is looking for is 27th November 1919.Where Steiner said."First, however, everything that remains of the old will have to bereduced to nothingness. The clouds will have to gather round the humanbeing, and he will have to find his freedom - find his own power, hisown strength out of this nothingness. Outer material need will changeinto soul need, and out of this deep need of the soul will vision beborn.We must tear up by the roots every trace of fear and shrinking in faceof what the future threatens to bring to human beings. All our feelingabout the future must be permeated with calm and confidence. Absoluteequanimity in face of whatever the future may bring - that is what manhas to acquire, knowing as he does that everything that happens, happensunder an all-wise cosmic guidance.Our part is to do what is right in each moment as it comes - and toleave the rest to the future, That indeed is the lesson we have tolearn in our time, to base our lives on simple trust. without anysecurity of existence, to have trust in the ever-present help of thespiritual world. That is the only way for us if our courage is not tofail. Let us then set to work to discipline our will."(based on a translation by Mary Adams) [exerpt three] Steiner did not say this on Nov. 27, 1919; this is another amalgam of out of context passages. In this amalgam the first paragraph is extracted from the end of Steiner's lecture of Oct. 30, 1920 (GA 200, p. 120), which is published in English as lecture 6 of "The New Spirituality". The second paragraph is a different translation of the first paragraph of the "trust meditation" that I commented on earlier (the date is Nov. 27, 1910, not 1919). I don't know where the first sentence of the third paragraph comes from. The remainder of the last paragraph is a different (and incomplete) translation of the material from Emmichoven.___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
Fw: [wffr] Vinegar as weed killer
Not entirely coincidental I suppose, but this just showed up locally.___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA - Forwarded Message - From: Steven Garrett [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Washington Family Farm Resources" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 11:38:28 -0700 Subject: [wffr] Vinegar as weed killer USDA research shows vinegar as promising weed killer USDA's Agricultural Research Service scientists have evidence that vinegar may be a potent inexpensive and environmentally safe weed killer for use by farmers. Researcher Jay Radhakrishnan and colleagues in Beltsville, MD, found five- and ten-percent concentrations killed weeds during their first two weeks of life, with older plants requiring higher concentrations. Spot spraying of cornfields with 20 percent vinegar killed 80 to 100 percent of the weeds without harming the corn. Details: Don Comis ([EMAIL PROTECTED]).---You are currently subscribed to wffr as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Fw: [globalnews] 21 Year Swiss Study Shows Organic Farming Yields Ecological Benefits
I was just about to post a message about this one myself, having just downloaded the published paper itself yesterday. On Tue, 4 Jun 2002 11:07:53 -0400 "jsherry" [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Environmental News Service: Organic Farming Yields Fringe Benefits [snip] Besides examining conventional farming and organic farming, the authors also studied an organic approach called biodynamic farming, based the environmental and spiritual philosophies of its inventor, Rudolph Steiner. "also studied"! The abstract and text of the paper present biodynamic as the first of the two organic methods used and BIODYN appears first or top in all tables and figure legends. Throughout the paper the organic systems together are generally contrasted with the conventional systems, but the BIODYN system is often singled out: --"...the flux of phosphorus between the matrix and the soil solution was highest in the BIODYN system --"Soil microbial biomass increased in the order CONMINCONFYMBIOORGBIODYN" --"Between 28 and 34 carabid species were found in the BIODYN system, 26 to 29 species in the BIOORG system, and 22 to 26 species in the CONFYM system" --"One of the particularly remarkable findings...was a strong and significant increase in microbial diversity...in the order of CONMIN,CONFYMBIOORGBIODYN" --"The lower qCO2 [metabolic quotient; decreasing ratio of total respiration to total biomass indicating more mature community succession] in the organic systems, especially in the BIODYN system, indicates that these communities are able to use organic substances more for growth than for maintenance." --"Under controlled conditions, the diverse microbial community of the BIODYN soil decomposed more 14C-labeled plant material than the ones of the conventional soils" Finally, though not saying "biodynamic," the paper concludes with what is essentially the biodynamic picture: --"We conclude that organically manured, legume-based crop rotations utilizing organic fertilizers [sic] from the farm itself are a realistic alternative to conventional farming systems." appear in the journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 31 May 2002 Vol. 296, pp. 1694-1697 (news commentary p.1589 and online supplement with detailed description of the design of the trial) From the trial description supplement: The field experiment was set up "in the vicinity of Basle (at Therwil, Switzerland)". No indication whether the Goetheanum was involved. Against those who will dismiss the study as biased by special interest of organic and agroecology the research units (as I've already seen on Biotech Activist list), it should be pointed out that: "Farmer groups from the respective farming systems helped in designing the experiment and still are guiding the staff running the experiment. Plots are managed by both farmers and technicians." Importantly, it should be emphatically pointed out that the CONFYM system, using FarmYard Manure (FYM) with the addition of "mineral fertilizers up to the recommended level of the plant-specific Swiss standard recommendation," DID SO POORLY despite the presence of "the same amount of FYM as in the organic systems"! That should probably be presented as a strong indictment against mineral (i.e., NPK) fertilizers. Their addition, even in this limited amount, countered the potential benefits of the same amount of FYM! I dont think this is pointed out in the paper nor in the news commentary. It must also be pointed out that although the FYM used on each plot was equal in terms of "livestock units per hectare," it was not equal in terms of its treatment. Table S1 (of the supplement) does list the biodynamic preps and sprays used, but only describes the FYM treatments thus: BIODYN "composted FYM and slurry"; BIOORG "rotted FYM and aerated slurry"; CONFYM "stacked FYM and slurry." These treatments are not detailed. A more direct comparison of BIODYN and the other systems should probably have called for composted FYM (without preps, of course) in the other systems as well. It is not clear whether we can consider "rotted" and "stacked" equivalent to "composted." To some extent, the BIODYN advantage over BIOORG here might be due to composting per se.___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
Fw: [biotech_activists] Intl Campaign Touts High-Yield (biotech) Farming
FYI. ___ Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA - Forwarded message -- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 14:36:28 -0500 Subject: [biotech_activists] Intl Campaign Touts High-Yield (biotech) Farming Biotech Activists ([EMAIL PROTECTED])Posted: 05/01/2002 By [EMAIL PROTECTED] April 30, 2002 CONTACT: Alex Avery, Center for Global Food Issues, 540-337-6354 INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TOUTS HIGH-YIELD FARMING AND FORESTRY TO CONSERVE WILDLANDS Unique Coalition Says Growing more per acre will leave more land for nature Washington, DC, April 30, 2002 - The world will urgently need higher-yield farming and forestry to protect its wildlife habitats and wild species as demands for food, feed, timber and paper double in the 21st century. That message was endorsed today by a remarkably broad coalition of food, environmental, farming and forestry experts, including two Nobel Peace Prize laureates, who are inviting their colleagues worldwide to co-sign a declaration in favor of high-yield conservation. Growing more crops and tree per acre leaves more land for Nature, said Dr. Norman Borlaug, 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the declaration's kickoff press conference. We cannot choose between feeding malnourished children and saving endangered wild species. Without higher yields, peasant farmers will destroy the wildlands and species to keep their children from starving. Sustainably higher yields of crops and trees are the only visible way to save both. The declaration's founding signers include Borlaug; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias; Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore; 2001 World Food Prize winner Per Pinstrup-Andersen; Eugene Lapointe, President of the IWMC World Conservation Trust; James Lovelock, originator of the Gaia Hypothesis; and former U.S. Senator George McGovern, until recently U.S.Ambassador to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. The group also took out national ads in the Washington Post, Washington Times and Christian Science Monitor, to launch the global web-site signup for their Declaration in Support of Protecting Nature With High-yield Farming and Forestry at http://www.HighYieldConservation.org. World population growth is tapering off, but may still increase 50 percent from today's 6 billion people before it peaks. Couples worldwide are having fewer children, but they are also demanding high-quality diets for their kids and pets. Wood is the world's most environmentally friendly building material, and paper is a key to literacy, economic growth and lifestyle choices. Yet the world is already farming 37 percent of its land area, and the wild forests are what are left over after humans harvest their food and forest products. The Declaration signers recommend advances in biology, ecology, chemistry and technology, to boost yields wherever this can be sustainably achieved. They note that billions of people will be living in or near the Third World forests that are home to three-fourths of the world's species; without higher yields on their marginal lands, they would have to exploit the wildlands. High-tech farming and tree planting on the world's best soils will be needed to supply food and forest product imports to densely-populated countries such as China and India. Right now, too many environmental groups are pushing low-yielding, low-input systems -- such as organic farming -- in the belief that environmental purity is the primary goal, warned Dr. Borlaug. But what good is pure farming if it takes over all of the planet's land area? We need a balance of responsible, high-yielding technologies on our farms so we can produce the food we need and leave more of the natural landscape for wildlife. Dr. Patrick Moore, a founder and former Director of Greenpeace, echoed these points adding that high yields are as important in forestry as in farming. Managed forests and high-yield tree plantations can produce up to 20 times as much timber as the same area of natural forest, stated Dr. Moore. This helps reduce the pressures on the world's remaining natural forests. Forests contain the majority of the world's species, so practices that reduce the area of forest used for both forestry and agriculture make a positive contribution to protecting biodiversity. For more information, and to read the growing list of supporters, please visit http://www.HighYieldConservation.org.
Re: CEC Balancing
surely knows this as he earned a doctorate in agriculture at Pulman University in eastern Washington state. That's a very good ag college, I might add. Correction for accuracy: that's Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. I believe Walter's degree advisor was John Reganold, lead author in the paper in the weekly magazine Science a few years back comparing biodynamic and conventional fields in New Zealand.___Barry Lia \ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ Seattle WA
