Re: G.M.O. transfers
The was on our certifier's list: Biotech Firm Mishandled Corn in Iowa By Justin Gillis Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, November 14, 2002; Page E01 The biotechnology company that mishandled gene-altered corn in Nebraska did the same thing in Iowa, the government disclosed yesterday. Fearing that pollen from corn not approved for human consumption may have spread to nearby fields of ordinary corn, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered 155 acres of Iowa corn pulled up in September and incinerated. The disclosure raised new questions about the conduct of ProdiGene Inc., a company in College Station, Tex., that is now under investigation for allegedly violating government permits in two states. The ProdiGene matter is proving to be a black eye for the biotech industry, which has been trying to reassure the public it can be trusted not to contaminate the food supply. The new disclosure also is likely to have a political impact in Iowa, where politicians of both parties have been attacking a new industry-sponsored moratorium on planting genetically altered corn anywhere in the Midwest corn belt. The ProdiGene case is an example of the kind of breakdown that moratorium is meant to prevent. Both the government and environmental groups have long been keeping watch on ProdiGene, a small privately held company pushing aggressively to turn corn plants into mini-factories to produce protein-based pharmaceutical or industrial products. ProdiGene is the only company to have entered commercial production of such a protein, an enzyme called trypsin, and it is working on many others. In neither Nebraska nor Iowa did gene-altered corn, or soybeans growing in the same fields, enter the food supply, said Cindy Smith, acting head of biotechnology regulation for the USDA. It wasn't luck that inspectors caught the problems before any unapproved products entered the food supply, she said. It was planned luck. She made it clear the government considers the violations significant and is weighing serious penalties. In addition, she said, the department may consider revising its rules to lessen the chance of similar problems in the future. ProdiGene has acknowledged only compliance challenges, releasing few details. Anthony G. Laos, the company's president and chief executive, said in a statement last night that the Iowa situation had been fully resolved to the complete satisfaction of the U.S. government. Before the Iowa case was disclosed, environmental groups attacked USDA officials yesterday for their handling of a problem in which 500,000 bushels of Nebraska soybeans got mixed with a small number of genetically modified ProdiGene corn plants, calling the mixing a gross failure of the regulatory system designed to protect the food supply. Several groups assailed the government's refusal to identify the industrial or pharmaceutical protein that may have been contained in the corn. There is a genetically engineered pharmaceutical or industrial chemical that mistakenly entered into the grain supply, only one stop away from getting into our food, and the government isn't talking, said Matt Rand, biotechnology campaign manager for the National Environmental Trust. The public has the right to know what's going on. It was unclear yesterday whether the corn involved in the Iowa and Nebraska cases was the same variety, or whether they were different varieties designed to produce two different proteins. The USDA and the Food and Drug Administration have quarantined 500,000 bushels of soybeans at a grain warehouse in Aurora, Neb., while deciding what to do. About 500 bushels of soybeans, containing a small but detectable amount of leaves and stalks from gene-altered corn plants, were mixed into the 500,000 bushels, compromising the whole lot. USDA and FDA officials have said the beans probably will be destroyed or turned into fuel. In both the Iowa and Nebraska cases, ProdiGene, or farmers working for the company, grew test plots of gene-altered corn in 2001. Ordinary soybeans were planted in the same fields in 2002, but a few corn seeds left over from the year before sprouted. ProdiGene was required to ensure those corn plants were removed before they could contaminate the soybeans or spread pollen to nearby cornfields, but the company failed to do so, the government has said. In the Iowa case, the gene-altered corn may have been spreading pollen at the same time plants in nearby fields were receptive, raising the theoretical possibility that genes unapproved for human or animal consumption could have spread into ordinary field corn, the USDA said. Government inspectors therefore ordered that 155 acres of nearby corn be uprooted and burned.
Re:OFF (rights)
I'll admit to voting for democrats too. I'm especially itchy to vote for Max Cleland, our Georgia dem senator who voted against Bush's war. They are out to get him--smear tactics and real underhanded stuff like putting his phone numbers in their smear ads telling people to call him and protest his stance on a certain education bill so his phones will be tied up. There really aren't many Greens to vote for, but we need votes for Greens badly so we reach critical mass to gain automatic ballot access. Right now you have to vote Green by write-in. Not good. Well, enough said. How far will they--ulimately--go to keep a good DFL'er from being re-elected? Susan
Re: Shadow
Christy-- Markess is in Wisconsin, I believe, but that's just like being here in Minnesota--where it's also cold and cloudy. Sen. Wellstone was my beloved senator. He represented me--as I often said: Wellstone's MY man. Now I'll be borrowing Markess' wonderful Sen. Feingold. My first awareness of Paul Wellstone was when I used to work for a bankruptcy attorney during the farm crisis in the early '80's. The trustee was needed to handle all the farm bankruptcies. Paul Wellstone worked with a group called Groundswell. They protested at bank foreclosures and forced farm auctions. They made a difference and his popularity with farmers is legendary. The real farmers are REALLY sad. A lot of people are REALLY sad. Susan Are you in Minnesota? I just returned from a Sierra Club conference atC Kentucky State University Farm. Mark Ritchie (president of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy www.iatp.org) was the key note speaker the night of the plane crash. Of course he was a close personnel friend of the entire Wellstone family, and it made for an extremely touching lecture by Mark on the concepts of Sustainability and Survival as they relate to agriculture, environment and the future of this planet. I am sorry about this tragedy. Wendel Berry also spoke about the need for continuous dialog and redefinition, to keep the concepts such as organic and sustainability alive. In a personal converation, he told me, in response to concerns I have regarding our own KY Dept. of Ag Organic Certification Program falling apart as a result of the USDA impostion, that 'its got to be about Trust'. And in his talk (Wendel Berry) , gave a new definition for sustainable. 1)Nothing is wasted 2)Perenniality (of both landscape and the people on the land) 3)Diversity Christy My level of paranoia is nearly palpable with the loss of Well*stone. The shock is measurable though. I guess in comparison to the DC area folks at least in this case there is a feeling of culpability not just the unknown. There is a rhythm and a field however hard to divine. In Love Light Markess
Re: Insulin was Re: The Spurious Foundation of Genetic Engineering
Allan- Someone told me that INSULIN is or is derived from a GMO. Is that true? The insulin is made, I believe, like the GMO Bt that is stuck in corn. It allows the manufacturer to get a patent and make money off a natural product. Someone also told me that any plant bred by human selection, even if the normal plant organs are involved is technically a GMO. This is the argument university extension agents and high school ag teachers like to make when they aren't in the company of organic farmers, or so they think.They'll tell you spelt--or was it rye?--is GMO. I think it's unlikely that a bacterium would've mated with a grass or a fish with a tomato. People who say GMO's have been around forever are missing the point. Can someone fill me in, especially on the insulin thing? I think the insulin thing is arguably a practical matter. Large, identical quantities of insulin can be made in the lab using GE techniques, whereas the old method which I thought involved pig insulin would be much slower. Kind of a toss-up... Insulin from factory-farmed pigs or genetic engineering. Susan
Re: Demeter Non-profit - Not!
**In order to clear up any confusion, an organization or a company cannot have one without the other. You cannot declare yourself non-profit WITHOUT securing tax exempt status. The IRS likes to know about these things because that means they owe back taxes and penalties.** I don't think the above statement is true. Non-profit corporations are a name for a type of corporation, not a statement. Tax-exempt status is granted by the IRS to certain organizations that meet the requirements for charitable organizations. (See publication 557 from the IRS.) Because the tax-exempt status is difficult to receive, many non-profits set up a separate corporation for that purpose. In many circles, it usually is for educational purposes--even scholarships to universities. Susan
Re: From Greg Willis: Agri-Synthesis sprays
what is wrong with being bald anyway ? why not just deal and accept it ? ps what has reclaiming lost hairlines to do with BD ag. ?? Dreadlocked Gideon. Nothing wrong with being bald...as the song says. (Apologies to those unfortunates with hair.) Susan Bald Headed Men (the Live at the Cactus Cafe version) by Christine Lavin I don't like men who exaggerate About the places they've been about the money they make. I like a man who is honest and true, Who can look you in the eye when he talks to you. I like men who accept who they are, Not everbody can look like a movie star. If you can follow this thought to its logical end You can see why I like bald headed men... mmm, I like bald headed men. Everybody knows it's testosterone That turns a bushy haired man into a chrome dome. But testosterone is what makes a man, a man. The more that he's got, the more that he can Do the things that make the women go Oy! I'll take a bald headed man over a big haired boy. Big haired boys make very good friends, But they can not compare to bald headed men. I said it before, I'll say it again...I like bald headed men. Oh why'd you waste your money joining that hair club for guys. Why would you cover your manly badge of honor with such a bad disguise. Oh why'd you throw a way money on Rogaine and Minoxidyl, When all they can guarantee are years and years of pharmacy bills... Please don't do it I believe the hair replacement industry for men is like the cosmetic industry for women. A giant black hole that will just suck your money away for the rest of your lives... Please don't do it. No matter how you fight it, time marches on. Some new things appear, some old things are gone. Let 'em go, it's a natural thing, Like a leaf off a tree, like a bird on a wing. Try lookin' in a mirror from a whole different place: You're not losing hair, you're gaining face! Be confident, be cool, it won't be long when You are proud to be one of the bald headed men! I said it before, I'll say it again...I love bald headed men! John Malkovich...love 'im That guy on Star Trek the Next Generation...love 'im Michael Jordan...love 'im That guy that Fergie the Duchess of York has been going out with...No, no, no, no
Re: Preps via FedEx
Gloeckner Co. is in Harrison, NY. They sent this letter dated January 15, 2002, with their seeds, sent by UPS. The US Post Service has advised us that ALL MAIL PARCELS will be irradiated or subjected to some form of treatment to eliminate the possibilities of Anthrax contamination. . . . Because of the current situation we will not be sending or accepting returns of any seeds or plants sent via the US Post Office... All of my other seed orders have arrived by U.S. Mail without warnings (FEDCO, Johnny's, Park's). Seems like the key is proximity to DC and NYC? Susan Susan
Re: The Sustainable Label
I'm familiar with some of these groups. The Leopold Center is currently headed by (BD farmer) Fred Kirschenmann. They do good work. Practical Farmers of Iowa is an accurate term for their organization. The Food Alliance is an "eco-label" that isn't necessarily organic, but has some requirements that organics don't address (such as how employees are treated). The Midwest Food Alliance is just like The Food Alliance. Niman Ranch is a lot about animal welfare (no tail trimming or slats, I believe, plus natural requirements). --Susan PROPOSED PARTNERS:Wallace Foundation (Lewis, Iowa)Practical Farmers of IowaLeopold CenterThe Food Alliance (Portland, Oregon)The Midwest Food Alliance (Minnesota)Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land StewardshipNorth Central Institute for Sustainable SystemsNiman RanchIowa Department of Health PromotionIowa Department of Economic DevelopmentIDLESNow I haven't done any extensive research about these folks, but it's a good place to start in uncovering real motives. I bet this is a ploy to smell organic to consumers without being organic.Kermit
