Environmental for Food Justice

  Moderator’s note: In 2005, in a widely-noted move, Monsanto acquired Seminis , a seed company that at the time controlled 40 percent of the U.S. vegetable seed market and 20 percent of the world market. Reports from the Organic Seed Alliance at the time found that this acquisition gave the Gene Giant control of 55 percent of the lettuce on U.S. supermarket shelves, 75 percent of the tomatoes, and 85 percent of the peppers, with strong holdings in beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, broccoli, cabbage, spinach and peas. In a more recent report issued last year by the Center for Food Safety and Save Our Seeds ( 2013:2 ), the top three agricultural biotechnology corporations – Monsanto, DuPont, and Syngenta – were found to control 53 percent of the global commercial seed market. This is the agricultural equivalent of a monopoly in biopower. It is worth noting that the proponents of GE crops champion adoption of the technology as an economic panacea for all that ails the profit-hungry i...

Regenerating rainforest soils. Photo courtesy of: Rain Forest Healing Center Moderator’s Note: As a biodynamic farmer, I am interested in soil conservation but I am also even more so dedicated to soil regeneration . There is a substantial difference between the two and I hope the principles of regenerative agriculture will become clearer as we share knowledge, beliefs, and practices over the coming year which the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has declared as The International Year of Soils . Yesterday,  December 5, was designated as the International Day of Soils, launching a yearlong global initiative focused on protecting and nurturing one of the most vital of all elements in our planetary life support systems. The Biosafety Alliance is launching a parallel campaign focused on the theme of “Soil Not Oil”. I am posting the announcement of this important initiative and encourage my readers and followers to tune-in to the campaign activities outlined below...