Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

It is more than that- if Monsanto is buying up their competition-as in the other seed companies and if all the seeds are patented, then the only game in town will be Monsanto and if all seeds are GE, the plants produced can't be used for seeds- they would be unreliable at best and illegal to use at worst or even modified not to grow from second gen seeds.

And I agree wholeheatedly about diseases being able to cross over. We all have a basic set of genes across the board, from bacteria to humans but it is our differences that protect us. What would happen if humans contracted blight or any other plant disease?- it may sound like science fiction but what they're doing already is science fiction turned reality. Do we really need pig's noses to glow in the dark, two headed dogs or eyes on the backs of mice (stem cell research) or pig's with human compatable blood?

One of the other great threats that has not been addressed is the loss of diversification, which I am a huge advocate of diversity on all levels, not just plants and animals but also in business and personal finances.
If every dairy cow is genetically related and a disease targets that strain, it would wipe out all the cows. A lot of our dairy cows are already related, due to the ease of AI breeding. Outstanding bulls are used over and over again and males, more than females, concentrate genetic material in more offspring because of sheer numbers.
That may sound extreme but I raised dogs for about 20 years and got heavily into the genetics end of it. There are many breeds of dogs that have genetic, breeding or behavioral problems related specifically to a certain breed. As an example, all bulldogs must be IA'd to reproduce- the males are now so misconfigured that they can no longer mount the females and breed on their own. On top of that, almost all female bulldogs must have C-sections for two reasons, the heads of the puppies are too large to be born normally and the mothers can't turn around to remove the abiotic sacs from their puppies that are born naturally.
Hip displasia, luxating patellas, respirtory breathing problems, aggression, nuerotic behavior, alopecia, and a host of other issues- all of these are man made problems from concentrated breeding.
We haven't learned our lessons from the dog world and as you can see some of these problems are life-threatening to the animals, what will happen when all of our food plants and animals are equally tampered with?

This is what I think about it and quite frankly..

Problems is the masses just roll with it so the only sure change is my own produce.

Im joining a seed club and saving what I can. So far it hard to find anything thats not a hybrid.

well lots of plants cross pollinate, how do you stop that happening other than manually doing it yourself?

I just let the bumble bees and the honey bees do their job. I do think I need to hand pollinate some cucumbers as they don't produce as much as I think they should.

cukes always perform better with hand pollination, but then in the city here we don't have many bees, any bumblebees but still have European wasps to kill any bees that set up shop

Lessons from NAFTA: Food and Agriculture

To understand NAFTA’s effect on all three countries, one need only look at the mobilizations in the streets of Mexico over job losses in the countryside and growing food insecurity; the ghost towns in the rural areas of the U.S. and Canada, where fewer farmers are left to till the land; the hundreds of thousands of people crossing the Mexican-U.S. border every year because they cannot support themselves at home; and the growing number of food safety
scandals and food price hikes.
Instead of supporting a thriving food system that keeps people on the land and communities eating healthy, local food, NAFTA has empowered global food corporations, increased market concentration and consolidated market power within and across sectors. Because a small number of unaccountable corporate leaders now exercise unprecedented control over the availability and price of food, farmers cannot get a fair price at the farm gate, while consumers are gouged by rising food prices at the grocery store. Meanwhile, the transnational agribusiness cartels
have seen their profit margins rise to new heights.
http://www.tradeobservatory.org/library ... fid=104576

This article among many other interesting reads can be found here-
http://www.agobservatory.org/

GeneWatch PR: First contamination report reveals worldwide illegal spread of genetically engineered crops
8th March 2006
The first report into the extent to which genetically engineered (GE) organisms have �leaked� into the environment - released today - reveals a disturbing picture of widespread contamination, illegal planting and negative agricultural side effects.
http://www.genewatch.org/article.shtml?als[cid]=507663&als[itemid]=538407

Parched China to slash water consumption by 60%
18:30 16 February 2009 by Fred Pearce
As rivers run dry and fields turn to dust, China has announced dramatic plans to cut water use by industry and agriculture.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... by-60.html

Does Bio-Engineered foods scare you? Maybe they should......
Gene Transfer:
As of January 2009 there has only been one human feeding study conducted on genetically modified foods. The study involved seven human volunteers who had their small intestines removed. These volunteers were to eat GM Soy to see if the DNA of the GM soy transferred to the human gut bacteria. Researchers identified that three of the seven volunteers had transgenes from GM soy transferred into their gut bacteria.[50]
"This transgene was stable inside the bacteria and appeared to produce herbicide-tolerant protein... In the only human feeding study ever conducted on GM crops, long standing assumptions that genes would not transfer to human gut bacteria were overturned. The findings should prompt immediate comprehensive follow-up tests to determine the implications for health among both the general population and at-risk groups."[51]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food

Think you're not eating GM foods already, think again.
Genetically Modified Ingredients Overview
(Number in parentheses represents the estimated percent that is genetically modified.)
Soy (89%)
Cotton (83%)
Canola (75%)
Corn (61%)
Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%)
Alfalfa, zucchini and yellow squash (small amount)
Tobacco (Quest® brand)
Other Sources of GMOs:

Dairy products from cows injected with rbGH.
Food additives, enzymes, flavorings, and processing agents, including the sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet®) and rennet used to make hard cheeses
Meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals that have eaten GM feed
Honey and bee pollen that may have GM sources of pollen
Contamination or pollination caused by GM seeds or pollen

Some of the Foods That May Contain GM Ingredients:
Infant formula
Salad dressing
Bread
Cereal
Hamburgers and hotdogs
Margarine
Mayonnaise
Crackers
Cookies
Chocolate
Candy
Fried food
Chips
Veggie burgers
Meat substitutes
Ice cream
Frozen yogurt
Tofu
Tamari
Soy sauce
Soy cheese
Tomato sauce
Protein powder
Baking powder (sometimes contains corn starch)
Powdered/Confectioner's sugar (often contains corn starch)
Confectioner’s glaze
Alcohol
Vanilla
Powdered sugar
Peanut butter
Enriched flour
Vanilla extract (sometimes contains corn syrup)
Pasta
Malt
White vinegar

Non-Food Items That May Contain GM Ingredients:
Cosmetics
Soaps
Detergents
Shampoo
Bubble bath
http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/ ... /index.cfm

Angie, please please be careful what you find and quote:



Three of seven ileostomists showed evidence of low-frequency gene transfer from GM soya to the microflora of the small bowel before their involvement in these experiments. As this low level of epsps in the intestinal microflora did not increase after consumption of the meal containing GM soya, we conclude that gene transfer did not occur during the feeding experiment.
http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v22/n ... bt934.html

I don't like GM crops either, but I really dislike bad research (wikipedia research, not yours) that brings decent arguments into disrepute.

Hope I haven't offended, I didn't intend to

Nice to see the correction steem.
I am sure no offense has been taken, we all like the truth.
I too hate the idea of GM foods and go to long lengths to avoid
most on the list - save alkihol purely
for medicinal reasons and, or, just incase of an emergency.
ie severe dehydration

I was reading an interesting post about the problems encountered with authorities and weed control when trying to farm organically, it lead to an interesting documentary about patents on our livestock.
http://www.naturalsequencefarming.com/f ... =1733#1733

Just another thought to keep in mind, if you buy seedlings to plant in your grow beds you will almost certainly be supporting M_santo the only way I see to resist them is to grow your own from seed that comes from known free growing supplies.

what do you mean... almost certainly supporting?! he supplies every single seedling in Australia?!?!

I you bought seedlings from The Diggers Club I doubt very much they are M_santo. There may well be other suppliers and I am sure more will emerge over time.

Yep Novaris i have learnt alot from Peter Andrews and his Natural Sequence Farming. Letting weeds grow will in the long term improve you soil to the point that animals are alot healthier with the diverse range of plants that they eat. I realy like the part when he goes to England and asked the horse breeders why they don't kill off there weeds in the paddocks.
China had there farming ways all set up in the past to keep it goning, know they are looking at ways to make it better after they stuffed it up in a few short years. I bet the old Chinese people would love to see there land turned back into what it once was.

Anyone heard of the new legislation going through congress- HR 875 and S 425. Rumor has it that these will impact organic and small backyard farmers even for personal consumption and if you think that can't be done, think again. Wichard V. Filburn already established the rules on growing food for personal consumption a long time ago.

"Filburn argued that since the excess wheat he produced was intended solely for home consumption it could not be regulated through the interstate Commerce Clause. The Supreme Court rejected this argument, reasoning that if Filburn had not used home-grown wheat he would have had to buy wheat on the open market. This effect on interstate commerce, the Court reasoned, may not be substantial from the actions of Filburn alone but through the cumulative actions of thousands of other farmers just like Filburn its effect would certainly become substantial. Therefore Congress could regulate wholly intrastate, non-commercial activity if such activity, viewed in the aggregate, would have a substantial effect on interstate commerce, even if the individual effects are trivial."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickard_v._Filburn

(If this has been mentioned elsewhere, apologizies. I haven't been here for a while. I have been working on income taxes and trying to get my system built.)