We must grow our own food - NewsGrabs 26 October 2008
UK Soil Association: We must grow our own food
Monty Don is the new president of the Soil Association. In a recent lecture in London, he said he was appointed because of his passionate belief that everyone can reconnect to nature through gardening and growing. The skills, knowledge and resources of British gardeners can transform, rebuild and stabilize our food systems and our society, he insisted. It’s about food security, an entire cultural approach to food that can harness horticultural skills as a serious part of our national food supply and integrate into our whole approach to life. In that way we can feed ourselves healthier food in the face of social and economic crisis, and if we do not, we will suffer as a nation.
Organic farming 'could feed Africa'
Organic farming offers Africa the best chance of breaking the cycle of poverty and malnutrition it has been locked in for decades, according to a major study from the United Nations to be presented today.New evidence suggests that organic practices – derided by some as a Western lifestyle fad – are delivering sharp increases in yields, improvements in the soil and a boost in the income of Africa's small farmers who remain among the poorest people on earth. The head of the UN's Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, said the report "indicates that the potential contribution of organic farming to feeding the world maybe far higher than many had supposed".
Mutant Seeds for Mesopotamia
Order 81. Under this mandate, Iraq's commercial farmers must now buy "registered seeds." These are normally imported by Monsanto, Cargill and the World Wide Wheat Company. Unfortunately, these registered seeds are "terminator" seeds, meaning "sterile." Terminator seeds have no agricultural value other than creating corporate monopolies.Order 81 comes with the Orwellian title of "Plant Variety Protection." Any self-respecting scientist knows, however, that imposing biological standardization accomplishes the exact opposite: It reduces biodiversity and threatens species.
Vitamins Present GMO Challenges for Organic Industry
Genetically modified microorganisms are increasingly used to manufacture vitamins, enzymes, flavors, and other food additives. These products present challenges to organic processors who want to avoid using GM ingredients and to organic certifiers who must interpret vague GMO prohibition rules to prohibit their use.GM microorganisms are used to make vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), xanthan (a thickener), citric acid, and enzymes used in cheeses, breads and baked goods, alcoholic beverages, and juice.
The increasing use of genetic engineering to make vitamins presents challenges for organic processors who have to use non-GMO ingredients. "What happens when you want to use a substance that is on the national list of approved substances, and the only things available are from GMOs?" Wyard asks.
France set to liberate herbal products
France has taken a step to liberalise its highly restrictive herbal regulations by issuing two national decrees that should allow for greater access to botanical supplements.One of the decrees will provide a distribution benefit by allowing a broad range of botanicals to be sold in non-pharmacy outlets such as supermarkets and health food stores for the first time.
Ireland: MEP says additive in our water is a menace
Many now are asking how an industrial-waste substance such as hexafluorosilicic acid can be added to drinking water, especially since it is listed as hazardous waste under the EU’s 1991 Waste Directive. Although Irish and British campaigners have appealed over the years to the European Commission to stop fluoridation, the commission has declined to become involved, possibly because fluoridation was rejected by continental Europe many years ago and is confined to Ireland and a few water companies in England.
Nebraska Voters to Decide on Fluoride in Water
Voters in at least 61 Nebraska communities will decide Nov. 4 whether they want fluoride added to their water supplies, the result of a new state law that requires cities to opt out if they don't want the chemical."It is controversial,'' said Sen. Don Preister of Bellevue, who led the opposition to the bill. "It is an industrial, hazardous waste chemical. For those people who understand what it really is, they would certainly be wanting to have the benefit to vote it down.''
Industry at root of BPA study
A government report claiming that bisphenol A is safe was written largely by the plastic s industry and others with a financial stake in the controversial chemical. Although the Food and Drug Administration will not reveal who prepared its draft, the agency's own documents show that the work was done primarily by those with the most to gain by downplaying concerns about the safety of the chemical.
Dutch Authorities Raid Sanofi And Glaxo Offices
There are reports from the Netherlands that the Health Inspectorate raided the drugmakers’ offices late last week as part of an investigation into the Health Council, an independent body that advises the Dutch government and parliament on public health issues, and recently recommended that girls should be vaccinated against HPV.The reports say that Health Council members were receiving research funding from the drugmakers at the same time the organization issued its recommendation to Health Minister Ab Klink.
US: Kansas Sues 13 Drugmakers Over Medicaid Fraud
According to the lawsuit, the Medicaid program spent more $160 million on meds last year. And the suit alleges the price for a drug paid by the state, based on a fraudulently-reported Average Wholesale Price and other price indicators, often bears no relationship to the true price and can exceed 100 percent to 200 percent above the actual price.One example cited - Dey reported an AWP of $44.10 for Ipratropium Bromide, yet the AG claims the drugmaker sold the same drug to retail pharmacists for $8.35 - a 355 percent difference. And Glaxo reported an AWP of $128.24 for Zofran, but charged $22.61- a 450 difference.
US: Serious Side Effect and Death Reports at Record High
The number of serious problems and deaths linked to medications reported to the FDA set a record in the first three months of this year, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices reports. The FDA received nearly 21,000 reports of serious drug reactions, including over 4,800 deaths, according to ISMP’s an analysis of federal data dating to 2004.Two drugs accounted for a disproportionately large share of the latest reports. One was heparin, the tainted blood thinner from China that caused an international safety scandal. The other was Chantix, a new kind of anti-smoking drug from Pfizer, which refuted the findings. Earlier this year, the FDA warned that Chantix may be linked to psychiatric problems, including suicidal behavior and vivid dreams, and the government banned it for pilots.
Chantix Is Tops At Causing Problems
Chantix, Pfizer's stop smoking drug, topped the list of drugs causing problems that led to adverse events reports being filed with the FDA in the first quarter of 2008. The stop smoking drug, which sure unglues people like a bad old SSRI, racked up a total of 1,001 adverse events reports and reports of another 50 deaths linked to the use of the drug, according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
Statin Drugs - Are They Worth the Money?
In 2006 and 2007, the bestsellers were statin drugs, at an annual US sales figure of $15.5 billion. Statins are used to lower cholesterol levels in people with or at risk of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease remains the number one killer in America.In addressing heart disease, much of the conventional medical focus has been on a patient's total cholesterol numbers, regardless of evidence of heart disease. In fact, Harvard researchers in 2007 noted that just 8% of those taking statin drugs actually had a heart condition.
The latest Italian research now reveals that in over 4500 patients with chronic heart disease, statin drugs did nothing to extend life or prevent hospital care. And Dr. Beatrice Golomb has found that there is little evidence to recommend statin drugs - they may help the heart but they do not help the patient.
Anti-obesity drug use suspended in Europe
The European drugs watchdog is recommending doctors do not prescribe the anti-obesity drug rimonabant, also known as Acomplia. The European Medicines Agency has said the risk of serious psychiatric problems and even suicide are too high.
Sanofi-Aventis Suspends Acomplia Sales In Europe
The drugmaker will “immediately” start talks with countries outside the European Union where Acomplia is sold to suspend sales there as well, according to a statement. The pill has been sold in 18 EU countries for two years. (Listen to the conference call).According to the EMEA, “new data from post-marketing experience and ongoing clinical trials indicated that serious psychiatric disorders may be more common than in the clinical trials used in the initial assessment of the medicine,” and that “these psychiatric side effects could not be adequately addressed by further risk minimisation measures…In addition, the effectiveness of Acomplia in clinical practice is more limited than was expected on the basis of the clinical trials, because available data indicate that patients generally take Acomplia only for a short period.”
US: How The Plan To Force Vaccination Gave Birth To The National ID, A Government Health Records Database, and the End of Medical Privacy
Between 12,000 and 14,000 reports of hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following vaccination are made to the government's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) every year, yet it is estimated that fewer than one percent of all doctors report serious health problems which occur following drug or vaccine administration.The government push for a national ID and national electronic medical records database originated with the desire by government and industry to find an institutional mechanism to enforce mandatory vaccination. The linking of state vaccine tracking registries to a national medical records database operated by government can be used not just to enforce vaccination but also to limit health care choices and impose economic and other sanctions on those who do not conform to any government health policy.
US Government's Drug War Test Kits Give False Positives on Organic and Natural Products
In August and September of this year, Canadians Ron Obadia and Nadine Artemis, founders of Living Libations who make raw organic chocolate and natural personal care products, were arrested while trying to cross the US border, after a false-positive drug test on their chocolate products.Similar false positives have resulted in arrests over other natural products. In 2007, a false-positive for the date rape drug GHB occurred when Newport Beach (CA) police tested Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap.
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More information out there...
There is much I cannot cover but other sources for this kind of information exist and are active.
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Dr Mercola's health blog and Mike Adams' Natural News have great health information.
The Alternative Medicine Yahoo Group is a place where you can discuss and exchange information on what is happening in the world of natural health.
For the influence of electromagnetic waves from radio, mobile phones and other radio emitting devices, check out the emfrefugee group on Yahoo.
If you are interested in a different take on the news that isn't health centered but is certainly fun, check out Robin Good TV News.
A few sites to keep up to date with the other side of world affairs, the stuff you won't necessarily find on your tv or in the papers:
http://therealnews.com/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.globalresearch.ca/
http://rawstory.com/
http://www.truthout.org/... and remember,
The individual is supreme and finds its way through intuition
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Sunday October 26 2008
updated on Wednesday August 15 2012URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2008/10/26/we_must_grow_our_own_food_newsgrabs_26_october_2008.htm