Research Shows that Monsanto's Big Claims for GMO Food Are Probably Wrong

Fascinating science that may not make the light of day in mainstream news!

Research Shows that Monsanto's Big Claims for GMO Food Are Probably Wrong

The article below does a great job of explaining the details of this peer reviewed study, and I encourage you to read it in entirety.  Here is my summation of what they found:

1. GE crops have NOT increased yields overall.  Europe, which banned GE crops, had expanded in yields faster than america which has wide adoption of GE crops.  In fact America's production has remained constant over the years of GE adoption. There simply is NO increase in overall yield.

2. Ge crops, if they do well, are not necessarily due to the genetic alteration at all. The genetic alteration gives one trait to the plant, but the success or failure of the crop could be due to  the other aspects of plant life, having nothing to do with the genetic modification.

3. MOST IMPORTANTLY... there is an inherent flaw in the concept of genetic modification. This is in the concept of genetic diversity (or lack thereof).  GE crops, by nature, so not have genetic diversity. This causes all plants, grown across america, to have the same strengths and weaknesses  as each other. Anything that causes  that particular variety of plant to fail, will cause massive failure because they are all the same! The losses due to this law of nature are greater than any potential benefit from the genetic alteration, and therefore the entire concept of genetic engineering is inherently flawed!

Genetic diversity is a requirement of nature. Lack of genetic diversity is  "inbreeding". It leads to breakdown of genetic strength through common mistakes in reproduction, leading to weaknesses magnified each generation. This happens in plants as well as animals.  The genetic process of reproduction is similar in all of nature. With the adoption of genetically engineered crops comes a necessary lessening of diversity, a drastic one as these researchers found out.

What does this mean? Simple....  even if you lay aside the growing debate about safety of the genetically altered food, even if you lay aside the sure prospects of unintentional contamination of non genetically altered crops and subsequent extinction of pure genes, even if you lay aside the dangers of single corporations owning a bulk of the food supply through patent laws, even if you lay aside the evidence that truly organic production out performs any commercially supported GE crop,   even if you lay aside people's right to know what they are consuming,  even then.... there is the fact the genetic modification as a process violates a law of nature rquiring genetic diversity for survival.  Bottom line.... genetic alteration, even if sfe, responsible, successful, and ethical, WOULD STILL DEEPLY ENDANGER OUR FOOD SUPPLY through the lessening of genetic diversity.

Just one more reason to stop this madness and return to proven organic production supported by soil fertility built by humane animal raising.

Here is the article.. please read and share!
http://www.alternet.org/food/why-monsanto-wrong-about-gm-crop-promises?akid=10630.263650.qUeB-T&rd=1&src=newsletter860970&t=7&paging=off

Why stores sell milk so cheap

Ever wonder why milk sells in the store for $2 to $3 per gallon while milk direct from a farm cost $10 to $20 per  gallon?  How can the farmer, the bottler, two transportation events and the grocery make a profit at 5 times lower cost than farm direct  to consumer with no transportation? The assumption is usually that economies of scale are at work here, and there certainly is some of that. However economies of scale can't explain 5 to. 10x difference with 4 levels if business removed. There must be something else at play here....

There is. The government pays certain farms, larger farms, to produce milk. The price those farmers sell for had little to do with supply and demand, cost of  production, or any normal free enterprise businesses principles. It had to do mostly with how much tax money goes to sellers to producer milk. As soon as the tax payments to farmers end... Prices go up dramatically as large farmers are forced to actually price according to cost of production.

But this is good, many think... The government keeps food costs down. Well hold on. Someone pays the taxes... Government doesn't make money, it takes it from citizens. So this is just shuffling money around, not keeping food cheap. Those that don't drink milk are forced to pay to produce milk for this that do drink it .

More importantly, this tax scheme called the farm bill is unfair competition. Add a small farmer producing real milk, our prices can not compete. We have to actually cover costs of feed, labor, insurance, facilities, maintenance. Etc through only milk sales. The larger farms exist on tax money instead. If the government would stop paying for milk, direct farm prices would seem much more in line.  Then we could talk about economies of scale vs quality.

Even deeper than this is the forcing of centralization in agriculture through government control through handouts. If only one type or size of business get large handouts, government is essentially controlling the entire market. Tax supported milk is cheap, only large companies get tax supports, so small farms can not compete. Soon you Gav centralization into only large corporations. Quality slides since size of producer determines method of production. And method of production determines quality.

So next time you pay taxes, remember that you just paid, in part, your milk bill. The part of you milk bill that you don't see.

This post was inspired by the following new story.... Intended to be as political news story, but what I see as a small farmer is government sanctioned unfair competition through forced taxation.

"Trouble for Boehner, dairy prices? Guide to farm bill defeat - Fox News" http://feedly.com/k/12Zo62U

Introducing --- Easy Peel Eggs!

If your like most people.. peeling hard boiled eggs is a real challenge.  Its a tedious meticulous process  where, in the end, you loose half the eggs  due to tearing of the whites or stuck shells.  Yet, hard boiled eggs are SO useful! Quick snacks,  deviled eggs, salad toppings, on and on... so many uses.  So we struggle through with this procedure or that procedure.. adding this or that to the water, cooking a certain way...  There is even a gadget on the market  that allows you to crack the egg before cooking into a plastic container and cook it in there like a hard boiled egg.

We have seen, and tried it all! in our effort to make pickled eggs at home in decent quantity without spending all day peeling ... we tried everything. Finally... we found it. A cooking process by which.. the hard boiled egg literally falls out of the shell!

We now offer pre-cooked hard boiled eggs in our online store for your convenience! Cooked once a week, on order, the day before delivery, these eggs are easy enough to peel to use any time. they keep for about a week in a cold fridge, ready for your use in a pinch!

Watch this video of yours truly peeling one of these eggs... first the chicken egg:

Duck Eggs, they are notoriously hard to peel! The whites are thinner, and the membrane tighter, so peeling a hard boiled duck egg is nearly impossible.  Virtually every one ends up with scars, holes, tears, etc.  But not with our newly discovered cooking method! Watch this video to see how easy a hard boiled duck egg can peel!

THE TECHNIQUE 

 to peeling an Easy Peel Hard Boiled Egg:

Step 1: crack the egg lightly all around, try for an even fracturing of the eggshell on all sides. dont hit it hard enough to brake the membrane, just to crack the shell.

Step 2:  Gently push with your fingers on all 4 sides as in the video to work the membrane loose and further fracture the shell

Step 3: When the membrane feels loose, simply slip it off. Sometimes it helps to open one or both ends first.

Do NOT try to peel the egg the traditional way, a little at a time.  Try to remove the membrane instead.  That makes it literally fall off these eggs due to cooking method.

NewsFlash! Now the ONLY certified organic AND non-gmo feed in North America

NEWSFLASH!

Scratch and Peck Feeds is, as of today, the ONLY livestock feed in all of North America that is both certified organic and verified non-gmo!

Today Scratch and Peck received their organic certification. All feeds milled June 13th and after are now certified 100% organic. This is in addition to the earlier addition of being the first feed company in north america to gain verified non-gmo status through the non-gmo project.

These certification are in addition to the more important fact that Scratch and Peck is the absolute best quality feed we have ever seen.  This feed has always been a nutrient dense feed with whole grains, high in omega 3 content, not pelleted, never heated, and a proprietary mix of healthy beneficial ingredients. It is also local, grown and milled on the west coast. You can not find a better quality feed through any other source, we know.. we looked for a very long time !

We are very excited at Little Sprouts Farm to be the Southern Oregon representatives for Scratch and Peck, stocking all their popular feeds locally for pickup or delivery through our local delivery service.

Watch for the CERTIFIED ORGANIC LABEL on  chicken, turkey, goat, hog feeds !

For information on how to switch to this awesomely healthy feed,  contact Little Sprouts Farm at :
541-826-4345
 or
email feeds@littlesproutsfarm.com

or go straight into our online farm store to order yours today: http://www.farmigo.com/store/littlesproutsfarm

If your buying chicken, pork, eggs, duck, turkey, from a local farmer, have them contact us to talk about offering this nutrient dense feed to their animals at bulk discount prices.

Donate to support this blog

Little Sprouts Farm is now accepting donations to support the information presented in this blog. Look to the right and you will see a new "donate" button that allows any size donation through paypal. If you  find the information here useful, or entertaining, we ask that you take a moment to donate whatever amount represents the value you receive by reading.  no amount is too small nor too large :)

All monies donated will be used to support our operations, including this blog. you will be supporting small farms, sustainable agriculture, humane treatment of animals, nutrient dense food production, beyond organic principles, informational sharing, traditional food preparation, and our efforts to educate the world on healing through foods.

We would like to thank each and every one of you in advance for your support!