Notes on Industrial Agriculture & Processed Food (for those of you who still don’t get it)

For those of you who still think the answer to “feeding the world” is modern technology provided to us by Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow Chemical, Dupont, BASF, Bayer, Nestles, Pepsico and General Mills – please take just a moment or two to read some of the below articles.  Trust me: They are well written, easy to read and yes…based on real science.  All written/published in 2017.

New York Times: How Big Business Got Brazil Hooked On Junk Food

“scientists say, the growing availability of high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods is generating a new type of malnutrition, one in which a growing number of people are both overweight and undernourished.”

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/16/health/brazil-obesity-nestle.html?action=click&module=Top+Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Washington Post: This Miracle Weed Killer Was Supposed To Save Farms, Instead It’s Devastating Them

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/this-miracle-weed-killer-was-supposed-to-save-farms-instead-its-devastating-them/2017/08/29/33a21a56-88e3-11e7-961d-2f373b3977ee_story.html?tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.1e85f9faecec

Politico: Can American Soil Be Brought Back To Life?

“For generations, soil has been treated almost as a backdrop — not much more than a medium for holding plants while fertilizer and herbicides help them grow.”

http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/09/13/soil-health-agriculture-trend-usda-000513

UK Independent: Pesticides Linked To Birth Abnormalities In Major New Study

“The sheer size of the study, and the meticulous way it has been carried out, suggest that there is an environmental hazard for mothers resident in an area with large scale pesticide usage”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/pesticides-birth-abnormalities-linked-pregnancy-study-san-joaquin-valley-california-farms-a7918636.html

Older articles showing the duplicity and character (or lack thereof) of these corporations:

New York Times: A Pesticide Banned Or Not Underscores Trans-Atlantic Trade Sensitivities

“The weed killer is banned as a pesticide in the European Union as well as in Switzerland (corporate headquarters for Syngenta) over concerns that it is a groundwater contaminant.  Syngenta, however, did not get the memo…the company has long insisted that the pesticide was not banned.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/business/international/a-pesticide-banned-or-not-underscores-trans-atlantic-trade-sensitivities.html

The Nation: Blackwater’s Black Ops

“Internal documents reveal the firm’s clandestine work for multinationals and governments.” Spoiler alert – Monsanto hired them to infiltrate activists groups (which they of course deny)

https://www.thenation.com/article/blackwaters-black-ops/

About garyhooser

This blog represents my thoughts as an individual person and does not represent the official position of any organization I may be affiliated with. I presently serve as volunteer President of the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action (H.A.P.A.) www.hapahi.org I am the former Vice-Chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. In another past life, I was an elected member of the Kauai County Council, a Hawaii State Senator, and Majority Leader, and the Director of Environmental Quality Control for the State of Hawaii - in an even earlier incarnation I was an entrepreneur and small business owner. Yes, I am one of the luckiest guys on the planet. Please visit my website AND sign up for my newsletter (unlike any email newsletter you have ever gotten, of that I am sure) - http://www.garyhooser.com/#four “Come to the edge.” “We can’t. We’re afraid.” “Come to the edge.” “We can’t. We will fall!” “Come to the edge.” And they came. And he pushed them. And they flew. - Christopher Logue (b.1926)
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1 Response to Notes on Industrial Agriculture & Processed Food (for those of you who still don’t get it)

  1. David Roach says:

    Thank you Gary. Homelessness and failure of leadership are two of the the things we should keep in our sights instead of many distractions which we are offered by most news outlets. The politicians are scared to death to propose anything that might draw corporate objection. And raising taxes is simply forbidden by the flunkies we have elected. Maybe the next election will return some courage and democracy to the party.

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