Renewed request from the Soil Association for help in opposing Foston Pig Factory. They write:

Thanks to everyone who signed up to support our Not in my Banger Campaign. We objected to the local council (South Derbyshire) about the proposal for an intensive pig unit in Foston, Derbyshire, that would contain 2,500 mother pigs (sows) and around 20,000 piglets at any one time. Approximately 1000 pigs will leave the farm for slaughter each week. All the pigs will spend their entire lives indoors.

We have just heard that the planning application has been resubmitted to Derbyshire County Council.

Here at the Soil Association we will be renewing our opposition to the proposal by outlining the original concerns we had about the pig factory.

If you agree with us, then make your voice heard officially by registering your opposition to the planners on the Derbyshire County Council website. You can see some of the key points of our original evidence here.

We only have until May 13th to respond to the planning application so
please make your voice heard.

Soil Association lists the latest arguments against GM technology

"As the GM industry continues to peddle the myth that GM crops are needed to ‘feed the world,’ scientific evidence is stacking up showing the importance of agroecological farming systems, such as organic, in tackling hunger in the poorest countries. The current model of GM production and sale is just not appropriate for poor farmers in countries where people continue to suffer from hunger - which are not in Europe or North America, but in continents like Africa and Asia. Research from the UN has shown that the adoption of organic and near-organic farming practices in Africa have doubled yields, improved access to food for both farmers and local communities, and raised incomes through the use of low-cost, locally available technologies and inputs."
Read article on the website of the Soil Association (UK)

Concerned about Animal Welfare? Access to pasture? Healthy food?

Concerned about Animal Welfare? Access to pasture? Healthy food? Then you may want to object to a proposed ‘mega-dairy’ in Lincolnshire, which if allowed to go ahead would be the largest dairy in the UK, with an initial herd of 3,770 cows to be increased to 8,100 when practicable. "Each cow would be expected to yield 10,000 litres of milk per year. These animals would be kept indoors for the majority of their lives, with little or no access to pasture." Read the Soil Association's webpage about it and how to submit an objection to it.

Pesticides linked to bee decline, say environmental groups

Government and retailers are under pressure to impose a ban on sale of pesticides linked to bee population decline following new research which groups call a 'growing body of evidence'
Environmental groups including the Soil Association and Buglife are making a renewed call for an end to the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are among the most commonly used pesticides worldwide, after a new study linked them to a decline in bee in bee populations.

The Soil Association is concerned about "The big fat lie about doubling food production."

The Soil Association is rightly concerned about "The big fat lie about doubling food production." Unfortunately, when Big Business is involved in promulgating statistics, we invariably find, as in this case, that claims made are not facts, but propaganda. And when Monsanto is involved, as in this case, the propaganda is very dangerous. The spread of GM crops/food needs to be resisted. No good will come of GMOs.

The Soil Association reports that governments are using flawed food production data to justify GM food crops expansion

Governments and pro-agribusiness groups are using flawed data on food production requirements to push for an expansion of GM food crops, claims a new report from the Soil Association.
Read article in Natural Products Magazine (UK)

The idea of further expansion of GM food crops horrifies me. I am surprised at some of the people who espouse the expansion of GM food crops.

If you do not at present share my concerns about this perversion of food, I invite you to read Oryx and Crake, one of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novels, reviewed here in The Observer in 2003: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/may/11/fiction.margaretatwood. You may find Atwood’s accomplished and well-informed vision of a future world causes you an apprehensive shiver or two.

If you are concerned about the use of pesticides and about their negative impact on health and the environment

If you are concerned about the use of pesticides and about their negative impact on health and the environment, then you may be interested in this Soil Association webpage.

Pity about the'unacceptable' levels of pesticides in supermarket fruit and veg...

Pity about the'unacceptable' levels of pesticides in supermarket fruit and veg... See Telegraph report. - And a pity the Food Standards Agency, with its divided loyalties, seeks to downplay this:

Extracts from the article: "The Food Standards Agency insisted the illegal levels did not necessarily mean that the food was unsafe to eat, and pointed out that the overall levels of pesticides in food had fallen over the last year. In 2007 1.8 per cent of food had illegal levels; 2008 it had fallen to 1.2 per cent." "Emma Hockridge, policy co-ordinator at the Soil Association, said: "Unbelievably we learn yet again that pesticides are turning up in fruit and vegetables supplied to schoolchildren. Yet again the government tells us this is nothing to be worried about.

"Yet we know that children’s exposure and susceptibility to pesticides is likely to be higher as per body weight they ingest more food and drink than adults and their bodies' ability to process and excrete any such residues is different to that of adults."

I reckon organic fruit and veg must be safer, though of course, it also costs more.

Soil Association urges ban on pesticides to halt bee deaths

I have copied the following item from The Dr. Rath Health Foundation Newsletter

Soil Association urges ban on pesticides to halt bee deaths
The Soil Association has urged the government to ban pesticides linked to honeybee deaths around the world. The chemicals are widely used in UK agriculture but have been banned as a precaution in four other European countries. Last week the Italian government issued an immediate suspension after it accepted that the pesticides were implicated in killing honeybees, joining France, Germany and Slovenia.
Read article in the Guardian (UK)
Comment: Germany suspended sales of the pesticides in May of this year after 700 beekeepers along the Rhine reported that two-thirds of their bees had died following the application of clothianidin. In France, imidacloprid has been banned on sunflowers since 1999 and as a sweetcorn treatment since 2003, after a third of honeybees were wiped out. Imidacloprid and clothianidin are produced by a division of the chemical manufacturer Bayer.

Prince Charles remains vehemently against genetically modified (GM) crops.

Prince Charles sparks debate over GM crops claims
Article in the Telegraph, following the Daily Telegraph's exclusive interview with Prince Charles

Extracts:

"In a statement setting the Prince against politicians who believe GM foods will be crucial to feeding under-nourished populations in the developing world, he said: "What we should be talking about is food security, not food production - that is what matters and that is what people will not understand."

His belief was backed up by Mike Childs, the campaign director for Friends of the Earth. "GM crops will not solve the food crisis - and forging ahead with an industrialised farming system will continue to fail people and the environment around the world," Mr Childs said.

However Phil Willis, a Liberal Democrat MP and the chairman of the Commons science committee, said the Prince's "lack of scientific understanding" would "condemn millions of people to starvation in areas like sub-Saharan Africa"."

"The Prince accused large corporations of conducting experiments with nature, which had, he said "gone seriously wrong". His comments were supported by Patrick Holden, a director of the Soil Association.

"If we go down this path I think we will put this country at risk. There could be a period of great difficulty in the next 10 or 20 years," Mr Holden said. "No evidence has emerged from the first round of GM crops of any public benefits. They have actually increased pesticide use in the farms that have used them.""

I've a lot of sympathy with Prince Charles' views on GM foods.

Supermarket meat 'could be MRSA infected'

Supermarket meat 'could be MRSA infected' - Telegraph - It would be advisable to read the whole article.

Extract:

"Pork, beef and chicken in supermarkets could be infected with a strain of MRSA, according to a report today by organic campaigners which warns that the issue could become "a new monster".

The bacterium is sweeping northern Europe and has already infected one in five of all pork products on sale in Holland, from where Britain imports almost two thirds of all its pork, the report claims.

The strain found in Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Germany is different from MRSA found in British hospitals, which was a contributory factor in 3,800 deaths in 2005.

However, the report by the Soil Association, the organic pressure group, claims that the bug found in European meat is just as deadly and infectious. It is resistant to tetracycline antibiotics, the most common drugs used to cure hospital MRSA.

So far no meat or farm animals in this country have been found to be infected with the European strain. However, no testing for the microbe in pork or chicken is done.

Only cattle are tested - the least likely animal to be infected - and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) does not test any imported meat.

The Soil Association is calling on the Government to start testing for the superbug in meat as a matter of urgency."


Lose weight and benefit your health in countless other ways by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
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