Farming
Policy makers should value environmental, health benefits of small-scale local farming, researcher argues.
Remember Agent Orange? The US Army sprayed it all over Vietnam. It defoliated (destroyed) plant growth and brought on cancers and birth defects. One of its significant ingredients was a chemical called 2.4-D. Well, the US Dept. of Agriculture has cleared the way for brand new Dow GMO corn and soy crops. They are engineered to withstand spraying with 2,4-D. The theory is, the corn and soy will survive, but pesky weeds will die. Of course, the drifting spray of 2,4-D will kill all sorts of other plants, including fruit trees. And there is that species called Human. Have a little lymphoma with your corn chowder.
Abby Martin speaks with Scott Kinnear, director of the Safe Food Foundation, about the case of Steve Marsh, an Australian organic farmer who lost his organic certification after his crops were contaminated by Monsanto GM seeds from a neighboring farm. As a result, Marsh and his family are no longer able to sell their product on the organic market and have lost a great deal of their income.
Peasants proudly and powerfully put forward effective strategies to feed the planet and limit the damages wrought by industrial agriculture. What’s more, they understand the connections between complex trade and economic systems
