Dont underestimate the importance of Vermonts passage of a GMO-labeling law.
Tiny Vermont (population 626,000) is the first of what will likely be a number of states to confront Americas food oligarchy and try to force these cartels to actually do something their customers want. How will the oligarchs respond?
Almost certainly not the way they should, which would be to adjust their food labels to include information about which ingredients are genetically modified. More likely, they will respond with legal maneuvering, possibly including a suit against Vermont, and heavy lobbying of their political pals in Washington to put a hold on the Vermont law, which is due to go into effect July 1, 2016, more than two years out.
The oligarchs have been dodging and weaving like crazy to avoid having to disclose their heavy use of genetically-modified ingredients, for fear of losing business to foods without the stuff that makes people nervous (and likely sick). They spent heavily to defeat citizen initiatives requiring labeling in California and Washington in 2012 and 2013. Several states that passed labeling laws, like Maine and Connecticut, made them contingent on neighboring states passing them.
The oligarchs say the GMO labeling requirement is too cumbersome, too costly, etc., etc. They say that, all while Coca Cola, one of the oligarchs, in a recent legal case maintained its Minute Maid subsidiary should be allowed to continue deceptive labeling that enables it to call its apple-grape juice (99 per cent of the ingredients) a Pomegranate blueberry blend to support brain and body, even though those ingredients are less than one per cent. (The fact that “support brain and body” is a health claim gets completely ignored in the legal arguments.)
We see the same behavior in the dairy arena, where the cartel stands in the way of any American research into the health benefits of raw milk, and opposes in states around the country any expansion of access to raw milk. The idea is to force-feed people the processed stuff, much the same as the idea is to force-feed Americans GMO-tainted food.
Aside: why do I call these corporations and their executives oligarchs? Because much of our food system is controlled by a few large corporations. One example of this expanding oligopoly control is in Americas huge meat industry. Here is how journalist Christopher Leonard describes the producers of chicken, pork, and beef in a new book, The Meat Racket: Just a handful of companies produce nearly all the meat consumed in the United States ..a powerful oligarchy of corporations that determines how animals are raised, how much farmers get paid, and how meat is processed, all while reaping massive profits and remaining almost opaque to the consumer.
(The companies are Smithfield, Tyson Foods, JBS, and Cargill.)
Then there is the oligopoly that controls Americas $10 billion cereal market. Four companiesGeneral Mills, Kelloggs, Pepsico, and Kraft Foods–are estimated to control more than 80% of the market. And, of course, these companies sell their breakfast cereals worldwide. Carbonated drinks, chips, and other processed foods are similarly dominated by a few.
Our media have fun with the notion of the Russian oligarchs who run that country, but have difficulty coming to grips with the reality that the U.S. is run similarly.
Bottom line, the food oligarchy is afraid of the competition inherent in the labeling requirement, just as they are afraid of the competition inherent in widening access to raw milk. These corporations know that consumers will avoid products with GMO ingredients. The corporations will be forced to lower prices, and squeeze their profit margins, to convince people to buy these genetically altered products.
Oligarchs dont compete. They beat up the competition, ignore their customers, anything to avoid being honest and forthright. Congrats to Vermonts politicians for deciding to part company with the oligarchs.
Politics…biology, excuses, lies, fear, GMO secrets, power, market share, market protection…it is only going to get worse. Food will become the biggest basis of power on earth with 8 billion mouths to feed.
Youve sure got that right David, hence the definition of the drug industry, the religion of modern medicine with its vaccine rituals and mainstream news.
Jon Rappoport stated in the following article that The first casualty of mainstream news is the truth. Indeed the first casualty within any oligarchic institution is the truth.
http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/explosive-what-really-happened-to-sharyl-attkisson-at-cbs-news/
Heres an interesting bombshell. On April 1, 2011, Attkisson authored a piece for CBS News, Vaccines and Autism: a new scientific review. She dispelled the notion that the vaccine-autism connection was a dead issue. All sorts of red flags went up the flagpole. Mainstream media are supposed to treat vaccines, all vaccines, as holy sacraments of the medical cartel. Praise them, bow down to them, never accuse them of doing harm of any kind.
Ken
Or maybe people drinking pasteurized milk are like rats as observed in this 1931 study also from The Ohio State University:
Rats fed pasteurized milk were anemic, had slow growth, rough coats, loss of vitality and weight, and were very irritable, with a tendency to bite when handled (Jersey Bulletin, 1931, Vol 50.
Unfortunately since our politicians are financially controlled by the oligopoly machine, so it’s not likely that government will provide the answer to the problem. The way I see it is that educating people to avoid supporting corporate interests and becoming more self sufficient could make a difference, but that is difficult since they also control the job markets and the media oligarchs that shape public perception.
only a new form of it…
—-
NRA — National Recover Act
—–
Industry was virtually nationalized under Roosevelt’s National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. Like most New Deal legislation, this resulted from a compromise of special interests: businessmen seeking higher prices and barriers to competition, labor unionists seeking governmental sponsorship and protection, social workers wanting to control working conditions and forbid child labor, and the proponents of massive spending on public works.
—-
Eventually the NRA approved 557 basic and 189 supplementary codes, covering about 95% of all industrial employees. Big businessmen dominated the writing and implementing of the documents. They generally aimed to suppress competition. Figuring prominently in this effort were minimum prices, open price schedules, standardization of products and services, and advance notice of intent to change prices. Having gained the government’s commitment to stilling competition, the tycoons looked forward to profitable repose.
But the initial enthusiasm evaporated when the NRA did not deliver, and for obvious reasons. Even its corporate boosters began to object to the regimentation it required. By the time the Supreme Court invalidated the whole undertaking in early 1935, most of its former supporters had lost their taste for it.
Striking down the NRA, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote that “extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional power.” Congress “cannot delegate legislative power to the President to exercise an unfettered discretion to make whatever laws he thinks may be needed.”
—
Here are a few links to start your studies….
—-
http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=258
—-
https://mises.org/daily/1262
—-
http://library.mises.org/books/John%20T%20Flynn/Forgotten%20Lessons%20Selected%20Essays%20of%20John%20T%20Flynn.pdf
(chapter on “Whose Child is the NRA?”
—
–bill
Ora, so far as I know, GMO labeling isn’t in effect anywhere in the U.S. to allow us to answer your question. The European Union countries have essentially banned GMO-based foods, though the barriers are gradually being weakened via various legal actions….by the oligarchs and their friends in the U.S. government.
All things being equal, lots of Americans would avoid GMO foods. But all things won’t be equal. Lower prices will, of course, attract customers. But without the labeling requirements, food corporations can produce GMO-based foods, charge their standard prices, and no one knows the difference. No worry about pricing competition.
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Manufacturers/POM-v-Coke-at-the-Supreme-Court-Who-came-out-on-top
Yes, envy could be a factor however I tend to lean more in favor of the 1931 study. Such aggression could also be due to the fact that people don like to see their dogmatic, utilitarian beliefs challenged as is the case when vaccines are questioned and rejected, as was the case when infant baptism was rejected by the Anabaptist and many of its followers were burnt at the stake for doing so.
Margo McIntoshs article is very well written. The fact that U of G even held such a symposium is nothing short of remarkable.
She states, One thing I need to point out is that the DFO (Dairy Farmers of Ontario) were invited and they chose to not attend. The DFO is a stakeholder in the raw milk debate.
Indeed they are a stakeholder however, there is no mention as to whether or not other government mandated stakeholders such as the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), the Ontario farmers Union (OFU), or the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO) attended or had any input. If they participated in any way I would be certainly interested in knowing their positions.
She further stated with respect to Dr. Charlebois comments on supply management (DFO) that, they influence everything we do in the dairy industry and the organization is in need of being reformed.
In need of being reformed is an understatement. If however by reformed she means curtailed then I am in full agreement.
She is indeed correct in suggesting, that allowing herd share agreements within the provinces is an incremental step. Her query of such a notion is also justified when she states, Well see where we get with that thought. I share her skepticism and I am not about to hold my breath waiting for it to happen. I hope I am wrong.
Again she states, Its a travesty that the regulations around making raw milk cheese in Canada are so strict and yet we will be able to import raw milk cheese from countries that may or may not follow those same strict rules and sell them in our stores. Is anyone surprised by this? In answer to her question Im not. This double standard existed long before the current free trade agreement and merely emphasizes the federal governments relentless policies designed to manipulate and control agriculture and food in order to gain other trade advantages.
Dr. Chapmans experience with raw hamburger made me laugh. At most restaurants in Canada, hamburgers are usually pre-cooked before they hit the grill, yuck!!! When I cook hamburgers at home they are far from well done. Rare to medium rare is the way I like them.
Dr. Hills answer to the question, How do we know that the U of Guelph is not a puppet for the DFO (Dairy Farmers of Ontario) because we know that there is a great deal of funding money coming from them, is indeed typical and fails to take into consideration the reality of the U of Gs funded past and current research, especially when it comes to its endorsement of the use of pesticides, herbicides, growth enhancement drugs and GMO technology.
The 64-dollar question Is there a balance that can be achieved between our need for exposure and the current germaphobic paradigm in order to achieve strong immune systems and good health?
Getting back to the discussion on India however Good health in my view means abdicating the current toxic protocol designed to control. Such a protocol is not only incompatible but undermines good health. Take note of India in the Asthma around the world map from the following link. The incidence of asthma is considerably less then it is in the US or Canada who rank among the highest.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v479/n7374_supp/full/479S2a.html
We might wish to be a little less righteous and perhaps exercise a degree of caution before encouraging countries such India to adopt our so-called food safety standards. As I see it there is probably a great deal more we can learn from them when it comes to living in harmony with the microbial world.
Ken
http://modernfarmer.com/2014/04/making-flu-vaccine-tobacco/
What they fail to understand is that plant-based products also need to be digested and censored before entering our vascular system. That they equally invasive and their effect on the immune system is equally unpredictable.
Dr. Robert Mendelsohn was certainly correct when he suggested that drug companies seldom abandon a dangerous drug unless they an unproven and potentially dangerous alternative one to replace it.
Ken
I like Dr. Mendelsohn’s books. I often recommend them to my clients. Also the books by Nina Planck regarding nurturing nutrition. Mendelsohn’s books were written before the current trends in nutrition were poopular.
We can not digest the concept of it. We here are still in the virginal idealic years when truth mattered and ethics and morals meant something. The more I learn and experience about what goes on behind the scenes…the more I love our consumers and the simple ethical relationships that are created by the trusting exchange between familes and their farmers. A relationship where the farmer knows and truly cares for his customer and will do anything for them and vice versa. When this relationship is broken…the farmer no longer serves a consumer family…he serves a disconnected broker and or a commodity system that cares-less and rips-off and lies to everyone and anyone that it can.
I am going to need therapy soon…it all disgusts me. I am leaving for Mexico in a couple of weeks to do some clinic work…perhaps that will reground me. I know that our “Camping with the Cows” event with 400 visitors on May 3rd will certainly bring me back to happy and give me some consumer reconnect.
Ken
http://your90forlife.info/Public/PlayVideo.aspx?id=241
http://your90forlife.info/Public/PlayVideo.aspx?id=242
http://your90forlife.info/Public/PlayVideo.aspx?id=243
http://your90forlife.info/Public/PlayVideo.aspx?id=254
http://your90forlife.info/Public/PlayVideo.aspx?id=255
The basic topic as I understand it, is farmer-cost-effective strategies for comprehensive mineralization of soils for the goal of producing food stuffs that actually meet all of the nutritional needs of people.
i.e. something that would work across the size scale from, say, a Kid Creek Pastures farm to an Organic Pastures Dairy Corp. including trees, plants, and animals.
The side effects (my term) are a whole string of pluses.
As I understand it, Mr. Ropps background is growing up Amish and then joining the U.S. Navy, and now in business, doing what you see in this lecture.
All the best,
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
(it is not clear to me if this lecture, at these URLs, is going to be permanently available, or even beyond 4/30)
Here we go (I think this is exactly how to access the information):
http://www.Your90ForLife.info
Use i.d.: 16515601
Training Tab
Agriculture
Presentation
Testimonies
Agriculture Handouts (pdf Download)
Expires 1 May 2014
I apologize for misleading.
I’ll look at what you found when I have a moment to see if it comports.
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
What I am interested in here, not being a farmer myself, is: is this relevant, what Mr. Ropp is discussing in this lecture? Does it work? If it works, is it cost effective?
It seems that non-GMO, drought resistant, nutritionally full pasture grasses, on a cost effective basis, would play an important role leading to the highest possible quality raw dairy products. It would seem that the animals would naturally be in the best health, including breeding without problems. And I think he is saying that those ARE the sorts of results hes seeing already in practice.
I assumed the five direct links would work for your ISS; in the case that was misleading, sorry about that. (ISS =? (I dont know this acronym))
The other route to the lecture goes through the your90forlife.info website.
I tried it and got to the lecture and the Handouts.
0. http://www.your90forlife.info
1. Upper right login, and chose Enter Account ID of person who referred you
2. Little box appears and I put 16515601 in it and tapped login
3. Next screen, top bar, I clicked on training
4. Next screen, box on left, I clicked on Presentation
5. Next screen has the five videos of the lecture, and,
6. The Liquid EFM Handouts
(I havent heard the youtube material that you found but will put listening to it on my to-do list.)
In conclusion, it IS all about minerals for the soil and animals. Thats what interests me.
I think what caught my attention is contained in this lecture of Mr. Ropp and the lecture handouts.
And it says: Expires 1 May 2014. I take that to mean that the lecture video and handouts will be taken down then.
(The pyramid sales product you referred to must be multi-level marketing (MLM) information for a company named Youngevity. Mr. Ropp is an independent distributor of Youngevity.)
All the best,
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
I’m hoping you get a chance to listen/watch the vid I posted before May 1 just in case the info you posted does go offline, then the youtube version could still be used if you want to pass this information on elsewhere. It all sounds interesting to me, since my Dad raised Hereford breeder bulls (so did my grampa) for many years and were still doing that when our place became a century farm in 1987 – without using Ai to do it. 😉
An ISS is an internet security system. It keeps me from opening stuff that seems “iffy” or whatever. I’ve been using the same ISS for about six years and have never been hacked. I did have my debit card hacked over the phone recently though. I won’t be doing that again anytime soon.
http://www.dairyreporter.com/Markets/Vietnam-height-initiatives-drive-drinking-milk-sales-growth-Euromonitor
What is it about the asian markets that makes them so height conscious? And why is it that they think that consumption of UHT pasteurized milk will make them grow taller?
http://barfblog.com/2014/04/responding-to-bioterror-concerns-by-increasing-milk-pasteurization-temperature-would-increase-estimated-annual-deaths-from-listeriosis/
This very qualified acedemic investigation ( using “Conservative estimates” and modern QMRA risk assessments ) and published data shows that the higher the pasteurization temperature…the higher the risk of listeria as a “post pasteurized milk risk”. That part was interesting. We all know that pasteurization generally kills listeria…however the risk of listeria as a post pasteurization malady was studied and well considered and estimated. The part that really got me was that the author estimated 18 deaths per year from listeria in pastuerized milk ( under current protocols and temperatures ) and then extrapolated that this death rate would go up to 670 deaths per year due to the increased pasteurization temps that are now being utilized because of the concerns for biosecurity.
My huge question is this: WHY DOES THIS ACEDEMIC INVESTIGATOR make a case that 18 people die each year from pastuerized fluid milk??? Acedemics adn PhD’s use known data for present values?? 18 deaths per year from listeria that is associated with pasteurized milk…where did that come from ? I thought that the CDC just had a death once in a while….18 per year going up to 670, all from pasteurized milk? That is as bad or worse than raw Gulf Oysters!!
Am I not reading this right? Is the CDC hiding pasteurized milk listeria death data from the public? Not sure about any of this….sure of one thing however, pasteurization is NOT a guarantee of safety. In fact, it appeears that the hotter it gets, the more unsafe it becomes. Bacteria are our friends,… piss them off and you got lots more problems.
http://foodfreedomgroup.com/2014/04/27/new-gumpert-book-covers-corpo-gov-war-on-non-industrial-good-food/
—
Possible Food Poisoning Sickens 100 at Safety Summit
By Jonel Aleccia
–
More than 100 people have now reported they got sick with suspected food poisoning at a national Food Safety Summit held earlier this month in Baltimore.
–
Maryland state health officials say they still dont know what caused the outbreak of gastroenteritis that left participants suffering symptoms that included diarrhea and nausea.
–
We are working on evaluating possible exposures and doing testing at the Maryland state public health laboratory to attempt to identify an agent, officials said in a letter to attendees.
–
The conference, held April 8 to 10 at the Baltimore Convention Center, attracted at least 1,300 of the top food safety officials in the nation, including staff from federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as businesses such as McDonalds, Tyson and ConAgra Foods.
–
Health officials have heard back from about 400 of those who attended, so the actual toll of illness might be higher.
–
City health officials inspected the convention center and its food service provider, Centerplate. The company was issued a violation notice for condensation dripping from one of the two ice machines in the kitchen, a spokesman said.
——————-
priceless.
–bill
No one got sick at this affair: http://lancasteronline.com/news/top-chefs-from-around-the-world-dine-in-amish-barn/article_86f04522-e95b-541c-bfaa-a001ae669f9c.html
Imagine it. Local foods, barefoot kids, eating in a barn.
Ken
Ora, thanks for linking to that nice review. I had missed it.
What do they expect when they try to keep their food and drinks cold with all that hot air floating around.
Ken
The natural form of calcium in raw milk is good for our bodies, but few people understand the difference or even know about the differences in synthetic vs the real thing. When friends tell me they chew Tums for the calcium, it’s all I can do not to roll my eyes and ask if they know what ELSE is in Tums. Whatever good they might think they’re getting from the calcium (almost negligent) is certainly undone by the other ingredients. Next the Asian people will be buying Tums by the case if some advertising agency puts it on their “sell” list.
I’ve read several articles over the years about how calcium collects in arteries causing physical issues, but cholesterol is being blamed because it’s been a “star” drug seller for the past 30 – 40 years. People don’t realize how much our bodies need cholesterol in order to properly function.