Tag: pesticides

Food Glyphosate Levels From RoundUp Increased 500 Times Since 1994

Environment and Health

RoundUp, which contains glyphosate, is not biodegradable.  Interesting, I think, that Monsanto had to be taken to court a couple of years ago, to get them to remove their false claim of ‘biodegradable’ from the packaging of their RoundUp weedkiller.

RoundUp weedkiller, and Monsanto’s related RoundUp Ready seeds and plants, are a multi-billion dollar industry. For over 20 years, they have marketed their RoundUp weedkiller as ‘biodegradable’, happily duping farmers, agriculturalists, city councils, governments, and the general public about the safety of RoundUp, which contains glyphosate, an ingredient which WHO,  World Health Organization,  last year declared is a ‘probable cause of cancer’.

Some organic farmers use RoundUp, which misleads people into thinking RoundUp must be OK.  But RoundUp and glyphosate are not safe, and should never be used in the organic industry, if at all. How can this be, that organic producers can use glyphosate weedkiller? Well –  Monsanto has cleverly convinced governments everywhere that a small amount of glyphosate is acceptable, which is why some organic farmers can call their stuff organic:  as long as they make sure that they are within the so-called ‘safe’ range, then they can call their stuff organic, when in fact it is not at all.

I heard the tail end of a documentary on Radio New Zealand about a month ago.  They reported that German scientists have found that levels of glyphosate,  the active ingredient in the weedkiller called RoundUp, have increased 500 times since 1994,

1994 was the year that Monsanto introduced their ‘RoundUp Ready’, genetically modified seeds, to the agriculture industry.  RoundUp Ready seeds are patented seeds, which means you have to buy them, and these patented seeds are designed to withstand any amount of glyphosate-containing RoundUp.  This means that the farmer, or grower, can spray any amount of glyphosate-containing weedkiller over these genetically modified seeds, or growing plants,  and the weedkiller will not kill the genetically modified seeds or plants, but it will kill everything else that grows around the RoundUp Ready plants.

So the plant keeps on growing, whilst any amount of glyphosate weedkiller, known as RoundUp, or – new name change to dupe the public -G360, which still contains glyphosate, is sprayed on regularly to kill the weeds.  This glyphosate-containing weedkiller is absorbed into the plant.  As the plant keeps on growing, it absorbs some of the glyphosate weedkiller each time a spraying occurs.  Then WE GET TO EAT IT.

So, no wonder that glyphosate levels in our food is up 500 times since 1994, when RoundUp Ready seeds were first marketed by Monsanto.

And no wonder that asthma and other breathing problems, plus eczema, arthritis, candida related sicknesses such as cancer, depression and nervous diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and parkinsons, are all increasing rapidly.

I am currently living in the wild west of New Zealand spraying culture in Dunedin.  Hundreds of miles of country roads are sprayed regularly with tonnes and tonnes of weedkiller.  Maybe the council is not using glyphosate anymore, I do not know, but the effect on our health is still disastrous.  Last year, I took photos of one of the town’s water reservoirs, which had been sprayed right around with weedkiller, with the adjoining road heavily polluted with sprayed, dead grass which you could see for miles down the road.

Dunedin is a very small city, so the country is very close to us, no matter where you live here.

It is obvous that my grandsons are being affected by the spraying.  Each time a massive spraying occurs, they succumb to asthma-like illness.  I notice that many old people get pneumonia, severe flu, or other illnesses after sprayings occur.

1080 pesticide is another problem to our health.  This affects the nervous system very dramatically, which is not a surprise, since it kills wildlife by destroying their nervous systems.  Large areas of land have been poisoned with 1080  in Dunedin over the past few months, which I am sure caused much lung disease, depression and heart troubles in our community.  I became very ill with a mysterious nervous condition, resulting in extreme weakness, when the nature reserve only a few doors down was dosed with 1080 recently.

It is such a shame that New Zealand ‘Forest And Bird Society’, and, I think, even the ‘Green Party’, endorse the use of 1080 pesticide.  They have no idea about the damage being done to all wildlife, and our water and food chain, through use of 1080, but keep a romantic idea of preserving the native bush and birds without any sense of reality.

 

Brodifacoum Pesticide Killing Birds In New Zealand

Toxic Chemicals:

New Zealand Parklands Being Poisoned

This article was first published in 2010.  I removed it to another website, but decided to republished it on this website, since I have been writing lately about the effects of poison drops in the Kaikorai Valley area, Dunedin.  I know the local council have supported the use of 1080 drops in the past few months, and have suspected that sudden faintness, bone pains, general debilitation and sick pets is the result of these 1080 drops.  I do not know whether the council here is using brodifacoum, but this is another deadly poison, and, like 1080, gets into our water and our food eventually.

Our ‘clean, green’ image, promoted by Tourism New Zealand, and one which many Kiwis fondly relate to, is a fallacy.

New Zealand has a history of rampant chemical abuse which goes back to the days of DDT, which is still in our soils.  Then followed the herbicides 2,4D,  and 245T, which was used here long after it was banned in the rest of the educated world.

Sadly, not much has changed: Here we are in the 21st century, with the new super Auckland City Council in charge of us up here at Orewa, in the Whangaparoa, ex-Rodney Council region. This new council of Auckland City has approved a massive drop of Brodifacoum – 30 tonnes of the stuff, to be exact – to be aerially dropped over the region of the Shakespear Sanctuary.

This is not really a surprise either, considering the compliance of the Auckland City Council over the aerial poisoning of Auckland, which took place around 2002-2005.   This poisoning, done to get rid of the elusive apple moth, we were told, was, I believe, a crime against humanity.  They carried on with their campaign, spraying a deluge of apple moth spray over much of Auckland, until finally, Victoria University in Wellington proved that the spray WAS damaging the health of Aucklanders.  This was the moment when they were forced to stop their campaign.

Why couldn’t our own university in Auckland tackle the problem?  Well, the answer is that it was a politically sensitive issue:  The Auckland newspaper, “The New Zealand Herald”, was actually supporting the spraying programme by refusing to publish our on-going objections to the spray.  The same newspaper blatantly ran full page advertisements to support the campaign, driven by MAF, as if the apple moth poison, and these seriously ‘concerned’ people,  were seriously going to make our lives better.

The University of Auckland did nothing to come to our aid, when all the time, they had the records of student health over the period, which would have indicated the increased health problems suffered by students subjected to this poison.

Well, the Brodifacoum drop on Shakespear Park will hopefully not be on the scale of the apple moth poisoning, but it surely is a danger to all life, all the same.  And it is a shame that people on the Whangaparoa Peninsula have not banded together, to make as loud a noise a possible,  to try to stop the poisoning.

It seems most people on the whangaparaoa Peninsula are not even aware of the proposed Brodifacoum drop, or, if they are, they have been seduced into believing that it will not harm them.  Either that, or they just don’t care.

I have seen only one letter in our local paper, “The Rodney Times”, which objected to the Brodifacoum drop.  I made a response to this letter, to endorse the writer’s objections to the use of Brodifacoum, but my letter has not been published.

Merrilyn’s new book is available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.ca/Cancer-And-Good-Health-Notebook-ebook/dp/B01DHMH6DG

Poison Free New Zealand: I find it interesting that most of the submissions against the spray, which were presented at a council meeting in December, 2010,  come from many different places over New Zealand.   I think the organization Poison Free New Zealand, and its co-ordinator Paul Cohen,  are conjointly  responsible for these far-reaching submissions.

The New Zealand Deer-Stalker ‘s Association has also spoken out strongly against the use of the poison Brodifacoum.

One submission against the Brodifacoum drop even comes from a Kiwi who is living in France. However, there is a  single voice which speaks out against the spray, which comes from the Whangaparoa Peninsula itself.

The major concerns of the people who oppose the aerial Brodifacoum drop are that:

Brodifacoum poses a major health risk to people, animals, birds and fish in the vicinity of the drop.

Brodifacoum poison is not selective, and will kill all creatures which ingest it.

Brodifacoum also poses a threat to the wider environment, as Brodifacoum, like DDT, gets into the food chain. It does not break down easily.

Brodifacoum is a rodenticide which is a common ingredient in rat and mice poisons.

Brodifacoum causes internal haemorrhages, and these haemorrhages cause death because of resultant heart failure, or respiratory failure. These outcomes are well documented. (Kirkwood et al 1994)

One submission states that the American Bird Conservancy have cited several studies which indicate that secondary poisonings are common. A secondary poisoning is when poisoning occurs from eating flesh of an animal already contaminated with a poison, such as Brodifacoum.

The American Bird Conservancy believes that the poison Brodifacoum could be dispersed by insects which are not affected by Brodifacoum, but which harbour the pesticide within and outside their bodies. Thus insects could be carriers of the poisoned bait.

In the New Zealand Herald today and yesterday, we have been given beautiful posters of the birds of the Hauraki Gulf. This can’t be concidence, methinks. The Brodifacoum drop is about to begin:

The promotions of council so far have failed to tell us about the poisoning due to happen at Shakespear Park. Their intentions to drop 30 tonnes of Brodifacoum is being played down, and instead of warnings about the imminent poisoning, we get given these lovely posters.

One advertisement I read on a local bus just over a week ago asked for donations to protect our Shakspear Park and its birds……It gave the impression that the Auckland City Council were doing everything to look after our precious park. No mention on this ad that they are about to poison the area with rodenticide which will harm the very birds that they say they are trying to protect.

Presumably, donations received to the Auckland City Council will actually be paying for this dreadful carnage.

One writer has said that Brodifacoum has been detected in a range of game animals further up the food chain, for example, in pigs and deer, and goats, which will make the eating of wild animals unsafe.  This is one reason that the New Zealand Deer Stalker’s Association have objected to the Brodifacoum drop.

But Brodifacoum has also been found to affect bird life. The New Zealand native avian species affected is large: The list includes weka, moreportk, black billed gull, saddleback,and New Zealand robin. Imported species such as chaffinch, mynah, magpie and blackbird are also vulnerable. (Eason et al 2001)

After the Rangitoto drop of Brodifacoum, thousands of pilchards died, all in the same time frame. Our authorities have declared that there is no relationship to the poison used on Rangitoto, as they said they did not find significant amounts of Brodifacoum in the fish.

However,  just because scientist cannot find traces of the poison, this is no proof that the fish have not suffered a toxic reaction:  It is now an established fact that some species will have adverse reactions to some poisons from exposure to miniscule amounts which cannot even be detected: This has been shown with bees, in studies which have determined the cause of bee colony collapse disorder as being exposure to miniscule amounts of nicotinoid substances which did not even show up under scientific investigation.

The reality is that all birds, all animals in the area will be affected in the long term And so will people.

People who live in the area are likely to suffer sore, burning eyes, and skin rashes in some cases. But, since Brodifacoum gets into the food chain, the long-term and wide scope of its effect cannot be underestimated. Its effects will be far reaching.

The US EPA Rodenticide Mitigation Decision of May 2008 clearly classifies Brodifacoum as a ‘PERSISTENT ORGANIC COMPOUND’ (POC).

The effect of using Persistent Organic Compounds, according to this American report,  is that they “bio-accumulate along terrestrial food chains”.  It states that “repeated use of POC’s, including second generation anticoagulants, is unwise and discouraged”.

The effects of Brodifacoum have been equated to the effects of DDT,another POC which has a damaging effect on the health, and  a long-lasting effect in the environment and the food chain.

(see US EPA Rodenticide Mitigation Decision, May, 2008)

Chocolate Brownie Recipe Which Hedgehogs And Children Love

Chocolate Brownie Recipe, Guaranteed To Attract Hedgehogs Into Your Garden

My Grandchildren love these Chocolate Brownie cookies as well:

3/4 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

3/4 cup S.R.flour

5 Tablespoons Cocoa powder

2 free-range eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts or peanut butter

2 Tablespoons of yellow cornmeal
2 Tablespoons of shredded coconut

Melt the butter a little and add the sugar and cocoa powder.

Add the eggs, peanuts or peanut butter, and vanilla – stir in well.

Add the eggs and vanilla – stir in well.

Add the flour and cornmeal.

Mix altogether.

Grease an oven tray with butter or oil.

Make balls of the dough, and flatten out with fingers or a fork on the tray. You may need to sprinkle some cornmeal or flour over the dough so that the dough does not stick to your fingers when you form the balls.

Bake at 180 degrees C for around 10 minutes.  Turn down the oven after about 5 minutes so they do not burn. You can tell when they are cooked, as the most delicious cookie aroma will permeate the air when they are ready.

When you bring out the tray, slide a fish slice or spatula under each cookie, and put on a wire tray to cool.

Once properly cooled, you can put them into a glass jar with screwtop lid, or an air-tight plastic container.

Environment:

Hedgehogs Are Endangered In New Zealand

Hedgehogs are a wonderful asset to any garden, in my opinion.  They eat all the slugs and snails which would otherwise eat your vegetables and delicate flowers.

In the United Kingdom, environmentalists are working to save the hedgehog, whose forraging areas are rapidly being depleted, with people culling out gardens and having walls built around their properties which do not allow hedgehogs to visit. The poor hedgehog is having a rough time of it, with fewer good places to live and forage for food.

In the UK, the protectors of hedgehogs are encouraging people to grow hedges, and make little holes in walls and fences where hedgehogs can enter into the garden.

I am sure the UK people will be promoting organic gardening without the use of toxic pesticides and herbicides which have the potential to kill or sicken hedgehogs, birds, cats and dogs. Snail and slug poison is especially bad for hedgehogs, and birds too.

I heard a radio announcer talking on Radio NZ recently, who said that hedgehogs were NOT friends of ours, because of their threat to NZ wildlife, and especially to the Kiwi, the highly prized national icon.  A ridiculous and short-sighted view, I think.

It has been decided by MAF in New Zealand that hedghogs, as well as cats and dogs, present a threat to Kiwi.  Because they might eat the odd Kiwi egg, it has been decided to kill every hedgehog in New Zealand.

Then the discussion on hedgehogs in New Zealand drew in a scientist/researcher from Massey University, who said that DOGS are the biggest threat of all to Kiwi in New Zealand. Do we want to kill dogs because of their threat to wildlife?

MAF are not interested in destroying every dog in New Zealand, though dogs be the biggest threat to Kiwi, but they want to destroy every living hedgehog.  It just does not make sense.

Well, I have been looking after the hedgehogs in my area for a while now.  I have discovered their very favourite food:  Chocolate Brownies. They can smell the rich chocolate of my chocolate brownies from way down the road, which literally gets them running towards my place, and the big fry-pan which I put their food into.

See Merrilyn’s song ‘Marianne, Let Us Be’ on Youtube:

 

 

 

Causes of Cancer Article In NZ Listener 2015 Has Major Omissions

Cancer Is A Political Disease, as Doctor Samuel Epstein famously wrote.

This article about cancer, which featured in this week’s NZ Listener,  May 16-22, 2015, was yet another gloss-over of the real, underlying causes of most cancers.

Remember that book by Samuel B. Epstein, ‘The Politics Of Cancer’?  Epstein’s concerns in the 1970,s or early ’80’s are as relevant today as they were then.

One thing the Listener article had right:  Just because you carry a gene which might increase your chances of getting cancer, carrying the gene does not mean that you need to succumb to the disease.  Most cancers can be prevented through eating the right foods, and living a healthy lifestyle which incorporates regular exercise. You do not need to run out and get a breast cut off to avoid getting cancer, like some well-known film stars have done.

However, if the vegetables, fruit and meat you are buying are devoid of all the main nutrients they are supposed to carry, because of artificial fertilizers ruining natural fertility of the soil, and they are contaminated by the use of various agricultural poisons used in producing them, then diet may not help much in preventing cancer.  For diet to prevent or cure cancer, then it is imperative that a clean, organic source of food be found.

Point One On The Omissions In Listener Article: It failed to mention that the widespread poisoning of the planet by agrichemical giants is the main cause of cancer.  If we don’t get poisoned through agriculture, then the local council might do it for us: Governments and councils all over the world support these companies by allowing these poisons on our parks, in nature reserves, and around our towns on the pavements.

Point Two: It also declined to mention that poverty, or inequal distribution of the world’s wealth, is another major cause of obesity, which in turn goes hand in hand with higher cancer risk, as well as heart disease and diabetes.  This is because vegetables and fresh fruit are expensive, whereas take-away foods such as McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried, are relatively cheap, which is why many poorer families rely on these second-rate choices.  Apart from the obvious high-fat in takeaway foods, they contain high levels of genetically-modified items, such as corn, which are contaminated with glyphosphate and other agrichemicals.

On point one: No matter how good the food you eat, chances are it has been exposed to quantities of glyphosphate poison, found in RoundUp, as well as many other contaminants.

The World Health Organization has recently announced that glyphosphate, an active component in RoundUp weedkiller, ‘probably causes cancer’.

Agrichemical giants have argued for a long time that ‘there is no proof that poisons such as glyphosphate are harmful’, and they have aggressively suppressed information which might alert people as to their health risk.  At last, WHO have come out with an albeit half-hearted attack on glyphosphate and Monsanto’s RoundUp.

The world-wide push for countries to sign the TPPA trade agreement is going to weaken the power of governments further:  It will effectively eradicate our right to free speech, as these chemical giants will rule under USA law, which currently gives them the right to sue if we harm their sales.  This means anybody claiming that these poisons harm your health will be sued, just to shut them up.

The end result of this corruption is that our food will continue to be contaminated by the major seed and herbicide-pesticide manufacturers, and will probably become even more toxic with their increased powers, once they have shut down free speech and any adversaries of their ethics.

Monsanto have been using ‘RoundUp Ready’ seeds for a long time now.  Being so-called ‘Round-Up Ready’ means that the plant has been developed to resist glyphosphate poison.  But it also means that the food, which has come from genetically modified seeds so that it can withstand glyphosphate weed-killer, will be highly contaminated with this poison.  The plant may survive the glyphosphate weedkiller, but it absorbs the poison, and then we ingest it.

75% or more of the world’s corn and soybeans are now thought to be genetically modified seeds which are so-called ‘RoundUp-Ready’, which means they can withstand liberal use of glyphosphate-containing RoundUp poison.

So, so sad to see John Campbell leaving TV3 and his programme ‘Campbell Live’.  This is a political move, as John is the only journalist who deals honestly and helpfully on all manner of political, social and environmental issues, and I bet the National government is overjoyed he has been pushed out. Now we have no one to defend the poor, or the environment, or to keep the politicians honest.

My guess is that, more than anything, TV3 has come under pressure from the government, who  wanted John Campbell quietened down on the serious worries we all have to do with our government and their secret negotiations to sign the TPPA with America, our government’s dubious spy agency, and other things, such as unaffordable housing in Auckland and rocketing house prices.

It has nothing to do with Campbell’s  ratings.  I believe these have been trumped down in the same way that National’s ratings are trumped up – to suit the government.  John Campbell is probably the most loved TV personality ever, and his ratings are still much higher than those of other important programmes run by TV3, or any other station.

A friend of mine told me angrily this week that policital issues should be kept separate from health ones, and that I am wrong to include both.  Funny – I pulled all the obvious political stuff from my health site when it was being hacked regularly, around the time just prior to the election three years ago.

I guessed that the reason was political, and that the National lot were to blame.  My son discovered that the site had definitely been hacked, and that an ad for ‘viagra for sale’ had been  inserted within my articles, along with other examples of sabotage.  One sure way to get your site ruined in its ratings is by sticking ads like this onto it.

Then, just two weeks before this last election, someone invited a response from me, in a comment that they made on my site.  So, for the first time in around three years, I mentioned the National government, whom I had criticized earlier.  I said that my site had been hacked because of my views on the current government, which I consider to be their obliviousness to the urgencies of social issues such as housing, and jobs, their lack of concern for the environment, and their greedy desire to sell off every part of our country for quick profit.

Within an hour of writing this, my whole site was totally blocked.  I was effectively silenced, not able to answer comments, not able to agree with the arguments put forward by Nicki Hager, that the National government had serious bloggers out there to undermine the other parties.  Now I knew how serious this movement to protect the status quo really was – that they have the power to  stop any protesters or dissenters, by de-activating their sites.  And I couldn’t write about it, because my site was down.

The site wasn’t able to be restored until two days AFTER the election, because the ‘WordPress’ help-desk was conveniently shut until then.  Well – Great to see all this stuff printed in ‘The Listener’ on diet, and what foods to eat for keeping healthy and avoiding cancer.  But we, who have long held serious doubts on the belief systems of the medical establishment, knew all this a long, long time ago.

Bee-Killing Insecticides Banned In Europe, But Now Bayer Sues

Environment:  Food Chain At Risk.

Below, see the petition to sign, to keep bee-killing poisons out of our environment and protect environment.

Neonicotinoid insecticides were recently banned in Europe, in 2014.  But now Bayer, who makes some of these bee-killers, is sueing the European Commission to have the ban overturned.

Bayer and Syngenta are two of the largest companies in the world which market agricultural chemicals.  They both claim that the decision made by the European Commission to ban bee-killers is unfair.

To bleat ‘Unfair’ somewhat weakens the severity of the issue at hand – we are not squabbling over marbles here.  The earth is being poisoned and ruined for future generations by these irresponsible and greedy companies who don’t care a stuff about our health, or the health of the bees, or the planet.

They stand to lose billions of dollars because their insecticides have been banned, and so they are fighting for the right to keep poisoning our environment with their unnecessary and dangerous chemicals.

The European Commission instigated the ban on Neonicotinoid insecticides and other substances because of the overwhelming scientific evidence which proves these poisons to be destructive  to the bee population.

That they harm bees is one very good reason to ban these insecticides.  The other reason why they should be banned is because they also harm humans, animals, birds, natural fauna, trees and anything which lives.  Toxic agricultural chemicals have a lot to do with the increasing instances of cancer, arthritis, Parkinson’s and other immune system dysfunctions.  The nervous system is affected badly by toxic insecticides and herbicides.

World Famine:  This could be the result if Bayer wins their lawsuit against the European Commission.  Insecticides such as Neonicotinoids, which are derived from nicocotine, and even herbicides such as Monsanto’s Glyphosphate-containing RoundUp poison, are devastating the bee population.

Without the bees, our crops will not produce, and nor will the fruiting trees around the world. World wide famine will be the end result without bees and all the other pollinating insects which are at risk from the use of toxic chemicals.

Sustainable Agriculture:  Everybody the world over needs to get into sustainable, organic agriculture instead of using chemicals.

Sustainable agriculture also means not allowing the big pesticide and herbicide companies to manipulate our seeds, so that we are forced each year to buy new seed from them.  They are working towards a situation where we will only have their genetically modified, one-off seeds available.  In this situation, they will have TOTAL control of the food sources.  Unbelievable profits for them if everybody has to buy their patented seeds every year.

World Famine:  This is a dangerous situation, as it means if they make errors, and seeds go wrong, we could all starve, if we don’t die from cancer first.

These big pesticide-herbicide companies are causing many problems with food supply already.  Their control over the food supply is not the solution to poverty in the world, it serves only to profit them immensely.

We must fight for the right to harvest and use our our own seed, and the right to buy and use traditional, heritage seeds from people who are keeping the old, self-perpetuating varieties alive.

Monsanto is one of the major culprits in the war to gain complete control over seed production and usage. As I write this article, people are being sued by Monsanto for breaking their rules.

Bees Die From Pesticide:  Read more on how destructive pesticides actually are:  millions of bees were found dead on a single Canadian farm in December, 2014.  Go to

http://action.sumofus.org/a/bayer-bees-lawsuit/13/2/

Only a minute amount of Neonicotinoid-containing substance is required to drastically affect the health of a hive.  Read my post of a few years back which reports the scientific evidence showing that exposure to homeopathic doses of Neonicotinoids made bees fall sick with viral diseases such as viroa. I use the term ‘homeopathic’, because the quantities which were used in this test were so small as to be undetectable as the original substance.

The scientists knew that the bees had been exposed to minute traces of the insecticide.  These bees fell prey to ‘Bee Colony Collapse Disorder’, whereas the bees who had been protected from the minute doses of insecticide did not get sick.

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

Bees Killed By Insecticide

http://merrilynhope.com/avaaz-save-our-bees-campaign-ban-nicotinoid-insecticide

Robot Bees will not be the answer.  This is a ridiculous idea which some scientists, obviously working for the Big Insectide companies, have come up with.  We won’t be fobbed off with the erroneous idea that robot bees will be just as good as real, live bees.  For a start, bees work in our gardens for free, whereas, for sure, we would have to pay for these robot bees to work our gardens, trees and crops. So robot bees will profit the big pesticide companies yet again.

Robot bees is a horrible idea.

Nature cannot be replaced.  These arrogant big chemical companies, who profit from the poisoning of the planet, pretend to play God with their desire to rule and manage the world.

Here is the link for the petition to sign:  To keep the European Commission’s decision to ban all bee- harming insecticides.

http://action.sumofus.org/a/bayer-bees-lawsuit/?sub=mtl

Someone sent an email to me recently which said ‘Don’t knock pesticides and herbicides.  We have come a long way since the starvation days of the Irish Potato Famine…….These chemicals have their purpose.’

Not true at all, dear writer.

The Irish Potato Famine was a political thing.  It came about because of poverty brought about by the British  confiscation of land, and the Corn Laws, another British device which kept the Irish people so poor that all they could afford to eat was potatoes.

The Irish Potato Famine did not occur because of a lack of pesticides.

One third of the Irish population was reliant solely on potatoes.  So around one third of the population died from starvation when the potato crop was stricken.

Poverty lead to lack of biodiversity, i.e. there was no range of different crops and fruits.  All people had to plant was potatoes.

With monocultures of crops, where thousands and thousands of acres are sown with the same crop, disease is always a problem.  I doubt that poisonous chemicals would have been the answer.  Anyway, what is wrong with the ancient, organic , bio-diverse methods of agriculture which have kept the human race going for thousands of years?

Such lack of biodiversity is not only to blame for the potato blight which ruined the crops, but for so many of the population starving and dying.

The Irish Potato Famine was political in that it was a very convenient thing for the British:  It kept the Irish ‘situation’ under control.  The people were, if they hadn’t died already,  too sick to fight for their rights.  The British could easily have sent over food, knowing that the potato crops had failed, and that the people would starve.  But, instead, they let them starve.

Back to sustainable agriculture:

Get back to organic ways of gardening, farming and agriculture.  This is the only safe way to go, for the good of the earth’s soil and all that lives on it.

This is an erroneous idea, that we need chemicals such as Nicotinoids to control insects, or Glyphosphates, such as is used in Monsanto’s ‘RoundUp’, to control weeds, nor their genetically-modified seeds.

Sustainable Agriculture:  Organic farming and orcharding, and organic gardening, is the only way to preserve the bees and produce good, healthy food which will not poison us in the long run.

My new book is available on Amazon: