Small farmers, independent farmers, competing against massive
corporate factory farms, decided to support Occupy Wall Street
with food:
This is the food Mayor Bloomberg had NYPD evict.
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Gretchen Quarterman takes a break and joins them. Continue reading
In this
video of the event
you can hear the arrogance of the inspector:
That’s all the information you need.Well, no, it’s not.
The inspector said it was a public event because the guests had paid for d inner.
The farmer eventually called their lawyer who said ask the inspector to see her warrant. She had none.
But they had already been told their food that they grew with their own hands was not fit for a public dinner, nor a private dinner, not even to feed to their pigs. They were forced to pour bleach on it, making it unfit even for compost.
Given that every food contamination recall in recent years has come from big factory farms, not from small organic farms, does this raid seem right to you? Continue reading
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Pileated WoodPecker
(Dryocopus pileatus) Flying: Dark trailing wing edge Perched: Small white patch Length: 16-19 in. Wing span: 26-30 in. |
Ivory-billed Woodpecker
(Campephilus principalis) Flying: White trailing wing edge Perched: Large white patch Length: 18-20 in. Wing span: 30-33 in. |
| Above illustrations by N. John Schmitt © Cornell Lab of Ornithology | |
You can clearly see when this bird flew overhead it had a black trailing wing edge: Continue reading
Wake Up World wrote 19 September 2011, Case Update: 270,000 Organic Farmers Sue Monsanto
This goes well beyond control of seeds, of course, and beyond the plaintiffs: Continue readingThe 83 family farmers, small and family owned seed businesses, and agricultural organizations challenging Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified seed filed papers in federal court (13th August 2011) defending their right to seek legal protection from the threat of being sued by Monsanto for patent infringement should they ever become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed. The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) represents the plaintiffs in the suit, titled Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association (OSGATA), et al. v. Monsanto and pending in the Southern District of New York. The August 13 filings respond to a motion filed by Monsanto in mid-July to have the case dismissed. In support of the plantiffs’ right to bring the case, 12 agricultural organizations also filed a friend-of-the-court amici brief.
“Rather than give a straight forward answer on whether they would sue our clients for patent infringement if they are ever contaminated by Monsanto’s transgenic seed, Monsanto has instead chosen to try to deny our clients the right to receive legal protection from the courts,” said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT’s Executive Director. “Filings include sworn statements by several of the plaintiffs themselves explaining to the court how the risk of contamination by transgenic seed is real and why they cannot trust Monsanto to not use an occurrence of contamination as a basis to accuse them of patent infringement.”
They’re almost big enough.
Or maybe a pair of Southern Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) on a longleaf pine (Pinus Palustris).
I got pretty close; they just laughed. Eventually I walked away to do something else, and they flew into another tree directly over my head, where you see them in this video:
Pileated Woodpeckers, Dryocopus pileatus, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Pictures by John S. Quarterman, 7 November 2011.
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Ethan A. Huff wrote for NaturalNews.com 3 August 2011, Court rules organic farmers can sue conventional, GMO farmers whose pesticides ‘trespass’ and contaminate their fields
Purveyors of conventional and genetically-modified (GM) crops — and theAnd all most people have done so far is let it slide. But the Johnsons did something. Continue readingpesticides and herbicides that accompany them — are finally getting a taste of their own legal medicine. Minnesota’s Star Tribune has reported that the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently ruled that a large organic farm surrounded by chemical-laden conventional farms can seek damages for lost crops, as well as lost profits, caused by the illegal trespassing of pesticides and herbicides on its property.
Oluf and Debra Johnson’s 1,500-acre organic farm in Stearns County, Minn., has repeatedly been contaminated by nearby conventional and GMO farms since the couple started it in the 1990s. A local pesticide cooperative known as Paynesville Farmers Union (PFU), which is near the farm, has been cited at least four times for violating pesticide laws, and inadvertently causing damage to the Johnson’s farm.
The first time it was realized that pesticides had drifted onto the Johnson’s farm in 1998, PFU apologized, but did not agree to pay for damages. As anyone with an understanding of organic practices knows, even a small bit of contamination can result in having to plow under that season’s crops, forget profits, and even lose the ability to grow organic crops in the same field for at least a couple years.
Aunt Elsie gets mentioned again for her pioneering career in plant ecology.
According to the Nature Conservancy (undated), Tennessee Coneflower — No Longer Endangered
After years of hard work and the support of many dedicated individuals, an iconic flower is once again thriving in Tennessee. On August 4, 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the removal of the Tennessee coneflower from the Endangered Species List, marking an extraordinary recovery from the brink of extinction. The story of the coneflower exemplifies the power of conservation.Her nephew Patrick found this.In 1968, Vanderbilt biology professor Elsie Quarterman and graduate student Barbara Turner accidentally discovered the fuschia-colored coneflowers at Mount View Cedar Glade. The plant had been thought extinct until the rediscovery. In time, three other coneflower sites were discovered in Davidson and Wilson counties. In 1979, the Tennessee coneflower became one of the first plants to be recorded on the Endangered Species List.
Quarterman subsequently became a trustee of the Tennesee Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and urged the protection of the cedar glade habitats where the Tennessee coneflower and other rare plants have adapted to live in harsh, stony conditions.
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Pictures of a dried lizard by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 20 September 2011.
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Something about circular furrows in a rectangular field….
Will these grow crop circles? Continue reading