Bombus mixtus enjoying the sage blossoms and snowberry in our front yard

Honeybee collecting nectar=Sage Honey this fall

Did you know that almost 90% of all flowering plants rely on animals, rather than the wind, for pollination? Over 200,000 species of animals act as pollinators. The vast majority of animal pollinators are insects such as beetles, bees, ants, wasps, butterflies and moths; of these, bees pollinate the largest number of plant species. About 1,000 species of pollinators are hummingbirds, bats and other small mammals (Pollinator Partnership, 2017).

..........Very large break .........go to XKCD.com to see the full timeline

A timeline from Randall Munroe, creator of XKCD.com

It is definitely SPRING, which means I am outside playing in my garden (rather than sitting in front of my computer). There is a lot of action in the news regarding the use of GMOs and glyphosate/Round-up, calling Monsanto on their shenanigans, scuttling the DARK act, and a call to (get ready for this) ban the use of toxic fracking wastewater in organic food production... what, are you serious? ONLY on organic foods (wait-currently, someone is growing organic food with fracking wastewater? Holy S**T batman)

Links to peruse when you are ready to help fight the good fight:

CIVIL EATS Scientists speak out against glyphosate

Organic Bytes #505 Koch, Monsanto, DARK Act

Cornucopia Institute=Ban the use of Fracking Wastewater on organic food production

In case you missed this headline, here it is:
Seattle seeks millions from Monsanto to clean up PCBs from Duwamish
The Seattle Times reports: The city of Seattle is suing to make Monsanto pay for cleanup of toxic PCBs from the city’s drainage system and the Duwamish River.
Monsanto was the sole producer of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) for commercial use in the U.S. from 1935 to 1977, and continued to profit from their sale for years even as its officials knew the chemicals were polluting the environment, causing harm to people and wildlife, said Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes.

“When the profit motive overtakes concern for the environment, this is the kind of disaster that happens,” Holmes said Tuesday. “I’m proud to hold Monsanto accountable.”
Seattle is the sixth major city in the West to seek cleanup damages from the company, joining San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, San Diego and Spokane, which Holmes said gave him the idea to file the federal lawsuit.

Documents uncovered in the Spokane case revealed the company’s own medical department warned in 1955 that the chemicals were so toxic, by either ingestion or inhalation, that employees making PCBs could be harmed just from eating lunches contaminated from the chemical fumes or residue on workers’ hands.

Named as plaintiffs in the suit are Monsanto Company, plus Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia Corp., which were spun off through a series of reorganizations of the company. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle.

Monsanto on Tuesday denied responsibility for the pollution.

Read full story here

Hmmmm. Monsanto denied responsibility? Again?

Organic Consumers Association reports:
The Gates Foundation is taking their newest show on the road with a $5.6 million propaganda campaign and a goal to "depolarize the charged debate" about GMOs. You do not have to scratch very deep into the Gates/Cornell so-called 'Alliance for Science' to see that this is an aggressive propaganda tool for corporate biotech and agribusiness (Shame-on-you Cornell).

By the way, did you know that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation owns 500,000 shares of Monsanto Stock?

GMOs to end world hunger? I think not...
Proponents of GM crops tell us that we need genetic modification to feed a growing population and reduce world hunger. However there is not a single study that proves GMOs have helped “feed the world.” Here are 5 facts, gathered by Canadian crusader Rachel Parent, that prove this statement is purely a marketing claim used by agrochemical companies to sell more patented seeds and chemicals.

Monsanto, Bill Gates, Cargill...go ahead, connect the dots for yourself. And don't forget: buy organic.

 Re-posted from the Center for Food Safety

Popcorn's Dirty Secret" won the 2015 Digital Edge award!
It’s no secret we love popcorn. We Americans consume more than 16 billion quarts of popcorn each year. But we’re getting more than we bargained for in all those bowls of popcorn: bee-toxic pesticides.

Bees are dying at alarming rates, and scientists have identified a group of insecticides called neonicotinoids (“neonics”) as a prime culprit in these drastic population losses. The largest single use of neonicotinoids is as a seed coating for field crops (like corn, soy, canola, and wheat). In fact, researchers estimate that 95-99% of all field corn grown in the U.S. comes from seed coated with bee-toxic neonic chemicals.

Neonics are the most widely used insecticides in the world. What makes them different from most pesticides is that they are systemic chemicals, meaning they are dispersed throughout the treated plant, rendering the whole plant toxic. Just as alarming, neonics are shown to last in the environment for years, harming species that the chemical was not designed to kill – like bees, butterflies, birds, and other helpful insects.

Unfortunately, the popcorn industry uses bee-killing chemicals on their seeds, too.  That’s why we’re calling on Pop Secret, one of the biggest brands in the industry, to urge them to source their popcorn from seeds that are NOT coated in these harmful chemicals.

Pop Secret would not be alone in taking action against neonics:

• Pop Weaver has already agreed to a phase-out of neonics.
• To date, more than 4 million Americans have called on the government to take stronger actions to protect bees from toxic pesticides like neonicotinoids.
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will implement a ban on neonicotinoid insecticides on all wildlife refuges nationwide by January 2016.
• The European Union instituted a moratorium on the most toxic uses of neonicotinoids.
• The Province of Ontario, Canada has announced plans to reduce the number of acres planted with neonicotinoid-coated corn and soybean seeds by 80 percent by 2017.
• Although it is currently difficult to obtain non-coated seeds in the U.S., growers in Canada requested and received non-treated seed, proving that it is possible to diversify the seed supply with non-coated options when companies and growers are willing to demand it.
• Given the countless risks, lack of benefits, and widespread consumer demand for pollinator protection, it’s time for Pop Secret to join Pop Weaver and commit to phasing out the use of neonic-coated seeds for their popcorn. Mythbusting and True Cost
• Learn more about the insidious nature of neonics and what you can do; take action here: pollinatorsandyourplate.org

                                              
The American Bird Conservancy reports that "a single corn kernel coated with a neonicotinoud can kill a songbird", and the Center for Food Safety reports that they are polluting our water systems too.

  It is ironic to think that man might determine his own future by something so seemingly trivial as the choice of an insect spray. - Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

In following the Climate Talks in Paris, I came across this UK site Brandalism.

From their website:
"Brandalism has shared skills and techniques for 'subvertising' - the art of subverting advertisements. We start from the democratic conviction that the street is a site of communication, which belongs to the citizens and communities who live there.  Our interventions are a rebellion against the visual assault of media giants and advertising moguls who have a stranglehold over messages and meaning in our public spaces, through which they force-feed us with images and messages to keep us insecure, unhappy, and shopping."

80 artists/600 designs. Be inspired.

The Horrifying News: (from Organic Consumers Association):

Frankenfish Fraud Fest
On November 2, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first genetically modified food animal—an Atlantic salmon that grows twice as fast as natural salmon, thanks to the insertion of genes from Chinook salmon and eelpout (an eel-like fish).

This approval is so wrong, on so many levels, that it’s hard to know where to start.
For one, the FDA regulates GMO salmon as a drug, not a food—"because the recombinant DNA (rDNA) construct introduced into the animal meets the definition of a drug."

If that’s the case, you would think this new “drug” should be labeled. But it won’t be, because out of the other side of the FDA’s mouth, the agency has declared GMO salmon to be nutritionally equivalent to conventional farm-raised Atlantic salmon. (REALLY?)

As this article on Mercola.com says:
In the eyes of the FDA, it's a perfectly normal fish, but it's also a drug, but since it's a fish that is comparable to other fish, it doesn't need to be labeled, even though all drugs typically need to be labeled...

But of course the new frankenfish is not nutritionally equivalent to farmed salmon. Worse yet, the FDA approved GMO salmon on the basis of flawed studies, none of which included long-term safety testing to prove genetically engineered salmon is safe for human consumption.

********************************
The "at least not everyone has a death wish" News:
Many are fighting the good fight on this issue, and most major food retailers, including Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Whole Foods, Kroger, Costco, Safeway, and Giant Eagle have announced they will not stock GE salmon. (Interestingly, AquaBounty, who is owned by the synthetic biology firm Intrexon, recently purchased the patent for Okanagan's GM non-browning apple too.) Hmm.

Want to find out more?
Center for Food Safety GE fish
Beyond Pesticides Genetically Engineered Salmon without Labeling Approved by FDA

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in one of the most heavily used pesticide in the world: Monsanto's Roundup. Recent studies are proving Monsanto's claim of safety for humans to be not only wrong, but insidious in the ways that it has contaminated our food, our soil, and our bodies. In fact, 19 EU countries have banned the use of GMOs, and all 28 EU countries require GMO labeling.

What's up with that USA? ....You do not have to scratch very deep to see who owns the USDA:

Monsanto is one of the "Big 6" Biotech Corporations, along with BASF, Bayer, Dow Chemical Company, Dupont, and Syngenta (so called because they dominate the agricultural input market -- that is, they own the world’s seed, pesticide and biotechnology industries).

In the news last month:
How Monsanto Took Control of Our Food System
Gut-wrenching: New Studies Reveal the Insidious Effects of Glyphosate
Ditch the Tampons-They are riddled with glyphosate and other carcinogens
Suspended USDA Researcher Alleges Agency tried to Block his Research....
Monsanto Faces Lawsuits of Cancer linked to Roundup
Roundup damages Earthworms and Soil Biota
Are We Roundup Ready?

What can you do? Support organic farmers, vote for labeling-or outlawing-GE foods, advocate for non-toxic farming and pest control methods, and please, spread the word: Poison is not the answer.

Support GMO testing, liability, and labeling; more info from Friends of the Earth.

Click here for larger size poster and more info

Did you notice that there are some names on the Big Biz side that used to be independent?
That is one of the sneaky tactics of the industry, to buy up popular organic brands and then to pretend that they support non-organic legislation. Let's see....there is Naked juice/Pepsi, LaraBar/General Mills, Kashi/Kellogg, Santa Cruz Organic/Smucker, Celestial Seasonings/Hain, and Odwalla/Coca-Cola. Creepy, isn't it?

See more of who owns what here (Thank you Dr. Phil Howard).