Our Sister site, IPZine, just published an article about Sustainable Ag and the Monsanto Dilemma.

Where Intellectual Property (IP) and Sustainability Meet (GMO and Monsanto)

Monsanto is an IP Giant. Or was. Patented both the herbicide (RoundUP) and GMO crops designed to ignore it. But, Monsanto has been less than honest with us. Glyphosate, and Monsanto's fate, in jeopardy. #IPZine #GMO #NonGMO #glyphosate

RoundUp is a cocktail that contains glyphosate and several "inactive" ingredients. But, don't take the research on glyphosate to guarantee an exact comparison with RoundUp which contains surfactant(s) among other agents to help the herbicide stick and penetrate. In addition, RoundUp seems to build up over time, especially with increased usage (because of increased week tolerance).
Combine that with genetically modified crops, and you have a trifecta of experimentation on the world's food supply.
Monsanto takes both sides of the bet, making money on the RoundUp side and on the genetically modified crop side. Even though the patents on seeds and on roundup are expiring, Monsanto has been using all means at its disposal to maintain monopoly power (on the US ag markets).
Plus, there's RoundUp Ready 2 Yield(r), the next generation.
Enjoy the read at IPZine and think about how comfortable you are with our US food supply?

No food to waste

Chef Massimo Bottura on Why the Future of Food is in Our Trash http://www.wsj.com/articles/chef-massimo-bottura-on-why-the-future-of-food-is-in-our-trash-1449506020

We throw away about $700 worth of food each year in the USA. That's per person, last I saw, which was probably about 10 years ago.

Think of the products taken from the shelf because they are past the due date.
Capturing most of this food can go a long way toward feeding a hungry planet.

Sustainability becomes a business law: Organic is more productive

Sustainability becomes a business law:

Two things resurfaced over the last couple days. One is very local to Florida related to Sustainability is the Business Law. It looks at the focus of sustainability from the business view, or from the environmental view; which is the right view. And the answer, of course, is "Yes".  Aiming for a win, win in the business vs. environment tug of war. The old approach of win-lose turns out to be a lose-lose in the long run.

But a separate study by the Rodale Institute, with a 30-year long (and ongoing) study of farming showed organic farming to be a hands-down winner over the mass production methods used in the USA. Actual link to the study is here: http://rodaleinstitute.org/our-work/farming-systems-trial/

That study knocked my socks off!

Now I gotta go socks shopping for new organically grown socks (bamboo-based
maybe?).

A 30+ year field study on Organic farming vs. non-organic (now including GMOs).

Yields up, resources down (water us and drought tolerance), soil quality, profits up…

WoW!.

And, of course, there is a major move in consumer preferences toward healthier foods and more local grown foods as measured by massive moves by such players as Chipotle’s (CMG) and Whole Foods (WFM)… and against the highly processed foods like McDonalds (McD).

I’m curious what other people think of this study. I wonder how they did several things.

Also, I
could not find the exact publication date. The stats were a year or two behind.

Do you all think that the field study is fully accurate?

'via Blog this'

Becoming food independent with a short book and a small farm plot (4 x 4).

Here's and interesting little video -- sales pitch really --  related to growing your own food. Of course you need to buy the book to really get started.

I really don't like the high-level hyperbole, but the underlying concepts are probably okay. Crisis Education, however, implies how dooms-day and shrill it sounds.

I like the idea of concentrated farming, urban farming, and in-side (making your house greener) grow. Kinda makes you wander if they aren't promoting a "grow house" concept for those locales where the green crop might be just a little illegal!:-)

https://www.crisiseducation.com/landing/reports/4foot-farm-blueprint/video/index-grocery2.php?

Labels: GMO, farming, urban farm, Monsanto

Phosphate World: New golf resort is out of the ordinary for Florida

New golf resort is out of the ordinary for Florida:

This is a great case of making lemon-aid from your excess lemons. This is a very interesting way to reclaim the past mine areas and fully benefit from the hills and water hazards.

The open mining for phosphate in Florida has been an open eye sore to the tortured land in mid Florida. Huge dykes have been built up to block the view of the open pit mines. The water quality in the man-made lakes has generally been pretty poor.

Florida is one of the largest Phosphate producers of the world. And the need for food to serve a hungry 7B+ population requires fertilizer, and lots of it.

Phosphate (from mines) is a depletable resource, i.e., non-renewable. For decades the story was circulated that there were only about 25 years left of phosphate mining in Florida. See the Phosphate Primer for Florida. The actual number may be more like 300 years. But unrestrained development (sub-suburbs) are probably far more of a restriction than any environmental concerns.

Peak Phosphorus production in the work may actually arrive by 2030, maybe sooner. It seems like about 160M metric tons might be about the limit. However, phosphorus from phosphate mines, does not disappear from existence, like the burning of oil, gas and coal. It goes into the farm land, into the plants, and run-off goes everywhere (streams, rivers, oceans). The run-off causes its own set of ecological problems (disasters).

In 2013, the Army Corp of Engineers came up with a rather rosy study related to 4 new mines proposed. An article discussing the study in the Bradenton Herald is here. On of the quotes on an economic value were: "And there would be 6,340 more jobs because of the mines, and $29.1 billion in value added to the area's economy."

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2013/05/12/4522121/phosphate-mining-damages-environment.html#storylink=cpy"

The general summary of the study was that the economic benefits far exceed the ecological impacts, which were many. The funding for the report actually came from the phosphate miners. A HeraldTribune article discusses the critics view, including this:

"Although the Army Corps put its name on the report, it was developed by CH2M Hill, under a third-party contract funded by Mosaic and CF Industries — the same mining companies seeking permits from the Corps."

Here's what the Sierra Club has to say about Phosphate Mining in Florida... Summary of lots of sources of info.

Check out the role of Patents in the Phosphate world over at ipzine.blogspot.com.

So, here's food for though, as we contemplate food for a hungry world...

Kinda makes you wonder, will we have a new theme park springing up in Florida: Phosphate World?

'via Blog this'

Should Monsanto own patent rights on the elements of life? - Los Angeles Times

Should Monsanto own patent rights on the elements of life? - Los Angeles Times:

Few people realize how patent intensive the food industry has become.

The top 10 seed companies account for 2/3 of all seeds sold.

A huge % of the seed sold are patented. Wow!

"Over an 11-year period, the cost per acre of planting soybeans has risen a dramatic 325%." Ouch!...
BUT if the yield is improved, then the added cost to sow is well justified.

Remember that genetically modified  (GMO) can/possibly be patented, organic not.

But owning a gene and the patent on all activity to monitor/manage/tread based on that gene has interesting implications.  You can expect the pharma industry to watch this law suit in plants very closely.

Keywords: GMO, organic, plant patents, Monsanto, seeds, farming, law suit,  genes,

'via Blog this'