10.15.2008

Food Terrorism is real ( for the Troll)


Da' Troll-nag has jes' hounded ya'll's poor ole Aunty on the matter of heritage (or heirloom) seeds. The whole thang started when Aunty said her hedge against The Great Depression of 2009, an' fiat money, was gonna be to sell or barter wif' her goodly store of heritage seeds. Ya cain't eat no gold.

An soon enough ya' ain't gonna be able to grow your own food :10 companies worldwide control jes' over half of the planet's seed production and sales. These corporate conglomerate seeds is hybrids-- an' many are somethin' called "Terminator seeds" (and their kissin' cousin, the "verminators" who specia DNA is matched to the terminator seeds so ya have to ALSO buy this special pesticide to control vermin on the plants that terminator seeds produce) . So folks, PLEASE doan buy no more store boughten seeds.


Why not jes' any ole seed? Why heirloom seeds? An' what is they anyhoo? Heritage seeds is NON-hybrid seeds.

The old fashioned kind of seed the way nature grew 'em. Modern seeds is pretty good the first crop-- mostly..but they doan germinate the same when ya save their seeds. Only open pollinated (or “heirloom” “traditional”) varieties can make seed the same as the parent fruit/veggie (from which ya saved the seed).


Them hybrids doan re-produce the same high quality plant as the parent. But thar's some real --ain't foolin' none, now--real bad seed thangs loose in the world. They's called "terminator seeds" cause they not only WILL not grow again if ya save the seed, the pollen from these alien species will TERMINATE the flowers of other species. I know I know....sounds like pure T sci-fi fiction, but it ain't. It is a real live horror show. How's that ya ask? Heh.

Here's what the fancy edoocated an' quietly alarmed an' worryin' folks say:

"
With control of seeds and agricultural research held in fewer hands, the world’s food supply is increasingly vulnerable to the whims of market maneuvers."

Yeah, okay, uhm....hit the panic button NOW! what that REALLY means chickadees is that "he who controls the food controls the world.
"

Suppose youse an regular farmer-- not a conglomerate wif' billions in ag sales-- an' ya scrape up enough $ to buy some of that fancy hybrid corn seed that promises a fast crop, resistant to bugs and wif high sugar content (All the better to make corn whiskey!). Great. Ya plant the stuff wif' hopes to save some of the kernels, dry 'em and plant next year.


Whoops!
No can do, dumb donkey hayseed farmer in overalls. no.can.do.

The hybridizer hegemony headed up by Monsanto and DuPont doan want ya to have no saved seed. They want you to HAVE to come back to them each year and buy more seed--at whatever price! So they engineer the seeds they hybridize exactly so they cannot germinate--in other words, sterile seeds is they bidness.

(The reason fer this nightmare? They say they want to protect their intecllectual property rights. Doan want you growin' their seed wifout payin' fer it, so they make sure it makes sterile seeds--got it. BUT, the thang to keep in mind is that these freak seeds poision other plant pollen growin' nearby. It literally terminates its neighbors.)


Thar' was such an outcry against this that Monsanto promised not to use this "terminator techonolgy" as part of its biotech productions, but they renegged on their promise. Now the trouble is two fold: first, the new hybrids is vigorous growers and easy to grow so farmers like 'em an' start usin' them almost exclusively--to the neglect of the more stolid un-sexy plain old reliable seeds. Next thang ya know, they ain't many varieties of the non-hybrid, old timey seeds left. Know what that means?


It means youse gonna starve. Oh yeah, baby, no old time self-germinatin' seeds but only the hybrid hyenas that youse FORCED to buy at inflated prices cause the hegmony boys controls them seeds. ("In less rich countries, hundreds of millions of people rely heavily on small farms which produce foods for the region. If these farms begin to use Monsanto's terminator technology, and cannot afford to buy new genetically engineered seeds from Monsanto the following year, many of the people in the region may starve. Under normal circumstances, food could be brought in from other regions. However, many of those other regions will likely have the same problems with famine due to Monsanto's terminator technology.")

Second point is worse--some of these hybrids is TERMINATORs. So even if ya is a seed saver who has a handful of old timey heritage seeds, when ya grows them in a field wif'in a five mile radius of a terminator seed, that terminator pollen will blow onto your corn/wheat/barely/millet an KILL THEM.
Not assassinate yore crop, but neuter them--thas' right--terminator species pollen causes sterility in everythang it touches!


This stuff is the brain chile of Monsanto (bought it from Delta Pine) --who was sued over it...guess who won?
Then in 2005 Monsanto paid 1.5 billion fer a big veggie seed company-- Makin' Monsato the dominant purveyor of the vegetable seed market for fruit and vegetable growers in 150 countries.

* * *

Ya'll prolly never knowed that since the 1960s they has been "seed laws." yep. Idea of course was we were wantin' to help developin' nations-- but no nation needed a local version of kudzu gettin' loose on the farmlands.


But now nations is passin' new and more an' more repressive seed laws that are designed to protect the BIG HEGEMONY of the agri-terrorists. An' the World Bank gigs the local farmer too.

Here's how:
When the Masagana 99 project ( Philippines) wanted to shove farmers into usin' hi-yield GMO (genetically modified organisims) they fixed the credit requirements so farming families or even whole villages were forbidden to plant the village's traditional seeds. This same World Bank thuggery happens all over South America. The Banks dictates the terms of the loan--even to tellin presidents of nations that unless you reduce the number of child-bearin' women, you cannot have $$ for schools and hospitals, no more agricultural assistance, etc. (Doan even git me started on the horror of vicious population control--Peruvian women sterilized without their knowledge when they go to UNFPA clincs. )

Now, Aunty does know that nuthin' is ever as simple as it seems--thang is, in some ways the GMOs and modern seed technology is wonderful--truly it has meant that the same 10 acres can produce more food than in 10 acres in 1900. And it means India doan need to starve. BUT But but but...the happy wish fairy is now the evil fairy wif' famine at the end of her wand--the thang is out.of.control.

"The world food crisis, rapidly defined by those in power as a problem of insufficient production, has become a trojan horse to get corporate seeds, fertilisers and, surreptitiously, market systems into poor countries. As past experience shows, what looks like “seed aid” in the short term can mask what is actually “agribusiness aid” in the long term."

(I could tell ya how globalization is movin' to consolidate ' humans under one computer- in- the- sky controlled terrarium, but I wouldn't wanna depress ya no more than necessary)

Workin' an honest week's work took me onc't to a Food and Agricultural Organization shindig whar a lady Ph.D from India sat wif me fer a spell and we yakked a bit. She done said how the Monsanto and Bayer (German corp) folks done a test over acres of her province--and how ever' butterfly that landed on those plants was kilt--an so was neighbor corn. Same happened in a test trial in Mexico. Hmmm? So, ah. lemme think this out a bit. Iffin' some big agri-bidness owns most of the world's seeds an' can kill of the rest so it won't never germinate again and thus species of varieties will disappear into the anti-cosmos, then who will control populations and nations?

The folks wif food, thas' who.
I could think more on it...uh, ya know, how if one continent was resource rich and the people would not die off naturally, why, food shortage is weapon, I reckon. (small note: it ain't necessary to use conventional weapons these days--jes' an engineered famine or plague will do nicely.) As the fancy talkin' worry-worts say " Corporate control and ownership of seeds – the first link in the food chain – has far-reaching implications for global food security.



Now, for a whole heap of other reasons, some people are seed-savers. They cut a good 'mater and decide to grow is chillen next season--save the seeds. Some hunt up interestin' varieties of vegetables and fruit that are old timey favorites --all are non-hybrid seeds.

But most important is that these old fashioned seeds have a gene pool that we need on this earth.
(We's loosin' bio-diversity in food crops. )Cause the fancy hybrids often are engineered by sacrificing one aspect to increase another.

But when the odd thang happens-- the 33 year smite mold--a hybrid fancy pants is decimated. Whar'as the NON -hybrids is hundreds of seasons, hundreds of years old and has SURVIVED the once in a century suckin' tick plague that cuts doen miles of the hybrids, but leaves the heritage varieties alone--that is because the heritage developed nature's own defenses over the years.
Well, Troll-Man, thar' ya have it.


Go buy some GOOD seed, folks!

http://www.heirloomseeds.com/

http://www.victoryseeds.com/

25 comments:

Big Shamu said...

Aunty's right. Buy those seeds and screw Monsanto. Nice job Aunty. I so want to plant a paw paw tree in my backyard.
Time to SHOP!

h said...

Okay, thanks. Now I mostly get it.
I was thinking there was a two-sentence explanation.

moi said...

Most excellent post, Aunty! And folks, when you go to a farmer's market, remember to ask if their fruits and veggies are from heritage stock.

And just say NO to Monsanto on all levels . . .

Aunty Belle said...

HI BShamu! Upload us a photo of the paw-paw tree!

Aw, troll- ya coulda stopped after the first 4 paragraphs....is ya miffed that I called ya a Troll-nag? I apologize.

Moi, my presidentia! Thanky--an' shore 'nuff promote the natural frits and veggies at your local grocer and farmer markets! Build us a tidal wave of demand for stuff grown from real food.

But ya'll, git some seeds oof your own too and poke some in a pot, in a plot of dirt--let's do this thang!

Jenny said...

Wow - eye opening and scary. Thanks. Moi makes a good point. Luckily, up here in the Tree-Hugging-PNW, we have more true organic farmers than most.

Either way, it wouldn't hurt to have a few packages (ok, dozens/dozens) of there good seeds in our vaults.

Big Shamu said...

Roger wilco, on the pawpaw photo. Tonight. Wonder if squirrels eat pawpaws?

Anonymous said...

Aunty,

No, I'm not miffed at all. I just didn't realize it was a complex problem. I was expecting something like:

1) Heritage Seeds are a good investment.

2) Real ones can be purchased at...FloydsSeeds.Com.

Troll

Anonymous said...

I invented terminator seeds.

MamaHen said...

Wonderful post Aunty! I've been saving my seeds for some time now and trying to convince everyone I know that gardens to do the same. Luckily, we still have a locally run hardware store that always keeps a big selection of heirloom seeds and I'm stocking up!

Anonymous said...

http://www.seedsavers.org/heritagefarm.asp

Anonymous said...

That's not so bad, Auntie. Worse is the transgenic use of human genes in hybrid corn and wheat. Makes us cannibals.

"USDA gave Dow permission to grow more than seven acres of corn genetically engineered with human genes on Hawaiian soil; this corn was developed to produce pharmaceutical proteins. Meristem Therapeutics, a French-ownedcompany with an office in Massachusetts, also grew corn that had been engineered with human genes on an acre of land in Kentucky."

Matt

sparringK9 said...

excellent post and critical information aunty and very timely. as the veneer of civilization is stripped away we can clearly see a multi pronged dismantling of a free people through crushing debt, food control, fear, the war on private property, foreign wars and stupid laws and mandates for distraction. i have seriously began to think about changing the entire direction of my work life in part by what i have seen with my own eyes this year. i still have my seeds of change catalog and plan to buy many more hierlooms for spring 09. and study up on seed collection.

too bad domestic terrorists dont bother to target monsanto. but, there is always, hope. grrherhahaha

i think i am also going to be very wary of flu shots and other free vaccinations. i'll take my chances.

darkfoam said...

you are so right on with this..
it took me awhile to figure out why the pumpkins that i kept planting from saved pumpkins seeds never actually made pumpkins. i'd get the vines, the beautiful flowers .. but no pumpkin.
you know that the norwegians built a doomsday vault up in the north pole somewhere that houses tons of seeds from all over the world. they specifically looked for unaltered heritage seeds ..
i saw a documentary on this a few months ago.

Karen said...

Wow Aunty. I am shocked and dismayed to read this. I haven't heard of these big conglomerates, are they American based or world wide? I live in the country and always buy local produce that has been organically grown.

Truly scary stuff and I thank you for this informative post.

moi said...

SO mah question to all ya'll is what is yore plan when Red Dawn arrives? Heh.

Not such a far fetched question. However, IF things truly do break down, I don't believe they'll do so into an every person for themselves, heading into the hills type anarchy. I fear that folks won't be strong enough for that kind of revolt. They will instead be running scared, thus opening the door to a Nazi Germany/Soviet Russia style "savior" to bring us a safer, newer world order. In which case, the only plan is how best to lay low.

sparringK9 said...

aunty, i lit a nice fire. tell us that scary story about the big UN computer in the sky. i;ll make s'mores and well shiver under the quilts. i do believe my own little valley needs to go to the front line of this heah wawr.

Aunty Belle said...

Edifice Rex!! Hey hey ! So pleased to see ya on the Front Porch. Youse a very foortunate soul to have such a fine hardware store--Think youse in Alabama right? Well, buy up them seeds--they'll be better'n gold!

K9, I reckon youse putlined jes' about right. Sigh....


Foamy!! is that right? I mean about the Norse folks vaultin' away some good seed -wow. I wanna see that pprogram. Smart thinkin'. Somewhar' in mah files I have a report about a farmer--I seem to feel it were in Missouri--who saved a good segment of the US corn future 'cause he had 20 or so acres in old timey corn when ever' body else was growin the new improved varieties--all of which fell to some sort of bug or fungus.
G-men paid him a ransom fer his 20 acres of corn to use as seed fer the next round--think they learned somethin'??

Aunty Belle said...

Gypsy--aw, I is sorta sorry to tell all this--jes' one more dang thang to worry about. But thas' a good question ya had.

Answer be that Monsanto is largest seed owner in the world--1/5th of all seeds sold commercially.
Others are in Germany, Japan--well here's the list:


Company 2006 seed sales
US $ millions

1. Monsanto (US) $4,028
2. Dupont (US) $2,781
3. Syngenta (Switzerland) $1,743
4. Groupe Limagrain (France) $1,035
5. Land O' Lakes (US) $756
6. KWS AG (Germany) $615
7. Bayer Crop Science (Germany) $430
8. Delta & Pine Land (US) (acquisition by Monsanto pending) $418
9. Sakata (Japan) $401
10. DLF-Trifolium (Denmark) $352

Aunty Belle said...

Moi, our Presidentia! Looky, I goota say, I hope youse wrong, but I fear youse right--that is what is depressin'--that folks won't stand. But but...keep in mind that in 1776 fewer that 50 % was on board wif' GW.

Hep Pup--this is a good day fer ya--how so? Why, goodness, it is the Feast of St. Luke, whose symbol is that bull youse always drawin!

Huh? Pup, ya wanna hear that UN holloween story? Heh...ya give Aunty an Idea! Next few posts I might jes' do that. In a round about way --to protect the innocent
ya know.

Aunty Belle said...

Dawg, K9 Puppy, I should mention somethin' about the UN and these here terminator seeds.

In March 2006 the UN's member nations voted to put a mory-tory-um on them killer seeds.

But the reality is that it is a fig leaf to make the screamin' mobs happy (ya know--all those folks in Seattle a few years ago) In truth, the UN knows that all these nations is usin' the second generation versions chemically engineered to have "molecular containment" so that the farmers will pipe down. But the EU admits it cain't guarantee that the killer genes is "contained."

I know, Troll-TMI!!

Big Shamu said...

Sorry, Aunty. Look for it later in the week. Working on something more soul satisfying for tomorrow. Plus I actually had the opportunity to buy some pawpaws so I will be adding my SEED pictures my pawpaw post.

Anonymous said...

aunty i saw a good video on you tube about the guy monsanto sued. and there were lots more. look for sowhtttts channel.

darkfoam said...

there's many sources on the web ..

http://www.croptrust.org/main/
http://www.croptrust.org/main/arctic.php?itemid=211

or you can google norwegian 'doomsday seed vault' ..

Enemy of the Republic said...

Good post, Aunty. Very informative.

Pam said...

This is the scariest thing I have never heard before. Am going to check it out with an Ag guy I know. Hmmmmmmmmm.