Environment

The GMO Suicides

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ox cartSince 1997, there have been over 200,000 suicides by farmers in India’s Cotton Belt.

The entry of Monsanto in the Indian seed sector was made possible with a 1998 Seed Policy imposed by the World Bank, requiring the Government of India to deregulate the seed sector.¹

In 1997-98, Monsanto started open field trials of its GMO Bt cotton illegally with the intent to sell the seeds the following year.¹

Cotton seed has historically been among farmers’ lowest expenses. During the harvest, cotton growers would cultivate crop seeds and save them for the following season. As a general practice, they also would swap seeds with neighboring farmers, ensuring through natural selection that subsequent generations of cotton seed would be best suited for the region. Although local cotton did not provide the same potential yields as cotton seed from the Americas, it had adapted to India’s unique climate — an intense monsoon season followed by months of drought.²

After the introduction of GMO seeds, fifty percent of an Indian farmer’s debt was for the purchase of new seeds. GMO seeds cost up to 10 times more than traditional seeds and are structured to self destruct, ensuring that farmers must purchase new seeds the following year—further increasing their debt.²

To afford GMO cotton seeds, the farmer must take out a seed loan from the State Bank of India. If the crop fails, which is highly probable since GMO cotton is designed for use in irrigated fields, the farmer will not be able to pay back the loan and will be denied a second loan. The farmer then will turn to an unregulated private moneylender who charges usurious rates, sometimes as high as 100 percent. A second crop failure, or even an underperforming crop, can place the farmer in a hole so deep that many turn to suicide.²

As Monsanto’s profits grow, farmers’ debt grows. It is in this systemic sense that Monsanto’s seeds are seeds of suicide.¹

jim carey monsanto

 

 

 

Credits:

¹Global Research: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-seeds-of-suicide-how-monsanto-destroys-farming/5329947

² Combat-monsanto.co.uk: http://www.combat-monsanto.co.uk/spip.php?article549

Setting Down My Sword

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park closedWhen I was a kid, I lived on an idyllic street in Lansing, Michigan. The street had a soft hill that gently ended at a park along the Grand River. Here the neighborhood kids would play on the swing set and monkey bars, but not in the water. Even then, it was so dirty that none of us dared go near it. Rumors of multiple rounds of tetanus shots and hospital visits kept us at bay.

The Grand River was a victim of factory and car manufacturing plants’ waste from upstream. (Lansing is home to Oldsmobile and many other car part manufacturers.)

At that time, a well-known TV commercial aired, featuring a Native American, complete with a feathered headdress, who cried while watching pollution spew into the water, air and land.

Since then, most citizens have “cleaned up their act,” but corporations continue to dump and spill toxic oil and chemicals. In December, Shanghai ordered all cars off the road because the air was too polluted to breathe. Yesterday, a bill was passed in the NC Senate that makes it a felony to reveal the chemicals that the fossil fuel companies put in the water used for fracking, and there was an oil spill in the Grand River.

Earth Sentinels: The Storm Creators

Earth Sentinels: The Storm Creators

I’m tired of others destroying the planet for profit, but I can’t help but wonder if my time would be better spent releasing my negativity to the spirit for healing, and letting others fight the battle. I spent that last eight months writing the book, Earth Sentinels, which focuses on the current environmental concerns while at the same time instilling hope. It was a way of releasing my anger.

I believe that the world is a projection of our minds. So in that sense, all that happens is part of my mind and yours. So what needs to healed is in our own minds. Today, I’ll sit and meditate, releasing all these thoughts of a polluted world to the Spirit for healing. It’s my part, my way, of doing something. And I firmly believe that if enough of us do it, we can change the world.

‘The Cove’ exposes dolphin hunting

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Well, it seems that I can’t even enjoy my lunch these days. I was reading the entertainment section of the newspaper when I read a movie review about the documentary, ‘The Cove.’  This movie exposes Japan’s practice of killing 23,000 dolphins each year by strategically maneuvering them into a cove to hide the killing. The director and crew placed secret cameras, some in the shape of rocks, to film the killing and offer proof.

I admired the courage of this movie crew and can only imagine the heartache at having to film and edit this footage. If you want more information, visit their website at www.thecovemovie.com.

For those of you who read my post “Our Natural State,” you know that I will NOT be watching this movie. I just can’t take the heartache.