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USDA
Expert Groups Call for Transparency on US Genetically Modified Moth Experiments
– Expert Groups Call for Transparency on US Genetically Modified Moth Experiments:
Environmental, food safety and organic farming organizations are demanding clear public information about a controversial plan to conduct an open air field trial of genetically modified (GM) diamondback moths at Cornell’s agricultural experiment station in Geneva, New York.
The GM moths are intended to control population levels with an engineered trait that causes female offspring to die in the larval stage. The diamondback moth is a pest for producers of crops like broccoli and cabbage. The plan for the trial includes the release of over a million GM moths every year on a 60-acre site at the experiment station.
Read moreExpert Groups Call for Transparency on US Genetically Modified Moth Experiments
Afraid of Food Activists, Big Food Is Increasingly Using Dirty Tricks
– Afraid of Food Activists, Big Food Is Increasingly Using Dirty Tricks:
Officially, Big Food is not worried about the small number of “fringe” food activists who object to cruel, unhealthful and environmentally destructive products. But unofficially, it is a different story. American Egg Board CEO Joanne Ivy stepped down in apparent disgrace this fall when a 2013 email she wrote to a consultant saying the board was accepting “your offer to make that phone call to keep Just Mayo off Whole Foods shelves,” was revealed. Just Mayo is an egg-free and vegan product from San Francisco start-up Hampton Creek. Whole Foods still sells it.
Read moreAfraid of Food Activists, Big Food Is Increasingly Using Dirty Tricks
First Genetically Modified ‘Browning-Resistant’ Apple Approved For US Consumption
– First Genetically Modified “Browning-Resistant” Apple Approved For US Consumption (ZeroHedge, Feb 15, 2015):
With only 37% of the public believing that genetically-modified foods are ‘safe’, The Arctic apple – which resists browning when cut open or sliced – faces an uphill battle for ‘success’. But as WSJ reports, the non-browing trait makes it particularly attractive for restaurants, grocery stores, airlines and other companies that offer pre-sliced fruit, and since The Agriculture Department on Friday approved it as the first genetically modified apple for sale in the U.S., the debate over the safety (and labelling) of modified foods reignites. While “getting the consumer to buy in to the product has to be the priority,” notes Okanagan, environmentalists warn “there is no place in the U.S. or global market for genetically engineered apples.”
24 Hours in the life of a GMO Apple…
The Agriculture Department on Friday approved the first genetically modified apple for sale in the U.S., reigniting debate over the safety of modified foods and whether the products should carry mandatory labels.
Read moreFirst Genetically Modified ‘Browning-Resistant’ Apple Approved For US Consumption
GMOs invade fruit industry: Apples, pears, cherries and peaches to all become unlabeled GMO
– GMOs invade fruit industry: Apples, pears, cherries and peaches to all become unlabeled GMO (Natural News, Feb 14, 2015):
Genetically modified apples have been approved by the industry-corrupted USDA, a federal regulator that accomplishes for the biotech industry the same thing the FDA achieves for Big Pharma: unlimited profits, lax regulation and a ready willingness to accept fabricated “science” as fact.
“The USDA’s environmental review received 73,000 comments that overwhelmingly opposed the commercialization of Arctic Apples,” explains a press release from Food & Water Watch. [1]
The GMO apple that just received approval was developed by the Okanagan Specialty Fruits company, which says it “…married the best of nature with the best of science.”
Read moreGMOs invade fruit industry: Apples, pears, cherries and peaches to all become unlabeled GMO
Monsanto settles GMO wheat dispute with Northwest farmers for $2.4 million
– Monsanto settles GMO wheat dispute with Northwest farmers for $2.4 million (OregonLive/AP, Nov 12, 2014):
Monsanto Co. said Wednesday it will pay nearly $2.4 million to settle a dispute with Northwest farmers over genetically modified wheat.
No genetically engineered wheat has been approved for U.S. farming, but it was found in Oregon in 2013.
That discovery prompted Japan and South Korea to temporarily suspend some wheat orders, and the European Union called for more rigorous testing of U.S. shipments.
Read moreMonsanto settles GMO wheat dispute with Northwest farmers for $2.4 million
USDA Approves Modified Potato
– U.S.D.A. Approves Modified Potato (New York Times, Nov 7, 2014):
A potato genetically engineered to reduce the amounts of a potentially harmful ingredient in French fries and potato chips has been approved for commercial planting, the Department of Agriculture announced on Friday.
The potato’s DNA has been altered so that less of a chemical called acrylamide, which is suspected of causing cancer in people, is produced when the potato is fried.
The new potato also resists bruising, a characteristic long sought by potato growers and processors for financial reasons. Potatoes bruised during harvesting, shipping or storage can lose value or become unusable.
New Experimental GE Wheat Contamination In Montana Puts Wheat Farmers At Risk
– New Experimental GE Wheat Contamination in Montana Puts Wheat Farmers at Risk (Center For Food Safety, Sep 26, 2014):
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that experimental genetically engineered (GE) wheat was discovered in July, 2014 at a Montana research facility that has not legally grown the variety since 2003.
“Once again, USDA and the biotech industry have put farmers and the food supply at risk,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director for Center for Food Safety. “Coexistence between GE and non-GE crops is a failed policy that fundamentally cannot work. Genetic contamination is a serious threat to farmers across the country.”
Read moreNew Experimental GE Wheat Contamination In Montana Puts Wheat Farmers At Risk
Why Is The USDA Buying Submachine Guns?
– Why Is The USDA Buying Submachine Guns? (ZeroHedge, Sep 28, 2014):
“Submachine guns, .40 Cal. S&W, ambidextrous safety, semi-automatic or 2 shot bur[s]t trigger group, Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope (top rear), stock-collapsib[l]e or folding, magazine – 30 rd. capacity.”
In May, the USDA’s Office of Inspector General filed a request for these weapons. But why exactly do they need them?
According to a USDA press rep, the guns are necessary for self-protection.
Food Safety Experts Slam USDA over 2,4-D GM Crops Approval
– Food Safety Experts Slam USDA over 2,4-D GM Crops Approval (Sustainable Pulse, Sep 18 2014):
Center for Food Safety has condemned the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to fully deregulate Dow Chemical’s Enlist corn and soybeans, genetically engineered to withstand repeated spraying of the herbicide 2,4-D. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has yet to approve the accompanying herbicide, which is a blend of 2,4-D and glyphosate.
Read moreFood Safety Experts Slam USDA over 2,4-D GM Crops Approval
How The Globalists Are Raping Africa … And The Rest Of The World, Too (Truthstream News Video)
Don’t miss!
Added: Aug 19, 2014
We’re back! It’s Truthstream News No. 2! First, we just want to say THANK YOU for the overwhelming support we received after we put up the first show. You guys are awesome.
In this second episode of Truthstream News, Aaron Dykes and Melissa Melton expose the phony pretenses behind a massive corporate takeover in Africa and the rest of the world – as well as other examples of Trojan Horse philanthropic aid on the international scene.
We also finally finished Corntamination! (Long time fans: remember that from last summer?) Woooot!
In this episode:
– Aaron sells the world on international food aid at the hands of the planet’s foremost billionaires
– Melissa presents evidence to support her hypothesis that working for the highest echelon of the federal government turns people into bridge trolls
– The duo breakdown the recent U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and what’s really driving all this “foreign aid”
– John Kerry tells starving Africans not to build any new farms, just to plant some GMO, while Obama informs young African leaders that we can’t live in a world where everybody has a nice house and air conditioning because the planet will “boil over”
– Melissa discovers the benefits of water fluoridation
– In a special investigative report, Truthstream follows the trail of biopharming, where science is using genetically engineered crops to growing pharmaceutical and vaccine components. Some of these medications are developed to be eaten directly as food. (Remember Prodigene and Epicyte?)
– and Janet Yellen receives a Letter to the NWO.
What’s The Beef? USDA Goes Shopping For Submachine Guns
– What’s the beef? USDA goes shopping for submachine guns (RT, May 16, 2014):
What does the National Weather Service, Social Security Administration and now, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), all have in common? These government agencies are all hoarding weapons and ammunition for no good reason.
In August 2012, it wasn’t just conspiracy theorists who sounded the alarm after it was revealed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was in the process of buying 750 million rounds of ammo. That mindboggling order came on the heels of another 450 million rounds of hollow point bullets it already bought earlier that year. The ostensible reason: target practice.
That’s 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition for an agency, created in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, that is supposed to “respond to domestic emergencies.” But what would such a “domestic emergency” look like that requires the firepower to fight the equivalent of about a dozen Iraqi wars, with ammunition that is banned by the Geneva Convention?
Read moreWhat’s The Beef? USDA Goes Shopping For Submachine Guns
USDA goes paramilitary: Organic certifier buying submachine guns with night sites, 30-round magazines
– USDA goes paramilitary: Organic certifier buying submachine guns with night sites, 30-round magazines (Natural News, May 15, 2014):
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is joining the militarization trend that’s spreading like wildfire across federal agencies. Both the EPA and IRS currently have armed federal agents, and recent events involving the BLM in Nevada showed that even the Bureau of Land Management possesses a small army of long-range snipers and heavily armed paramilitary operators.
Now the U.S. Department of Agriculture is joining the militarization bandwagon, publishing a solicitation (# USDAOIGWEA-5-7-14) requesting “submachine guns, .40 Cal. S&W” with “Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope (top rear), stock-collapsible or folding, magazine – 30 rd.”
In other words, the USDA is now purchasing precisely the weapons that Obama famously said belong “in the hands of soldiers” and not “on the streets of America.” Yet Obama’s administration is, in fact, putting these types of weapons on the streets of America as long as they are in the hands of federal agents who increasingly patrol those streets.
“These weapons are used for night-time battle”
USDA To Purchase Submachine Guns
– USDA to Purchase Submachine Guns (Infowars, May 15, 2014):
Some question where semi-automatic weapons will be heading
The United States Department of Agriculture is set to purchase an unknown quantity of submachine guns, leading to questions about where the weapons will be heading and for what purpose they will be used.
A solicitation (replete with spelling errors) posted on the Fed Biz Opps website states;
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, located in Washington, DC, pursuant to the authority of FAR Part 13, has a requirement for the commerical (sic) acquisition of submachine guns, .40 Cal. S&W, ambidextrous safety, semi-automatic or 2 shot burts (sic) trigger group, Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope (top rear), stock-collapsilbe (sic) or folding, magazine – 30 rd. capacity, sling, light weight, and oversized trigger guard for gloved operation.”
Hot Pockets Recalls 8 Million Pounds Of Meat Due To ‘Diseased And Unsound Animals’
Want to know more about why meat sold in the supermarket is contaminated?
@Amazon.com: Eating Animals
– Hot Pockets Recalls 8 Million Pounds of Meat Due to “Diseased and Unsound Animals” (Liberty Blitzkrieg, Feb 19, 2014):
Last year saw a great number of widely publicized instances of food fraud and general nastiness when it came to the various items many of us regularly put in our bodies. From “fake tuna,” to rat meat in the streets of Shanghai, to alcohol in New Jersey diluted with “river water,” the list was seemingly endless.
While 2014 has been off to a slow start, it appears the corporate food industry in America is trying to make up for lost time. According to a news release from the USDA on Valentine’s Day titled: “California Firm Recalls Unwholesome Meat Products Produced Without the Benefit of Full Inspection,” we discover that:
Read moreHot Pockets Recalls 8 Million Pounds Of Meat Due To ‘Diseased And Unsound Animals’
Feds Threatening Michigan Family Farm With Armed Raid
– Exclusive: Feds threatening Michigan family farm with armed raid (Natural News, Jan 31, 2014):
A Michigan farmer says he could be facing an armed raid by government agents soon, following a lengthy disagreement with state Department of Natural Resources officials over his refusal to obey an order to kill his feral pigs.
Mark Baker, owner of Baker’s Green Acres, told Natural News in an interview that he was informed recently by a former business associate that local state and federal agriculture officials have been forbidden from contacting him because he is potentially dangerous.
Read moreFeds Threatening Michigan Family Farm With Armed Raid
GMOs In USDA Organic Food
– GMOs in USDA Organic Food (Farmwars, Jan 28, 2104):
When it comes to regulations, it’s all in the wording. Not all organic producers take advantage of the huge loopholes in the USDA’s National Organics Program (NOP). There are those who really care, and those who are owned body and soul by GMO pushers. It is a matter of being able to trust your grower/manufacturer to be honest about it. This is one reason why I distrust anyone who promotes coexistence. By promoting coexistence, they support the continued proliferation of GMOs, which will eventually take over all natural seeds if allowed to continue at the rate they are being planted. This is a war, make no mistake about it.
Question:
How can you trust an agency that promotes GMOs to be in charge of a program that supposedly is against GMOs?
YOU CAN’T.
Organic Sellout: USDA Guts Organic Rules To Protect Mega-Farms
– Organic sellout: USDA guts organic rules to protect mega-farms (Mercury News, Nov 6, 2013):
When most Americans think about organic meat or eggs, they picture animals on small farms, allowed to root in the soil, feel sun on their backs, and engage in their species-specific desires. What they don’t picture is tens of thousands of hens crammed into massive sheds with no access to soil and extremely limited outdoor access.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture just stamped its seal of approval on the latter scenario by refusing to implement its own advisory board’s animal welfare standards, which would have created a level playing field for hundreds of small organic farms by requiring animal welfare improvements from the five massive “organic” egg farms that provide the worst hen welfare.
The USDA’s decision doesn’t just violate our moral intuitions and the expectations of organic consumers; it also violates the department’s legal mandate in at least two distinct ways.
Read moreOrganic Sellout: USDA Guts Organic Rules To Protect Mega-Farms
Food Stamp Recipients Delivered One-Two Punch By Govt Shutdown, End To Stimulus Boost
See also:
– Food stamp recipients delivered one-two punch by govt shutdown, end to stimulus boost (RT, Oct 16, 2013):
The government shutdown and a looming sunset on a temporary funding boost from the 2009 stimulus make November 1 an ominous date for Americans who rely on the federal food stamp program, some of whom would need to look elsewhere for help.
Food stamps are fully paid for through October, according to a shutdown plan released by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on October 1. The plan outlined what would happen to federal nutrition programs once the government closed absent a funding agreement from Congress.
Read moreFood Stamp Recipients Delivered One-Two Punch By Govt Shutdown, End To Stimulus Boost
Foodstamp Program Shutdown Imminent? USDA Letter Tells States Across The Country To Stop SNAP In November (Video)
– Foodstamp Program Shutdown Imminent? (ZeroHedge, Oct 15, 2013):
When over the weekend, a Xerox “glitch” shut down the EBT system, better known as foodstamps, for nearly the entire day across 17 states leaving millions without “funding” to pay for food leading to dramatic examples of the basest human behavior possible, some of the more conspiratorial elements saw this merely as a dress rehearsal for what may be coming in the immediate future. While there was no basis to believe that is the case, a USDA (the currently shuttered agency that administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) memo obtained by the Crossroads Urban Center in Utah carries in it a very disturbing warning for the 46+ million Americans currently on foodstamps.
To wit: “understanding the operational issues and constraints that States face, and in the interest of preserving maximum flexibility, we are directing States to hold their November issuance files and delay transmission to State electronic benefit transfer (EBT) vendors until further notice.” In other words, as Fox13News summarizes, “States across the country are being told to stop the supplemental nutrition assistance program for the month of November, pending further notice.”
The full memo first posted on the Crossroads Facebook page is shown below:
New USDA Rule Allows Hidden Feces, Pus, Bacteria And Bleach In Conventional Poultry
Bon appétit!
– New USDA rule allows hidden feces, pus, bacteria and bleach in conventional poultry (Natural News, Sep 29, 2013):
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently in the process of trying to ram through passage of a new “modernization” rule for conventional poultry production that would eliminate a large percentage of USDA inspectors and speed up the factory production process. And existing safeguards, as minimally effective as they currently are, would also be eroded, allowing for more hidden feces, pus, bacteria and chemical contaminants to persist in conventional chicken and turkey meat.
Even though salmonella rates as detected in meat and poultry have been steadily dropping year after year in the U.S., roughly the same numbers of people seem to be getting infected with the pathogen annually. The primary reason for this statistical anomaly appears to be that the current testing methods authorized by the USDA for meat and poultry are wholly inadequate and outdated and actually cover up the presence of contaminants borne on factory farms and in processing plants.
Read moreNew USDA Rule Allows Hidden Feces, Pus, Bacteria And Bleach In Conventional Poultry
USDA Was Storing Monsanto’s Unapproved GM Wheat In Seed Vault
– USDA Was Storing Monsanto’s Unapproved GM Wheat in Seed Vault (Activist Post, June 30, 2013):
How did genetically modified wheat escape and taint the fields of American farmers? The unsettling case remains unexplained, but traces back to a USDA seed vault.
…
American Households On Foodstamps Climb To A New All Time High Of 23,116,441 (Each Collecting An Average Of $274.30 Per Month)
– American Households On Foodstamps Climb To New Record (ZeroHedge, June 8, 2013):
Yesterday, briefly, we were confused by the eruption in the stock market following a not too bad sub-200K nonfarm payrolls number. Because we know that in the New Normal bad is always good, no matter what the well-coifed TV pundit du jour tells you. Then we remembered that yesterday is when the USDA releases its monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program data, i.e. Americans on Foodstamps.It was here that the ramp was perfectly explained, because while the bad (for stocks of course) data was that individual foodstamps recipients rose by 170K in March – if just a whisker below all time highs – it was the number of American households on foodstamps, which rose to a new all time high of 23,116,441 (each collecting an average of $274.30 per month) that perfectly explained the Dow Jones’ 200 point surge higher: the transfer of wealth from the poor and middle-classes to the 1% continues without a hiccup.
Source: SNAP
Insanity: How To Buy A Home In Martha’s Vineyard With Zero Money Down
– American Insanity: How to Buy a Home in Martha’s Vineyard with Zero Money Down (Liberty Blitzkrieg, June 5, 2013):
The absurd new housing bubble created by Banana Ben Bernanke’s cheap money, private equity slumlords and crony foreign oligarchs looking to launder their ill-gotten funds, continues to provide what would be hilarious headlines if only they weren’t so sad. In the following story, we find that courtesy of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the struggling folks on Martha’s Vineyard have access to zero money down home loans. The USDA you ask? Well, it turns out that the “entire island is designated as a rural area eligible for a USDA loan.” Why do we even have a government at this point?
From CNBC:
The zero down mortgage is back—in Martha’s Vineyard.
Ira Stoll at the Future of Capitalism bloghas come across an article on “Home Buying 101? in the spring of 2013 “Real Estate & Homes” supplement to the Vineyard Gazette. A local mortgage broker by the name of Polly K. Bassett is quoted as touting how.
Bassett, the “co-owner and a broker of Martha’s Vineyard Mortgage Company, L.L.C., said: “We have access to a wide range of programs such as USDA, which is a program where you can put no money down, 100 percent financing, and we also do a 97 percent financing with three percent down….There are a lot of programs out there for people buying their first home.”
Read moreInsanity: How To Buy A Home In Martha’s Vineyard With Zero Money Down