News From the Hill

Posts Tagged ‘Food’

Anyone who reads this blog regularily knows how much I hate Monsanto and the products that they have put on the market.

I have great difficulty accepting the contrast of Michele Obama growing organic veggies in the White House gardens while hubby Barack places pro-Monsanto and pro-GM people in the FDA and USDA.

It’s like having the bank robbers oversee the governing body for banking – actually that has happened too if you take a close look at Irish banking, oh dear, that was a bad example, however I hope you know what I mean….

I don’t know about you however I sure would not like my food to be sprayed with toxins. If you live and vote in the USA here is a list of the people who are pushing the widespread use of Roundup. Perhaps you live in the constituency of some of these politicians and could let them know how unhappy you are about their stand on toxic pesticides and herbicides…

Seventy-five House members ask USDA to approve Roundup Ready alfalfa planting despite the fact that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has yet to be finished.

A letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack from 75 Members of Congress asks that farmers be allowed to plant Roundup Ready alfalfa (RRA) in the fall 2010 planting season.

The June 21, 2010, decision by the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a nationwide ban on the cultivation of biotech alfalfa, but remanded the case back to the District Court. Depending on the District Court’s decision, USDA can then decide what interim measures can be implemented while the agency completes its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The letter points out that the USDA’s draft EIS concluded that there is “no significant impact on the human environment due to granting non-regulated status to Roundup Ready alfalfa.” A partial deregulation would allow farmers to plant their inventoried RRA seed this fall while the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) completes its final environmental impact study.

Under the leadership of Reps. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), Wally Herger (R-Calif.) and Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), the letter was signed by 75 Members of Congress including House Ag Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) along with 25 additional Agriculture Committee Members.
Representatives
Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and seventy-five members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking the USDA to partially deregulate Roundup Ready alfalfa (RRA) and allow fall 2010 planting.

The letter was signed by

Representatives:

Bobby Bright Bright, Bobby, Alabama, 2nd

, Marion Berry Berry, Marion, Arkansas, 1st
,, Mike Ross Ross, Mike, Arkansas, 4th
, John Boozman Boozman, John, Arkansas, 3rd

Dennis Cardoza Cardoza, Dennis, California, 18th
Kevin McCarthy McCarthy, Kevin, California, 22nd
, Jim Costa Costa, Jim, California, 20th
, Tom McClintock McClintock, Tom, California, 4th
Devin Nunes Nunes, Devin, California, 21st
, Wally Herger Herger, Wally, California, 2nd

Mike Coffman Coffman, Mike, Colorado, 6th
, John Salazar Salazar, John T., Colorado, 3rd
, Doug Lamborn Lamborn, Doug, Colorado, 5th

Joe Courtney Courtney, Joe, Connecticut, 2nd

Allen Boyd Boyd, Allen, Florida, 2nd
, Tom Rooney Rooney, Tom, Florida, 16th

Jack Kingston Kingston, Jack, Georgia, 1st
, David Scott Scott, David, Georgia, 13th

, Walt Minnick Minnick, Walt, Idaho, 1st
, Mike Simpson Simpson, Mike, Idaho, 2nd

Phil Hare Hare, Phil, Illinois, 17th
, Aaron Schock Schock, Aaron, Illinois, 18th
, John Shimkus Shimkus, John, Illinois, 19th

, Brad Ellsworth Ellsworth, Brad, Indiana, 8th

Bruce Braley Braley, Bruce L., Iowa, 1st
Tom Latham Latham, Tom, Iowa, 4th
, Leonard Boswell Boswell, Leonard, Iowa, 3rd
, Steve King King, Steve, Iowa, 5th
, David Loebsack Loebsack, David, Iowa, 2nd

Representatives Lynn Jenkins R-Kansas
, Jerry Moran Moran, Jerry, Kansas, 1st
, Todd Tiahrt Tiahrt, Todd, Kansas, 4th

Charlie Melancon Melancon, Charlie, Louisiana, 3rd

Dave Camp Camp, Dave, Michigan, 4th

Collin Peterson Peterson, Collin C., Minnesota, 7th
, Erik Paulsen Paulsen, Erik, Minnesota, 3rd
John Kline Kline, John, Minnesota, 2nd
, Michelle Bachmann Bachmann, Michele, Minnesota, 6th

, Bennie Thompson Thompson, Bennie G., Mississippi, 2nd

, Sam Graves Graves, Sam, Missouri, 6th
, Roy Blunt Blunt, Roy, Missouri 7th
, Jo Ann Emerson Emerson, Jo Ann, Missouri, 8th
, Todd Akin Akin, Todd, Missouri, 2nd,
Blaine Leutkemeyer Luetkemeyer, Blaine, Missouri, 9th
, Russ Carnahan Carnahan, Russ, Missouri, 3rd
, William Lacy Clay Clay Jr., William “Lacy”, Missouri, 1st

Adrian Smith Smith, Adrian, Nebraska, 3rd

, Harry Teague Teague, Harry, New Mexico, 2nd

Chris Lee Lee, Christopher J., New York, 26th
, Scott Murphy Murphy, Scott, New York, 20th

Howard Coble. Coble, Howard, North Carolina, 6th
, Larry Kissell Kissell, Larry, North Carolina, 8th
Mike McIntyre McIntyre, Mike, North Carolina, 7th

Earl Pomeroy Pomeroy, Earl, North Dakota

Patrick Tiberi Tiberi, Pat, Ohio, 12th *
Jean Schmidt Schmidt, Jean, Ohio, 2nd *
John Boehner Boehner, John A., Ohio, 8th *
Bob Latta Latta, Robert E., Ohio, 5th *
Steve Austria Austria, Steve, Ohio, 7th *

Frank Lucas Lucas, Frank, Oklahoma, 3rd

Greg Walden Walden, Greg, Oregon, 2nd

, Glen Thompson Thompson, Glenn W., Pennsylvania, 5th
Tim Holden Holden, Tim, Pennsylvania, 17th
Chris Carney Carney, Christopher P., Pennsylvania, 10th
Joe Pitts Pitts, Joseph R., Pennsylvania, 16th

, Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie, South Dakota,

, Phil Roe Roe, Phil, Tennessee, 1st
,Blackburn Martha Blackburn, Marsha, Tennessee 7th**********

Mac Thornberry Thornberry, Mac, Texas, 13th
, Joe Barton Barton, Joe, Texas, 6th
, Randy Neugebauer Neugebauer, Randy, Texas, 19th
, Mike Conaway Conaway, K. Michael, Texas, 11th

Bob Goodlatte Goodlatte, Bob, Virginia, 6th

Cathy McMorris-Rodgers McMorris Rodgers, Cathy, Washington, 5th

Tom Petri Petri, Thomas, Wisconsin, 6th

Tonight we had leftovers for dinner and it was a really easy dinner to cook. Put some organic pasta bows on the go while I quickly chop some onion and garlic and put them into the frying pan with a dollop of olive oil and a dollop of organic sunflower oil.

Onion and Garlic with Leftovers

I then chopped up some leftover salami sausage from yesterday’s lunch and added that to the softening onion and garlic and next in the pan were leftover veggies from last nights dinner. Fry up until cooked through.

Colourful Pan

Just grate some cheese and check that the pasta is cooked.

Pasta and Cheese

There is no photo of the food on the plates – it didn’t stay on the plates for long, it was yummy and we were hungry…..

Do you like leftovers?

Today was a very wet rainy day and I only got outside for a short walk between the showers so I did some catching up on reading books and blogs and also writing in my journal.

I also did some baking – a “what have I got in the cupboard” crumble.

I had a few slightly over-ripe pears and two big cooking apples which I sliced thinly and put into a saucepan with a few spoons of water, two spoons of pear & apple spread, a few chopped dried dates and a spoonful of honey.  I cooked this gently until well softened.

For the crumble I used three spoonfuls each of Linwoods flaxseed, brazil and almond nut mix, Linwoods hemp seed and Linwoods flaxseed, sunflower and pumpkin seed, three spoonfuls of oat flakes,  two small spoons of organic brown sugar and three spoonfuls of dessicated coconut. I added about 50 grams of butter to mix through all of this and make it suitable for a crumble.

I put the fruit mix onto a baking tray and covered it evenly with the crumble mix, this went into the oven at gas mark 4 for about 45 minutes and allow it to cool when done – that’s the hard part

The crumble mix is a little more exotic than I would normally make for the simple reason that I had no flour and I have all the ground nut and seed mixes for adding to my breakfast muesli.

Serve cooled with natural yoghurt - yummy!

I was horrified to read this report, on the Organic Consumers website, about Monsanto being involved in Haiti. Anyone who is a regular visitor to this blog knows that there is no love lost between me and Monsanto.  I have long had a strong disrespect for this company and their bullying tactics to further their aims in spreading the use of gm crops and increasing their profit line.

Haiti is a country that once had a self sustaining agricultural industry and I am not talking about hundreds of years ago, until relatively recently there was a thriving agricultural economy in Haiti.  For more info on this please check out this link.

Obviously Haitians are now vulnerable and really need to get food growing again as soon as possible. If you do a google search on “sustainable agriculture in Haiti” you will find that there are a lot of projects underway to encourage sustainable agricultural industry there.

The hybrid seeds being supplied will produce crops that will not produce viable seed – the Haitian farmers will be unable to save seeds and go on planting as farmers have done for generations, they will be forced to buy seed every year!

I find it insidious that Monsanto are moving to get a grip on Haiti’s agricultural future and the fact that they are being aided by the USAID is reprehensible.

This is being funded by American taxpayers – whether or not they want to fund Monsanto Americans’ hard earned tax dollars are helping this genetic giant to undermine an already vunerable country.  USAID is a tax-payer funded agency that promotes the United States’ interests abroad.

Please read the report about Monsantos involvement  and if you live in the States and you are unhappy about this situation please think about taking some action here.

If you don’t live in the States and still want to take some action then look at the end of the page and click on the link for international supporters.

That’s my tirade over for the moment, thanks for reading