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From the Fields March 17th 2007
Dry, dry, dry! Wait, wait, this just in…we have received rainfall! Thursday night/ early morning many of us awoke to the sound of a downpour. It was enough to seep down half an inch into the soil, reawakening the fields with life. The rain carries heaps of nutrients back to the Earth – nitrogen that escapes daily into the air as well as other minerals that spur the plants to perk up and grow again. Keep praying for more moisture, as the past few weeks have been empty of drops and full of dry winds and hot sunshine (we are still well below rainfall averages and facing red flag fire warnings). Noticeable from how tired (and muscular;) our arms are from watering by hand and pump-wand, we are officially in the midst of the dry season. Let’s keep cheering those veggies on!
Sunrise and Sunset: 7:31am/ 7:31pm (actual)
Moonrise and Moonset: 5:53am/ 5:03pm
On Friday March 16th there will be 12 hours and 47 minutes of visible light. Day length will be 12 hours even. The vernal (spring) equinox is March 20th.
Field Notes
Flora
Mango fruits are quarter-size on the trees and the avocado trees are full of blossoms. The lettuces face issues as the dry air over the past few weeks has wreaked havoc on its ability to stay moist. The dry air coupled with increasingly hot days, will likely decrease further our lettuce production. Expect to see little lettuce after April. The oak trees have shed most of their yellow coats of pollen and the hickory trees have formed buds.
Fauna
The songbirds and raptors continue to keep us company. Their population unbeknownst to us last year, the cedar waxwings currently make their presence well-known. We have yet to taste a ripe mulberry! The robins appear to have headed onward. Loads of woodpeckers can be heard chattering and pecking away throughout the day and evening on the farm. Raccoons have been caught in the potting shed, surely looking for the plump tomatoes we have been harvesting. Black racers (snakes) are again making their presence known, although not yet in the quantities we expect to see in the upcoming months.
Vegetable Spotlight – matt’s wild cherry tomato
Originally from Hidalgo, Eastern México – the region of original tomato domestication - Matt’s wild cherry tomato is well acclimated to central Florida’s similar hot and dry climate. Matt’s keeps on producing through the toughest of seasons (as this year has proven to be!). Matt’s are the tiniest in size and are best harvested by small hands, but well worth the work for anyone wanting big taste. With a high sugar content and deep red color when ripe, Matt’s are sweet and appealing.
Grower’s Tips
As the nights begin to warm again and the days grow brighter, it is time to plant late season (in
florida
!) heat-loving seeds and transplants such as eggplant, okra, peppers, and tomatoes. Generally seeds germinate better at slightly different temperatures than the mature plants enjoy. Look at both germination and plant growth temperatures. This is why timing is so important – for example, some plants enjoy cooler nights for germinating and warmer day temps for plant growth so you must plant them as we exit winter’s coolness and enter spring’s extending warmth. If you are looking for salad greens, try baby mixes of hardier greens (such as the mustard family) or heat-tolerant varieties such as maravilla
del
verano (summer marvel) lettuce types.
Eco-Agri-Food Definition of the Week - Genetic modification (GM)*
*also referred to as Genetically Engineered (GE), Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), Gene Splicing, Transgenic Engineering, Transgenes, and Recombinant dna technology.
Simply put, genetic modification (GM) is a laboratory procedure that consists of inserting the genes of one organism’s dna into another organism’s dna. These genetically engineered chains of dna are then injected into the cells of another organism with guns, literally shot into the dna host, forcing whichever chosen gene of one organism into the genes of another, whether biologically related or not (i.e., anti-freeze flounder fish genes can be injected into tomato plants to produce frost-resistant fruit).
The resultant genetically modified organism (GMO) shows genetic characteristics (also called expressions) of both the host and the introduced genes. The gene that is imposed upon the dna chain of the original organism contains a “marker” gene that allows scientists (and their corporate employers) to detect the foreign dna in its host.
Genetic redesign can be found in an array of organisms from round-up ready soybeans (soybeans created by the Monsanto Corporation that contain herbicide resistant genes that allow the bean to grow even when sprayed with Monsanto’s Roundup products) to Recombinant Growth Hormone (rbGH) used to enhance milk production in cows.
Genetic engineering should not be confused with hybridization. Hybrids, over millennia, have generally occurred through the cross-pollination or sexual reproduction of biologically related plants or animals. This relation may be genetically distant, but precludes the joining of two distinctly different species. Generally, hybridization produces sterile seeds or offspring.
Unlike hybridization, the transgenic manipulation of plants and animals allows for an unknown and unregulated transfer of genetic information, as considered by Doug Gurian-Sherman in “Contaminating the Wild” (www.centerforfoodsafety.org/other_reso21.cfm).
GE crops present different risks than other agricultural technologies, such as chemical pesticides and fertilizers, in part because genes can be perpetuated indefinitely by the reproduction of the plant. One way the persistence of engineered genes can occur is by spreading into sexually compatible wild relatives of crops. This process, known as gene flow, can perpetuate whatever harm may be caused by transgenes, because once they escape into wild relatives, some will become a permanent part of the environment…Transgenes could harm the environment by increasing the weediness of wild relatives; or by harming plants, animals, or environmental processes. Many wild relatives are also serious weed crops, and therefore gene flow may also harm agriculture. The possibility of irrevocable impact on the environment should serve as a warning to prevent gene flow, or to ensure that harm will be minimal if gene flow occurs (page 1).
Monsanto, one of the largest and most politically powerful corporations in the world, leads the nation ahead in promoting the genetic modification of our food supply. According to their website, Monsanto states that it is their commitment to farmers around the world that drives the production and sale of their GE crops.
Farmers around the world use our innovative products to address on-farm challenges and reduce agriculture’s overall impact on our environment…When farmers succeed, we succeed. So, we take our cue from our farmer customers. We use the tools of modern biology to support our commitment to agriculture and to support the farmers that feed, clothe, and fuel our growing world…As a company we remain committed to broadly licensing our seed and trait technology to companies throughout the world.”
The benefits of GE crops, already released into fields and markets, are touted by Monsanto to reduce the use of necessary chemical pesticides in fields, yet at the same time their Roundup ready chemicals are advertised for use in conjunction with their Roundup ready GM soybeans.
When issues of safety confidence are raised, proponents of the wide-spread use of genetically altered organisms contend that “biotech crops have been grown and consumed for almost a decade and people around the world have eaten billions of meals containing biotech derived foods or ingredients. There are no substantiated scientific reports of any food safety issues” (www.monsanto.com).
In fact, Monsanto states that “zero reliably documented human or animal safety issues” have arisen regarding GE crop consumption (available on the Monsanto website’s Safety and Health Impact section). It is interesting to note here that farmers and researchers have documented that animals (rats, cows, pigs, geese, elk, and squirrels) refuse to eat genetically modified crops. Dairy farmers have also noted illnesses (especially mastitis of utters) and reproductive dysfunction in cows injected with rbGH (Recombinant Growth Hormone).
In response to Monsanto’s “zero reliably documented human or animal safety issues”, has there been any focused research done to address the health concerns that GE raises among an apprehensive public? Like whether or not someone with unknown allergies may be reacting to GE food additives? Unfortunately, issues related to GMOs in the diet might not always offer a direct link, but rather the indirect altering of food (and possibly the dna of consumers) that makes it nearly impossible to detect or trace where the problem originated. An example of this unknown connection arises when we learn that “soy allergies in the UK jumped by 50% after Roundup Ready soy was introduced” (J. Smith www.seedsofdeception.com).
If “[g]enetically engineered foods have been cleared by agencies on grounds that they are substantially equivalent to their naturally occurring counterparts”, why is there any resistance to label these products as such? (Tomorrow’s Biodiversity by Vandana Shiva: pp 76). Why has Europe and Australia among many other countries and a few counties in California banned the production and import of GMOs? The same transnational companies that produce food for both national and international markets sell both GE and non-GE crops to their consumers. In many countries where GE foods are imported, these same U.S. companies are required to label their products as genetically modified.
Jeffrey Smith, Iowa farmer and author of Seeds of Deception, correlates North America’s blind support of GE foods to the general public’s place in the dark regarding our food system. When people learn about the health and environmental insecurities of GMOs, they are more apt to avoid genetically altered foods. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found this to be true in their Report on Consumer Focus Groups on Biotechnology (available at www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/biorpt.html)
When the US Food and Drug Administration commissioned several focus groups to determine American views on GE food, their report found that there was strong consensus as to what the major worry was – unknown long-term health consequences that might be associated with the technology but which cannot be anticipated based on current science or knowledge…Virtually all participants said that bioengineered foods should be labeled as such.
Commercial genetically modified crops that are currently and commonly used in the United States are soy (89%), cotton (83%), canola (65%), corn (61%), Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%), zucchini and yellow squash (small amounts), and tobacco (Quest brand). In addition, products made from these crops, such as corn syrup and oils of soy and canola, are used in many processed foods.
As large-scale industrial farms produce the majority of raw food and fewer corporations control the distribution of these foods, genetically modified products have easily become ubiquitous in the United States. Not only found in plants, genetic engineering is also applied to animal production. Meat, dairy, and eggs from animals fed GM feed (mainly corn and soy); dairy products from cows injected with rbGH (recombinant growth hormone); and honey that may have been harvested from GM sources of pollen also carry GE genes.
Remember, for the time being, organic certification still means transgenic-free food sources. If you are concerned about consuming genetically altered foods, the True Food Network offers a free GM/non-GM shopping guide to help with making informed purchases at www.truefoodnow.org/shoppersguide
If you are so moved to take action, attached is a letter that can be sent to each of our representatives (see Elected Officials’ Contact section of this newsletter) in order to share your concern about GE labeling standards. Please address, sign, put in an envelope, add a stamp, and raise your voice about concerns you have regarding genetically modified organisms in our food system. This letter can be found at and printed from http://ga3.org/campaign/Label_GE_Food
“The guidance we need…cannot be found in science or technology, the value of which utterly depends on the ends they serve; but it can be found in the traditional wisdom of [hu]mankind” (Small is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher).
Around Brevard and Central Florida
Join the Step It Up organizing team and over 600 actions happening around the nation to call for Congress to reduce, by 80%, carbon in the atmosphere by 2050! Check out www.stepitup2007.org for more information and to register for the Saturday April 14th Fight Global Warming movement at the corner of Eau Gallie Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Melbourne (8:00am until 1:00pm).
Land for sale?
4HF is looking to purchase or lease land. Ideally (yet we’re flexible), we are seeking land that is 2 acres or more; zoned agricultural (AU); located in Central Brevard (preferably no further north than Port St. John and no further south than Melbourne); has irrigation quality water on site; and public road access. We would greatly appreciate any leads, if you have any knowledge and/or contacts regarding land possibilities, please contact us in person or through our website at www.FourHandsFarm.com (please denote “Land” in the subject).
Elected Officials’ Contacts – Florida District Offices
Mel Martinez
315 East Robinson Street
Landmark Center 1, Suite 475
Orlando, Florida 32801-1912
Phone (407) 254 2573
Fax (407) 423 0941
Mel Martinez
315 East Robinson Street
Landmark Center 1, Suite 475
Orlando, Florida 32801-1912
Phone (407) 254 2573
Fax (407) 423 0941
U.S. Senators
Bill Nelson
225 East Robinson Street
Suite 410
Orlando, Florida 32801-4322
Phone (407) 872 7161
Fax (407) 872 7165
Thad Altman
PO Box 411780
Melbourne, Florida 32399-6507
Phone (321) 752 3138
U.S. Representatives
Dave Weldon
2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way
Building C
Melbourne, Florida 32940-6605
Phone (321) 632 1776
Fax (321) 639 8595
Mike Haridopolos
1360 Sarno Road
Suite C
Melbourne, Florida 32935-5211
Phone (321) 752 3131
Fax (321) 752 3133
It is shocking that the FDA has never developed binding federal rules to protect consumers from the food safyety risks of genetically engineered foods. Unlike crops from traditional breeding, genetically engineered crops contain antibiotic-resisitant marker genes, wiral promoters, and foreign proteins never before consumed by humans. Yet the FDA relies on the very companies that have a financial interest in bringing these biotech crops to market to assess their safety. FDA has stated, “ultimately, it is the food producer who is responsible for assuring safety” of gene altered foods.
Congress must step up and fill the gaping regulatory hole left by the FDA to protect American consumers. HR 5268, the Genetically Engineered Food Safety Act would fill this hole by requiring mandatory pre-market safety testing for all GE foods.
HR 5269, the Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act of 2006, would require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. Here in America, we pride ourselves on having choices and maing informed decisions. Under current FDA regulations we don’t have that choice when it comes to GE ingredients in the foods we purchase and feed to out families. Labeling is essential for me to choose whether or not I want to consume genetically engineered foods. Genetically engineered foods are required to be labeled in 15 European nations, Russia, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries around the world. As an American, I firmly believe I should also have the right to know if my foods have been genetically engineered. If food makers like Kraft and Kellogg’s can label the products they sell in these countires, they can certainly do it in the U.S.
A recent poll released by ABC News found that 92 percent of the American public wants the federal government to require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. As ABC News states, “such near-unamity in public opinion is rare.”
I hope you will listen to me and the other 92 percent of the American public who want mandatory labeling and show your support for American consumers by supporting and co-sponsoring HR 5268 and HR 5269. I look forward to a written response confirming your support.
Thank you,
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