Category: Interesting Information

Information I want to share in a non-essay form

TurkeyTracks: Essex Farm in Essex, NY–THE DIRTY LIFE

Turkey Tracks:  June 13, 2012

This is Part I of a longer story…

Essex Farm–THE DIRTY LIFE

About 10 years ago, Kristin Kimball, a Harvard graduate, was earning enough with her free-lance writing to live in New York City.  One day Kristin drove six hours (Pennsylvania, I think) to interview a first-generation farmer named Mark, a Swarthmore graduate who had cobbled together an agricultural degree since he always knew he wanted to farm.  Kristin’s life changed forever upon meeting Mark.  She left behind high heels, meeting for coffee, and all the entertainment a large city offers.

That meeting started Kristin on a journey which led to Essex Farm in Essex, NY–which is just south of Burlington, Vermont, and, of course, across the narrow end of Lake Champlain.  Essex Farm had been leant to them to see if they could make a go of it, which is, in itself, a large bit of the magic that surrounds this story and this journey.  Essex Farm, when they first saw it in the fall, was “sleeping,” as Mark expressed it.  They spent that first winter in an apartment in town (while waiting for the leases of the current tenants of the farmhouse to expire) and spending the days on the farm repairing equipment and some of the buildings.  They bought their first cow and learned to milk her.

Together, over the past nine years, Kristin and Mark have built a farm that feeds 220 people all year long with all the food they need–pork, chickens, beef, milk, eggs, various grains ground into flour, maple syrup, honey, and about 40 different kinds of vegetables, including all the root vegetables that get one through a “north country” winter.  They now have hired 12 employees  and are the largest employer in Essex.  And, they have produced two beautiful little girls and are going to build a family home just behind the major farm buildings.

Kristin’s memoir of their first year on the farm–a year culminating in their marriage–was published in 2010–THE DIRTY LIFE.  It’s a tale of great joys and great despair.  It’s a tale of learning who you really are and what’s important in life.  It’s a tale of learning a whole passel of new skills–like farming with draft horses.  It’s a tale of commitment and how they supported themselves and how a community supported and held them in their times of greatest need.  It’s a tale, now, of many lives being lived fully and, perhaps, of the raising of a new generation of farmers, for Essex Farm has spawned four farms now and two children who will, at least, grow up to know how to farm.

So, Tara Derr Webb read THE DIRTY LIFE about 18 months ago.  Tara grew up with our two sons and had recently moved from the West Coast to Charleston as she and her husband Leighton were ready to put down more permanent roots.  Both Tara and Leighton have forgotten more about food than I will probably ever know.  And now they both wanted to participate in some major way in the farm/food/restaurant matrix.

After reading THE DIRTY LIFE, Tara knew she wanted to do more, personally, with the farm end of the foodway.  So, she signed up to visit several WOOF (Worldwide Organization of Organic Farmers or, also, Willing Organization of Organic Farmers) farms.  The first was near Atlanta.  After being there almost two weeks, a goat mother died just after birthing.  Tara put the baby in her car and brought her home to Isle of Palms, SC, and raised her.   She also made what will probably be lifelong friends on that farm.

Tara wanted to move further north–to the Husdon Valley area of New York–itself a farm foody place.  So she and Leighton rented land for a year to try out the northern farming experience.  They didn’t like it–didn’t like the cold, didn’t feel it was right on their skin.  So, they have just rented land north of Charleston that they will begin to farm.  (They now have three goats and plan on getting about 100 chickens.)  There will also be a restaurant, but you can let Tara herself tell you that part of the story on her Farmbar website.)

When we were in Charleston in late May, Tara was there as well–figuring out fence lines, working out details for their move back South and so forth.  She told me Kristin was having an open house June 9th and asked it I would like to come.  I slept on it, but knew I had to go.

Yes, I said, and got out maps as soon as I got home.

XXX

Interesting Information: 10 Salt Myths

Interesting Information:  June 4, 2012

Ten Salt  Myths

This past Sunday’s New York Times ran a long piece by Gary Taubes called “Salt, We Misjudged You” (Opinion, 8-9).  Taubes traces the history of how salt became demonized in the 1970s and 1980s–without adequate scientific data to justify such a stance.  It might seem like “common sense” to relate salt intake to high blood pressure problems since salt can make one thirsty.  But that HYPOTHESIS has not proven to be true–as I related in Mainely Tipping Points Essay 38, located on this blog.

Meanwhile, Taube notes, many prominent organizations are promoting a low-salt diet, among them the USDA, the Institute of Medicine, the CDC, and the NIH.  Their view is based on a 30-day trial of salt, the 2001 DASH-Sodium study.  That study suggested that lowering salt intake “modestly lowered blood pressure,” but it “said nothing about whether this would reduce hypertension, prevent heart disease or lengthen life.”  And, I would ask, how would one know if the salt reduction was a factor or if other foods eaten or not eaten were factors?

The recommendations from these large organizations is ignoring, deliberately, recent research showing that salt reduction is dangerous to human health.  Recent research using some 100,000 people in 30 countries showed that salt consumption has been, Taubes writes, “remarkably stable among populations over time.”  Four recent studies “reported that the people eating salt at the lower limit of normal were more likely to have heart disease than those eating smack in the middle of the normal range.”  This “normal range” is considerably higher than recent recommendations by the USDA in its food guide.

In November of last year, Taubes writes, both the USDA and the FDA held hearings to “discuss how to go about getting Americans to eat less salt (as opposed to whether or not we should eat less salt).  Proponents speaking against salt consumption argued that “the latest reports suggesting damage from lower-salt diets should simply be ignored.”

OK.  That’s not scientific.  That’s BELIEF SYSTEM, and I’ve said many times on this blog, uncritical BELIEF SYSTEMS are dangerous.  They can, like this one about salt, kill you.  Taubes says the following:

“This attitude that studies that go against prevailing beliefs should be ignored on the basis that, well, they go against prevailing beliefs, has been the norm for the anti-salt campaign for decades.”

Mortin Satin, PhD, Vice President, Science and Research, The Salt Institute, writing in the Spring 2012 Wise Traditions, the journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, lists 10 myths about salt (http://www.westonaprice.org/vitamins-and-minerals/salt-and-our-health).  Some will surprise you.

Myth 1:  We eat more salt than ever before.  NOPE.  Our salt consumption today is about one half of the amount consumed between the War of 1812 and the end of World War II–which was about 3.3 teaspoons per day.  Increased refrigeration and not using salt as a preservative are factors.

Myth 2:  Our knowledge of the major sources of salt in our diet (80% from processed foods) is unquestionable.  NOPE.  This notion is based on a single paper from 1991 which involved 62 people and dietary recall–which is not reliable.  (It’s amazing to me how often dietary recall is being used in studies  The most recent I can recall is that study saying red meat was bad for you.)

Myth 3:  Our salt consumption continues to rise every year.  NOPE.  See Myth 1.

Myth 4:  The thirty-year public health initiative in Finland represents a successful model of salt reduction.  NOPE.  Health benefits were marginally worse than countries that did not reduce salt consumption.

Myth 5:  Current levels of salt consumption result in premature cardiovascular disease and death.  NOPE.  Data shows that the higher the salt consumption, the longer the life expectancy.  (Mainely Tipping Points 38 discusses the connections between cutting salt consumption and heart problems.)

Myth 6:  Cutting back on salt will improve the overall diet.  NOPE.  Salt enhances foods that would be bitter without it, like the all-important greens.  (Somewhere else I read that salt helps you break down and digest meats.)

Myth 7:  Reduced salt levels are critical to the DASH diet.  NOPE.  Data shows moving to a DASH diet significantly impacts blood pressure without any changes in salt consumption.  (I am NOT a fan of the DASH diet–too many carbohydrates and fructose.  It’s useful if you’ve been eating junk food, but I believe the GAPS diet and the Paleo diet are better choices.)

Myth 8: There is a clear relationship between salt intake and blood pressure.  NOPE.  There, famously, is not a clear relationship.  Satin gives a really good example using the standard hospital saline IV drip, which gives about 4.5 teaspoons of salt per day in addition to the teaspoon of salt taken in food.  Blood pressure, checked every 4 to 6 hours, does not change.

Myth 9:  Reducing salt intake can do no harm.   NOPE.  It can seriously harm you, and Satin gives a long list of worrisome outcomes.  Mainely Tipping Points 38 does as well.

Myth 10:  The U.S. Dietary Guideline process is valid.  NOPE.  Satin notes that these guidelines have not been peer-reviewed and are based on the lowest quality of information–opinion.  Or, in my terms, on BELIEF SYSTEM.  These guidelines are not independent or objective, according to Satin, who walks through why.   I would say that the USDA guidelines about so many food issues–among them consumption of salt, saturated fat, meat, the amount of carbohydrates deemed ok, and so many of the issues I’ve been covering in my essays–are now so far off track that it’s far, far better to totally ignore them.

Let your body decide your salt intake.  But, use GOOD salts–as discussed in Mainely Tipping Points 38.  They include real salt dried from seawater–not the fake salts in the grocery store.  Real salt is full of minerals.

Interesting Information: “Work Till You Drop”

Interesting Information:  May 11, 2012

“Work Till You Drop”

The government wants to increase line speed at poultry plants.

Gabriel Thompson, writing in “The Nation” (14 May 2012), describes what it was like to work on a chicken processing line in rural Alabama.

Thompson processed 7,000 chicken breasts each night.  The pace of the line was “as relentless as such numbers suggest.  We often didn’t even have time to wipe bits of chicken flesh from our faces, and I took to popping ibuprofen during breaks to quell the swelling of my hands.”  One wall of the break room was lined with dispensers filled with painkillers–for sale.

The repetitive nature of the work causes lineworkers to get musculoskeletal disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome or tendinitis.  Thompson met one worker who couldn’t hold a glass of water.  Another had had three surgeries on her wrists.  Another’s thumb joint had “almost disappeared after twelve years of line work.”

Current government-approved line speed is 91 birds a minute–which, Thompson writes, fails to “take worker safety into consideration.”  In January, the USDA proposed allowing plants to run the line speed at 175 birds a minute–nearly double the present limit.  On-line inspectors would be cut, creating a cost-savings for the USDA.  Poultry workers would now be responsible for inspecting birds.

This new plan will make foods safer, argues the USDA, since inspectors can now focus their attention on pathogens, like salmonella and campylobacter.  “BIG MEAT,” writes Thompson, will save about $257 million a year by operating at higher speeds.

Workers’ safety has, of course, gotten lost among the dollars saved.  But, workers have never been important to capitalism.  Workers are totally and completely expendable when industry pushes for classic speed up.  And don’t for one minute think that what’s behind this move is any government concern for its citizens’ safety or safer food.  This story is a perfect example of how industry can manipulate government into being a willing handmaiden to its purposes when good citizens do not realize what is happening to their fellow Americans.

What can you do?

Write USDA, of course.  And your congressmen.

You could, also, stop buying chicken parts.  Buy the whole chicken and cut it up yourself and tell your local store why you’re doing it.  You’ll reap a reward if you do your own cutting:  bones for chicken stock which we now know you can easily, effortlessly cook in your crock pot.

Most of all, you can realize that cheap chicken comes to you with enormous costs for way too many people:

the chickens themselves, which are miserably treated and fed very poorly on corn and soy;

the growers, who are caught in a terrible system created by and run for industry profit;

the workers who are injured processing the chickens;

the people who live on land near poultry processing plants, whose water is ruined and whose land is saturated with chicken waste;

the waste stream which has to handle all those plastic trays that hold the chicken parts;

and you, the consumer, who are being fed an inferior industrial product that’s, yes, cheap, but which is tasteless and has no texture.

My own chickens have personalities.  They have a sense of humor.  They are affectionate and social.  They can tell you they want a treat and can and do lead you to where the treats are located.  Just today, they spent the morning in the now-deep needs-to-be-cut grass in the front yard, sunbathing.  Their sense of joy was a pleasure to see.  The rooster watched over them, never lying down himself.

Interesting Information: Modern Wheat Raises Blood Sugar

Interesting Information:  May 2, 2012

Modern Wheat Raises Blood Sugar

I’m researching grains for Part II of the three-part series of the Mainely Tipping Points essays on the Paleo Diet.  Part III will be on legumes.  Part I is on the blog, TP 41.  Click on Mainely Tipping Points essays on the right sidebar of the blog.

“Well Being Journal” (May/June 2012) published a letter from Mark Pasley, who heard an on-line interview with William Davis, M.D., who just published WHEAT BELLY.  (I’ve ordered this book.)  Pasley writes that “what got my attention was Davis’s assertion that modern wheat (which differs greatly from our wheat of just 50 years ago) raises blood sugar as much as table sugar.  So every time we eat wheat, our blood sugar spikes and then drops a couple hours later, when we (no surprise) crave more wheat.  This creates a cycle of constant hunger and snacking, as well as a potential predisposition for type 2 diabetes.  In addition, the way the wheat is metabolized tends to create visceral fat around the organs in the belly.”

Pasley writes, also, the following–which I find really interesting:  “Apparently, the changes made to wheat by agribusiness and the food industry over the years have created a grain–never tested on humans–that causes health problems for many people.”

Pasley decided to go wheat-free for one month after hearing the interview.  Here’s what he wrote:  “Since then, I have experienced dramatic improvements in mood, energy, and digestion by simply eliminating wheat, and my belly has indeed gotten smaller.  I don’t own a scale, but the last time I went to the gym, their scale said I was 7 pounds lighter.”

I have no idea what kind of research William Davis is using, and I’m looking forward to reading his book.  But I will say that I am increasingly finding good information (in that it is well researched by people with good credentials and being published in major mainstream journals) that wheat, and especially wheat gluten,  is a big problem for many more people than anyone previously thought.  Also, wheat is being put into all kinds of body-care products–where it can be easily absorbed by the skin–especially if it’s in a shampoo or conditioner being used in a hot shower.

Interesting Information: Using Roundup to Ripen Wheat

Interesting Information:  April 30, 2012

Using Roundup to Ripen Wheat

Keith Lewis is a wheat farmer.

The May/June 2012 WELL BEING JOURNAL carried the following quote from Keith Lewis, which apparently appeared in a new book by William Davis, M.D., WHEAT BELLY.

“I have been a wheat farmer for 50  years and one wheat production practice that is very common is applying the herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) just prior to harvest.  Roundup is licensed for pre-harvest weed control.  Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup, claims that application to plants at over 30% kernel moisture results in Roundup uptake by the plant into the kernels.  Farmers like this practice because Roundup kills the wheat plant, allowing an earlier harvest.

A wheat field often ripens unevenly, thus applying Roundup pre-harvest evens up the greener parts of the field with the more mature.  The result is that on the less mature areas, Roundup is trans-located into the kernels….This practice is not licensed.  Farmers mistakenly call it `dessication.’

Consumers eating products made from wheat flour are undoubtedly consuming minute amounts of Roundup.  An interesting aside:  malt barley, which is made into beer, is not acceptable in the market place if it has been sprayed with pre-harvest Roundup.  Lentils and peas are not accepted in the marketplace if they are sprayed with pre-harvest Roundup, but it’s ok on wheat?  This farming practice concerns me and it should further concern consumers of wheat products.”

Roundup, or glyphosate, now has enough of a track record to warrant serious consideration of withdrawing it from the market–if only our regulatory agencies had laws with more teeth and weren’t so staffed by “foxes in the hen-house” folks.

And, we are learning that very small amounts of toxic chemicals can have a BIG impact.  You have only to take seriously the autism rates posted on this blog last week to see that.

So, it’s a fact that if you eat commercial wheat, you’re going to be eating–or feeding your children–a certain amount of a very toxic chemical.

Eat organic!

Of course, you know I’ve ordered WHEAT BELLY to read…

Interesting Information: Some Thoughts On Fast Food Hamburgers Not Spoiling

Interesting Information:  April 27, 2012

Some Thoughts On Fast Food Hamburgers Not Spoiling

Recap:  Willow Rheault Kreibich posted a piece on FB that featured a picture of various fast food hamburgers and french fries, on a tray, that had not spoiled in two years.

I posted the picture on this blog and commented to the effect of “do you really want to eat this food.”

“Burgerman” replied to my blog–with some interesting and welcome cautions about this story.

Willow received the following piece from “skeptical teacher”:  http://skepticalteacher.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/the-myth-of-the-non-decomposing-mcdonalds-hamburger/

Apparently, the issue is the amount of moisture involved in the molding process.  And, be aware that mold is the issue raised–not outright spoilage.

The counter argument goes that food needs moisture to mold.  Without moisture, such as might be found inside a plastic storage bag, mold does not occur.

Ok, I can buy that.

But, then I remembered the hotdog buns that got lost in my cupboard for about four months.  They were in a plastic bag.  When I opened the bag, they were like new–soft and spongy and looking quite edible.  I was shocked.  I can tell you that any organic, local bread I bring into the kitchen in a plastic bag spoils in a few days.  It grows truly radical mold, especially in the summer.  If I left a slice of this bread out, it would dry out and not spoil.  That’s true.  But those hot dog buns–which are probably akin to fast food hamburger buns–didn’t spoil inside a bag that would have trapped any moisture in them and caused mold.

Potatoes have a lot of moisture in them.  And, frying would trap that moisture inside.  I can see that some of the thin ones might dry out if left on the counter, but what about the fatter ones?  The fries in the picture look kind of like they just came out of the fryer.  What’s up with that?  What comes to mind for me is that commercial potatoes are sprayed with really strong chemicals–so strong that they often have to sit in piles outside until the worst of the chemicals dissipate–a process which can take up to six months, according to Michael Pollan.  These potatoes will not grow sprouts from their “eyes” if exposed to light.  Are the chemicals retarding mold and spoilage as well?  I want to know a lot more about why these French fries are not going bad.

As for the hamburger patties, I can see that if the meat is thin enough, it might dry out before molding.  Burgerman reminded me that we dry foods all the time, including meat.  But, we don’t dry meat on a counter.  We dry it under the sun, with the aid of air currents.  Or, in a dehydrator.  In other words, we use heat and air circulation to wick away moisture and to kill any pathogens that cause spoilage.  In addition, most commercial hamburgers are cooked well-done–so many of the pathogens are killed–as are the nutrients, by the way, which is why I eat meat that isn’t well done.  The grass-fed hamburgers I cook are medium rare or, even, for me, at least, rare.  There’s a TON of moisture in them.  They would spoil and mold if left on the counter.

Mold is one issue.  But what about other spoilage?   Would you eat one of these two-year old hamburgers and French fries that have, famously, not grown mold?

For the past 46 years, I have cooked multiple meals every day–unless I’m on an infrequent vacation somewhere–in which case I usually long for my own food.  I feed two dogs and eight chickens real food.  No dry dog food or commercial chicken feed is served here.  So, at night I am always throwing leftovers into bowls for the animals for the next morning.  Real food starts to turn into something smelly I wouldn’t eat in a matter of a few hours.

So, yes, I can agree that if you let well-done hamburgers and dead-bread buns sit out, they won’t MOLD unless there is sufficient moisture.  Maybe, though, they will SPOIL.

But, that fact begs the question of whether or not this kind of food is actually nourishing in any way.  It’s still dead food:  dead buns, dead overcooked meat that is likely adulterated with soy, and something truly weird about the nonspoiling French fries that are cooked in rancid, dangerous highly-processed vegetable oils–often made from soy and cottonseed.  (When did cotton become a food?)  The processing in these oils breaks their chemical structures down so that they are like little sharp razor blades in your veins.  They’re the real cause of heart disease according to Sally Fallon Morrell and Mary Enig of the Weston A. Price Foundation–as demonstrated in the video, “The Oiling of America.”

So, I’m still saying, “would you feed this food to your kids?”  Or, eat it yourself?

Interesting Information: The CDC Announces Horrifying New Autism Rates

Interesting Information:  April 24, 2012

The CDC Announces Horrifying New Autism Rates

The CDC has announced the following information:

1 in 88 children are now diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD);

1 in 54 boys; and

1 in 252 girls– which means BOYS ARE FIVE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO HAVE AN ASD.

This number represents a 78 PERCENT INCREASE in the past five years and a 23 percent increase in the LAST TWO YEARS.

Utah had the highest prevalence of autism:  1 in 47,  8-year olds.

New Jersey had 1 in 49.

Dr. Mercola, in “The Silent Time Bomb Now Affecting 1 in 54 Boys in the US,” asks “What’s really going on here?”  (See http://articles.mercola.com for more information.)

And, Mercola adds the following:

“Personally, I don’t see how anyone can look at a 78 percent increase of any health problem in a mere five years without snapping to attention.  Prior to the CDC’s announcement, the Canary Party, a citizens’ action group on autism, rightfully predicted that the CDC would down play the seriousness of these latest statistics.

On its new autism webpage, the CDC state they suspect some of the increase `is due to greater awareness and better identification’ among some of the children.

But even taking that possibility into consideration, the statistics are truly shocking.  How can one in 88American children have some form of autistic disorder?  In a normal, healthy environment, that just shouldn’t happen.  And the fact that it IS happening demands our immediate attention.  Something is going very wrong, very fast…”

That SOMETHING WRONG is toxic overload, according to Dr. Mercola.  I agree.

Here’s some contributing areas  Mercola identifies:

Environmental areas, of course.  But, which ones?

Likely, there are multiple factors.  Among them are the overuse and inappropriate use of vaccines–which may function as “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

And, our overuse of toxic chemicals–which are being put into our food, our air, our water, our clothing, our furniture, and on and on and on.   Key among these are mercury, toxic adjuvants in vaccines, phthalates, BPA, and so forth.

Electromagnetic fields need much more investigation.  Women who sleep in strong electromagnetic fields during pregnancy might give birth to babies that exhibit neurological abnormalities.  Computers, smart meters, cell phones, those baby-monitoring systems, microwaves, all throw electromagnetic waves.  I would not put those baby-monitoring systems into a baby’s room knowing what I now know, and I remind young parents that babies have survived just fine for all the thousands of years before the last 10, when these systems became “must haves” for child safety.

Vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women might be a factor.

And, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is arguing that children born to parents with abnormal gut flora develop devestating gut and brain toxicity that leads to autism–all of which can be cured with diet.  If you are working with an autistic child, please, please read McBride’s book, GUT AND PSYCHOLOGY SYNDROME.  I wrote about the GAPS diet in my Mainely Tipping Points Essays on this blog, essay No. 31, “I Feel It In My Gut.”

WHAT TO DO?

Read Mercola’s article for more guidance, but, basically, do everything you can to lower toxic overload.  Buy organic foods; get rid of personal body care products and household cleaning products loaded with chemicals; and read up on vaccine dangers and only get the ones, if any, that seem the most necessary to you.

Clean up your diet.  Get rid of the junk food.  If it comes in a box, don’t eat it.  If it comes in a can, make sure it’s BPA free.  Limit carbohydrates, especially grains and legumes.  And, if you eat them, make sure you prepare them properly–more on this subject in upcoming Mainely Tipping Points essays.

SUPPORT THE IMMEDIATE INSTALLATION OF THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPAL.  All untested chemicals in circulation must now be tested–and tested by scientists who do not have financial interests in the outcome.  Nothing can be allowed into circulation that causes human harm.

We have to develop the POLITICAL WILL to make these changes–and that starts with understanding that we cannot continue down this road without dire, dire consequences.

One in 54 boys.  That’s at least one boy you know, for sure.

Interesting Information: This “Food” is TWO YEARS OLD

Interesting Information:  April 23, 2010

This “Food” is TWO YEARS OLD

Willow Rheault Kreibich posted this picture on FB recently.

The picture is taken from the FB wall photos of the LiveWell Wellness Centers–so you can go and have a look for yourself.

This food was purchased on April 22, 2010, so it is now TWO YEARS OLD.

Do you really want to feed this “food” to yourself or to your children????

Can we in any way call this food that even bugs won’t touch “nourishing”?

I copied and pasted below the picture what the folks at LiveWell wrote beneath their wall photo

Our fast “food” display is now 2 years old.  The word food is questionable, since the bread-like and meat-like substances have not molded or spoiled in any way.  Bugs won’t even bother with it.  Please think twice about giving this to your kids.  You have a choice, but they don’t.  We truly are what we eat.

Interesting Information: Study Links Pesticide To Bee Deaths

Interesting Information:  April 23, 2012

Study Links Pesticide to Bee Deaths

David Abel, in “The Boston Globe,” reported on a recent Harvard Public Health study that made a one-to-one link between bee colony collapse disorder and a chemical in the neonicotinoid family, imidacloprid (April 6, 2012, B1).

Before 2006, Abel notes, “the typical bee colony collapse was between 25 and 30 percent”–a figure which has “doubled since then.”  Imidacloprid was first reviewed by EPA in 2008.

One strategy chemical companies use to prevent chemicals from being banned is to claim a study is faulty, that more study is needed.  Bayer, the German chemical company who sells the most imidacloprid, immediately claimed the study flawed in that too much of the chemical was used in the study.  But, Alex Lu, associate professor of environmental exposure biology at the Harvard School of Public Health, said “it took only low levels to cause hive collapse, less than is typically used in crops or in areas where bees forage.”  Most importantly, this study clearly linked bee death and colony collapse to imidacloprid.  In other words, there is no question that there is a one to one link here and that the result is bee death.

Imidacloprid is used increasingly in crops such as corn and soybeans.  In Maine, it’s used on “wild” blueberry barrens.  Bees are exposed to imidacloprid both through nectar from the sprayed plants AND through the high-fructose corn syrup with which they are fed.  Charles Benbook, chief scientist of the Organic Center in Boulder, Colorado, and former executive director of the National Academy of Sciences on Agriculture, warned that what’s happening to bees doesn’t just stop with bees:  “People, especially children, consume a lot of high-fructose corn syrup.  The presence of any pesticides in high fructose corn syrup should be a concern for the general public.”

Neonicotinoids act on an insect’s central nervous system.  What do you think it will do to human nervous systems?  Especially when we are learning more and more each day that very small amounts of these chemicals can do a ton of damage.

The Harvard study showed that after 23 weeks of exposure to low levels of imidacloprid, 15 of the 16 treated hives were dead.  Those exposed to higher levels died first.

EPA officials, after the release of this Harvard study, have moved up in their registration schedule so that they will begin a review of imidacloprid by the end of this year.

Parts of France and Italy banned imidacloprid in 2009, and colony collapse disorder there has been substantially reduced.

Bees are our canaries in the coal mines.

Do not eat corn unless it is clearly organic.  Do not eat soybeans, period.  (I’ll write more on that later.)  In addition, both corn and soybeans are likely GMO’d, which is a whole other set of problems for human health.