We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, December 26, 2014

Food Safety Experts Slam USDA over Dicamba GM Crops

Click here to access article from Sustainable Pulse.
“Should both agencies approve this application, Center for Food Safety will pursue all available legal options to halt the introduction of this dangerous crop.”

First approved in the 1967, dicamba is a potent broadleaf herbicide that in epidemiology studies has been linked to increased rates of cancer in farmers and birth defects in their male offspring.  Dicamba is moderately persistent and frequently detected in surface waters.  Farmers are particularly concerned by dicamba’s propensity to drift and damage neighboring crops.  Dicamba drift also threatens flowering plants that provide nectar for pollinators and habitat for other species. 
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