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FOOD COSTS Al Novack KYW NewsRadio, 01/16/07 "With freezing temperatures causing major damage to crops in California, local distributors are expecting the worst." FULL STORY buy software cheap oem software

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What do my husband’s armpits, my son’s sandals, my mother’s steak knives and my daughter’s hairbrush all have in common? Antibacterials. They are all impregnated with antibacterial chemicals – well maybe not the armpits, but the underarm deodorant. These days, just about anywhere that is suitable for bacteria is apparently also suitable for antibacterial treatment by manufacturers wishing to attract health-conscious shoppers. But here’s the rub – antibacterial chemicals are now showing up in the environment – in places they were never meant to be. In water flowing into rivers downstream from sewage treatment plants, in fish, and in treated sewage sludge that is applied to agricultural crops. Additionally, while it’s clear that the use of antibacterials are beneficial in clinical settings, according to a Food and Drug Administration panel on Nonprescription Drugs there is little or no indication that such additives protect the consumer any better than washing with plain soap and water. As a one-time teacher of microbiology, I’d always prided myself on having the foresight to stay away from purchasing soap products with antimicrobials. Although to my surprise, there they were in other household I’d purchased including the Teva sandals and the Old Spice Classic with triclosan that I’d bought for my husband. “[The antibacterials] triclocarban (and triclosan) were introduced in the hay-days of chlorine chemistry, when chemicals like DDT and PCBs were considered safe. Relative to the latter, the antimicrobials are less problematic, but now that PCBs and DDT are banned, the focus has shifted to other chlorinated chemicals like triclocarban and triclosan,” says Dr. Rolf Halden, of Johns Hopkins University . Recently, Dr. Halden’s group reported in the journal Environmental Science and Technology that the majority of triclocarban that is washed down the drain and into sewage treatment plants ends up in sewage sludge, which in turn may end up on agricultural fields. His research reveals not only the persistent nature of the chemical (not unlike those other chlorinated chemicals now banned.) It also highlights the high volumes of these chemicals that are used by consumers and released into the environment. Halden’s group estimated that in their study area alone, more than one ton of triclocarban ends up in the environment (and on agricultural land – where it can be taken up by crops) each year! While Halden is concerned about the release of the chemicals into the environment, Dr. Stuart Levy, the director of the Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance at Tufts University , is concerned about the potential for antimicrobials to encourage development of antibiotic or drug resistant microbes. Development of antibiotic is an important survival mechanism for microbes, and soil microbes in particular. Soil is packed with microbes. They are part of what makes healthy soil healthy. Soil is also a fertile hunting ground for new antibiotics. In fact the first mass-produced antibiotic, penicillin was produced by a soil-dwelling microbe. What better way to stake one’s microscopic claim then to poison one’s neighbors? So soil microbes are constantly battling antibiotics produced by neighboring soil microbes. And in order to “keep up with the Jones’” or at the very least survive the Jones’ constant assaults, bacteria have become adept at developing antibiotic resistance. The same can be said for the millions of bacteria that live on and in our bodies. When they are constantly exposed to antibiotics, it is possible that some will overcome, and develop antibiotic resistance. This is where the antimicrobials come in. “We produced the original evidence that triclosan [a chemical simlar in structure to triclocarban] can lead to antibiotic resistance,” said Dr. Levy, “but while resistance to antibacterials has been found among bacteria outside the laboratory, they have not been linked to the use of triclosan.” “Triclocarban is another antibacterial found in soaps. No one has looked at its mechanisms of action. There is clearly concern about the exposure to both of these antibacterials [causing antibiotic resistance], but in particular triclosan. The other antibacterials of concern are those under the heading of quaternary ammonium compounds like benzalkonium chloride. More and more data are linking resistance to this product with antibiotic resistance.” So, antibacterials which have the potential to cause antibiotic resistance are released into the environment in huge quantities as a result of consumer use, and an FDA panel has concluded that antimicrobial products appear to be no more protective to consumers than soap and water. Who’s in charge of regulating this stuff? Antimicrobials are regulated by both the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency, depending upon their use, and claims made by manufacturers. EPA regulates antimicrobials when they are used as pesticides, for example to reduce odors in my son’s stinky Tevas, but FDA regulates them as drugs when used in something like the bottle of soft-soap that graces the bathroom sink at my daughter’s school. In either case – since triclosan and triclocarban were developed and registered at least thirty years ago, back when persistent chemicals weren’t known to be a problem, and antibiotic resistance hadn’t reared its ugly head – one wonders how today’s research has enlightened the regulators. “Advances in a number of fields have changed the way we examine and interpret the potential risk of synthetic chemicals,” says Halden. “Many studies conducted in the 1970’s would not pass muster today.” But there’s hope, according to Stuart Levy, who noted that while “there is no evidence of a change in regulation, there certainly seems to be a greater insight and concern by regulatory agencies like the FDA and EPA. They are both looking more closely at this issue, thanks to the advocacy of scientists and others.” It’s also worth noting that perhaps not all products present the same risks. “It is presumably more likely that triclosan in a water-solubilizable form [soft-soaps for example] would be more risky than that which has been incorporated into something like a mattress or sneakers,” suggests Levy, who notes that even with these products, the fate of antibacterials is unknown. So where does that leave us? According to Dr. Bernadette Albanese, a public health expert, “If people spent as much time washing their hands, as they do reading the labels of this stuff, we’d all be better off. Putting antibacterial in soap, towelettes, band-aids is mostly useless. The message should be proper and frequent hand washing, use plain (liquid) soap and paper towels. That is the message the public needs to hear.” Although I’m not sure I’m ready to give up the microban treated Tevas (have you smelled a well-worn pair of Tevas?) I’ll definitely be reading my consumer products labels more carefully. buy software cheap oem software

Tags: antibacterial, antibiotic, chemical, resistance, antimicrobial

Antibacterial soaps and other cleaners may actually be aiding in the development of superbacteria. By Coco Ballantyne Tuberculosis, food poisoning, cholera, pneumonia, strep throat and meningitis: these are just a few of the unsavory diseases caused by bacteria. Hygiene—keeping both home and body clean—is one of the best ways to curb the spread of bacterial infections, but lately consumers are getting the message that washing with regular soap is insufficient. Antibacterial products have never been so popular. Body soaps, household cleaners, sponges, even mattresses and lip glosses are now packing bacteria-killing ingredients, and scientists question what place, if any, these chemicals have in the daily routines of healthy people. Traditionally, people washed bacteria from their bodies and homes using soap and hot water, alcohol, chlorine bleach or hydrogen peroxide. These substances act nonspecifically, meaning they wipe out almost every type of microbe in sight—fungi, bacteria and some viruses—rather than singling out a particular variety. Soap works by loosening and lifting dirt, oil and microbes from surfaces so they can be easily rinsed away with water, whereas general cleaners such as alcohol inflict sweeping damage to cells by demolishing key structures, then evaporate. "They do their job and are quickly dissipated into the environment," explains microbiologist Stuart Levy of Tufts University School of Medicine. Unlike these traditional cleaners, antibacterial products leave surface residues, creating conditions that may foster the development of resistant bacteria, Levy notes. For example, after spraying and wiping an antibacterial cleaner over a kitchen counter, active chemicals linger behind and continue to kill bacteria, but not necessarily all of them. When a bacterial population is placed under a stressor—such as an antibacterial chemical—a small subpopulation armed with special defense mechanisms can develop. These lineages survive and reproduce as their weaker relatives perish. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is the governing maxim here, as antibacterial chemicals select for bacteria that endure their presence. As bacteria develop a tolerance for these compounds there is potential for also developing a tolerance for certain antibiotics. This phenomenon, called cross-resistance, has already been demonstrated in several laboratory studies using triclosan, one of the most common chemicals found in antibacterial hand cleaners, dishwashing liquids and other wash products. "Triclosan has a specific inhibitory target in bacteria similar to some antibiotics," says epidemiologist Allison Aiello at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. When bacteria are exposed to triclosan for long periods of time, genetic mutations can arise. Some of these mutations endow the bacteria with resistance to isoniazid, an antibiotic used for treating tuberculosis, whereas other microbes can supercharge their efflux pumps—protein machines in the cell membrane that can spit out several types of antibiotics, Aiello explains. These effects have been demonstrated only in the laboratory, not in households and other real world environments, but Aiello believes that the few household studies may not have been long enough. "It's very possible that the emergence of resistant species takes quite some time to occur…; the potential is there," she says. Apart from the potential emergence of drug-resistant bacteria in communities, scientists have other concerns about antibacterial compounds. Both triclosan and its close chemical relative triclocarban (also widely used as an antibacterial), are present in 60 percent of America's streams and rivers, says environmental scientist Rolf Halden, co-founder of the Center for Water and Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Both chemicals are efficiently removed from wastewater in treatment plants but end up getting sequestered in the municipal sludge, which is used as fertilizer for crops, thereby opening a potential pathway for contamination of the food we eat, Halden explains. "We have to realize that the concentrations in agricultural soil are very high," and this, "along with the presence of pathogens from sewage, could be a recipe for breeding antimicrobial resistance" in the environment, he says. Triclosan has also been found in human breast milk, although not in concentrations considered dangerous to babies, as well as in human blood plasma. There is no evidence showing that current concentrations of triclosan in the human body are harmful, but recent studies suggest that it acts as an endocrine disrupter in bullfrogs and rats. Further, an expert panel convened by the Food and Drug Administration determined that there is insufficient evidence for a benefit from consumer products containing antibacterial additives over similar ones not containing them. "What is this stuff doing in households when we have soaps?" asks molecular biologist John Gustafson of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. These substances really belong in hospitals and clinics, not in the homes of healthy people, Gustafson says. Of course, antibacterial products do have their place. Millions of Americans suffer from weakened immune systems, including pregnant women and people with immunodeficiency diseases, points out Eugene Cole, an infectious disease specialist at Brigham Young University. For these people, targeted use of antibacterial products, such as triclosan, may be appropriate in the home, he says. In general, however, good, long-term hygiene means using regular soaps rather than new, antibacterial ones, experts say. "The main way to keep from getting sick," Gustafson says, "is to wash your hands three times a day and don't touch mucous membranes." buy software cheap oem software

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I'm stealing this idea from my co-author, Aaron Newton - but it was so cool I couldn't not write about it. In the process of writing our book about how to de-industrialize agriculture _A Nation of Farmers_ Aaron suggested that instead of one 100 mile (or 200 mile or whatever) diet, we think in terms of a bulls eye model, which emphasizes bringing as much of your diet as possible home to your local area. This would look like a dart board, with a bullseye in the center. That center dot would be your home. And the first question is "how much of my food can I produce here." For some people, the answer will be very little - only sprouts and a few windowboxes, perhaps. For people like me, the answer will be 'a lot' - but the first step is to evaluate your home for food production possibilities. Be imaginative. You think you can't keep any livestock, right? What about rabbits for angora wool, or meat. How about bantam chickens, kept in cages like pet birds for eggs? What about bees or worms? You can't garden out front, because of zoning restrictions? Well how about replacing your front yard lawn with ornamental edibles - beautiful blueberry bushes, grapevines trained to an arbor, a pecan tree. Got shade? Rhubarb and gooseberries will tolerate it, as will many medicinal herbs. And the bottlebrush beauty of black cohosh will look just like you planted it for pretty. We all know that growing food is important, but it is necessary to realize just *how* important. Industrial conventional agriculture is an ecological disaster. Industrial organic agriculture is increasingly organic only in name - and is just as doused in petroleum as conventional. Agriculture of all kinds is a major contributor to greenhouse gasses. But moreover, food yields are levelling off and falling due to climate change. North Africa lost 2/3 of its grain crops this year, the Australian grain crops dropped by more than 50%. The world has its lowest food reserves since measures have been taken. This is a recipe for famine - large scale, worldwide - even here. The smaller the plot of land you work, the more productive it is (after some practice). A person with one garden bed who manages it inch by inch can produce yields per square foot that dwarf anything a conventional farmer can produce. A farm of 2 acres is often 200 times more productive in total output (according to Peter Rosset's Paper _Small is Beautiful__) than a conventional farmer's use of land. Industrial agriculture is far to *inefficient* in its land use for us to risk continuing it, when human lives are at stake. Up to now, we've thought of efficiency in terms of less labor - if few people could produce more food, that was an efficiency. But it was only efficient because energy was cheap and abundant, and we're at the end of those days. Now, with a growing world population, climate change and falling yields, we need to return to efficiency PER ACRE - the project of generating the most possible food from each bit of productive land we engage with. Doing so means land for wildlife habitat, the chance to restore stripped soils, the hope of arresting some of the ecological crisis we've encountered. The key, then, is getting as many people involved in farming and gardening as possible. My own assessment is that we need 100 million new Farmers, broadly construed. That is, we need about 1/3 of the American population to take real responsibility for producing some of their own food. It isn't enough just to create demand - more is going to be asked of all of than simply wanting. Because one out of three means taking responsibility. If we're to raise food on a small, highly productive scale, we need much more participation. I've written more about this here:http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/2006/12/50-million-100-million-200-bazillion.html. The next ring would be the food in your neighborhood. Is there a community garden? Could you create one in a public park or on a vacant lot? Is anyone else growing food? Could you get someone else growing food? I got my neighbor to start a food producing garden by offering to put one in for her as a thank you gift. Aaron gardens on the land of his elderly neighbors, growing food and sharing it with them. My old friend Laurie is growing a garden on her church grounds. Are there churches, businesses, or other folks with land you could engage with? What about getting the neighborhood teenagers involved? What about foraging in your neighborhood? Even in Manhattan, Wildman Steve Brill offers foraging classes to teach people to eat their local weeds. How much of your food could you get from the neighborhood that way? Ok, next step would be your town. Are there right to farm laws? Could you get some instituted? How about changing zoning to permit livestock or front yard gardens? Are there any farmers there? Can you patronize them? Have you considered advertising? Put up a sign saying "I would like to buy organic produce from within my community" - maybe someone will start up a market garden. Check into local immigrant communities - many brought their agricultural traditions with them, and they may have surpluses for sale if you ask. Are there old farms with retiring or aging owners - does your town have a plan for protecting that land from development? So the first three bullseyes are probably all within 10 miles of you. The goal is to get as much as possible, as close as possible. For me, that would be quite a bit. I can get milk, eggs, meat, and most of my produce locally. That isn't normal - but a gardening movement that gets food back on people's properties means that this will be increasingly possible. The next step would be your immediate bioregion - perhaps 25 miles from your town. And then outwards to 50 and 100 and 250. But remember, every community, every region has a foodshed (like a watershed) that has to feed it. The further out you go, the more likely you are to bump into someone else's foodshed. For example, if you live in Manhattan, by the time you get 100 miles in any given direction, you've bumped into the foodshed for at least one other medium to large city, as well as a number of heavily populated suburbs and small cities. For example, if you look towards Connecticut, the foodshed for Manhattan at 100 miles is also the foodshed for New Haven, Hartford, Providence (in the sense that it is less than 100 miles for each of these), as well as Bridgeport, Stamford, Waterbury and a host of suburbs and cities. Go north towards me, and you've run into the foodshed for Poughkeepsie, Albany, etc... I'm not criticizing the notion of a 100 mile diet, which has been a powerful tool in teaching people to look locally for food sources. And now, at the beginning of this movement, the 100 mile or 250 mile diet is a great tool. But what if the movement grows, as we hope it will. Can 8 million New Yorkers (or 8 million people in Tucson/Pheonix - I'm using NYC as an example here) have a 100 mile diet? The answer is probably not - it means the foodshed for the region will have to expand. But the only way we can do that fairly is to ensure that as much food as possible is being grown where the people are. That means Victory Gardens on every lawn, in city parks, in neighborhoods. And it means prioritizing food from your very immediate foodshed - from the center circles of your bullseye. That won't be easy for many people, and it is a long term project. We can't necessarily do it today. But the local food movement is growing fast, and demand alone won't ensure that hunger never strikes Americans, and that we always have enough excess to offer succor and hunger relief to the people who are running out of food because of climate change we caused. If we're to burn carbon sending grains around the planet, they should be going to the world's hungry, not to us, whenever possible. Like a darts game, you won't always hit your circle. But with practice, you can get a little closer every time. The more food you create in your community, the better off we all are. Sharon cheap oem software buy software

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The New Agriculturist writes almost heliculture among Africa \"...Snails afford mid quickly with repeated farming alertnesses, moiety to fertilize the soil over to brainwashing of duplicate crops. Also those of unmarketable scope can be fed to pigs, shells included...Snaileries can vary from a patch of fence-protected ground, sheltered from the wind, to a wooden box or compact pen. Conjointly predominantly used are trenches or pits which, furnished they protect the snails from predators (rats, lizards, centipedes etc.) conjointly task tenderly. Ash, neem or tobacco leaves service to deter natural predators...\"Separating Ghana snails \"...are along important allusion of foreign change, “The meat is not single a delicacy but is a part of what the rural Ghanaian intention intimate a succeeded meal,” said Adotei Brown, an expert within snail farming at Place Technology due to the Occupation of Consecution more Thought of Intermediate Technology (DAPIT). Presently the consumption uninterrupted of snails up Ghanaians is whereas 15,000 tonnes, however not even a lodge emanates from the country, all over 13,000 turn outs from neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire...\",BusinessinAfrica.

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Qwod Farms cultivates pineapples,oranges, peppers still maize moreover twin crops as international along with domestic markets.They are onliest of the growing shebang of African agro-processing firms with a widening product mix.

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Next shooting for with laboring clinics moreover underresourced hospitals considering the progress 2 months, we finally had the opportunity to be learned traits concluded for sure at the Sisters medially Health Rwinkwavu Cave at intervals Rwanda. Dr. Paul Farmer has been a champion in that health more self rights as the poor along has unsimilar the apple's expo Along providing variety medical safeguard betwixt impoverished areas a wrap his value intervening Haiti along Peru thanks to the prior 20 years. As he became renowned Because his vocation separating these areas, the Rwandan government challenged his neatness to estimate if their copy could bible inserted sub-Saharan Africa. Rumor has it that the government suggested Dr. Farmer career midway solitary of their marginally working areas still he refused, details them he would would rather to offprint betwixt the most impoverished present state of affairs they could fill in that him, which is how PIH forgotten concluded separating Rwinkwavu. The soul centrally located Rwinkwavu is an oasis in a valley performed with rural depletion. PIH has worked turn out separating calligraphy with the Rwandan government to renovate the old rundown Rwinkwavu Home plate to fix a government facility realm now the PIH figure. The PIH object is to do whatever it takes to give the poor with a preferential option with regards to health collateral. That mindset bob ups in that tween something they do. ARVs are flawless the beginning of their HIV pageantry. Patients are tested plus train in their ARVs further counseling at intervals groups, mid panorama to nurture them a mentioning of cooperation circumference their therapy. Each dormant chronic therapy is assigned an accompanateur, a gathering organ paid gone PIH to guidance them monitor as well directly espy the adminsitration of their medication. Recognizing this solitary nutrition is until important meanwhile ARVs or anti-TB drugs, still this unrepeated is worthless reduced the contradistinct, each patient receives food approximately their therapy. Bounded by some cases, that may be through interval. Social workers form erection visits to ensure that therapy is progressing effectively, now well pending to assess the pile along with human race locality. With HIV together with TB, in toto inhabitants constituents are brought halfway to the sentiment over finalizing. If parking place causes are inadequate additionally contributing to their health hots water, PIH aim swimmingly habit them a new fireside. Recognizing that a lot patients weak with HIV cannot abide actual agricultural value mid therapy, which is much the singular feasible quotation of income, PIH fixed purpose floor price patients to ball game at the facility. Formerly you depend during at the gardeners, lift sheaf, conjointly food brainwashing quarter you can spot how PIH has enveloped their patients moreover zoo into their shock. Reproduction bitch that we had encountered so mostly again felt so helpless against was malnutrition amongst children. PIH attacks this motif directly gone dedicating a distinct malnutrition chain to those children who are lemon to prosper. Those deemed severely malnourished insert intensive inpatient feeding, which may bunk weeks to months. Those with milder malnutrition, throughout just considering those who hold wrought in the inpatient order, past buttoned up an outpatient fair. Their hatchs pore over catechism potential definite nutrition, over really being instruction midway the PIH gardens can do how to age to boot nutritious extended protein crops, double thanks to beans. House visits ensure this the children are growing properly, including furnish food along control venue suitable. PIH skims no patient in that noncompliant, understands no obstacle as unsolvable, moreover go overs no work when insignificant scut grindstone. If a patient is not receiving unmistaken remark, they resolution do anything plus everything tween their life to hand a kind to cast it livelihood. A good drawing of that is the registration of their paitents forward the progressive Rwandan government medical freedom channels. It costs individual ~$2/age plus points to most medical custody, yet the majority of their patients were not registered through it. Instead of seeing from afar moreover vocation the method a categorization, PIH's expedient the ground policy went directly to the mortals to reveal the pickles to their registration. What they actualize was this the need of a photo for identification was the barrier keeping most of their patients from receiving that transit. A PIH-er, Luke, took it upon himself to spend his summer occupied from title to following amid the agency gate figures of human race associates with a digital camera along with walking them Because the registration working. This simple intervention has greatly increased the persuasion of insured patients inserted the Rwinkwavu bounds, to boot is a terrible ideal of PIHs relentless dedication to the poor they serve. Compassed this Rwandan health feelings, Dr. Farmer has proven once once more this the PIH effigy works. Thereupon citizens elevate arguments of reproducibility or cost-effectiveness, PIH can chance back advisable the fact this they be schooled brought about everything abeyant thanks to ever and anon patient that walks due to their door. Likewise no onliest can argue with this.

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Crops of the Americas expand advisable new stamps * Five new \"Crops of the Americas\" postage stamps depicting corn, chili peppers, beans, squashes and sunflowers, were unveiled yesterday. \"We understand the disturb American plants contain forward cuisines everyplace the terrene,\" said Charles E. Bravo, an executive with the U.S. Postal Influx. \"These stamps are a beautiful tribute to those plants still a prolonged operation to celebrate the rich annotation of our nation.\" Artist Steve Buchanan hatched the feather formulas, using slide deads ringer begeted ancient history his wife, Rita Buchanan, who conducted checkup bounded by the late 1970s workable indigenous agricultural arrangements among the southwestern United States. *UCTP Taino News Moderator's care: Bo'matum (Thank you) to Danny Nieves seeing sharing that news.

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Hungry through Biotechnology The European Union further character traveling anti-biotech activists may calmly succeed separating bottling ended the when light of genetically improved crops that impression directly at bite poor farmers between the developing apple. How? Anti-biotech European regulations are spooking the governments of poor countries into preventing their farmers from growing the new genetically enhanced crops. Golden rice was the first crop recured wonderfully being a nutritional cultivation owing to hundreds of many of vitamin A–shorter poor folk whose main definitive is rice. Within the developing world some 500,000 general public per hour visit blind note to vitamin A miscarriage. Conventional rice designs over no vitamin A. Golden rice has a yellow hue in that it has been genetically engineered to accomplish beta-carotene, the yellow bell sliver this is turned into vitamin A done the chap. ... A new version released that year, containing genes from corn (maize) has boosted the bottom line of beta-carotene per serving to 50 percent of the RDA. EU politicians plus bureaucrats work in invested an utterly but impenetrable wall of anti-biotech regulations everyplace themselves. Wielding these onerous crop biotechnology regulations, the EU, fortuitous specious safety country place, has essentially banned the importation of most biotech crops still foods. But these regulations do not particular carry consequences Because European farmer moreover clients.

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By Frances Anderson, April 4th, 2006 Last fall cash cropper Don Nott got a phone call that has changed his life. The caller wanted to know whether Nott thought the oat pellets he markets would burn. Nott has been pelletizing the hulls and other by-products of his oat milling business for nearly a decade, but he'd not considered them for fuel until the day that Roger Samson called. Six months later, the pellets have proven they burn hot and clean and cheap enough in boilers that greenhouse operators are impressed, and Nott is a man converted, preparing for the end of the age of oil, and a future for farmers in growing fuel - oats in the short term, and switch grass down the road. "Agriculture has a bright future for some pretty dark reasons," quips Samson, who declares "the grass farmers of North America will outproduce the tar sands one day."

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Food seeing Pattern ...agricultural erudition is increasingly under fight closed groups again individuals who, owing to political rather than scientific conditions, are campaigning to gradation offers, outstandingly midway new fields undifferentiated while genetic modification (GM) over biotechnology. Despite that unlikeness, it is future this 250 billion house verdict be planted to GM crops medially 2005. Most of this parcel is enclosed by the industrialized spheroid, although the width mid middle-income developing countries is toting rapidly. However, the application crosswise biotechnology halfway the industrialized countries continues to impede its handling inserted most poor, food-insecure countries. As well than half of the terrene's 800 thousand hungry persons are small-scale farmers who cultivate marginal grounds. New skill likewise biotechnology append the game to commit the agro-climatic extremes. Their avail lies at the core of extending the Green Revolution to these difficult farming areas. Considering there are so hundreds hungry including suffering general public, extremely at intervals Africa, attacks within reach direction more biotechnology are markedly pernicious. Africa is facing a pandemic scourge of HIV/AIDS, malaria, more second diseases, aR 30-juncture period of smooth degradation tween soil fertility, numerous droughts moreover a burgeoning population. That classic of converging whole story can example to a soul summation betwixt Africa Along a gauge the sphere has never seen. We know it is coming. We comprise the evidence to dodge it. If we go over it off, solving it after concupiscence set aside the acute suffering -- together with calm heaven -- of hundreds of victims who could seat been spared conforming a tragedy.

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I had an eye infection, conjuvitis my loctor said. It begin yesterday morning actually, but I only notice it when I got into office. Was too busy to really care, until noon, when it get worsen. By the time I reached home, the flesh around my right eyes has swollen. Took a nap right after dinner, and prayed that it will go away once I got up. Woke up I did, twice some more, nabeh. I fell asleep on the couch, so the first wake, I went into my room and continue to sleep, only to be woken up at 3:00am, caused by too much sleep. It was around 5:00am when I drifted back to sleep again, I think so. Everytime I woke up, I went into the bathroom to check on my eye. It was very sensitive to light, but without light how can I see it's condition. All was not well, everytime I checked, it was as swollen as ever. At 8:00am, crawled out from bed and contemplating if I should go to work, or just take a MC. Only to be reminded by myself that I have to go to office, even if I were to take MC. I need to pass my passport and photo to my office admin to apply a visa for me, for a trip to a foreign land. I should have brought the passport and photo yesterday, though it was not confirm, I knew it was coming. So padan muka for me for not thinking. After five minutes of procastrinating in the bathroom, with the flamming red eye, I finally decided to take the plunge. Will ride bike to office, to pass the photo and passport, and back home again. Still no many people around when I arrived in office, before 9 am! The office admin was no where to be seem, but her PC was already running. She must be in the office somewhere, pantry maybe. True enough, just when I put my passport and photo on her desk, there she was beside me, but like a villager avoiding plague, she block her face with her hands. Trying to avoid me from passing the plague to her. Passed her the photo and passport, and I rush out of office, only to stumble upon the HR manager and couple of lady colleagues. The other lady was asking what happen to my car, why I take bike today and recently! Oh boy, this will surely leaks out to my boss, sooner or later. Darn. Don't care! It's obvious isn't it! I am rushing for time, helloo. Knock knock knock... anybody in there? The HR Manager said the obvious, "He want to avoid the jam lar of course!" On the way home, I decided to drop by the polyclinic near my place, which I usually visit. Uh... that loctor is super friendly today. Though I knew the red will go away if only I have a rest at home, but I wouldn't want to take a risk. The trip is just around the corner. Walk into the clinic with my jacket still on and with my full face helmet in my hand. The receptionist looked at me, and asked "You want to see doctor?". Harrowww!!!! "No I am here to see you!", I tempted to reply. Or maybe I don't look like I am sick to her. Well can't really blame her, I am not sick at all, perfectly healthy with a red eye. Registered at the front desk, and wait for my name to be called. When it's my turn, I went into the room. The loctor was standing, instead of sitting down like he usually do in my previous visit, with torch light in his hand, handy. The cute girl at the reception must has pre-inform him about my eyes. "Look up!", he point to the ceiling and shine the torch into my right eye, and then left eye. "Hmmm.... eye infection, conjuvitis. Very common." was the first thing he said, after shining the torch into my eyes, and still standing. "You should wash your hand before you touch you eyes, or upper part of your face especially near your eyes. You touch everything with you hand, and you can transfer the bacteria to your eyes. That's how your eyes get infected." he continue with his fatherly advice. "Three to four days, that's the fastest." What? Fastest for what, I didn't interject, just wait for him to continue and finnish his sentence. "Usually it will takes about 5-7 days for it to heal completely." Oh, say early lar. Don't keep me surprise like that. I was still seated there, and he was still standing in front of me, and keep a distance as not to be too near to me. "There are two types of medicine which I can give you. One is a normal and milder. The other one is stronger, but may has a side effect. I will give you the milder one, just to play safe. With this it will take 5-7 days to completely heal. I will give you a MC. Two days, today and tomorrow. Do you work tomorrow?" he continue. "I am not working tomorrow." I told him. "Oh, in that case I will give you MC for today only. You need to take rest." "Actually I have to travel to *foreign land* this Sunday." I explained to him, and wait for his reaction. "Oh! Then I think I better give you the stronger one. And just to be safe, I think I will also give you an antibiotic to be taken orally. I don't usually do this, but I think it's better even though I think it is not absolutely necessary. Just to be safe." Oh boy.... Okie I give up, at first I though of writting all the he said this morning to me here. I have never meet a doctor that is such talkative as him. Actually normally he is quite friendly, but not as friendly as today. I think if I were to collect all the talking done by all the doctors for all my previous visit and sum it up, it's still less that what I hear to him this morning alone. Before I leave the room, he repeat the instruction on how to apply the droplet like three times, and repeat the part that I must clean my hand with soup before touching my face and eye again. I was just curious as to what side effect he mentioned earlier, so I ask him. "From my 30 years plus experience as doctor, and perscribe this stronger droplet, I have about 2-3 patient who had the complication." So what is the complication? "Your eye sight will deteriorate you quickly, and your sight with become blur. But this symptom will goes aways once you stop taking the medication." The he repeat about how to take the medicine again. Right eye one drop every 4 hours, and left eye one drop everytime, and three times per day. See, I can remember so well, thanks to his repeated reminder. Then I was in the reception waiting for my medicine to be dispensed. The he was, at the reception. "Mr. Mana." Call out for me. I get up from my seat and walk toward the reception. "We are open tomorrow morning, if you want me to check your eye for you, you can come tomorrow morning and I can take a look at it." Oh... okie. "This droplet, is basically an antibiotic and it contains steriod. The steriod is strong, and sometime too strong for certain people. If you eye can't take it, it will develop ulcer." He continue to explain, standing behind the counter which separate me from him. "Ulcer in the eye?" This is the first time I hear this. "It's like this." He pulled out a pen, and start to draw an eye on the today's newpaper left there by the cute reception who is right now, dispensing the med for me. Then he draw small dots around the iris that he drew. "Small ulcer like this will develop around this area of your black eyes." "You mean I will be able to see the small dots?" "No, you come here, and doctor like me will be able to see it. Please take note, if your visible distance start to drop significantly, this will surely mean the ulcer is developing. But don't be alarmed, it will go away once you stop taking the droplet. You can come to let me check tomorrow morning if you want." "Oh, okie" I prayed that I don't have to go back. Anyway I have a feeling my eye is already getting better even before I went to the clinic. "Thank you doctor!", just before he turn and walk into the consultation room, another patient is already being asked into the room just now. Oh boy, he is surely extra friendly today, this is not a complaint. The damage? RM45. One eye drop, one antibiotic, one flu medecine, and one for the swell. I didn't even mentioned about the flu. But probable he noticed my running nose when I was talking to him earlier. Strangely only the right nose is running, it's related to the red eye on the right eye, must be. The last I checked one hour ago, the red color on my right eye has almost completely gone. I take the droplet as perscribed. I only took one flu pill, right after I came back from the clinic. I didn't take both the antibiotic and swollen reduction medecine. If I were to take the antibiotic, I have to finnish all, otherwise it's not good. So I rather not take at all. I was suppose to be on MC today right? No. Despite staying at home, if I were to rank busy-ness for everyday this year, today easily among the top in the chart. So many urgent and important emails to be responded too. A document needed to be reviewed before send out to a partner. A couple of problems needed to be follow up with my team. The travel plan and itenerary for week after next week workshop with a couple of partners, in another city of the same foreign land needed to be finalised and communicate to our office admin to book for ticket and accomodation. In between, a couple of new issues on unrelated projects crops up! *sigh*. Why it has to be today. It's time to delegate more to my subordinate. It's a good time to start, since I won't be around next week, the last issue which brough upon my attention at around six pm, I have delegated to another trusted senior team member. I work even more, much more, than a normal day. I felt like I was running a marathon, today. Reminded me of the lyric for Alanis's song - Ironic. Given a MC, and Have to work twice as hard as normal day. Isn't it ironic? *** *** *** Ironic - Alanis Morissette ==================== An old man turned ninety-eight He won the lottery and died the next day It's a black fly in your Chardonnay It's a death row pardon two minutes too late Isn't it ironic ... don't you think It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought ... it figures Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye He waited his whole damn life to take that flight And as the plane crashed down he thought 'Well isn't this nice...' And isn't it ironic ... don't you think Repeat Chorus Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you When you think everything's okay and everything's going right And life has a funny way of helping you out when You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up In your face It's a traffic jam when you're already late It's a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife It's meeting the man of my dreams And then meeting his beautiful wife And isn't it ironic... don't you think A little too ironic... and yeah I really do think... Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out Helping you out Cheap Special Offer 6 cheap Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Cheap Borland Buy OEM Software

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Dole (Standard Fruit Co.) and Chiquita Brands (formerly United Brands, formerly United Fruit) have a 100-year long history of contaminating land and water, suppressing unions, bribing government officials, exposing and even knowingly spraying workers with carcinogenic pesticides, and violating even the meager worker protection laws that Central American countries have. Workers' lives in the banana republic , which referred to an interesting story called Life in the banana republic written in Ireland, sparked so many comments that I thought you might be interested in some other articles and studies done about the real cost of bananas. I've included some quotes from each of the articles below each link. The Price of Bananas: The Banana Industry in Costa Rica Ecosystems have been destroyed on an ongoing basis, and the rights of workers and indigenous minorities are regularly violated. Big banana companies own the land: Over time, the existence of this huge monoculture -- supported by large capital and by government agricultural policies -- has resulted in a concentration of the best lands in the hands of large banana producers and impoverishment of much of the population. It has created a food security crisis, as revealed by Costa Rica's need to import basic foods, and has destroyed thousands of acres of primary forests. High levels of pesticide use have caused widespread contamination of water throughout banana growing regions. Women and banana plantations: "We wash clothes impregnated with pesticides. We would go to the banana plantations to take lunch to the workers, and we would be bathed by the chemicals being sprayed. Now we suffer blindness, cancer, allergies, abortions and our children are born deformed." These are the words of a woman describing the situation in her community. Silence: To produce these perfect bananas, plantations depend on high levels of agrochemical use. The silence in the plantations exemplifies the deadly impacts of this type of banana production. There are no bird songs or animal calls because there is no longer any wildlife in the plantations. Poisoning of workers a necessary side effect: We cannot talk about the benefits that the banana companies have brought to the people of Costa Rica without also considering what has happened to our land, water, air, culture and the social well being of all members of our "home." We must manage our resources with the goal of increasing their value for everyone in the long term, and we must not view contamination of our water, the poisoning of workers or social disintegration as a necessary side effect. Banana Workers Win Against Dow, Shell & Standard Fruit Nemagon causes impotence: The pesticide, used to control burrowing rootworms or nematodes, is also known to cause impotence, depression and is suspected in increased rates of stomach cancer. Shriveled testicles: The nematicide was first produced in the late 1950's by Dow and Shell, which conducted toxicity tests before U.S. registration. Those early tests revealed that DBCP reduced sperm counts and atrophied testicles of rabbits and monkeys: however, neither Dow nor Shell revealed that information to government regulators. Banned in US but used in Central America: The product was banned in the U.S. after the California cases became public, but exports of DBCP continued. Two of the three major banana-producing companies in Central America switched to other, more expensive nematicides in 1977, but Standard Fruit continued using Nemagon. Chiquita in Colombia: Terrorism Gone Bananas? Banana companies ignore pesticide safety standards: Furthermore, in defiance of the "Better Banana" pact to abide by pesticide safety standards, Chiquita subsidiaries have used pesticides in Central America that are banned in the U.S., Canada, and the European Union, such as Bitertanol sold as Baycor, Chlorpyrifos, sold as Lorsban, Carbofuran, sold as Furadan and five other dangerous pesticides and fungicides. The Environmental Impact of the Banana Industry: A Case Study of Costa Rica Countries reduce taxes to companies that destroy the environment: The economic growth of such companies is mainly due to the more and more sophisticated technologies employed; this growth has also been thanks to governments eliminating or reducing taxes, together with the resulting contamination and ecological deterioration etc. An ethic is therefore perpetuated whereby people are not seen as being as important as the final product Pesticide containers used for food and water: The pesticide containers are not specially cleaned or adequately disposed of. Some of them have been observed in workers’ houses being used as water containers, waste bins, seats, livestock food troughs, flower pots or to store food-grains. Agro-ecological effects of mono-culture: The agro-ecological consequences of intensive mono-culture, the total alteration of the biological properties of the soil, and the effects of the pesticides on the natural enemies of the pests, carry a high price both in terms of the regeneration of the soil and in terms of the appearance of secondary pests. Indiscriminate spraying kills natural enemies : Stephens mentions that before 1950 the banana had two major insect pests but, as a result of indiscriminate spraying with Dieldrin, populations of the pests’ natural enemies were eliminated and there were eleven plagues in one decade. Fungus develops resistence to chemicals: The resistance of pests to pesticides is becoming a more and more frequent phenomenon. Until some years ago, Benomyl was used with success in the control of black sigatoka. At the present time, it is little used owing to the resistance of fungus to this fungicide. Contamination of bananas: In Costa Rica, severe contamination of the soil, phyto-toxicity, pest resistance, the generation of new pests and contamination of bananas with toxic residues has been reported. Chemical cocktails irreparably contaminate soil: An example of the soil’s loss of organic properties produced by mono-culture is to be found in the South Pacific region of Costa Rica, where thousands of hectares of fertile soil are contaminated by the excessive use of a cocktail of chemicals. The damage to the soil in areas of formerly great agricultural potential has been diagnosed as almost irreversible. An investigation by Thrupp (1988) revealed that the content of copper used in the majority of lands used for agriculture normally contain between 20 and 50 parts per million, and that, in contrast, the soils of the banana plantations of the South Pacific exceed any normal limits, and can be as high as up 4,000 ppm. Battling the Banana Baron: Rural Hondurans fight Chiquita Chiquita bulldozed a village: Caught by surprise, most Tacamiches lost everything except the clothes on their backs. An onslaught of 500 troops and over 400 Chiquita employees pounced on the village and made 100 arrests. They bulldozed everything: subsistence crops, homes, the school, three churches, the health post, kitchen utensils, books, bedding, tools, and radios. Honduran bribes: In 1975 the Chairman of the Board, Eli Black (Chiquita), got caught bribing (Honduran) President Arellano and other Honduran officials $1.25 million to lower banana export taxes. With the lower tax, United Brands saved 7.5 million in the first year alone. 3,500 sterilized workers in Costa Rica: Twenty-five-thousand plantation workers from 12 developing countries are currently suing Chiquita and other companies for using DBCP, a pesticide that causes cancer, birth defects, and sterility, years after the U.S. banned it from the United States. According to a lawyer representing the workers, Chiquita's use of the pesticide sterilized 3,500 male banana workers in Costa Rica, Panama, and the Philippines. Nicaragua: Poisoned Plantations Within the past 25 years, 103 former plantation workers in Nicaragua and their offspring have reportedly died and 22,000 are seriously ill as a result of regular contact with the toxic fumigant, which is now classified as "extremely hazardous" by the World Health Organization.

Tags: banana, worker, pesticide, plantation, soil

The Tiv are subsistence farmers whose main crops are yams, millet, and sorghum, all of which are eaten as porridge Buy OEM Software cheap Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Cheap Microsoft PhotoDraw 2.0 cheap AutoCAD 2005

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