Food to cost more, be of poorer quality, often tasteless or scarce as the number of very hot days per year keep increasing in Australia

The bad news continues.....

APPETITE FOR CHANGE GLOBAL WARMING IMPACTS ON FOOD AND FARMING REGIONS IN AUSTRALIA (Melbourne University, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, March 2015):

With 93% of the food we eat grown here in Australia, the future of Australian farming matters to all of us. Australia is lucky to have a strong agricultural sector that plays a pivotal role in contributing to the Australian economy and defining Australian culture.

In 2012-13 the gross value of total Australian agricultural production was $48 billion.  But Australian agriculture is at a turning point. We are halfway through what scientists refer to as the ‘critical decade’ to act on climate change. And with less than a 1-degree global average rise in temperatures, climate change is already impacting a suite of Australian-grown commodities and will continue to impact farmers if stronger global efforts to reduce carbon pollution are not forthcoming.

Australian agriculture is heavily reliant on predictable rainfall and temperature to maintain production of high quality food. Australian farmers have always faced a highly variable climate, but now climate change adds significant additional complexity to their management.

According to the CSIRO, production from cropping and livestock is projected to decline by 2030 over much of southern Australia due to increased drought and the fact that the availability of nutrients will limit productivity in most Australian landscapes. Heat and drought are likely to reduce the quality of grain, grape, vegetable, fruit, and other crops. A 20% reduction in rainfall could reduce pasture productivity by 15%, and livestock weight gain by 12%, which would substantially reduce farm income.

There is likely to be a southward movement of pests and diseases as the southern regions warm.  Food production in Australia will need to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change. But there are limits to the temperatures and extreme weather events that farmers will be able to adapt to. Some industries are already relocating to new regions now more suited to their production systems, causing disruption to rural communities. …..

Excerpt from accompanying media release, 15 March 2015:

Key findings of the report reveal that:

* Dairy foods are likely to be affected by warmer temperatures and more heat waves, as heat stress on dairy cows typically reduces milk yield by 10-25 per cent, and by up to 40 per cent in extreme heat wave conditions.

* A warmer and drier climate will pose significant challenges to beef production systems in southern Australia. Southern pasture growing seasons are expected to contract, while increased heat stress may lead farmers to choose more heat tolerant cattle breeds possibly of lower meat-eating
quality.

* Warmer temperatures adversely affect the flavour of carrots, as well as their texture and physical structure. Higher temperatures associated with climate change are likely to make carrot production less viable in warmer areas with shifts to cooler regions such as Tasmania.

* Extremely hot weather can reduce the quality of bee honey and has other flow-on effects such as reduced pollination for fruit trees.

* Higher temperatures and humidity can cause “late blight” in potatoes, which rots the tubers and makes them inedible.

* Chickens are sensitive to heat stress, which will affect the quality of their meat. Increased droughts around the world are also leading to more volatility in the price of grain used to feed chicken.

* Temperatures above 27°C will potentially cause bolting (prematurely running to seed) and poor colouring in beetroots.

* Climate change is likely to reduce reliable rainfall and place pressure on water availability in Australia’s current major rice-growing regions.

* Rainfall and temperature changes will affect wheat growth, with lower and more variable production forecasted. The zinc and iron concentrations of Australian wheat are projected to be 5-10 per cent lower by the middle of the century, adding to pressures associated with malnutrition.

* Climate change is acidifying our coastal waters making it harder for shellfish to build their shells.

* Fruit trees and nuts in southern Australia will not get cold enough in winter to signal fruit development.

A reliable food surplus is what holds villages, towns, cities and the nation that governs them together

These are the food producing women of the NSW Liverpool Plains:

http://youtu.be/ul2ItfwqUnE

What is not as well known is that the NSW 100 km wide coastal strip historically produces 20 per cent of the state’s agricultural product each year.

This strip includes much of the NSW Northern Rivers regions.

A reliable food surplus is what holds villages, towns, cities and the nation that governs then together and, this surplus is dependent on uncontaminated soils and clean water.

Coal seam gas and other unconventional gas mining places soil and water at risk in the rural and regional areas miners choose to industrialise.

Something to think about as we mark our ballot papers on 28 March 2015.

The next time you buy eggs, poultry or bacon....

….check that the companies producing the food going into your grocery trolley are not involved in factory farming.

http://vimeo.com/51831469
Make it Possible TV Ad from Animals Australia on Vimeo.

Is fast food giant McDonald's finally paying the price for its arrogance?

There were probably many Yamba residents muttering “I told you so” under their breaths after reading this in The Sydney Morning Herald on 10 August 2014:

Sales at McDonald's have recorded their worst results in over 10 years.

Global sales at the fast food giant dropped 2.5 per cent in June and July.

Not since March 2003, when global sales plunged 3.7 per cent in consecutive months, has the world's biggest restaurant chain suffered such losses.

Australia is part of McDonald's Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa operation, which was the worst performing sector in the second quarter of 2014. Its sales declined 7.3 per cent.  

After similarly disappointing first quarter results, Australia was singled out as a poor performing market in April…..

One aspect of the Australian psyche the multinational fast food chain, McDonald’s, never grasped – if you force yourselves on our communities we tend not to buy your product.

In particular I suspect that the amount of national publicity the Telcoma protestors managed to garner is beginning to impact on many household fast food choices around the country.

Which makes one wonder if the fast food giant’s McDelivery trial will also fall flat on its face in Australia.

Background

http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/search?q=mcdonalds+yamba

The ACCC had addressed Coles misleading advertising about its in-house baked bread and rolls - now it's time for someone to look into product quality

 Two slices from a Coles loaf in which approx. one quarter of the slices had hollow middles, July 2013
A problem which exists to varying degrees to this day

AdNews 18 Jun 2014:

Coles has been cooked by the Federal Court and found guilty of misleading consumers with claims its bread and rolls were baked in-house despite being shipped frozen from overseas.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission launched action against the supermarket giant last year after consumers – led by former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett – began to question the veracity of the claims.

Coles had claimed that because the baking process had been completed in ovens in store, the promotions of being baked fresh in store were acceptable.

The bread and roll ranges were promoted at Coles’ supermarkets with in-house bakeries as ‘Baked Today, Sold Today’ and in some cases ‘Freshly Baked In-Store’.

Federal Court Chief Justice James Allsop handed down his judgement this afternoon and the retailer now faces potential substantial fines for each of the breaches of the Trade Practices Act.

In his judgment, Chief Justice Allsop said “It is not the place of the court to provide an advice … as to how Coles might sell bread that has been par-baked from frozen product … A start would, however, be to make it tolerably clear to the public that the recent baking was the completion of a baking process that had taken place sometime before, off site, and that 'freshly baked' actually meant the completion of the baking process of frozen product prepared and frozen off site by suppliers.”

ACCC chairman Rob Sims said that Coles behaviour not only mislead consumers placed smaller businesses that baked their bread on the premises at a competitive disadvantage.

Clarence Landcare "Making Commercial Farming Systems Sustainable with Bob Shaffer" 9.15 to 3pm at Harwood 15 May 2013

Click on image to enlarge

The Guardian discovers the Battle for Bentley

The Guardian 10 April 2014:

Bentley farmers who support the movement against mining, from left, Robert Lowrey, Peter Neilson, Colin Thomas and Charles Wilkinson. Photograph: David Lowe

There is a strange political alliance building in this country, one that governments and major parties will do well to consider.

It is the alliance between farmers and the environmental movement on land use issues around coal seam gas and mining.

It has the capacity to change the political landscape in rural Australia and leave a scar as gaping as an open-cut mine on the (predominant) Coalition support.

In rural towns, farmers are joining fellow community members, environmentalists and, yes, the hippy fringe to stop developments of coal and unconventional gas extraction in their neighbourhood. The hot spots are around Bentley, the Pilliga, Gloucester in New South Wales and the Coonawarra in South Australia.

It has become clear the opposition is not coming just from a tie-dyed fringe but also includes very conservative people who do not join the political fray easily. Farmers are now chaining themselves to mining equipment to make their point, a tactic associated by farmers in the past with the “feral” end of the green movement....

Consider the story of one farmer, one of many, who has decided to speak out. Robert Lowrey lives at Bentley in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, upstream of Metgasco’s gas exploration on a farm belonging to a near neighbour Peter Graham, a former Lismore councillor and National party member.

Lowrey’s father, the elegantly-named Dunbar Lowrey, was chairman of the Bentley National party branch. Robert Lowrey and his wife, Nanette, have the family farm that transitioned from dairy to cattle during deregulation. He describes the farming community around the town as extreme conservatives, “old school” farmers who are reluctant to take a stand.

Yet he has joined up with a friend and fellow farmer Tony Davis to write a letter to the local paper. Davis initially agreed to have a test well on his place, based on Metgasco’s claim the gas would be used for a power plant for Casino. However, once he discovered larger plans, including plans for export, he backed out…..

“When we first heard about the gas, it was about a few wells, a power station for Casino and long-term jobs,” the letter says. “Some of us accepted, even welcomed, test wells on our properties.

“Now we hear about hundreds of wells, pipelines over the ranges, fracking, suspicious chemicals ruined farms, polluted waters and valleys destroyed. Could our valley end up looking like an industrial wasteland? This makes us worry about a lot of things.

“We are worried about the Graham family. They have been our fellow farmers, workmates and friends for decades. Their farm may be the centre of the dispute, but it could easily be one of ours. They need our support, they do not deserve abuse.

“The drilling must stop, the risks are too great. We only have one chance and, if it goes wrong, it is our children, not the mining company, who will bear the consequences.”

Lowrey’s argument is there is no need for gas in the region, given the area’s “good fortune” that provides an environment for clean food production and tourism. Gas extraction development will be such a shame, he says, especially given the Northern Co-operative Meat Company has just started certifying grass-fed beef and the company is “just 10 miles away from the dirty thing”. The closest large town to Bentley is Casino, which markets itself as the beef capital of Australia…..

In some ways the anti-mining campaign has the hallmarks of any big power battle. Governments and large companies came into small communities offering jobs and riches. Football teams were sponsored. Social compacts were made. Then when resistance was met, they tried shouting, which only made things worse. Lowrey says former New South Wales Liberal minister Chris Hartcher came to town for a public meeting.

“Chris Hartcher told us we were anarchists trying to wreck the state’s economy,” Lowrey says. “Nanette was angry. I would just say this household’s personal response is we have been contributing to the economy for 150 years.

“We don’t consider ourselves an elite group. We are just here doing what we set out to do over 100 years ago.”

Just this week, another New South Wales government representative came to town to test farmers’ knowledge, to check they were not reading silly fear mongering on social media.

“I don’t even know how to turn a computer on,” Lowrey says. “I can read Joseph Conrad but not a computer manual. I assured them I was not swayed by social media.”….

The kicker in the story is what this episode has done to political support. Of the farmers and smaller block owners I’ve spoken to, all were National party voters. All say they will be looking to shift their vote elsewhere. They feel like they have been betrayed after many years of support. Lowrey’s response is typical. His father was proud to have a visit from National party leader Sir Earle Page in his little Bentley branch. Now the son has forsaken the party. All parties.

“The political process is being broken down by nepotism and other interests able to bring to bear power through lobbyists, large amounts of money and very persuasive argument,” he says. “As our system becomes more dependent on money, it becomes vulnerable.

“I am sick of parliamentarians taking material they had access to as ministers and peddling it, taking up positions in industry.”

He names former Labor federal resources minister Martin Ferguson, now a director of British Gas, and former National party leaders John Anderson, a former chairman of Eastern Star Gas, and Mark Vaile, who is on the board of Whitehaven Coal.

“It’s moving people away from conservative ordinary politics and interest in National party [here] is waning,” said Lowrey. “People are weighing up alternative parties. Some, quite a few, are going to the Greens.”

They may not move their vote. As a National party MP said to farmers in the Pilliga: “Who else are you going to vote for?” But what is clear from this debate is it will not get easier for governments or mining companies.

For there is nothing so stubborn as a farmer.

NSW Farmers ask Abbott Government & Minister Macfarlane: "Why should CSG extraction take precedence over protection of land and water and basic needs like food and fibre?"

Media Release
18 September 2013	PR/121/13
Setting the record straight on CSG concerns in NSW NSW Farmers today expressed concern that newly appointed Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane was already dismissing opposition to the coal seam gas industry in NSW. Association president Fiona Simson said the minister’s comments were very concerning especially when he had not yet spoken to all relevant stakeholders on the CSG issue. “Farmers and communities in NSW have deep and genuine concerns about the effect this industry is already having and projected to have on agricultural land and water and we do not think it is fair for those concerns to be labelled politically nor emotionally driven,” she said. “We are however encouraged by the Coalition’s Policy for Resources and Energy in particular the CSG co-existence conditions which state that access to prime agricultural land should only be allowed with the farmer’s agreement and that there should be no damage to the underground water supply. “NSW Farmers does not deny that the Queensland CSG industry has progressed much quicker than in NSW. But the geography of Queensland is different and what works there will not necessarily work here and I can assure him that not everyone over the border is ecstatic about how the CSG industry has developed there. “The NSW legislative framework in relation to CSG is severely lacking – this is something we have been saying for years. “We are not against the industry but we are seeking balanced outcomes. Why should CSG extraction take precedence over protection of land and water and basic needs like food and fibre? “NSW Farmers wants adequate protections for agricultural land and water and we want our questions, legitimate questions, answered. Ms Simson said the federal Coalition’s agriculture policy about building better stakeholder relations was encouraging and she was keen to take them up on that. “However, comments like these are a concern so early on in a new government’s first term,” she concluded. ends

Coal Seam Gas: an object lesson for Northern Rivers communities is coming out of Colorado USA

These photographs and videos set out below are coming out of Colorado in the United States and, show just part of the gas and oil fields flooded in September 2013.

Is this the level of risk Prime Minister Tony Abbott, NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell, Metgasco Limited, and its main backer ERM Power, are willing to expose the flood-prone Northern Rivers region to?

http://youtu.be/y_wNkPYGiRo

Colorado frack-site flooding - September 2013 from Mateo Albaricoque on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/74683562

The Daily Examiner 19 September 2013:

EmmaB

So Metgasco is heartened by what the Liberal/Nationals governments are saying at state and federal level and plans to "ride a rising tide" to corporate prosperity on the backs of local communities.

Perhaps its board members should give some thought to both past and recent North Coast flood event history.

Then look at those news photographs of literally one thousand plus flooded gas wells, miles of broken pipelines, drifting condensate tanks and floating chemical barrels contaminating Colorado countryside right now.

Of which one Weld County, Colorado resident stated in the media:

“We probably shouldn’t have had the oil and gas development in a flood plain to begin with. That would have been the prudent thing. But, it’s done now. Now we have deal with the result of having made that decision.”

I can assure Metgasco that Northern Rivers residents are noting the lessons those photographs teach.

Attention Ethical Consumers: Meadow Lea Alert

In August 2009  Goldman Fielder’s claimed of its Meadow Lea margarine:

Farmers grow our canola & sunflower seeds
MeadowLea spreads are made from over 70,000 natural seeds. The canola seeds that go into our MeadowLea spreads are Non-Genetically Modified. Our canola seeds are sourced locally from Australian Seed growers, whilst the sunflower seeds are sourced from the warm climate of South America.

In August 2013 Goldman Fielder's claimed:

The canola oil in MeadowLea comes from canola seeds grown in Australia. MeadowLea is proud to be supporting Australian Farmers, as we select only Australian grown canola seeds to make MeadowLea. In Australia canola is grown in the winter months, harvested in November / December and is the largest oil seed crop grown in Australia.

Sunflowers are native to South America and MeadowLea's sunflower seeds come from Argentina. Sunflowers are a summer crop and can grow as high as 2 metres.

Its margarine packaging now omits any reference to non-GM canola seed:

Goldman Fielder’s non-genetically modified claims were always somewhat misleading as only 52 per cent of the vegetable oil listed is/was produced from canola and sunflower seeds, with 48 per cent of the remaining oil unidentified.

This reluctance to identify all oils leads one to suspect the presence of environmentally destructive palm oil form SE Asia.

However to see this company abandon any commitment – however small - to consumers who prefer GMO free foods is disappointing.

A product to avoid at the supermarket.

The quiet desperation that is McDonalds Australia

In 2010  thanks to a blindly pro-multinational and Grafton-centric Clarence Valley Council, the little coastal town of Yamba had an ugly prefab, generic designed and unwanted McDonalds fast food outlet foist upon it.

The only thing that this multinational appears to have brought to the town is a level of litter in Treelands Drive and environs that it never had before.

So it was with quiet satisfaction that I read this in Lifehacker at the end of July 2013:

When we heard about McDonald’s Free Breakfast Deal promotion, we were expecting long queues and a lengthy wait. However, you should be served pretty quickly if our local outlet is anything to go by…

Over the next month, McDonald’s Australia is offering free breakfast items each Monday morning, beginning with today’s free Bacon McMuffin. There’s no catch or additional purchase requirements (although there is a limit of 1000 freebies per store and only one item per customer).

The above photo is what the line looked like at McDonald’s Circular Quay restaurant at approximately 8am. As you can see, demand for the free breakfast isn’t particularly overwhelming…..

It would appear that in 2012-2013 McDonalds’ Yamba store is not alone in failing to draw in customers and now this multinational is reduced to giving away its product.

NO CSG IN THE NORTHERN RIVERS: Swampy's not amused and on his way to Canberra with as many of your letters as will fit in his saddlebags

 

## OPEN LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY ## Facebook 26 July 2013

To whom it may concern,

My name is Michael Franklin (Turtle or Swampy). My parents, grandparents, and great grandparents have been breeding horses, logging and farming in the Grafton area since the 1800s. We have a great love for the land and everything has been done with consideration to the future viability of our property to sustain a decent lifestyle. I worked in Queensland after going to TOCAL Agricultural College. I started as a Jackaroo and went through to Head Stockman for AA Company. I loved the way of life up there, the attitude was, do what you wanted as long as it wasn't at someone else's expense.

I have just returned from the CSG Gasfields around Tara/Chinchilla on a fact-finding tour. I went to peoples properties, whose bores were contaminated. Not drinkable, and no idea of if, or when the water will ever be drinkable. They have admittance from the company to interfering with the Aquatard, not the Aquifer so no responsibility taken. They have now had to build dams and if you know Queensland, you would realise that dams are there in the good years but when it comes dry, it's all bore water. What happens then? It is not just one farm, there are numerous and any farmer worth his salt knows that clean water is our most valuable resource.

I went to the Wiembiella Estate where the blockies live. This is a motley crew of people, who have bought a piece of Australia to live and raise their families in peace and quiet, only to have it shattered by being turned into an Energy Hub. Thousands of vehicles a week, hundreds of trucks, I mean this is in your face 24/7, it just never goes to sleep. Its total disregard for your fellow man, the land and the water. We drove 15km around a dam just being built to fill up with toxic water to be cleaned and pumped back into the river that feeds the Chinchilla water supply. All they are taking out is the salts, not the radioactive materials or the heavy metal elements. The water is also used to irrigate crops and to water feedlots. I have done my Quality Assurance, Training and Assessment course for Beef Cattle Production and I am concerned about the quality of what the Australian consumer may be eating or drinking. I have never considered fertilising my paddocks with lead, yet The Land newspaper have reported that up to 90kg/ha annually is going onto the fields irrigated with produced water. I expect that the meat will be sold on the domestic/local market due to stringent export quality standards. You are what you eat.

I think that reusing emissions and renewable is the answer to our power problem. Septics/sewage, piggeries, dairies, sawmills, and rubbish tips and biofuel can all produce power. Then there is solar, solar-thermal, wind and tidal energies. Its more than enough and the proof is out there.

I am riding to Canberra against CSG. I believe in respecting thy neighbour. Even if you don't like your neighbour, I don't believe that poisoning them is justifiable. Common decency says that you do not have the right to interfere with or threaten the wellbeing your neighbours. I will also be promoting Australian Owned, Australian Made and Australian Grown because I believe that we should be supporting Australian business and farming as a sustainable future rather than the inevitable bust that will follow the mining boom. I would rather see Australia as a food bowl than a gravel pit.

Mick Franklin
Glenugie
NSW

 

#‪#‎LATEST ANNOUNCEMENT##

Franklin Horses will be running a postal service direct to Parliament House!
Departing from Grafton on the 21st of September 2013, and arriving in Canberra sometime in late November. All hand written letters of concern will be delivered direct to Parliament by way of Pony Express. Arrangements will be made for various collection points prior to departure and also along the way. Further announcements will be made regarding collection.

Tell 'em what you think and we'll take it to 'em!
Cheers
The Franklin Horses Team

McDonalds talks down Australian economy and tells whoppers to save face as sales fall

Don Thompson

Reuters 22 July 2013:

The world's biggest restaurant chain by sales reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and said it expects global same-restaurant sales in July to be relatively flat, sending its shares down almost 3 percent in midday trading.

Camden Haven Courier 24 July 2013:

McDonald's, the world's biggest fast-food chain, says sales in Australia are going backwards, citing incorrect figures on the level of youth unemployment to help explain why fewer people are buying its burgers and fries.

Although the introduction of the "Loose Change" menu in 2012 bolstered sales of its food last year, thrifty consumers have withdrawn from even that bargain basement offer and are spending less at the McDonald's counter.

Addressing investors in the US, McDonald's global chief executive and president Don Thompson warned that lower levels of spending in Australia and cut-throat competition among fast-food chains in the region had slashed revenue for the company.

He told the mostly US audience that the economy in Australia had worsened since 2012 and is reported to have said that youth unemployment had hit more than 25 per cent…..

So has Australia's youth unemployment hit more than 25 per cent as Don Thompson asserts?

This is what the International Labour Organisation's report Global Employment Trends For Youth 2013 states:

The weakening of the global recovery in 2012 and 2013 has further aggravated the youth jobs crisis and the queues for available jobs have become longer and longer for some unfortunate young jobseekers. So long, in fact, that many youth are giving up on the job search. The prolonged jobs crisis also forces the current generation of youth to be less selective about the type of job they are prepared to accept, a tendency that was already evident before the crisis. Increasing numbers of youth are now turning to available part time jobs or find themselves stuck in temporary employment. Secure jobs, which were once the norm for previous generations - at least in the advanced economies - have become less easily accessible for today’s youth. The global youth unemployment rate, estimated at 12.6 per cent in 2013,is close to its crisis peak. 73 million young people are estimated to be unemployed in 2013. At the same time, informal employment among young people remains pervasive and transitions to decent work are slow and difficult. The economic and social costs of unemployment, long‐term unemployment, discouragement and widespread low‐quality jobs for young people continue to rise and undermine economies’ growth potential… Since 2009, little progress has been made in reducing youth unemployment in the Developed Economies and European Union as a whole. The youth unemployment rate in 2012 is estimated at 18.1 per cent, the same rate as in 2010 and the highest level in this region in the past two decades. If the 3.1 per cent discouragement rate is taken into account, the discouragement adjusted youth unemployment rate becomes 21.2 per cent. The youth unemployment rate is projected to remain above 17 per cent until 2015, and decrease to 15.9 per cent by 2018….. Regional youth unemployment rates show large variations. In 2012, youth unemployment rates were highest in the Middle East and North Africa, at 28.3 per cent and 23.7 per cent, respectively, and lowest in East Asia (9.5 per cent) and South Asia (9.3 per cent). Between 2011 and 2012, regional youth unemployment rates increased in all regions except in Central and South‐Eastern Europe (non‐EU) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Latin America and the Caribbean, and South‐East Asia and the Pacific. Encouraging trends of youth unemployment are observed in, for example, Azerbaijan, Indonesia and the Philippines......

In June 2013 Forbes, The Centre for American Progress and Armstrong Economics were reported that youth unemployment in the USA has hit 16.2 per cent.

While the Australian Bureau of Statistics's 6202.0 Labour Force Australia states that in June 2013 the unemployment rate for people looking for full-time work in the 15-24 year old age group was 11.2 per cent and the unemployment rate for those looking for part-time work in that age group was 11.7 per cent. Australia's overall unemployment rate is currently 5.7 per cent.

So it seems that Mr. Thompson might be searching just a little to hard for excuses and, if he were to look at McDonalds history in Australia of poor workplace practices and equally poor corporate behaviour he might find the real answer as to why its 'burger and fries' sales are falling in this country.

Background:

McDonalds on the NSW North Coast

McDonalds in Tecoma, Victoria - BurgerOff, Tecoma Village Action Group, Tecoma Petition, NO McDonalds in The Dandenong Ranges

Food Fail: Westfarmers' Dr. Every & friends build a hollow woodpile

Coles is a national full service supermarket retailer operating 749 supermarkets (including a number of Bi-Lo branded stores) throughout Australia. Coles has a rich history in Australia, with the first Coles Variety store opening in Melbourne in 1914. Today, Coles aims to give the people of Australia a shop they trust, delivering quality, value and service...

If there’s one thing that low income households (including the working poor, pensioners, unemployed, students) rely on it is the staff of life – the humble loaf of bread.

Ever since Coles introduced its own baked goods into the Yamba store, this can be the weekly lottery result for those customers who purchase allegedly freshly baked in-store bread:

Two slices from a Coles loaf in which approx. one quarter of the slices had hollow middles, July 2013

Monsanto shows its desperation

Caught out in yet another instance of crop contamination and an attempt to limit the power of U.S. courts – this time an unapproved and commercially unreleased genetically modified wheat variety and a piece of legislation quietly slipped into an appropriations bill - Monsanto & Co decides to blame the bogeymen.

Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 containing the section known as the  “Monsanto Protection Act” or “Farmers Assurance Provision” 26 March 2013:

SEC. 735. In the event that a determination of non-regulated status made pursuant to section 411 of the Plant Protection Act H. R. 933—35 is or has been invalidated or vacated, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon request by a farmer, grower, farm operator, or producer, immediately grant temporary permit(s) or temporary deregulation in part, subject to necessary and appropriate conditions consistent with section 411(a) or 412(c) of the Plant Protection Act, which interim conditions

shall authorize the movement, introduction, continued cultivation, commercialization and other specifically enumerated activities and requirements, including measures designed to mitigate or minimize potential adverse environmental effects, if any, relevant to the Secretary’s evaluation of the petition for non-regulated status, while ensuring that growers or other users are able to move, plant, cultivate, introduce into commerce and carry out other authorized activities in a timely manner: Provided, That all such conditions shall be applicable only for the interim period necessary for the Secretary to complete any required analyses or consultations related to the petition for non-regulated status: Provided further, That

nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the Secretary’s authority under section 411, 412 and 414 of the Plant Protection Act.

Snopes 29 May 2013:

..the agribusiness industry…… maintains the Farmers Assurance Provision prevents activists from manipulating the court system.

Salon News 6 June 2013:

In bad news for Monsanto, but good news for food safety advocates, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has vowed to oppose a provision that protects genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks. The provision, dubbed “the Monsanto Protection Act” by activists for the benefit it would provide biotech giants like Monsanto, was sneaked into a broad spending bill and passed through Congress without appropriate review by the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees…..

Stabenow made her pledge in a conversation with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who has been pushing the Senate to vote on an amendment to the farm bill that would repeal the provision. That vote was blocked by [Republican Sen. Cochran] and on Thursday morning the Senate voted to end debate and move to final passage.

When two senators have a pre-arranged public conversation on the Senate floor, it’s known as a colloquy and is typically the bow that ties up a deal struck beforehand. While Merkley was unable to get a repeal vote, the colloquy is a significant win for him, with Stabenow promising she will oppose any attempt to extend the Monsanto Protection Act in backroom negotiations.

Wisconsin Rapids Tribune 6 June 2013:

This week, more than 2 million people protested around the world against the corporate conglomerate Monsanto...

Drovers Cattle Network 6 June 2013:

Monsanto executives described the discovery of genetically-modified wheat growing in an Oregon farmer’s field this spring an “isolated occurrence.”

During a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, Monsanto officials said the company has tested 31,200 seed samples in Oregon and Washington since the May 29 announcement of the GM wheat sprouts. They found no evidence of contamination in the tests, and said the GM wheat found last month was likely the result of an accident or deliberate mixing of seeds. They are not ruling out sabotage….

The Christian Science Monitor 7 June 2013:

American wheat farmers and a food safety advocacy group filed a lawsuit Thursday against biotech seed developer Monsanto Co, accusing the company of failing to protect the U.S. wheat market from contamination by its unauthorized wheat.

The petition, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, seeks class-action status to represent other farmers it says were harmed by lower wheat prices as some foreign buyers have shied away from U.S. wheat.

It names Clarmar Farms Inc., farmer Tom Stahl, and the Center for Food Safety as plaintiffs…….

The suit follows a similar action filed Monday by a Kansas wheat farmer, alleging that he and other growers have been hurt financially by the discovery of an unapproved biotech wheat that Monsanto said it stopped testing and shelved nine years ago….

Background

Centre For Food Safety 20 May 2011:

Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff: “Dismissal of the appeal confirms that the district court rightly concluded that in this case, as in every other case that has challenged USDA’s oversight of genetically engineered crops, the agency has flouted the law, favoring the interests of Monsanto over those of American people.  With every court decision the need for fundamental reform in this area becomes ever more obvious.”

Remarkably, the EIS is only the second USDA has undertaken for any GE crop in over 15 years of approving such crops for human consumption.  Both analyses were court-ordered.  USDA said it expects to finish the GE sugar beets EIS and have a new decision on commercialization in 2012.

Despite the absence of lawful review or a new agency decision, in summer 2010, USDA and the biotech industry demanded the court allow planting to continue unabated.  The district court refused to do so and instead set aside USDA’s approval of the crop based on the agency’s failure to comply with environmental laws.  That precedential ruling was also preserved by today’s order.

March against Monsanto - May 25 in Bellingen NSW

Media Release

Carol Vernon

Greens candidate for Cowper

May 21, 2013

Carol Vernon will be supporting the rally against Monsanto in Maam Gaduying Park , outside the Bellingen Council Chambers on Saturday, May 25, starting at 9.00 am.

Mrs Vernon said, "As a member of Bellingen Seedsavers I am totally committed to preserving heritage seeds. Many people in our local area demonstrate a huge commitment to sustainable food production.

" Genetically manipulated organisms (GMOs), their products, and the chemicals used to manage them pose significant risks to natural and agricultural ecosystems and human health.

" The precautionary principle must be applied to the use of GMOs and the techniques for producing them.

" Scientific evidence must be the basis for assessing and licensing GMOs. GMO assessments must be broad, independent and scientifically robust.

" Living organisms such as plants, animals and micro-organisms are not inventions. Patents on life are unethical and against the public interest.

"Farmers and consumers have a right to grow and consume non-GMO foods.

" Everyone has a right to know if foods contain any ingredients made using GM techniques, through the comprehensive labelling of those products." 

Facebook: Carol Vernon Greens for Cowper

Carol Vernon (Greens4Cowper) on Twitter

Blog: http://mncgreens.blogspot.com.au

How the NSW North Coast rates on the NSW Food Authority's penalty register

There are 1652 penalty notices currently in the NSW Food Authority penallty register, which was last updated on 2 April 2013.

The NSW North Coast does not feature heavily and, thankfully no local business has been named so far this year.

How the region rates:

BONDIE'S AT THE BAY	BALLINA	BALLINA	3095439133	2012-10-11	BOND, GARY
BONDIES ON THE BAY	BALLINA	BALLINA	3095439142	2012-10-09	BOND, GARY

BUSHMAN'S BAKERY	COFFS HARBOUR	COFFS HARBOUR	3013502508	2012-08-08	BIDAROL PTY LTD
BUSHMAN'S BAKERY	COFFS HARBOUR	COFFS HARBOUR	3013502517	2012-08-08	BIDAROL PTY LTD
BUSHMAN'S BAKERY	COFFS HARBOUR	COFFS HARBOUR	3013502526	2012-08-08	BIDAROL PTY LTD
BUSHMAN'S BAKERY	COFFS HARBOUR	COFFS HARBOUR	3013502535	2012-08-08	BIDAROL PTY LTD

DALLEY ST CAFE

EAST LISMORE

LISMORE

3042506318

2012-06-19

PRIGMORE, DAVID

ECLIPSE DISTRIBUTION PTY LTD	BYRON BAY AND OTHER DIVERSE PLACES		3013501848	2011-08-20	ECLIPSE DISTRIBUTION PTY LTD
ECLIPSE DISTRIBUTION PTY LTD	BYRON BAY AND OTHER DIVERSE PLACES		3013501857	2011-08-20	ECLIPSE DISTRIBUTION PTY LTD

GORMAN'S BIG OYSTER

YAMBA

Clarence Valley

3013502829

2012-11-08

EURUNDERIE INVESTMENTS PTY LTD

KFC BALLINA

BALLINA

BALLINA

3095439151

2012-11-26

QSR PTY LTD

NOODLE CAFE

LISMORE

LISMORE

3042506271

2012-06-06

YOU, COLIN

ST ELMO'S

BYRON BAY

BYRON

7641791796

2012-12-13

HONEYWELL, ANGELA

UTOPIA CAFE

BANGALOW

BYRON

7641791778

2012-08-29

HERNANDEZ, JUAN

WHAT A LOAD OF CREPE

LISMORE

LISMORE

3042506336

2012-09-16

BURKE, JOHN DAMIAN