American food crops to be decimated - Local Farmers Under Attack Again

Food crops will be decimated for lack of pollination by bees.

Worldwide bee populations have been reduced enough to threaten local small farmers. according to the BBC, "Beekeepers in London say 50 to 75 per cent of their bees have died and in the US 24 states are affected and 50 to 90 per cent of hives there have gone."

The French have identified a pesticide "Gaucho" as the culprit, and have banned its use. "Honey producers say Gaucho has damaged bee swarms by making plants toxic. Keepers say bees have become disoriented and unable to return to their hives."

Gaucho is manufactured by Bayer and sold in 70 countries.

Politicians are diverting the blame away from the chemical industry and toward the communication industry. Cellular telephone electronics and their communication towers. If that were true, this would have happened a decade ago.

Local farmers have been under attack now by fuel prices, patented plant genome pollin infiltrating their crops, poisoned imported animal feed (NOW FOUND IN FISH) , and now by the destruction of bee populations.

This can only bolster the profits of companies that have the resources to import food from South America, and it looks like a big fat secret trust between Chemistry and Agriculture multinational corporations.

First Pet Food, Now Livestock Feed!

On Wednesday, May 2, 2007 Senator Durbin presented on the floor of the Senate, an amendment to food safety legislation that would require prompt reporting of any contamination, among many other new requirements. He said that it took three weeks for the contamination of Wheat Gluten by Melamine to be reported, and not until after there was a rash of cat and dog deaths that provoked veterinarians to start testing the food.

Senator Durbin said that Melamine was deliberately introduced into the wheat gluten to artificially increase it’s value. What they do, he said (I’m paraphrasing), is test the shipment for levels of Nitrogen. The higher the Nitrogen, the higher the price. Melamine tests positive for high levels of Nitrogen in small doses. The Chinese (or the company responsible for shipping the contaminated product) deliberately contaminated the product to make a profit.

In addition to pet food, livestock feed is contaminated as well. Pigs and Chicken were fed contaminated feed. The government says that the Melamine is so diluted that it would pose little or no risk to humans who consume chicken or pork.

Nobody mentioned anything about cattle, dairy or otherwise.

For a recap, visit my previos post from April 15

http://spfldnet.blogspot.com/2007/04/pet-food-wheat-gluten-mostly-imported.html

(UPDATE)

SHANGHAI: The general manager of one of the companies accused of selling
contaminated wheat gluten to U.S. pet-food suppliers has been detained by the
Chinese authorities, according to police officials here and a person who was
briefed on the investigation. (International Herald Tribune)

(Instant kidney stones)

Pet Food Poisoning Mystery May Be Solved : Finding Comes As Menu Foods
Expands Its Recall And Senate OKs Regulation Of Pet Food Labels (CBS News)

Pet Food Wheat Gluten Mostly Imported.

C-SPAN Thursday April 12, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing on Pet Food Regulations:

A panelist representing the Food and Drug Administration said that two-thirds of America's Wheat Gluten is imported from China and Northern Europe. Wheat Gluten is a product of wheat that had its starch removed. It’s normally used for thickening and binding food.

A contaminated shipment containing Melamine was added to pet food, sickening and sometimes killing dogs and cats. Melamine is an industrial product used as a binding agent and so also is wheat gluten. Oh, the irony.

The contaminated shipment of wheat gluten came from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology, of China, according to the Food and Drug Administration, but they also say their investigation continues.

Senator Durbin asked one panelist, Stephen Sundlof of the F.D.A., if he was aware that contamination was found in wheat gluten used to produce products for human consumption. Sundlof replied that he was aware that there were products manufactured but not sold. The FDA website states that there is no record of human food contamination.

While the wheat gluten under scrutiny by the government is a processed product, there are other foods that contain wheat gluten that are normally not harmful to most people. I stopped eating wheat products myself because I have difficulty digesting it (celiac or coeliac), and I feel better than ever!

The Vegetarian Society has a chart that will help us avoid wheat gluten at http://www.vegsoc.org/info/gluten.html.

A search at the website http://www.foodingredientsonline.com returned 58 types of processed products that contain wheat gluten.

http://www.foodnavigator.com was also searched and revealed 88 articles about wheat gluten. The first article noted that wheat gluten could be used as an organic polymer, which is ironic considering that Melamine is also used in the production of plastic.

According to Wikipedia, “Melamine is used combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a very durable thermosetting plastic, and of melamine foam, a polymeric cleaning product. The end products include countertops, fabrics, glues and flame retardants. Melamine is one of major components in Pigment Yellow 150 that is a colorant in inks and plastics.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine