Perspective

This morning one of the blogs I subscribe, Envirovore , to had an article about seed banks that included:

For example, farmers grew more than 7,000 varieties of apples in the 1800s, yet by the end of the 1900s, only 300 had survived extinction.

And I found myself annoyed. The implication is that humans are devastating thousands of plants species and that global warming is threatening native species. FOLKS, get a gripe. When it comes to agriculture, almost everything we grow was selectively breed from native plants and is NO LONGER the same plant. They are all man made! So if they go away, the Earth has lost NOTHING. I responded thusly:

I completely support these seed banks and grow heirloom crops as much as I can. I would like to see us return to diets more in line with our ancient ancestors. And I would like to point out that those 7,000 varieties of apple were NOT . . . well, natural, for want of a better word. They were all varieties achieved through selective breeding over a mere few thousand years and, therefore, man made. The ancestor of all apples is still alive and well and in no danger of becoming extinct in the near future.

Just trying to put things in perspective. It hurts the environmental movement, I believe, to bewail the loss of an artificial crop growing far from it's natural habitat.

Ant-tasting Party #06

Ant-tasting Party #06
Originally uploaded by dutchdoubles

I'm seeing more and more about consuming insects and I have to say I'm all for it! Bugs reach maturity fast on little feed and carry few diseases communicable by us eating them. I've tried the odd ant when I was gardening and one bit me and I have to say they are a bit acidic. I wonder if cooking them improves the flavor?

US bulldozing green laws to build border fence

The Bush administration is bulldozing environmental laws to build a controversial fence designed to block illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border. To force through its construction, the secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff, waived 35 separate environmental protection laws last week using provisions of the Real ID Act of 2005. The act allows him to set aside laws that might interfere with the construction of physical barriers at US borders.

Segments of fence totaling 750 kilometers are to be completed this year and will pass through many sensitive environments. In southern Texas the fence will run along flood-control levees between 100 and 1500 metres from the Rio Grande, creating what critics call a "no-man's land" between fence and river.

This section of the fence will cut through rich wildlife reserves, including the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Alamo, the Sabal Palm Audubon Center and most of the Nature Conservancy's Lennox Foundation Southmost Preserve near Brownsville. Other wild areas are threatened in New Mexico, Arizona and California.

Read the rest at New Scientist.

This is particularly annoying to me. I feel "boundaries" need to become a thing of the past and a person's rights and value should not be dependent on which side of an imaginary line they live. For the US government to decide to flout the policies of decades to create what will turn out to be an ineffective barrier to humans migrating is disgusting and aggravating.

ALMar Orchards gains national attention for use of pigs, not pesticide

Pass by Jim Koan's 120-acre apple orchard this spring and you could well spy dozens of baby Berkshire hogs marauding under the trees -- miniature porkers scarfing up fruit and grubbing in the soil.

A case of hogs gone wild?

No. It's an experiment in organic farming gaining national attention, and the pork-and-apple program at Koan's ALMar Orchards in Flushing is getting accolades from Michigan State University researchers who say it may someday help fruit growers reduce pesticide use.

Read more at the Detroit Free Press

Organic corn ‘outbreak’ reported

In an attempt to make a statement about genetically modified corn on Kaua‘i, a loose conglomeration of community members has started to distribute organic corn seeds and corn seedlings island-wide.

According to Lauren Shaw-Meek, a manager at Vim & Vigor in Lihu‘e, the idea of the organic corn “outbreak” is to bring attention to what the group sees as the perils of GMO corn. By poking fun at the possibility of an organic corn “outbreak” the message is a little lighter and may reach a wider audience.

Read more at source . . .

A Bit of Humor

Indian Chief 'Two Eagles' was asked by a white government official, 'You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done.'

The Chief nodded in agreement.

The official continued, 'Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?'

The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied. 'When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water.
Women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex.'

'Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that.'

Waste from Whisky Cleans Contaminated Water

While there may be no real magic in whisky, there appears to be some alchemy in one of its by-products. A by-product from whisky production has just been shown to clean contaminated water and soil.

Read more . . .