Monsanto’s global website says: ‘Imagine innovative agriculture that creates "incredible" things today.’ Actually, I think most of us are more interested in ‘credible’ things when it comes to agriculture. Like food that people can trust is safe. And crops that meet the needs of the farmers that grow them. The Monsanto slogan used to be ‘food, health, hope’. As if this wasn’t absurd enough, it has now been changed to ‘Imagine™’. John Lennon must be turning in his grave.
The seabirds of Shetland and Orkney are in ‘deep trouble’, according to the RSPB. Could this be the first real indicator that our lives are about to change quickly and dramatically as a result of climate change?
The mainstream farming media dismiss biodynamics as a fad affordable only by the wealthy – so why are big arable farmers sowing seeds under full moons?
Wander down the meat aisle of any supermarket and you will find mountains of chicken being sold at unbelievably cheap prices. The real reasons for this cannot be found on the label.
Supermarkets are keen to portray themselves as loyal and supportive business partners, nurturing suppliers in their quest for the best deal for consumers.
Joanna Blythman describes how she infiltrated the employee-conditioning process of Asda, subjecting herself to its brain-melting mix of Maoist self-criticism and revivalist-style fervour
We were being given 20 to 21 pence a kilo, they were selling them in the stores at twice that, and we needed 32 pence to break even. The prices would change by the day, and then they’d take 60 to 90 days to pay you.
Ka Hsaw Wa has seen many of his friends killed and has suffered torture at the hands of the Burmese military. Now he is taking Unocal, one of the US companies that trades with the murderous regime, to court. One of the most wanted men in Burma, talks to The Ecologist.