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  • From: venaurafarm <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Toward Financial Permaculture: New Farms in the OldSystem
  • Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:14:43 -0500

On 12/31/2012 2:13 AM, Toby Hemenway wrote:

I could do a great design for Monsanto, and reduce their energy
footprint, have them develop new GMO strains in the greenest labs on
earth, and put hugelkultur GMO-corn guilds on every farm they
control. But even though the methods, the approach, and the cool
synergies might be straight out of Mollison, Holzer, or Holmgren,
it's the ethics that would stop me or any ethical permaculturist from
doing it. It would never be permaculture, because Monsanto is
bankrupting people, poisoning the planet, and concentrating their
surplus. That design fails on the most important, basic level, that
of ethics. Only someone for whom the ethics were irrelevant could
call that permaculture. That's why they matter.

Let's flood Stephen Colbert with requests to interview our Congressmen on his segment, "Better Know a District" and ask them why they want to automatically deregulate GMO's, allowing Monsanto immunity from federal law in the farm bill, HR 5973, section 733.

Go to http://www.colbertnation.com/better-know-a-district, enter your zip code and then request that Stephen ask your Representative about GMO's, their ties to Monsanto, and the money they have received from Big Ag.

After you nominate your representative, go to www.facebook.com/thecolbertreport and tell Stephen and the 2 million who are following him all about GMO's. We have to educate the masses!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are at a critical point in the fight for a fair farm bill. At this time, the farm bill still contains the rider that will allow Monsanto immunity from federal law. They are doing everything they can to get the farm bill passed by the end of the year!

It is imperative that EVERYONE contact their Representatives and state Senators quickly before it is too late (links below). CALL THEM NOW and tell them to drop the Monsanto rider from the "Agriculture Appropriations Bill" H.R. 5973, Section 733. Be sure to write on their facebook wall as well - they all have a FB page and Twitter account - just search their name in the FB search bar.

Below are two links, one to find your House Representative and one to find your State Senator.

Find your House Rep: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Here are a few talking points to get you started. Feel free to add other points as you see fit, but the rider is the main concern at the time.

1) I'm calling to ask my Member of Congress to vote for Rep. DeFazio's amendment to the 2013 Agriculture Appropriations bill to remove Sec. 733.
2) Sec. 733 is a rider that would strip federal courts of their authority to stop the planting of illegal or hazardous genetically engineered crops.
3) The rider is an unprecedented attack on U.S. judicial review.
4) Courts have ruled that planting genetically engineered crops before their environmental impact has been assessed can mean the "elimination of a farmer's choice to grow non-genetically engineered crops, or a consumer's choice to eat non-genetically engineered food."
5) I hope my Representative will stand up for farmers and consumers by voting for Rep. DeFazio's amendment to remove Sec. 733 from the Agriculture Appropriations bill.

After making a call, please report back and tell us what happened on your call(s).

Thank you for getting involved!

The methods of permaculture are not the point; that's not what makes
it permaculture. What makes it permaculture is how you use the
methods--both as a way of creating beneficial connections, and in a
way that is consistent with the ethics. Otherwise, permaculture is
reduced to one more collection of cool techniques that can be used to
gut the planet and its people.

Toby http://patternliteracy.com




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