Archive for Food Crisis – Page 20
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The Voice of Global Health Freedom™
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Rima E. Laibow, MD SHARE! ORGANIZE! SIGN CITIZEN’S PETITION! CONTRIBUTE! To unsubscribe from this Health Freedom Action Alert, click here and enter your email address. To manage your subscription preferences, click here. |
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Natural Solutions Foundation
The Voice of Global Health Freedom™
www.GlobalHealthFreedom.org
The Valley of the Moon™ First Anniversary!
Natural Solutions Foundation is about more than just educating decision makers about Health Freedom, our First Freedom. We are about solutions… natural solutions to the many health, food and freedom issues that face the people of Planet Earth. Yesterday was the First Anniversary of the Natural Solutions Foundation in Panama, where one of our two Eco Demonstration Projects, the Valley of the Moon™, in the beautiful, temperate and bountiful Highlands of Panama, is located (the other is in Benin, West Africa).
And what an Anniversary it was! What would you say if I told you that General Bert and I spent the morning of our First Anniversary in David, the Provincial Capital of Chiriqui, with the First lady of Chiriqui, Mrs. Amara Fernandez, the wife of the far-sighted Governor, Dr. Enrique Fernandez, beside us, teaching willing (and eager) 16 and 17 year olds from the prestigious San Augustine Academy and their professors how to create an Intensive Urban Agriculture Garden.
We will also be working with a public school in the town of Pedregal and are creating similar gardens on the grounds of the Governor’s Offices in David. Everywhere we go, other people ask if we can teach them to do the same. There is a general awareness on the part of literally every person we meet that the contaminants in the food here in Panama (and for the rest of the world) are really terrible, but people do not know that they have options to change that.
We are teaching them how to apply those options successfully.
People say that things move slowly here in Panama and, in general, we have found that they do. But when an idea is right and it touches the hearts and minds of people who can make things happen, slow suddenly becomes warp-speed.
Just under two weeks ago we had an appointment with the Governor or Chiriqui, a physician who “gets” environmental dangers and also “gets” what it means to have virtually all of the country’s food produced using dangerous chemicals (the same ones people in the US are eating!). Governors of Panamanian Provinces are appointed by the President of the Republic and therefore represent significant central authority.
So when we told him that we were interested not only in setting up a medical training and service facility but also a BeyondOrganic, Bio Dynamic Zero Emissions™ farm AND farm school for the people of Panama and elsewhere, he became very, very interested. He sent one of his aides to summon his wife from her office. Mrs. Fernandez is a really warm lady who is working with the wife of the President of Panama to teach children how to grow their own food! Of course, when we explained that we were eager to do that, too, through our Intensive Urban Agriculture Program (IUA), using small spaces, little effort, little money and enormous results!
(see www.FOODFreedomeJournal.org)
She was instantly interested, as the Governor knew she would be.
Suddenly, we were outside on the balcony of the Governor’s office suite looking at a patch of ground which was being prepared for a garden. The Governor and his wife asked if we could do our Intensive Urban Agriculture there as a pilot project. We said we certainly could. They then asked if we would do a pilot project with them in a public and a private school. “You bet!” we said and suddenly we had an appointment for the Governor and his Lady to visit us in Volcan, about 45 minutes away, on that Sunday so that we could show them what we are doing with our Intensive Urban Agriculture.
We also had another appointment to begin work on the project the next week at the Governor’s Offices AND to meet with the head of the private school since Panama’s public schools were off for a week of vacation.
Sunday arrived and we had a lovely lunch all set for the Governor, his Lady, Yolanda, the lady who introduced us, Gail, our good friend and my Assistant, Gen. Bert, Giselle and Hernan, two bilingual friends who agreed to translate and, of course, me. Yolanda arrived with a friend. No problem. Eight can stretch to 9 with no one but the chef noticing.
The Governor and his party were delayed a couple of hours. The rain (a rainy season late afternoon phenomenon) started and we began to lose the light. At last they arrived. In two large vans, about 22 of them. Hungry. OK, now try stretching 8 to 31! HOSTESS HORROR! Gail and Yolanda, however, knew just what to do. Yolanda sent Hernan out to the store for little disposable plates (of which we had precisely 8 china ones) and Gail turned to his wife, Giselle, and said, “Quick! Bless the fish! We have to do a miracle here and make it feed everybody!”
What emerged, with smiles in place, were lots of little plates for all those hungry people with some salmon, salad, marinated veggies and one of Gail’s astounding cookies (THE best you have ever tasted, no matter where you have ever been) for each person there. Somehow, Gail had brought over exactly the right number of cookies and everything else was just as perfect. We did a slide show on the Valley of the Moon Project in Spanish. Someone had translated our English version into Spanish for our application to the City of Knowledge BUT, as it turned out, very poorly. So, while we waited for the Governor to arrive, Hernan corrected our serious grammatical and other errors. Not to worry: we have been advised to wait a bit before submitting our COK application (to let the political dust settle from the recent presidential election, before we wade into that arena) and so we were spared that embarrassment!
So, slide show accomplished, people eating and beaming at us, off we went, in the torrential downpour which the sky delivered to us just as we left the house for the Grand Tour, to see the IUA boxes, the large and small greenhouses, the very-much-under-construction seminar and medical facility, etc.
The ladies were not shod for wading but that is what they did with, I must say, smiles on their faces. You see, what we have built here is so unique, and provides such a powerful model for reclaiming the production of food that everyone there —
1. Was excited and wanted to be a part of the growth of this idea
2. Wanted to offer their help and get involved.
I cannot begin to convey the sense of excitement and the glowing eyes of this large group of people.
Of course, naturally, wouldn’t you know it! Two days before the visit, we were spraying the gardens with an organic, certified product to control mold on the plants. This is a humid climate and such precautions are necessary. The product is made from specially grown grapefruit seeds grown by a community in Peru which is focused only on this product. It is certified for Organic use in Europe (which I personally trust a lot more than USDA Organic Certification since the industrialization of organic foods is moving downward at a rapid and disturbing pace. For example, there is strong pressure to allow genetically engineered foods into the Organic supply so that Monsanto and others can control every segment of our food, even the possibly still clean foods that we are willing to pay a premium for!
We followed both the written directions carefully, used a very good sprayer which produces a very light mist, treated both sides of all the leaves and awoke on Sunday morning to find that the product had burned huge gray patches in all of the leaves. The magnificent lush plants in our garden boxes when we went to bed with were replaced, as if by a malevolent fairy, with ugly, blotchy leaves and wilted plants.
Heart stopper.
Take a deep breath.
Get the camera out.
Take pictures.
What we realized is that our teaching garden boxes had just taught us something: this spray needed to be diluted by a factor of 10 times more than the label, and our conversation with the specialist in organic agriculture who sold it to us, said to dilute it.
Gulp.
So, when we took the party on the tour, we told them just that. Instead of pulling up the plants and pretending they had never existed, we said that we had learned about grapefruit seed extract and that we had taken pictures so no one else would have to damage their plants in this way. (Over the next several days, I am happy to tell you, the plants have recovered amazingly. Three days more and no one would ever have known. Now that was NOT fun!
But, back in the house, getting dry, the Governor and I had some deep conversations together talking about the environmental hazards of the chemicals used here and the medical hazards of the poor, with few vegetables, diet consumed by many people in this country. Rice and beans and a little chicken or some pork, pastries, bread, cake and sweets. That’s about it.
The Governor is not only enlightened concerning health and health costs, he is enlightened as a physician, a rare reality in the US, I am afraid.
Yes, there are docs like those in the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, www.AAEM.com, and the American College for the Advancement of Medicine, www.ACAM.org, who are awake. But, tragically, still today, the majority of docs know only drugs, surgery and radiation for pretty much everything.
Obviously, they teach internists a whole lot more about health in the medical school Dr. Fernandez attended than they do in the US! In fact, every doctor I have met here understands the dangers of the “Typica” diet. But, aside from a smaller diversity, it is pretty much what hundreds of millions of people eat in the US, although the rice and beans part is a little different.
The number and amount of US export junk food options is appalling here. And then there are the local junk food look-alikes. “Lo mismo.”, they say here, “It’s the same thing”.
So here we were, showing the government of the Bread Basket of Chiriqui a real facility with real progress, offering real hope. They could not have been more eager for us to begin.
Dare I say — We have a Dream — of Chiriqui becoming the BeyondOrganic, BioDynamic breadbasket of the Americas?
When everyone came into our office, one side of which is lined with computers, and the other side of which is lined with our private reserve of supplements (all organic, of course), they were agog. I do not believe any member of the party had ever seen such an array, or so many, supplements in one place.
They asked, every single one of them, if we ran a store. “No,”, I said, “These are our private supply.” Then I pointed out that Gen. Bert is 79 years old and I will be 66 next month. Jaws opened and they just stood there for a while. Then the next thing happened:
Virtually every person in the room asked if they could come to see me for their (or their family’s) health issues.
I explained that we will be setting up the Natural Solutions Wellness Center this Fall (Yes! We need Volunteers and Volunteer Sponsors! See: http://www.NatSol.org) and that we will, of course, be happy to work with them and their families. Some had urgent problems and I agreed, of course, to do some initial consultations.
Wednesday of last week came and we trooped back to the Governor’s Offices to meet with the woman in charge of making sure our project was going to get the support it needed, under the direction of the First Lady. They asked us if we were going to provide the wood, the soil, the string, the plastic, the seeds, the organic compost, etc. We said, “No. The Natural Solutions Foundation will, as our gift to the project, provide the first three gardens, for a total of 20 boxes of 16 1 foot squares, with heirloom, organic seeds. But we do not have the budget to provide the rest of the materials for these projects, let alone the entire nation of Panama. To make that happen, we said, the government would have to get involved. Immediately, the governor suggested that the trees which had been knocked down by the floods last November had been turned into lumber and we could use that enormous amount of wood to make boxes. Other people got into the discussion and soon resources were being suggested.
There were press people there and they promised us some serious coverage.
Everyone at the Governor’s Offices wanted us to start planting right away. Of course, IAU takes a bit more planning than that. We laid out what we would need and were just about done when the Governor’s Press Secretary asked us what we could do about the building. I must admit, I turned around to look at it without any idea what she was talking about. She was kind enough to explain that there were really ugly plants in equally ugly planters which are built into the side of the building. Since the planters never receive any sun, and are apparently watered only as an afterthought they really do look awful.
I suddenly had a wonderful idea: why not create a secondary school contest to design and install a garden under those conditions along with a flower garden in front of the building? Have the kids present their designs, and, for the winners, install them. Then we would have a Chiriqui Beautification Day with a parade (Panama loves parades), a fiesta with dancers, the school band of the winners would get to play, and the media would cover it. Community is important here. Happy people loved the idea. It is in the works now.
“Can you be at the San Augustine Academy at 8:30 AM on Saturday?”, the First Lady asked. “Of course!” we said, “Why?”. Because that will be the first school program and we want you to talk to the teachers and Principal of the Academy.
So that’s how we got to the back field of the San Augustine Academy talking to these lovely young people. They had begun digging in a nice shady spot which we told them they needed to relocate to allow 6 hours of good sunshine per day or more. They willingly agreed to do so.
We gave them their assignment (build 6 boxes, fill them with 50% clean soil (hard to find here, everyone agreed) and 50% rich humus which has been lying on their grounds for almost 30 years without chemicals.
We told them that these young people and their teachers are the seeds of the future and that they would be making real change possible for everyone in Panama so they needed to work carefully, document faithfully and not be afraid to make mistakes. I believe that it is from our mistakes that we become smart, not from our successes. We told them that and they beamed. They just beamed!
Their assignment includes taking and recording 4 pH readings for each box (total 24) because we know that the soil here will be acidic.
They asked what time we would be back next Saturday and suggested 8 AM. Ugh! Since we are 45 minutes away, we suggested that we meet at 8:30 and they agreed.
The day before, however, we had a success of a completely different kind.
Halfway down the hill (or up it, of course) between Volcan (nearly a mile high) and the near sea level town of Conception, there is a little area called San Vicente, home to a small dairy that makes astonishingly good yogurt and white cheese. We have gotten quite friendly with the couple that runs it, but had to wait until their daughter was home from school in the States to have any in-depth conversation. We did have that conversation about 2 weeks ago and we were asked to come to a Milk Board meeting at MIDA, the Ministry for the Development of Agriculture on Friday, August 21.
We thought that the meeting was going to be about our ideas for the better processing of milk to preserve its health benefits through raw processing of a type that we want to introduce. Instead, it turned out that we were meeting with the Board of the Rural Agriculture Association, with a MIDA representative present. When we told them, representing meat producers, dairy producers and crop farmers, what we bring to Chiriqui, and why, we were met with a level of excitement and warmth that is truly heartening. No one is saying, “But we do it the old way and we are content!” Instead, what we are meeting is, “YES!” Let’s make it better! Let’s bring back wholesome food!” and, everywhere, “YES!” Show us how to get rid of the chemicals because they are killing us!”
In fact, after our wonderful encounter with the kids and teachers at San Augustine Academy yesterday, we stopped to buy some marigolds because we know that they help to keep pests off crops and we wanted to add them to our greenhouses. We gave the owner and his wife (who has a little restaurant by the side of the road next to his shop) our cards and, in their non-existent English and our badly wounded Spanish, we managed to tell them what we were doing and that we were working with the Governor’s office.
They lit up like Christmas trees, took our hands and pulled us to the other side of their restaurant, pointing to a bamboo framework which we could not make out the reason for as we stared at it.
“Hydroponica! Organico!”, they said. They are putting in an organic hydroponic greenhouse of their own design to grow food for themselves, their neighbors and for the little restaurant they have because they are fed up with eating chemicals!
We invited them to the Valley of the Moon, of course and then they asked us if they could bring their friends. Of course they could, we said, but how many friends are they thinking of (we were still rather shell shocked from last Sunday’s loaves and fishes deal). Not more than about 10 – these are an association of friends and neighbors who have formed a group because they share such a passionate interest in natural health, natural food and natural production methods.
There is enormous excitement about our natural methods for curing the devastating fungus, ojo de gallo, which we have put into practice on the Foundation’s Coffee Farm (what? You haven’t had your first cup of Health Freedom’s own coffee? Well, we have to fix that right away!
Click here, www.ValleyoftheMoonCoffee.org, to get yours right now! Supplies of this GMO free, pesticide free, herbicide free, toxin free coffee are very limited. Plan on giving freshly roasted coffee to everyone on your Holiday List now and we will ship to them if you let us know in advance. Green Corporate giving has never tasted better!
When we chose Panama, I must tell you, we did not expect this level of readiness. Our eco demonstration is meeting welcome we never dreamed we might find.
Exactly one year to the day after General Bert and I moved to Panama to continue the health freedom fight AND create the global teaching and service facility called the Valley of the Moon Eco Demonstration Project we were already working with the government of Chiriqui, the province which produced virtually all of Panama’s food and, at their request, disseminating the methods by which anyone, anywhere, can grow their own food.
What else have we accomplished during this amazing year?
Well, we have purchased a headquarters with two houses, renovated one of them, in which we are living and which serves as our offices, undertaken the major renovation of the second house which will house our initial health center, seminar facility, organic restaurant or boutique hotel and built one and a half greenhouses (the second is under construction, but will wait until the Seminar Center is done before we have our workers finish it.
We have initiated our Natural Solutions Conservation Corps and volunteer program with a rebuilding of the houses for the Indian workers which we partially accomplished. The completion of it will require another set of volunteers and we have lots of folks coming!
Those who are interested in bringing their enthusiasm and skills, or who can sponsor a Volunteer, can go to http://www.NatSol.org and join the NSCC Yahoo Forum.
We need much more than just building skills, of course, as there is a great deal to do and we need eager, able people to do it (and Angels to support those volunteers who are not self-sustaining).
We have refined our financial structure for participation in the Valley of the Moon, including IRA and 401 funds for legal, tax deferred investment and created financial structures which benefit us all. We have opened dialogue with health professionals and other who want to become Joint Venture Partners of the Valley of the Moon Eco Demonstration Project and created a contract which Joint Venture Partners can sign to become part of our success.
We have looked at many, many pieces of property for our final home and, through ups and downs, been relieved of the problem of having made the wrong choice as if we were being cared for by the Great Real Estate Agent in the Sky!
The Natural Solutions Foundation has been assembling the documentation and letters of recommendation necessary to apply for our affiliation with the City of Knowledge, a uniquely Panamanian organization devoted to bringing “best practices” to Panama, which our methods surely are. Twenty five farmers have pledged anywhere from 1 acre to 67.5 acres to use as farm schools to teach other farmers what we teach them so that we really can reclaim the production of food on a demonstration, and then a global basis.
We have, of course, continued the health freedom fight well beyond Panama. The effort to stop GMOs, prevent Codex “HARMonization” and protect against forced, dangerous vaccines, continues with the new joint effort (with Gary Null, PhD, Tedd Koren, DC and others) to “Stop the Shot” and prevent FDA final approval of the “Swine Flu” vaccine (without safety testing!). See: http://drrimatruthreports.com/?p=3312
Gen. Bert and I do dozens of radio shows each month with Alex Jones, Jeff Rense and many, many other people. We have gone to Europe several times to lecture and participate in Codex and other international meetings.
People are coming towards the Valley of the Moon to participate, acquire the right to build their homes here, become part of the Seminar Center, Performance Center, Health Center and build a new way of doing things, including reclaiming the production of food.
So that’s how we spent our anniversary.
Oh, yes! Then we celebrated with a dinner at the outstanding Italian restaurant here in Volcan, Il Forno. Here’s a picture of the owner, Joe, from New York!
If you want to know more about how you can support or get involved with the Valley of the Moon Eco Demonstration Project, please join our NSF-Panama Forum, contact Ralph Fucetola at ralph.fuectola@usa.net or email me at dr.rima@gmail.com.
And, of course, donations are much needed and are fully tax deductible. Click here, http://drrimatruthreports.com/?page_id=189, to make your recurring donation now. We are changing the world and we appreciate your participation enormously.
Yours in health and freedom,
Dr. Rima
Rima E. Laibow, MD
www.GlobalHealthFreedom.org
NAIS in Sheep’s Clothing
Natural Solutions Foundation
Donate to Keep Health Freedom Free. All donations are tax deductible for US taxpayers: http://drrimatruthreports.com/?page_id=189
Take this Action Step NOW for every member of your family/household and mobilize everyone you can reach to do the same: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/t/1128/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26714
Visit your Senator to tell him/her how strongly you insist that he/she protect both your food and your freedom. Here is a printable fact sheet you can use to either send to people in your emails or hand out to your Senator and people in health food stores, community members, etc.: http://www.lifespirit.org/FoodSafetyBills-leafletFINAL.pdf
The Natural Solutions Foundation has been warning about the coming of Codex to our food supply, with its degradation of every aspect of our food freedom and quality for quite some time. We are so concerned about this food and freedom issue that we are creating the innovative Valley of the Moon(TM) Eco Demonstration Project, www.NaturalSolutionsFoundation.org, in Volcan, Panama, to teach farmers and non farmers alike how to reclaim the production of food. But meanwhile, the US is loosing its food freedom and its freedom all at the same time.
HR 2749, and its sister bill which the Senate will consider when it reconvenes in September brings it all back home. The article below is long, detailed and vitally important to you and your family. This is not simply a technical bill for technocrats. This is real life food slavery for you and for your family unless we act now.
HR 2749 takes giant steps forward in bringing what none of us want to see into being. HR 2749’s sister bill must NOT pass in the Senate if you value the health that comes from food, value your freedom to grow and source the type of clean, unadulterated food you value and if you do not want to see, eat and be, a global food slave. To date, as I write this, some 876,996 emails have been generated to tell Congress to safeguard, not destroy, our health and our food supply, as well as our freedom. It is imperative that we make sure that the Senate understands that this is not a request, it is a demand. If you have not generated emails to stop this invasion of the Constitution, your health freedom and your food and pets, do so now.
The article below focuses on just one aspect of that program, the National Animal Identification System or NAIS.
There has been a long and powerful battle in the US against NAIS, a regulatory and chipping system which would place extraordinary burdens on small farmers, raising costs of “traceability” and farming practices so high as to drive them out of business, leaving the field to the industrial giants, the Codex Criminals who want food produced cheaply enough to make them even richer – and care nothing about health, safety or the future of either food or your family.
HR 2749, passed under great pressure by the House of Representatives on July 31, 2009, just as it went on August recess, is a disastrous bill for food, for freedom and for farmers. It is a disastrous bill for you. If you keep pets, it is a disastrous bill for them, too.
When we gained successful push back when Congresswoman Rosa Delaurio (CT-D) agreed not to fund NAIS in Committee, we knew that the issue would be back around. And here it is.
Please take the Action Step in our Three for Liberty Campaign, http://drrimatruthreports.com/?p=3262, right now, once for each member of your family. Then let every single person you know or can reach that it is urgent that they do the same IF they believe in their right to clean, unadulterated food, do not want Codex’ international globalization standards implemented, want to support small and organic farmers, do not want their pets chipped (yes, their pets!) with devices which have been shown to cause cancer, do not want the FDA to be able to declare martial law (!) and seize property in cases of food contamination and want to be able to grow their own gardens without having to adhere to Codex standards, complete with PIN number!
This is not the United States we believe we live in. This is global food fascism, nothing more and nothing less. Don’t let it happen. It really is up to us.
Yours in health and freedom,
Dr. Rima
Rima E. Laibow, MD
Medical Director
Natural Solutions Foundation
www.HealthFreedomUSA.org
www.GlobalHealthFreedomUSA.org
Valley of the Moon Eco Demonstration Project
www.NaturalSolutionsFoundation.org
www.ValleyoftheMoonCoffee.org
www.Organics4U.org
www.NaturalSolutionsMarketPlace.org
Welcome to the Global Plantation: HR 2749 Authorizes International Take-Over of Domestic Food Production
© Doreen Hannes 2009
Published by permission of the author
HR 2749 AUTHORIZES NAIS and OTHER INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
Congressional staffers have been telling people that HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, does not authorize the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Many organic groups have agreed with them. However, this is misleading. Though HR 2749 does not name “the” National Animal Identification System, it still authorizes the program. It also does not state that it legally authorizes Good Agricultural Practices, or GAP, partially comprising Codex guidelines on traceability and food safety, and the OIE’s Guide to Good Farming Practices including auditing, certification and inspections, disincentives for not participating in the form of fines, penalties, and loss of access to market, but it does. Is it possible that Congress was not aware of what it voted on? The bill was changed three times in a 24-hour period before passing the House 283-142 on July 30, 2009.
Are these assertions about HR 2749 wild and unsubstantiated? Proving them is fairly easy—just understand “Good Agricultural Practices” (GAP), how the agencies of the World Trade Organization operate within member countries to achieve them and what comprises the actual jurisdiction of the FDA and USDA. A brief explanation follows, along with substantiating quotes from HR 2749.
First we look to jurisdiction in HR2749….
“Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act shall be construed to alter the jurisdiction between the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, under applicable statutes and regulations…” (p.3&4)
Then, tossing our preconceived notions to the wind and looking to law instead, we find that congressional testimony of the FDA on establishing a single food safety agency and a myriad of other sources including the FAO (Food and Ag Organization of the UN), the FDA statements on the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, and many books on food law affirm that FDA has jurisdiction over live food animals:
“FDA is the Federal agency that regulates 80 percent of the nation’s food supply-everything we eat except for meat, poultry, and certain egg products, which are regulated by our partners at USDA. FDA’s responsibility extends to live food animals…”(Cfans Director, March 2004 Congressional hearing)
So then what is the authority of the USDA? It is over agricultural disease, animals in the slaughter channel or transport, marketing (like grading of eggs and certification of processes) and the end product of many (but not all) food animals; meat. This is why NAIS always had to be “about disease” because the USDA couldn’t run it otherwise! The exemption section on USDA regulated products is a dust up. Most people think the USDA has authority over live food animals, but it is the FDA after all. They surrender “cow, sheep or goat for milk production”, but the FDA retains authority of the fluid milk and when the animal is no longer productive for milking, it’s into the slaughter channel (under USDA) or out to pasture (back to FDA) anyway!
“Livestock and poultry that are intended to be presented for slaughter pursuant to the regulations by the Secretary of Agriculture under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act are exempt from the requirements of this Act. A cow, sheep, or goat that is used for the production of milk is exempt from the requirements of this Act.” (p.5 of HR2749)
HR 2749 is 160 pages (July 29 version) and contains the following references to international standards and guidelines (emphasis added for clarity) (all page numbers refer to the PDF file):
“(B) INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS.—In issuing guidance or regulations… the Secretary shall review international hazard analysis and preventive control standards that are in existence on the date of the enactment of this Act and relevant to such guidelines or regulations to ensure that the programs…..are consistent……with such standards.” (p. 35)
“CONSISTENCY WITH INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.—The Secretary shall apply this paragraph consistently with United States obligations under international agreements.” (p. 81)
“The Secretary shall issue regulations to ensure that any qualified certifying entity and its auditors are free from conflicts of interest. In issuing these regulations, the Secretary may rely on or incorporate international certification standards.” (p. 82)
This means that there will be a layer of auditors, certifiers and inspectors over every aspect of food production in this country and that these inspectors and certifiers will be trained in ISO (International Standards Organization) management program certification. The ISO has been working with Codex Alimentarius on Food Safety Standards and, in particular, a technical standard for Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) which is a consortium of the seven largest food retailers in the world, and that is ISO22000:2005. All traceability (read NAIS) falls under the purview of Codex, the OIE (World Animal Health Organization) and the IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention) for global trade agreements.
The following excerpt from HR 2749 shows the fully interoperable global network already in existence regarding food and its production:
“Development of such guidelines shall take into account the utilization of existing unique identification schemes and compatibility with customs automated systems, such as integration with the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and the International Trade Data System (ITDS), and any successor systems.” (p. 142)
So it is clear that international standards and guidelines are implicit in this legislation. Note the usage of the command form SHALL. This isn’t a ‘might’, ‘may’ or in anyway a voluntary issue on the part of the Secretary. Then there is the section on Traceability. This is a code word in the National Animal Identification System and when one reads Sec.107 of this bill, it describes specific components of NAIS down to 48-hour trace-back, which cannot even be fantasized about with out individual animal identification.
“…..the Secretary shall issue regulations establishing a tracing system that enables the Secretary to identify each person who grows, produces, manufactures, processes, packs, transports, holds, or sells such food in as short a timeframe as practicable but no longer than 2 business days.” [note that it says “grows”] (p. 70)
and…
“……use a unique identifier for each facility owned or operated by such person for such purpose…” (p. 69)
So we have PIN (Premises Identification Number) and 48-hour traceback harmonizing with international standards and guidelines along with this:
“….‘‘(C) COORDINATION REGARDING FARM IMPACT.—In issuing regulations under this paragraph that will impact farms, the Secretary ‘‘(i) shall coordinate with the Secretary of Agriculture; and ‘‘(ii) take into account the nature of the impact of the regulations on farms.” (p. 71)
Now that I’ve killed you with legalese, it’s time to let you find out just what these international standards and guidelines mean to those engaged in agriculture in this country.
“GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES”
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) are not a standard in and of themselves. They are a combination of standards and guidelines set forth by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. (FAO), through both the OIE (World Animal Health Organization) and Codex Alimentarius (Food Code) and IPPC to meet the certification and auditing side of the international trade aspects of the standards set forth. The OIE and Codex are charged with setting global standards and guidelines for the member countries of the WTO to meet and satisfy the SPS (Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary), TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade) and Equivalency agreements of the WTO for participation in international trade. Both the OIE and CODEX have guidelines for traceability that, with the passage of HR2749 into law, would be written into regulations governing all interstate commerce within the boundaries of the United States. The components of traceability are the pillars of NAIS that many of us have become so familiar with in the course of the battle over the past several years. Those being 1) Premises Identification 2) Animal Identification and 3) Animal Tracking. You can’t have traceability under international standards without having those three components.
One of the main issues in the implementation of these standards and guidelines within a member nation of the WTO is that they must have a legal framework through which to regulate and enforce these guidelines and standards. HR 2749 would meet the criteria for that legal framework by way of the excerpts from the bill above.
In the OIE’s “Guide to Good Farming Practices” the management of a livestock facility are clearly spelled out. Some of these recommendations that would become defacto law in the US under agency rule-making on passage of HR2749 (GGFP delineates international guidelines for food safety at the farm level) are:
– For each animal…Require and keep all commercial and health documents enabling their exact itinerary to be traced from their farm or establishment to their final destination…
-Keep a record of all persons entering the farm…..
-Keep medical certificates of persons working with the animals……
-Keep documents proving the water you give to the animals meets specific criteria
-Keep samples of all feed given to the animals
-Keep all documents from official inspections
-Keep records of treatment and procedures on all animals (castration, disbudding, calving, medications, etc.)
-Prevent domestic animals (cats and dogs) from roaming in and around livestock buildings
-Place all these documents at the disposal of the competent authority (Veterinary Services) when it conducts farm visits.
Some of the other guidelines and standards that would come into play after the implementation of traceability for all agricultural products would be : (from FAO COAG/17 “Development of a Framework for Good Agricultural Practices”) “the adoption and implementation of international standards and codes for which Codex food safety standards and guidelines have been designed, and the associated capacity building, training, development and field implementation in the context of the different production systems and agro-ecozones. These include: Enhancing Food Quality and Safety by Strengthening Handling, Processing and Marketing in the Food Chain (214A9); Capacity Building and Risk Analysis Methodologies for Compliance with Food Safety Standards and Pesticide Control (215P1); Food Quality Control and Consumer Protection (221P5); Food Safety Assessment and Rapid Alert System (221P6); and Food Quality and Safety Throughout the Food Chain (221P8).”*
To be certified as meeting the requirements of “GAP”, which is synonymous with being in compliance with international standards and guidelines, we can check out GlobalGAP.org. This is “the” certifying methodology for international trade in ag products. Here are a few excerpts from their 122-page general regulations booklet that has links to checklists for those who would be certifiers and auditors under the principles of GAP. This is an organization, not a governing body under WTO agreements, but working with nations and businesses to meet the criteria regarding these GAP practices for international trade. Here is a bare minimum of excerpts from their regulation document:
-(ii) Developing a Good Agricultural Practice (G.A.P.) framework for benchmarking existing assurance schemes and standards including traceability. (iii) Providing guidance for continuous improvement and the development and understanding of best practice. (iv) Establish a single, recognised framework for independent verification.
-Production Location: A production unit or group of production units, covered by the same ownership, operational procedures, farm management, and GLOBALGAP (EUREPGAP) decision-making activities.
-Within the context of GLOBALGAP (EUREPGAP) Integrated Farm Assurance this means tracing product from the producer’s immediate customer back to the producer and certified farm.
-Within the context of GLOBALGAP (EUREPGAP) Integrated Farm Assurance this means tracking product from the producer to his immediate customer.
In simple English, which appears to be highly lacking in all these guidelines, it means NAIS for everything, and for anyone who wishes to be engaged in agriculture….Remember the “grows” phrase from the earlier excerpt from HR2749. Now let’s look at some of the ‘exception’ clauses in HR2749. This bill is a terrifically crafty piece of legislation that is designed to cloud the reader’s understanding of the impact of the law being proposed in it. All of the exception clauses give the exception under this Act so long as you are ready to be regulated under a different Act. We’ll just look at a couple of these clauses to allow you to get the gist of the lack of exception available through the exceptions….
“EXCEPTIONS”
Farms- A farm is exempt from the requirements of this Act to the extent such farm raises animals from which food is derived that is regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the Egg Products Inspection Act.
‘‘(I) such an operation that packs or holds food, provided that all food used in such activities is grown, raised, or consumed on such farm or another farm under the same ownership;
‘‘(II) such an operation that manufactures or processes food, provided that all food used in such activities is consumed on such farm or another farm under the same ownership; (pages9 and10)
Thus, if you grow everything you feed and consume everything you grow, and use no minerals or salts that you don’t mine yourself, you may be exempt. Or, in plain English, don’t even try to make a living in agriculture if you won’t comply with these rules.
One more exception to contend with here is:
‘(A) DIRECT SALES BY FARMS- Food is exempt from the requirements of this subsection if such food is–
‘(i) produced on a farm; and
‘(ii) sold by the owner, operator, or agent in charge of such farm directly to a consumer or to a restaurant or grocery store. (page 71)
This sounds good. However, there are several problems with this that are not evident without some knowledge of how things are done in the traditional avenues open for market to growers. First of all, cattle, whom you may recall as the primary target of the NAIS Business Plan, are often sold either at auction barns or via potload to feedlots. It is illegal to sell beef directly from the farm to consumers in every state that I know of. People often will sell a calf ready to butcher in halves or quarters to people and deliver the calf to the slaughter facility for the consumer, but this is far from the normal route of commerce in cattle or other species of meat animal. Even if you can securely wedge your operation into this particular exemption, they get you later via the record keeping section of this bill:
‘(E) RECORDKEEPING REGARDING PREVIOUS SOURCES AND SUBSEQUENT RECIPIENTS- For a food or person covered by a limitation or exemption under subparagraph (B), (C), or (D), the Secretary shall require each person who produces, receives, manufactures, processes, packs, transports, distributes, or holds such food to maintain records to identify the immediate previous sources of such food and its ingredients and the immediate subsequent recipients of such food.
‘(F) RECORDKEEPING BY RESTAURANTS AND GROCERY STORES- For a food covered by an exemption under subparagraph (A), restaurants and grocery stores shall keep records documenting the farm that was the source of the food.
‘(G) RECORDKEEPING BY FARMS- For a food covered by an exemption under subparagraph (A), farms shall keep records, in electronic or non-electronic format, for at least 6 months documenting the restaurant or grocery store to which the food was sold.’ (pp. 74-75)
So being exempt means you are required to keep records. Keeping required records means you could be required to release those records. So how exempt can a person get under this legislation? Especially when the slaughter facilities will all be regulated unless the USDA already regulates them?
PENALTIES AND FINES
Then of course, as with any law, there are the fines and penalties. These are from $20,000 to $1,000,000 per violation. (p. 122)
NO JUDICIAL REVIEW
There is also the change under the seizure section that takes away judicial overview…(double quotations indicate amending language)
…….procedure in cases under this section shall conform, as nearly as may be, to the procedure in admiralty; except that on demand of either party any issue of fact joined in any such case shall be tried by jury, “”and except that, with respect to proceedings relating to food, Rule G of the Supplemental Rules of Admiralty or Maritime Claims and Asset Forfeiture Actions shall not apply in any such case, exigent circumstances shall be deemed to exist for all seizures brought under this section, and the summons and arrest warrant shall be issued by the clerk of the court without court review in any such case””…… (p. 116)
So we can just throw out that pesky Fourth Amendment to the Constitution and while we’re at it, let’s get rid of probable cause as well via this wording from page 117:
by striking ‘‘credible evidence or information indicating’’ and inserting ‘‘reason to believe’’;
There are many other dangerous aspects to HR 2749, like seizures, quarantines, and licensing and whistle blower provisions, but this should leave no doubt that this bill will indeed affect farms and has the potential to affect even home food production if an agency decides to apply the international risk analysis schemes to that venue. This bill opens a huge regulatory nightmare that is only evident when one knows what the international guidelines and standards consist of in regard to agriculture. Understanding those, it is highly unlikely that they will issue regulations that keep things as they are now.
Now, the questions that everyone involved in agriculture, meaning everyone who eats, must ask themselves are these:
Can regulating, fining and destroying the freedom of people to grow food create food safety?
Have the impacts of so-called “Free Trade” on this nation been beneficial for the citizens of this country?
Have food safety concerns increased or decreased since we have begun to import more food under these trade agreements?
And ultimately, does the US Constitution provide for the voidance of the Bill of Rights to participate in global trade?
My copy of the Constitution clearly does not allow for any law to void the Bill of Rights which is unalienable and Constitutionally guaranteed. It’s time to let our Federal representatives know in no uncertain terms, that everything to do with governance ultimately comes down to the consent of the governed, and we will not consent to being run by international agencies.
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My deep thanks to Paul Griepentrog, who helped in going through the legislation and many of the ramifications and amendments to current law under this Act.
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about becoming an Expense Paid Volunteer at the Valley of the Moon™ in the temperate Highlands of Panama? We need people with a wide diversity of skills. Here’s the letter we are sending to our special sponsors – YOU!
Sponsoring Liberty Volunteers
We are truly “The Voice of Global Health Freedom.”™ There are now just under a quarter of a million people who have opted into the Health Freedom Action eAlert system to receive our Alerts asking you to take specific actions to protect health and freedom. And, by the hundreds of thousands you do!
This powerful “push back” effort has results; powerful results. For example, this past week, officials from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) took to the mass media to assure people that the coming “swine flu” vaccine will be “completely voluntary.” While we do not believe this uninsurable, unproven drug will be truly voluntary, prior to your more-than-a-million messages to decision makers demanding respect for your rights, these same people were openly planning for mass, involuntary inoculations. “Push back” works! More of your accomplishments for Health Freedom can be found at: http://drrimatruthreports.com/?page_id=195
Well, all this activity generates a large amount of Internet email traffic… so much so that none of the Foundation volunteers can keep up with it. We’re not complaining, mind you, since we measure our success by your contacts and your activism. What we need is more help to keep on helping you keep health freedom free.
Dr. Laibow, especially, needs help to free her time so she can continue her highly productive research, write, appear on the media, etc. As she says, “The Natural Solutions Foundation needs help to keep up with our successes – and continue generating more!”
At the same time as the Foundation is leading the fight to educate our representatives, the Foundation is also sponsoring Eco Demonstration projects in several countries, with the Valley of the Moon™ in the Highlands of Panama our main “discover, develop, demonstrate and disseminate Natural Solutions” location. This puts further demands on Dr. Laibow and Gen. Stubblebine’s time. But demonstrating Natural Solutions is an important part of preserving our health and freedom. Just as we said when we decided we had to do it, reclaiming the production food for farmers and non-farmers alike is a vital part of health freedom, as the battle over the food safety [sic!] bills like H.R. 2749 has verified
Faced with a problem, we’re very good at finding the solution. We have, as it turns out, a solution – a natural solution! – to this one, too. There is a growing group of enthusiastic individuals who want to volunteer to help us full time at the Valley of the Moon. All they need is room and board and they can do all the many things needed to mobilize this growing movement for Health Freedom.
These people are not just helping out in Panama: they are willing to become the bedrock and backbone of our health freedom movement by doing the tasks that are needed to fight the health freedom battle in the US and globally since the problem, like the anticipated governance structure of the globalists, has been turned into a one-world-problem!
We’ve learned over the past couple of weeks about the power of volunteer help. Not only are a couple volunteers catching up on the tens of thousands of emails that have come in, but others are hard at work building decent housing for the indigenous families who pick our Valley of the Moon All Natural Coffee.
See: http://drrimatruthreports.com/?p=3236
It’s simple; it costs us $500 per month per volunteer to have “free volunteer” labor… We urgently need (and have “waiting in the wings”) ten volunteers ready to move to the Valley of the Moon and start working on Foundation affairs, helping Dr. Laibow and General Stubblebine set up the Seminar and Wellness Center as scheduled in September, answering emails, organizing and building the performance center, etc. Researching the situation in Washington and elsewhere; keeping these email messages coming to you…
Naturally, we need your help to make this happen. We need a group of Angels who will commit to Sponsoring a Liberty Volunteer. Even a regular monthly tax deductible donation of $100 will go a long way toward supporting a member of the Valley of the Moon Volunteer Corps for Dr. Laibow. Donate $500, earmarked for one volunteer and we’ll be honored to honor you as a Liberty Volunteer Sponsor.
We invite those of you who can arrange your schedule and time to visit the Valley of the Moon, the refuge we are creating to protect and preserve Natural Solutions in dangerous times. Come to visit; come to volunteer.
New Natural Solutions Volunteer & Interns Forum:
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We invite those of you who can do so to become a Liberty Volunteer Sponsor. Foundation and Family Trustes, Churches and similar nongovernmental organizations can also sponsor our Volunteers.
As a Sponsor you will be invited to attend important Health Freedom phone conference calls and participate in the Natural Solutions Volunteer Corp online Forum where we will continue to plan and implement a strong Health and Freedom Campaign.
Among the hundreds of thousands of people who receive these Health Freedom Action eAlert messages – and forward them on to tens of millions more, we know there are a group of you who can support a Liberty Volunteer.
If you can sponsor a full or partial Volunteer (or want to Volunteer) please contact us at dr.laibow@gmail.com with “Liberty Volunteer” in the subject line. We’ll link Sponsors and Volunteers into a community of interest, through a special online Forum, to further mobilize support for Natural Solutions… and then, there is nothing we cannot accomplish!
Yours in health and freedom,
Ralph Fucetola JD
Natural Solutions Foundation Trustee
www.GlobalHealthFreedom.org
www.HealthFreedomUSA.org
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