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Trump administration: Killing bees, destroying organics

If you read J.R.R. Tolkein’s work you may recall the eye of Sauron, the Chief Lieutenant of the Dark Lord Morgoth. As I recall, Sauron’s gaze swept the landscape and if it fell on you your chances of uncorrupted survival were minimal.

Well, during the month of July the gaze of Sauron, a.k.a. the Trump administration, swept across the agricultural landscape and the results are not pretty.
Thanks to Wikipedia

Since Rep. Collin Peterson is the powerful Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, we here in Central Minnesota are in a unique position to lessen the impacts of that noxious gaze. We can, and must, lobby Rep. Peterson.

Early in the month the United States Department of Agriculture announced that it was discontinuing data collection for its annual honeybee survey.

Now, if you’re a farmer like me that could make you celebrate. USDA can be utterly obnoxious and tyrannical about their data collection. About ten years ago they discovered that we produced a few gallons of maple syrup and the syrup statiticians have stuck to us like leeches for the entire decade. Every year they send us a lengthy survey and if we are tardy in its completion they call us and threaten us with perdition if we don’t respond. I’ve even complained to Rep. Peterson about their heavy handed treatment. To no avail.

There’s no way USDA is going to discontinue counting and measuring and dissecting the significance of our ten gallons of syrup.

So why did they decide to quit counting honeybees? I’d wager that honey production and pollination services are more valuable in Central Minnesota, and the nation as a whole, than is maple syrup. Wanting to get to the bottom sticky mess I called Rep. Peterson’s office and asked for his agricultural staff person.

Cody is that staff person. I forget his last name, but he said he’d call USDA and ask why they cancelled the survey. When I checked back with Cody he said USDA cancelled the honey survey because of the deficit. Then he chuckled quietly. He’s a quiet guy but he recognizes a trumpian lie when he hears it.

Cody said that the survey cancellation might have had something to do with the registration of a previously cancelled bee killing insecticide. He couldn’t remember the chemicals name.

Turns out the chemical is a poisonous brew called sulfoxaflor. Sulfoxaflor is in the class of chemicals called neonicotinoids. They have all proven to be highly toxic to honeybees and other pollinators. 

Jeff Anderson, a bee keeper from Clarissa Minnesota, has the same suspicions that Cody does. The bee census was cancelled because the Sauron-minions at USDA don’t want anybody to bee counting all the sulfoxaflor killed bees.

You can read Jeff’s thoughts about the bee census and the future of beekeeping in Central Minnesota at https://tinyurl.com/y4ejqrdz

While one group of USDA Sauron sycophants in the thrall of the chemical companies was whacking at honey bees another was dead set against driving the final nails into the coffin of USDA’s certified organic program.

If I’ve got to eat grocery store food I’m going to reach for the product with the green and white certified organic circle on it. Even though the circle has been sullied by insatiably greedy corporations it still has trust value, in my opinion.

One thing you can trust is that certified organic products are not genetically modified. That truth is in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis for organic standards.

But on July 17 Under Secretary (Under Sauron) of Agriculture Greg Ibach told the House Agriculture Subcommittee that, because of new gene editing technologies, it was time to consider including GMO products in the list of organic products.

That, dear reader, would turn USDA’s quarter century of trust building for the little green and white circle into a smoldering pile of ashes. 

You can read Cornucopia Institute’s press release on this here  https://tinyurl.com/y3lkybo9

Please do call Rep. Peterson. It’s true, he’s in the pocket of industrial agriculture. But call any way. It’s 202-225-2165. 

Tim
Central Minnesota Political


Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 27, 2019 at 10:37 PM

    Far too many dark lords in this administration. Do they realize that in removing protections from pollinators, they are jeopardizing the future of us humans? Peterson's office will get my 2 cents about neonicotinoids, and I hope my spouse will be incensed enough about threats to the organic program to lodge her dissatisfaction.

    ReplyDelete

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