Death of the Corporate Farm

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Seacowboys, Jun 1, 2011.


  1. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    I got this email this morning from a seed supplier that I deal with and wanted to share it to open the discussion on what could happen in the very near future.
    If you've been to the grocery store lately, then you know just how much food prices are skyrocketing. In fact, the money that got you four bags of groceries last year will get you only three bags this year. And now that gas prices are going up almost daily, food prices will shoot up even more.
    But now there's another, far more ominous reason to home garden. There's a threat emerging that is so potentially catastrophic, it could literally mean the collapse of commercial agriculture.
    The honeybees are disappearing. In the past few years, we've been hearing more and more about something called Colony Collapse Disorder - it's a fancy way of saying that the honeybees are dying, and we don't know why. But if the decline isn't reversed, the honeybee could well go the way of the dinosaur.
    <TABLE border=1 cellPadding=5 width=213 align=right height=150 hspace="5"><TBODY><TR><TD width=204>
    [​IMG] Some commercial beekeepers are losing as much as 90% of their bee population each season. Bees are essential to the pollination of over 90 different commercial crops.​
    </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
    If that happens, our industrial farming system will completely collapse.
    Commercial farming depends on healthy honeybees. Bees pollinate over 90 different commercial crops. Without bees, we would not be able to enjoy things like grilled summer squash, crisp cold cucumbers, or sweet, delicious melon. Many people take good food like this for granted ... and now those foods are at grave risk.
    Giant farm conglomerates rent bees from commercial beekeepers to pollinate their hives. The hives are trucked to one region, released from the hive to pollinate the crops, and are packed up again and taken to the next region. But since 2003, more and more often, farmers have been opening up their hives to find dead bees or, more often, bees that just don't return to the hive. That means there are fewer bees to do more work ... which stresses the bee population even more.
    For a long time, despite numerous theories, nobody knew what the real cause was.
    But now we know.
    "Highly toxic" pesticide causing mass extermination of honeybees
    Late last year, a brave whistleblower leaked a memo from secret files at the Environmental Protection Agency. That memo was a smoking gun. For years, the EPA has known the true cause of the honeybee extinctions. The culprit is a chemical pesticide, clothianidin. Here's what the EPA's own internal memo said:
    "Clothianidin's major risk concern is to non-target insects (that is, honey bees). Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that is both persistent and systemic. Acute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis. ...Information from standard tests and field studies ... suggest the potential for long-term risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects."
    This pesticide was approved by the EPA, despite warnings from some of its own best and brightest scientists. And today, it's used just as much as ever.
    If clothianidin were outlawed tomorrow, could the damage be reversed? We don't know. But we do know this: if the honeybee population isn't restored to healthy levels - and quickly - our nation, not to mention the world, could lose over 90 different crop varieties, because they could no longer be pollinated on a large scale
     
  2. VHestin

    VHestin Farm Chick

    Color me NOT surprised. Only good thing about that is (hopefully) it will lead to a revamping of agriculture towards sustainable/non-toxic practices...not gonna hold my breath though, some people are determined to keep doing failed practices.
     
  3. beast

    beast backwoodsman

    as long as they can make money, who cares who or what they kill
    id think you would all know that by now
     
  4. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    I would think that anyone who eats would have at least some interest in that; JMHO?foosed
     
    hank2222 and dragonfly like this.
  5. hank2222

    hank2222 Monkey+++

    a big thank you for the into on the bees ..

    i'm allways wanting to know where my food comes from to a point because now beening on a diet and now i have to keep track of my food intake and it toxins in the food because of haveing a problem between one food and my medication i have to take ..

    so i want to know what in my food and who grows it and what they use on it ..
     
  6. VHestin

    VHestin Farm Chick

    We don't have honeybees around(that I've noticed), we only have mason bees. Even though they're still good pollinators, they don't make honey. But hey, nobody's perfect. I have thought about getting an apiary or two and add (honey)beekeeper to my list of skills.
     
  7. beast

    beast backwoodsman

    have a decent sized hive in my roof
    the honey is awesome
    they seem to love my flower, fruit and veggie gardens
    working on building my own hives so i can move the bees out of the roof...lol
    they dont bother me, they ladn on me and ride around on my shoulders as i walk around and work
    but everyone that comes complains cuz they are right next to my front door
     
  8. VHestin

    VHestin Farm Chick

    Mason bees we have are like that, they don't bother me, I don't bother them. Haven't seen as many as I used to though the last couple years, though there have been enough for my fruit trees. Could be due to the cold weather lasting so long(didn't start to warm up enough last year for tomato plants and other warm crops til the end of July), and it's fighting warmer weather again this year.
     
  9. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

    We have 4 hives and just pulled honey from two made 2 gallons... really sweet... and beats the taste of store bought to pieces...
     
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7