Voices Advocating for Earth

Food for Thought

The challenges people face with influenza A and B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), SARS, H5N1, long COVID...is enough to make your head spin. Add the risks of getting cancer, diabetes, being obese...or loss of livelihood from politics, climate change, or AI, and one could ask 'has the world has ever had it worse?'

Food For Thought

People reflect on our history of violent conflict and plagues, without electricity, transportation, and computer devices, to justify the price paid for modernity, failing to recognize human advancement creates many of those new dangers looming overhead.

Over the last century, the ill-fated outcomes of antibiotic use to plastic defines the lack of critical thinking about the potential side effects of new invention. What has scientific discovery taught us about the world we reside? Are we healthier, living longer; do we have more money, feel or sleep better?

Non-scientists are excluded from the practical or ethical decisions made for everyone. We have little say about the direction scientific discovery takes, and little to learn without transparency. Not only are the pursuits of investigation economically structured, to learn about scientific observation and study, findings everyone should know and effecting every individual, we must pay, whether for finely choreographed news articles or well orchestrated scientific journals, knowledge gained from research comes with a price tag; the hyperbole is free.

Put forth an effort to read between the lines of free news and information distributed as headlines of commercial interest or political motives. Weigh the pros and cons of new ideas and ask 'who will benefit?'. Stop and think about how your actions promote what is studied and how they contribute to the perils humans face.

So often the finger points in both directions: Do you conserve energy and water, pursue health, limit use of resources and chemicals, frequently buy a new device? We all have the ability to decide what is best for us, best for the planet, and act accordingly. Complaints are invalid when we participate.

                                                                                - Leah

Do you know?

Do you know how far the  practices of genetic modification and engineering extend and their outcomes? Take a look.   

Do you know about super weeds and their impact on living ecosystems resulting from the use of plants genetically modified to be herbicide tolerant?

GMO crops were initially marketed around the world to reduce the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer, be more drought and disease resistant, and make food more nutritious and affordable. 

However, genetically modifying corn, cotton, and soybeans to withstand the use of the herbicide glyphosate, a carcinogen, supplies Americans with corn, cottonseed, soybean and canola oils - known inflammatory oils. They also contribute cornstarch, corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners - ingredients shown detrimental to human health. And nonetheless, these crops feed commercially raised fish, cows, pigs, and chickens - unnatural industrial animal fodder.

Aside from a ninety percent return in profits for a handful of agrochemical companies and the forced decline of small farmers, the use of glyphosate tolerant GMO seeds has lead to super weeds and the continued use of chemical cocktails.

Do you know the salmon, pork, and beef you consume or a drug you take may have originated from a genetically engineered animal?

Bioengineered or genetically modified animals are marketed to improve growth rates, disease resistance, and tolerance to engineered feed; provide leaner meat and healthier milk, increase wool production, and contrive laboratory specimens for cultivating drug compounds and using in scientific research.

The same companies that profit from GMO crops hold the majority of patents on GMO animals, while the nonparticipants funding research and providing oversight are now threatened with increasing zoonotic disease.

Do you know SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations are bio-engineered?

Gene and DNA editing is no longer just for plants and animals. Modern biotechnology has moved to using genetic alterations for drugs and vaccines. Recently, a vast number of people were manipulated to quickly accept the bioengineered COVID vaccine, even though the theories of function were strictly hypothetical and now in question. But, companies and their investors immediately profited billions.

Leaping forward in human knowledge can create another leap, often backwards, when science is quick to sell benefits without fully understanding the risks, teetering on academia's credentialed hierarchy and industry's funding.

                                              - Pete

Scientific Basis of Risks Associated with Transgenic Crops

Genetic Engineering: A Serious Threat to Human Society

Genetic Engineering and the Risk of Harm

Human, Social, and Environmental Impacts of Human Genetic Engineering

The complex nature of genetic systems means that genetic engineering can have unintended and potentially harmful effects on health, such as immune suppression or cancer.

<  Viola cornuta - Pansy

Get to Know Nature

Knowing and embracing nature will inspire us, as citizens of the world, to be conscientious individuals: protecting environments, consuming sustainably, and respecting the human ecosystem.

Tap image to view scientific names and descriptions and uses.

IF I WERE QUEEN - 

IF I WERE QUEEN, the direction of taxpayer funded research would be chosen by voters and results would be made available without charge. Plus, all the commercial information available to the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission would be accessible for individual consumer oversight. 

Send us your ideas to make the world a better place, if you were a Queen or a King

  Tips for fact finding:

     -For those who find reading abstracts difficult, begin by reading the introduction, then scroll to the

     end and read the conclusion.

 

    -Before accepting any statements of science journalism, scroll to the end of the article to find out 

    who funded the study. Often, claims being made support the industry funding the study, ie: "beef is 

    found to be a premium source of protein", study funded by the cattleman's association.

 

    -When choosing lectures beyond the basics of science or history, select the most current,

    subjects are continually overturning past findings in just a few years.

Statistics to Ponder

Statistics grab our attention with numbers.

Over the last two decades, there's been a significant increase in both the number of new drugs approved and overall spending on pharmaceuticals, driven by factors like increased drug utilization and rising drug costs. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of new drugs approved for sale increased by 60% compared to the previous decade, with a peak of 59 new drugs approved in 2018.   READ >>

US Tax Dollars Funded Every New Pharmaceutical in the Last Decade  READ >>

Greenhouse gas levels surged to a new record in 2023, committing the planet to rising temperatures for many years to come, according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Carbon dioxide (CO2) is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than any time experienced during human existence, rising by more than 10% in just two decades.   READ >>

 

What's Up for Summer

Next season we will approach opinions about human stuff. From groceries to footwear and beyond. Together, let's face the human need for industrial mayhem. 

                                                                               Syringa vulgaris - Lilac >

We need your consent to load the translations

We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.