Category Archives: Out and About

Podcast #13 – Notes and Links for “Turning the Tables: Organic Farmers Sue Monsanto”

December 19, 2011 by The Manic Gardener

The “upcoming” podcast mentioned a few days ago is now up. You can listen to or download the show, “Turning the Tables: Organic Farmers Sue Monsanto,” to get part of the back story about why 83 organic seed growers, farmers, and organizations are suing GMO seed giant (and manufacturer of RoundUp) Monsanto.

You can also check out my original post on the suit, written a couple of days after it was filed last spring, for some background.

In the course of the show, many sins are laid at Monsanto’s feet: that genetically modified crops don’t increase yields as promised, that they may give rise to an organism that causes miscarriages in cattle, that they have fostered a race of super weeds, that Monsanto routinely engages in intimidating tactics, that it has sued thousands of farmers.

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Posted in Environment, Organic Gardening, Podcasts, Politics, The Scary Stuff

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Upcoming podcast: Organics vs. Monsanto

December 16, 2011 by The Manic Gardener

Yesterday I came off a marathon podcast editing session–about 20 hours straight, tacked onto the end of a work day.

It’s not the first time I’ve stayed up all night putting the podcast to bed; this fall I’ve probably been up more Tuesday nights than I’ve slept. But this was a bigger deal than most. This was a show about the suit brought by organic farmers, seed growers, and organizations against Monsanto, the seed company that keeps suing farmers whose fields become contaminated with its genetically modified–and patented–seeds. Continue reading →

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Posted in Environment, Podcasts, Politics

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A Recipe for Childhood Obesity

December 15, 2011 by The Manic Gardener

If you’re low on things to be mad about, I’ve got an article for you. But if your blood pressure is already high, maybe you should pass.

The article, which appeared in the N.Y. Times a couple of Sundays back (Dec. 3, 2011), describes how companies that provide food for school lunches are getting rich turning simple, healthy ingredients into junk food.  How can this be? In “How the Food Industry Eats Your Kid’s Lunch,” investigative reporter Lucy Komisar explains all, in an article packed with relevant stats and useful links. I’m giving no more than a summary here. Continue reading →

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Posted in Food & Recipes, News flash!, Politics

The Manic Gardener PODCAST

October 24, 2011 by The Manic Gardener

Want to know where I’ve been? I’ll tell you: podcasting. Yes, the Manic has gone live, and it’s been a steep learning curve. Hence my utter absence from the blog.

The show is an hour a week on organic and sustainable gardening, (you can find it here) interviewing everyone from a neighbor to Linda Chalker-Scott, one of the esteemed Garden Professors and former science editor of the alas now defunct Master Gardener Magazine. No one’s safe: not the local organic potato farmer, not his wife, not a Bokashi blogger in Switzerland.

And yet, I like to pretend, at least to myself, that there is some sort of organization behind it all, or underneath. After a certain amount of delving, here are the five major foci I’ve unearthed:
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Posted in Podcasts

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A new look for the Manic: Comments, please!

October 23, 2011 by The Manic Gardener

You may notice that, while the inimitable banner remains the same, the blog now has but one sidebar, re-organized categories, and for the moment an absurdly brief blogroll. I’ve long wanted more space for text and pictures, and guess what? Ta-da!

The move from Type-pad to Word Press was a work in progress for almost a year, the work (and progress) provided primarily by my most excellent web guru and husband, while the unfinished pieces fall entirely in my purview.

HELP ME FIND THEM, if you would, by leaving comments on broken links (probably not all survived the move) and other problems.

I’d also appreciate feedback on the new layout, as well as other features. I’d considered having a drop-down menu across the top with such things as the categories and archive—and I’ve just noticed that the archive has disappeared. Oops. Got to do something about that.

Anyhoo, if you’ve got something to say, pro or con, about drop-down menus on blogs or other fascinating topics, please weigh in.

In the meantime, I’ll try to do something about those archives and the lists of my fine fellow-bloggers.

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Posted in The Blogging World