No More Collapse Disorder!
Leaders from Canada, Wisconsin & Hawaii Highlight Dangers of GMOs & Pesticides. Colony Collapse Disorder Improving with Bees Keepers Across The Globe!
In 2016, generations of women spoke out for the health of current and future generations at the annual Monsanto shareholder meeting.
In addition the following showed up:
Rachel Parent, teenager and founder of KidsRighttoKnow.com of Canada
Anne Temple, mother and leader of Moms Across America, and
Beth Savitt, grandmother and President of the Shaka Movement of Hawaii
For they all traveled together. Therefore to represent their generations of women concerned about the harms of GMOs and pesticides across the globe.
Temple presented a proposal from John Harrington, of Harrington Investments, asking Monsanto to prepare a report on how the company will mitigate risks of the extremely negative effects on human and environmental health from the main ingredient in its most popular product, Round-Up. “Monsanto has a long, sad legacy of producing dangerous products, and now we’re learning they’ve likely been dangerously misleading shareholders and consumers about safety for years,” Harrington said.
Moms Across America’s Zen Honeycutt, coordinator of the three generations attending this year, represented Harrington at last year’s meeting, presenting a proposal which won 53% of the shareholder votes. The mothers group found glyphosate in tap water, children’s urine, breast milk and Pediasure feeding tube liquid that’s given to children with cancer. Many of their children’s health have improved since avoiding GMOs and related chemicals by eating organic which is a message Temple shared with shareholders.
Rachel Parent of Kids Right To Know, who began speaking out at 11 years old about GMOs.
She also and debated Kevin O’Leary from Shark Tank on CBC Television when she was 14, has inspired Canadians by her courage.
In addition, then comes grandmother, former school principal, holistic health practitioner, and Hawaiian community leader Beth Savitt. Beth presented a proposal from Andrew Behar of As You Sow asking Monsanto to disclose its lobbying activities. In Maui in 2014, Savitt’s Shaka Movement defeated Monsanto’s attempt to buy the residents of Maui’s votes by spending over 9 million dollars on a single county election. It was the largest amount ever spent per vote anywhere, and yet, Maui won a GMO Moratorium. Since then, the local judge has sided with Monsanto and denied the legal process.
In conclusion, John Harrington of Harrington Investments said “It’s truly amazing to me that Monsanto is allowed to continue endangering public health and safety.”
In 2019, GlobalNews.ca reports Paul Kernaleguen says regenerative agriculture has brought bees back to his farm.
“With the flowering species [of plants] we have now, you definitely see more,” he said.
He’s referring to the mixture of plants in his fields, near Birch Hills, Sask. Along with his partner, Erin Dancey, he now grows flowers like red clover, phacelia and sunflowers, along with barley, oats and peas they grow to feed their dairy cattle.
All moreover with regenerative agriculture. They said the practice has brought greater profits, efficiency and a higher bee population.
Regenerative agriculture, says Cover Crops Canada spokesperson Kevin Elmy, is designed to replenish “the biology in our soils.”
Then the Telegraph reports France took a radical step towards protecting the dwindling bee population. It’s the first country in Europe to ban all five pesticides researchers believe are killing off the insects.
So the move to ban the five so-called neonicotinoids has been hailed by beekeepers and environmentalists. However cereal and sugar beet farmers warn it could leave them all but defenseless. That’s in protecting valuable crops against other harmful insects.
By enforcing the blanket ban, France is going further than the European Union, which voted to outlaw the use of three neonicotinoids. They are:
clothianidin
imidacloprid
and thiamethoxam
That’s in crop fields starting on December 19.
France has also banned thiacloprid and acetamiprid too. This is not only outdoors but in greenhouses too.
Initially opposed, Britain now backs the less comprehensive EU ban. That’s certainly due to evidence supporting claims the chemicals contribute to “colony collapse disorder”, a mysterious phenomenon that has seen bee populations plummet by up to 90 per cent in some cases. Other potential causes are mites, viruses and fungi.
Finally, Forbes reporting Morgan Freeman, the actor, film director and philanthropist has added a new title to his name: Beekeeper. The 81-year-old celebrity decided to convert his 124-acre Mississippi ranch into a bee sanctuary.
Freeman’s foray into beekeeping began in 2014. That’s where he discussed his new hobby with Jimmy Fallon during The Tonight Show. Freeman had taken up beekeeping just a couple of weeks before appearing on the show. So he talked about his experience keeping bees. As well as the need to preserve and save wild bees for healthy environments.
As part of his interview, Freeman talked a bit about the motivation as to why he began beekeeping. ”There is a concerted effort for bringing bees back onto the planet. We do not realize that they are the foundation of the growth of the planet. Meaning the vegetation…”
So Freeman imported 26 bee hives from Arkansas to his ranch in Mississippi. There, Freeman also works to feed the bees sugar and water. He has also helped planting bee-friendly magnolia trees, lavender, clover and others.
In addition, Freeman said that he never wears a bee suit or a bee hat. As well as the bees haven’t stung him yet. He only feeds them and has no intention of harvesting honey or disrupting the beehives.
Trump Administration Lifts Ban On Bee-Killing Pesticides
The EPA has highlighted Colony Collapse Disorder as a primary cause for the decline of bees over the last five years. The continued decline of bee colonies can lead to a number of ecological and agricultural issues as bees play the role of a key pollinator for plants.
Last fall, the Trump Administration rolled back banson the use of bee-killing pesticides. The ban prevented the use of neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics). All which have been linked to declining wild bee populations around the world. So the combination of these pesticides and insect resistant GMO crops have led to widespread deaths of bee colonies.
Research, published in the journal Science, links the declining bee populations to a combination of parasites, pesticides and habitat loss. While there is no evidence that bees are going to become extinct anytime soon, the decline of bee populations will continue to have ripple effects on wild vegetation and agricultural crops around the world.
In conclusion and also besides of the many bees in New York City I talked about in my Earth Day segment with NYCMedia so please check it out.
Yet, Moby, the award-winning musician, DJ and activist. On his four-acre property atop the Hollywood Hills, he shares it with 30,000 bees. All that call it home. Here Moby offers simple, concrete actions for how you can reverse this trend and save our bees. “Bees are directly responsible for one in three bites of food we eat. We NEED them.” – Moby | Musician, DJ, Activist
Finally, to check out some of the other cool celebs with bee farms, click here! We cannot continue to allow for bee colony collapse disorder!
Sources: Creve Coeur, MO – Mom’s Across America, Telegraph and GlobalNews.ca and Forbes, Kindred Media and Bee Best INC