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Two contrasting stories, what is depicted in the video clearly illustrates what can be done with the right ‘will’. The story below shows why we need to find the right ‘will’, and fast!

The following article reveals the devastating and unprecedented impact that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide is having on the health of our soil, plants, animals, and human population. Monsanto’s Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers Human and Animal Health. It is no secret Roundup is used with gay abandon in Barbados.


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  1. I do not believe that we in the Caribbean are paying enough attention to what is happening (what has happened!) to our soil, therefore our foods, and in saying this, our health. The time has come NOW or it will be too late to get our Ministry of Agriculture to take a serious look at companies like Monsanto and what they produce. We, the people, need to ensure that our health is protected by saying “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!”. Bad enough we are allowing food imports from America that are proven to be devastating to our health. Bad enough that we are also importing products that we are embedding in our soil that will take years and years to get rid of, and plants grown in that soil that provide us with food we want to eat locally will also be carrying all manner of chemicals that will simply kills us, and if not us, certainly our children. AND WORSE ENOUGH is this new finding about Monsanto…read this article from top to bottom!!! If there is anyone reading this blog from the Ministry of Agriculture, please, please do us the people who believe in you a big favour because you really do love us, and STOP THE IMPORTATION OF ANYTHING FROM MONSANTO NOW. And if you do not love us enough to do it, perhaps you might consider how much love you have for your own family, you wife, your children, your grandchildren and their children’s children and do it for them…because it your decisions today, in the present, that will affect their future.


  2. Two contrasting stories…(1) clearly illustrate what can be done with the right “will”. (2) Why we need to find the rigjht “WILL”and fast.
    Personally I think the “WILL” has been lost to MONEY.
    Monsanto now rules; the ball is in MONSANTO’S court to make that decision, not the ordinary man; not even the Politician.
    THE ARTICLE ABOVE IS NOT ENTIRELY NEW.
    Some years ago I noted GM grain could cause cancer,research carried out in a recognized university. The reasearcher was advised not to publish his findings. He ignored those warnings and published his details. The researcher was dismissed and no one has heard from him since.(GM potatoes were fed to rats)
    Some years ago the Prince of Wales took up the plight of farmers in India who were committing suicide for some of the reasons above. A campaign to discredit the Prince began. Some MP’s took Monsanto’s side.
    When GM crops were first introduced into the UK, there were restrictions, I.E: a safe distance must be had to prevent contamination of crops by those not using GM seeds, because of sterility could spread to those non-GM seeds.
    Herbicides and insecticides are widely used throughout the world, some types have been discontinued but some remain on sale. If one takes a look in most stores selling such products in Barbados, it is easy to spot those which have been discontinued in some countries but are for sale in some shops.
    It takes less time and energy to spray than to weed and one has become accustomed to the easiest way.
    In Larger countries, some crops are sprayed using small aircrafts and the spray can travel much further. In Barbados, the method of ridding the land of weeds was by weeding; spraying is the norm.
    Take a drive out to the countryside and one can easily see a few people attending the land; men in white boots with the only protection against the spray. One wonders what will be the result later.
    What will be the state of our water in a few years time? Which Parish has the worse water in Barbados?
    It is not surprising to read such chemicals are having a negative affect on the population, human & plant!
    Many years ago Paw Paw trees could be seen growing in many parts of the country; they are now riddled with disease/blighted. Citrus trees, green beans to name a few.
    It is unthinkable now to have plants grown from seeds harvested from the year before. If they grow, disease soon sets in or the yeilds are less.
    The farmer is left to buy designer seeds and fertilizers to be able to make ends meet. Those farmers in India are committing suicide because they are forced to buy seeds and fertilizers every year.
    Is there a way back?
    I believe not!
    The Politicians in ‘the know’ permitted the greedy men to do what was/is in their best interest and not in the world’s interest.
    Do you know what you are consuming when eating and drinking….meat, like pork, beef, chicken, vegetables,soft drinks and in your own tap water?
    Like most goods, we must get use to designer foods, like it or not!
    Sorry, have to go; no time to correct mistakes.


  3. The video above shows what a family can do, and whilst I am not one for saying that we must all give up our jobs, and create and edible farm around us…the way these people live in the video above? if a quarter of what they are doing, we would do – life would be a better place here. Nothing wrong with greening with edible. And not just around homes.

    I once designed a restaurant and planted edible plants, placed local name and botanical names on each, so that when visitors or local children passed by, they could recognize the various fruits such as banana, pawpaw and herbs such as thyme, parsley etc. and figured that the restaurant would benefit from these plants too. Yes! This was in Barbados and I will not disclose where for obvious reasons… but let us say that to add insult to injury it is a government-run or government body-run area.

    When I first suggested planting food, not only around this particular restaurant but all over the complex, I was met with shock, horror and dismay “people will steal and eat the produce” I was told. Immediately a negative reaction. “So what?” was my reply…but that did not go down well either. “It is better to feed the people than to have them steal.” Well by then alarm systems had gone off big time and I guess I was considered a nut from then on….who knows and who cares! By the way I was not suggesting planting only food, but a good mixture of both ‘pretty’ and ‘functional’…even went as far as a Botanical Garden with a Herbs & Spice Section – beautiful large trees indigenous to the islands, and food. A green space eco-sustainable space to be enjoyed by all.

    As I had hoped, while we were putting the finishing touches on the restaurant building, visitors stopped, read the signs and I heard them remarking how wonderful, they had never seen a real banana plant before, and wow! look at the papaya.

    The restaurant finished, we handed over the keys, garden now actually producing and all. Within a week the plants were replaced by management of complex and perhaps even restaurant with non-edible “pretty” plants…the gazebo with passion fruit that was to climb the poles and make for a green fruity area? replaced with small pretty non-edible flowers. I have never been on those premises again. I was the one filled with shock, horror and dismay.

    I do believe that if just a quarter of the “cute exotic” plants we have on this island, just around government offices, around the private sector and around homes were turned into “cute exotic edible”, this alone could help the country tremendously…

    But right now….most importantly….and particularly because the land mass of Barbados is so small…the soil requires help and Monsanto needs to be kept out. They can use their terrorist ways in the US but surely they can do Barbados nothing if it decides to ban them from selling here…I mean, I guess the most they could do is not allow us to import other American goods and that would certainly work in our favour especially if it is to do with food.

    To say that it is too late…is NOT good enough. It is never too late. BAN the products and begin the cleaning up process slowly – it can be done. It does not take a rocket scientist to know how to do it…information is available from our own organic farmers (like Mr. Hunte), certainly the Ministry of Agriculture (although I heard from a farmer that one of their officers told him to use imported pesticides – how true that is I do not know…) and if you believe that the internet is not a wealth of information on this subject, then you are plain old silly. IICA Barbados also have some answers…I just finished a little ‘booklet’ on Goodfellow Farms in The Bahamas – very successful micro-green farm…they have through various systems basically ‘ cleaned’ and continue to ‘clean’ their soil…composting etc etc. as best they can. But at least they’ve started. The Bahamas used seaweed, fish heads in the old days to put nutrients back into the soil…until they realized the importance of seaweed to the sea floor but certainly seaweed washed up on shore can be used…today there are more modern methods but hey! think of all the fish waste that takes place in our fishing industry….could that not be used somehow. I am not an agriculturalist but I can use me head a bit when looking for answers as to how to revamp my soil.

    At the beginning of the book that will be available through IICA soon (I do believe) I state “I have compiled contents in this manner so the readers can understand the entire picture of Goodfellow Farms. They will have a personal interaction with its owner, Mr. Ian Goodfellow and I end the report with some delicious recipes of the food I was privileged to taste at Goodfellows – one of the big reasons for their success.
    This method of documentation ensures information with easy reading for all. Renewed hope for the sustainability of farming in our islands is the goal. This is not an in depth clinical report but a true story of success, one that indicates clearly what the land can do for you.”

    I rest my case…as I move right along worrying about how soon I can get Barbados Bu’n-Bu’n – a culinary tour on the market. Sponsorship has been difficult to achieve…we do not consider food to be of as much importance to sponsor forever and forever as compared to a one-night ragga-ragga fete…but there you are…it is really all about starting a mind change, simple as dat. We had it before, good food practices from the farm to the table. We went wrong. Now time to go back…and we CAN do it. Bit by bit. Not a total answer but if we do not start, we will just simply die. Imagine watching one of your great-grandchildren at the age of 6 dying of cancer in front of you, slowly and painfully. Yes! It could happen to all of us. START THE HEALING PROCESS BY GETTING RID OF MONSANTO IMPORTS INTO THIS ISLAND.


  4. @Paradox…I hear you loud and clear. And I agree with all you say. Except the part that we HAVE TO EAT DESIGNER FOODS. That we have no choice and better get used to it. I perhaps live in a fantasy world but that I just do not believe.

    But if it has to be so, surely cleaning up our soil, going totally organic, will at least help, even if by making a tiny dent in the health of our foods?? And again…surely getting rid of Monsanto can only be a big start???

    I am just a food writer…I am not a farmer…but I do read that even in the US some people are standing up against the big guys and winning…so why can we not do this in this little tiny island…


  5. It is believed the four estates of the realm have to work togeter to ensure a harmonious, rewarding and productive society.

    First we have the Church, what role are they playing?

    We have what use to be the monarchy or nobility which today we can be replaced with government. Are we happy with the role it is playing?

    We have the media, Fourth Estate, again, are we happy?

    Lastly we have the third estate, the people.

    All have to work together!


  6. we the people drop the ball when we fell for the hype in believing faster is better.Theproblem we now face is that the new generation is not interested in farming. It takes lots of money to stand up against the big guys and once these big companies set up shop and see great profits it is not an easy task to defeat them. The only option the consuer have is not to purchase the product and when it comes to food we all got to eat. So we are at square one again.


  7. Monsanto is a prime example that the the documentary “The Corporation” got it right. The documentary released a few years ago (along with a book by the same name) claimed that while corporations might be made into “persons” by our legal systems, by their very nature they are, in effect, persons with the characteristics of a psychopath. In short we created and are still creating our own monsters who will eventually destroy us – move over Dr. Frankenstein.

    In the mid-1800s the corporation emerged as a legal “person.” Imbued with a “personality” of pure self-interest, the next 100 years saw the corporation’s rise to dominance. The corporation created unprecedented wealth but at what cost? The remorseless rationale of “externalities” (as Milton Friedman explains, the unintended consequences of a transaction between two parties on a third) is responsible for countless cases of illness, death, poverty, pollution, exploitation and lies.

    THE PATHOLOGY OF COMMERCE: CASE HISTORIES

    To assess the “personality” of the corporate “person,” a checklist is employed, using diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization and the standard diagnostic tool of psychiatrists and psychologists. The operational principles of the corporation give it a highly anti-social “personality”: it is self-interested, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful; it breaches social and legal standards to get its way; it does not suffer from guilt, yet it can mimic the human qualities of empathy, caring and altruism. Four case studies, drawn from a universe of corporate activity, clearly demonstrate harm to workers, human health, animals and the biosphere. Concluding this point-by-point analysis, a disturbing diagnosis is delivered: the institutional embodiment of laissez-faire capitalism fully meets the diagnostic criteria of a “psychopath.”

    http://www.thecorporation.com/index.cfm?page_id=312

    At the page linked above, you can use the link in their sidebar “Watch Video” to view the documentary on Youtube in 23 episodes.

    A very telling summary of Monsanto’s long history of making their corporate profits off of human misery and suffering is here: http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-firms-mobile/10595-monsanto-a-history


  8. Quoting Paradox “It is unthinkable now to have plants grown from seeds harvested from the year before. If they grow, disease soon sets in or the yeilds are less.”

    Not quite. Eating some local cucumbers right now grown form local seed. The quality, quantity, and flavour are excellent. The keep well to. As a matter of fact the flavour, keeping quality, and quantity are better thatn those on Monsanto’s cucumbers. Except that Monsanto’s cucumbers wil bear in 6 weeks and the local cucumbers take 12 weeks before bearing, but the local cucumbers will keep on bearing for a much longer period. On the whole I think that the local cucumbers are a better deal as they are better adapted to this climate. I’ve saved some seeds for next growing season.


  9. The paw-paw problem likely has nothing to do with Monsanto. The problem is very likely caused by a virus which is carried by slugs and snails.

    If there are no slugs or snails around you will notice that paw-paw trees do very well.


  10. The price of sugar is on the up, a pity we continue to have declining yield.


  11. Barbadians have chosen NOT to grow food.

    All the long talk about the evils of Monsanto does not change the fact that Bajans will not stick a fork in the ground.

    From the tenantry to the heights, the land around the house can grow fruit and vegetables.

    Ever tell wunna about when I was too lazy to cut the grass in my backyard, pelt the innards of a pumpkin in the grass and a couple months later, stump my toe on a 4 pound pumpkin. There were a dozen more on that vine.

    The Fact is Barbados has an effective Ministry of agriculture to support farmers and kitchen gardeners but wunna like cutting style in SuperCentre and Emerald city.


  12. For years I’ve been saying that these chemicals are destroying the health of barbadians. When I was a child my father did very little spraying, weeding was the inthing then, today all I can see as I pass a cultivated field is workers either with a spray can on their back or a worker walking behind a tractor that laden with some chemicals. What is interesting is that some of these imported chemicals have in bold print FOR EXPORT ONLY. To made the matter worse, many farmers or agricultural workers believe that yhey get a better result from the chemical when they use a stronger dose that stated in the directions, this is extremely dangerous, in some cases it is simply that the worker can’t read and he/she is doing a hit or miss. Barbados at present is having a problem with contamination of our water supply and one of the main causes is agricultural chemicals due to the constant and the
    indiscriminate use of these Chemicals. I know a farmer that sprayed his field with Roundup so often that the seedlings now do as was just mentioned have a sudden death, if you see the lot, it is a beautiful clean area but dead or deadly. no weeds would grow. what is frightening is the damage this is causing to the consumer, either by eating oversprayed crops or drinking chemical tainted water. Do you realise the large amount of young people that are suffering from or have died from diseases that were attributed to old poeple?


  13. I occasionally use roundup but will not be purchasing any after reading the info on this blog. I wonder if the government is testing for pesticides and herbicides in our drinking water? And if they are doing this , what are the results. I am alarmed at the indiscriminate use of these chemicals . I used to have monarch butterflies in my garden but for the past two years I haven’t seen one. This worries me because these insects are the first indicators that all is not well in the environment .



  14. For those still on dialup, a partial transcript to above video provided by Brasschecktv.com:

    Total War: Agri-business style: Coming to a country near you (transcript)

    My father passed this farm down to me.
    Back then, farming used to be affordable.
    Since the invasion, prices have skyrocketed.
    I don’t know why.

    ==

    So many farmers have stopped farming – they can’t afford to any more.
    Now, the price of fertilizers is high.
    And seeds have become five times more expensive.
    With all the imported crops here now, farming doesn’t even break even.

    ==

    I’ve been working here for 22 years.
    Before the invasion, most of the produce came from Iraq.
    It used to be 100% Iraq. We imported less than 25 of our fruits and vegetables.
    We only imported apples bananas and apples. That’s it.
    There is very little Iraqi produce here. Less than 25% of the produce here is Iraqi.
    Farmers tells us that prices don’t even cover their costs.

    ==

    Wheat, rice, soybeans and other crops aren’t grown here any more because of the imports.
    In short – the costs of farming aren’t worth it.

    ==

    Even if I lose money on the farm, I will spend my retirement savings to keep it alive.
    The land is precious – even if we are losing money, we won’t give it up.

    [End transcript]

    Before the war, 97% of Iraqi farmers produced their own seeds.

    After the way, as the result of “Order 81” that became illegal.

    Iraq, one of the world’s breadbaskets, was food independent before the war, but now is not even remotely able to feed itself.

    Half of its arable land has done fallow due to failure and destruction of its irrigation systems.

    Cheap food imports and rising input costs (seeds, fuel, fertilizer – all supplied by the West) have ruined the economics of local farming.

    Just about everything – short of cold blooded murder – the US has done to Iraqi farmers it is doing to its farmers and home.

    Now the corporate controlled Federal government would like to get into the business of regulating your backyard garden.

    http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/1022.html


  15. islandgal246
    I can tell you that the BWA is very concerned by the level of chemicals in the drinking water supplied in Barbados. There are a number of other concerns but the greatest is the percentage of chemicals found in the water, at times it borders on the unacceptable level, maybe we’ll wait until there is a outbreak of some disease to do something about it; the relevant authorities know about it.


  16. @The Scout: “I can tell you that the BWA is very concerned by the level of chemicals in the drinking water supplied in Barbados.

    Please substantiate and document that claim.

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