Food Genetics – More Talking Points
(December 5, 2018) In the previous article I went through some of the talking points advanced by supporters of privatization under the “Seed Value Creation/Seed Synergy” consultations. I also posted a useful background article by a friend and colleague. In order to frighten farmers much has been made of the fact the Harper government went on a destructive rampage at Agriculture and...
Read MoreEnd of Wheat Board marks end of frontier values of cooperation and equality
(August 1, 2017) The end of the Canadian Wheat Board five years ago certainly proves that unregulated capitalism works very effectively for the powerful and well organized. Declining numbers and increasing debt show it does not work for farmers. The CWB was a hybrid organization providing farmers with collective bargaining power, a professional standards association, and a world-wide reputation...
Read MoreLooming problems in antibiotics a warning for plant breeding
(January 19, 2017) I had a great-aunt who only lived for nine days in 1919. Like so many children and young women in the age before antibiotics she was killed by a simple bacterium that can now be cured with a short round of antibiotics. From the 1930s onward those antibiotics were developed by dozens of private companies driven by a profit motive usually provided by government procurements to...
Read MoreCanola model costs more, delivers less
(November 25, 2015) Last week I was heading to town and saw my neighbour’s two combines and a truck out in the field straight combining some standing canola. This is a relatively new practice and doing so next to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains near the end of November certainly says something about climate change and so-called technological progress. In this case it is claimed...
Read MoreBurning Bridges to the Future
Ottawa book-burners hit Lethbridge Research Station (August 25/15) The now systematic burning of scientific libraries by Ottawa over the past three years can no longer be seen as just near-sighted policy. It has to be recognized for what it is: the active sabotage of our publically financed research and development capacity by people who do not value or understand knowledge in the public...
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