November 2008 to December 2009
Following are the contents of some of our recent issues. Feel free to download the whole issue by clicking on the icon. If the articles pique your interest, and you'd like to see more, please subscribe!
Please Note: We make each issue of The Ram's Horn available for free download as it appears in print. Whether or not you want a paper copy mailed to you, we invite you to make a contribution to our research and production costs - the regular subscription is $25 CDN per year (10 issues) plus extra postage to addresses outside Canada, and you can add $25 or more to support us as a Patron.#269, December 2009 TOC
Food and Population - it's not that there are too many of "them", it's that we are systematically robbing them of the capacity to feed themselves
Eliminating Diversity - in paper for printing, seeds, dairy ...
Ecological Absurdity - shipping hay from Ontario to Saudi Arabia!
Climate Change - in the midst of the Copenhagen meetings, looking at the relation between sustainable agriculture and climate; also: The Angry Mermaid award goes to Monsanto
More on Monsanto:The real cost of GE seeds; A Questionable Legacy (Norman Borlaug as the spiritual father of Monsanto)
Who's Who in Biotech Seeds - a current list of the main players
Fish in Your Garden - Growing Power in Milwaukee has a unique and provocative urban agriculture set-up which includes raising fish in the inner city
Big Sky and small farms - Saskatchewan's largest pork producer folds its tents, leaving little for its farmer-suppliers
Tory spending makes priorities clear - cuts to food inspection staff and environmental programs#268: October-November 2009 TOC
Climate Leadership? - PM Harper seems determined to do nothing to address the world's greatest crisis
More pork, more contradictions - The pork producers' aid program is not likely to help much
Three Sisters and Friends - Henry Lickers draws out lessons from traditional Indigenous agriculture
Half-Baked Potato Turned Back - South Africa has rejected GM potatoes, citing inadequate testing
The Meaning of Monoculture - McDonald's governs the varieties commercial potato farmers must grow
Dealing with distancing and energy - A grain CSA is shipping in sailboats across Kootenay Lake in BC
In other shipping news - US soy is turned away from European ports on reports of GM contamination
Maui bans GE Taro - Citing the cultural importance of taro, Maui rejects GE
Big Meat - More mergers, this time JBS SA (Brazil) taking over US Pilgrim's Pride
Meat Safety from Apples - A new edible film is claimed to stop pathogenic bacteria on meat surfaces
India suspends approval of GE brinjal - A GM brinjal (eggplant) has been delayed
Electronic vs. paper - Subscribers can choose either (or both) versions of the Ram's Horn.
Students Wanted - by the organic agriculture curriculum at the University of Guelph
Lobbying - Immense spending by pharmaceutical industry#267: September 2009 TOC
The Tyranny of Rights: introducing Brewster's new book
Roundup Kills -- weeds, and much more: new research shows that the so-called inert ingredients in Roundup are even more harmful than the glyphosate
Publish and ... :Argentinian scientist is viciously attacked for exposing effects of glyphosate spray on people
More and more: more soy, more glyphosate
Carry On Regardless: Dow and Monsanto continue to get approval of their new GE crops
Smarter Than They Look: apparently lambs can self-medicate
"Mother Nature Is A Bad Person": according to persistent organic deniers Denis and Alex Avery
Review of interesting work by The Nature Institute on the Goethean approach to science: much more respectful!
Spreading Triffid: 8 years ago we reported Alan McHughen's flamboyantly self-serving release of GE flax; now Canadian farmers stand to lose their most inportant markets
Cargill: information webs; bioplastics; attitude to organic and sustainable agriculture
Tapping into Bottled Water: more on Nestle's attempts to brand bottles as sustainable
Get Rich Quick: 35% return promised on investment in agricultural land.#266: August 2009 TOC
Not Quite the Whole Hog: analysis of the Government's bail-out of the failing hog industry
Look But Don't Touch: Scientific American calls for open research on patented varieties
Fighting Food Terror: Kerala (India) State Ag. Minister calls for defense against 'greedy corporates'
and Supporting Organics: Brazilian Ministry of Ag booklet critiquing GM is distributed by civil society
We indulge in Schadenfreude: as Nestle's bottled water business declines
Making Promises Sound Like Facts: Washington University teams up with Gates foundation to save Africa again
Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella Recall: Cargill subsidiary BPI has to recall beef due to salmonella, also faces animal-handling charges
Consumers lose trust: IBM survey reports US consumers do not trust food companies
New GM Corn Not Tested: Globe & Mail report on "SmartStax" from Monsanto/Dow
Monsanto Business Plan: Keep Roundup prices high despite market share loss, look to GM seeds as profit centre
Cokecolonization: Coke doubles investment in China, its third-largest market
Colonization by Monsanto: teaching Indian farmers how to go into debt
Myth of Enhanced Yields: New study shows Bt Cotton performs poorly in India; company blames bad weather
No Yields: Colombian cotton growers face huge crop losses, want to sue Monsanto
Fake Real Food or Real Fake Food: analysis of Hellman's "Eat Real Local"
website and campaign
Improvements?: Monsanto and Dole are working on 'improving' vegetable varieties#265: June 2009 TOC
Prison Farms: Corrections Canada is determined to close six prison farms which provide training and fresh food to the prisoners
Ontario Organic Turkey: outcry over a new regulation forcing turkey farmers to keep their birds in confinement
How Sweet It Is: Cargill wins at every turn with natural and artificial sweeteners
Roundup Time: Chinese herbicides are cutting into Monsanto's profits
Love the Language!: Monsanto describes Monsanto
A peoples' victory over Monsanto: South Africa: an environmental group does not have to pay court costs in suit against Monsanto
Labour-intensive farming boosts development: conclusions of an"Agribusiness Forum" in South Africa
Outside the Box: Venezuelan President Chavez disrespects Tetra Pak's patents
On the menu: Brazilian Amazon forest beef or Canadian grain-fed
(feed-lot) beef: not much of a choice, is it?
Uncivilized Behaviour from Dow: Dow is pushing 2,4D in Brazil -- a compound which is was part of the infamous 'Agent Orange'
GMO Corn & Soy: Negligible Yield Increases: a new independent study shows that genetic engineering doesn't really increase yields#264: May 2009 TOC
Silencing Spring: Canadian government has taken 25 years to act against a toxic chemical
Serious Seeds: Patrick Steiner writes about the increase in independent seed business
Don't blame the pigs!: Cathy Holtslander explains how factory farming is the clear cause of diseases such as swine flu
Dying Hog Industry Asks for a Billion: Paul Beingessner describes the decline in pig farming after decades of financial disaster
Billionaires' greed: CEOs continue to rip off immense compensations
Kerala labourers return from Dubai: the loss of migrant jobs threatens poor communities
Full Cost-Accounting: Corn-based ethanol uses 50 gallons of water per mile driven
Meat Packers Update: Competition Bureau has no trouble with only two corporations in meat packing
Germany Bans Cultivation of Monsanto GM Maize: courts take the precautionary approach
Imposing a Business Model: AGRA is described as a way to build agri-business in Africa, not sustainable food production
Fumigating Argentina: the use of glyphosate on GE soy is creating a health catastrophe in the rural sector
"Transgenic treadmill": Glyphosate resistant johnsongrass is forcing more dependence on agri-technology
Brazil's Coffee Crop Threatened: climate change on top of the economic crisis will reduce Brazil's agriculture capacity#263: March/April 2009 TOC
Signs of spring: and hope in the resurgence of interest and action to create a sustainable local food system#262: February 2009 TOC
Three Blind Mice: Sarah Martin explores the three giants in the institutional foodservice business
#261: January 2009 TOC
Growth, Energy and Food: Brewster reflects on distancing in energy policy#260: November 2008 TOC
Reclaim the Food System! - Cathleen reports on the National Assembly of Food Secure Canada The Hunger Count - Food Banks Canada reports steady numbers at food banks, more groups serving hot meals