WTFFDA?

Yesterday, the United States was totally hosed by one of its own taxpayer-funded bureaucracies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cloned animals (and their products, such as milk) to be allowed into America's food chain... and of course, without adequate testing (unless you consider testing partially funded by the same biotech firms that produce cloned animals as adequate or impartial). Plus, the FDA went against the wishes of the U.S. Senate (i.e. Congress), who passed a bill requiring a rigorous and careful review of the human health and economic impacts of allowing cloned food into America's food supply by a vote of 79 to 14. And, they of course went against the will of the American people; according to the Center for Food Safety:

Recent opinion polls show the majority of Americans do not want milk or meat from cloned animals in their food. A December 2006 poll by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology found that nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers were uncomfortable with animal cloning. A national survey conducted this year by Consumers Union found that 89 percent of Americans want to see cloned foods labeled, while 69 percent said that they have concerns about cloned meat and dairy products in the food supply. A recent Gallup Poll reported that more than 60 percent of Americans believe that it is immoral to clone animals, while the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology found that a similar percentage say that, despite FDA approval, they won't buy milk from cloned animals.

For further information, read Not Ready for Prime Time: FDA's Flawed Approach to Assessing the Safety of Food from Cloned Animals.

Da seedz

Okay, just got my spring 2008 seed list together. I'm trying to consolidate to only three (quality) suppliers, to save money on shipping. Plus, I have local suppliers of Wyatt & Quarles seeds for anything else. This year, I'm ordering from Baker's Creek, Seed Savers, and Seeds of Change.

As of right now, my list is:
Snow's Fancy Pickling cucumber, Riesentraube tomato, Mary Washington asparagus (seed), Thai Red pepper, Munchener Bier radish, Bowling Red okra, Merveille des Quatre Saisons lettuce, Bloomsdale Long Standing spinach, Blue Lake bean (bush), Jalapeno pepper, Cocozelle zucchini, Yellow crookneck squash, Buttercup winter squash, Roquette Arugula,
Mayflower bean (pole), Amish Deer Tongue lettuce, Speckled lettuce, Christmas lima bean, Wenk's Yellow Hots pepper, and maybe Potimarron winter squash.

I still have to figure out what kind of broccoli seed to get, and what type of Latin-American pepper.

I saved seed from my okra (Clemson Spineless) and corn (Stowell's) last year, so I'll just replant those. Plus, I have other various seeds I didn't use last year I'll plant again this year (mainly carrots and radish). And, I'll purchase tomato (a paste type, a striped type, and Cherokee Purple) transplants locally.

C'mon spring!