Tag: food

Pentagon funds alternative meat protein from fungus for military food to meet sustainability goals

The Pentagon is funding alternatives to meat protein, which includes using fungi for food for U.S. service members as part of the White House’s sustainable bioeconomy agenda.

The Department of Defense is focusing on investments into fungi protein as an alternative to animal protein, after initially seeking to fund lab-grown meat earlier this year in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. Critics have pushed back on such initiatives, arguing that they are negatively affecting the military.

In November, the DOD announced that it had given 34 awards totaling over $60 million to bioindustrial firms under the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program (DBIMP). $1.38 million was given to The Fynder Group “to plan a bioproduction facility for fungi-based proteins that can be incorporated into military ready-to-eat meals.”

The program is part of President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14081, “Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy,” which is “aimed at bolstering America’s bioeconomic strengths while helping the Department achieve advanced defense capabilities,” according to the DOD.

The projects that were awarded funding from the DOD program “will be eligible to receive follow-on ‘build’ awards providing access to up to $100 million to construct U.S.-based bioindustrial manufacturing facilities,” the DOD announcement added.

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Global Food Prices Are Entering Very Dangerous Territory

What in the world is going to happen if global food supplies continue to get even tighter?  During the second half of this year global food prices have been surging.  A “perfect storm” of factors is suppressing production all over the planet, and meanwhile worldwide demand for food just keeps rising.  Needless to say, higher prices hurt those at the bottom of the economic food chain the worst.  Food prices have become a major issue in country after country, and if current trends continue it won’t be too long before widespread unrest breaks out.  Here in the United States, the cost of living is absolutely eviscerating the middle class.  If a way cannot be found to stabilize food prices, we will be seeing a tremendous amount of anger and frustration in 2025 and beyond.

Last week, it was being reported that global food prices had risen to “the highest level in 19 months”…

The world food price index, compiled by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to track the most globally traded food commodities, increased to 127.5 points last month from a revised 126.9 points in October, the highest level in 19 months and up 5.7% from a year ago.

The vegetable oil index jumped 7.5% above levels seen a month ago and 32% above those seen a year earlier, driven by concerns over lower-than-expected palm oil output due to excessive rainfall in Southeast Asia.

Clearly, things are not heading in the right direction.

But what could be coming next is potentially even more alarming.

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Study reveals shocking levels of cancer-linked pesticides in imported food – and the fruit that’s most affected

Analysts have raised the alarm about potentially harmful pesticides linked to cancer and infertility that are found in fruit like satsumas and oranges imported into Britain.

Campaign group Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) used Government testing data to show 46 pesticides with links to cancer had been detected on produce imports to Britain as of the end of last year.

This was more than double the 19 such pesticides found in British produce. 

Similar results were found for pesticides linked to fertility and damage to the nervous system, with twice and thrice as many such chemicals found on imports compared to British fare.

By food group, ‘soft citrus’ — which includes satsumas, tangerines and clementines — had the highest change of having a cocktail of multiple pesticides present, with 96 per cent of samples tested returning positive.

This was followed by oranges and lemons which had multiple pesticides detected in in 95 and 89 per cent of samples.

All three types of fruit contained as many as nine different pesticides — and all of these samples were imported from South Africa.  

For individual fruits, grapes from Lebanon that had the most pesticides of any item, with 13 substances detected on one sample analysed. 

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Climate alarmists score an own goal: Bovaer’s major route of excretion is CO2

The drug Bovaer which is described as a feed additive for dairy cows to “reduce emissions” has been disclosed as consisting of three ingredients: silicon dioxide, propylene glycol and 3-nitrooxypropanol (“3-NOP”).

Writing for UK Column, Dr. Mike Williams takes a brief look at the studies done on 3-NOP to establish if it is “safe and effective.”

The European Food Safety Authority’s (“EFSA’s”) Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (“FEEDAP”) concludes that the genotoxicity potential of 3-NOP cannot be ruled out, indicating a potential to cause cancer, he writes.  3-NOP’s impact on humans is unknown as it remains untested.

3-NOP was found to induce chromosome damage and gene mutations and an increase in benign gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumours in studies on female rats.  Adverse effects on fertility and reproduction were also seen in rats, including severe reduction of spermatogenesis in males and failure to become pregnant in females at high doses.

Although studies show that 3-NOP does not transmit in dosed animals’ milk, the breakdown product of 3-NOP, 3-nitrooxypropionic acid (“NOPA”), was detected in cow’s plasma and milk, and is assumed to be responsible for testicular toxicity.

In a twist which shows climate alarmists’ plans to be self-defeating, the use of 3-NOP in cows also results in increased hydrogen emissions and the major route of excretion is as carbon dioxide (CO2).

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FDA May Move To Ban Red Dye 3 from Food

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may move to ban artificial dye Red 3, otherwise known as erythrosine, from foods within the next few weeks.

Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for human foods at the agency, told a Senate meeting that the FDA is in the process of deciding a ban, in response to a petition.

“With Red 3, we have a petition in front of us to revoke the authorization board, and we’re hopeful that in the next few weeks we’ll be acting on that petition,” Jones said.

Red 3 is a colouring derived from petroleum that is widely used in foods and drinks, although it has been banned in cosmetics since 1990 after studies suggested it caused cancer in lab animals.

“There is simply no reason for this chemical to be in our food except to entice and mislead consumers by changing the color of their food so it looks more appealing,” said Rep. Frank Pallone in a statement, in response to the news.

“With the holiday season in full swing where sweet treats are abundant, it is frightening that this chemical remains hidden in these foods that we and our children are eating.”

Red 3 has been a target of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been nominated as the next head of Health and Human Services by president-elect Trump.

Kennedy has vowed to clean up the food supply, the reform the system of food-additive regulation and ensure independence between regulators and industry.

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USDA Orders Raw Milk Testing Under Guise Of Bird Flu Amid War On Small Farms

Nationwide demand for raw milk has never been higher, as out-of-control bureaucrats in their ivory towers in Washington, DC, exploit bird flu outbreaks in dairy herds to financially crush small farms while ensuring that large-scale farms owned by mega corporations, which produce questionable/unhealthy food (hence America’s obesity crisis), remain in control of the nation’s food supply chain.

The latest overreach in the war on raw milk comes as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ordered dairy farmers to work with the federal agency to test for bird flu (H5N1).

On Friday, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote in a statement, “This new milk testing strategy will build on those steps to date and will provide a roadmap for states to protect the health of their dairy herds.”

“Among many outcomes, this will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide,” Vilsack said.

The new testing mandate gives the federal government yet another foothold in controlling the nation’s milk supply and moves one step closer to banning raw milk, all under the guise of combating “bird flu.”

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‘Unconscionable’: EPA to Only Partially Ban Pesticide Known to Harm Developing Babies

The long and winding regulatory road for a pesticide known to be harmful to developing babies took another turn on Monday as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it was planning to only partially ban the insecticide chlorpyrifos in farming.

Under pressure from powerful agricultural industry interests and ordered by a federal court to consider the factors raised by the farming groups in a legal petition, the EPA said it would continue to allow chlorpyrifos to be used by farmers growing 11 crops, including apples, asparagus, citrus, peaches, strawberries, wheat, soybeans and others, despite evidence that the pesticide is associated with “neurodevelopmental effects” that can impair the normal development of children.

Other uses in farming would be banned, the agency said.

In the most recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Pesticide Residue Monitoring Report, chlorpyrifos was the 11th most frequently found pesticide in human food samples out of 209 different pesticides detected by FDA testing.

“EPA continues to prioritize the health of children,” Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said in a statement.

“This proposed rule is a critical step forward as we work to reduce chlorpyrifos in or on food and to better protect people, including infants and children, from exposure to chemicals that are harmful to human health.”

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GMO Corn, Glyphosate Pose Unacceptable Health Risks, New Scientific Analysis Shows

A new scientific analysis prepared by CONAHCYT, Mexico’s National Council for Humanities, Science and Technology, argues there are unacceptable health risks for Mexican people who consume genetically modified (GM) corn and glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide.

The 200-page document with 1,200 references — posted here for the first time in English — underpins Mexico’s 2023 decree to restrict the use of GM corn in tortillas and other minimally processed corn products, and to phase out the use of glyphosate.

The U.S. challenged those policies as unfair trade practices under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). A decision in that case is expected imminently.

Whatever the ruling, Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo has said her government will not allow the cultivation of GM corn.

Sheinbaum Pardo also recently announced plans to try to place GM corn restrictions in Mexico’s Constitution; “This is the best defense we have for biodiversity as well as for our health,” she said.

Mexico’s stand for food sovereignty and the scientific evidence they gathered to support their case have worldwide relevance, as nations across the Global South grapple with seed laws that would open the doors to GM foods.

It also comes at a time when U.S. consumers are losing faith in the safety of our food supply, according to a recent Gallup poll.

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Arla’s Bovaer food additive is not food, it is a drug

The UK Food Standards Agency is insisting Bovaer is “safe.”  A spokesman told MailOnline: “Milk from cows given Bovaer, a feed additive used to reduce methane emissions, is safe to drink.”

On Monday, The Standard said,  “On 26 November, Arla announced a new project that it hopes will cut the UK’s methane emissions.  Methane is a greenhouse gas and contributes to climate change … The initiative is part of Arla’s wider commitment to reduce the environmental impact of its dairy production. The organisation is aiming to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.”

Using the excuse “to reduce methane emissions” and “CO2 emissions” and then tying it to Agenda 2030’s deadline of 2030, should raise an immediate red flag to anyone who has done even a little research in the last few years. 

There is no anthropogenic climate change crisis, and, as we mentioned in our article last week, methane is an important part of the biogenic carbon cycle.  As we all know from primary school lessons, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the elixir of life, supporting plants since the world began and making virtually all life on Earth possible.

The whole false anthropogenic climate change narrative should have disintegrated in 2009 when the Climategate emails were released.  But such is the determination, and money, of those who want to keep the UN’s agenda alive.

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Bovaer: What is the cattle feed additive and why is it leading to shoppers pouring milk down the toilet?

Shoppers have threatened to boycott three major supermarkets over their participation in a new trial to add a methane-suppressing supplement into cow feed.

Arla Foods, which owns the UK’s biggest dairy co-operative, announced on 26 November it was going to start using the supplement.

The initiative is aimed at tackling climate-heating methane emissions produced by cows during digestion.

Arla said it will work alongside Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco to trial the use of the feed additive known as Bovaer across 30 British farms.

But the announcement has since been heavily criticised, with swathes of British shoppers threatening to boycott all three supermarkets and Arla brands, especially Lurpak butter.

Arla’s X post announcing the trial has been viewed more than five million times and gained 13,000 comments.

Videos on TikTok also showed some people throwing tubs of Lurpak in the bin, while others poured cartons of Arla Cravendale milk down the sink and down the toilet.

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