GMO Mouse Testicals

Barreling down the road, we take some feedback, touch on healthcare deform, lament the cost and extent of repairing our house, and scare the hell out of you with a discussion on genetic modification in the food supply.

Lots of Links for this show…

Correction! – It was not a fish gene that was used to create roundup ready plants, It was a type of Agrobacterium

Doctors Urge Non-GMO diets
Genetically Modified Organisms and Biological Risks (PDF)
GMO’s Actually Reduce Crop Yield
125,000 dead – GM Crops create ‘Suicide Belt’ in India
Effects of GMO Corn on Mammalian Health

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Music: James Larson, Gaia Consort
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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Proposed changes to the city ordinance dealing with the keeping of agricultural animals on city properties has agitated bee and chicken keepers.

Burgh Bees, a 375-member nonprofit, has put out a “call to action” via e-mail for attendance at a public hearing before the city planning commission at 2 p.m. Feb. 16 “to show how many beekeepers and beekeeper supporters there are” in the city. The hearing is at 200 Ross St., Downtown.

Legal wording currently is confusing and leaves room for abuse of privilege, city officials have said. But bee and chicken raisers say the proposed changes could create unintended ill-effects.

The hearing is the public’s chance to offer input, said Joanna Doven, spokeswoman for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

“We support urban farms and groups like Burgh Bees,” she said, “but we have to make sure we are balancing their interests with the safety needs and concerns of other residents.

“There has been a disconnect between what is and isn’t allowed, so we need an ordinance that clearly outlines how we should proceed.”

Under current law, residents must get a variance to raise chickens on properties of less than 5 acres or if their lots don’t allow 200 feet between the coop and a property line, but it’s vague as to whether a five-animal limit means pets are included. In addition, enforcement is driven by complaints.

A proposed 15-foot setback from any property line and 2,500-square-foot minimum per hive would in effect ban beekeeping in many of the city’s dense neighborhoods, “where our members have been safely keeping bees for years,” said Meredith Grelli, founder and director of Burgh Bees.

Full Article – http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10039/1034293-53.stm

You know, there are plenty of other places where ordinances allowing backyard poultry have been introduced, and I’ve yet to hear anything about declining property values. Nada. Zip. (And I actually keep up on that sort of stuff)

You can’t tell me feeding a stupid chicken is going to cost less than buying a dozen eggs at the store…they’re a dollar at Wal-mart,” said Van Gorp. “If you don’t like your neighbor in the first place, now they’re keeping chickens, it might the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

Obviously, these people just don’t get it. People don’t keep chickens because they’re trying to save money. They do it to know where their food comes from or they do it because they want to live a more sustainable life, among many other reasons.

“It’s going to make it more difficult for buyers to find the house they want, and sellers to sell their homes,” said Radman.

Last I checked, this is one of the most flooded real estate markets in recent history. People are having no problems whatsoever finding houses.

Show me the proof.

Full Article Here

This is the actual statement (PDF Format)

Arrgh. These guys kill me. I guess they would rather have these chickens in boxes so small they can’t stand up or packed into chicken houses ear to ear. Backyard poultry is better all the way around. The chickens live a better and healthier life and you completely localize a food source.

The best argument is that killing chickens traumatizes onlooking children. I suppose that having a kid know where his food comes from is now a form of trauma.

How did we get to this point??

Horse Nuzzles

A short one today. I take some feedback, talk about big brother and how to deal with taxation on your hobby farm, and I even give you some politically correct holiday greetings.

IRS Publication 535 (PDF Format 1.4 meg)

Music: James Larson, Gaia Consort
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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Full Article Here

BARRE TOWN – When it comes to Kathy Rubalcaba’s chickens, the eggs definitely came first. Then came her battles with the town, which the East Barre woman says she’s been fighting ever since the first few of them hatched about 18 months ago.

Rubalcaba’s struggles will continue tonight when the town’s selectboard considers the case of a chicken that reportedly flew the coop and a rooster that allegedly crowed at the crack of dawn.

Both birds belong to Rubalcaba, and both were the subject of separate complaints issued last month under the town’s “Nuisance Control Ordinance.”

They aren’t the first, according to Rubalcaba, who was in district court late last week for a status conference in another case of fowl play – this one involving a months-old complaint of another crowing rooster. She has also seen one chicken-related ticket issued by the town’s police department tossed out by a judge in the past year.

“This is silliness,” says Rubalcaba. “They’re just chickens!”

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Just chickens indeed. I’m looking forward to listening to the show.

This quote from Jules Dervaes sumes this phenomenon very well:

“Growing food is one of the most dangerous occupations on this earth because you are in danger of becoming free.”