Module 4 virtual meeting resources

[Gary_Trujillo]

This article contains a set of links to resources pertaining to what was covered in Module 4 of the FCE course. Please feel free to post additional resources relevant to topics covered in that module 4 here.

• animal agriculture
  • Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret

    Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret is a 2014 American documentary film produced and directed by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. The film explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment examining such environmental concerns as climate change, water use, deforestation, and ocean dead zones and investigates the policies of several environmental organizations on the issue.

  • A River of Waste: The Hazardous Truth About Factory Farms

    McCorkell, Don. A River Of Waste: The Hazardous Truth About Factory Farms. Burbank: Cinema Libre Studio, 2009. 92 min.
    A heart-stopping new documentary, A River of Waste: The Hazardous Truth About Factory Farms exposes a huge health and environmental scandal in our modern industrial system of meat and poultry production. The damage documented in today’s factory farms far exceeds the damage that was depicted in Upton Sinclair’s novel, The Jungle, a book written over 100 years ago. Some scientists have gone so far as to call the current condemned factory farm practices “mini Chernobyls.” The European Union stands virtually alone in establishing strong health and environmental standards for the industry. In the U.S. and elsewhere, the industry is dominated by dangerous uses of arsenic, antibiotics and growth hormones and also by the dumping of massive amounts of sewage in fragile waterways affecting the nearby towns and its citizens. The film documents the vast catastrophic impact on the environment and public health, and focuses on the individual lives damaged and destroyed. In 1906, public outrage at the scandal exposed by Sinclair led to major reforms that cleaned up a corrupt and dangerous system. It is the hope of the filmmakers to mobilize a similar public outcry for reform. (Source: Official Film Website)

  • Death on a Factory Farm (HBO)

    Each year, ten billion animals are raised for consumption in the U.S., mostly on sprawling, industrialized farms, where virtually no federal laws mandate how the animals are treated - though guidelines exist - and state laws are ineffective. As a result, animals are frequently subjected to what many consider cruel treatment and inhumane conditions in the interest of economic efficiency. Death on a Factory Farm chronicles an undercover investigation into alleged abuses that took place at a hog farm in central Ohio. This shocking documentary is produced by Tom Simon and Sarah Teale, producers of the 2006 HBO America Undercover special Dealing Dogs, which received two Emmy nominations, including Best Documentary.
    
    Three years in the making, Death on a Factory Farm follows the undercover investigation of Wiles Hog Farm by the animal rights group The Humane Farming Association (HFA), and the resulting court case against it. Acting on a tip from a farm employee that animals were being abused, HFA turned to an undercover investigator, "Pete" of Dealing Dogs, who wore a hidden camera while he worked as a farmhand at Wiles. The film follows Pete from his initial entry into this dangerous world of abuse to the raid and trial that followed.
    (Source: Teal Productions, Inc.)

  • Peter Singer: Fix Your Diet, Save the Planet

    Professor of bioethics at Princeton University, Peter Singer, offers some thoughts on Earth Day regarding the ethics of raising animals for food. Thanks to our fellow student, Seth Freeman, for posting this article from the New York Times to the class forum for our consideration.

• genetically-modified (GM) agricultural technologies
  • Grains of Truth - The real cost of America's GMO harvest (11 minutes)

    American and Canadian farmers speak out against seed patents and GE
    crop contamination in North America. The farmers express concerns that
    they cannot guarantee their crops are GE free, meaning they can no longer
    be exported to Europe and Japan.
    (also available on YouTube)

  • Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of our lives (84 minutes)

    Never-Before-Seen-Evidence points to genetically engineered foods as a major contributor to rising disease rates in the US population, especially among children. Gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, inflammatory diseases, and infertility are just some of the problems implicated in humans, pets, livestock, and lab animals that eat genetically modified soybeans and corn.
    
    Monsanto’s strong arm tactics, the FDA’s fraudulent policies, and how the USDA ignores a growing health emergency are also laid bare. This sometimes shocking film may change your diet, help you protect your family, and accelerate the consumer tipping point against genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
    (also available on YouTube)

  • Unnatural Selection
    Bertram Verhaag, Gabriele Krober (2010)
    (not to be confused with the Netflix series of the same name)

    A failed GM cotton crop prompts farmer suicides in India. Windborne GM canola contaminates organic and conventional farms in Canada. One farmer fights Monsanto in the Supreme Court. A company seeks approval for giant GM salmon that may threaten the survival of the natural species. GM pigs are born with ghastly mutations. And experts reveal how inadequate testing and regulations put us at risk. Featuring interviews with Vandana Shiva, Andrew Kimbrell, Percy Schmeiser and others, this documentary reveals several harsh consequences of genetic engineering worldwide…

  • David versus Monsanto

    Imagine that a storm blows across your garden and that now, genetically-manipulated seeds are in your crops. A multi-national corporation pays you a visit, and demands that you surrender your crops – and then sues you for $200 000 for the illegal use of patented, GM seeds. In this definitive David and Goliath battle, one farmer stands up against a massive multinational, and their right to claim ownership to a living organism. This is an engrossing film about the battle between David (Percy Schmeiser a small farmer) and Goliath (Monsanto). The definitive documentary on our increasingly genetically modified world. (Source: Concord Media

  • The World According to Monsanto (109 minutes)

    The World According to Monsanto is a 2008 film directed by Marie-Monique Robin. Originally released in French as Le monde selon Monsanto, the film is based on Robin's three-year long investigation into the corporate practices around the world of the multinational corporation, Monsanto.
    
    The film reports many controversies surrounding the use and promotion of genetically modified seeds, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Agent Orange, and bovine growth hormone. Cases in the United States (including Anniston, Alabama), Canada, India, Mexico, Paraguay, the United Kingdom (Scotland) and France, are explored, claiming that the corporation's collusion with governments, pressure tactics, suppression and manipulation of scientific data, and extra-legal practices aided the company's attempts at dominating global agriculture.

  • Into the Weeds
    

    Into the Weeds: Dewayne “Lee” Johnson vs. Monsanto Company follows former groundskeeper Johnson and his fight against Monsanto, a multinational agrochemical corporation acquired by German pharmaceutical giant Bayer in 2018.
    
    Johnson’s case was the first to go to trial in a series of lawsuits involving tens of thousands of plaintiffs who claim that Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup (and its other glyphosate-based herbicide Ranger Pro) caused their cancer. Bayer maintains that it’s safe to use.
    
    The documentary follows the groundbreaking trial, including the release of the Monsanto Papers — internal documents which reveal that, for decades, Monsanto had been influencing studies about glyphosate’s potential to cause cancer.
    
    The film introduces other plaintiffs whose lives have been upended by their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnoses, while also looking into the widespread and systemic effects of the world’s most widely used herbicide.
    
    Hundreds of millions of kilograms of glyphosate are used in agriculture every year and residue has been detected in a wide variety of food products. Glyphosate is also used on parks, golf courses, railway lines, hydro corridors, cemeteries and forests. In Into the Weeds, scientists consider the systemic effects of such pervasive use and the impact on ecosystems and biodiversity. Ray Owl — a Traditional Ecological Knowledge elder from the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation, about 100 kilometres west of Sudbury, Ont. — shares how he’s fighting to stop the aerial spraying of glyphosate on the numerous tree-planting operations within traditional territories on the north shore of Lake Huron.
    
    The verdict in Johnson’s case will have repercussions. A ruling in his favour would set a precedent for future trials and could mean Bayer will have to compensate thousands of other claimants.
    
    In telling Johnson’s story, Into the Weeds asks whether this kind of David versus Goliath fight can effect substantial and lasting change.

  • Hidden Dangers in Kids' Meals

    Shocking research results, inadequate regulations and warnings from prominent scientists explain why GM foods are dangerous and should be removed from kids' meals. The dramatic story of how student behavior in a Wisconsin school was transformed with a healthy diet provides added motivation to make a change.

  • A Silent Forest

    This award winning documentary film explores the growing global threat of genetically engineered trees to our environment and to human health. The film features renowned geneticist and host of the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) series, The Nature of Things, David Suzuki, Ph.D., who explores the unknown and possibly disastrous consequences of improperly tested GE methods. Many scientists and activists are interviewed in the film, which serves as an effective and succinct tool for understanding the complex issue of GE trees. The film includes the testimony of many experts on the subject and serves as a valuable tool to inform students and those interested in environmental issues. The film has been well used in public forums, government as well as college and high school classrooms.
    
    The film includes an interview with Percy Schmeiser, who lost the rights to his own crops to Monsanto, as the result of a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, when Monsanto seeds contaminated his fields.

[deichman]

Gary,

Thank you for consolidating this provocative list of articles and videos! This is a great complement to the dozen readings Prof. Rasmussen has uploaded to the Module 4 subfolder.

~s3