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Food Politics reports that Rick Friday, a long time cartoonist for Farm News, was dismissed for offending "a large company affiliated with one of the corporations mentioned in a cartoon." The political cartoon is critical of Big Ag CEOs, which earned more than 2,000 Iowa farmers combined.
In a Facebook post the cartoonist, Rick Friday, explained:
I am no longer the Editorial Cartoonist for Farm News due to the attached cartoon which was published yesterday. Apparently a large company affiliated with one of the corporations mentioned in the cartoon was insulted and cancelled their advertisement with the paper, thus, resulting in the reprimand of my editor and cancellation of It's Friday cartoons after 21 years of service and over 1090 published cartoons to over 24,000 households per week in 33 counties of Iowa.
I did my research and only submitted the facts in my cartoon.
That's okay, hopefully my children and my grandchildren will see that this last cartoon published by Farm News out of Fort Dodge, Iowa, will shine light on how fragile our rights to free speech and free press really are in the country.
The Des Moines Register explains further:
The CEOs at the ag giants earned about $52.9 million last year, based on Morningstar data. Monsanto and DuPont, the parent of Johnston-based Pioneer, are large seed and chemical companies, and Deere is a large farm equipment manufacturer.
Profits for the three companies, all with large operations across Iowa, also have declined as farm income has been squeezed. After peaking in 2013, U.S. farm income this year is projected to fall to $183 billion, its lowest level since 2002.
It seems like in the U.S. you free to say what you like, but if you offend the wrong people you're free to lose your job despite the protections you are provided and encouraged to use.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Thursday May 05 2016, @03:22PM
For those who are interested in non-corporate, non-modified seedstock, there are non-profit seed banks you can get seeds from like SeedSavers.org [seedsavers.org] or SurvivalSeeds.org [survivalseedbank.com]. It's not going to challenge the Monsantos and DuPonts of the world, but you can at least grow excellent fruit and vegetables at home (assuming you have a house with a yard). They taste so much better than even the stuff you can get at the farmer's market, and you feel better after eating them (which I suppose means they have better nutrients). If you care about matters like having a low carbon footprint and being self-reliant, it's about the best thing you can do, too.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @03:36PM
Until Monsanto sues them out of business for seeds that blew across the road.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @04:22PM
Which will stop when.. Say nice office you got there, too bad....
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @04:20PM
you feel better after eating them (which I suppose means they have better nutrients)
Or you know, post-purchase rationalization.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @04:26PM
Thanks for the links! I never knew there were so many different kinds of cucumber, but I suppose why not, of course there would be just like any other plant.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Gaaark on Thursday May 05 2016, @04:31PM
The TPP wants to end the saving AND sharing of seeds
http://www.iatp.org/blog/201511/tpp-fine-print-biotech-seed-companies-win-again [iatp.org]
http://www.naturalnews.com/050151_farmers_TPP_biotech_patents.html# [naturalnews.com]
[T]he new TPP language will prohibit farmers from saving and exchanging many varieties of seeds -- a practice vital to the livelihood and welfare of traditional farming communities -- and most likely increase multinational control of the farming industry in TPP nations," reads a review of TPP's provisions published in the Harvard Law School Human Rights Journal.
We need to f°ck Monsanto and it's little dog TPP, too!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Thursday May 05 2016, @06:30PM
I don't think most people grow field corn or soybeans at home anyway. Sweet corn maybe but that's a totally different beast from what most of the corn you see growing on farmers fields is.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Thursday May 05 2016, @07:28PM
there's nothing that says you can't. the indians grew the "three sisters," which consisted of beans, corn, and squash. the three grow together harmoniously and together yield a complete protein. anyone can do the same. if we master the production of terra preta we might even be able to grow more than we need on small plots of land.
there are also other grain crops you grow to make flour like quinoa or ameranth. many of those are better for you than wheat. people can grow more of their own food than they do. during the blitz or the great depression they did.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Thursday May 05 2016, @08:45PM
You could but why would you? Do you even know what field corn is? You would not really be growing field corn or soybeans from Monsanto (or anyone else) for your home garden. Those are industrial crops, not direct food crops. The seeds from your local store are not GMO to begin with.
(Score: 1) by dak664 on Friday May 06 2016, @12:39AM
Quite true but needs a lot of good quality soil, and if the tribe is to have any kind of growth, a fish buried under each corn seed to provide the growth-limiting nitrogen.
GMO crops can grow in any sterile sun-lit soil through the scientific usage of fertilizer, weed killers, fungicides, and insecticides. Without them many people would starve. Ironically, existing organic farmers and their children are the most vulnerable.