[act-ma] Seed Day -IRAN - Chile~Monsanto - Native Farmers - Starbuck's Cafe

[Inst. of Near Eastern and African Studies]

INEAS Celebrates 20 Years   Join Our MembershipINEAS Celebrates 20 Years1994-2014 Spring Newsletter Due to email unreliability, we send this
 newsletter twice or three times from three different addresses. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please Distribute Widely.  Thank You. We welcome your feedback and highly appreciate confirming receipt of this newsletter Between now and April 30, if you do not receive our reply within 48
 hours, please call us at (617) 864-6327. Thanks. Become an INEAS Member  1. April 26 is International Seed Day2. New Free Workshop on Seed Saving Techniques3. Seeking Native Seeds for Alewife
 Reservation4. Native American Activists & Farmers5. Beware: Boomerang Chicken6. Iran: An American Plane with Unknown Owner!7. Many Have Boycotted Starbuck's Cafe.8. Chile and Monsanto 9. Update - Iceland: The Farmers and The Dam  ______________________________ 1. INEAS Event   Co-sponsored by Harvest Co-op  Harvest Co-op on Facebook  International Seed Day (ISD)April 26 Celebrating ISD for Six Years2009-2014 April 26 is a day
 to celebrate seeds, enjoy local and organic foods, educate the public about food sovereignty, bio-diversity and Farmers' rights while bringing awareness to the dangers of bio-piracy, GMOs and terminator seeds. Click Here for More Details about Seed Day ISD on Facebook    Where: Roslindale Congregational Church25 Cummins Highway, Roslindale , Mass. 02131When:  Saturday, April 26 from 11:30
 – 5 pm Join us to celebrate seedsappreciate agriculture and enjoy local and organic foods  Free Workshop 1: Explore Farming11:30 am to 1:30 pmBy Sam
 AndersonHave you ever thought you might like to make a business out of growing vegetables or raising animals? This workshop followed by a discussion session is designed to help you start thinking about your future farm business - and whether or not starting a farm business is right for you. We will talk about agriculture in New England, the challenges and rewards of starting a farm business, what resources and knowledge you will need in order to start farming,
 and some ways you can get involved in growing food without the risk of starting a business.This workshop is provided courtesy of New Entry Sustainable Farming ProjectPre-registration is required by April 24.  To register, please call us at (617) 86-INEAS (864-6327) or send an email with your full name and telephone number to both  INEAS at aol.com  and info at INEAS.org    Thank you. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 2.  Free Workshop 2: Seed Saving Techniques Seeds 101: Starting, Saving, and Libraries Saturday, April 26  2:00 - 3:00 pm   FREE to The Public By Michelle De Lima, Garden Educator at Boston Natural Area Network  Would you like to start your own seedlings for your garden
 and to harvest seeds from your crops rather than buying them?  This workshop and demonstration will cover how to select and start seeds, teach you some basic seed saving techniques, and introduce you to the new seed libraries sprouting up around Boston.Pre-registration is required by April
 24 (*_*)_________________(*_*) 3.  Seeking Native Seeds for Alewife Reservation Seeking Volunteers and New England Native Seeds for Native Garden on April 26:  Clean-up and planting day throughout the Commonwealth. Earth Day, International Seed Day and Park Serve Day are on April 26 at the Alewife T stop in Cambridge   10 am - 2 pm One can register at Friends of Alewife Reservation Cambridge: Friends of Alewife Reservation and Green Cambridge will host a park cleanup along Alewife Brook and Little River in coordination with DCR Park Serve Day on Saturday, April 26 from
 10:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. The day is also in honor of International Seed Day.  All supplies will be provided. Volunteers should meet outside the Alewife MBTA station at the passenger pickup area.Contact: Friends of Alewife Reservation or (617)-415-1884 or info at friendsofalewifereservation.org   4. Native American Activists and Farmers Native American Farmers grew many crops and were excellent survivors. Tribes like the Navajo and the Cherokee grew large amount of crops and employed advanced farming procedures such as irrigation to bring water to dry areas and practice crop rotation to keep the ground fertile over many years.   Corn (which they called Maize) was their primary crop.  They grew it in large quantities.  In addition to corn, they grew potatoes,
 squash, cotton, beans and pumpkins. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, on many reservations in the Great Plains, unfortunately Native American agriculture has nearly ceased. Most of the Natives who live inGreat Plains live in rural areas but are not farmers. However, organic and local food advocates, environmentalists and farmers will find the following Native American Association and speakers interesting and educational:  Traditional Native American Farmers' Association Native American Wisdom 1 Native American Wisdom 2 Native American Wisdom 3 Native American Wisdom 4 Native American Wisdom 5  The above video (in five parts) is suitable for class discussions and workshops.  Enjoy!   5. Beware: Boomerang Chicken The December 2013 issue of the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) Bulletin published a small paragraph under its 'Health Shots' section stating that “The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now permitting slaughtered U.S. and Canadian chickens to be processed in China and then exported back to the States” If true, this is bad news and the public should be alerted of
 it.  The quality of American chicken is generally bad, however processing it in a far country is worse. Since December, we have been searching for the original source of this piece of news, but were unable to locate it.  There is very little information published about this matter on Internet, which is strange! Most of what has been published are quotes from the AARP paper. Did you hear or read about this piece of news from other sources? What is the AARP's original source?  We appreciate your input.  6.  Iran: An American Plane with Unknown Owner! On Tuesday, a New York Times reporter in Tehran spotted an American plane at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, an extremely unique sight given the harsh sanctions imposed on the country by the United States and other Western nations. . . . . . . There is one slight clue though. The Jet was spotted in . . .     7. Many Have Boycotted Starbuck's Cafe. Recently Starbuck's spokesperson apologized about this problem Besides this incident, Starbuck's administration has been criticized in the past and many have boycotted it due to the following reasons: Starbucks Supports Israel and Serves Genetically Modified Food (GMF)! http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/sitting-in-starbucks-eating-gmos/ http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-starbucks.html and was at Guantanamo Bay too!  http://www.inminds.com/article.php?id=10228   8.  Chile and Monsanto  This month, rural women, indigenous communities and farmers in Chile found themselves on the winning end of a long-fought battle against a bill that had come to be known by many in this country as simply, the “Monsanto Law.”   The bill . . .  9.  Update - Iceland: The Farmers and The Dam It's dark and silent—nothing unusual around midnight by the river Laxá and lake Mývatn in
 the north of Iceland. But somewhere behind the darkness, beneath the silence, something extraordinary is about to happen. Suddenly, a dynamite explosion disturbs the silence—in what has gone down in history as a single, but highly important step in a much greater movement of resistance.More than a hundred farmers officially claimed responsibility for the explosion, which annihilated a small dam in the river on August 25, 1970. The area's inhabitants were determined to prevent the construction of a much bigger dam, which would have destroyed vast quantities of . . . . Continues here Update by INEAS: We thank the Iraqi woman who responded to our inquiry in February and provided us with the website of the Icelandic film producers.  After we
 received their website link Icelandic Films, we sent them two
 emails, but did not hear from anyone. Please help us reach out to them in case they did not receive our emails. Thank you!  We Appreciate Your Endorsement of  International Seed Day Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS) is a 501(c)(3) educational and cultural  organization geared to educate the public and inform the media on issues related to Africa and Asia. Located in Cambridge, MA, since 1994. Find out more at our website http://www.INEAS.org   Address: P.O. Box 425125Cambridge, MA. 02142 USAEmail: info at INEAS.org and INEAS at aol.comSkype: INEAS_Cambridge