Argentina's Bad Seeds

[the_gabih]

As I flew in to Buenos Aires to make this film, all the talk was of President Cristina Kirchner’s latest gambit. Her foreign minister had pulled out of a meeting with the British foreign secretary to discuss the Falklands (or the Malvinas depending on your outlook). And for the people I rubbed up against in Argentina’s smart and chic capital, on

Comments

[atomic_joe2]

It's a shame they're still talking about the 'Hand of God' goal. They should be more proud of Lionel Messi who's more modern. And not a cheat.

[mephisto5]

Does anyone know of any good figures for where all this crop actually goes? I know lots of the US crop is used as livestock feed, but not sure about elsewhere.

Re: the article. Off the top of my head, this sounds very similar to the highland clearances, or even earlier, the enclosures in England. My history knowledge is somewhat patchy but does anyone know of a case where such actions have been sucessfully fought, and would those methods be applicable here? For all the assurances given by the Minister of Agriculture in this piece, I can't help but get the feeling that any protection of farming rights will have to be fought for by the villagers themselves.

[fenris_lorsrai]

Should probably have the "Montanto" tag.

I know there's article under there that talks about birth effects and increased abortion rates in US livestock... just from EATING the crops, not being anywhere near them when the pesticide is applied or drinking runoff, but just the residue left on the crops. and the US generally has SOME restrictions on how much pesticide you can drop on crops and how. (not strong regs, but we have SOME) so this is way more direct exposure and at much higher rates. So Monsanto "nope, its totally safe!" is twice over bullshit.

[shadwing]

Yeah...and telling people "Don't worry the GRAIN SILOS are totally not ventalated, no need to worry about dust!" Would never fly in the US where almost every person whose been anywhere NEAR a grain silo/elevator that ventalation and dust control are vital to keeping the place safe from blowing up via a random spark.

But I guess it's easy to skirt regulations, when you have the government bought and paid for and those being effected are below poverty level far far away from the main cities...

[fenris_lorsrai]

There's actually quite a lot of videos on youtube of dust explosions, mostly with some sort of storage structure where the ventilation failed. They're really quite impressive in their destruction.

[patu_paiarehe]

This was really interesting. I spent some time in Argentina and travelled through the enoromous soy planations, empty except for enormous Roundup billboards facing the road.

I had been told (by other foreigners, actually) about some of the problems with Monsanto and soy in Argentina, but this article is right in that there is little to no awareness of the issue in the media. From my time in Buenos Aires, I don't think I came across anyone who really knew about the problems of the soy monopoly. I imagine to the residents of BA it's pretty easy not to think about it.

[betray802]

there was a look of disbelief. "Here, in Argentina? Why haven’t we heard about it?"

Anyone else thinking of Hunger Games?