Farmers Win in Dirty Rice Lawsuit

Ken Bell, a rice grower in southwestern Missouri, remembers that 2006 was shaping up to be one of those years farmers only dare to dream about. "Not only was the market up," he told me, "but we had a good crop growing." Then on August 18, a Friday, Bell's world collapsed. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that traces of genetically modified rice produced by Bayer CropScience, a division of the huge German drug and chemical company, had somehow escaped test plots and found their way into rice fields in Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The GM crop was engineered to survive applications of Liberty Link, a Bayer herbicide. The USDA still does not know what caused the widespread contamination. By the following Monday morning, worldwide markets for American long-grain rice had evaporated. Japan, Russia, Canada, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Iraq imposed restrictions on U.S. rice imports. The European Union demanded that all incoming U.S. rice be tested and certified as free of GM traits. Bell had incurred all of the up-front costs of what was to be that year's bumper harvest, but suddenly no one would buy it. He lost more than $1.9 million. "It went from a great year to a disaster," he said.

A sustainable life is not that difficult. Whether it is your room, your hotel or your B&B you can choose to arrange it in an ecological way while enjoying various advantages. On the one hand, you are doing good for the environment by reducing the impact on the planet. On the other hand, you will reduce your waste, minimize consumption… and save money!

This waste pollutes our environment and above all prevents the reuse of waste and reduces the abundance of resources as well. Make a commitment to create a place to sort your waste: perhaps outside or on a balcony and to better avoid unwanted odours, dispose of it regularly. Also be careful with the cooking oil used at home! If you dispose of them in the sewers, it can cause serious damage to the environment: it must be carried out at the appropriate collection points on the territory.