Category: Agriculture & Food

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Our Toxic Food Supply

Agriculture growing season is coming rapidly upon us in Indiana. Soon, we will see tractors and planters and sprayers across fields. What is not immediately visible are the genetically modified seed (GMO), the poisons on the seed, and later the poison sprayed on the land and crops…. poison and genetic modification that follow into our food supply. Bayer/Monsanto and Syngenta have already been successfully sued for millions for disease caused by their pesticides. Monsanto for glyphosate (Roundup) and Syngenta for paraquat… both killer toxic chemicals.

We hear complaint from President Trump that other countries will not take our agriculture products. Why? They don’t want our genetically engineered corn and soybeans and other GM crops…. And they don’t want the poisons that contaminate them.

We have a new Secretary of Health and Human Services in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He knows how sick our country is from our food supply. Hopefully he, with HHS and USDA, will change how we grow crops. The strangle hold of the big agriculture corporate giants must end. The constant escalation of the toxicity of agriculture poisons with the genetically engineered plants must end. It can be done.

Below is an excerpt from a book about a small community in northern Italy that went totally organic and saved their culture, people, and the health of their lands. We need to learn. What she writes about India largely applies to the United States of America.

[Exerpts from the Foreword from the book, “A Precautionary Tale”. Forward written by Dr. Vandana Shiva, a highly recognized and respected scientist in India]

For more than a century, a poison cartel has experimented with and developed chemicals to kill people, first in Hitler’s concentration camps and the war. These chemicals were later sold as inputs for industrial agriculture.

The poison cartel I refer to her is the handful of global corporations that push chemicals and genetically modified organism (GMOs) in farming — Bayer/Monsanto, Dow/Dupont, Syngenta/ChemChina. Killing is their expertise.

In India, a country of small farmers, the assault of the poison cartel has driven millions off the land and pushed 300,000 farmers to suicide due to debt for costly seeds and chemicals. The genetically modified (GM) seeds have failed to control pests and weeds. Instead they are creating super pests and super weeds, trapping farmers deeper in debt.

And it is not just farmers who are dying. Our soil organisms and pollinators are dying. Our soils are dying. Our societies are dying. Our children are dying — because of diseases caused by food loaded with toxics.

Pesticide pollution knows no boundaries, and the pesticide sprays contaminate entire ecosystems, our food, our water. These corporations take away our right to be free from harm.

They do not poison just people, our farms, and our food; they poison regulatory systems and science. Corruption of science, of regulation, of centralized government is their expertise.

The agrochemical industry and its new avatar, the biotechnology industry, do not merely distort and manipulate knowledge, science, and public policy. They also manipulate the law and the justice system.

That is why the movement for freedom from poisons in our food and agriculture is the most important freedom movement in our times. It is a movement for the rights of the Earth, the rights of all species, of all peoples to be free from harm, to be healthy. It is a movement to protect the diversity of species, of cultures, of economics, of knowledge, of decision making from the local to the global.

It is the movement for justice, for the right to life and livelihood. It the right to know about the potential harm from poisons and poison producing plants — GMOs. It is freedom from manipulated alternative facts and post-truths, which hide truth and try to bury it, as we are witnessing in the case of glyphosate and GMOs.

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The Chinese are Here

According to the Institute of International Education and Statista, in the 2023-2024 academic year there were 277,398 Chinese national students studying in the United States. And as of Spring 2025, there were 2,043 Chinese national students at Purdue University with 1,340 of them being graduate students. Indiana University had over 1,000 Chinese national students over the same periods.

There is a big issue. This has been going on for years. These students are in a position to steal all sorts of intellectual property and be involved in cutting edge technology, the life blood of the United States of America. Congress has told us over and over that billions of dollars of intellectual property are stolen each year and fed back to Communist China. I have to suspect part of it sources at Purdue.

And what is the big draw for universities? Money! Tuition and fees money are in the tens of millions of dollars yearly. Then there are room and board fees for students as well. More millions. Another word for this may be greed.

Purdue is one of the top national research universities in the country. Indiana University not so much. The largest on-campus student organization at the Purdue campus is the “Chinese Students and Scholar’s Association”. Even this suggests something is amiss.

It is not without note that the current President of Purdue University is Dr. Mung Chiang, a naturalized American citizen of about 20 years but from China. And the acting department head of the Forestry and Natural Resource Department for a time was Dr. Zhao Ma who was born in China and whose undergraduate education was in Beijing, China. She is now the head of the Human Dimensions Lab in the FNR department. I do not know if she is a naturalized US citizen. So, the presence on the Purdue campus of people either Chinese citizens or former Chinese and now US citizens is substantial.

There is more. Foreign entities own a total of 40 million acres of US farmland and China has bought up nearly 347,000 acres, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. We are well aware, too, that Smithfield Foods, an icon of the American food industry, was purchased by the Chinese in 2013 for $7.1 billion. More inroads into our food supply.

It seems the Chinese Communists are finding ways to infiltrate the US economy and society more and more with each passing day. They have been selling more product into our country than any other foreign country. And they have control of the precursor materials for literally all of our prescription medicines.

Fortunately, very recently it was announced that the Select Committee on the Communist Party in the US Congress is pursuing investigation about the presence and research activities of students from Communist China at Purdue University and several other universities. That has been needed for years.

The entanglement with and gradual encroachment of China into the United States cannot go on if we want to have a viable and vibrant Constitutional Republic. President Trump is well aware of this and is trying to take corrective measures. Democrats and RINOs are road blocking whenever possible. That must stop.

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US AG & Poisons

We have heard frequently the complaint from President Donald Trump that other countries will not buy or permit in U.S. agriculture products. I think there is a darned good reason why they will not.

Generally speaking, our agriculture products are tainted with poisons (pesticides) of all kinds. These poisons follow the products into human food supplies. The best example of this is the use of glyphosate (RoundUp) on corn and soy beans and on other crops that have been genetically engineered to tolerate that poison. There is strong evidence glyphosate causes cancer.

But that is not all. Weeds are now showing adaptation to glyphosate, so higher and higher doses of it are applied to crops to kill weeds. And Dicamba is being added as well; a more toxic and dangerous poison. The cycle continues with more toxic chemicals added all the time. This is just one example of many.

The only way for the consumer to avoid the pesticides in their food is to purchase only “Organic” products. Yes, they are more expensive, but is one’s health worth it in the long run?

We have a chance now to clean things up. Robert F Kennedy Jr will become the next Secretary of Human and Health Services. He is a strong advocate for getting harmful chemicals out of our food supply. He will tackle big Pharma, big Agriculture, and big Food. Hopefully, he will have cooperation from the new Director of the EPA, Lee Zeldin, and the new Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, to clean up the food supply.

Things must change. We are the sickest society on the planet…and getting sicker… and spend the most money on health care than any of the developed nations.

President Trump needs to get the message. He can complain all he wants about other countries keeping our agriculture products out, but until we take serious and significant action to clean up our own act, that will continue to be the case. To date, we have capitulated to Big Agriculture and Big Food. That must end. The era of poisons must end.

As long ago as 1962, Rachael Carson in her book, “Silent Spring”, tried to warn us. That was 63 years ago! It is long past time to wake up.

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The Rest of the Story

There was a radio newsman long ago, Paul Harvey, that ended his daily broadcast with a saying: “And now you know the Rest of the Story.” The problem in Kokomo is we don’t know the rest of the story.

One has to wonder who thought it a good idea to bring a huge EV battery plant or two to Kokomo. Was it the Indiana General Assembly or the Indiana Economic Development Corporation or Stellantis and Samsung…. Or who? Who was it that brought a large diameter gas pipeline down Highway 35 from the Logansport area and north to Kokomo to serve two EV battery plants? Who was it?

And who was it that bought up large numbers of private properties at highly elevated prices, many of which were personal residences and most of which were highly fertile agriculture lands? And who was it that benefited financially from these purchases? And where did all the money come from and go?

And who was it that promised as many as 1,400 jobs per battery plant or 2,800 for two plants only to have it turn out that 700 of 1400 or 1400 of 2800 of those jobs would be for imported Koreans who would work for a time, then be recycled back to Korea? The result is the cost per job for US citizens is through the roof.

And who is it that did the planning for the operation of the EV battery plants? What materials would be inputs? Are any toxic and dangerous? What electricity is needed and where is that to come from? And maybe most importantly, what water is needed. It has been reported that over 2.5 million gallons of water per plant will be required. Where is that to come from? The excess availability of both surface and ground water to serve one plant let along two plants appears not to be available. The Indiana American Water Company is already casting about for one or more additional well drilling sites. What effect is to be expected on the water table below us? Has this been analyzed? There are already plumes of contaminated water underground from past industry such as Continental Steel Corp and General Motors operations. EPA remediation is ongoing.

Where is the water for proposed commercial and residential development to come from? We see expansion of all sorts of residential areas, hotels, meeting centers, and stores proposed everywhere around Kokomo.

What products are to be produced from the battery plants? Where are they to be shipped or stored? What waste products will result as well? Are any toxic or poisonous? What is to be come of the 2.5 million gallons of water per day required? Word has it that it is to be processed by our local Waste Water Treatment plant which is primarily designed for treating human waste, not industrial waste water. And how is that water to get from the battery plants to the treatment plant? Word has it that existing sewer lines are not adequate to handle such load on a daily basis. And what toxins or chemicals, if any are in the waste water? How would any be handled?

Why is there proposed a waste recycling plant near the battery plant as a separate company and operation? What waste and what toxic chemicals are to be handled and/or required? What is the final destination of waste? The Kokomo Plan Commission just recommended to the City Council the rezoning of a parcel to high intensity industrial zoning to add to land already zoned that for a waste recycling facility without concern about whether such land was suitable for such use. Word has it that there is exposure to potential ground water contamination from such use of this particular land.

And we know that there recently was turned down a proposed electric battery storage operation to be located east of the Lincoln Road and Goyer Road area due to concerns about safety of such a facility. Word has it the company will be back in six months with a new request.

Finally, a mention of the Engie Emerald Green solar panel farm is called for. The Drainage Board continued a vote for the water drainage plan that was submitted late. More incompetent planning, it seems, for a project that will begin to deteriorate the day it is put into operation. And it turns out Engie revised the proposed grading of 350 acres of fertile top soil to 17 acres after objection from Greg Lake, the county surveyor and stormwater administrator for the Howard County Stormwater District.

Both the approved solar fields and the approved EV battery plants appear to be hysterical moves and totally incompetently planned projects focused around the Biden mandates for so-called passive electricity and electric vehicles. What accompanies both is financial greed and power on the part of the State of Indiana, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, local officials and others. It is likely President Trump will pick a different direction.

The bottom line is we do not know the “Rest of the Story”. That will unfold in days to come. My prediction is that more and more incompetency will be revealed and more and more greed and seeking of power will come to light. Considering all, there is a deep concern our county may become unlivable. That would be the “Rest of the Story”.

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Wrong Decision!

Wrong decision! Howard County Circuit Court Judge Lynn Murray either cannot read plain English language or someone got to her when she approved the ENGIE Emerald Green Solar project for eastern Howard County. This project will take 1,800 acres of prime agriculture land — some of the best and richest in the world — and put it under solar panels for decades.

Murray’s decision flies in the face of crystal clear language in the county zoning ordinance itself. Under the Agriculture (AG) District section, the Board of Zoning Appeals is directly addressed. The language states , “Board of Zoning Appeals: allow a special exception use (which specifically includes “power generation facility”) only when it is clearly a benefit to the adjacent properties”. How is that in this instance?

Further, under 7.08 Special Exception language states, “…. will not permanently injure other property or uses in the same district and vicinity….”.


How Murray concluded all of this language, which is very clear, can be violated is seriously in question. A grade school student would understand what is meant by “clearly benefit” and “will not permanently injure”; words in the zoning ordinance.

It is obvious to me that someone got to the Board of Zoning Appeals when they approved the ENGIE Emerald project in the first place. Even Board membership was manipulated. Their approval, too, was in direct contradiction of zoning ordinance language. Did someone get to them, too? I think so. Money talks.

No reasonable person could conclude that adjacent properties will “benefit” and that they will not suffer permanent injury. But, Judge Murray did exactly that. She and the Board of Zoning Appeals should be ashamed of themselves.

It is my hope that the property owners who took this case to court will continue on to the Court of Appeals. Maybe there they will find judges who can read. If Murray’s ruling stands, it becomes even worse given there is another solar project of 1,700 acres right behind it. Again, hundreds of acres of prime agriculture land will be taken out of production for decades and, frankly, probably ruined for much longer.

This is, indeed, solar insanity.

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More Poison: Paraquat!

The EPA is at it again. In an agency draft, it again backs the use of this very toxic herbicide, paraquat, claiming it is safe for use across millions of acres of American cropland despite what public health advocates characterize as virtual scientific proof it causes Parkinson’s disease.


By law, the EPA is required to review pesticides every 15 years. It did and approved paraquat again in 2021. The EPA was sued by several agricultural and public health groups in 2021 charging it had ignored broad scientific consensus linking paraquat to Parkinson’s. The EPA agreed to review its approval. They did and here we are again at the same decision as before. Oh, the EPA did agree it will review more science and could change course when issuing a final report next year. In the meanwhile, the poison stays on the market.

The fight over the use of paraquat in the United States has been going on for decades. This chemical poison, a very effective weed killer, is manufactured by Syngenta. Interestingly, nearly 60 countries have banned paraquat use. This includes the UK and EU countries. Another fact…. A state-owned Chinese company bought Syngenta in 2017 but paraquat is banned for use in China.

Scientific research clearly shows paraquat interferes with dopamine production and regulation, and people with Parkinson’s have reduced dopamine levels. Paraquat is also linked to respiratory damage and kidney disease. Ingestion of a single teaspoon is considered deadly.

And finally, those most at risk seem to be the communities and farmworkers in the central California farming area. This is the area of enormous production of crops for the food market in the United States. It appears the EPA could care less about the communities and workers there as long as Syngenta makes a profit. But even worse is that residues from paraquat likely find their way onto the food we all purchase at the grocery store. I have to wonder how many cases of Parkinson’s have resulted.

In looking back at pesticide use which really began after WWII, it is crystal clear we have not made wise decisions. The first big alert was DDT. Then in Viet Nam during the war there, we covered that country with Agent Orange. That was devastating to Viet Nam and to thousands of US military personnel; even to those in the supply chain that got that chemical from the United States to Viet Nam. When will we wise up? But, again the story is that money talks the loudest!

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However Delivered: POISON

Reason had a victory. This past week a US federal court in Arizona banned three weed killers (poisons; biocides) widely used by American agriculture, finding the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) broke the law in allowing them to be on the market.

Crop spraying


The ruling affects dicamba-based weed killers produced and sold by Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta. Dicamba killers have been blamed for millions of acres of crop damage and harm to endangered species and natural areas across the Midwest and South.

The court concluded the EPA had not followed law in granting approval of dicamba for use on genetically engineered crops, typically GE soy beans and corn, that were resistant to it use, but killed weeds around them. The problem is that dicamba is very volatile! This means it easily goes up into the air and drifts to areas afar causing widespread damage to crops and vegetation not resistant to the pesticide. Result: unintended consequences… death to vegetation, including crops, elsewhere and death to animals and insects (pollinators, for example) dependent on that vegetation.

All of this comes on the heels of massive law suits against Bayer/Monsanto involving the use of Roundup (glyphosate) pesticide. So far those suits have cost Bayer billions in jury verdicts and settlements. The plaintiffs allege Roundup causes non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
And Syngenta is already facing nationwide litigation over its paraquat herbicide which thousands of plaintiffs claim causes Parkinson’s disease.

Apparently enough lessons have yet to be learned following the debacle with DDT. Rachael Carson in her book “Silent Spring” brought that to headlines. Eventually DDT was banned everywhere. I am thinking the whole use of biocides (pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc) on crops needs to severely restricted. We are in the process of poisoning ourselves and the planet.

Of course, all one has to do is follow the money. The creators of the biocides are the same companies that genetically engineer the crops to resist their effect. This means they sell the biocide resistant seeds to create the resistant crops and then sell the poison to put on it. Pretty good racket if you can get by with it. In the meanwhile, you make people and the planet sick. Ask the bees.

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Peoples Osprey

Times change and new opportunities emerge. Substack is new to me, but it sure seems to be a path for me to be able to write what I want when I want. In eons past, I was able to write articles and columns for the Kokomo (IN) Tribune at will. You see, I was part of the family that owned that newspaper. I was either in top management or the CEO/Publisher of this then a 34,000 daily newspaper having about 185 employees and over 300 newspaper carriers. All employees were considered family. Together, we were designated the top newspaper in the USA for penetration (subscribers) of its market for 9 of 10 years running; and second the one odd year. On top of that, we were leaders in new technology in the industry. Times have changed since then…. and not for the good. Many communities now are news deserts without a local newspaper.

I do write a blog and have for many years: kentblacklidge.com. I will continue to post on it, but I have become rather erratic in posting. I know why. I no longer have and have not had the decision authority for decades about what goes into the Kokomo Tribune. Since my family sold the KT, this newspaper has passed through two group owners. It is now owned by a group (CNHI) that editorially is way too far left politically for me. The Managing Editor has published columns I have written from time to time, but I have given up that route. It felt constrained. In recent times, when the KT prints a column with which I disagree strongly, I typically will email the columnist directly. Again, constraint given no one else reads/knows my thoughts and writing directly has resulted in fewer blog posts. Not a good reason, but true.

On a national and state level, I write representatives directly. I intend to continue this but at the same time will post any letters to Substack and my blog. I have things to say even if no one else gives a damn about my opinions.

My interests are wide. I have indicated in Substack I would be particularly interested in politics, government, science, and the environment. These interests are not limited to local issues. They would include local, state, and national matters. And what credentials do I have to write about these areas: four degrees from Purdue University which are a BS Industrial Management, MS Conservation, MS Aquatic toxicology, and a Ph.D. in genetics. Those plus over 20 years in newspaper journalism.

In my opinion, honest and open communications between people is the glue that holds communities and countries together. The major media, print and electronic, in the USA have failed. They largely have become propaganda tools of the political left. It is up to us, individuals, to restore the integrity of news offered to the public. We must. I intend to do my part. The Peoples Osprey on Substack is open.

Kent Blacklidge Ph.D.
(kentblacklidge.com and peoplesosprey.substack.com)

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Solar Madness

All hope the governing bodies of our community make decisions that benefit our citizens. Unfortunately, the Howard County Board of Zoning Appeals does not qualify. That Board (BZA) of 5 members in the past two months has approved solar farm projects for eastern Howard County that will take about 3,500 acres of the most prime farmland in the world out of agriculture production for 30 years or more. Think about that. Over 5 square miles of Howard County farmland will be covered with glass top solar panels for 30 years.

The rich soil land of Howard County will be destroyed for agriculture use. One of the most continuing and serious concerns of farmers is that top soil not be compacted. We will soon see heavy machinery all over this land that will, indeed, compact top soil. And, we have already been told that “dirt” will be moved to level areas. This takes bulldozers. This means top soil will be scraped off of some areas and moved to others leaving exposed clay behind.

Hundreds of pilings will be driven into the grounds. Heavy equipment is required to drive the pilings. More compaction and a total destruction of the tile drainage systems in the fields. Large area — over 5 square miles — drainage patterns will be disrupted. No one really knows now what effect that will have on neighboring properties.

Then one has to wonder about just who made such unwise, foolish, and damaging decisions. In both approvals, the BZA vote was 2 members of the Board against the solar projects and 3 for; so the approvals were made by a split vote. And who were those who voted “yes”. As far as I can tell, none of the 3 voting “yes” have any agriculture or biological background at all. One even has a direct vested interest in the development of electric vehicles. The ignorance of the three is blatant.

These approvals were made in spite of the fact new solar energy collection technology will soon follow. One such development would leave 80% or more of the land available for farming and still produce the same amount of collected solar energy. This information was given to the BZA a month ago. One must also anticipate even more technological developments in energy production in years to come making what was approved totally obsolete, but locked in for 30 years.

More importantly, the USDA early in 2022 reported the USA will become a net food importer within the next year or so. We are there. Ag exports are expected to grow at an annual rate of 0.8% per year through 2031 while imports grow at an average annual rate of 6%. Domestic preferences for an array of agriculture goods already exceed domestic production. Yet, the BZA for 30 years put rich, fertile land out of agriculture production. Insane.

Interestingly, several of the owners of the land involved are absentee owners caring about one thing — short term money. Shame on them.

The people of Howard County will come to regret the decisions made by the BZA. That may take a few years, but it will come. Eastern Howard County will become a sea of glass that will haunt those who voted “yes”.

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Frustrated

I have to admit strongly that I am very frustrated at not having the voice and actual power that I once had as Publisher of the Kokomo Tribune. That newspaper in the day had great influence over what happened and the directions taken in Kokomo and surrounding area. The citizens of our area trusted us as evidenced by the over 95% of the homes receiving the Tribune each day….. seven days a week!

Our editorial philosophy was one of moderate conservative Republican. It really boiled down to “common sense”. Nothing stupid. And the people knew this and supported this.

We promoted good jobs and a safe community in a healthy environment. It was through the efforts of the Tribune that the clean up of the Wildcat Creek began. It was a polluted open sewer at the time. We exposed that and forced clean up of other places as well .

We opposed the building of the Lafayette Reservoir that would have covered over 4,000 acres of prime farmland. It was ultimately decommissioned by Congress which stopped the Corps of Engineers building the reservoir.

We did our best to educate people about the importance of clean air, clean water, and clean land. We were trusted.

Now we have shit coming along like a proposal to cover 1,800 and 1,700 acres of prime farmland with solar panels in eastern Howard County. Insane. It never would happen in the old Tribune days. I can only hope it will not happen today, but there is an uphill battle to prevent same.

While I am at it, I am going to bitch about President Joe Biden. I have no idea how he has the authority to unilaterally pass out billions of dollars and massive numbers of weapons to the most corrupt country on the planet, Ukraine. Ukraine has been criminal ole Joe’s money basket for a long, long time. Where in the hell is Congress. I thought they had control of the purse strings….. the Republican controlled House of Representatives at that.

I am really getting the feeling that everyone in political power in the United States is corrupt or afraid. There have been so many crimes exposed but nothing happens but talk, talk, talk, talk. No consequences. Hillary Clinton should be behind bars along with George Bush, Dick Cheney, and now Joe Biden along with his entire criminal family and fellow travelers in the Biden administration.

We are on the edge of a global nuclear war. Russia has just pulled out of a nuclear treaty with the US. Russia is not going to lose face in Ukraine. Putin will pull the trigger on nuclear weapons first.

And by the way, the United States did blow up the Nord Stream pipeline. There is no doubt. Fuckin’ Biden as usual made the decision. As reported time and time again, in his entire political life he has been on the wrong side of every decision regarding foreign relations. Now he is playing with nuclear fire.

Biden et al must go. I don’t know how or when, but he and the cackling VP have to be gone or our country is not going to survive. The doomsday clock is ticking. It is close to midnight.