Here’s a message from Neil Young that was posted on his Facebook page on July 23.
He has also released a 10-mnute short film Seeding Fear, which tells the story of a farmer named Michael White, who with his father Wayne, took on the corporation in court.
The film was released by Shakey Pictures and co-executive-produced by “Bernard Shakey,” Young’s pseudonym.
Message from Neil:
As I write this, the dark act is up for a vote in the House of Representatives; representatives of the people. The dark act takes away the rights of those people to vote for or against things like GMO labeling in their states. It does seem ironic. If the act is passed, it will truly be a dark day for America.
Monsanto is a corporation with great wealth, now controlling over 90% of soybean and corn growth in America. Family farms have been replaced by giant agri corp farms across this great vast country we call home. Farm Aid and other organizations have been fighting the losing battle against this for 30 years now.
Dairy and meat farming is done in those white sheds you see from the freeway, no longer on the green pastures of home with the old farmhouses and barns. Those beautiful buildings now stand in ruin across the country. This has happened on our watch while the country slept, distracted by advertising and false information from the corporations. Monsanto and others simply pay the politicians for voting their way. This is because of “Citizens United,” a legislation that has made it possible for corporations to have the same rights as people, while remaining immune to people’s laws.
Both Democratic and Republican front runners are in bed with Monsanto, from Clinton to Bush, as many government branches are and have been for years. This presidential election could further cement the dominance of corporation’s rights over people’s rights in America. If you have a voice you have a choice. Use it.
On the human side, the film I would like you to see tells the story of a farming family in America, but the same thing is happening around the world. It is a story that takes 10 minutes of your time to see. It is a simple human one, telling the heartbreaking story of one man who fought the corporate behemoth Monsanto, and it illustrates why I was moved to write The Monsanto Years.
The film presents a rare opportunity to hear from the source as Mr. White is one of only four farmers who is still legally allowed to speak about his case as all the others have been effectively silenced.
Thanks for reading this and I hope you look at this simple and powerful film, “Seeding Fear”.
Tour Cities & Dates. Click on links to see ticket auctions:
July 08 @ Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Denver, Colorado (auction closed)
July 09 @ Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Denver, Colorado (auction)
July 11 @ Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska (auction)
July 13 @ Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (auction)
July 14 @ DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan (auction)
July 16 @ Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, New Jersey (auction)
July 17 @ Bethel Woods Center, Bethel, New York (auction)
July 19 @ Champlain Valley Expo, Essex Junction, Vermont (auction)
July 21 @ Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, New York (auction)
July 22 @ Xfinity Center, Mansfield, Massachusetts (auction)
*July 24 @ Wayhome Festival. Oro-Medonte, Canada
Monsanto: “Many of us at Monsanto have been and are fans of Neil Young. Unfortunately, for some of us, his current album may fail to reflect our strong beliefs in what we do every day to help make agriculture more sustainable. We recognize there is a lot of misinformation about who we are and what we do – and unfortunately several of those myths seem to be captured in these lyrics.”
The agrochemical company Monsanto has fired back at Neil Young for his album ‘The Monsanto Years.’
“The farmer knows he’s got to grow what he can sell, Monsanto, Monsanto / So he signs a deal for GMOs that makes life hell with Monsanto, Monsanto,” Young sings on the title track. “Every year he buys the patented seeds / Poison-ready they’re what the corporation needs, Monsanto.”
An article in Rolling Stone states: The Monsanto Years (which comes out on June 29th) also takes on Starbucks for their use of GMOs. “Starbucks has not taken a position on the issue of GMO labeling,” the company said. “As a company with stores and a product presence in every state, we prefer a national solution.”
Chevron refused to comment on Young’s lyrics, though Walmart did bite. “As you might have seen recently, Walmart raised its lowest starting wage to $9 an hour,” they told Billboard. “We’re proud of the opportunity we provide people to build a career and have a chance at a better life.”
Neil Young and Promise of the Real kick off their North American summer tour July 5th at the Marcus Ampitheater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
An article printed in New York Post on June 14 by Owen Paterson, says Neil Young and Green Peace are working to starve the world’s poor.
Paterson is the Conservative Member of Parliament for North Shropshire. He was UK secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs from 2012 to 2014.
Paterson writes: “The aging songwriter is following the lead of activists who claim that GMOs are harmful to health, farmers and the environment. This is tragically wrong. In reality, GMOs can save millions of lives. It’s the environmentalists who are doing real harm.”
He gives the example of Golden Rice, a miracle grain enhanced with Vitamin A-producing beta-carotene, and say the rice could save many lives in third world countries.
“But the ongoing opposition of anti-GMO activist groups and their lavish scare campaign with its combined global war chest estimated to exceed $500 million a year have kept Golden Rice off the global market,” he writes.
Paterson said instead of bashing companies that are trying to save lives, Young ought to use his star power to convince the NGO community to do the right thing and support giving the developing world the GMO tools it needs to feed its growing, and tragically malnourished, populations.
In the spirit of being fair and balanced, BNB is posting Fairfield County Food Examiner James Cooper’s blog post, taking issue with Neil Young’s claims against Monsanto
Cooper is the author of 19 books and most recent book is Food Myths debunked.. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Ohio State University and is a graduate of Oberlin College.
Cooper writes, at The Examiner.com, that Neil Young’s new album, “The Monsanto Years,” makes any number of silly claims about biotechnology, using Monsanto as a metaphor for the entire plant breeding industry.
He writes:
“I want a cup of coffee, but I don’t want a GMO,” is about as inaccurate as you can get. It is not obvious, but I might guess that Young is referring to some sort of genetically modified coffee (none exists) or milk (none exists). In fact, this whole “Monsanto milk” nonsense was stirred up by charlatans like Joe Mercola and the vapid Food Babe. What they are referring to is rBST hormone given to cows to increase their milk production. This is just a synthetic version of the BST (bovine somatotropin) hormone that had been given to cows for years to increase production.
Monsanto contracted with Genentech to make this synthetic hormone and began marketing it as Posilac in 1993. It is important to note that this a given to the cows, not added to the milk. All studies have shown that the milk from rBst-treated cows is exactly the same as that from non-rBst treated cows. It does not have any different amounts of any hormones or any other differences.
The FDA has recognized that there are no differences, and if milk is labeled as “rBST free” there must be a disclaimer that such milk is no different than any other milk.”
He also said ” The rest of Young’s song “Let our farmers grow/what they want ot grow,” makes no more sense than the rest of it. The fiction that farmers are somehow forced to buy or plant certain seeds is a canard created by the giant organic food industry. It is simply untrue. Farmers are free to buy any sort of seeds (and chemicals) they want from any number of different suppliers and there are no contract restricting them in any way, except from replanting patented seeds.”
“Back in the old folky days
The air was magic when we played.” by -- Neil Young
Neil Young on Tour
Sugar Mountain setlists
Tom Hambleton provides BNB with setlists, thankfully. His website is the most comprehensive searchable archives on the Internets about anything Neil Young related setlists. Goto Sugar Mountain.
Here’s a message from Neil Young that was posted on his Facebook page on July 23.
memphish on 
Albert Stromann on 
liza on 
Baz on 
