The Dark Truth Behind the Brussels Attacks 

by MHB Administrator • Guest Posts • Tags: Brussels Attacks, crisis actors, false flag terror, media disinformation, news media analysis, Paris 11/13, psychological warfare, terrorism, war on terror

Was Brussels 3/22 Another Staged Event?

James Robertsonhttp://memoryholeblog.com/2016/03/27/the-dark-truth-behind-the-brussels-attacks/#more-26617
 Crimes of Empire 

Drill casualties: spot the difference. (Source)

Cribgeworthy shot of faux bomb victim in Brussels. Logically fake victims can mean only one thing-no real attack has happened.
A drill of a subway bombing took place three weeks before the 3/22 Brussels attacks. Drill casualties have better wounds! (Source)
This classic shot sums up the farcical nature of what we are currently expected to believe. Fake wounded victim writhes randomly and laughably as people walk past ignoring the ridiculous spectacle. This is definitely not the aftermath of an attack.

“We need to try to understand the extraordinary evolution this phenomenon has gone through that…when it first started it was, the deaths were real but the story was bogus and in around about 2012 we had this amazing transformation whereby actors could apparently do it without needing real–you know- you’ve got ketchup all over the place instead of real blood and that was a real change I think.” -Dr. Nick Kollerstrom on the Kevin Barrett radio show, January 2016.

On a satanic holiday a grand deception.
Since the year 2012 almost all of the supposed terror attacks in Western nations are confirmed and proven hoax events. This is the new model. The early indications are that the Brussels attacks were of the same genre. Fiction. Joining the entire wave of Euroterror that has taken place over the past 14 months at Charlie Hebdo and the Kosher Delicatessen, in Copenhagen, in Paris on Black Friday and in the genuinely hilarious French train psyop.
Gladio was the cold war synthetic terror/ strategy of tension, Gladio B as coined by Sibel Edmonds was similar to the original but with Muslims replacing communists as the enemy.
Gladio C is very similar to Gladio B but instead of false flag terror attacks such as 911, Bali and London 7/7 the events are entirely staged. These are drills that are enacted, filmed and sold to the public as authentic terror attacks.
Whether or not it is tactically intelligent to make the hoax argument when people are likely to be more receptive to a false flag narrative is a completely separate issue. The false flag attack narrative is no longer the truth when it comes to modern psyops and those who cling to the false flag narrative and pretend that these events are real, are not telling the truth.
It can be rather tricky positively proving that these events were feigned, faux and fraudulent and from a tactical point of view it may well be unwise to attempt to convince everyday people of this as the truth is so far beyond the reality they occupy that this hypothesis may only alienate them and cause them to see you as insane.
Nonetheless, the truth does matter; it is important even when to all intents and purposes the event might as well have taken place. The response to these things is such that it might as well have happened. Those who have swallowed the “terror” narrative and felt the real emotions that this narrative caused them to feel will never believe the whole thing was a fraud, but none of this changes the fact that this is the case.
It is astonishing the way so many intelligent people will respond like automatons whenever something like this happens. The whole political/media gang play their roles mindlessly like wind up robots with their pathetic attempts to blame their political opponents for the faux tragedy.
Everything that people are saying about this event,that is predicated upon the authenticity of the attack is nonsense.
ISIS Claims attacks were revenge for Belgium’s mighty 6 plane anti ISIS campaign that ended last July!
One of the more amusing things about the Brussles attack was the attempt to create a motive where none exists. Thus when “ISIS” made their claim of responsibility via a social media account that could be run by absolutely anyone,the group tried to say that the attack was in revenge for Belgium’s participation in fighting the “brothers” in Iraq as part of the “International Coalition”.
There are two funny things there, one being that Belgium ceased its involvement in Iraq last July having stationed six F16 jets in Jordan for less than a year, the other being that even when they were purportedly coalition members they did absolutely nothing, like most of the members of the US led coalition who generally make one or two attacks for PR purposes and then disappear into oblivion.
Belgium’s Exit From Anti-ISIL Coalition’s Bombing Campaign in Syria and Iraq | Global Research
The British and French campaigns are perfect cases in point, a big political noise followed by one or two “pageant” attacks and then nothing.

2009 photo of the section of Zavantem airport where the incident of March 22nd took place.

Brussels
Given that the attack took place only days ago the evidence is still to be developed but it can be stated with confidence that the Brussels airport attack was not an authentic event based upon the footage that has been released.
There are several videos that purport to show the immediate aftermath of the Brussels attack. There are two major anomalies in these videos that immediately strike the critical viewer. There are no bodies inside the terminal that has supposedly just been attacked, nor any wounded. Some people, appear to be wounded as you watch the start of the video but as you watch they get up and walk away, dazed at worst.

Mayhem in Brussels airport: Immediate aftermath of Zaventem bombingshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHtC1Vyv7C8

The absence of wounded and dead people at the scene of the event is a core problem. When you add to that the many videos of the outside of the building at approximately the same time that also show no people with any significant wounds, it becomes pretty clear what has happened, although the authors of the Brussels psyop deserve a lot of credit for the innovation of apparently bombing the empty building before moving in the cast to conduct the psyop.
This is a clunky hypothesis but does seem to be the best explanation for the fact that the building has been damaged yet there are no victims of any veracity to be seen.
Fake Wounded People Mean the Event Cannot Possibly be an authentic attack
A tremendous effort has been made with the Brussels operation, and in the days since the event a massive amount of evidence of an “ISIS terror attack” in Brussels has been amassed by the establishment media in an attemtp to sear the Brussels narrative into the mind of the credulous audience. Some of it is superficially convincing such as the much used photo below, but even here critical scrutiny makes it clear that these are fake victims. We are told that the lady in the yellow top and black bra had her clothes blown off by the force of the blast yet she has not suffered any cuts, abrasions or other injuries to these areas. This is not credible and neither is the woman with the paint blood n her hands blithely talking on the phone beside her. Look at the woman on the phone’s face. Does she look like someone who has recently been witness even to a traumatic incident? Or does she appear to be having another mundane run of the mill day?

Survivors of the airport attack in the aftermath.

Has this woman been even in the same city as an actual terror attack? Of course not.

Here is an empty stretcher, with a little blood smeared for verisimilitude. A tactical that was also used in Sydney.

Here we have the same steetcher, the empty stretcher PIXELATED to avoid the poor viewer being upset by the fact that they are looking at an empty stretcher with some blood spattered upon it. This hilarious, dirty little tactic was very prominent with the Charlie Hebdo hoax when people were told they could not look at the fake shooting of the policeman in the street because it was too graphic. It actually showed the entire event was a fraud 100%. A pixelated empty stretcher is a strong marker of a faux event.

Empty stretcher with a portion of fake blood at the Sydney siege, December 2014.

Trouser bombs strike again

A classic reprise of the trouser bomb first experienced in Boston in Brussels.

Props mismatch idicates the truth. The clothes are shredded by shrapnel that failed to break the skin. This is impossible. This is costume shredding.

Conclusion
It is too early to state definitively that what happened in a Brussels was a completely fake event but it is obvious that it was. The evidence and lack of evidence over succeeding months will make this claim a hard provable fact in my opinion, just as it is today hard proven that Boston and Sandy Hook were faux events like all of the other major incidents in Western nations in recent years with the apparent exception of the plane incidents such as German Wings 9525 and MH17 where genuine mass death appears to have occurred. Outside the West the violence is very real with very occasional theatrics thrown in at the behest of the BBC or CNN.

Photos of Drill before Recent Terror Attack 

by MHB Administrator • Documents, Home • Tags: Brussels Attacks, crisis actor, false flag terror, police state and civil rights, propaganda, public opinion, terrorism, war on terror

AMTVMediahttp://memoryholeblog.com/2016/03/25/photos-of-drill-before-recent-terror-attack/#more-26636

Hundreds of emergency workers from four countries took part in Europe’s largest disaster drill that came weeks before the recent terror attack.
Seven Tube carriages have been partially buried under thousands of tonnes of rubble that poured into a station when a building collapsed.
Hundreds of ‘dead’ bodies were today strewn across the horrifying scene of carnage, the victims of this major disaster.
These are the traumatic sights that scores of emergency service were faced with as they took part in the first day of Europe’s largest-ever disaster response training exercise.

The scenario involves a tower block collapsing on to the bustling Waterloo Tube station, which has been partially built in a disused power station in Kent.
Over the next four days, some 2,000 blood-covered volunteers will act as ‘victims’, with fake sliced limbs and open wounds recreating the blood and gore of such a large scale incident.


Large scale drill: This photograph reveals the workings behind the mutli-agency exercise, which has taken more than a year to plan. The scenario, which involves a tower block collapsing on to the bustling Waterloo Tube station, has been built in a disused power station

Casualties in the carriage: Actors with stage make up lie slumped in the Tube carriage as they wait for rescue workers

On the ground: Police officers attend the scene of the fictional attack, helping those outside one of the Tube carriages


Wounded: Actors have lifelike injuries, including burns like the one pictured, painted on to their bodies to make the scenario more realistic

More…

Nine Reasons To Question The Paris Terror Attacks   ~ hehe folks their "PLAYBOOK" hasn't "changed" for fucking what ! how long  ?  over & over& over & fucking on &on &on On ON ????? ....isn't "it" just fucking get~tin   OLDDDDDDDDDDDDD    ..yet  fuck me man aren't ya getttting a lil ...tired of it ...just a lil  ,    man  the same "scrip" "played" out   ...fuck

By Brandon Turbeville

Global Research, March 27, 2016

Activist Post 9 November 2015

Region: Europe

Theme: 9/11 & 'War on Terrorism', Media Disinformation

The Brussels and Paris terror attacks are interrelated.  
This article first published on November 9, 2015 in the immediate wake of the Paris attacks is of relevance in analyzing the nature of both the Paris and Brussels events.
As France finds itself in the grips of martial law and its first mandatory curfew since it was occupied by Germany during world War II, there exists a number of questionable details surrounding the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
Only hours after the first shots were fired, stories and reports are beginning to change and contradict one another. Considering the history of the French government, French Intelligence agencies and the Anglo-American/NATO Intelligence apparatus, particularly the recent events surrounding the Charlie Hebdo attacks that were exposed as false flags, one would be justified in wondering whether or not these recent attacks in Paris were of the same variety.

Below are a number of reasons to question the official story of the Paris terror attacks.

1.) How many gunmen? Already, the number of individuals involved in the Paris attacks is in question. While some reports suggested four shooters were involved, others suggested three. The majority of mainstream reports seem to be only acknowledging two shooters. So how many shooters were there? Two, three or four? One witness, Pierre Marie Bertin, a 36-year-old who was at the theater when the shooting began, stated that there were as many as four gunmen. Bertin described some male hostages who “went onto the balcony and tried to negotiate for the life of their wives with one of the guys [terrorists]. It was sickening.” Bertin recounted somewhat more detail than some other witnesses and was clear that there were as many as four gunmen. Australian news media is reporting that three gunmen have been killed.

This might seem inconsequential to many readers, but in informed researching circles it is well-known that the information that comes out shortly after the event is usually the most reliable. This is not to discount the existence of confusion related to panicked reports coming from eyewitnesses and the like. However, the information coming out early on has not yet been subjected to the top-down media revision that will inevitably take place as the story becomes molded to fit the narrative pushed by the individuals who either directed the attack at the higher levels or at least have connections with those who are able to control the manner in which various media outlets report the event. For instance, in times of false flag attacks, the initial reports may point to 5 gunmen. Very shortly after, reports may only mention two. Only a few hours after the attack, however, all references to more than one gunmen are removed entirely, with only the “lone gunman” story remaining. Any other mention of additional gunmen after this point is ridiculed as “conspiracy theory.”

2.) The types of weapons used – While some reports suggest that the attackers were using AK-47s, other reports are suggesting that shotguns were used. While the contradiction in reports can certainly be attributed to victims and witnesses simply not being aware of the type of weapons being used in the attacks and panic in the heat of the moment, there is none the less contradiction in the reports being issued. As of the time of the writing of this article there has been no clarification as to what type of weapons were used. Since the assailants were supposedly killed by police it should be clear what weapons they used.

3.) Were the gunmen killed or arrested? While the number of gunmen itself is in doubt, news reports coming from Fox and Sky are suggesting that a suspected gunmen was actually arrested. In fact, the suspect allegedly stated to police, “I am from ISIS” giving us all the information we need as for who is responsible for this attack.

4.) Gunmen connected to ISIS, gunmen connected to Syria – Along with the very convenient and immediate statement by an allegedly arrested suspect that he was from ISIS, we also have screams of a shooter that “This is for Syria!” This gives us all the information that we need regarding the motivation of the alleged attackers. They are from ISIS. They hate the French because the French are “attacking” ISIS and because somewhere in France in a very darkened corner, under the sofa, there are freedoms. ISIS hates freedoms. This is quite coincidental considering the fact that a Russian airliner was recently bombed, allegedly by ISIS – at least according to the West.

5.) The timing of the event – Aside from the obvious connotations derived from the attacks occurring on Friday the 13th, the Paris massacre has taken place shortly before a major climate summit that was set to take place in France. The French government was expecting massive protests they alleged could potentially become violent, by activists opposed to globalization and energy austerity. Interestingly enough, France had already planned to impose border controls starting on November 30th in anticipation of the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Paris “because of the terrorist threat or risk of public disorder.” Needless to say, there will be no massive protest now considering the fact that 2015 France resembles the 1943 version of itself more than anything else.

6.) Security – Considering the fact that the security had been so heightenedboth on the heels of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the anticipation of disorder for the U.N. Conference on Climate Change, how on earth did such a major terror attack slip through the hands of the DGSE? After all, France is nothing if not a police state. It is also giving the United States a run for its money in the contest for how much information it is able to nab up on its citizens. No doubt, we will be sold the line of “pre-civilized savages outsmarted first-world high end military surveillance states.”

7.) Drills – One hallmark of the false flag operation is the running of drills shortly before or during the actual attack. Many times, these drills will involve the actual sequence of events that takes place during the real life attack . These drills have been present on large scale false flags such as 9/11 as well as smaller scale attacks like the Aurora shooting.For instance, as Webster Tarpley documents in his book 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made In USA, at least 46 drills were underway in the months leading up to 9/11 and on the morning of the attack. These 46 drills were all directly related to the events which took place on 9/11 in some way or other. Likewise, the 7/7 bombings in London were running drills of exactly the same scenario that was occurring at exactly the same times and locations.

Although one reason may take precedence over the other depending on the nature and purpose of the operation drills are used by false flag operators for at least two reasons. One such purpose is the creation of intentional confusion if the drill is taking place during the actual attack. The other, more effective aspect, however, is using the drill as a cloak to plan the attack or even “go live” when it comes time to launch the event. Even more so, it gives the individuals who are involved in the planning of the event an element of cover, especially with the military/intelligence agency’s tight chain of command structure and need-to-know basis. If a loyal military officer or intelligence agent stumbles upon the planning of the attack, that individual can always be told that what he has witnessed is nothing more than the planning of a training exercise. This deniability continues all the way through to the actual “going live” of the drill. After the completion of the false flag attack, Coincidence Theory is used to explain away the tragic results.

All of this must be considered, when one reads reports suggesting that the UK conducted counter-terrorism drills earlier this year that included scenarios that involved terror attacks in Paris similar to those that took place on the Charlie Hebdo massacre. As the reports surrounding the UK drills were released, a number 10 spokesman confirmed “it had been agreed that future exercises, which take place on a regular basis, should seek to learn from events in France.” David Cameron himself stated that there was  a need for police “to call on military help if there was a major emergency.”

8.) Charlie Hebdo – The recent Paris attacks were similar to the Charlie Hebdo massacre that occurred earlier this year. The Charlie Hebdo attacks, however, were largely revealed as a false flag operation. Evidence for which can be seen in my article “15 Signs the Charlie Hebdo Attack Was a False Flag.” Thus, there exists a clear precedent for such attacks in France, albeit on a much larger scale.

9.) Who controls ISIS? For many, claims that the attackers belong to ISIS is a deal breaker. For these individuals, ISIS is a shadowy terrorist organization that supports itself and has created a caliphate in eastern Syria and western Iraq that can scarcely be defeated (except when the Russians bomb it). However, the facts do not support such a shallow understanding of the ISIS terrorist organization. ISIS was entirely created, funded and directed by the United States, Britain, France and other NATO countries. Its actions have been coordinated by the Anglo-American Intelligence apparatus for geopolitical purposes all across the world both at home and abroad. For this reason, the declaration that ISIS committed a terrorist attack in Paris is by no means a get-out-of-jail-free card for the Western Intelligence apparatus. Instead, it is the trademark of their handiwork. Please see these articles for more information on the nature of ISIS: here, here,here and here.

While the information presented above may not be enough evidence to conclude that the Paris attacks were false flag attacks, it is reason enough to question the official story thus far. If these attacks are indeed placed in the lap of ISIS, however, all fingers should immediately point to NATO and the Atlanticist Intelligence apparatus. It is they who control ISIS and they who bear the responsibility for its actions.

Emergency Drills Took Place on Morning of Paris Terror Attacks: Report

Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions andDispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 andvolume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 500 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST atUCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.

The original source of this article is Activist Post

Copyright © Brandon Turbeville, Activist Post, 2016

Global Agribusiness and the Marginalisation of Self-Sufficient Organic Farming and Agroecology

By Colin Todhunter

Global Research, March 28, 2016

Region: Asia, Latin America & Caribbean

Theme: Biotechnology and GMO, Environment

Is organic-based farming merely a niche model of agriculture that is not capable of feeding the global population? Or does it have a major role to play?  

In addressing these questions, it would be useful to consider a selection of relevant literature to see what it says about the role of organic farming, how this model of agriculture impacts farmers and whether or not it can actually feed the global population.

Organic farming and sustainable livelihoods

In ‘The impact of organic farming on food security in a regional and global perspective’, Halberg et al (2006) argue that while present food production in theory is sufficient to cover the energy and protein needs of the global population, there are still more than 740 million food insecure people, the majority of whom live in the Global South. The researchers indicate that if a conversion to organic farming of approximately 50% of the agricultural area in the Global South were to be carried out, it would result in increased self-sufficiency and decreased net food import to the region.

Following on from this, in the 2013 book ‘Organic Agriculture for Sustainable Livelihioods’ by Halberg and Muller, the authors suggest that organic crops tend to provide farmers with a higher net income compared to their conventional counterparts due to lower production costs. The book provides convincing evidence that organic farming has a positive influence on smallholder food security and livelihoods. This is important because smallholder agriculture is key to food production in the Global South, where food insecurity is most prevalent.

Aaron Iverson makes a pertinent point about this book: Halberg and Muller factor into their analyses the economic benefits of organic agriculture over conventional agriculture, which accrue over several years to decades. Iverson says that such analyses on these time scales are rare. Based on extensive research and modelling, the two authors indicate that organic farming promotes crop diversity, improves worker health due to less chemical exposure, increases social and human capital, increases farmland biodiversity, lowers pollution, increases soil fertility and is less financially risky due to lower upfront costs. Among other things, it also sequesters more soil carbon and is less vulnerable to climate change due to improved soil properties.

UN FAO: organic could feed the world

In 2007, the UN FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) noted that the advantage of organic agriculture is that it relies on fossil-fuel independent and locally-available production assets. Organic models work with natural processes, increase cost-effectiveness and contribute to resilience in the face of climatic stress. The FAO concluded that by managing biodiversity in time (rotations) and space (mixed cropping), organic farmers use their labour and environmental factors to intensify production in a sustainable way and that organic agriculture could break the vicious circle of indebtedness for agricultural inputs, which causes an alarming rate of farmers’ suicides.

The FAO recognises that agroecology contributes to improved food self-reliance, the revitalisation of smallholder agriculture and enhanced employment opportunities. It asserts that organic agriculture could produce enough food on a global per capita basis for the current world population but with reduced environmental impact than conventional agriculture.

In a similar vein, although not focusing solely on organic, Jules Pretty et al note that sustainable, resource-conserving agriculture has the potential to significantly increase yields. It also improves nutrition, food security and crop diversity (contrast this with what Daniel Miangi says about the chemical-intensive mono-cropping system and its adverse impact on diet).

UN Special Rapporteur on agroecology and the right to food

Olivier De Schutter, former UN special Rapporteur on the right to food, produced this report in 2011 that was based on an extensive review of recent scientific literature. He concludes that, by applying agroecological principles to the design of democratically controlled agricultural systems, we can help to put an end to food crises and address climate-change and poverty challenges. He is not the only one who asserts organic farming is better suited to addressing climate-related challenges. This peer-reviewed paper also argues that organic is a “concrete and sustainable option” for adapting to climate change and variability.

De Schutter argues that agroecological approaches could address food needs in critical regions and could double food production in 10 years.

His report focussed on regions like Africa and South East Asia and showed an average crop yield increase of 80% in 57 developing countries, with an average increase of 116% for all African projects. Recent projects conducted in 20 African countries demonstrated a doubling of crop yields over a period of 3-10 years. However, De Schutter notes insufficient backing for organic-based farming seriously hinders progress.

And this last point should not be understated. For instance, the success of the green revolution is often touted, but how can we really evaluate it? If alternatives had been invested in to the same extent, if similar powerful and influential interests had invested in organic-based models, would we now not be pointing to the runaway successes of organic-based farming and, importantly, without the massive external costs of a polluted environment, less diverse diets, degraded soils and nutrient deficient food, ill health and so on?

And if green revolution technology and thinking had not been wedded to and fuelled and driven by powerful commercial and geopolitical interests, would it not have been employed more judiciously to serve farmers and the public better?

UNCTAD: better incomes and food availability

In 2012, the Deputy Secretary General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Petko Draganov, during the opening of the 2nd African Organic Conference in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, stated:

“Organic agriculture can offer an impressive array of food security, economic, environmental, and health benefits for developing countries, including in Africa.”

He went on to state that expanding Africa’s shift towards organic farming will have beneficial effects on the continent’s nutritional needs, the environment, farmers’ incomes, markets and employment.

According to UNCTAD, organic agriculture can increase farm yields markedly and help farmers receive higher prices for their produce, which sells at a premium. The method also helps create jobs in rural areas.

A meta analysis conducted by UNEP–UNCTAD (2008) assessed 114 cases in Africa. In Kenya, maize yields increased by 71% and bean yields by 158%. Increased diversity in food crops available to farmers resulted in more varied diets and thus improved nutrition. The 114 projects covered 2 million hectares and 1.9 million farmers showing a 116% higher average crop yield on average for all African projects and 128 higher for the projects in East Africa. The UN agencies concluded that organic agriculture can be more conducive to food security in Africa than most conventional production systems and that it is more likely to be sustainable in the long term. These projects increased food availability for local people and gave the farmers involved higher incomes.

IAASTD recommends agroecology

The IAASTD peer-reviewed report, produced by 400 scientists and supported by 60 countries, recommends agroecology to maintain and increase the productivity of global agriculture. It cites the largest study of sustainable agriculture in the Global South, which analysed 286 projects covering 37 million hectares in 57 countries, and found that on average crop yields increased by 79% (the study by Pretty et al, referred to earlier – which includes ‘resource conserving’ non-organic conventional approaches).

The purpose of listing these reports is to show that there is enough evidence to demonstrate that organic-based approaches are vital for guaranteeing food security, rural development, better nutrition and sustainability, especially in the Global South.

The Cuban model

Aside from the evidence provided above, there are numerous other studies which testify to the efficacy of organic farming: for example, there are reports/studies from the Rodale Institute, Oakland Institute, Women’s Collective of Tamil Nadu, Newcastle University, UN Green Economy Initiative and Washington State University. We also need look no further than the results of organic-based farming in Malawi. Organic approaches have also enhanced farmers’ livelihoods in India and play a key role in contributing to rural development.

However, if we want to really appreciate what happens when a major widespread shift to organic farming occurs, we need look no further than Cuba.

Cuba is the one country in the world that has made the biggest changes in the shortest time in moving from industrial chemical-intensive agriculture to organic farming.

Miguel Altieri notes that, due to the difficulties Cuba experienced as a result of the fall of the USSR, it moved towards organic and agroecological techniques in the 1990s. Thousands of oxen replaced tractors that could not function due to lack of petroleum and spare parts. Farmers substituted green manures for chemical fertilizers and artisanally produced biopesticides for insecticides.

Altieri states that from 1996 to 2005, per capita food production in Cuba increased by 4.2 percent yearly during a period when production was stagnant across the wider region. In the mid-2000s, the Ministry of Agriculture endorsed the creation of 2,600 new small urban and suburban farms and allowed farming on some three million hectares of unused state lands.

Today Cuba has 383,000 urban farms, covering 50,000 hectares of otherwise unused land and producing more than 1.5 million tons of vegetables. The most productive urban farms yield up to 20 kg of food per square meter, the highest rate in the world, using no synthetic chemicals. Urban farms supply 50 to 70 percent or more of all the fresh vegetables consumed in cities such as Havana and Villa Clara.

Altieri and his colleague have calculated that if all peasant farms and cooperatives adopted diversified agroecological designs, Cuba would be able to produce enough to feed its population, supply food to the tourist industry and even export some food to help generate foreign currency.

What Cuba has done is a major achievement, as Garry Leech argues:

“The shift to a more ecologically sustainable agricultural production has resulted in healthy organic food being the most convenient and inexpensive food available to Cubans. Because of the US blockade, processed foods are more expensive and not readily available. This reality stands in stark contrast to that in wealthy capitalist nations such as the United States and Canada where heavily-subsidized agri-businesses flood the market with cheap, unhealthy processed foods while organic alternatives are expensive and more difficult to obtain. The consequence in the United States is high levels of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.”

Cuba shows what can be done (see how it was done and the dangers it now faces) when the political will exists and what should be done if we are to move away from an unsustainable model of agriculture that creates food insecurity, environmental degradation, bad food and ill health.

The US model

Contrast this with what NAFTA did to Mexico. Driven by an industrial chemical-intensive US model of food processing, retail and agriculture, the outcome has been bad health, the undermining of food security and the devastation of small farmers and businesses.

Processed junk food ridden with toxins and a propped up agribusiness sector with subsidies has become a feature of the US chemical-intensive model of agriculture, which has led to all kinds of health and environmental problems in the US, as highlighted here.

For Olivier De Schutter, a programme that deals effectively with hunger and malnutrition has to focus on Mexico’s small farmers and peasants. They constitute a substantial percentage of the country’s poor and are the ones that can best supply both rural and urban populations with nutritious foods.

And the writing is on the wall for places like India too as the neoliberal invasion and transnational agribusiness armed with its chemicals (and GMOs) increases its hold over food and agriculture. It is turning out to be disastrous for Indian farmers, the environment and the health of the public (see this too).

In the meantime, supporters of the unhealthy, unsustainable, industrialised petro-chemical model of agriculture wish to continue to rip up indigenous agriculture and recast it accordingly. And they attempt to justify this by stating there is no alternative and that organic-based approaches, including a genuine democratic-participatory movement like agroecology, cannot deliver.

Despite places like Russia, Cuba and Sikkim (India’s first fully organic state) are showing the way forward, these supporters would say that, wouldn’t they?

From NAFTA and trade agreements like the Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture (India), TTIP and TPP to the ongoing infiltration of Africa by Bill Gates and ‘corporate America’, they require business as usual: to offer governments strings-attached loans and ensure export cash-crop monocropping takes hold (see this articlefrom 1999 about India), to make farmers reliant on external inputs, to get them onto a highly profitable but unsustainable GMO/chemical treadmill and to incorporate them into an system of globalisation centred on rigged trade, debt traps and the manipulated international ‘free’ market.

And all for what? To capture the entire supply chain from seed to plate, to serve the commercial interests of transnational agritech/agribusiness and food retail corporations and to use agriculture as a political tool to create dependency. All of this at the expense of self-sufficiency, sustainable indigenous agriculture and the livelihoods of those involved in traditional food production, processing and retail. And all of this too at the expense of regional food security, the environment and a nutritious, healthy and diverse diet.

The original source of this article is Global Research

Copyright © Colin Todhunter, Global Research, 2016

UK aid funds TERRORISTS: After yet more budget cuts, another £12bn of your taxes are being splurged on foreign hand-outs for militants, killers, Palestinian palaces and jobs that don't exist

Posted by George Freund on March 27, 2016

£8million presidential palace on the westbank - built by a country that got £72million in foreign aid

Mail On Sunday investigation shows that UK money has funded terrorists

£72million was given to Palestine, which spent £8million on a new palace

£5.9million was given to a US-based think-tank which has a £12million HQ

You can sign the MoS petition to force a Commons debate on spending

LINK: