Illegal food activity? The Food Bill verses the other Food Bill

Garden fresh, healthy and keeping the family food bill down :o) 

Possession of these seeds could become as illegal as carry illicit drugs with the other Food Bill.

We are enjoying some of the fruits of our garden, we plan to keep the seeds and we'd love to share out of our abundance, but for how much longer will this be legal?


The US have already passed this Bill and NZ introduced it to parliament last year very quietly.
When is Australia's turn? When will this bill be quietly slipped in? Can you imagine it being illegal to grow and share garden produce, seeds, herbs and water!!!!


A normal person cannot even imagine this getting any air time, let alone being passed in the US and through the first round of Parliament in NZ.


Here's a snippet:

What are the problems with the Food Bill? From http://nzfoodsecurity.org/

- It turns a human right (to grow food and share it) into a government-authorised privilege that can be summarily revoked.

- It makes it illegal to distribute “food” without authorisation, and it defines “food” in such a way that it includes nutrients, seeds, natural medicines, essential minerals and drinks (including water).

- By controlling seeds, the bill takes the power to grow food away from the public and puts it in the hands of seed companies. That power may be abused.

- The bill will push up mainstream food prices by subjecting producers to red tape and registration costs. Food prices are already rising due to increased energy costs and commodity speculation, while effective disposable incomes are falling.

- Growing food for distribution must be authorised, even for “cottage industries”, and such authorisation can be denied.

- Under the Food Bill, Police acting as Food Safety Officers can raid premises without a warrant, using all equipment they deem necessary – including guns (Clause 265 – 1).

- Members of the private sector can also be Food Safety Officers, as at Clause 243. So Monsanto employees can raid premises – including marae – backed up by armed police.

- The Bill gives Food Safety Officers immunity from criminal and civil prosecution.

- The Government has created this bill to keep in line with its World Trade Organisation obligations under an international scheme called Codex Alimentarius (“Food Book”). So it has to pass this bill in one form or another.

- There are problems with Codex also. Codex will place severe restrictions on the content of vitamins, minerals and therapeutic compounds in food, drinks and supplements etc.

- The Food Bill means that non-Codex-complying producers can be shut down easily – thus it paves the way for the legal enforcement of Codex food regulations. Producers will be denied registration (which is discretionary) if they do not keep to Codex food production rules.

To read the bill click here.

We need voices to tell our politicians that this is not OK for Australia

Thanks to Rob for the heads up on this.

Kitchen changes

When were moved into our house nearly 10 years ago, there was no kitchen so we took the offer of a freebie. This freebie has served us well but it was a horrid shape and function lacking. Finally I had an idea to rearrange and gain better functionality.
So far it looks like it's going to cost about $50 for grout, shelf holders and some new drawer runners.
Sorry the pics are lacking, I lost the camera for a few days in the mess I made.

We pulled off the wall mounted cupboard from above the stove. Plastered and sanding it.

All sanded and about to paint.

Painted and Pooh putting up some shelves. Outdoor brackets and reclaimed timber.

Almost done, need to add cup holders and a basket for all the herbal teas. Need to grout the tiles too.
I'm hoping to get a range-hood to go above the stove.
We have to make a small bench for the left of the stove. DS made a small cupboard for the baking trays etc.

Here is the deep freeze hiding in the hall cupboard
Need to get the power point moved.
The fridge is at the end of the bench we cut off.

This used to have the deep freeze and the fridge in here. The cupboards are the the old island bench that we just pulled out.
We are going to put on a new bench top but for now, so we can eat, we are resting the old bench here.