Sunday, October 11, 2009

Look into Soy Beans!

Good Morning Flint!
10/10/09
By
Terry Bankert

A Flint Divorce Attorney Lawyer sharing his thoughts with you.

Name this movie, “ You should look into…” now its SOYBEANS!

Farming .,Fur trading, Lumber, Cigars, Whip Sockets and will we now get SOY beans? Have we gone full circle, is our future in Farming? Why not?
 
Of Course SOY BEANS are an important commodity. I share the hope that we can capture for Flint an increased market share of an important product. But I alsao share the skepticism of many Flint Citizens about the “latest” project/report/investor that’s here to save Flint.

I cringe when I read or hear reported the cheer leaders proclaim “talk about a yet-to-be-developed interposal facility on land left behind by General Motors." [ML]

Good God here we go again. Please just do it with our eyes open .

So …WHAT IS AN INTERMODAL FACILITY

Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation (rail, ship, and truck), without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and losses, and allows freight to be transported faster. Reduced costs versus over road trucking is the key benefit for intercontinental use.[WI]

This site has more and a few good pictures. In rough its an automated,…[not may employees].. transferring site taking one type of transportation load and putting it on another, like from truck to trains. This is not rocket science.
 
WHAT ARE SOYBEANS AND WHY DO WE CARE

“Soybeans are one of the "biotech food" crops that have been genetically modified, and genetically modified soybeans are being used in an increasing number of products.”

SOME THINK GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS ARE MAKING OUR CHILDREN FAT IN THE SHORT RUN AND KILLING US IN THE LONG RUN.

“ In 1995 Monsanto Company introduced Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans that have been genetically modified to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup through substitution of the Agrobacterium sp. (strain CP4) gene EPSP (5-enolpyruvyl shikimic acid-3-phosphate) synthase“.”

MONSANTOR IS THE DARTH VADER OF INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE MONOPOLISTICE PREDATORY PRACTICES.

But then our 100 years with General Motors is a good warm up.

“The substituted version is not sensitive to glyphosate.In 1997, about 8% of all soybeans cultivated for the commercial market in the United States were genetically modified. In 2006, the figure was 89%. As with other "Roundup Ready" crops, concern is expressed over damage to biodiversity.However, the RR gene has been bred into so many different soybean cultivars that the genetic modification itself has not resulted in any decline of genetic diversity, as demonstrated by a 2003 study on genetic diversity.

The widespread use of such types of GM soybeans in the Americas has caused problems with exports to some regions. GM crops require extensive certification before they can be legally imported into the European Union, where there is considerable supplier and consumer reluctance to use GM products for consumer or animal use. Difficulties with coexistence and subsequent traces of cross-contamination of non-GM stocks have caused shipments to be rejected and have put a premium on non-GM soy. [W]

Recently I saw the documentary Food.inc , in it Monsanto was a leader in the damage that these Genetically modified foods have done to our bodies and this industry dominated by Monsanto with patents have affected our national economy.

But then a Flintoids got to eat, welcome Monsanto. In Food Inc. Monsanto owns the patent on corn as I surmise they do with Soy Beans.

The farmers cannot grow the seeds they grow, Monsanto has the patent. Each crops seeeds have to be bought from Monsanto. . The corns as I guess the soybean industry is dominated by Monsanto in every aspect. I am sure they will have some influence here. It may be a good thing but lets just keep our eyes open.

MONSANTO

“The Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) is a United States-based multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed as "Roundup". Monsanto is also the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed, holding 90% market share for various GE seeds. It is headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

Agracetus, owned by Monsanto, exclusively produces Roundup Ready soybean seed for the commercial market. In 2005, it finalized purchase of Seminis Inc, making it the world's largest conventional seed company.[W1]
 
Will our relationship with Monsanto be different because of lessons learned with General Motors? Lets hope so, grab an elected leader or a self appointed [private sector] one and shake them screaming do your homework and keep your eyes open. Actually don’t grab them really that’s assault do it figuratively.
 
The latest beat in the drum circle , I can hear their drums and see the dust rise from the shuffling feet, of Flint revitalization in a somber deep chant they say…“The idea of linking Michigan farm crops like soybeans to the truck-to-rail facility proposed at the former Buick City site is quickly gaining supporters, and a key potential investor appears absolutely sold on the location as the ideal spot for agricultural and other shipping.”[ML]

Unnamed supporters and investors..give me a break…do your home work before you write this stuff.

“Flint is a perfect fit to move agricultural products out of Michigan,” said West Michigan businessman Gary Wruble. [ML]

WHO IS GARY WRUBLE, he appears to be the real deal, but then so was Durant, applause, and the thieves that ran ERON, watch out, ask question, we need him but we do not have to give away what’s left of the farm.

WRUBLE SPEAK

Gary Wruble with Soy Ultima says the goal is to give consumers an alternative to high fat foods,

"Taking a specific variety of soy bean and delivering it into products that will be a benefit from the nutritional standpoint."[WN]

Since 2001 Soy Ultima has been finding ways to get soybeans into foods people will eat like potatoes. [WN]

WHO IS SOY ULTIMA

A 4/12/2007 article”GR's Soy Ultima predicts first year sales of $7M ,By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Grand Rapids-based Soy Ultima has been in business five years. But it wasn't until last October that their first product hit the market.[su]

That's when Xtreme O's, a crunchy snack food made with Soy Ultima's ProTato product, was introduced to select schools as a healthy snack for students. Each single-serving package delivers 4g of protein and less than 100 calories.[su]

Sales are expected to hit $7 million by the end of this year.[su]

Soy Ultima is a food and technology company with a mission to introduce "whole soy" technology into finished foods. Conventional processes isolate certain properties of the soybean, harnessing only a portion of the bean's nutrition. Whole soy technology uses the entire bean, sans the hull, to deliver all of its nutritious properties—protein, fiber, and isoflavones—to processed foods.[SU]

Soy Ultima came to Grand Rapids from East Lansing and spent two years developing their products and processes in the West Michigan Science and Technology Initiative's business incubator.

The fledgling company has patented two of their processes focused on the bioavailability of the nutrients in soybeans.[SU]

They have a Patent ,SOY ULTIMA, LLC [US/US]; 1120 Giddings, S.E. Grand Rapids, MI 49506 (US) (All Except US). NSOFOR, Leslie, M. [US/US]; (US) (US Only). Inventor: NSOFOR, Leslie, M.; (US). Agent: BONDARENKO, Gregory, P. et al.; Warner Norcross & Judd LLP 900 Old Kent Building 111 Lyon Street, N.W. Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (US).

Title: SOY BEVERAGE AND RELATED METHOD OF MANUFACTURE A process for producing a stabilized soy beverage from dehulled-whole soybeans partially hydrolyzed with enzymes. The process generally includes: providing whole soybeans (100); activating endogenous enzymes of the whole soybeans (110); hydrolyzing proteins in the soybeans (120); and hydrolyzing carbohydrates in the soybeans (130) to form a hydrolyzed soy base (140) including proteins and carbohydrates that do not form an observable colloidal phase. A preferred process includes: providing whole soybeans; hydrating the soybeans to activate endogenous enzymes within the soybeans; dehulling the soybeans; hydrolyzing the proteins within the dehulled soybean cotyledons by incubating the cotyledons at elevated temperatures; gelatinizing the incubated cotyledons to induce coagulation of the soybean polysaccharides; milling the gelatinized cotyledons into a slurry; hydrolyzing the polysaccharides of the cotyledons with the aid of added cellulase and/or hemicellulase to form a hydrolyzed soy base; deodorizing the slurry; mixing sweeteners, flavoring, and solubilization aids with the hydrolyzed soy base; homogenizing the hydrolyzed soy base; and heat treating the hydrolyzed soy base to form a soy beverage.[su2]

THERE ARE MAJOR PLAYERS THAT WE SHOULD WELCOME WITH OPEN ARMS, SO LETS LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THEM

Soy Ultima is using Michigan soybeans for their products. Right now they are estimating the need for 10,000 to 12,000 acres to produce these products. [WN]

How can we help the farmers develop this land?

Soy Ultima is part of the Grand Rapids based West Michigan Science and Technology a consortium of businesses working to find innovative ways to improve health and the health care industry.[WN]

Michigan economic incentives for research and development in SOY are needed it will help all of us.


Could Buick City, one of Flint's biggest eyesores, get new life as a job-creating intermodal hub to ship Michigan-grown soybeans and eventually use them to produce biodiesel?[ML2]

If that happens what secondary industries or business can we encourage to develop here?

The Flint Journal reports that a group of investors wants to spend $25 million to redevelop about 200 acres of the mostly razed General Motors property and create 600 jobs. The investor group includes GlobalLink Network, Flint investors and West Michigan businessman Gary Wruble, CEO of Soy Ultima LLC.[ML2]

WHO IS GLOBAL LINK

Their home page says,

GlobalLink Network provides an organization of highly skilled professionals to support your business "renovation" needs. Our focus is optimizing segments of your business where you are least proficient; and allowing you to concentrate on those areas where you excel. As part of our "get acquainted" process, we offer: Free company assessment ,Assignment of a Personal Consultant for Coaching
,satisfaction guarantee (We only invoice for services when completed to your satisfaction and sign off.)[g]

GARY WRUBLE OWNS HIS OWN PATENT IN THE SOY WORLD

Gary Wruble - bibliographic patent references
Recent bibliographic sampling of patent applications for Gary Wruble listed/published in the public domain by the USPTO (USPTO Patent Application #,Title):

Protein enriched mashed potato product and process

Abstract: This protein enriched mashed potato product and process employs a soybean protein that has had the beany flavors and odors naturally removed while retaining all of the beneficial characteristics normally associated with the soybean.

The soy protein is then incorporated completely and evenly into mashed potatoes resulting in a product that has the enhanced protein and other essential nutrient characteristics that are considered to be essential to a healthy diet but normally substantially absent in potatoes and products derived therefrom. (end of abstract)20070087109 - Protein enriched mashed potato product and process [P]

I heard Friday from a retired economic development specialist the railroads want nothing to do with an intermodal hub in Flint. There is a huge one in Ohio and its only a couple of hours away by truck.

BUICK CITY IN THE SKY

Wruble is protecting his position by suggesting alternative use for the contaminated slab representing the remainder of what we called Buick City.

“Wruble remains cautious in talking about the Buick City project, but he has confirmed he is one of a group of investors interested in all aspects of it. [ML]

SOY ULTIMA LLC

The chief executive officer of Soy Ultima LLC has yet to name any of the other investors in his group and said he’s not authorized to speak for them yet.”[ML]

WHO IS HE GETTING A GOOD RECEPTION FROM?

But Wruble has talked some about how Flint could transform into a transportation hub in the near future, partly by focusing on agriculture, and he’s getting a good reception from those who have heard him or read about his interest.[ML]

HENRY IS RELYING ON WHAT WRUBLE TOLD HIM, IS THERE EXCESS SUPPLY FOR TRANSPORTATION?

County Board of Commissioners Chairman Ted Henry said he heard a presentation on the potential for shipping products by rail from Buick City, especially farm products, and said Wruble told him there may be enough volume of crops in the Thumb region alone to make an impact.[ML]

AGRICULTURE IS NUMBER 1

Agriculture is the second-largest industry in Michigan, contributing more than $71 million into the state’s economy.[ML]

FARMERS FOR 100 MILES WILL SEND THEIR PRODUCT FOR SHIPPING TO FLINT MI

“I asked him quite a few questions about what he was going to do,” Henry said. “It made a lot of sense to me. His plan is to draw people here from within a 100-mile radius.”[ML]

A HUB COULD HELP

JoAnn Rutkowski, chief operating officer of Thumb Oilseed Producers’ Cooperative, …(TOPIC)…said she read about the potential for agricultural shipping at Buick with interest too.[ML]

WHO IS THUMD OILSEED PRODUCERS COOPERATIVE

They market their principal product on their home page.“Soy Beginnings® is a leader in providing soybean food ingredient products and solutions. Its foundation products include refined non-GMO soy oil, flour and grits for application in bakery, beverages, vegetarian and other food products.

Our strengths include raw material sourcing, the use of Non-GMO soybeans and innovative processing technology that produces refined oils with no trans-fatty acids and no cholesterol. [t]

WHAT ARTICLES DID SHE READ

Her (Rutkowski) ;cooperative ships non-genetically-modified soybean products across the world and Rutkowski sees how an intermodal facility where beans are transferred from truck to rail to ship inside the same shipping container would increase security and decrease the chance for contamination for large-scale shippers.[ML]

(TOPIC) SPEAKS HIGHLY OF FLINTS POTENTIAL

The cooperative processes soybeans into food products like spy grits, soy flour and refined soy cooking oil. A shipping center in Flint could make shipping for the cooperative more efficient.[ML]

To ship to Japan, for example, Rutkowski said, containers have to be trucked from Detroit and returned to Detroit before being shipped to Los Angeles by rail and loaded onto a ship.[ML]

FLINTS HUB COULD SHAVE OF 3 DAYS

“Lets say you can shave three days (off a 10-day trip),” she said. “That’s a big deal.”
Ron Weisenberger, a New Lothrop area farmer and member of the Michigan Soybean Association Board of Directors, said he’s excited by what he’s heard about the intermodal facility. He likes the idea of producing biodiesel fuel on the site and having easy access to soybean meal
that remains as a byproduct of that process.[ML]

The meal is used as an animal feed.[ML]
 

WHAT IS THE MICHIGAN SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION

The mission of the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee (MSPC) is to invest grower checkoff funds in well-focused research, education, and promotional activities in order to maximize the overall profitability of soybean growers and to promote soybean industry's role in a strong public image of agriculture.[ms]
 
A Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce official confirmed this month that the production of bioiesel fuel is part of longer-term plans for the intermodal site.[ML]

THERE IS A FUTURE IN SOYBEANS

“There’s a big opportunity there. A lot of soybean meal is coming back in Michigan from out of state,” Weisenberger said.[ML]

The various uses of soybeans alone — from foam rubber to plastics to food products —open up many other business possibilities, he said.[ML]

“It’s something that could grow real easy,” he said. “To do it someplace like that in Flint would be much better than building (an intermodal center) out in a green field.”[ML]

SOME DO NOT SUPPORT THE HUB

Posted by Stulpnaegl
October 11, 2009, 4:28AM
Here we go again. Flint is a "perfect fit" blah blah blahand we'll soon be investing money in Flint and we'll getall kinds of jobs and Flint will come back and everything will be ducky just like it used to be. Nonsense.
There is much MUCH more to this story than Mr. Fongeris reporting, as usual. If having two railroads is the key,then why isn't this "investor" looking at Fenton or Durrand?Why would anyone buy a former toxic waste dump and thenpay exhorbitant Flint business taxes on top of exhorbitantstate taxes that already choke out any new business whowould locate here? If Granholm can't get the Japs to come,why would THIS guy come here? Answer: He won't.
Get over it.[ML]

WALLING WILL SUPPORT ANY REASONABLE EFFORT TO PUT THE LAND TO ECONOMIC USE

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said he’s not fixated on what comes in and out of 200-acre site as long as it’s put back into productive use.[ML]

INTERMODAL IS A GOOD THING

“It doesn’t matter to me whether we’re moving soybeans or car parts ... an intermodal facility is a great reuse of that site,” Walling said.[ML]
[ML]

I agree with the mayor, but lets go into this with our eyes and options open.

Posted here by
Terry Bankert
http://www.flintfamilylaw.com/


See
[m]
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/10/potential_buick_city_investor.html
[W]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean
[w1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto
[WN]
http://www.wmsti.org/news2.asp?NewsID=39
[ML2]
http://www.mlive.com/michigan-job-search/index.ssf/2009/10/flint_michigans_buick_city_future_soybea.html
[P]
http://www.freshpatents.com/Gary-Michael-Wruble-HarborBeach-invdirw.php
[WI]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_freight_transport
[SU]
http://www.wmsti.org/news2.asp?NewsID=30
[SU1]
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?KEY=02/11557.020502
[t]
http://www.thumboilseed.com/index.html
[ms]
http://www.michigansoybean.org/msa/youngleader.htm
[g]
http://www.globallinknetwork.com/

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