Jan, you do wonders for the propagation of information that is screaming to be addressed. You have not yet hit the point where you can't be fooled as badly as anyone by bafflegab.
A science writer I kibitz with online - with doctorate - wouldn't really 'open up' with information about Global Warming being a creation of organized disinformation until I had picked up on it from a geopolitical angle. Then - and only then - did I start getting from him and finding for myself what contention was actually going on. That is, basically the problem. Calling something settled means you better be able to prove your facts. Climategate was only a symptom of a problem with getting the idea going that anything this important has to be bulletproof.
It's nowhere in the ballpark. CFACT and Global Research.ca have oodles of info. And before you write me off as a corporate apologist...have a look at this
http://opitslinkfest.blogspot.com/2009/07/water-wealth-power.html
My first Blogger entry in the fray is Dec 4 : partly a repost of Dec 1 on My Opera. Before that there was nothing on Global Warming and Climategate except standard news items.

Cite studies? Name the scientists you claim to work for and any peer reviewed articles you have on this topic and cite them. What do you think has been done on this site for the last one plus years? Go to the Monsanto tag here and look it up. There is always one in every thread. And just like the climate deniers the same type of soundbites are used to discredit those who alert people to the dangers of these organisms as far as being "irrational." I assure you that word is not in my vocabulary concerning this. How transparent.

http://current.com/search.htm?s=on&v=on&r=off&context=&context_i...
You can start here.

How about a little more soy juice (there is no soy milk) in my latte. Ain't we healthy and chic? "If you look into the abyss long enough, it will look back at you." Joseph Conrad, I believe.

Nutritionally, soymilk is not comparable to cow's milk, and rice milk isn't even close. If you need a source of protein you need to eat tofu, lentils, or eggs.

Once again the "Daily Jan" has a very informative and valuable article for us. Thank you for your tirelessness. What I love about your posts is that they give us something concrete we can do in response! Vote up! Put it on tv! This should be number one!

It took me a long time to transfer from cow milk to soy....what gives?....I believe that this report is not clear enough about the ranchers and their damage. I love Soy milk and the fact that is natural..I will continue to research and find the correct information in regards to Soy. Everybody should make sure they have all the facts..:D

The most important words in this article are "stabilizing population worldwide." Thank goodness this is not another article that suggests we can do "little things" to save the earth! Eating less meat and inflating our tires are nice, but population growth overwhelms any gains these might create. I'd only add that population growth in the USA has many times the impact of growth in other countries.

Jan, I'm being quite sincere. Can you cite studies that address the health risks of GMO products? I am NOT an apologist for the GMO industry. Unlike the scientists I worked for, I do not ignore the scary policies of GMO companies. They chose to ignore that aspect of the story completely, despite my bringing it up with them repeatedly. However, I do trust them when they discuss the lack of rationality of fear of genetic engineering.

rufescens, with all due respect, I have to tell you, you sound like another GMO apologist mouthpiece. The proof is already here that there are health concerns, and it is a known fact that scientists are being gagged and intimidated. So please, don't think you will persuade otherwise by just writing some words in a post.

ironic that while countless are starving, overproduction of food and food products like soy is causing such environmental damage and at the same time causing health problems in those who aren't starving. And all of this over greed for profit

Jan, thank you for bringing up this important issue and raising our awareness of what's going on with multinational corporations in the Amazon.

However, I'd like to offer an opinion different from yours on GM crops. Having worked for scientists for more than a decade, I'm familiar with genetic engineering as a very basic and practically ubiquitous tool for research--including research that saves lives (e.g., drug development, or non-applied research into metabolism or genetic function). I'm not scared of GM crops on account of health. I am, however, scared of the corporate side of GM crops--I think that patenting of organisms, design of crops to produce inviable seeds, and barring of farmers from saving seeds are horrific developments in the food business.

We all should better inform ourselves about the issue of genetically modified organisms, and take great care in forming our views on it. However, I would, at present, encourage a view that focuses more on the horrors of the policy, rather than doubts about safety.

I also wonder what this GM soy does to the animals eating it. Tests show fertility problems in rats and other problems with liver damage, kidney damage etc. People need to understand that when they eat meat they eat what the animal ate as it is part of them.

read the new book 'Eating Animals' it has really been making me think about, not only eating meat, but also the food that our meat eats... They eat enormous amounts of corn AND soy. I have recently went vegetarian as I realized the implications of eating meat, but with all of the soy alternatives to meat, it will be nearly impossible to stop eating soy. Stop eating meat, and demand of soy/corn will go down - even though humans will then eat more soy/corn in response, it will not be anywhere close to the amount of soy that animals are fed.

I highly recommend watching the documentary Food inc. to anyone who cares about issues like this.

"The remainder, roughly 70 percent of the harvest, ends up as soybean meal to be consumed by livestock and poultry."

So, this is really about meat eaters, isn't it?

Is soybean meal even a healthy thing to feed livestock? I know that feeding livestock corn causes mutated strains of resistant e-coli. Is similar true with soybean meal? It's not particularly healthy for us to eat, so I don't see how it could be for livestock.

I'm lactose intolerant and i can't drink milk making me have to drink soy milk! What will be an alternative to that if it's destroying our rainforest?

http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/8964/54/

Comprehensive article on what is happening in Brazil. Seems multinationals have made an all out push to destroy Latin America one country at a time. I just can't fathom this. Rainforests account for 20% of our oxygen and are home to half of the world's species. Just where do these companies think these species will go when their home has been chopped down and slashed and burned to make way for their profit motive? This is also a huge boon to the exacerbation of climate change through increased CO2 emissions. Without an adequate amount of carbon sinks to offset emissions it is no wonder we are seeing the effects that are now beginning to play out globally. And yet, corporations like Monsanto actually think their environmental devastation deserves a reward through 'carbon credits' in calling their GM soy 'responsible' as their faux agriculture spreads poverty and cancer. And what does the US government do about it? Appoint Monsanto lobbyists to key international agricultural and free trade positions to exacerbate it. Yeah, that's showing them. So again, the most effective course of action we have now is to boycott any and all products made by these companies.

http://current.com/items/90858555_the-soy-republic-of-argentina.htm
More about what is happening in Argentina.

I believe it. Corn(as we know it) isn't even good for you any more, it's just like sugar. Soy beans are becoming that way too. The process used to make them grow faster and bigger, also depletes them of all their vitamins. I think that being that they have a hard time with this, just means they will eventually strip them even further than corn. We just need to stop and start again from the beginning. It'll happen soon. Survival of the fittest right?

This is also pushing farmers off their land and causing confrontations. No good can come from pushing a monoculture world either economically, socially, environmentally, or healthwise. It is only being done for corporate profit, and it is time to stand up to it.

There are ways you can do this. Decrease your intake of meat and products using soy. Demand labeling on foods to make sure you are not eating GM soy. Support small scale farmers and indigenous peoples to protect their land from corporate landgrabbers for profit. Sign the petition to the US DOJ to investigate corporate interference in food policy.Support local urban farming that brings jobs, infuses local economies, and heals the Earth as well as providing fresh food to those who may not otherwise have access to it.