Fighting GMO contamination around the world

Many European countries have 'seed banks' to ensure that the advent of GMO's wouldn't completely 'knock out' varieties of produce due to their phytosteroidal qualities. I don't know if this was mentioned in the link; I didn't have time to peruse. And I believe Monsanto was trying to sue those countries for the illegality of seed banks. Crazy.

Screeeeeeeeeeeeeew Monsanto.
That is all I have to offer on this subject.

Here is the Responsible Technology's Non-GMO Shopping Guide. I suggest we all print it and take it to the store whenever we shop. I had no idea of the blatent proliferation of GMO products in our foods. I want to puke, especially because I just had some Rice-A-Roni. I have to go stick my fingers down my throat now....

50 HARMFUL EFFECTS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM) FOODS

http://www.raw-wisdom.com/genetically%20modified%20food

GMO's really suck... we need to have more education on the subject... people have not been exposed to the information... thanks for this piece..
Roddy

I don't get it. What does GMO do to you?

Another ignorant question. And " shut the hell up?" Not bloody likely. How do we know that IF THEY DON'T TELL US that what an illness we may be going through is caused by eating GMOS in our food? Do you honestly think they would? And again, if they are safe, why won't they allow the source on labels in this country? Allergies? Rashes? Morgellon's Disease? Cancers? Infertility? Immunological defects? Increased Diabetes? Other ailments? How do we know? Don't hand me your usual mumbo jumbo with no back up. Transgenic contamination is also KILLING biodiversity, and that indeed does affect us. Also, no LONGTERM studies on the effects of these 'organisms' were conducted. If you have one then post it. And I am no "nature worshipping hippee" (does that then make you a nature destroying conservative freak? How do you like the labels?) but I am a world citizen who believes in MORALITY and in not screwing around with the natural processes of this planet that have sustained us for centuries. Again, if you have something substantial to prove a point, post it.

Yet anpther example of the sweeping generalization that all GMOs are inherently evil. Get a grip folks. While the copyright enforcement methods used by the biotech corps are nothing short of draconian, how the fuck has GMO food adversely affected you? Unless one of you nature-worshiping hipsters can tell me some story about how you were profoundly and horribly affected by an ear of corn designed to get through a tough winter or two, shut the hell up. Corp enforcement doesn't count, I'm well aware of the gestapo tactics they take but that has nothing to do with the actual genetic mods.

Do we really want to find out? Monsanto knows I'm sure.They are probably just waiting to patent humans.

I have often heard the phrase , we are what we eat. If we eat these Genetically Modified foods will that Genetically Modify us?

Would there be enough food with out GMO foods?

Like Cynthia McKinney says, "Frankenfoods". SCARY.

From the article:

An invasion of illegal GMOs into Thai farms

GM contamination was first reported in Thailand in 1999 after cotton samples from field research conducted by BIOTHAI and the Alternative Agriculture Network (AAN) were found to be contaminated with Bt cotton – a genetically engineered cotton variety produced by Monsanto. In 2004, tests made by Greenpeace revealed that a local farmer’s plantation in Khon Kaen province was contaminated by GM papaya. That farmer was one of 2,600 who had bought papaya seedlings from the Department of Agriculture’s research station where field trials of GM papaya were being conducted.

At first, the government denied that GM crops were being grown in Thailand, but the contamination was so widespread that it reached another province, Ubol Ratchatani, where at least 90 farms had also received papaya seedlings. Most recently, in 2007, Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Science and BIOTHAI found GM contamination in maize, soya and cotton samples that they tested from provinces all over the country.

The Thais believe that a two-pronged approach is necessary to address this situation. On the one hand, pressure should be put on the government to implement policies that protect the country from GM contamination. The Thai Working Group Against GMOs, which BIOTHAI coordinates, has organised numerous activities to keep the national moratorium on GMOs in place. They have sent petition letters, organised demonstrations in front of government offices, and pushed for a dialogue with top officials, including the deputy Prime Minister and Secretaries of Health and Agriculture. These efforts had an impact : on 25 December 2007, the Thai government announced its rules on GMOs which include, among other things, a mandatory public hearing prior to field testing, and a recommendation that approval from the local people in the field test area, as well as from independent NGOs and the academic community, should be obtained. From the perspective of BIOTHAI – which is currently running a campaign to develop a People’s Biosafety Law – this was an important victory.

On the other hand, the Thais are working to increase local capacity to develop systems to detect contamination and deal with its impacts. The Khao Kwan Foundation (KKF), one of the founding organisations of AAN, has been mobilising farmers’ knowledge to identify contaminated seeds and to control or eliminate them. The KKF runs trainings and workshops on seed breeding and selection, which indirectly deal with contamination.

KKF believes that farmers are able to notice anything abnormal in their crops, because of their in-depth knowledge of seeds and their skill in selection. Whether it is the colour, the hardness or the smell, every variety has peculiarities that farmers who have been working on seeds know in detail. So any alterations will be easily detected, even before the plant starts to flower.

Daycha Siripatra, founder of KKF, says: “This is the principle of local adaptability. We’ve made our seeds recognise their environment and use that environment to express their potential. An alien seed, like a GMO, will not automatically thrive in our area and, even if it grows, farmers will be able to notice it right away, just from its appearance.”

It is worrisome that organic foods may/probably in some places, been contaminated by GM foods.
Once again, thanks for keeping this in the limelight, where it belings.

This was all planned by biotech companies in order to force people to eat their organisms whether they plant them or not. We do not even know how much of organic food that now makes it to market may be contaminated by this transgenic pollution. Again, this is one of the most important issues we face for our future. What we eat and what is in it; what we drink and what is in it; and who or what owns it all will run our lives if we allow corporations to grow our food, privitize our water, and lie to us about the quality of it all.

This is a crucial issue that ties directly to the economy, environment, health, democracy, and eventually national security. This is why we need to be stronger in our voice to the Obama administration regarding changing food policy in America. Monsanto must no longer be allowed with other chemical companies to industrialize agriculture to the point where biodiversity and agriculture are dead.

The good news is that people around the world are fighting this.