tagged w/ GM corn
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London’s The Independent reports that an insecticide used in genetically modified (GM) crops grown extensively in the United States and other parts of the world has leached into the water of the surrounding environment.London’s The Independent reports that an insecticide used in genetically... more
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The website Food Freedom reports that researchers, in what is being described as the first ever and most comprehensive study of the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, have positively linked organ damage with consumption of Monsanto’s GM maize.The website Food Freedom reports that researchers, in what is being described as the... more
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Despite evidence that transgenes (from species other than the "engineered" species) in genetically modified (GM) plants can persist in the soil, little research has been done to determine the extent of such contamination. This is an important issue because environmental contamination by transgenes "hazardous implications for environmental health, including human safety," according to Canadian scientists who recently tested various soil-dwelling animals for the transgene (responsible for resistance to the herbicide glyphosate) present in GM Roundup Ready® corn.
They collected the animals in May, August, and October (macroarthropods and nematodes) or in May and August (microarthropods and earthworms) from a field of Round-up Ready® corn.
The transgene was present in all types of animals on all collection dates, with the exception of nematodes collected in August. About 81% of nematodes collected in October tested positive for the transgene.
More than one-third of microarthropods (thrips, collembolans, and mites) tested positive. And slightly more than 10% of macroarthropods (mostly various insects) and earthworms tested positive.
Concentrations of the transgene tended to decrease in nematodes and earthworms and to increase in arthropods during the growing season. Levels of the transgene in the soil (free of plant tissues) were usually considerably lower than levels in the animals. The scientists who conducted this experiment rather matter-of-factly note: "Whether the presence of transgenes in the soil food web presents a risk for soil animals is not known."
We admit to being quite astounded by this statement, which appears to indicate that GM crops are being used far and wide without a clear understanding of their effects on the environment!
The bottom line is that (for the first time after years of commercial cropping of GM plants) there is "evidence for large concentrations of transgenic DNA in animals from the food web associated with RoundUp Ready® corn.
This indicates that the transgene does not significantly degrade within the food web.
Further, the guts of these animals may provide opportunity for genetic transformation into native soil bacteria." And that last "opportunity" might lead to movement of transgenes into non-GM plants and ultimately pose risks to human health.
It could very well be the case that the commercialization of GM crops will produce animals containing genes that could do great harm to humanity. A perhaps enormously problematic can of worms (and bugs), indeed!
Reference: Miranda M. Hart (Dept. of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, CANADA N1G 2W1), et al., "Detection of Transgenic cp4 epsps Genes in the Soil Food Web," Agronomy for Sustainable Development 29(4), October/December 2009, 497-501. (EDP Sciences, 875 Massachusetts Ave., 7th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139.)Despite evidence that transgenes (from species other than the "engineered"... more
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A recent article in Nature Biotechnology on how biotechnology companies restrict independent research described a study showing that a genetically modified corn killed ladybugs and that the study was suppressed by the corn’s developer.
In 2001, Pioneer Hi-Bred developed a GM corn variety that contained two Bt toxins, Cry34Ab1 and Cry35Ab1, to kill corn rootworms.
The company asked university laboratories to test for unintended consequences on ladybugs. Scientists fed the corn to ladybugs and found that nearly 100% died after the eighth day in the life cycle.
Pioneer forbade the scientists from publicizing the data. A scientist with the group who wants to remain anonymous said “The company came back and said ‘you are under no circumstances able to publicize this data in any way.’”
Pioneer submitted data to the EPA showing no harm to ladybugs and received government approval to commercialize the corn in 2003.
A Pioneer scientist says the commercialized variety contains a different genetic construct than the corn that killed the ladybugs.
The EPA was told about the independently produced data, but did nothing, according to the anonymous scientist. The same scientist also says Pioneer’s data is flawed.
(Source: Nature Biotechnology)A recent article in Nature Biotechnology on how biotechnology companies restrict... more
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I THINK:
Biofuel from corn Ethanol is a joke!
A catastrophic joke!
It will destroy our Nature before our eyes if it becomes the next world's form of energy taking oil's place.
Excerpts:
"As the world looks around anxiously for an alternative to oil, energy sources such as biofuels, solar, and nuclear seem like they could be the magic ticket. They're not."
"Renewable Fuels Are the Cure for Our Addiction to Oil."
Unfortunately not. 'Renewable fuels' sound great in theory, and agricultural lobbyists have persuaded European countries and the United States to enact remarkably ambitious biofuels mandates to promote farm-grown alternatives to gasoline. But so far in the real world, the cures -- mostly ethanol derived from corn in the United States or biodiesel derived from palm oil, soybeans, and rapeseed in Europe -- have been significantly worse than the disease."
"Researchers used to agree that farm-grown fuels would cut emissions because they all made a shockingly basic error. They gave fuel crops credit for soaking up carbon while growing, but it never occurred to them that fuel crops might displace vegetation that soaked up even more carbon. It was as if they assumed that biofuels would only be grown in parking lots. Needless to say, that hasn't been the case; Indonesia, for example, destroyed so many of its lush forests and peat lands to grow palm oil for the European biodiesel market that it ranks third rather than 21st among the world's top carbon emitters.
In 2007, researchers finally began accounting for deforestation and other land-use changes created by biofuels. One study found that it would take more than 400 years of biodiesel use to "pay back" the carbon emitted by directly clearing peat for palm oil. Indirect damage can be equally devastating because on a hungry planet, food crops that get diverted to fuel usually end up getting replaced somewhere. For example, ethanol profits are prompting U.S. soybean farmers to switch to corn, so Brazilian soybean farmers are expanding into cattle pastures to pick up the slack and Brazilian ranchers are invading the Amazon rain forest, which is why another study pegged corn ethanol's payback period at 167 years. It's simple economics: The mandates increase demand for grain, which boosts prices, which makes it lucrative to ravage the wilderness."
I THINK:
Corn?
What?
Does that word sound familiar to me?
The Evil corn, the one that comes from MONSANTO, genetically engineered.
Did occur to anyone to link biofuel and Monsanto?
Monsanto already leads the seed market with its deadly genetic engineered food, it won't take long until he will become the major if not the only energy source provider in the world supposing corn ethanol takes oil's place.
Let's read more of the article now, an other shocking passage:
"Even if the United States switched its entire grain crop to ethanol, it would only replace one fifth of U.S. gasoline consumption.
This is not just a climate disaster. The grain it takes to fill an SUV tank with ethanol could feed a hungry person for a year;"
At the article nuclear energy cannot fix climate crisis, reasons are timing and cost.
Last passage is:
"After all, the developing world is entitled to develop. Its people are understandably eager to eat more meat, drive more cars, and live in nicer houses. It doesn't seem fair for the developed world to say: Do as we say, not as we did. But if the developing world follows the developed world's wasteful path to prosperity, the Earth we all share won't be able to accommodate us. So we're going to have to change our ways. Then we can at least say: Do as we're doing, not as we did."
I THINK:
We need to focus mainly on solar power as it is the only futuristic, potential form of energy, that could save the world one day.
We need to readdress our way of thinking towards solar power.
I will try to explain a new direction, working to post it soon.
Join Organic:
http://current.com/groups/organicgreen/I THINK:
Biofuel from corn Ethanol is a joke!
A catastrophic joke!
It will... more
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On July 15, 2009 Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences announced that they received approval to introduce their new eight-trait GE corn 'SmartStax' into Canada and the US. But Health Canada did not assess 'SmartStax' for human health safety and did not even bother to authorize it. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency authorized the environmental release of 'SmartStax' but never conducted an environmental risk assessment and actually substantially weakened its environmental stewarship rules for the crop.
http://www.cban.ca/Resources/Topics/GE-Crops-and-Foods-On-the-Market/Corn/Take-SmartStax-off-the-Menu
Send a message to the Canadian health manager at this link.
http://www.cban.ca/Resources/Topics/GE-Crops-and-Foods-On-the-Market/Corn/Why-SmartStax-is-Dumb2
Fact sheet on Smartstax, another unnecessary fake food designed for profit only.
Do you want your food made by chemical companies?
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Just how many governments have they bought?On July 15, 2009 Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences announced that they received approval... more
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GMOs will also hurt our economy as well as our environment. I am wondering if this is done purposefully to push it on people in Europe without their knowledge.
Excerpt:
* EU buyers voluntarily stop imports of U.S. soy
* Shipments found with GMO varieties MON-88017, MIR-604
* Contaminated shipments were rejected, recalled
* Incidents reported in Spain, Germany
* Trade hopes Brussels will change rules (Recasts, updates with comments from EU spokesman in Washington; adds second byline, dateline, previously MADRID)
MADRID/WASHINGTON, Aug 6 - European Union buyers have voluntarily moved to stop imports of U.S. soy after shipments were found containing traces of genetically modified corn, a spokesman for the EU in Washington said on Thursday.
European trade sources said U.S. soybean meal shipments to Spain and Germany were found with traces of GMO corn, which is prohibited in the European Union.
"The industry has itself decided to stop all imports of U.S. soy, as of now," Mattias Sundholm told Reuters.
"The shipments have been rejected at the EU borders, and have been consigned and recalled when already on the market within the EU, unless they have already been consumed," Sundholm said.
Sundholm could not confirm the quantity or location of the shipments, but said they were found to contain the corn varieties MON-88017 and MIR-604.
Officials from the U.S. Agriculture Department and trade associations have not replied to requests for information.
The incident has raised concerns about bottlenecks in supply of a key feed ingredient for European livestock, which is already pricey.
"The main problem is that EU regulations don't allow marginal amounts, traces of GMOs not authorised by the EU," a spokesman for the Spanish Assocation of Cereal and Products Importers said.
"That puts us all in an uncertain, risky trade situation, and that is most serious for the entire European Community -- trade, livestock production and the economy."
Sources said 50,000 tonnes of contaminated U.S. soybean meal had been unloaded and detained at Tarragona, Spain's largest port. Port officials were not available to comment.
"It still needs to be dispatched and we await a meeting by the European Commission, probably in September, because nothing will happen in August," a port source said.
"The meeting will have to be urgent, because they have had similar problems in Germany."
The EU was the fourth-largest market last year for U.S. soymeal exports, totaling 475,900 tonnes. Shipments so far this marketing year, which began last October, are 374,300 tonnes.
A Spanish agriculture ministry official confirmed authorities had blocked a shipment of soybean meal, but could provide no further details.
One source said another cargo of soybean meal in the Spanish port of La Coruna awaited tests for genetically modified organisms, but port officials were unable to comment.
Spain's feed industry consumes some 5 million tonnes of protein-rich soybean meal a year, all of it imported, and mostly from the United States, Brazil or Argentina.
Soybean meal was quoted at 318-334 euros ($457.3-480.3) a tonne, ex-store, in Tarragona GRAES01>.
A trade source estimated Spanish ports had enough soymeal in stock to supply the animal feed industry for about a month, and said prices could be affected.
A port source said that Spain could not rely on supplies of soy from Argentina and Brazil alone.GMOs will also hurt our economy as well as our environment. I am wondering if this is... more
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I wonder, did Tom Vilsack of this Dept. Of Agriculture meet with their agriculture secretary?Monsanto is licking its chops to get into Mexico because they are being frozen out of Europe. Don't wonder now why Obama won't bother reworking NAFTA. This is one reason why. The only good thing about this is that individual Mexican states can still ban it, and based on the rightful opposition to it and its threat to the biodiversity of the corn varieties there I hope that happens.
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From the article:
NOTE: For what's really happening in Mexico, see the video of the interview with Silvia Ribeiro
http://www.grain.org/videos/?id=195
and the article, 'Fighting GMO contamination around the world'
http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=575
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GM corn gets green light
Latinamerica Press, 12 March 2009
http://www.latinamericapress.org/articles.asp?art=5814
*Agriculture secretary says genetically-modified varieties of this ubiquitous crop may be used in experiments.
Mexico has revised its biosafety law to reverse a nationwide ban on genetically-modified corn, the country's most important crop and the centerpiece of the Mexican diet, and allow the varieties to be used in experiments.
In a press conference, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, said that the government would fight any illicit planting of genetically-modified corn, of which Mexico is the birthplace.
Elvira Quesada added that the changes to Biosafety and Genetically-Modified Organisms would not prohibit individual states from instating bans on transgenic corn, and under those circumstances, experiments would not be an excuse.
Mexico's agriculture secretary said there are 25 requests to plant experimental transgenic corn in the country.
Genetically-modified corn has been a contentious issue in Mexico, where there are some 200 native varieties of the staple crop.
In February, a study by scientists from the Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States found that genetically-modified corn strains did contaminate native corn varieties in southern Mexico.
The study, led by Elena Alvarez-Buylla of the National Autonomous University in Mexico, backed findings a contentious 2001 study published in the journal Nature that said the genetically-engineered corn had been detected in some of these varieties, sparking a heated debate over the study´s research methods and findings.
On Feb. 25, Mexico City's government issued a declaration that seeks to protect native corn varieties and promote ecologically-friendly and organic agriculture.
The decision was lauded by Greenpeace Mexico as a sign of commitment to protecting "Mexicans' most important grain." - Latinamerica Press.I wonder, did Tom Vilsack of this Dept. Of Agriculture meet with their agriculture... more
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European Union governments delivered a blow Monday to the biotechnology industry, allowing Austria and Hungary to maintain national bans on growing genetically modified crops from Monsanto.
The vote, taken by European environment ministers, could irritate the U.S. government, which has in the past complained to the World Trade Organization about obstacles to planting bioengineered crops.
The vote also was a blow to the European Commission, the EU executive arm. The commission has sought in recent years to ease the restrictions in Europe on gene-altered crops, in part to keep down the cost of animal feed.
Member states were "firm" and the "commission should take a close reading of the result," the French environment minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, said after the announcement in Brussels, according to Bloomberg News.
The market for genetically engineered crops is worth several billion dollars worldwide. Only one genetically altered crop is currently grown in Europe: a form of corn, called MON 810, produced by Monsanto and other companies.
In 2003, the United States, Argentina and Canada brought complaints about the EU's biotechnology policies at the WTO, which ruled in 2006 that a de facto ban on imports of genetically modified foods between 1984 and 2004 violated trade rules.
Since that ruling, the commission has required Austria to drop its ban on imports of genetically modified foods. But some other countries have maintained bans on imports and cultivation of such crops, and the United States still could impose punitive duties on the Europeans for continuing to block trade.
snip
Groups opposed to biotechnology said the vote was a signal to the commission to stop trying to win permission for the crops until it used more rigorous methods to prove that they are safe.
"The commission must now abandon its unpopular proposals once and for all and get down to the real work of making risk assessments that we can believe in," said Helen Holder, the coordinator for genetically modified organisms at Friends of the Earth Europe.European Union governments delivered a blow Monday to the biotechnology industry,... more
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We cannot and must not relent on the USDA to do all in it's power to reverse the policy on GM foods in this country. We can no longer afford to continue to consume these foods without proper testing and with FDA scientists no longer being gagged about the results they came up with initially. Americans are being used as guinea pigs and pawns for profit, and it is expanding worldwide. Test after test confirms that these foods are not entirely safe for consumption (not to mention the environmental devastation and transgenic contamination they are spreading) and it is being hidden from the general population at large.This is more than likely why Monsanto and the FDA have been fighting to keep the source of our food off of our labels. Monsanto has also been sued regarding false advertising regarding Round Up and had to change how they were advertising it. They know it is poison. Just like Agent Orange, and the human and environmental effects of that are still being felt forty years later.
I am writing another letter to "president- elect" Obama and will be making a petition within the week. I don't know if it is going to be a written petition or one I will post here as a video that people can respond to. I do know this however, we have to stand up for labeling of our foods NOW, and if independent tests are refused by Monsanto a nationwide boycott of any company that uses their GM fake food in their products must be begun.
The choice is now clear for them:
Label it or face boycott.
Our safety and the health of our children and environment are more important than your stock price!We cannot and must not relent on the USDA to do all in it's power to reverse the... more
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Another test, and other findings against GM corn. And yet, even though the majority of our processed foods in America are made with this 'stuff', our government doesn't deem it necessary for the people to know what is going into their food and give them the choice of whether or not they wish to consume it. Seems to me if there is nothing unnatural or unsafe about it labelling would not be a problem. This is very disturbing and it is important that people who are eating this 'stuff' be informed of these tests, especially since they have no choice in consuming it. Hopefully in the coming year that will change, because those of us who care about the health of our children (child obesity is rising) and others, and the sustainability of the environment these organisms have just been let out into without proper testing will be relentless in fighting for our Democratic right to know what we are consuming in our food!
And just as an addendum:
I got a message from someone after the posting I made yesterday regarding tests that showed bee behavioral anomolies after being exposed to proteins from BT corn. I was called an 'alarmist' and basicially made to feel a bit intimidated about posting the information. To you I say, here is another bit of proof for you. If you have done your own testing and come to a different conclusion post the results here for all to see. Oh, and tests done by Monsanto do not count. And as far as my posting this information when I come upon it...that will continue, because something this important to our planet's sustainability, biodiversity, and the health and safety of our children and people is not something I intend to ignore.
Thank you.Another test, and other findings against GM corn. And yet, even though the majority of... more
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Monsanto purchased a brazilian sugarcane ethanol company for 290 million dollars. Who the hell is that going to feed?
From the article:
At a time when many people were questioning causes of the recent food crisis, many more were investigating how our food systems can move forward to sustainably feed the increasing world population. Recently, the U.N. Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development released a report touting the noteworthy yields and economic benefits of organic agricu... in Africa. Even recognizing that organic production offers significant hope for increasing food security. Another report released earlier this year by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Scien... noted that a "radical change" was needed for agriculture, and that agricultural biotechnology held little promise. But corporations like Monsanto took a different approach to the problem -- exploiting the food crisis as a means to sell more of their own biotech seeds.
Monsanto-s website is rife with articles discussing how its applications of biotechnology will supposedly solve the food crisis. Back in June, on the cusp of the World Food Summit, Monsanto announced plans to double crop-yields by 2030 with biotechnology. The New York Times covered the story including a quote from a soybean genetics expert at the University of Nebraska who stated, The hype-to-reality ratio of that one is essentially infinity ... seeing an exponential change in the yield curve is unlikely. But while experts were doubting Monsanto-s claims, a Business Week article quoted Hugh Grant, the head of Monsanto, saying, That isn-t a feel-good thing ... Satisfying the demand curve is a great business opportunity. Grant may consider that quote a gaffe, but it was a telling sign regarding where Monsanto-s true interests lie: not with people, but with profits.
Last week Monsanto purchased Aly Participacoes Ltda, a Brazilian company involved in sugarcane breeding and sugarcane ethanol. Monsanto-s press release noted, Global demands for raw sugar and biofuels are beginning to rise at a faster pace than the current production levels in sugarcane, a crop that is essential to meeting these demands, said Carl Casale, executive vice president of global strategy and operations for Monsanto.
Last time I checked, hungry people can-t eat ethanol and probably can-t afford sugar. So why, in the middle of a food crisis, is Monsanto investing in sugarcane ethanol?Monsanto purchased a brazilian sugarcane ethanol company for 290 million dollars. Who... more
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* Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack;s support of genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops, especially pharmaceutical corn:
http://www.gene.ch/genet/2002/Oct/msg00057.html
http://www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/drugsincorn102302.cfm
* The biggest biotechnology industry group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, named Vilsack Governor of the Year. He was also the founder and former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership.
http://www.bio.org/news/pressreleases/newsitem.asp?id=200...
* When Vilsack created the Iowa Values Fund, his first poster child of economic development potential was Trans Ova and their pursuit of cloning dairy cows.
* Vilsack was the origin of the seed pre-emption bill in 2005, which many people here in Iowa fought because it took away local government's possibility of ever having a regulation on seeds- where GE would be grown, having GE-free buffers, banning pharma corn locally, etc. Representative Sandy Greiner, the Republican sponsor of the bill, bragged on the House Floor that Vilsack put her up to it right after his state of the state address.
* Vilsack has a glowing reputation as being a schill for agribusiness biotech giants like Monsanto. Sustainable ag advocated across the country were spreading the word of Vilsack's history as he was attempting to appeal to voters in his presidential bid. An activist from the west coast even made this youtube animation about Vilsack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmoc4Qgcm4s
The airplane in this animation is a referral to the controversy that Vilsack often traveled in Monsanto's jet.
*Vilsack is an ardent support of corn and soy based biofuels, which use as much or more fossil energy to produce them as they generate, while driving up world food prices and literally starving the poor.
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Another administration of cronies? Is this what we will get as change? I sure hope this is not true.* Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack;s support of genetically engineered pharmaceutical... more
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Campesinos in the department of San Pedro occupied Brazilian-owned farms on Oct. 1 to block the entry of transgenic soy, and began planting other crops such as sesame and yucca on the plots.
Some 120 campesinos occupied two 600-hectare (1,480 acre) farms, according to local media reports.
Cristino Peralta, the San Pedro correspondent of the daily ABC Color, said that the farmers immediately began planting the sesame and yucca after occupying the plantations.
"There was no law enforcement intervention," he said. "The group's leader Florencio Martinez said that the occupation marked the start of the recovery of Paraguayan territorial sovereignty."
San Pedro is considered Paraguay's best farmland, but it is also the country's poorest department. President Fernando Lugo worked as a bishop there for a decade.
Land is concentrated in the fewest hands in Paraguay than in any other Latin American country. Only 351 landowners hold 9.7 million hectares (24 million acres), while, according to civil society organizations, there are more than 350,000 families with insufficient quantities of land or no land at all.
The demonstrators said that they took over the Brazilian-owned plantations in protest of what they called the government's failure to implement land reform. Paraguay has also seen other campesino protests against transgenic soy plantations and the indiscriminate use of farming chemicals.
Lugo had requested that the campesinos give his government 100 days starting Aug. 15 to seek financing for land reform. The period ends on Nov. 22.
According to campesino leader Elvio Benitez, the government "continues without finding a solution to the lack of land of thousands of our compatriots, while the Brazilian's presence is getting bigger and bigger. We can't do anything else but occupy the Brazilian-owned haciendas because the soy crops are causing deforestation, eliminating natural forests and contaminating people with its pesticides."
-Latinamerica Press
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People are standing up worldwide to the hoax that is GM food. We have enough conventional NATURAL food to feed the people of this planet. Good to see people standing up to the fake unnatural test tube food these mutli nationals are trying to shove down their throats for profit.Campesinos in the department of San Pedro occupied Brazilian-owned farms on Oct. 1 to... more
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The grand scheme to introduce genetically modified foods into Kenya seemed to shift into top gear after the Ministry of Agriculture launched a campaign last month to make the country appreciate them.
First, Minister for Agriculture, William Ruto, who has on several occasions publicly expressed his support for the introduction of GM foods into the country, launched the National Biotechnology Awareness Strategy last month.
According to a statement Ruto sent to the press, the strategy was aimed at offering Kenyans "accurate and reliable information and knowledge" about such branches of biotechnology as tissue culture, molecular breeding and genetic modification.
"This will enable Kenyans to make informed decisions and be involved in determining the pace of adoption of biotechnology in the country," he said.
However, Ruto went ahead to state that Kenya will embrace GMOs, making it appear the government had launched the awareness campaign merely to state its pro-GMO stance.
This has led to fresh fears that the government has irrevocably decided on introduction, cultivation and commercialisation of GMOs in the country.
snip
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology has also been preparing to take back to parliament a Bill that was heavily criticised last year for failing to address the concerns of farmers and consumers and for merely seeking to create the necessary legal framework for the introduction of GMOs in Kenya.
snip
"They want to do it by force, the so-called national awareness strategy is a mere gimmick," said Josphat Ngonyo of the Africa Network for Animal Welfare. Mr Ngonyo said KBioC, of which he is a member, has attempted to get the agriculture minister to listen to its side of the GMO story to no avail. KBioC is anumbrella body representing over 50 farmers' groups, religious organisations, consumer organisations and NGOs.
snip
But one of the leading proponents of genetic engineering in Kenya, Dr Florence Wambugu, told The EastAfrican that those opposed to the introduction and proliferation of GMOs in Africa are profiteers and fearmongers.
"There are those who get business from fearmongering," she said. She also accused Greenpeace International of offering false information by claiming that some of the maize seeds grown in Kenya are contaminated by GM-materials.
This drew the ire of a Greenpeace official who accused Dr Wambugu of employing "scare tactics" in campaigning for GMOs in Africa.
"The genetic engineering industry, and their spokesperson for Africa, Florence Wambugu, must be really desperate if they are now resorting to lies, and ridiculous ones... Greenpeace never ever endangered the environment, the life of farmers and the health of consumers by putting a single genetically engineered seed into any soil anywhere in the world, and whoever suggests the opposite is completely out of touch with reality," said Jan Van Aken of Greenpeace's Sustainable Agriculture.
What is interesting is that even though she denied that Monsanto ever funded her in her pro-GMO campaign, Dr Wambugu nevertheless admitted that she gets money from such bodies as the United States Development Agency (USAid), Rockefeller Foundation, Dupont and CropLife International.
The latter is an organisation represented in 91 countries whose members include the global who's-who of the genetic engineering industry -- BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow Agrosciences, Dupont, FMC, Monsanto, Sumitomo and Syngenta. Dr Wambugu is the founder of Africa Harvest, which campaigns for GMOs in Africa.
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The grand scheme to introduce genetically modified foods into Kenya seemed to shift... more
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GMO's are made by manipulation of extremely deadly viruses & bacteria that have been engineered to be IMMUNE TO ANTIBIOTICS, such as E. coli (Pause video at 8:08). Monsanto spends millions of dollars each month to "sugar" coat and hide the truth of what they are doing or what is really behind how GMO's are made.
This video straight-forwardly explains the scientific facts how Monsanto manufactures their GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms) by removing all the corporate propaganda, the "smoke & mirrors" if you will.
**Please be warned, the once the mask is removed from what you are eating & feeding your children each day, it will outrage you and shock you to the core.
Monsanto's greed combined with their quest to totally monopolize all aspects of food on the planet, has knowingly allowed the proverbial Reaper free upon the world.
GMO's are now acting much like the deadly virus and pre-cancer cells they are made from... by infecting other organisms that were once pure and healthy.
The people of the world should be demanding Monsanto be held for crimes against humanity for the atrocities they have committed and what can be reasonably seen as the start of the end to all life as we know it.
The Bee's disappearance is in perfect unison with the time line of Monsanto's release of GMO's; this can not be argued but due to Monsanto's influence of corruption in governments across the globe, any scientist that tries to inform the public and raise the alarm about the Bee's & GMO's is destroyed financially, as well as their careers'.
Monsanto is the MOST ruthless corporation in the world, which basically controls many governments due to their near limitless resources, money and their "campaign contributions".
They buy WHO they need and crush those that try to stand in their way.
Now that you know, what will you do?
Will YOU decided to fight, right now, this very day or will you put it off for some other time?
After watching these videos, will you also knowingly look the other way and FEED your family GM foods; even though you now know you could be killing or permanently harming your child/family??? If so, call Monsanto for a job, for you have disgraced and shamed yourself for knowingly poisoning the people you claim to love and PROTECT!
....BUT
If you are OUTRAGED at Monsanto's poisoning our food, milk (see my other video on milk!) and health; Please do the following actions, do them once a week... make a difference:
1) Call and WRITE (pen & paper) you're Legislators
(Emails are the very last thing you should do; most are scanned by software and are blocked/deleted when they contain certain key words. This is a fact.)
Demand:
2) That they FULLY endorse: "H.R. 6636 GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOOD RIGHT TO KNOW ACT"
3) An immediate moratorium on all GMO's and their Byproducts!
4) FDA change their findings on GMO's being "Generally Recognized As Safe"! This was done with ZERO testing by the FDA!
5) Demand a full investigation into the criminal conflicts of interest as it pertains to the head personal of Monsanto and the FDA being one in the same.
6) Demand congress pass a "whistle blowers protection" for all professional scientists so that Corporations, Universities and Colleges can no longer manipulate their research.
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This is the description of the video written by the member who uploaded it. I concur with it. We need to wake up. Now.GMO's are made by manipulation of extremely deadly viruses & bacteria that... more
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No genetically modified crops are grown commercially in Japan, perhaps one of the countries in the world with the strongest consumer opposition to "unnatural" GM foods. Yet, Monsanto and the US government continue their shameless push for the stuff. Again and again, imported foods have been found to be contaminated with illegal GM varieties, including the infamous Starlink corn, that had not been approved in the US either (it was recalled and never heard from again).
Now, a US government official is visiting Tokyo to seek Japan's "help to promote the safety of genetically modified crops among Japanese consumers," as a way to "ease the global food crisis," notes NHK World.
Dr. Nina Fedoroff, the Science and Technology Adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was interviewed by NHK in Tokyo on Thursday, and said "the planting of genetically modified crops has been spreading rapidly in the United States and stressed the need to spread this kind of crop globally to cope with the food crisis."
Food crisis? This summer, what did Monsanto do? With US corn, 60 percent is GM -- and nearly all of it contains Monsanto's genes. During this global food crisis, Monsanto just raised the price of its corn seed $100 a bag. Talk about a novel way to solve the food crisis.
Linn Cohen-Cole at OpEdNews has more details:
"Notice, too, that Monsanto is drastically raising prices while it is making phenomenal profits, while food prices are rising dramatically (related often to its grains), leading to food riots around the world, and while fuel is skyrocketing and Monsanto's corn is now the basis of biofuel, and while our economy is tanking. All the while Monsanto claims that genetically engineering is a wonder - the way to help farmers around the world and to feed the hungry."
Time after time, Japanese consumer organizations, housewives, NGOs and co-ops have demonstrated in the streets of Tokyo to protest against imports of GM foods. Most of the soy and corn that enter Japan is either carefully sourced as "non-GM" (using expensive traceability schemes such as IP handling) or simply used as animal feed.
Food oil makers also don't need to disclose on food labels if they use GM oil seeds, and many consumers are surprised and angry when they learn that they have in fact been eating GM soy or corn, unwillingly. Consumers Union of Japan is particularly upset about how food exporting countries, such as Australia, side with the GM industry, ignoring consumer concerns. South Korean consumers also share the same concerns, making waves with large demonstrations in Seoul, and joining events here in Japan.
Keisuke Amagasa at the Tokyo-based 'No! GMO Campaign' will speak on October 16 at the World Foodless Day event about "How genetically modified foods are accelerating the food crisis." An outspoken critic of Monsanto and gene patenting policies, he says:
"Japan does not produce any GM crops. However, because Japan imports GM canola from Canada, GM contamination has already occurred and it is spreading to a much greater degree than one could imagine. If GM crops are cultivated, then this kind of pollution will spread even more. Judging by the ominous precedent of Canada, once GM crops are cultivated, segregation between GM and non-GM will become almost impossible, and keeping pure non-GM varieties away from GM contamination will be very hard. The clear conclusion from the findings is that cultivating or importing GM crops, leads to GM pollution and once this pollution begins, it can cause irreversible damage."
Despicable.No genetically modified crops are grown commercially in Japan, perhaps one of the... more
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That's a lot of poison in our rivers, streams, food, air and stomachs. Poison for profit. That should be their slogan. And why are these profits so high? Well, because they have bought up close to 90% of the global seed market thus forcing farmers to sign their bogus contracts holding them to buying their seeds and poison every year. They cannot save the seeds, and they have to buy the poison sprays with the seeds yearly. And the pesticides sprayed on crops made by these companies have also been found in higher levels in beehives, suggesting that it is possible that when bees have tried to pollinate GM crops they carry these pesticides back to the hives which makes them sick, thus causing them to desert the hives. Imagine what their seeds with built in pesticides can do for your salad!
And yet, the FDA states there is no difference between this poison and the conventional crops that farmers once grew and could regrow with saved seeds as has been the tradition in agriculture since ancient times. That way they also get out of responsibility from labelling the food you eat. That way you don't know the poisons you are consuming. And even if you are an organic farmer, chances are your crops have also been poisoned by their transgenic pollution. Even without selling you the seeds, you are a part of their big happy poison family.
Oh, and of course, these fake seeds with the poison centers are feeding the world! Don't pay attention to all of the starving people in Haiti, Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Don't let the real truth blind you to their propaganda... profit is good even at the expense of morality, truth, and this planet. That's the Monsanto way.
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From the entry noted:
Monsanto positions itself as a green company.
"Using the tools of modern biology," its website informs us, "we help farmers grow more yield sustainably so they can produce more and conserve more."
Compare that twaddle to this bit from Monsanto's announcement on Tuesday:
[Monsanto's Chief Financial Officer Terry] Crews will indicate that Monsanto's Roundup® and other glyphosate-based herbicides business is on track to be above $1.9 billion of gross profit for the 2008 fiscal year, ahead of the previous forecast. Wow. Nearly $2 billion in profit, from Roundup alone. As recently as February, Monsanto was expecting to make $1.4 billion from its herbicide division this year. I guess farmers applied it even more copiously than expected.
But the company isn't just churning out profit by peddling weed-killer. Its seeds are doing pretty well, too -- particularly corn:
Crews will also note that for the 2008 fiscal year, the company's corn business should exceed $2 billion in gross-profit generation for the first time. Interesting. So it makes nearly as much on herbicide as it does on corn seeds. (Overall, the company expects to make $3.8 billion on seeds in '08).
Investors applauded Monsanto's announcement, sending shares up 7.5 percent Tuesday.
I wonder if they're being short-sighted. Monsanto's success rests on Roundup Ready technology -- selling seeds genetically engineered to withstand heavy doses of its flagship herbicide.
But Roundup-tolerant weeds (so-called "superweeds") are on the rise. Eventully, farmers will have to shift away from Roundup -- Monsanto's $1.8 billion cash cow.
Meanwhile, Bayer is rolling out a new line of herbicide-tolerant seeds, this one designed to withstand doses of Bayer's glufosinate herbicide. Ain't the agrichemical industry grand?
That's a lot of poison in our rivers, streams, food, air and stomachs. Poison for... more
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The most important documentary you will see this year.
How much outrage can a single multinational corporation inspire? How much damage can they inflict? The breathtaking new film, The World According to Monsanto, features a company that sets the new standard. From Iowa to Paraguay, from England to India, Monsanto is uprooting our food supply and replacing it with their patented genetically engineered creations. And along the way, farmers, communities, and nature become collateral damage. The Gazette says the movie "will freeze the blood in your veins." The Hour says it's a "horrifying enough picture" to warrant "fury." But most importantly, this critical film opens our eyes just in time. The film is the work of celebrated award-winning French filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin, whose three years of work on four continents exposes why Monsanto has become the world's poster child for malignant corporate influence in government and technology.
Combining secret documents with accounts by victims, scientists and policy makers, she guides us through a web of misleading reports, pressure tactics, collusion, and attempted corruption. And we learn how the company systematically tricked governments into allowing dangerous genetically modified (GM) foods into our diet-with Monsanto in charge of determining if they're safe.
Deception, Deception, Deception
The company's history with some of the most toxic chemicals ever produced, illustrates why they can't be trusted. Ask the folks of Anniston, Alabama, where Monsanto's PCB factory secretly poisoned the neighborhood for decades. PCBs are Monsanto's toxic oils used as coolants and lubricants for over 50 years and are now virtually omnipresent in the blood and tissues of humans and wildlife around the globe. But Anniston residents have levels hundreds or thousands of times the average. They all know their levels, which they carry as death sentences. David Baker, who lost his little brother and most of his friends to PCB-related diseases such as cancer, says Anniston kids used to run up to him, report their PCB level and ask, "How long you think I got?"
Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group says that based on Monsanto documents made public during a trial, the company "knew the truth from the very beginning. They lied about it. They hid the truth from their neighbors." One Monsanto memo explains their justification: "We can't afford to lose one dollar of business."
snip
Replacing Nature: "Nothing Shall Be Eaten That We Don't Own" Monsanto is the world's largest seed company and many are concerned. Troy Roush says, "They are in the process of owning food, all food." Paraguayan farmer Jorge Galeano says, "Its objective is to control all of the world's food production." Renowned Indian physicist and community organizer Vandana Shiva says, "If they control seed, they control food; they know it, it's strategic. It's more powerful than bombs; it's more powerful than guns. This is the best way to control the populations of the world." The World According to Monsanto is aptly named. It is about Monsanto seeking to recreate the world in its own image, for its own benefit. They intend to replace (and patent) the entire food supply. And since their genetic pollution self-propagates in the environment, it will outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste. Such widespread permanent influence may not be safe with any individual or company. With Monsanto's record, the results can only be catastrophic. This powerful documentary might just inspire a global rejection of Monsanto's plans for our world. If so, it will be the most important film in history.
The most important documentary you will see this year.
How much outrage can a... more
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Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-- Anthropologist Margaret Mead
Even if you've heard the above quote many times before, the sentiment expressed is so powerful that I think it's worth repeating. All around the world, small groups of people are organizing public support for improved food safety and successfully challenging large corporations to change their behavior.
That's exactly what Flint Michigan residents Kathleen Kirby and Mark Fisher are banking on: their power to influence change. They're participating in a nationwide consumer boycott of Kellogg's Co. instigated by the Organic Consumers Association. By boycotting the world's largest cereal company, they hope to pressure Kellogg's into rejecting the use of sugar from genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets and to spark widespread market rejection in products ranging from cereal to baby food to candy.
As you may know, Roundup Ready sugar beets are genetically altered to resist Monsanto's toxic weed killer, Roundup, and its active ingredient, glyphosate. But here's the scary truth about these beets:
When the USDA first approved GE sugar beets for commercial planting in 1998, the EPA also increased the maximum allowable residues of glyphosate on sugar beet roots from just 0.2 parts per million to 10ppm. That's a staggering 5,000 percent increase of allowable toxins on beet roots. And, it's little surprise that EPA made this policy change at the request of Monsanto.
Sugar beet roots contain sucrose that's extracted, refined, and processed into the sugar used in the foods we eat. What this means is that the more GE ingredients that find their way into our food, the greater the likelihood that we are ingesting more toxic chemicals.
Thankfully, GE sugar beets have never been grown in the U.S. for sale to food manufacturers -- that is, until this year, when Western farmers planted their first crop of Monsanto's Roundup Ready sugar beets. Right now, over half of the sugar used in U.S. processed foods comes from sugar beets, with beet and cane sugars combined in those products. What's most disturbing is that once GE sugar beets hit the market, which could be as early as next year, there will be no way to know if we're eating GE sugar because GE ingredients are not labeled.
Currently, only four major GE crops are sold commercially -- corn, cotton, soy, and canola. Most of these are engineered to withstand repeated, large doses of herbicides. For the most part, these crops and their byproducts are largely fed to animals with the exception of some minor food ingredients and oils. GE beet sugar breaks with this tradition in that it could become the first major GE ingredient added to almost all processed foods on our grocery store shelves.
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Our food supply is systematically being taken over and poisoned by Monsanto.There is no other way to state it now. If sugarbeets are allowed to continue to become a part of our food supply, then you can expect that EVERYTHING you touch will be genetically modified, and it has NOT been proven to be safe for human consumption or our environment. Please, I have been writing on this for months along with others who have been trying to make people understand how URGENT it is that you get involved in pushing state legislatures to require proper labelling of GM sources in foods. Read up on this at the Monsanto tag and take action.
Citizen activism is the only way to make companies like Monsanto back down. Consumers did it regarding POSILAC, and we can do it with this. Current TV is the only place I have been able to get exposure to this so far aside from my own blog, and it is also because of people here voting the information up so more can see it. So thank you to those who fight the good fight here everyday over those who would do anything in their power to keep this down.
Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed,... more
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