Occupy Monsanto Genetic Crimes Unit invades Congress and Natural Products Expo
By Rady Ananda
Food Freedom
North America’s largest trade show for natural products learned a dramatic lesson in hypocrisy last week when Occupy Monsanto members of the “Genetic Crimes Unit” showed up in biohazard suits, to highlight the hidden GMOs in most “natural” products.
Occupy Monsanto will target Congress tomorrow, March 16, again wearing bio-hazmat suits “to highlight how chemical company Monsanto is contaminating our political process,” the group has announced.
“The GCU opposes Monsanto’s bid to increase spraying of food with toxic weed killers like 2,4 D (the main ingredient in Agent Orange), genetic contamination of the organic food supply, and other risks associated with genetically modified food (GMOs).”
GCU spokesman David Bronner told OC, “We are approaching this as a necessary civil defense against the unknown long-term effects of eating GMO foods currently under investigation by the GCU.”
PermalinkOccupy WalMart on March 17: Don’t sell GM corn
By Rady Ananda
Food Freedom
In addition to the global Occupy Monsanto action on March 16-17, organizers are asking folks to gather outside their local WalMart store urging it not to sell genetically modified corn. The health consequences will be catastrophic.
Gilles-Eric Seralini, named 2011 International Scientist of the Year, has linked GM foods and their attendant pesticides to organ damage, including the liver, intestines, and testes of lab animals; and the transgenes have been found in the blood of pregnant women and their fetuses, as well as in non-pregnant women. (See his and other studies linked at bottom.)
European Union approves 11 new transgenic crops in 8 months
By Rady Ananda
Food Freedom
In February, the European Commission (EC) approved four transgenic soybeans intended for food and feed, import and processing, reports Inf’OGM. This follows four approvals in December, on top of three last summer.
Three of the recently-approved GM soy varieties are tolerant to herbicides: DuPont-Pioneer’s 356043, Monsanto’s Glyphosate-tolerant soy GTS40-3-2, and Bayer’s A5547127. The fourth, Mon87701, produces an insecticide.
The US approved GTS40-3-2 in 1994, quickly followed by Canada, Japan, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa. [1] In 2000, Monsanto discovered two extra bacterial DNA sequences, requiring global notifications to be sent. [2] Food safety authorities found no problem with the extra genetic material. [3]
USGS: Glyphosate pollutes air, rain and rivers in US
By Rady Ananda
Two new studies by the U.S. Geological Survey reveal the pervasive spread of the biocide, glyphosate, mostly used as a weedkiller for crops genetically engineered to resist it.
Used in formulations by Monsanto, Bayer, Dow and others, glyphosate has been linked to spontaneous abortions in livestock, birth defects in humans, insect resistance, and weed resistance.
Worse, regulators have known for years of these links, Earth Open Source reported.
More problems with glyphosate: Rice growers sound alarm
By Rady Ananda
Adding to the natural rice industry’s woes after Bayer CropScience contaminated a third of the US rice supply with transgenic rice in 2006, the widespread application of Bayer’s glufosinate and Monsanto’s glyphosate is reducing crop yields, and burning and deforming rice plants that survive. [Image: Glyphosate deforms the growing points on rice plants.]
The Mississippi Rice Council (MRC) has sounded a national alarm over damage caused by aerial drift of glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, calling for severely restricted aerial application.
MRC president Mike Wagner recently told crop dusters at this year’s Mississippi Agricultural Aviation Association annual meeting that glyphosate is wreaking havoc on the natural rice industry where “non-transgenic rice is planted in a sea of genetically modified crops that are tolerant to glyphosate.”
Scientists warn of link between dangerous new pathogen and Monsanto’s Roundup
By Rady Ananda
Food Freedom
A plant pathologist experienced in protecting against biological warfare recently warned the USDA of a new, self-replicating, micro-fungal virus-sized organism which may be causing spontaneous abortions in livestock, sudden death syndrome in Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soy, and wilt in Monsanto’s RR corn.
Dr. Don M. Huber, who coordinates the Emergent Diseases and Pathogens committee of the American Phytopathological Society, as part of the USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System, warned Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that this pathogen threatens the US food and feed supply and can lead to the collapse of the US corn and soy export markets. Likewise, deregulation of GE alfalfa “could be a calamity,” he noted in his letter (reproduced in full below).
On January 27, Vilsack gave blanket approval to all genetically modified alfalfa. Following orders from President Obama, he also removed buffer zone requirements. This is seen as a deliberate move to contaminate natural crops and destroy the organic meat and dairy industry which relies on GM-free alfalfa. Such genetic contamination will give the biotech industry complete control over the nation's fourth largest crop. It will also ease the transition to using GE-alfalfa as a biofuel.
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