Cracking Codes
Comedy Break, Food Shortages, GMOs, peak oil — by Marc Roberts August 28, 2010
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Courtesy: Marc Roberts
Whilst the Russians learn to live without buckwheat and displaced people are poised for land-struggles in Central Africa, boffins crack the wheat genome, which promises to keep us trying the same industrial scale thing for ever. And how will we fuel this ever expanding industrial agriculture sector? Hmm, maybe.
BAA propose to compost food waste – who’d have thunk it?
Comments (1)Biotech Propaganda Cooks Dangers out of GM Potatoes
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith August 27, 2010
By Jeffrey M. Smith, executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, and author of the highly acclaimed Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette.
This is Part II of a series. Read Part I here.
Don’t worry your little heads over the gene-spliced foods on your plates. Just trust companies like Monsanto when they tell you their genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are perfectly safe.
That’s the upshot of a new website created on behalf of the biotech industry by GMO advocates Bruce Chassy and David Tribe. While they attempt to discredit the scientific evidence in my book Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, instead they offer priceless examples of distortion, denial, and spin. Their site is yet another example of why we can’t trust GMOs, Monsanto, or the so-called scientists who support them.
In a series of rebuttals, I expose this charade and show why healthy eating starts with no GMOs. (To find out how to avoid GMOs, go to NonGMOShoppingGuide.com.)
In Part 1, I recounted the story of scientist-turned-whistleblower Dr. Arpad Pusztai. Here, I provide a point by point refutation of Chassy and Tribe’s unwarranted attack on Dr. Pusztai and their distortion of his findings.
Comments (0)Anniversary of a Whistleblowing Hero
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith
By Jeffrey M. Smith, executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, and author of the highly acclaimed Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette.
Twelve years ago, a 150-second TV broadcast changed our world; everyone everywhere owes a debt of gratitude to the man whose life it turned upside down—in his effort to protect ours. On August 10, 1998, eminent scientist Dr. Arpad Pusztai (pronounced Poos-tie) dared to speak the truth.
He had been an enthusiastic supporter of genetic engineering, working on cutting edge safety research with genetically modified (GM) foods. But to his surprise, his experiments showed that GM foods were inherently dangerous. When he relayed his concerns during a short television interview in the UK, things got ugly. With support from the highest levels of government, biotech defenders quickly mobilized a coordinated attack campaign trying to distort and cover up the evidence.
Comments (0)GM Crops, Pesticides and the Poor
Food Shortages, GMOs, Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh August 18, 2010
I’m often accused of murdering millions. Why? Because I speak out against GM crops. And here I am, at it again…. Whenever the issue of genetically modified (GM) crops is raised, there are always two main reasons posited for their use: The first is that tinkering with the building blocks of life is essential if we’re to feed the world’s burgeoning population. It is inferred that we can somehow ‘improve’ plants, and make them more productive. Although this concept is vigorously promoted by biotech corporations, with all the advertising finesse their great wealth provides (and, astonishingly, a good amount of corporate agribusiness wealth comes right out of your pocket via tax-payer funded subsidies), their wishful thinking couldn’t be further from the truth.
Comments (6)GM Crops Facing Meltdown in the USA
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho August 17, 2010
Major crops genetically modified for just two traits – herbicide tolerance and insect resistance – are ravaged by super weeds and secondary pests in the heartland of GMOs as farmers fight a losing battle with more of the same; a fundamental shift to organic farming practices may be the only salvation
Please circulate widely, keeping all links unchanged, and submit to your government representatives demanding an end to GM crops and support for non-GM organic agriculture.
Two traits account for practically all the genetically modified (GM) crops grown in the world today: herbicide-tolerance (HT) due to glyphosate-insensitive form of the gene coding for the enzyme targeted by the herbicide, 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), derived from soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and insect-resistance due to one or more toxin genes derived from the soil bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis). Commercial planting began around 1997 in the United States, the heartland of GM crops, and increased rapidly over the years. By now, GM crops have taken over 85-91 percent of the area planted with the three major crops, soybean, corn and cotton in the US [1]] (see Table 1), which occupy nearly 171 million acres.
Comments (6)A GMO Promoter Didn’t Like My Article
Consumerism, GMOs, Health & Disease, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton — by Patrick Blampied August 13, 2010
So I’m back in my favourite little trendy organic cafe in Melbourne as I write this, but for those who missed the point of why I would eat here last time I wrote about it I’ll drop the ironic humour. It’s not about being trendy. It’s about being stuck in a food desert devoid of any solid guarantee that what I eat will actually be what I consider to be food.
Today I’m writing to address an ‘article’ from Paula Fitzgerald from Agrifood Awareness Australia Limited. A colleague recently forwarded me her attempted rebuff to my article “10 reasons to go organic beyond being trendy”. Ms. Fitzgerald’s response to my article was titled “Serious about sustainability or terrified of not being trendy” (PDF). Take a look. I can understand where the author is coming from, as it would appear her role is to protect the interests of the organisation and its founding members – CropLife Australia, Grains Research and Development Corporation and the National Farmers’ Federation, as well as the sugar industry which supports their activities and the red meat industry who it partners with.
Their disclaimer:
Agrifood Awareness Australia Limited gives no warranty and makes no representation that the information contained in this document is suitable for any purpose or is free from error. Agrifood Awareness Australia Limited accepts no responsibility for any person acting or relying upon the information contained in this document, and disclaims all liability. August 2010. – Agrifood Awareness (PDF)
It would be a shame if more farmers were given poor information that led them to “voting with their feet” and going GM when the real rewards for them and their family’s future could be in regenerative agriculture. My advice to the aforementioned partners, supporters and funders: find or form an organisation that produces credible information that is suitable for at least some purpose. My advice to farmers: stop and think before going GM. It’s so important that information about the way we grow food is as accurate as possible and not clouded by vested interests, as we’re playing with lives here.
Comments (10)GMO Speaker Training Webinar with Jeffrey Smith
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith June 24, 2010
Editor’s Note: Permaculturists would do well to add this skillset to their repertoire of abilities – alerting the world to the consequences of genetic tampering and food monopolisation is also the key moment to introduce the appropriate alternatives found in all kinds of permaculture goodness.
5 sessions from July 13 – September 8, 2010
You will be trained by the Institute for Responsible Technology’s director, renowned author and filmmaker Jeffrey M. Smith, on how to speak about GMOs and how to organize effective activism to achieve the tipping point of consumer rejection, forcing genetically modified organisms out of our food supply. He will share his knowledge, tips, and expertise in 5 core sessions, each of 1hr and a half.
The five core sessions will cover the following topics:
Comments (2)Action Alert – Protect Your Right to Know Which Foods Contain GMOs
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith May 5, 2010
Please send this URGENT message to US Government leaders to protect your right to know which foods are made from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Click and send an email today to the Secretaries of State (Clinton), Agriculture (Vilsack), and Health and Human Services (Sebelius).
They must stop US negotiators at an international (Codex) conference from May 3-7, from pushing an agenda that could make it difficult for anyone, anywhere in the world to label foods as genetically modified (GM) food—or even make non-GMO claims on their product’s label.
The US is taking the ridiculous and unscientific position that GMOs are not different from conventional foods, claiming labels that say GMO or non-GMO are misleading.
If they succeed at the meeting, the US may then file lawsuits through the World Trade Organization against any country that implements mandatory labeling of GMOs, or even allows non-GMO claims on packages.
Comments (2)Genetically Modified Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant Mortality in Hamsters
Consumerism, GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith May 4, 2010
By Jeffrey M. Smith, executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, and author of the highly acclaimed Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette.
“This study was just routine,” said Russian biologist Alexey V. Surov, in what could end up as the understatement of this century. Surov and his colleagues set out to discover if Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) soy, grown on 91% of US soybean fields, leads to problems in growth or reproduction. What he discovered may uproot a multi-billion dollar industry.
After feeding hamsters for two years over three generations, those on the GM diet, and especially the group on the maximum GM soy diet, showed devastating results. By the third generation, most GM soy-fed hamsters lost the ability to have babies. They also suffered slower growth, and a high mortality rate among the pups.
Comments (3)A Silent Forest – a Look at Genetically Engineered Trees
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh April 9, 2010
A Silent Forest
Part I (remaining parts at bottom)
The video production embedded above addresses an alarming trend – that of the genetic modification of trees. Many might tend to ignore this trend, as we don’t, directly, eat trees, but as the geneticist David Suzuki explains, along with the documentary’s other contributors, the implications run a lot deeper than just that….
I highly recommend you watch and circulate this production.
Comments (5)The Big GMO Cover-Up
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith February 22, 2010
Something doesn’t quite add up about genetically modified (GM) foods.
It looks the same—the bread, pies, sodas, even corn on the cob. So much of what we eat every day looks just like it did 20 years ago. But something profoundly different has happened without our knowledge or consent. And according to leading doctors, what we don’t know may already be hurting us big time.
In May, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) publicly condemned genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food supply, saying they posed “a serious health risk.” They called on the US government to implement an immediate moratorium on all genetically modified (GM) foods, and urged physicians to prescribe non-GMO diets for all patients.
Comments (14)Rude Awakening
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith February 17, 2010
Editor’s Note: After reading the post below, also check out Jeffrey’s new NonGMOShoppingGuide website, which will help you boycott GMO products in stores, so you can: 1) protect your health, and 2) bring down the industry that is threatening it.
A wise customer wanted to find out if the corn nuts she was eating were from genetically modified (GM) corn. She emailed the company and got a shocking reply. It began:
“Thank you for your contact. We are not aware of any GMO free corn in the U.S. We feel it is a ridiculous concern based on very poor science.”
The email, reproduced at the blog of Kelly the Kitchen Kop, even recommended:
“. . . if these concerns are truly important to you, you may be better served at a health food store.
We appreciate your patronage.
The Customer Support Team,
American Importing Co., Inc.”
Talk about being opinionated and misinformed.
Comments (2)Monsanto Pulls GM Corn Amid Serious Food Safety Concerns
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Dr. Brian John February 10, 2010
Applicant’s dossiers contained wide-ranging fraudulent research
For the first time, a GM multinational has pulled two GM corn varieties from the regulatory and assessment process at the eleventh hour (1), after planning for a future income of several billion dollars per year from global sales (2). Monsanto has abandoned its ambitious plans for a so-called “second generation GM crop” rather than accede to a request from European regulators for additional research and safety data (3).
Under conditions of great secrecy, Monsanto has informed EFSA that it no longer wishes to pursue its application for approval of GM maize LY038 and the stacked variety LY038 x MON810. Both of these varieties were designed to accelerate the growth rate of animals. Two letters were sent to EFSA from the Monsanto subsidiary company Renessen at the end of April this year confirming the withdrawal of its applications originally submitted in 2005 and 2006. The letters cite “decreased commercial value worldwide” and state that the high-lysene varieties “will no longer be a part of the Renessen business strategy in the near future.” (4) There has been no announcement of these decisions on the Monsanto web site, and there are no mentions on EFSA or European Commission web sites either. In other words, there is a conspiracy of silence involving both the applicants and the regulators.
Comments (2)Farmer Suicides and Bt Cotton Nightmare Unfolding in India
Economics, Food Shortages, GMOs, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton — by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho January 26, 2010
The largest wave of farmer suicides and an ecological nightmare are unfolding around Bt cotton. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho exposes the “fudged” data and false claims of ‘successes’ that have perpetrated the humanitarian disaster.
A fully referenced version of this report has been submitted to Shri Jairam Ramesh, Environment Minister of India, urging him to stop growing Bt cotton and other GM crops in India; it is posted on ISIS members’ website (details here) and can be downloaded here.
The Bt cotton killing fields
As the cotton growing season drew to a close in the state of Andhra Pradesh, farmer suicides once again became almost daily occurrences. Officially, the total number of suicides within a six-week period between July and August 2009 stood at 15, but opposition parties and farmers’ groups said the true total was more than 150 [1]. Opposition leader N. Chandrababu claimed in a speech that he had the names and addresses of 165 farmers who ended their lives because of the distress caused by the drought.
Comments (3)Monsanto’s GMOs Linked to Organ Failure, Study Shows
Consumerism, GMOs, Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh January 20, 2010
A recent study took data from ‘independent research’ conducted on behalf of Monsanto, and came to quite different conclusions than those of the Agri-giant.
French and European health authorities read Monsanto’s conclusions and gave the green light for the commercialisation of three new GMO strains. But, after some legal wrangling, French scientists secured the data from the aforementioned research and did their own statistical analysis – coming to quite different conclusions to Monsanto.
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