Who Benefits from GM Crops – An Industry Built On Myths
Biodiversity, GMOs, Health & Disease, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton & Loss — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor December 3, 2012
 Click to download (2.7mb PDF) |
At bottom of my article GM Crops, Pesticides and the Poor I had made four previous ‘Who Benefits from GM Crops‘ reports available for download. As you’ll see in the subtitle for each of the afore-linked reports, each of these excellent reports, created by Friends of the Earth International, have their own specific niche angle on the GMO issue. Today I publish (overdue I know) their latest report, the subtitle of which is "An Industry Build on Myths". This report goes into detail to expose the GM industry hyperbole broadcast about their ‘products’.
This annual report analyses major new developments regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in various regions around the world, including new evidence and testimony from our member groups. In this 2011 edition, we focus particularly on pesticide use, increasing public and legal opposition to GMOs, and the biotech industry’s move into breeding and attempting to release genetically modified animals.
Further Reading:
Comments (1)Consumer Choices
Biodiversity, Consumerism, Economics, GMOs, Health & Disease — by William Park November 30, 2012
by William Park, Eco Ola, Peru
Heritage varieties of Quinoa outside Alausí, Ecuador
Can consumer choice be a driver of change? The answer is yes, provided that consumers make informed decisions based on awareness of how their purchases impact others and our planet.
If, however, all the available products are produced by the same corporations using the same shortsighted and destructive methods and there is no meaningful labeling, then consumer choice amounts to nothing.
Comments (0)Update on Fugitive GM Canola (Williams, Western Australia)
GMOs — by Safe Food Foundation November 16, 2012
Following a truck fire and spill on 9 August 2011 of 15 tonnes of GM canola in the middle of a self declared GM-free zone in Williams, Western Australia, the Safe Food Foundation has retained Slater & Gordon lawyers to provide legal advice and support to local GM-free grain growers near the site.
The Safe Food Foundation has also offered to provide free GM test kits to local GM-free grain growers who want to test their crops this coming harvest. Scott Kinnear, Director of the Safe Food Foundation said, “This spill highlights the complex network of legal responsibilities that need to be unravelled and understood given the introduction of GM canola into WA, Victoria and NSW. It also highlights that the issue is between GM and GM-free and not just organic versus GM as has been portrayed by some commentators.
Comments (1)Did Prop 37 Really Lose or Was it Vote Fraud? Maybe We Do Want To Know After All?
Consumerism, GMOs, Health & Disease, Society — by Jon Rappoport November 13, 2012
Editor’s Note: Last week I posted We Don’t Want to Know, sharing the rather glum news that Californians had, somewhat inexplicably, voted against their own interests — deciding they didn’t actually care to have the right to know what they were eating. By all appearances, Proposition 37 was won by the corporates. However, since then we’ve learned that there may be more to this than meets the eye. Jon Rappoport, a 74-year old Californian who has been an investigative journalist for the last 30 years, also felt the results were rather inexplicable, and decided to take a closer look. Read on to find out why I think Californians might not be as daft as we were, last week, led to believe…. I also hope Californians will jump up and down about this issue — as they should be hopping mad…. At time of writing this, the Yes to 37 campaign is only half a million votes behind, and it appears there are at least 3.3 million votes still uncounted…. In short, we have hope yet — but we need to watch this very closely, and do what we can to ensure all votes are properly counted!
Did Prop 37 Really Lose or Was it Vote Fraud? (November 8, 2012)
On election night, not long after the polls closed in California, the announcement came out: Prop 37 was losing. A little while later, it was all over. 37 had gone down to defeat.
But is that the whole story? No.
As of 2:30PM today, Thursday, November 8th, two days after the election, many votes in California remain uncounted.
I tried to find out how many.
It turns out that the Secretary of State of CA, responsible for elections in the state, doesn’t know.
I was told all counties in California have been asked, not ordered, to report in with those figures. It’s voluntary.
Comments (8)A 50,000-Foot View of the Global Crisis
Biodiversity, Biofuels, Consumerism, Deforestation, Economics, Food Shortages, GMOs, Global Warming/Climate Change, Health & Disease, Nuclear, Population, Society, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton & Loss, peak oil — by Paul Chefurka November 10, 2012
We are now well into a global crisis that may mark the end of this cycle of human civilization. In this note I present a summary of what’s going on as far as I can tell, as well as a scenario for how things might develop over the next 75 years or so.
The issue is enormous, so an overview like this is inevitably going to be skimpy on details. This is, after all, not an academic journal. However, like every other fact in the known universe, those details are just a Google away…
Because the global predicament manifests itself in some way in virtually every area of human endeavour, any useful approach to it must be massively cross-disciplinary. Fruitful areas for investigation include:
Comments (12)We Don’t Want to Know
Consumerism, Economics, GMOs, Health & Disease, Society — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor November 8, 2012
I awoke this morning eager to find out the results of November 6th’s voting in the U.S. of A. And no, I’m not talking about the tiresome presidential election….
Comments (7)GM Cancer Warning Can No Longer Be Ignored
GMOs, Health & Disease — by I-SIS November 2, 2012
The latest findings of cancers and deaths from GM maize and Roundup herbicide are the result of the most in-depth long-term toxicology study ever done on GM food; we ignore them at our peril.
by Prof Peter Saunders and Dr Mae-Wan Ho
A fully referenced version of this report is posted on ISIS members website and is otherwise available for download here.
In the Vatican Museums in Rome stands a statue of Laocoön and his sons. Legend has it that Laocoön tried to warn his fellow citizens against taking in the wooden horse that the Greeks had left outside their gates. It was not a gift, but a ruse designed to allow Greek soldiers to enter the city. The Greek gods, who wanted to see Troy destroyed, sent sea serpents to kill Laocoön. This convinced the Trojans that the horse was indeed sacred; so they opened the gates and dragged it into the city. The result was the total destruction of Troy and its empire.
Comments (0)Urgent, Prop 37 Needs Your Help Today!
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith
If you wish to donate directly to place this ad on more stations, you can go to this dedicated donation page. Please be generous (and swift!).
With only a few days left before the vote on November 6, there’s no time to lose. The latest California poll now puts Prop 37 ten points behind! Whether or not you’re in California, please donate generously — immediately.
And please sign up for the phone banking to call California voters to tell them the truth.
Comments (0)Why Glyphosate Should Be Banned – A Review of its Hazards to Health and the Environment
Biodiversity, GMOs, Health & Disease, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton & Loss — by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho November 1, 2012
Glyphosate has contaminated land, water, air, and our food supply; the maximum permitted levels are set to rise by100-150 times in the European Union if Monsanto gets its way as damning evidence of serious harm to health & the environment piles up.
by Dr Eva Sirinathsinghji and Dr Mae-Wan Ho
 Click to purchase the fully referenced and illustrated report |
A fully referenced and illustrated version of this report is posted on ISIS members’ website and is otherwise available for download here.
- Introduction
- Regulators and industry both culpable
- How glyphosate works
- Health impacts
4.1 Teratogenicity and reproductive effects
4.2 Endocrine disruption
4.3 Carcinogenicity
4.4 Genotoxicity
4.5 Neurotoxicity
4.6 Internal organ toxicity
4.7 Acute toxicity - Environmental and agronomic effects
5.1 Glyphosate resistant weeds
5.2 Effects on crop and plant health
5.3 Effects on soil ecology
5.4 Effects on ecosystems
5.5 Diseases of livestock
5.6 Widespread contamination of water supplies - To conclude
Executive Summary
The use of glyphosate-based herbicides, especially Monsanto’s Roundup formulation, has increased dramatically since the introduction of genetically modified (GM) glyphosate-tolerant crops, resulting in the contamination of our food, environment and water supplies.
Glyphosate-based herbicides are now the most commonly used herbicides in the world. It is still promoted as ‘safe’, despite damning evidence of serious harm to health and the environment.
Comments (2)Bitter Seeds Documentary (video)
Biodiversity, Food Shortages, GMOs, Global Warming/Climate Change, Health & Disease, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton & Loss — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 31, 2012
This new documentary, with perfect timing for the upcoming Proposition 37 vote on November 6, is a heartbreaking look at the impact GMOs have had in India, where many thousands of peasant farmers have been pushed to the brink, and beyond, due to crop failures and spiraling costs for seed and the chemicals they demand.
For your interest, there are currently efforts to put a 10-year ban on GMO field trials across India. A court appointed expert panel has advised India’s supreme court that such a ban should be implemented. At time of writing, the next hearing for this case will be November 9, 2012. A 1.5mb PDF submission to the supreme court by the expert panel can be downloaded here.
Comments (0)Sign Up For Phone Calling on Prop 37
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith October 30, 2012
Editor’s Note: In case you missed our alert, take the opportunity to watch Genetic Roulette for free until the end of October, 2012, and also see our GMO category for many more articles and videos. Prop 37 is an historic opportunity — I hope that all who can will get involved.
Monsanto and friends are spending over $1 million a day to fight GMO labeling and defeat Prop. 37. You can help. Join the volunteers to fight back now!
by Jeffrey Smith, Responsible Technology Institute
In less than two weeks, Californians will vote on Prop. 37. This is an historic campaign — it would mean that for the first time in the United States, consumers would have the right to know if the food they are eating has been genetically tampered with by chemical companies. Nearly one million Californians signed their names to put the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act — aka Prop 37 — on the ballot, and over 90% of Americans say they support labeling GMOs. But right now, the world’s largest pesticide and junk food companies, led by Monsanto, DuPont, Dow Chemical, Pepsi, Kraft & Coca Cola have invested over $40 million and are spending $1 million per day to deceive Californians. They are flooding the state with misleading ads to confuse and scare the voters and to trick people into voting against their own best interests. And it’s working. In the past week our poll numbers have dropped from 61% to 48%. We must fight back.
Here are the ways you can help to fight back:
Comments (0)Seeds of Doubt Conference (Videos)
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 24, 2012
To follow are six videos, recorded at the October 6 2012 Seeds of Doubt Conference in Los Angeles:
Comments (0)GMO Myths and Truths
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Michael Antoniou
Editor’s Note: Michael Antoniou, PhD, is reader in molecular genetics and head of the Gene Expression and Therapy Group, King’s College London School of Medicine, London, UK. His work and experience with genetic engineering is comprehensive, working in the field for almost three decades, making him well placed to highlight the dangers and shortcomings of genetically engineering our crops. Kudos to him for standing up and speaking out against Big Biotech at a time when many scientists are afraid to do so. The document you can download below is an excellent addition to the armoury of anti-GMO educators and activists. Please share this page widely.
Click the image above to download the full report (1.7mb PDF)
An evidence-based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops.
by Michael Antoniou, Claire Robinson and John Fagan
Executive Summary:
Comments (3)Genetic Roulette Documentary – Free Viewing Period Extended Until End of October 2012
DVDs/Books, GMOs, Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 19, 2012
A few days ago I informed that you could watch the Genetic Roulette Documentary for free until October 17. Well, several organisations have kindly sponsored an extension of this free viewing period until the end of October. With Proposition 37 coming up on November 6 in California, there’s no time like the present to get the word out on GMOs. So, if you haven’t already, please take the time to watch it, and please do your best to share it with all your family, friends and colleagues!
Watch the full documentary here!
If we can get mandatory labelling of GMOs happening in California, this can cascade across the U.S. — making it easier for people to recognise and reject ‘food’ items containing GMOs, and this in turn can cause boycotts of supermarkets who continue to stock them. Using the European example as evidence, we may only need about 5% of U.S. residents to start rejecting items containing GMOs, before supermarkets will feel the pinch and try to outcompete other supply chains by no longer stocking them.
And, below is a new 10-minute re-mix of the documentary, useful for those who just can’t make time to watch the full 1.5 hour film.
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The Fight Against Canola Invasion of the Willamette Valley, Oregon
Biodiversity, Biofuels, GMOs, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton & Loss — by Kim Crieger Goodwin October 17, 2012
Have you heard about the problems with growing canola in seed-production regions? Did you know canola can harm the farmers that grow your food crops, as well as your own ability to garden and save seed? Have you given your testimony yet?
Right now, Western Oregon, U.S.A., is faced with a serious risk to our food and seed farmers. The Willamette Valley is one of the last five great seed-growing regions in the world and has been a protected zone since the late 1990s. The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) is trying to allow canola to be grown on thousands of acres in the Willamette Valley for biodiesel production. This goes directly against the scientific research done by our agricultural university, Oregon State University (OSU). Their findings clearly demonstrated that canola would be harmful to our vegetable seed, clover seed and fresh market and organic farmers.
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