I listen to late night radio due to my part time job. I sometimes listen to Coast to Coast. Mostly, it is silly stuff, but, the stories on GM Food were pretty scary.
What’s wrong with Genetic Engineering? Genetic engineering is a radical technology that breaks down genetic barriers between humans, plants and animals. Once released, these genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can easily spread and interbreed with other organisms, and they are virtually impossible to recall back to the laboratory.
Monsanto provides roughly 90% of GMO seeds in the world. These seeds have been genetically modified to produce their own pesticide or survive repeated spraying of their toxic herbicide Roundup. Monsanto’s GMOs are not designed to increase yields to feed the world, but rather to increase Monsanto’s profits by increasing the use of chemicals such as Roundup and selling their highpriced patented seeds which farmers must buy every year. Due to the enormous political clout of Monsanto, the American public is being denied the right to know whether their foods are genetically engineered or not. Following is a list of 10 facts about Monsanto and GMOs, and how they can adversely affect your health, local farmers, and the planet.
1 No GMO Labeling Laws in the US Foods containing GMOs don’t have to be labeled in the US. Monsanto has fought hard to prevent labeling laws. This is alarming, since approximately 70% of processed foods in the US now contain GMO ingredients. The European Union, Japan, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and many other nations now require mandatory GMO labeling.
2 Lack of Adequate Safety Testing In May 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle announced the FDA’s anti consumer right-to-know policy which stated that GMO foods need not be labeled nor safety-tested. Meanwhile, prominent scientists such as Arpad Pusztai and Gilles-Eric Seralini have publicized alarming research revealing severe damage to animals fed GMO foods.
3 Monsanto Puts Small Farmers out of Business Percy Schmeiser is a Canadian farmer whose canola fields were contaminated with Monsanto’s Round-Up Ready Canola by pollen from a nearby GMO farm. Monsanto successfully argued in a lawsuit that Schmeiser violated their patent rights, and forced Schmeiser to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. This type of biotech bullying is happening all over North America.
4 Monsanto Products Pollute the Developing World Monsanto’s deadly legacy includes the production of Agent Orange and DDT. Now massive aerial spraying of Roundup in Colombia is being used by the US and the Colombian government as a counter-insurgency tactic, contaminating food crops and poisoning villagers.
5 Monsanto Blocking Government Regulations A revolving door exists between Monsanto and US regulatory and judicial bodies making key decisions. Justice Clarence Thomas, a former Monsanto lawyer, was the one who wrote the majority opinion on a key Monsanto case. Michael Taylor once worked for the FDA, later represented Monsanto as a lawyer, then returned as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Policy when rBGH was granted approval. ▶
6 Monsanto Guilty of False Advertising France’s highest court ruled in 2009 that Monsanto had lied about the safety of its weed killer Roundup. The court confirmed an earlier judgment that Monsanto had falsely advertised its herbicide as “biodegradable”.
7 Consumers Reject Bovine Growth Hormone In the wake of mass consumer pressure, major retailers such as Safeway, Publix, Wal-Mart, and Kroger banned store brand milk products containing Monsanto’s controversial genetically engineered hormone rBGH. Starbucks, under pressure from the OCA and our allies, has likewise banned rBGH milk.
8 GMO Crops Do Not Increase Yields A major UN/World Bank-sponsored report compiled by 400 scientists and endorsed by 58 countries concluded that GM crops have little to offer to the challenges of poverty, hunger, and climate change. Better alternatives are available, and the report championed organic farming as the sustainable way forward for developing countries.
9 Monsanto Controls US Soy Market In 1996, when Monsanto began selling Roundup Ready soybeans, only 2% of soybeans in the US contained their patented gene. By 2008, over 90% of soybeans in the US contained Monsanto’s gene.
10 GMO Foods May Lead to Food Allergies In March 1999, UK researchers at the York Laboratory were alarmed to discover that reactions to soy had skyrocketed by 50% over the previous year. Genetically modified soy had recently entered the UK from US imports and the soy used in the study was largely GM.
i got no problem with GMO but i do believe it is bullshit that if Monsantos pollen blows over onto someone elses corn field that that other person cannot plant the resulting corn for the next years crop since it has patented genetic material that supposedly belongs to Monsanto in the corn seeds.
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:10 AM Posts: 1859 Location: San Antonio, TX
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Quote:
i got no problem with GMO but i do believe it is bullshit that if Monsantos pollen blows over onto someone elses corn field that that other person cannot plant the resulting corn for the next years crop since it has patented genetic material that supposedly belongs to Monsanto in the corn seeds.
If I recall correctly, that wasn't what Monsanto sued the farmer in question over. They sued him because pollen from multiple sources blew over and then he deliberately sprayed his entire crop with roundup (which monsanto corn is immune to). Thus, he killed all the non-roundup immune corn and harvested the roundup immune corn without having had paid monsanto for it.
That was the core of the legal dispute between them. Not the accidental seeding of his fields, but that he deliberately killed his entire crop except for that seed to harvest it.
Yeah, when he was investigated it was found that something like 98% of his crops were Monsanto, obviously far more than if the pollen had "accidentally" blown over.
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