Tag Archives: Genetically modified food

Don Quijones ~ Starving The World For Power And Profit: The Global Agribusiness Model

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TestosteronePit May 5 2013 (Thanks, A.L.)

A daily ration of bread is now beyond the reach of roughly a billion people on planet Earth. What’s more, hunger is spreading like a pandemic, making incursions from its traditional strongholds in the global south to towns and cities across depression-hit Southern Europe. In Greece reports are growing of young children having to scrounge for food from classmates, while in Spain city dwellers have become all but inured to the daily spectacle of people of all ages, genders and walks of life rummaging in rubbish bins for a bite to eat.

Some people point to this 21st century hunger pandemic as evidence of the unsustainability of current population growth — and to an extent they’re probably right. After all, there’s only so many people that the world’s rapidly declining resources can sustain. However, as Esther Vivas of the Pompeu Fabra University’s Centre of Studies on Social Movements points out (video), the crude reality is that many of us continue to live in a world of food abundance.

The problem of world hunger, she says, is the result of the acute inefficiencies of a global agribusiness model geared purely at generating ever larger profits for the handful of businesses that now control the global food chain. Tragically, all too often the human cost is measured in the lives of those who don’t have enough money to pay the rapidly escalating prices of basic foodstuffs. And it’s a heavy cost indeed: according to some estimates, one person dies of hunger every 8-12 seconds.

Vivas offers sharp insights on a global industry that prioritizes, at pretty much every turn, profits and power over human welfare. Unfortunately, the video is only available in Spanish and without English subtitles, so for those of you whose linguistic talents don’t quite extend to the Spanish tongue, here’s a brief summary of the highlights:

Supermarket Dominance  

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New Bill Would Require Genetically Modified Food Labeling In US

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End The Lie April 26 2013

Major changes could be coming to American food labeling rules if a new federal bill mandating that genetically modified ingredients be disclosed is signed into law.

The new bill, known as the Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act, was introduced on Wednesday by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), and resembles previous legislation that failed to garner sufficient support in Congress.

However, the bill can already count on nine bipartisan Senate co-sponsors, along with 22 cosponsors in the House. That wide base of support may give the new legislation a better shot – not to mention the fact that over 90 per cent of Americans already support compulsory labeling of genetically modified foods.

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Jon Rappoport ~ Brand New GMO Food Can Rewire Your Body: More Evil Coming

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Jon Rappoport  March 26 2013

It’s already bad. Very bad. For the past 25 years, the biotech Dr. Frankensteins have been inserting DNA into food crops.

The widespread dangers of this technique have been exposed. People all over the world, including many scientists and farmers, are up in arms about it.

Countries have banned GMO crops or insisted on labeling.

Now, though, the game is changing, and it’ll make things even more unpredictable. The threat is ominous and drastic, to say the least.

GM Watch reports the latest GMO innovation: designed food plants that make new double-stranded (ds) RNA. What does the RNA do? It can silence a gene. It can activate a gene that was silent.

If you imagine the gene structure as a board covered with light bulbs, in the course of living some genes light up (activation) and some genes go dark (silent) at different times. This new designed RNA can change that process. No one knows how.

No one knows because no safety studies have been done. If you have genes lighting up and going dark in unpredictable ways, the functions of a plant or a body can change randomly.

Genes that were doing their jobs could stop doing their jobs. Other genes that were dormant could spring into action and perform tasks that weren’t meant to be performed.

Think of this latest biotech “innovation” as a drunk playing pinball. Lights on the board go on and off, and TILT is always a distinct possibility.

As GM Watch reports, an Australian company, CSIRO, has designed wheat and barley seeds that put genes to sleep, “to change the type of starch made by the plant.”

Also on the way: next-generation biopesticide food crops that repel insect predators. In this case, the designer RNA can be injected or even sprayed. When a gene is silenced in the insect, it dies.

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Mike Adams ~ GM Salmon Rejected By Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Aldi And Other Food Retailers

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NaturalNews March 21 2013

In yet another blow to GMOs, several major U.S. food retailers have signed on to the “Campaign for GE-Free Seafood” found at http://www.foe.org/gefreeseafood

These retailers include Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Aldi and many more. It’s the latest private sector blow to the deceptive biotech industry. Consumers overwhelming reject GMOs even if the FDA conspires with biotechnology companies to try to shove genetically engineered food down their throats. Activist organizations like Natural News, the Organic Consumers Association and the Institute for Responsible Technology have helped organize constant grassroots pressure on food retailers to either label GMOs or reject them outright.

“A coalition of consumer, health, food safety and fishing groups today launched the Campaign for Genetically Engineered (GE)-Free Seafood by announcing that several major grocery retailers representing more than 2,000 stores across the United States have already committed not to sell genetically engineered seafood if it is allowed onto the market,” reads the press release announcement. It continues:

The FDA has stated it will likely not label genetically engineered salmon, providing consumers no way of knowing if the fish they are feeding their families is genetically engineered. At least 35 other species of genetically engineered fish are currently under development, and the FDA’s decision on this genetically engineered salmon application will set a precedent for other genetically engineered fish and animals (including cows, chickens and pigs) to enter the global food market.

Mainstream media tries to downplay the power of grassroots activism against GE foods

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Anthony Gucciardi ~ Warning: Major Supplements Openly Contain GMO Vitamin

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Natural Society March 8 2013

Genetically modified organisms have permeated much of the crop industry, absolutely infesting the processed food market, but are many ‘health’ supplements free from the presence of GMOs? As it turns out, major supplement producers actually will openly admit that they derive many of their formulas from GMO crops — consumers just aren’t really paying attention!

If you know much about Monsanto or the prevalence of GMOs, you are likely aware that a large majority of corn (about 80-95% of the entire crop in the US, if not more, depending on what research you follow) is genetically modified. Being responsible for 90% of the US GM seed market, Monsanto has done its very best to create a genetically altered monopoly on the food supply. This is where the supplement factor comes in.

As you may or may not be aware, wildly popular substances like vitamin C are usually extracted from corn — one of the leading GMO crops in the US. It is from this that the question immediately comes into focus: could supplement makers be using GMO corn to create vitamin C supplements? What about the countless other formulas that can extract from GM foods as a source. And when you consider GMO-containing ‘food’ can legally be labeled as ‘natural’ under current regulations, what ‘natural’ supplements could be based on Monsanto’s GMO crops?

As it turns out, this is indeed the case. While it is impossible to compile a full list without a large amount of financial investment for testing every brand, what we do know is that major producers have explained how they usually will list ‘Non-GMO’ on their GMO-free options. In other words, chances are vitamin C may be extracted from GMO corn unless it is stated to be organic, non-GMO, or specifically not extracted from a non-GMO source. In reality, many reputable supplement companies have already begun listing their high quality products with the ‘GMO-free’ label and other quality re-assurances.

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J. D. Heyes ~ Monsanto Drags Over 400 U.S. Farmers To Court Over GM Seed Patents When Will Big Ag’s Corrupt Reign End?

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NaturalNews February 24 2013

When Will Big Ag’s Corrupt Reign End?

Agri-giant Monsanto, not satisfied with being one of the world’s largest agricultural corporations, is dragging hundreds of U.S. farmers into court over alleged copyright violations for repeated usage of the company’s patented seeds.

In a case that has surprised a lot of observers, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear one of these complaints on Feb. 19. That case, Bowman v. Monsanto Co., was billed as a landmark battle pitting farmer Vernon Bowman against the international Ag-giant over the former’s repeated use of seeds he bought from Monsanto which the company says are only supposed to be used for one growing season.

In advance of the case, The Huffington Post reported, the Center for Food Safety and the Save Our Seeds campaigning organizations released a report detailing similar cases.

Price of seeds have skyrocketed

According to that report titled “Seed Giants vs. U.S. Farmers,” which readers can view here, Monsanto alleges seed patent infringement in 144 lawsuits against 410 farmers and 56 small farm businesses in at least 27 states, as of January of this year.

Combined, Monsanto, Syngenta and DuPont hold more than half – 53 percent – of the global commercial seed market, which the groups claim in their report has led to a massive increase in the price of seed: Between 1995 and 2011, the groups say the average cost of planting a single acre of soybeans rose a whopping 325 percent, while corn seed prices climbed a staggering259 percent.

Monsanto especially says that seed patents are a form of biological patent and that means the company’s seeds – which are genetically modified to ward off bugs and weeds, though some strains of each are becoming increasing resistant to them – are legally protected inventions or discoveries in biology, HuffPo reported.

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Alex Pietrowski ~ The GMO Lie Threatens Life On Earth Yet Some Resist

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Activist Post February 13 2013

In 62 United States counties, citizens have the right to know if their food has been genetically altered, and more communities throughout the US (in some 37 states) are continuing to fight against unlabeled GM foods. The American population continues to learn of the harm GM is doing to our farmlands, to our bodies, and to the Earth’s biodiversity. Yet, Monsanto and other Bio Tech companies continue to submit new GM crops for approval with the USDA and the FDA, including the “Botox” GMO apple and GM’ed salmon.

Food regulators have been approving GMO foods for over 20 years, with very little independent research conducted to understand the long-term effects that GMO will have on humans and the environment. Thankfully, more of such research is now being undertaken by universities, independent scientists, and, the regulators. For example, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently revealed that several commercial GMO products include fragments of the viral gene called Gene VI.

…many viral genes function to disable their host in order to facilitate pathogen invasion. Often, this is achieved by incapacitating specific anti-pathogen defenses. Incorporating such genes could clearly lead to undesirable and unexpected outcomes in agriculture. Furthermore, viruses that infect plants are often not that different from viruses that infect humans. For example, sometimes the genes of human and plant viruses are interchangeable, while on other occasions inserting plant viral fragments as transgenes has caused the genetically altered plant to become susceptible to an animal virus (Dasgupta et al. 2001). Thus, in various ways, inserting viral genes accidentally into crop plants and the food supply confers a significant potential for harm. (source)

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Anthony Gucciardi ~ Bill Gates Dodges Questions On Why He Owns 500,000 Shares Of Monsanto

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theintelhub February 12 2013

Bill Gates is primarily known as the multi-billionaire who Microsoft, the company behind the most popular computer operating system known as Windows.

With this massive wealth, he has retired from leading Microsoft and now instead focuses his money and time on furthering genetically modified technology, geoengineering, experimental vaccinations, and preaching about how Monsanto is the answer to world hunger.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Gates owns 500,000 shares worth 23 million US dollars (or more) of Monsanto stock.

The very same company that has been caught running slave rings in Argentina in which workers were forced to work 14+ hours a day while withholding payment, has used their massive finances to fund organizations that literally fake FDA quotes to support GMOs, and of course peddling through GMOs that have been linked to numerous health concerns.

This is not even taking into account the farmer suicides that occur around every 30 minutes due to Monsanto’s failing GMO crop yield bankrupting small-time farmers in India’s notorious ‘suicide belt‘.

Bill Gates Funding Corporations Caught in Child Slave Rings

And if that’s not enough, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has even teamed up with Cargill to pump GMO soy into the third world. Cargill, of course, is the the 133 billion dollar corporation that also has been found in direct violation of human rights laws.

Cargill was sued by the International Labor Rights Fund for trafficking children from Mali and forcing them to work on cocoa bean plantations for around 12 to 14 hours each day without pay, food, or sleep. The company even continues to purchase cotton from Uzbekistan, where it is well known that child slave labor is used in the cultivation.

Bill Gates himself even filmed commercials for Monsanto’s GMOs, propping them up as the ‘solution’ to world hunger despite even the United Nations admitting that GMOs cannot fight hunger as effectively as traditional farming.

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Brandon Turbeville ~ Codex Alimentarius and GM Food Guidelines, Pt. 1

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Activist Post February 4 2013

Brandon writes ~ Over the last two years, I have written extensively about the Codex Alimentarius guidelines and how they relate specifically to vitamin and mineral supplements, food irradiation, and the use of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH).

I have also detailed the history and workings of the international organization as well as many of the current day to day manifestations of Codex guidelines as they appear in domestic policy.

However, there is yet another area in which Codex guidelines will play a major role in the development of food policy – namely, the proliferation of Genetically Modified Food.

The Codex committee that serves as the main battleground for the consideration of GM food is the Codex Committee on Food Labeling. This committee is extremely relevant due to the fact that it can effectively reduce the power of the consumer to virtually nothing if it decides not to force companies or countries to label their GM food, thus removing the ability of the consumer to boycott and/or avoid those products. While it is well-known that public sentiment is unimportant to those at the top, governments and corporations tend to pay more attention when votes and sales reflect that sentiment. However, if Codex continues on its’ way to allowing unlabelled GM food onto the international market, the repercussions of consumer reaction will be entirely neutralized.

A brief discussion of the history of Codex in terms of GM food is necessary here to understand the direction that the organization is moving towards in regards to it.

For most of the seventeen years that Codex member countries have debated the safety of genetic modification of the food supply, the result has been little or no progress for one side or the other.

In 1993, at the behest of the Codex Commission, the CCFL agreed to begin working on the labeling aspect of GM food. Interestingly enough, the CCFL asked the United States, the country that was the most militant in its support of genetic modification, to develop a paper that would guide the committee’s discussion at the following session. When this session arrived, there was a flurry of opinions tossed around from several different countries. The most sensible position was that all GM foods should be labeled under any circumstances. Yet other countries, especially the pro-Gm ones, argued that labeling should only be required when there is the introduction of health or safety concerns, allergens, or when the food is significantly different from its traditional counterpart.[1] This is a debate that largely continues until this day.

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Heather Callaghan ~ Wal-Mart, Pepsi And 20 Major Food Companies Consider Lobbying For GMO Labeling?

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Activist Post February 2 2013

A lot of events are converging to create a tipping point to finally allow the labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods.

The FDA is likely to approve GM salmon and apples against the people’s will. Many big food companies have received massive social media backlash from consumers, particularly parent companies to organic ones that heavily funded campaigns against GMO labeling. For instance, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream got shrapnel from some of these “Traitor’s Boycotts” because its parent company Unilever funded to prevent labeling. Ben & Jerry’s will remove its GM ingredients by the end of 2013.

The funded and questionable failure of California’s Proposition 37 has stoked the flames since last September. Consumers have even themselves begun labeling grocery products with a passionate drive to bring awareness to others. Wal-mart got flak last summer for selling unlabeled and possibly dangerous GM sweet corn.

Most recently, Washington state introduced a labeling initiative for the 2013 ballot. Their concern is not only about “right to know” but surrounds fears that unlabeled genetic salmon and apples could seriously damage the economy by getting their exports blocked - especially from countries that require labeled GM food. It is estimated that at least 20 other states are considering labeling initiatives.

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Heather Callaghan ~ Corporate News Shows Kids Raised on Farms Live Better, Greater Immunity

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Activist Post | January 17 2013

Although there is clearly a bent with corporate-run media outlets, they do like to put interesting nuggets of truth in with the bunch for whatever reason. This time, it’s Diane Sawyer espousing the values of growing up on a family farm – a foreign concept to many in younger generations. Sawyer was recently targeted for a lawsuit because of ABC’s expose of “Pink Slime.”

Children who grow up on the farm are generally healthier due to exposure to animals and other aspects of farm life, but also experience a significantly lower amount of sickness, allergies and hay fever. What isn’t focused on in the video is their diet – namely, the 99% chance the family pictured consumes raw milk and non-GMO foods. At least the Weston A. Price Facebook page was sure when they posted this video and said “[Because] They drink raw milk!”

In 2011, a well-circulated European study that sampled immunoglobulin E (IgE) from over 7,500 children found that children drinking raw milk are 41% less likely to have asthma and allergies. Wouldn’t that seem to align with the statistics in the video?

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Ronnie Cummins ~ Are Wal-Mart And Big Food Lobbying The FDA For A GMO Labeling Law?

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Organic Consumers Assn | January 10 2013 | Sourced From Alternet

Ronnie Cummins, Director, Organic Consumers Association  ~ High-level executives from some of the U.S.’s largest food corporations are meeting with the FDA behind closed doors this week to lobby for a mandatory federal GMO labeling law. Could it be that bad press and consumer backlash have dulled the enthusiasm of these former biotech cheerleaders? Or is Big Food just cozying up to the FDA so they can derail the growing organic and anti-GMO movement and finagle a federal labeling law so toothless it won’t be worth the ink it takes to sign it?

According to informed sources in Washington, DC, representatives of Wal-Mart, General Mills, Pepsi-Frito Lay, Mars, Coca-Cola and others are meeting with the FDA this week. Wal-Mart came under fire recently for selling unlabeled and likely hazardous GMO sweet corn in its stores. General Mills, Pepsi, Mars and Coca Cola have been the targets of numerous consumer boycotts, including a social media-powered boycott of “Traitor Brands: “natural” and organic brands whose parent companies contributed millions of dollars to defeat Prop 37, the Nov. 6 California Ballot Initiative to label GMO foods and ban the routine industry practice of marketing GMO foods as “natural” or “all natural.”

The “Traitor Brands” boycott, initiated by the Organic Consumers Association, has been gaining steam as other groups pick up the flag. The boycott hasn’t gone unnoticed by company executives, either. Honest Tea CEO Seth Goldman sent the OCA a letter defending his brand’s position, a position not unlike the one taken recently by Ben & Jerry’s.  Both companies absolve their brands of any responsibility for their parent companies’ donations to the NO on 37 campaign, claiming that they have no say in corporate-level decisions.
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Elizabeth Renter ~ 5 Steps For Avoiding And Detoxing The Bt-Toxin Found In GMO Crops

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theintelhub.com | January 7, 2013

“It will make agriculture more efficient,” they claim. “It won’t hurt anyone but the bugs,”they say. But despite all of their promises, Big Agriculture has a vested interest in “selling” us the benefits of their frankenfoods. After all, this is how they make their millions and billions. Regardless of what they tell us, however, the vast majority of people are waking up to the game and recognizing the current big agricultural system for what it is: a capitalistic machine devoid of moral concerns.

Just one example of their disregard for human health is in the use of Bacillus thuringiensis, also known as the Bt-toxin. This bacterial toxin has been used for decades as an insecticide, sprayed directly on crops to kill off problem bugs. The toxin works by literally exploding the stomachs of the bugs who ingest it. Nice, huh?

Well, Big Ag had the evil-genius idea of actually splicing the Bt gene with that of crops, creating corn, soybeans and cotton that already had the Bt built in. They said it would increase crop yields. They said it would decrease pesticide use. But, on both accounts, they were wrong. In addition to failing on both of these fronts, Bt crops have been found to cause both known and unknown damage to human health.

In example, some research has shown that Monsanto’s ‘biopesticide’ known as Bt is killing human kidney cells. Scientists found that the Bt pesticide, in addition to Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide Roundup, exhibit direct toxicity to human cells even in low doses.

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