If your answer was Monsanto, you were correct.
It’s been an interesting week for genetically engineered crops and farming in the U.S….
Continue reading… “USDA speeds approval for new herbicide-tolerant crops despite Superweed problem”
Is there any hope for a non-genetically modified future in America, or Africa?
It is really only a matter of time before our food crisis becomes crippling.
In the past few days a number of interesting articles have been circulating, all discussing genetically modified crops and starkly different versions of the future of food. One one hand we have the state of affairs in the US. On the other we have the future Bill Gates would like to manifest in Africa, all in the supremely laudable goal of reducing poverty and hunger, which looks an awful like the current situation in America.
It’s not a pretty picture, for people, for farmers, for the planet…
Continue reading… “Is there any hope for a non-genetically modified future in America, or Africa?”
India takes Monsanto to court for biopiracy over development of GM eggplant
Biopiracy a Sensitive Issue in India.
Agri-giant Monsanto may be forced to take one on the chin in India: The nation’s first genetically modified food crop, a variety of eggplant known at Bt brinjal, has sucked its Big Ag developers into court. Monsanto, Mahyco, and “collaborators” have been accused of biopiracy by the National Biodiversity Authority of India.
NBA says the developers of Bt brinjal (the introduction of which was halted in 2010 by then environment minister Jairam Ramesh on the grounds that more tests were needed to prove its safety) used local varieties of eggplant in developing the GM crop “without prior approval of the competent authorities.”
Continue reading… “India takes Monsanto to court for biopiracy over development of GM eggplant”
“Anonymous” hackers attack Monsanto and Tar Sands Oil Companies
Anonymous has chosen to attack Monsanto and Oil Companies involved in the Tar Sands project in Canada.
The notorious activist hacking group “Anonymous” has launched two new campaigns championing a pair of green causes — helping U.S. farmers earn the right to label their food as “GMO-free” and working to obstruct the expansion of the devastating tar sands oil project in Alberta, Canada. Monsanto, the giant biotech firm, has confirmed it was the victim of a large-scale hacking attack. And the oil companies are next, Anonymous says…
Continue reading… ““Anonymous” hackers attack Monsanto and Tar Sands Oil Companies”
Did the “Organic Elite” Sell Out to Monsanto?
In corporate America, avoiding litigation with Monsanto is infinitely more important than consumer safety.
By now, most of us have read the miscellaneous (numerous) statements from companies like Whole Foods, Organic Valley, Stonyfield, and the Non-GMO Project in defense of their participation in the so-called “coexistence” talks with the USDA and proponents of GE alfalfa.
These companies have claimed that they had no choice but to get in there and fight for safeguards against contamination and restitution for farmers whose fields are contaminated. Neither of which ended up happening.
They’ve said that they had a choice between staying to fight for protections, and walking away and letting Monsanto have their way. Monsanto, as we’ve seen time and time again, has had their way anyway…
Continue reading… “Did the “Organic Elite” Sell Out to Monsanto?”
1 Million Sign Petition to Halt Approval of GMOs
Just say no to GMOs
There’s a unique initiative built into the new EU constitutional treaty, called the “European citizen’s initiative”. It allows a million or more people to join together, in the form of a petition, to ask the governing body to change legislation. And guess what the first test run for the initiative’s efficacy is going to be? A petition, sponsored by Greenpeace, that asks the EU to stop approving new genetically modified foods. More than a million people have signed on to support the measure…
Continue reading… “1 Million Sign Petition to Halt Approval of GMOs”
Monsanto Takes Fight To Control Your Food To Supreme Court
The battle over the non-regulated status of genetically modified crops has reached the US Supreme Court. Monsanto has, not surprisingly, appealed a lower court decision that halted the continued unregulated release and planting of the agrifood giant’s Roundup Ready Alfalfa.
Background and implications of the case, after the jump…
Continue reading… “Monsanto Takes Fight To Control Your Food To Supreme Court”
Are Regulators Dropping The Ball On Biocrops?
Biotech on the Rampage!
Robert Kremer, a U.S. government microbiologist who studies Midwestern farm soil, has spent two decades analyzing the rich dirt that yields billions of bushels of food each year and helps the United States retain its title as breadbasket of the world.
Kremer’s lab is housed at the University of Missouri and is literally in the shadow of Monsanto Auditorium, named after the $11.8 billion-a-year agricultural giant Monsanto Co.. Based in Creve Coeur, Missouri, the company has accumulated vast wealth and power creating chemicals and genetically altered seeds for farmers worldwide.
But recent findings by Kremer and other agricultural scientists are raising fresh concerns about Monsanto’s products and the Washington agencies that oversee them. The same seeds and chemicals spread across millions of acres of U.S. farmland could be creating unforeseen problems in the plants and soil, this body of research shows.
Continue reading… “Are Regulators Dropping The Ball On Biocrops?”
Study Shows Genetically Modified Crops ‘Can Cause Liver and Kidney Damage’
An environmental campaigner protesting against the grim outcome of GM crops.
Fresh fears were raised over GM crops yesterday after a study showed they can cause liver and kidney damage.
According to the research, animals fed on three strains of genetically modified maize created by the U.S. biotech firm Monsanto suffered signs of organ damage after just three months.
The findings only came to light after Monsanto was forced to publish its raw data on safety tests by anti-GM campaigners.
Continue reading… “Study Shows Genetically Modified Crops ‘Can Cause Liver and Kidney Damage’”
A Global Horror Story: How Monsanto Owns And Manipulates The World’s Food Supply
Care about world hunger or global safety? Monsanto sure doesn’t…
Here is a major AP expose of how Monsanto uses secret licensing agreements for its genetically manipulated crops to squeeze smaller seed companies, lock out competition, and keep food prices high Monsanto’s methods are spelled out in a series of confidential commercial licensing agreements obtained by the AP. The contracts, as long as 30 pages, include basic terms for the selling of engineered crops resistant to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, along with shorter supplementary agreements that address new Monsanto traits or other contract amendments…
Continue reading… “A Global Horror Story: How Monsanto Owns And Manipulates The World’s Food Supply”
