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Study on Top Secret Chemicals
Parents want to know. Schools want to know. Workers want to know. Nearly everyone wants to know: What dangerous chemicals lurk in products we use? A new study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), shows the extent to which industry keeps their chemical ingredients top secret. And EWG is demanding the industry be forced to tell all. Is that the best solution?
TSCA: Toxic Substances Control Act
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is supposed to protect Americans from the dangers of chemicals in products made or sold in the USA. Implemented in 1976, TSCA requires manufacturers to prove the safety of all new chemicals manufactured or sold in the USA. It also requires that EPA play "catch-up" to see if all of the chemicals already being sold might hide "Silent Spring," cancer-causing, or similar dangers.
Like a lot of information submitted to the US Government, the data submitted under TSCA is supposed to be available to the public, either in standard reports or through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. But there is a big loophole: the EPA allows manufacturers to claim the identity of chemicals "trade secret."
Toxic Secrets Control Act?
EWG used their right to ask EPA for information to figure out how much information is being kept secret. They discovered that over 17,000 out of 83,000 chemicals subject to reporting are claimed trade secret. Furthermore, almost two-thirds of the new chemicals registered since the law came into effect are secret. And the practice is growing: the number of confidentiality claims quadrupled from 1990 to 2005. Some of these claims involve chemicals in products specifically intended for use by children under 14 years of age. EWG concludes:
Industry has a stranglehold on every aspect of information needed to implement even the most basic health protections from chemicals in consumer products and our environment. This must be changed. A chemical's identity and all related health and safety information must be made available to the public with no exceptions.
Why Trade Secrets Are Good
Readers of TreeHugger will know that this writer is a strong advocate for right-to-know and for giving people the information they need to take responsibility for their own health and welfare. But the EWG demand came as a shock. EWG did not examine the nuances of the use of trade secret claims. Now more than ever, due to global competition with lower wage countries, manufacturers need to be able to make new advances without giving away the keys to their discoveries.
But where does that leave the consumer? Dependent upon the corporate responsibility of greedy, manufacturing megaliths? Reliant on the pathetic attempts of EPA to run behind industry sweeping up the crumbs? What is the right answer?
No one who is familiar with the results of three decades of TSCA will disagree with EWG's statement that "TSCA is an extraordinarily ineffective law." But the study does not tell the whole story. The trade secrets that industry claims does not keep information secret from the EPA. One of the most important functions that EPA employees perform is to act as guardians of the public health and environment, using their privileged knowledge as a weapon.
The Balance of Toxic Chemicals and Safe Secrets
Furthermore, there is action to improve. EPA created the High Production Volume (HPV) program, in which manufacturers "voluntarily" collect more information on chemicals and make it available, mostly without trade secret protection. Also, major players like Wal-mart are leading a wave of retailers starting a process where a private third-party company collects secret information from their suppliers and then gives the retailer a "green score" to help consumers understand the risks and benefits of the products they choose.
Europe has started down the path with their ground-breaking REACH law, which starts from scratch reviewing all chemicals that are on the market before the end of 2015. Many industry representatives feel this law goes too far and places a burden on industry the will reduce European competitiveness. But many think that the increased pressure to innovate will lead to Europe as a leader in sustainable chemistry just as a sensitized public begins to demand better with their consumer purchase-power votes.
Perhaps EWG has staked out their position to anchor the extreme end of a bargaining process that is overdue. But hopefully an enlightened middle path can be found which will protect competitiveness, reward innovation, and ensure the safety of children, people, and the environment. What do you think is the right path forward? Share your views in the comments.
More on Secret Toxic Chemicals:
EWG Off the Books: Industry's Secret Chemicals
Obama Administration Suspends CHAMP Chemical Assessment Program
REACH for Greener Chemistry
Avoid These 'Dirty Dozen' Toxic Chemicals
No Safe Amount: The Handshake Theory of Chemical Toxicity
Begrudgingly Green CEOs
Walmart As Government: Screening Chemical Product Formulations To Protect Public Health
W and T's oysters photo credit: Bonnie Hulkower
Fleisher's meat stand photo credit: Bonnie Hulkower
April 28th, 2008 at 6:09 am
What can i do to get a copy of this video???? It has already disappeared from youtube. I don’t want to loose this.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Thanks so much for letting me know. I’ll post it on my blog with credit to you. It’s a must-see film.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
What can we do?
April 30th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
What can we do? One: Everyone reading this, contact your local public tv broadcasting station (www.pbs.org/stationfinder/) and request they air this film. Second, contact Fox and request they air this film or at least do a story about it. Third, write your congressperson and tell them a)we want all GMO’s labeled b) we want laws forbidding the patenting of life forms, specifically seeds c) we need the patents obtained by Monsanto repealed d) we need the FDA cleaned up and stopped from profiting either directly or through future jobs (bribed) by not only Monsanto but any company that produces items that need their approval. A law which forbids any FDA employee from working for any company that submits something for approval for at least 10 years would work well, I believe.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:26 am
ALSO — look into SPIN farming — small plot intensive farming — it’s a method, you can use heritage/heirloom (non GMO) seeds, you can feed yourself, your neighbors, and even make MONEY (real money via farmers markets) on a 1/2 acre plot in your back or front yard. Take food out of their hands, grow your own. Buy from local small organic farmers when you don’t have that small plot to grow your own. Also stop using pesticides or herbicides — next to seeds, soil is going to be key in the future.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I’m a raw milk user /advocate. Wherein would Monsanto be able to influence the ongoing battle against the cottage raw milk industry.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I will try to send this video for viewing on the Free Speech Democracy now Channel. Although the FOX news would have a much bigger impact.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Is Monsanto the way to control populations also?? Peoples livestock are dying where they spray insecticides. Is this why honey bees are dying out. When they are gone so are we.
Veronica
May 8th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
use Net Transport to download. I click the red arrow and get nothing
May 9th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Monsanto is on track for controlling all of the world’s food supply – including livestock. Please watch “Monsanto Patent for a Pigâ€.
If we don’t stop this company soon, they could change our food supply so much that all of this may be irreversible.
The only way for evil to win is for good men to do nothing. Can’t remember who’s quote this is but it is sure appropriate.
May 11th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Download works now.
You are the only site so far that has this video workingI’ve run across. Keep it up!!
May 12th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I would like permission to submit this movie to our local public access TV station Who do I contact jjv@...
May 12th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I heard they’re going after the sugar beet in the US next — they’re trying to get the FDA to approve the Roundup resistant sugar beet. Nothing will remain sacred. Around me, farmland is selling very high, being subdivided into lots of 5acres or so, and “McMansions†being built, the organic farmers can’t survive the real estate tax hikes for the booming population growth (i.e. we need more infrastructure, to support all the growth, so let’s tax people with land & farms….)….I run around doing everything I can to support the farmers.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:20 am
How can something, a GMO, be considered the same as a non-GMO, and thus why not tested, and yet still be so different and unique as to be patentable?
May 15th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Oooh! I like that, Eric! That’s possibly admissible in court as evidence to challenge the patent…or defend against Monsanto’s suits. If the FDA thinks it’s the same thing, then it can’t be patentable. If it’s patentable, then it’s different enough that the FDA should require it to be tested. Mmmmm Yummy. Thanks! :)
May 17th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
In 1998 my son began working for a bio-pesticide (as well as bio-insecticides, biomycocides etc) Reasearch and Development company as an Assistant Researcher for Agraquest in Davis, California that was founded by a former MONSANTO scientist, Pam Marrone. In seeing this film I now understand why we have been having such a difficult time in getting Federal and/or State actions in getting to te truth as to what happened to my son while working for Agraquest and the required medical attention he needs. After 5 months and 9 days after he began work at Agraquest my son ended up in an emergency care medical clinic with bloody pus draining from his nose and half of his teeth and face had become numb. Within 16 days he had an emergency sinus surgery (the first of four and the last was in 2006). Throughout the years his immune system was no longer intact as he had stopped producing the required amount of B-Cells. For 3 years, every 28 days, he was hooked up to an IV Infusion pump for approximately 7 hours each time. Agraquest searches “around the globe†for the “novel†microorganism to be used as a company product. Soil was smuggled in illegally in this search for the novel microorganism. Out of the “known†23,000 microorganisms listed by Agraquest as being in their culture collection only 27 have been deemed “product candidatesâ€. What was brought into this country by Agraquest and their “microbe hunters†is really UNKNOWN as Agraquest will not honor requests for discovery. I have contacted many Federal and state agencies, one being Henry Waxman, Chair of the United States House of Representatives – Government Oversight and Reform Committee about a product that my son was indeed exposed to while he worked for the company. This product only received a Conditional Time-Limited Regaistration in 2000 from the EPA on submissions from Agraquest in 4/1999 and 6/1999. The EPA themselves found fault with the product that now contained a “new active ingredientâ€: microbial contamination as well as mortality to fish, shrimp and honey bees. My son’s health, throughout the years has declined considerably and most of his organs are being affected including his heart, spleen, GI tract as well as his upper respiratory system. Since Agraquest, although denied by the company, does indeed modify microorganisms genetically, it is unknown just what is in my son, although 19 microorganisms were identified in either his blood, sputum cultures and IgG levels which show up to HIGH POSITIVE with reference to amount of exposure he had to these microorganisms. Each of these microorganisms can be traced back to Agraquest in either their patents, Agraquest scientist listed as “inventors†on other companies patents as well as Agraquest products themselves. Not only should the world population be concerned about GMO’S with respect to genetically modified seeds, but everyone should also be VERY concerned as to what bio-pesticides, bio-insectidices, bio-mycocides etc. are being put on our food crops, livestock crops and ornamental in the form of hand spraying and/or arial spraying. Also, these genetically modified microorganisms, some of being foreign to United States soils are now in our ecosystem that will be there for God only knows how many generations to come. WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 am
Good point Eric!
Criss: keep up the fight! If you are in the Central Coast (CA), let me know, I’d be happy to help!
I am happy to see that many share my outrage at a few multinationals corporations messing with my planet and my food, and want to do something about it. Personally I had been satisfied when the EU decided to hold back on GMOs in the 90s, like the polite citizen I am, I believed the authorities when they told me they would be fully investigated before they’d be allowed on my plate, now I find out that some of the food I ate in Europe and most of what I ate since I moved to the US in 1997 was at least in part GM.
For companies like Monsanto it is a great business plan: pollute the planet and take control of the food chain, some people might give up smoking but they are certainly not giving up eating. Widespread pollution and unhealthy food reduce dramatically the health level of the population, which means more business for chemical and drug companies. A magic cycle of (sick) life.
I am also mad that the FDA, the EPA, and the Justice Dept don’t do their job, and to make up for that I have to keep donating money to Greenpeace, the ACLU, la via campesina, NRDC, ……
I would be very mad at that farmer doing the testimonial for roundup ready soya if I were to find out that he has an half-acre greenhouse behind his house where he grows his own organic food.
I am mad at politicians for using ideology to dismiss the complaints of concerned citizens/consumers: if I ask for a cleaner environment, to switch to wind/solar energy instead than to nuclear energy, to have GMO food tested before it is approved, to have any food containing GMO ingredients properly labeled, that milk from rbgh-treated cows should have warnings to scare the consumer (not the milk from cows that were not treated!), they will call me a dumb liberal, a new age lunatic, anti-patriotic, and a communist conspirator.
I am mad at some other politicians for agreeing with me, but then creating loopholes or moratories to allow Monsanto and Pioneer to get back into markets they had been banned from.
I am mad at everybody that tries to make environmental sustainability a matter of political affiliation. Jimmy Carter said that smaller is better, but could not rescue the hostages from Iran …. how does that make GM crops, the end of traditional farming, and worldwide spread pollution good for me? How do they relate to me being republican or democrat?
Mr. Sarkozy: stop sending your cops to harass Greenpeace activists: they are just to help preventing the french from getting poisoned, that should be your job!
Carla Bruni: tell Sarko no more sex until he grows a conscience!
Mr. Berlusconi: just because you can’t have Carla Bruni doesn’t mean you need to develop a nuclear power program just to keep up with Sarko (and to please the companies lobbying you). Who do you think would take care of stocking the depleted uranium? the same mobsters run company who has been handling the trash disposal in Naples? Dioxin-mozzarella will soon also glow in the dark.
EU parliament and commissions: your agricultural policy has already destroyed most traditional farming in western Europe, countries like Italy, France, Germany. Before you continue promoting the development of monocoltures, the disappearance of small farms, and the consolidation of agricultural land in less and less, larger and larger farming operations, you might want to consider the social and economical effects of millions of farmers and farm workers from new EU members like Poland and Romania that would have to migrate to the usual destinations (UK, Germany, Benelux, France, Italy ….) if their agriculture completes the same kind of modernization.
If the whole point of industrialized, state-subsidized agriculture is that it is more efficient, how come the consumer pays similar prices for chemically grown fruits and vegetables at a grocery store as for organic produce at a farmer’s market. Nice model: the farmer gets a pittance, and a few people at and around Monsanto, Dupont and few others get very rich. Then we need to spend several billion dollars in farm bills to prevent farmers from committing suicide or moving to Vegas. Farmers in “emerging†countries are less fortunate, they just commit suicide, or cross the Rio Grande.
Please listen to Criss, buy your food locally, at least you’ll help a couple of small farmers to stay in business!
Funny that promoting small organic farms (the ones that were deemed obsolete and an obstacle to progress in the 60s and 70s) worldwide would by itself solve or contribute to solve so many of the world’s problems!
May 25th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
This company MUST be put out of business…or they will DESTROY our foodstuffs.
The fact that they are attempting to stifle dissemination of this video is proof in and of itself that their mission statement has NOTHING AT ALL to do with enhancing farming; IT IS TO MAKE MONEY.
Period.
May 27th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Sandi,
I am horrified to hear what happened to your son. Good luck with your efforts in w/ the Congress. I’ve jsut begun learning about farm/food/commodities legislation, and I’ll be sure to mention your case when I contact my Congressman. If you can send me a link to any news coverage of you’re case, I will certainly use it. Has Mr. Waxman showed any interest or movement on it? I don’t know if you have already, but you may want to contract a national bee keepers association or some branch of the commodities industry (such as fruits) that use bees for polination. The breakdown of bee colonies (Colony Collapse Disorder) in the US could become an ecological tipping point, and the plague that has struck hives thus far is new. The little that is known about it, is that it appears that some type of ‘infection’ or immune breakdown is occuring in the bees originating in their respiratory function – strange white lesions in and outside their respiratory areas. A online search will reveal more specific information. Good luck, and if this turns out to be a new and fruitful avenue for you, please let me know.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:02 am
You can also download a bit torrent! Always check The Pirate Bay!!!
The World According To Monsanto MKV (Fr-Ger-Eng)
For a very nice 701.51 MB mp4 DVD-rip go HERE
June 8th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
( = ^ , ^ = ) i wanted 2 re-watch this vid… found out it ‘disappeared’ then found u;) many thx!
June 9th, 2008 at 5:19 am
This evil company has to be stopped. Thanks for posting this very important information.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:30 am
we have got to do something guys. We could be in some serious trouble if we let monsanto get away with this. Send this video to as many people as you possibly can.
June 11th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
My local PBS station has not heard of this program. Has it been made available to local stations? The person I talked to said he is unaware that it has been offered to PBS stations. Who is the distributer for it?
June 12th, 2008 at 5:00 am
I have not seen the movie on any local stations. I don’t
think its likely that we will anytime soon. The organization,
The Institute for Responsible Technology, is supposed
to be making the movie available (English Version) via DVD sometime at the end of June, 2008. The DVD is also supposed to have a “bonus†segment on it, entitled, †Your Milk on Drugsâ€. It will also come with an audio CD regarding the dangers of GMO’s narrated by Jeffrey Smith. You might also check a website called Seeds of Deception. Both websites were created by Jeffrey Smith. I was told last week that the expected cost of the DVD package will be around 20.00. If you don’t want to wait for Institute
for Responsble Technology to make the DVD available,
you can order it directly from France through ARTE TV
website on Google. :)
June 17th, 2008 at 12:41 am
I saw The World According to Monsanto in Montreal and there
is a part missing(sensored) in the ones to be downloaded from internet.
The move I saw in Montreal had a long detailed part where it explained that Bush in the ’80s was behind the “revolving door†of employment positions between Monsanto and the FDA. Where can I get a hold of that part of the movie to show my friends?
June 24th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
After the download is complete I can not play the movie. I get a message saying that the file type is unknown. When changing the file name to .flv as instructed above, the new name will not stay there. The file name that is assigned when saving reappears. What should I do?
June 24th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
This is one of the reasons that we take strict measures when a company comes to us to ‘green brand’ their company.
We have had many forestry and bio companies try to use our good name in eco branding to do what BP is doing.
Keep strong and support local organic and eco companies!
http://www.studio7designs.com/environment/
June 25th, 2008 at 4:55 am
green isn’t greed
greed isn’t green
The DuPonts own Monsanto
June 25th, 2008 at 4:59 am
Legalize HEMP , it requires no Pesticides to grow !!!
June 25th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Wow. All I have to say. How does it make any sense for a company that is in the business of selling seeds by the ton to decrease genetic diversity? I happen to work for a genetic researcher from Monsanto, and he has spent the last TWENTY YEARS learning how to increase the genetic diversity of his crops. Without genetic diversity a seed company DIES. You guys need to take some basic biology/genetics classes before you start getting all up in arms about this stuff which you don’t understand at all. There are some real concerns with genetic manipulation, but the one raised so often (including here) are not them–these are only emotional appeals designed to interrupt your logic and get you to focus on the feel-good (or feel-bad) rhetoric of the filmmaker.
June 25th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Holy Cow,
if you happen to invent a superspecies (through GM) and it eradicates all competitors, what you get is NOT diversity, I guess…
artificial things are usually never as good as the natural… (think of artificial flavourings or even dildos… ;) )
I don’t think ANYONE can better, than Mother Nature can…
June 25th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I agree with Holy Cow why would a business who’s in this to make money produce something that they wouldn’t be able to sustain. This is just conspiracy look out the evil farmers are trying to kill us all. The United States feeds the world and we couldn’t do that without modern tools.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I was given another video and this just corroborates. I asked a Monsanto employee about corn diversity. He laughed and said that of course they were diverse, they genotype every seed.
There are apparently different types of seeds in different fields in different parts of the states. That’s not really my idea of diversity. It’s only going to get worse.
Those that control the seed control the food. They are doing this in all species. So watch those heirloom seeds. Guide them tightly.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:05 am
Holy Cow says: “How does it make any sense for a company that is in the business of selling seeds by the ton to decrease genetic diversity?â€
Think short-term gains over long-term viability. Some people want to make more money NOW rather than ensure they’ll make less money over a longer period.
Here’s how it works:
1) Create a unique seed product: Because you can’t compete with a patent-able seed it eliminates all seed competition. Better yet, make the seeds not only RESISTANT to Roundup — make them DEPENDENT on Roundup by having the genome flawed in such a way that it is more vulnerable in some way unless you spray the crops. But don’t forget to lie to the farmers about it. Once these expensive “better†seeds are planted, the farmers need chemicals to protect their crop-investment.
2) Once an area is sprayed with Roundup, nothing but seeds created in #1 can be used there. Your company now “owns†the farmer’s land without ever having the farmer sign over the deed. No other company can create seeds that can be planted on that soil unless they find a different, unpatented, DNA sequence that allows a plant to grow on Roundup ruined soil (peeking at Roundup ready seed DNA is prohibited by seed licenses, and I’m certain this would be very costly research).
3) Lie about Roundup being biodegradable. Roundup lasts in the soil for over 2 years. Unless a farmer is willing to leave fields unplanted until the Roundup is gone, the farmer MUST purchase your seeds (again, see #1) to plant the next season’s crops.
4) Rake in the money.
Oh, another interesting fact here: DuPont and Monsanto are major corporate sponsors of seed banks that store original seeds and protect their genotypes from being infected by GMOs or environmental destabilization. CF: “Monsanto has also been one of many sponsors behind Svalbard Global Seed Vault.†(other sponsors are Bill Gates foundation, etc. — just who are they saving the seeds FOR? Genetic diversity also is a cornerstone of what the groups creating genetic modifications — especially those that will infest native genomes — require.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto & http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
Don’t try to defend Monsanto. Their activities in the last 100 years speak volumes about their involvement in *cough* “agriculture†— I call it chemical warfare and bioweapons.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Oh, I haven’t had a chance to finish reading the globalresearch article above — but something else to keep in mind — I’ve heard that during the Iraq invasion seed vaults in Iraq & Afghanistan were ruined: Does anyone have a resource on that? Note the one at Svalbard is not one that would be accessible to citizens (blast proof doors et al) in a post-apocolyptic world — so who has the keys to Svalbard Global Seed Vault? How many of the OTHER seed vaults will be attacked, ransacked or destroyed in the coming years?
June 26th, 2008 at 10:27 am
@Holy Cow
to answer your question: Money. Yes money doesn’t make sense at all. Now you think these people care about science or what scientists are doing if they don’t earn them anything?
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:03 am
After watching this video I feel we are all living a nightmare which is going to get worse and worse by the day. Monstanto is greedy, immoral and vicious. They call themselves scientists I call them murderers. And this is to Holy Cow: you don’t need to have a degree in biology to understand genetic diversity. Monsanto by destroying the original genome seed that has existed since the beginning of this world and pushing its own GM seed to farmers around the world is not securing the constant supply of food is gaining tons and tons of money at the expence of millions of poor people and feeding us rubish. So don’t say that Monsanto is doing us ANY GOOD when you see the facts and terrible results. Holy Cow you are in denial. I think it is time to start saving food for our families there will be surely a food shortage.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
YOU personally have to do something right now…everyone of YOU… This is such a small fraction of the beast that has grip on us and is only getting worse and worse. (ever looked into homeland security?) And what to do might be different for everyone personally…
but do it now and may it be radically and life/ world changing. Step out, come down with funding and skills… WE HAVE TO GATHER AND GET ORGANIZED we are actually more powerful than them only so unorganized, and even fearful. WE must make them fear us. No man is an island, we’re all in it together…. we need eachother!!
July 6th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
The following was sent to Lou Dobbs,
I will follow this comment with my June 2007 letter to Henry Waxman which was sent AND SIGNED for ; United States House of Representatives
Tonight, July 4, 2008 I listened to your show and Louise Schiavone spoke of the Salmonella outbreaks though out the United States coming from Mexico, although she said they haven’t identified the source. She also said she had spoken to a woman in, I believe it was Minnesota who had Salmonella and “never ate a tomatoâ€.
Within the following you will understand my suspicion as to just where the Salmonella (and possible prior E-Coli outbreaks) may be coming from, Tlaxcala, Mexico in the form of a bio-pesticide, bio-insecticide or biofungicide etc. (fungus or bacteria). In the case of the company where my son used to work and Tlaxcala, Mexico; this company has a fermentation/manufacturing plant of bio-pesticides, bio-insecticides or biofungicides etc. (fungus or bacteria) that are products tested, sold and “used†on our crops and insects in the United States.
When a bio-pesticide, bio-insecticide or biofungicide etc. is going through review by the EPA for registration, or re-registration the EPA either denies the submission or accepts it.
In 1999 the company my son worked for had requested a registration from the EPA (which had been previously registered by the EPA) for a “new active ingredientâ€. Full registration was denied and instead the company only received a “Conditional Time-Limited†Registration [ATTACHED] as the EPA themselves found fault with; Storage stability, Manufacturing process and it was questioned why fish, shrimp and honey bees died.
The “Conditional Time-Limited†Registration†issued on June 20, 2000 to the company by the EPA – OFFICE OF PESTICIDE PROGRAMS -PESTICIDES AND POLLUTION PREVENTION DIVISION, FORM 8570?6 statesâ€
“After fermentation and prior to further process, each batch must be tested for the following microbial contaminates and have levels below those listedâ€
“E. Coli/Coliform Bacteriaâ€
“Salmonellaâ€
“Shigellaâ€
“Staphylococciâ€
“Vibrioâ€
“Yeastâ€
“Moldâ€
The above was addressed in my June of 2007 letter to Congressman Waxman with no response. [ATTACHED]. I have also addressed Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and Congressman Dan Lungren in letters and in person (as have others) concerning the safety to human health and the environment as well as the question of homeland security. Should you wish to view the letters I would be more than happy to send them to you
It is extremely concerning why the company, who one would believe would be very careful in sending the EPA an UNCONTAMINATED submission for approval for registration (which it appears was contaminated), would not be questioned with respect to contamination in their products or product candidates that are being tested and sold to be used on our crops and used for insect control.
My son also became sick in 1999 while working for this company and despite 4 surgeries (the first in 1999 and the last in 2006), the loss of an intact immune system and over $333,000 worth of medical bills (as of 2005) he has never regained his health as it was before he began employment with the company.
“Why†should anyone, with the advanced technology this century has, have to be afraid to be employed, eat agricultural crops, drink water and breath the air in the United States of America?
Should you wish to contact me I can be reached at (916) 267-5310. There is “so much moreâ€.
Sincerely,
Sandi Trend
July 14th, 2008 at 5:00 am
WAKE UP THE NEW WORLD ORDER IS COMING
“He who controls the food supplies, controls the nations.†Henry Kissinger
For the planned world government the penetration, in all aspects of life, is an important condition for central control. This means that there is no place for the traditional production of food in the global and deregulated world economy. The traditional farmers are in the way of the plans of the power behind the scenes! In the future New World Order the farmers are superfluous .
Today, the production and processing of food will be handled by a few cartels and the food trade limited to some central international companies. Soon the complete control over food will be managed by an organization called the World Food Authority, an institution that will be like the United Nations. This institution will decide over the division of food. One will be able to decide over food shortages and even famine wherever and whenever one wants.
David Byrne, member of the European Commission whose responsibilitiese include health and consumer interests, announced the precursor of such an organization in 2002. The European Food Authority will be responsible for the control of food in Europe. That way European agriculture and stockbreeding will be completely liable to globalisation and the ideological fanaticism of the invisible power behind the scenes.
Through mergers, take-overs and an aggressive urge for expansion, the ruling power has greatly enlarged its hold on the international market and food industry. The multinationals (Monsanto, DuPont, Novartis, Unilever, etc.) dictate the market supply and demand. They have complete control over the food industry and over almost every item of food. They determine the way our food is processed and what we eat.
FROM THE BOOK:
Worldwide evil and Misery by Robin de Ruiter
See for more details: http://www.mayrapublications.nl
July 14th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
What happen in New Zealand is a massive conspiracy to defraud the public with a pesticide Foray 48 B and Bactur sprayed over thousands of people for a moth the Bacillus thuringiensis Crystals are a GMO with pE194 staphylococcus aureus and GMO pUC19 e coli with Brucella Abortus as the sticky end in other words the Agent of brucellosis was sprayed all over us we have massive flesh eating monsters in our environment. I suppose eventually all life on earth will be eaten by this and the fungi. Biotech company’s are killing us with GMO and calling it naturel and claiming its safe what a pack of lying thieving crooks!
July 15th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
i agree with the person who spoke about the bees.I think Monsantos have something to do with the deseparence of them.I have some theories ;
monsanto killed them at porpose or are controlling in some way.
The bees die or spreading the terminator seed or the regular from Monsantos.
Something weird is going on.We most do something before they control the world population.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:40 am
I am an agronomist and I get shocked by this film, not by its message, as being extremely demagogic. Is it just me or is there no one seing that:
1) this is one side of the story, and a very tendencious one.
2) To me it seems clear that there is talk against all modern agriculture and not specificaly to GMOs and Monsanto (that by the way is one of several european and american companies working on GMOs).
Many examples could be shown, like this doctor in South america pretending to show proof of deformities cause by the trangen…but on a totaly different species…who did the transgen? with what technology?…you should know that is easy to produce transgens in the lab, but the high resolution insertion, in specific locations requires technologies not available to these labs…so, judge how you want.
Blaming one company by the agriculture misfortune of farmers in several regions of India, its at best moraly very low, what does a company has to do with the price structure in India’s market??? Who forces them to plant GM cotton? when, even on the film is shown that many farmers decided not to plant GM cotton in the following year..to me it clearly shows that they have alternatives..do not treat us as stupids please!!!!
NOte: this doctor that “received the alternative nobel†did really see to many X-files on TV, world conspiration…when admiting being against the first green revolution (use of high potential hybrids and fertilizers…give me a breake), no one was forced into the hybrid production in the late 60, early 70s…its was a market thing, who wants to produce 30% to 50% of yield, when able to produce the 100%? but the rules are clear, if you choose to produce more, you have to have the technical skills…like ANYOTHER INDUSTRY IN THE PLANET.
By the way, since the 70s, all hybrid seeds are subjected to owners rights, so YOU CAN NOT USE THE SEEDS from the progenie (F2) its illegal everywhere, its copies, like what you do with the original work of musicians and film makers…its moraly wrong and illegal, its not something new connected with GMs..STOP SENDING SAND TO OUR YEYS PLEASE.
About patents in food, this is NOT something specific with GMs, please do get some more info before saying such stupid things, Patents in food are everywhere, at least that I know of, check the patent on specific resistences, eg, torrado virus on tomatoes, nasnovia/aphid resistance in lettuces, high sugar content watermelons,WHATEVER…please, once again, DO NOT Treat people like ingnorants, just because they are not technicians in the field of agronomy…
This is not to say that there are no risks involved in GMOs, but do you question the GMOs used in the treatment stations of sewers (domestic waste) used all around he world…to reduce pollution, or the organisms used to decontaminate petrol spillings in the sea?
THIS IS the king of propaganda, that to me, discredits environmentalist organisations, that in the end ask for your dollars…its a bit like the demagogic propaganda that you see in certain areas of the globe…fundamentalism, and fanaticism…you know where…
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:42 am
The Perils of playing God and Biotechnology. “Science Will Save the World or It Will Destroy Us All†The world is now “at risk†as a result of Genetically Modified Microganisms (GMOs) being used on food crops, animal feed and for the use of insect control. Is it too late? What becomes of the eco system now that GMO’s are now in the soil and no doubt, will effect future crops for GENERATIONS TO COME. “Playing God†kills!
I have, within the last few years tried to warn government agencies, both federal and state about the dangers of GMO’s (genetically modified microorganisms) that are being used on our food crops, animal feed and for insect control in the form of bio-pesticides, bio-insecticides and bio-fungicides to no avail. Now, we and the world are the throws of what has not been released to the public as well as internationally. The Pandora’s Box has been opened, and because of lack of oversight from both Federal and state agencies in the biotechnology arena we are now facing the biggest challenges ever. Our food supply is now contaminated with Salmonella and prior to this it was E-Coli. Now, there has been a second strain of salmonella that has been identified by investigators in North Carolina,
“Search finds 2nd salmonella strain – Discovery is ‘extremely interesting.’ Officials unsure if second type also sickened anyone. By Mike Baker Associated Press: “Joe Reardon, director of the N.C. Agriculture Department’s Food and Drug Protection Division, told The Associated Press that testing found the salmonella strain oranienburg at a Charlotte-area food supplierâ€
MORE ON Post #44 (above)
The “Conditional Time-Limited†Registration†issued on June 20, 2000 to the company, Agraquest, Inc. in Davis, California by the EPA – OFFICE OF PESTICIDE PROGRAMS -PESTICIDES AND POLLUTION PREVENTION DIVISION. On the standard EPA Form number 8570?6 it states:
“After fermentation and prior to further process, each batch must be tested for the following microbial contaminates and have levels below those listed:â€
“E. COLI/COLIFORM BACTERIAâ€
“SALMONELLAâ€
“SHIGELLAâ€
“STAPHYLOCOCCIâ€
“VIBRIOâ€
“YEASTâ€
“MOLDâ€
I question, “WHY†any level of the above pathogenic (disease producing) microorganism, either bacteria and/or fungus would be allowed what-so-ever, especially when it is used on crops and spayed for insect control. This makes no sense.
I was interviewed by Steve Zeltzer on May 13, 2008 by Steve Zeltzer – Labor On The Job Project and an Injured Workers Advocate for many years. Also on this show was Dr. Larry Rose – The “last†Cal/OSHA Public Health Medical Officer in the state of California, he was with Cal/OSHA for 28 years, and Dan Berman – Author of “DEATH ON THE JOBâ€. This video can be found at the following link: http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8772395089110184693
Description of the Labor Video:
“Focuses on the case of Agraquest biotech worker David Bell. Bell who worked at the Davis, CA biotech laboratory owned by former Monsanto scientist Pam Marrone was infected with fungus and Bacteria while working. He and his family have faced a terrifying battle for healthcare and justice from injuries on the job.â€
“Despite the fact that his mother found material in his body that was patented by scientists at the laboratory he has been Prevented from getting full healthcare to save his life. The corruption and breakdown of the workers compensation system is connected to the deregulation of workers compensation and the elimination of all medical doctors at Ca-OSHA.â€
The lack of ability by Cal/OSHA (State of California) to properly “inspect†biotechnology companies is most alarming given the fact that products from California are being used on our food crops as well as animal feed and used as insect control throughout, not only the United States, but the world.
***I am submitting questions from host and interviewer, Steve Zeltzer and answers and quotes from Dr. Larry Rose concerning this oversight on California’s part:
[QUOTE]
Steve Zeltzer:
“Welcome to Labor On The Job, I’m the host, Steve Zeltzer.â€
[QUOTE]
Steve Zeltzer:
“Tonight we’re going to be looking at the issue of health and safety, workers memorial day, healthcare and the state of workers in California and Nationally and what’s been happening with Cal/Osha. So joining us tonight first is Dr. Larry Rose. Welcome to the show Dr. Rose.â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“Thank you â€
[QUOTE]
Steve Zeltzer:
“And you’re a retired Dr from Cal/Osha? â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“Yes, I worked 28 years at Cal/Osha as the Chief of the Medical Unit and I retired about a year and a half ago. â€
[QUOTE]
Steve Zeltzer:
“Ok we going to talk about what happened to David Bell who was an employee at
Agraquest, when he did make complaints. So, but we have an idea here of some
serious problems, it seems debit problems with OSHA and with the protection of
workers who complain about health and safety.
Now, Dr. Rose, you started at Cal/OSHA and you were saying there that when… how long… how many people worked there? How long did you work there? When did you get onboard at Cal/OSHA? â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“Yes, Well when I started there were 11 million California workers and they were all covered except for Agricultural workers. That was in the Jerry Brown
administration. There were six Doctors in the Medical….. called the Medical Unit and there were well over 2 to 3 hundred, what we call Compliance Officers -
Industrial Hygienists.â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“Well it’s critical because there are a lot of areas…. the Compliance Officers, or Industrial Hygienists, and they’re not trained at all in medicine. They don’t know how to read a medical record, they know nothing about infectious diseases…. and we also inspect hospitals and medical facilities of all sorts and…â€"
[QUOTE]
Steve Zeltzer:
So you need a trained Physician or a trained professional, medical professional…
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“Absolutely, the tile was Public Health Medical Officer and we were all … had that
title.â€
[QUOTE]
Steve Zeltzer:
“And there were 6 Doctors?â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“Right, for the whole state of California.â€
[QUOTE]
Steve Zeltzer:
“For the whole state of California.â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“Both South and North and Central Valley… yes. Slowly, as we had…. it was always a very political agency and as republican’s came into office. First Deukmejian and then there were… Wilson. they kept, as the Doctors retired or left they would not replace them. And finally, at the last 5 to 8 years I was the only Doctor there.â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“Well, it sounds’ it sounds like it’s a hype to me in terms of calling it organic. First off, if you’re using pathogenic organisms that’s not exactly organic…. that’s a risk not only the environment, the workers… but also possibly the food Consumers as well.â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“I’d like to inject here that the way they classify biosafety in labs is they classify it 1 through 4. Say the most hazardous, say like anthrax would be a 4 so you have to have like space suits and total control. Now if these were pathogens he was working with it sounds that should rate very high in biosafety requirements.â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“Yea… If they’re using potentially pathogenic microorganisms to spread on… you know, vast areas of the environment in relation to say, specific what they call pests the first thing you would have to determine if OSHA went in there… and what I can…. I’ll get the record but from what I can tell first thing they would’ve had to have was either a microbiologist or a Doctor, a public health Doctor to look at how pathogenic are these organisms. Are they as bad as, say Anthrax? Could they be? And then you have to determine do they have the proper level of bio safety? And then you don’t go and just look at the face velocity of a vertical lamenter flow hood… that’s nonsense! What you do is then you go back and you say, “you’ve got the wrong levelâ€. you cite them and you require them to get the right level of bio safety and the other things… not spread the agent around in the neighborhood and that would be the Approach…. and if they don’t have a Doctor at Cal/OSHA to do that or…. you know…. then … they’re going in blind.â€
[QUOTE]
Dr. Larry Rose:
“When you’re called in and a worker has possibly picked up a very serious infectious disease from the work Process, you don’t just go in and measure a face velocity and give a tag. You’ve gotta do some… you know real investigation. Go over all the medical records and you’ve got to get the Organism and submit it to the proper lab to determine it’s patogenicity. In other words, there’s a series of steps you would take because you’re not only trying to protect all the workers there now and future workers, but you also have to protect the community when you’re talking about an infectious disease, this is a serious public health matter. So looking at what OSHA did and I’m just astounded that they had that kind of very weak response, inappropriate response according to the law. The law states that you have to have to go through this kind of process and you certainly can’t fire a worker whose complaining. Also, OSHA should have responded within 72 hours, that’s required by law in this kind of.. you know, complaint. I don’t know what they Were doing, but they obviously handled the thing illegally.â€
“Why†should anyone, with the advanced technology this century has, have to be afraid to be employed, eat agricultural crops, drink the water and breath the air in the United States of America?
I became interested in bio harm when my son got sick from working as an Assistant Researcher in a bio-pesticide, bio-insecticide, bio-fungicide etc. research and development laboratory.
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:57 pm
PS: for those that do not know ROUNDUP its just glyphosate, a molecule that already lost the original patents, SO EVERY Chemical company can produce this,as in fact many do, producing alternatives to ROUNDUP and the action on RR GMs its just the same…its not like the picture presented in the “movieâ€â€¦like a “inhouse specific taylored solutionâ€.
PS2: what about the extremely widespread availability of insulin for all diabetic people, yes, thank god that its now so cheap and easy to get it…now get your fingers on the web and discover the kind of organisms that allowed this revolution on the availability of insulin…
Also, on the so called monster plants appearing in Mexico…is this the first time that hybrids appear in those regions??? would you believe that in the last 38 years no hybrid of corn appeared in those regions, especially when one of the most important labs on the “green revolution†was/is in fact in Mexico… by the way, those can be called out-of-type plants that are very commun when you decide to put on the field F2’s, meaning the progenie of crosses from F1 hybrids… now, if you believe that all that corn was non hybrid…yes, that should be announced loud and clear…it just happens that I do not believe that. Who produces commercialy 3-5 ton/ha when easily can get to 10ton/ha, or 17ton/ha with good agronomic practices??? Who ? the guy of blue corn on a subsistance agricultural system without the use of fertilizers, nor pesticides? That one I do believe, but you can be sure that that one will not feed one population..no where in the world…so its best to have hunger? Ask people in Somalia if they care that corn is a GM if they can get crops with very low water and nitrogen inputs… these guys should hink twice before making a business out of counterinformation…and possibly with a mobile phone in their pockets, not caring for the hudge damage that this electromagnetic polution may be doing on us all and on all liveing creatures of the planet…there they don’t care because they need the technology, they are not farmers needing to feed their falilies out of their business…
Do you ever question the growing tendency for the so called organic farming where most of the products used on spraying are natural products that never pass by any official certification and toxicological exams, aprovation???
Its easy to put sand in the air when everyone is in the same mood. In fact, I personaly now care much less about GMOs because of all this demagogy in all info I have read until now..its usually published by people that are more often than not out of the cientific/technical field of agriculture so they tend to believe anything…
PS3: in this global conspiracy thing…isn’t it possible that some environmentalists (that have a lot to gain with misinformation on this subject, so that they get their 5 minutes of fame) could have planted here and there some GM plants to get, very easily by the way, “random†contaminations on wild corn populations??? How far could you believe that GM pollen can travel and fall on a receptive plant, with sincronized cycle so that fertilization occurs?
About the kid with burned feet by passing the production field…doesn’t it happen normaly in any field where there was a pesticide spray with irritating substances (most of the pesticides in fact)…that was awful for the kid and a shame to explore the suffering of others…like this “show†of horrors in the glass botles in China… some parts of the movie are depresingly lame like b-movies from the 70s…
July 26th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Additions to POST’s #19, #44 and #49
These are just a few quotes from the video:
http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8772395089110184693 WITH RELATED ARTICLES.
[QUOTE]
Sandi Trend
Well, what they wanted to do is they wanted to find “novel†microorganisms, in fact they ………. They boast about it in articles and interviews that “they’ve searched the globe overâ€, “they use microbe hunters†and then what they do is they bring in, say soil samples and within these soil samples they try and find the “novel†microorganism that’s going to be used as a pesticide, insecticide, fungicide, mycocide… And this is what’s being put on our crops.
___
Press Articles
“AgraQuest Growing its Own Successâ€
From the Sacramento Bee, August 11, 1997
by Gilbert Chan, Bee Staff Reporter
“Everyday, scientists at AgraQuest, Inc. make their rounds, carefully checking and rechecking various biological experiments and meticulously recording their findings.â€
“They’ll check out new samples of soils or plant roots or lichen arriving from across the globe, hoping that one eventually will lead to the next breakthrough natural, environmentally safe pesticide or fungicideâ€
“It’s a pretty long process, †said Pamela Marrone, President and Chief
Executive Officer of the Davis biopesticide company. “We’re doing a lot of
interesting things here that are cutting edge. They haven’t been done
before.â€
___
Wanted: A Few Good Microbes-
Problem: How to reduce usage of chemical pesticides. Solution: Develop natural products based on killer bacteria.
The search for a few good microbes has taken Marrone and her team from the Honduran rainforest to the dry creekbeds of northern California.
“In the biopesticide industry, however, AgraQuest has moved with lightening-like speed since it began business in April of 1996. It has filed for seven patents in two years, and in June it brought to market its
first commercial product, Laginex® which is designed to control mosquito larvae in water.â€
“We move very fast. We focused on getting things to the market quickly, “Marrone said.â€
“In addition, the company is looking to gain a competitive edge in its field by focusing on the fermentation process to produce natural pesticide and
fungicide products. Natural products are non living substances such as proteins and enzymes that are produced by organisms like microbes and
plants.â€
“Pharmaceutical companies have been doing this for years. There’s this whole microbic world that hasn’t been scratched yet,†Marrone said. “I wrote the business plan at night and on weekends and then got a
management team together,†she said.â€
___
Safe, Effective, Organic Disease Control for Home Gardeners
Broadest spectrum of garden disease control available; Safe for children,
pets, birds and wildlife
DAVIS, Calif. (January 31, 2005)
The Science Behind Serenade Garden
“AgraQuest’s team of scientists have traveled the world searching for tiny microbes that effectively fight against the important diseases and pests that plague farmers everywhere. These microorganisms are then studied, cultivated and manufactured in AgraQuest’s facilities and sold—in powder or liquid form—to growers around the globe.â€
___
Press Release
Contacts:
Pamela G. Marrone, Ph.D., Founder and President,
(530) 750-0150, ext. 15
Julie Versman, Marketing Director, 530-750-0150 ext 13
Mike Miille, Ph.D., CEO, (530) 750-0150, ext. 29
10-year Anniversary Marks Milestone for AgBio Pioneer, AgraQuest
AgraQuest Celebrates a Decade of Scientific Innovation,
Commercial Success
DAVIS, Calif. (September 27, 2005)
“In 1995, the company was founded with the concept of scouring the natural world for microorganisms that produce natural compounds that could compete with chemical pesticides on performance, cost and ease of use.â€
___
Recruiting microbes to do the dirty work
By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
April 11, 2006 4:00
AMPST.
“Pam Marrone keeps her enemies close. They are in refrigerators and jars all over the company’s offices.
In a room of flying insects and earthy smells, she holds up a plastic container and points to the roots of a tomato plant that look like they are infected with boils. The lumps, formed by parasitic worms known as root-knot nematodes,â€
“Today, she is founder and president of AgraQuest, one of a rising number of companies promoting biopesticides–substances that kill bugs with selectively bred microorganisms, rather than chemical concoctions.
Natural pesticides exist all over the world. The microbe for root-knot nematodes studied at AgraQuest was discovered in an Eastern European creek by scientists once associated with a bioweapons lab in Siberia. The company’s first product, Serenade, derives from a microorganism found in a peach orchard near Fresno, Calif., where a farmer had noted that a particular
strand of trees never got hit with the dreaded brown rot. And the active ingredient in a fungicide called Sonata is a patented strain of Bacillus pumilus, originally found in a garden in Micronesia.â€
“One of the more intriguing specimens for commercial exploitation is a novel fungus called Muscador, discovered by Montana State University professor
emeritus Gary Strobel. The microorganism, which lives naturally in the bark of a type of spice tree found in Central America and other tropical regions, emits a cocktail of about 30 gases that kills a variety of pests. Muscador-based products will likely start coming out this year. “It’s effective in killing most plant pathogens,†Strobel said. “It can even be
effective in treating soil.â€
“Muscador, which dies without spreading spores, could also be sprayed on drywall and building materials to kill mold spores sealed inside crawl spaces and walls
during construction.â€
Thus, that familiar loose-leaf lettuce in the organic bins at the grocery store was probably sprayed with products like Agraquest’s Serenade or Novodor from Valent, which also makes organic mosquito repellent and fruit-growth enhancers.
[QUOTE]
Sandi Trend
It’s …. It’s organic, it’s natural …… that’s what they say. You know you can have as little as 1 point… say 7 percent … or 70 percent of any type of microorganism and consider it….. It’s……….. The only thing that you have to prove is the active ingredient …………
AgraQuestor Articles
The Organic Industry.
updated 1/08/01
“New federal standards could legitimize organic farming and be a boon to the industry. ‘It’s going to mean an additional standard of integrity in the marketplace and the ability to move product from state to state and country to country,’ said Ray Green, organic program manager for California’s Department of Agriculture.â€
“AgraQuest is developing formulations of Serenade biofungicide that do not contain synthetic ingredients so that it will be ‘certified organic.’ The company submitted Serenade Organic to the EPA in July 2000.â€
___
A NATURAL PATH TO SUCCESS
by Mark Ingelbretsen
January/February 2004
That may not be as hard as it sounds. Some big California growers, for instance, devote a small fraction of their fields to organics but use chemicals on the remainder. Those growers are willing to experiment with AgraQuest products on their organic fields. And if the products succeed there, the growers may apply the natural products exclusively. “They’re receptive to
reducing chemical residues on their products,†Marrone saysâ€
A NATURAL PATH TO SUCCESS
by Mark Ingelbretsen
January/February 2004
“Thus, that familiar loose-leaf lettuce in the organic bins at the grocery store was probably sprayed with products like Agraquest’s Serenade or Novodor from Valent, which also makes organic mosquito repellent and fruit-growth enhancersâ€
“Even if crops are not expected to be labeled as organic, biopesticides have other advantages. Regulations often prevent farmers from spraying
chemicals about 30 days before harvest, but biopesticides can be used up to the last minute, resulting in greater crop yields. Workers can also
return to the fields far more quickly after a biopesticide spray than if chemicals were used. “
July 28th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Aren’t these the same guys that said the world was flat? Now they are playing god with our food. 666
July 29th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Genetically modified crops are one of the most disturbing aspects of agribusiness. Nominate abusive corporations, like Monsanto, in Corporate Accountability International’s 2009 Corporate Hall of Shame. Check it out at:
http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/cms/page1651.cfm
August 11th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Good luck getting Fox 5 News to air this…it won’t happen. They fired two investigative reports who had done a similar video. They told them to change it or else. They got the or else. The best way to get this out is to pull together. See if you can get a local school, church or rec center to do a showing of the film. Once the word starts getting to large numbers of people in a community the word will spread fast!
August 18th, 2008 at 12:00 am
This is a clarification to my post #45.
I live in new Zealand and we were sprayed with BTK foray 48B (a genetically modified [GMO] bacteria – Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki) for the panted apple moth The patent is listed as United States Patent #6,406,691 and was filed with the United States Patent Office of January 26, 1998 and Iissued to Valent Bioscience Corporation in Libertyville, Illinois (published on June 18, 2002). The inventors of Patent #6,406,69 are; Manker, Denise C. (Davis, CA) Lidster, William D. (Sacramento, CA) Macintosh, Susan C. (Woodland, CA) and Starnes, Robert L. (Sacramento, CA) .
United States Patent 6,406,691
Manker , et al. June 18, 2002
Assignee: Valent Biosciences Corp. (Libertyville, IL) Appl. No.: 09/013,488
Filed: January 26, 1998
Inventors: Manker; Denise C. (Davis, CA), Lidster; William D. (Sacramento,
CA), MacIntosh; Susan C. (Woodland, CA), Starnes; Robert L. (Sacramento, CA)
THE INVENTORS BACKGROUNDS:
MANKER, DENISE C
AGRAQUEST, INC. – Davis, California
ENTOTECH (NOVO NORDISK)
LIDSTER, WILLIAM D
NOVO NORDISK (ENTOTECH) – Davis, California) MACINTOSH, SUSAN C.
NOVO NORDISK A/S
AVENTIS – Product Safety Manager
BAYER CROPSCIENCE (FORMERLY AGREVO) – Vice President in charge of the global biotechnology regulatory affairs function MACINTOSH & ASSOCIATES, INC Writing, review and editing of technical and regulatory documents, including submissions to FDA, USDA, and EPA STARNES, ROBERT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – DAVIS Principal Agricultural Technician Senior Superintendent of Agriculture – Department of Plant Sciences
I was sprayed on my arms and legs. were partly paralyzed and my friend’s legs were amputated, but they did manage to save his arm I am now full of tumors, my son has twenty tumors on his arms and my mum has an enlarged heart. All of this is the result of what we were sprayed with. We have had so many people die since the spraying, about ONE A MONTH just amongst the people I know. In about 2 weeks time I am going to present the information I have found over the last tree years of researching and Applying for official information that I have gathered all lead back to PAM MARRONE.
I have asked the leading expert here in New Zealand, Dr. Peter Wigley about the BTK that was sprayed on us and to test my son’s tumors for the presence of the spray. His reply was “Hell no, that would be paramount to treasonâ€.
I was also wondering about another patent of particular interest, it’s on CIPO patent 2167178 it for the BT crystals. It originally belonged to Entotech and Nordisk Biotech, inc U.S.A. The diagrams show the staph aureus being blasted into the crystals and also a GMO ecoli with Brucella abortus. The agent of brucellosis which was apparently weaponized back in the 40s.
Canadian Patents Database
Patent Application: (CA 2167178)
FORMATION OF AND METHODS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF LARGE BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS CRYSTALS WITH INCREASED PESTICIDAL ACTIVITY FORMATION ET METHODES DE PRODUCTION DE GRANDS CRISTAUX DE BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS, POSSEDANT UNE PLUS GRANDE ACTIVITE PESTICIDEABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
The invention relates to a method for producing an integrant(s) of Bacillus thuringiensis which produces a larger quantity of a crystal delta-endotoxin with greater pesticidal activity as compared to the crystal delta-endotoxin produced by the corresponding parental strain. The crystal delta-endotoxin produced by the integrant Bacillus thuringiensis will have an activity directed towards the same pest(s) as its parent Bacillus thuringiensis crystal delta-endotoxin. The invention further relates to such integrants, compositions comprising such integrants, as well as methods for controlling a pest(s) using these compositions.
PCT Filing Number: PCT/US1994/007955
International publication number: WO1995/002695 National Entry: 1996-01-12
Incidentally, Dr. Peter Wigley is listed as [co] “inventor†on patents with a former scientist from Monsanto, Pam Marrone and two former scientists from Entotech (Novo Nordisk – sold to Abbott Laboratories), Pam Marrone and Denise
Carol Manker (Mrs Thadouz Molinski). These patents include:
*** THIS UNITED STATES PATENT WAS ASSIGNED TO BOTH AGRAQUEST & BIODISCOVERY NEW ZEALAND LTD. (TITRANGI, NZ)
United States Patent 6,077,506
Marrone , et al. June 20, 2000
Assignee: AgraQuest, Inc. (Davis, CA)
BioDiscovery New Zealand Ltd. (Titrangi, NZ) Appl. No.: 09/296,225
Filed: April 22, 1999
Inventors: Marrone; Pamela Gail (Davis, CA), Heins; Sherry D. (Davis, CA), Manker; Denise C. (Davis, CA), Jimenez; Desmond R. (Woodland, CA), Chilcott; Chris N. (Titirangi, NZ), Wigley; Peter (Titirangi, NZ), Broadwell; Andrew (Mt.
Albert, NZ)
***THIS UNITED STATES PATENT WAS ASSIGNED TO AGRAQUEST
United States Patent 5,919,447
Marrone , et al. July 6, 1999
Assignee: Agraquest, Inc. (Davis, CA)
Appl. No.: 08/789,334
Filed: January 22, 1997
Inventors: Marrone; Pamela Gail (Davis, CA), Heins; Sherry D. (Davis, CA), Manker; Denise C. (Davis, CA), Jimenez; Desmond R. (Woodland, CA), Chilcott; Chris N. (Auckland, NZ), Wigley; Peter (Auckland, NZ), Broadwell; Andrew (Auckland, NZ)
***THIS PATENT WAS ISSUED TO BIODISCOVERY NEW ZEALAND, LTD.
(AUCKLAND, NA AND AGRAQUEST)
United States Patent 5,645,831
Chilcott , et al. July 8, 1997
Assignee: BioDiscovery New Zealand Ltd. (Auckland, NZ) AgraQuest, Inc. (Davis, CA) Appl. No.: 08/621,774
Filed: March 22, 1996
Inventors: Chilcott; Chris N. (Auckland, NZ), Wigley; Peter (Auckland, NZ), Broadwell; Andrew (Auckland, NZ), Heins; Sherry Darlene (Davis, CA), Marrone; Pamela Gail (Davis, CA)
Assignee: BioDiscovery New Zealand Ltd. (Auckland, NZ)
PAM MARRONE
[http://www.mcb.arizona.edu/careers/marrone.html]
MONSANTO
From 1983 to 1990, Pam Marrone was in charge of the Insect Control group at Monsanto Agricultural Company. PAM MARRONE: “I was recruited by Monsanto.
They had an on-campus recruiter at NC State. So they interviewed several of us
and decided which of us they would bring to Monsanto.†PAM MARRONE: “I was
hired by Monsanto Agricultural Company to head up their new insect biotechnology program. They were putting genes into plants for insect control. I was head of that entomology program, which was about twelve to fifteen research people, for seven years.†Her group was instrumental in pioneering projects in genetically engineered microbial pesticides and transgenic crops for insect control.
NOVO NORDISK – ENTOTECH
After Monsanto, Pam was founding president of Entotech, Inc. (subsidiary of Novo Nordisk a Denmark based company). PAM MARRONE: “For Novo Nordisk, they were trying to find somebody to head up this new company in Davis. I ran across the Novo people because I had created a working group, an industry consortium looking at a particular problem – insects developing resistance to genetically engineered plants. And I began that work when I was at Monsanto.
So I was in a leadership position in the industry. And Novo was a member of that consortium. Because of that, they plucked me out and recruited me from Monsanto.†PAM MARRONE: “Then I was hired by a Danish company called Novo Nordisk, which produces insulin and enzymes. They were starting a new program in biological pesticides. They asked me to start up a new company in Davis, California, doing biological pesticide work.â€. “So I moved from St. Louis to Davis and started up the company. We named it Entotech. Entotech was operational for about five years, but three years into it, I knew that Novo was not going to stay in it. Novo Nordisk – agriculture was not their forte, and so I had inklings that they were going to sell us.†Under her tenure as president of Entotech , the company discovered, developed, and marketed microbial pesticides.
AGRAQUEST
Later, Pam left to start up a new company called AgraQuest, Inc., which discovers, develops, and markets safe, environmentally friendly, and effective natural products for farm, home, and public health pest PAM MARRONE: “I left [ENTOTECH] in January of 1995 and incorporated the new company, which we named AgraQuest, took some employees from the old company, started up with some of our own money, but most of the money we raised from people we knew. We raised about $500,000 to start up the company. We sold stock in a private placement, $5,000 blocks of stock each, and that’s how we raised the money to start up. That got the company up to the point where it was more attractive to big investors. In order to continue to fund the company, we needed millions of dollars.†PAM MARRONE: “When I started AgraQuest, I thought it would be really difficult to recruit people because we’re small and start-up and real risky. And we get over a hundred to two hundred resumes for every job as well. The climate today is such that it’s volatile in any industry – there’s downsizing, mergers, acquisitions, so you don’t know. We felt like we’d be less attractive as a big company, but we found we’re actually very attractive to people because we offer stock options and the ability for a scientist to own part of the company. Let’s say we give stock options at 35 cents a share, and we go public on the stock market at $10 a share.â€â€œ.
DENISE CAROL MANKER
(DENISE CAROL MOLINSKI)
Denise Manker was one of the founding scientists of Agraquest, Inc. with Pam Marrone and apparantley they both left Entotech (Novo Nordisk) around the same time.
Can you see the connections?
Donna Bird
New Zealand
August 19th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Fascist monopolists = Monsanto
August 25th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it. – Albert Einstein
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good moral people to do nothing.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Holy cow, I just watched a video where key people testified to the atrocities committed by Monsanto, listened to the accounts of poor treatment of farmers, was reminded of Monsanto’s deceitful history, they KNEW they were poisoning & killing people – there’s no denying it – yet you maintain we’re all just getting emotional? Tell me, do you condone all of these acts or can you offer a plausible explanation refuting all the evidence in Monsanto’s own documents for which a court order was needed to obtain? If you can do this then you are working for the right company but backing the wrong side. Do you really think people are that stupid? I live in Australia and started one of the petitions for labeling laws back in 1999 so that we could hopefully identify anything GM and avoid it like the plague it is. The company knows exactly what it’s about & doesn’t give a flying f.. about the third world, the environment, or the rest of us other than they want to own EVERYTHING. They know most of us don’t want their products, they don’t care! They also know that the free trade agreement is the only reason governments have lifted GM bans. Lackeys like you who tout the company line deserve to have your own genes patented, that way you’ll be charged a license fee every time you make an attempt at reproducing and then you’ll have to pay royalties every time you succeed. Oh, and you won’t be able to retract the company line you spew, due to the hundreds of clauses in the contract you signed when you thought they cared about you and the rest of us just don’t understand! Give me a break!
September 26th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Does anyone realize what would happen if everyone was organic and there was no GMO crops planted? I will tell you what. People would starve to death. And I don’t mean because of poverty. I am talking about a shortage of “foodstuffs†as some people say. This new technology has up to doubled yields for some varieties of crops. And for those of you doing the math that means double the foodstuffs. On the other hand maybe we should travel around in horse and buggy, and cook our meals over a open fire. It’s your choice
September 26th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
What a great video. And these comments are all so reasonable. I look forward to the day when we defeat the great Satan – capitalists – and feed the world with nothing but small individual gardens.
September 26th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Roundup does not have any residual. It kills plants on contact. Farmers actually use it to clean up fields before seeding non-gmo crops. The truth is you can spray it on the seed and as long as it is not germinated it will not kill it. It is actually less harmful for the human body than the table salt that is used on all manner of fatty foods by horribly obese people every day.
September 27th, 2008 at 1:42 am
VIERNES, SEPTIEMBRE 26, 2008
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5559
The Biosafety Protocol and the Future of Biosafety
Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero | September 25, 2008
Americas Policy Program, Center for International Policy (CIP)
americas.irc-online.org
More than a decade after the commercial introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops and foods, the controversy surrounding them only seems to grow, as documented in recent Americas Policy Program reports.1 What are the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of these crops? Are they safe for consumption?
These questions are especially relevant for Latin America, as it is the biggest GM-producing and exporting region in the world after the United States and Canada.2 Argentina and Brazil are, respectively, the second and third biggest producers of GM crops in the world, Paraguay ranks seventh, and Uruguay ninth. Argentina alone accounts for 19% of the world’s total acreage planted in genetically modified crops.
What methodological tools exist to assess the risks of this new technology? Such methods, procedures, and lines of research have been gradually developed over the last two decades and are collectively known as “biosafety.â€
Biosafety—not to be confused with “food safety†or “biosecurityâ€â€”is a new and growing field dedicated specifically to addressing safety concerns raised by genetic engineering and GM organisms. It acknowledges that GM organisms are essentially different from their non-GM counterparts and that they therefore present unique and unprecedented hazards that call for appropriate safety assessment.
These concerns are addressed at the international level by the United Nations Biosafety Protocol, known also as the Cartagena Protocol.3 “For the first time in international law, there is an implicit recognition that GMOs are inherently different from naturally occurring organisms, and carry special risks and hazards, hence the need to have a legally binding international instrument,†says Lim Li Lin, coordinator of the Third World Network’s Biosafety Programme.4 “The Protocol recognizes that GMOs may have biodiversity, human health, and socio-economic impacts, and that these impacts should be risk assessed or taken into account when making decisions on GMOs.â€
The Protocol, signed by 147 countries as of summer 2008, was adopted in 2000 after years of contentious negotiations and entered into force in September 2003.5 Its ratification was achieved through the efforts of developing country delegations, organized as “the Like-Minded Group.â€
On the opposing side, the country delegations that did not want a legally binding protocol and were hostile to the very idea of biosafety, was “the Miami Group.†This small but powerful group was led by the United States and included Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. None of the Miami Group members have signed the Protocol.6
To sign on to the Protocol, countries must also be members of the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), an international agreement for the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity signed by 191 countries as of summer 2008.7 The Convention was signed into existence at the UN Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, which took place in Brazil in 1992. The Untied States has refused to sign either the CBD or the Protocol, but a number of GM crop producers have, including Brazil.8
The Protocol is negotiated regularly in sessions known as the Meeting of Parties (MOP). The MOPs take place right before the bi-annual CBD meeting, known as the Conference of the Parties (COP), which is why both events are known jointly as COP-MOPs. The most recent COP-MOP meetings took place in Curitiba, Brazil (2006) and Bonn, Germany (2008). The next one will be in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010.
The Protocol and the field of biosafety are based on the precautionary principle, a scientific concept that is meant to help with the protection of human health and the environment in the face of factors of risk and uncertainty. The principle holds that when society is weighing risks caused by human activities (such as the introduction of new technologies), lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as an excuse for not taking preventive action to protect human health and the environment.9 This principle is referred to in Article 1 of the Protocol and in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration,10 a consensus document produced at the Earth Summit.
The Protocol puts the burden of proof on the promoters of new technologies rather than on those who express misgivings and warn about dangers. “Within the general use of technology it has been those who claim an existence of yet unproven effects who have had the burden of demonstrating that the activity in question is causing harm to health or the environment,†says Anne Ingeborg Myhr of the Norwegian Institute of Gene Ecology.11 “With the employment of the precautionary principle, the burden of proof is shifted to the proponent who now needs to demonstrate that the activity is necessary and that it will not harm health or the environment. This is reflected in the Cartagena Protocol.â€
However, neither the Rio Declaration nor the Protocol mentions the words “precautionary principle.†In both instances the U.S. delegation and its allies (in the case of the Protocol, the Miami Group) succeeded in blocking any mention of it, replacing it instead with the more ambiguous term “precautionary approach.â€
Thus, Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration reads: “In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.â€
Furthermore, the Miami Group was able to eliminate any reference to genetically modified organisms and substitute them with the more vague term “living modified organisms.â€
SIDEBAR: Are Genetically Modified Products Safe or Not?
In spite of the assurances of the biotechnology industry and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to this day GM foods have not been proven to be safe. The FDA does not carry out its own studies on GM products. All it does is accept studies submitted by the biotech companies about their GM products. Most of these studies are confidential business information, and thus not subject to public scrutiny.
“Consultation with the FDA on GM food safety is a voluntary exercise, in which the agency receives summaries without data and conclusions without foundation,†says researcher Jeffrey Smith in his book Genetic Roulette. “If the company claims that its foods are safe, the FDA has no further questions. Thus, GM varieties that have never been fed to animals in rigorous safety studies and probably never fed to humans at all are approved for sale in grocery stores.â€
The FDA “almost totally relies on voluntary notification by the biotechnology companies that they carried out their own safety assessment of the GM crops they want to release commercially,†according to Hungarian scientists Arpad Pusztai and Susan Bardocz. “The FDA has no laboratory of its own and never underwrites the safety of GM crops/foods.â€
The agency carried out its own tests on GM foods only once. The now declassified documents of this inquiry show that staff scientists were divided over the safety of these products and that some of them openly expressed major misgivings about them. Nevertheless the FDA approved GM foods for consumer use.
The published scientific literature on the human health implications of GM foods consists of hardly more than 20 studies, an alarmingly low number. In a study published in Nutrition and Health, I. F. Pryme and R. Lembcke observe that studies on GM foods that are not funded by industry tend to find problems with serious human health implications while the industry-funded ones never find any problem. “Safety Testing and Regulation of Genetically Engineered Foods,†a report by William Freese and David Schubert (Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews, 2004), concludes that the evaluation process for GM foods in the United States is not effective, as it is based on poor research and erroneous assumptions.
The few instances in which safety tests of GM foods carried out by industry have become public have given plenty of reason for concern. An internal Monsanto report leaked in 2005 revealed that rats fed the company’s Mon 863 genetically modified corn had major health problems, including abnormally high white blood cell counts, liver necrosis, reduced kidney weight, and high blood sugar.
The genetic engineering issue is further complicated by the fact that its products are living organisms, which can—unlike the products of other technologies—reproduce and spread, in the case of plants by seeds or pollen. This process is known as genetic contamination. In the words of Swiss agricultural biologist Angelika Hilbeck, the “release of self-reproducible biological organisms is potentially irreversible and adds a dimension in complexity to previous technology introductions.â€
The GMO Contamination Register, an information service set up by Greenpeace International and Genewatch UK, has reported 142 instances of genetic contamination worldwide since 1996. Brazil is one of nine countries that have reported over five contamination incidents.
The furtive presence of GM corn in Mexico, where it is prohibited by law, was first reported in Nature magazine by University of California scientists Ignacio Chapela and David Quist in 2001. Pro-industry scientists and think tanks undertook a major campaign to discredit the Chapela-Quist findings, but in 2002 a study commissioned by the Mexican government found that as many as 95% of the corn fields in the states of Oaxaca and Puebla had GM contamination.
The Protocol’s preamble reads: “In accordance with the precautionary approach contained in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the objective of this Protocol is to contribute to ensuring an adequate level of protection in the field of the safe transfer, handling, and use of living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health, and specifically focusing on transboundary movements.â€
September 27th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Dear Matt,
you are either misinformed or in bad faith. In case you are not aware you are just repeating standard generic Monsanto/Pioneer bullshit. Bullshit is best used to fertilize fields.
You might have a higher yield of foodstuff, but consider the fact that governments pay some farmer to keep their fields improductive, huge amounts of outdated foods are discarded from supermarkets and warehouses in the “civilized world, heading straight to landfills or biomass power generators, ….
Dude noboby is starving in the western world, and the people who starve in the third world are not starving because there is not enough land to farm, but because they are not allowed to grow their own food.
Also the choice is not between life as we know it in 2008, or going back to the middle ages, not using genetically engineered seeds/pesticides/fertilizers does not mean you have to give up your tractor or combine.
How about putting agriculture back in the hands of the farmers instead for a change, let them get paid what is right for their crops instead of controlling prices and letting the seed/pesticide makers and the distributors reap all the profit.
September 28th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Matt, the green revolution was about starvation and poverty– the gene revolution has nothing to do with that; it’s ALL ABOUT MONEY!!
September 29th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Why in North America is there such demand for high yielding GM seed? If it is being forced on the farmers why are they booking it up even before they have harvested the current years crop. Some of these crops are actually bred for their healthy oil content. Before the markets down trend in current weeks commodities were at an all time high. Making high yielding crops even that much more profitable. You can’t tell me that the all almighty monsanto is the only one reaping the reward for this. And last but not least I assume we are all adults here. I see no need for the foul language. If you want to have your point taken seriously then present it like a mature adult.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Sure foul language is not nice, but also changing our food supply, leaving us with nothing to eat but genetically modified and pesticide-saturated foods is not nice. Forgive us if we are a little upset about it.
You might think that we are a bunch of irrational despotic elitists and we want the whole world to grow and consume organic stuff because we are a bunch of lunatic tree-huggers, but I think I see enough evidence that inspite of the FDA assuring me there is nothing to worry about GMOs, pesticides, food additives and irradiation, I’d rather let you eat them. I don’t have a problem with you growing or eating them, except I would like to be able to identify and avoid them when I go shopping or to a restaurant, but the FDA says there is no need to label them. Now they even want to prevent milk from hormone-free cows to be labeled as such. If your GM crop contaminates my non-GM crop I would also like you to pay to clean it up, same as you would like me to pay for cleaning if they came over and peed on your living room carpet.
The companies you are defending are not playing a clean game and have destroyed the lives of many many people; why are you defending them so much anyway, if you are a farmer yourself how do you like the fact that they are making you work like a slave just to barely break even?
September 30th, 2008 at 7:08 am
It sound like matt works for monsanto or should.If in fact gmo crops yields are so much higher then why have our stock piles of grain gone down.The so called healthy oil [low lin]gmo beans have no market.I grow non gmo soys & corn and have very good yields and do not have the herd health problems with my cows as do Gmo farmers in the area.And i do not have to pay Mother nature for her paton
October 9th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Since 1943, biologists used the genetic breeding methods, have developed lots of crop varieties which fed the population of the world, which are well known as “green revolutionâ€. Even in that time, extremists strongly opposite the agricultural transformation. It turned out green revolution has greatly benefited the world. As the rapidly growing population, more foods and energies are required. The new emerged biotechnologies have the hope to solve the coming global food and energy crisis. We should have open mind to think about this rationally. We are human beings so we have enough wisdom to use GMO technology appropriately to benefit us: to provide more fibers, to provide more foods, to fuel our cars, to feed our animals, and most important, to give us a clear environment.
October 9th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
GM advocates always use this argument that genetic engineering bears resemblance to natural breeding methods but it is not scientifically defensible. I’m getting tired of reading this in the papers and hearing this on the news constantly when it is merely a smoke-screen designed to promote acceptance within the public arena. Genetic Engineering breaks the natural gene barrier that has separated species over millions of years. Now pig genes can be inserted into a tomato etc which is not possible with natural breeding.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:28 am
“The natural gene barrier that has separated species over millions of yearsâ€, this is a common sense. However, we also should known that an organism incorporates genetic material from another organism is not usual in nature. Even this is one of the most important processes that shaped evolutionary history from the very beginning of the life on the Earth. “Natural gene barrier†is only a barrier to keep the species identity, but does not means it absolutely blocks the gene inter-transfer between species. The recently molecular and genomic researches have revealed that the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) happened in nature! A simply example is: viruses transfer their genes into chromosomes of people and animals almost in everyday!
So the horizontal gene transfer occurs naturally. Some occurrence caused negative effects and some of them did not. So called GM technology is only a process of “artificial HGTâ€, which is well designed to get the target outputs. We are human beings so we should have confidence to ourselves: use this technology safely and get the maximum benefits for us from that. Just like we invented the knives, we could use them to cut the breads and meats on our deal table but not to kill people.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Thanks ghost!!Have we all watched the same video.I had big problems with gmo soys and went to the state collage ,health dep.and a number of other agencies to get help they said it can’t be gmo but i stopped feeding them and the problems went away.and sense then i found out it probably was trypsin inhibitor , 27percent higher in RR soy.Other farmers in the area grow bt corn and we don’t, they have no earth worm activity my ground is alive with them as there ground was before 1996.also there has been a decline in the frog pop. sense 1996 and of course the bees &butterfly.we need all of these things to have a balanced echo system.Thanks taro for having this blog
October 10th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
In the past it was considered that HGT was rare so it was never considered as part of GMO risk assessments. But today new information shows that not only do transgenes jump from GM crops to gut and soil bacteria, but that they actually facilitate gene transfer. Had this been know in the past, the current GM crops would have never been approved. Traavik and Heinemann say that uptake of transgenes could ultimately lead to development of chronic disease conditions. GM material may even pass into unborn fetus through placenta or integrate into adult sex cells hence altering the genetics of future generations. The long-term impact of any of these possibilities demands that they be evaluated BEFORE GM crops are released which sadly doesn’t leave me with much confidence in human regulation.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Thanks for the rational discussions. Just think that this is a scientific topic, not an emotional political campaign. Dr. Terje Traavik focused on gene ecology. He completely agrees that GM opens new opportunities for therapy, food production and environmental remediation. He proposed his concerns about the GM technology, a research direction which is currently explored by numerous scientists in the world. Just like any new technologies, we always evaluate the possible positive and negative impacts, that does mot means we forbid this technology, just for how we could use the technology appropriately and with the best.
To my knowledge, none of GM crops has been scientifically confirmed harmful or unsafe to us. Dr. Terje Traavik and other scientists have not found any convincible evidences against GM crops. If one day we find some kind of problems, it is easy to solve them by scientific means. It is good for people to express their serious concerns about GM crops, which will stimulate scientists to find the answer, to dismiss the misunderstanding, and to improve the technology.
October 12th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
It sounds like “Matt†has started going by “Mikeâ€, has toned down a little and is trying to sell his propaganda as science.
I hope that anybody stumbling upon this forum won’t just take his word (or mine), but will get curious about how their food is grown, processed and distributed. You can always find a scientist or two to back anything you are supporting, or its opposite, so be skeptical, maybe check out the alternatives in your area: is there a farmer’s market, farmers selling directly, a natural or health food store? how does that compare with buying your groceries in a supermarket that stocks 300 versions of the same crap (if you don’t believe me start reading the labels and see how much sodium benzoate and aspartame you are consuming per week, Mike will probably insist that there is no generally accepted proof that they are bad for you and the FDA says they are OK, I think there is enough evidence they might poison me slowly so I refuse to eat anything that contains them: you can choose too).
At least preservatives have to be listed on the ingredient list, GMO ingredients do not need to be disclaimed (does that sound right?).
October 12th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
While my comment is awaiting moderation, I forgot to tell Mike and Matt why I care so much about the quality of the food I eat: I grew up on a farm in Italy back in the 60s ad 70s, and the food we ate tasted …. good! The industrial/GE/additivized junk that I find on the shelf at Ralphs, Vons, Albertson, Walmart, Costco bears little resemblance to what it should taste like. I could swallow raw eggs, maybe add a little salt or beat the yoke with sugar … they were delicious, the ones from modern chicken farms almost make me gag.
No, I am not romanticizing my childhood memories, I still have a couple of relatives and friends that grow things and raise chicken, rabbits and pigs the old-fashioned and their stuff still tastes exactly like it is supposed to.
Your support for crappy food frankly leaves me a little perplexed. If like you say humanity has no other choice, why then do you refuse to have GMO products explicitly labeled, why is the FDA about to forbid any labeling that allows the consumer to distinguish between dairy products from cows treated with rbgh or not? If really genetically engineering and rbgh were the only way to produce enough to support earth’s population, you wouldn’t have to worry, you’d be guaranteed somebody would buy and eat your junk. Maybe you worry only folks with no money and no choice would go for it, not good for profits hey.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
To Ghost in the Computer, Can you tell me where I can access the new information you referred to that states transgenes jump from GM crops to gut & soil bacteria & actually facilitate the transfer? Wouldn’t mind having a read of this.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
David Schubert a molecular biologist and protein chemist from Salk Institute of Biological Studies has verified this from GM foods. Transgene transfer to human gut bacteria is now confirmed. http://www.salk.edu/faculty/faculty_details.php?id=46
October 16th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Raw milk? Christ, look at the FACTS. Pre-pasturization… god knows how many kids died due to bad raw milk. They pasteurized the milk and the death rates dropped radically! There is zero way you can make that much milk for everyone in SAFE raw format.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
This was shown last night in our local hospital. My community is trying to get a bylaw passed to ban private use of pesticides as well as public use on our parks and ditches. I hope this movie opens alot of peoples eyes as to what can happen when psychopaths run corporations.
October 28th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Monsanto never saw this one coming!
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973
As Amended through the
108th Congress
Download the entire ESA in PDF [147 kb]
FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND POLICY
SEC. 2.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares that—
(1) various species of fish, wildlife, and plants in the United States have been rendered extinct as a consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation;
(2) other species of fish, wildlife, and plants have been so depleted in numbers that they are in danger of or threatened with extinction;
(3) these species of fish, wildlife, and plants are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people;
(4) the United States has pledged itself as a sovereign state in the international community to conserve to the extent practicable the various species of fish or wildlife and plants facing extinction, pursuant to—
(A) migratory bird treaties with Canada and Mexico; (B) the Migratory and Endangered Bird Treaty with Japan; (C) the Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western Hemisphere; (D) the International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries; (E) the International Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean; (F) the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; and (G) other international agreements; and
(5) encouraging the States and other interested parties, through Federal financial assistance and a system of incentives, to develop and maintain conservation programs which meet national and international standards is a key to meeting the Nation’s international commitments and to better safeguarding, for the benefit of all citizens, the Nation’s heritage in fish, wildlife, and plants.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved, to provide a program for the conservation of such endangered species and threatened species, and to take such steps as may be appropriate to achieve the purposes of the treaties and conventions set forth in subsection (a) of this section. (c) POLICY.—(1) It is further declared to be the policy of Congress that all Federal departments and agencies shall seek to conserve endangered species and threatened species and shall utilize their authorities in furtherance of the purposes of this Act. (2) It is further declared to be the policy of Congress that Federal agencies shall cooperate with State and local agencies to resolve water resource issues in concert with conservation of endangered species.
*As amended by P.L. 94-325, June 30, 1976; P.L. 94-359, July 12, 1976; P.L. 95-212, December 19, 1977; P.L. 95-632, November 10, 1978; P.L. 96-159, December 28, 1979; P.L. 97-304, October 13, 1982; P.L. 98-327, June 25, 1984; and P.L. 100-478, October 7, 1988; P.L. 107-171, May 13, 2002; P.L. 108-136, November 24, 2003.
October 29th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
my name is javier, i spray pesticides for 6 years in california por the company caltrans, and after be exposure to this pesticides, roundup pro concentrate, direx 4L, reward, oust, activator 90, after this exposure I got a lot of symptoms like: respiratory problems, asthma, headaches, dizziness, abdominal pain, muscle and joint pain, nausea, diarrhea, blurred vision, memory problems, nervous system disorders, sleep disturbances, I loss part fo my sense of small, now I have the chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. After I get away from working with pesticides and be exposure with an others quimicos, now I fell a litter better but my body is very sensitive to any quemical now,
if my body smells something that I don’t like, I lose my energy, some time I dont even feel my body, I star feel dizzi, and get a headaches, I cant do any fisico job now, because I get tired very easy, my body doesn’t have the energy, if somebody have information of more people get sick after be exposure to one of this pesticides, send me a message to alcalajjj@...
November 21st, 2008 at 2:32 am
I would like the film The World According to Monsanto in English
November 21st, 2008 at 4:46 am
You can purchase the DVD on Amazon.ca HERE
November 30th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Unless this company is stopped it could endanger the whole ecosystem. GM crops kill bees – fact.
Once they kill all the bees – we are all dead.
It is that serious. No crops = no food.
December 1st, 2008 at 2:32 am
To read what happens to employees who are exposed to modified organisms…. biotechawareness.com
December 5th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I tried for over 30 minutes to find this DVD for sale on the internet. Finally found it on the Canadian version of Amazon.com, as Ghost in the Computer recommends.
I guess the subtitle of this movie rings pretty true…â€the Documentary Americans will Never Seeâ€.
I sent an email to Amazon.com customer service asking them why they only sell the video on their Canadian website. I’m curious to see if they respond.
If you’ve had similar difficulty getting your hands on a copy, please join me in emailing Amazon.com about their questionable practice of not selling this DVD in the U.S.
December 6th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
This ties into what alex jones at infowars.com has preached for year’s. Mass extermination of 80%, and RFID chip implant’s for the surviving populous. The controlling organization’s of the world can now cut off the seed distribution to countries or region’s who don’t adhere to there international agenda. The 4 horesmen and comming WW3 are staged, fake, and only a very informed public can stop this. Identify the true enemies pushing all this. Bilderberg group, Rothschild banking dynasty, the rockerfellas,CFR, etc. Less then 3000 men own you, and will kill you through these soft kill generational techniqes. End the fed rally in april. You only get one life. You wanna die of cancer from fake food…. or saving lives. Gut check people!!!! The people of the United States once stood up to tyrany in 1776. Now the world must wake. We don’t have a choice.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:49 am
To Jennifer: Go to this link: HERE you can order the DVD (English version) from Canada. Good luck!
December 11th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Sorry Sandi to hear about your son.
I live in the Central Coast and I can also help to fight against Monsanto.
mbarricarte@...
December 18th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Obama Picks MONSANTO Guy As Head of Agriculture CLICK HERE
December 30th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Farmers are beginning to discover that Monsanto is worse than any weed.
-Hugo
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I don’t see a red button for downloading “World According to Monsanto†and I’m not able to order from Amazon Canada
January 8th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Monsanto had a big day on earnings news and people were clamoring to jump on board. Prime example of a dangerous Wall Street philosophy: “Hey, we’re making tons of money so we don’t care about the consequences of what we’re doing. We’ll deal with that when the time comes.†What the financial press won’t discuss are the ethics of investing in MON.
http://www.gamingthemarket.com/2009/01/monsanto-profiting-without-conscience.html
January 15th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
As I am waiting to down load story, I read many of the blogs. I farm certified organic for 15 years and am doing fine. I/ family get sick when my neighbors spray. The research scientist on no. 47 is way off. Matt 58 is wrong. Get the book “seeds of deceptionâ€, there is no argument for the use of any type GM period. In the mean time get books and cds from http://www.acres.com Eat good food, detox your bodies, take good vitamins. Good luck folks
January 16th, 2009 at 7:40 am
This film was excellent. I’ve been reading about Monsanto’s dealings for years in a publication called Acres USA. Want to know the truth about what’s happening in agriculture? Get a subscription to this magazine. The film beautifully collects all the stories I’d read into one neat package. What a horror story. My first introduction to Monsanto’s wonderful products was when my father almost died after applying Roundup on some property he owned. He was overexposed and didn’t realize it. Needless to say, he ultimately died very young. Was it because of Roundup? I’ll never know, but as a teen that one event started me questioning convention. To number 60, REALLY? Roundup is safe? My father would certainly like to talk to you….oh that’s right he’s gone.
January 18th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
You can also buy the DVD at
http://www.MonsantoFilm.com,
also read this article http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14391.cfm
February 5th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Just curious…does anyone have a plan as to how to feed 9 billion people in the next 30 years? Because if you all have the answers I will quit my job wth Monsanto and come work for you.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Just keep up the good work and we will not be feeding 9 billion. From a farmer who has seen the damage your co, can do.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Just found another discussion page – please join me!
http://survivingthemiddleclasscrash.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/the-multiple-ways-monsanto-is-putting-normal-seeds-out-of-reach/
February 11th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Please be aware that bio control products, ie: biopesticides, biofungicides, bioinsecticides, mycocides etc. are used on PEANUT crops (as well as spinach, lettuce, tomatoe etc.)
IS THIS THE REASON FOR FOR ALL THE SALMONELLA (and the prior Salmonella and E-Coli) OUTBREAKS LEADING TO ILLNESS AND DEATH ?
As I have said in post #42, #47:
The following FORM [ 8570?6 ] is sent to biological manufactures in response to their submissions to the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] for registration/s of their products to be used on food crops and for insect control.
The EPA – OFFICE OF PESTICIDE PROGRAMS -PESTICIDES AND POLLUTION PREVENTION DIVISION, [PRE-PRINTED] FORM 8570?6 statesâ€
“After fermentation and prior to further process, each batch must be tested for the following microbial contaminates and have levels below those listedâ€
“E. Coli/Coliform Bacteriaâ€
“Salmonellaâ€
“Shigellaâ€
“Staphylococciâ€
“Vibrioâ€
“Yeastâ€
“Moldâ€
“WHY†SHOULD THERE BE ANY QUESTION OF THE ABOVE DISEASE PRODUCING FUNGUS AND BACTERIA BEING PUT ON FOOD CROPS AND SPRAYED ON INSECTS IN THE FIRST PLACE?
THIS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED!
Additionaly, Found in Google “news†search:
Central Valley | Labor & Workers
The Criminal Cover-up Of Pam Marrone’s Agraquest Operation
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/09/18569226.php
February 22nd, 2009 at 2:24 am
SENT:
Docket No. APHIS-2008-0023,
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD,
APHIS, Station 3A-03.8,
4700 River Road, Unit 118,
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238
RE: ENVIRONMENTAL RELEASE OF CERTAIN GENETICALLY ENGINEERED (GE) ORGANISMS
ATTENTION: Cindy Smith, Administrator
Dear Ms. Smith
I wish to take part and comment on the agency’s role in genetically engineered organisms.
Although what I am understanding in reading the Press Releases, USDA REOPENS PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ON PROPOSED RULE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY REGULATIONS is the wording “certain†genetically engineered organisms is used, I believe this to be rather broad in terminology and does not define which genetically engineered organisms the agency is referring to. Therefore, my comments are based on all genetically engineered organisms as well as the importation of any and all organisms which are brought into the United States and Biotechnology Regulations.
I would like to explain my role in the biotechnology arena. I am the Mother of an injured ex-biotechnology worker who worked in this industry, specifically a company who boasts they travel the world over to find novel microorganisms to be screened for candidates for the used in the place of synthetic or chemical pesticides, insecticides, fungicides etc. for plant diseases and insect control.
Are you aware where these novel microorganisms are sought? The company my son worked for has made very public where they search for these microorganisms; in soil, plants, plant roots, lichen, leaves and/or it’s litter, mulch and other decaying organic matter, fruit, bird feathers, dead insects, lake beds, forests, dunes and ocean caves, animals from terrestrial sources, marine sources (sponges, sea urchins, etc.) insects of all kinds, rain forests, jungles, dry creek beds, orchards, farm fields, and gardens. They have published they have microorganisms from New Zealand, the Amazon, Mexico, and Micronesia to name just a few and this is only what has been published.
Are you aware this company has smuggled into the United States bags of dirt in suitcases on commercial airlines for the purpose of finding novel microorganisms within this soil? Are you aware that federal and state agencies were contacted about this and not one agency did anything, including the EPA?
Do you know that biotech companies such as the one my son worked for are well aware of workplace exposures to known and unknown microorganisms and chose not to report incidents and illness’s (per FIFRA) for fear of not getting registrations or re-registrations from the EPA? Did you know that the EPA and biotechnology companies have collaborations together? Did you know that biotechnology companies have worked with the EPA to shorten product registration time? Did you know that biotechnology companies consult for the EPA? Did you know that biotechnology companies police themselves?
I can only report on what happened to my son as a result of workplace exposure to known and unknown microorganisms in this biotechnology company:
Five (5) months and nine (9) days after my son began employment as an Assistant Researcher/microbiologist my son sought medical attention from an immediate care medical clinic with purulent drainage of bloody pus coming from his nose.
Never reported to any state or Federal agency, per FIFRA
Symptoms that followed were; fever, body aches, chills and the left side of his face was numb, from the lower eyelid to the top lip.
Within 7 days he was scheduled for major sinus surgery by an ear, nose and throat surgeon (3 more have followed with countless in-office sinus procedures).
Months after my son left the company he learned that the same time he got sick there were calls from 11 other employees working in the lab who had gotten sick the same time he did and the receptionist was told to shut and lock the lab door.
This too was never reported to any state or Federal agency, per FIFRA
My son has been hooked up to an IV pump in the hospital receiving IV Immunoglobulin infusions for 3 years, every 28 days because he stopped producing the required amount of B-Cells for an intact immune system.
My son continues to have infections and is sick even though his workplace acquired illness was 10 years ago.
At the end of 2005 his medical bills have exceeded $333,000.00 and have continued to climb.
The company has ignored several attempts of obtaining federal and state worker right-to-know laws of hazards in the workplace.
Nineteen (19) microorganisms have tested positive in either my son’s blood serum, sputum and/or nose cultures and/or IgG antibody levels.
Histo-yeast was identified in my son’s blood serum by the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.
It was discovered that three (3) months and fifteen (15) days after my son first started employment with the company, the Founder and CEO had filed a patent application with the United States Patent office in which said the invention “may be used to treat human fungal diseases in which the disseminated disease is a condida, for example, Aspergillus sp, Histoplasma sp. and Tinea sp.†.
It was also discovered that on 1/22/1999, four days after my son first sought emergency medical care, the four company scientists who are listed as inventors on this patent started signing away their interest rights on the patent to a company in Beaverton, Oregon.
Additionally, staphlococcus has tested positive in numerous cultures from my son. This too is linked to the company as when my son worked for the company one of the scientists tested it on site per public scientific documentation.
Why were the human pathogen’s, histoplasma and staphylococcus at a research and development biotechnology company – who purports to search for, develop and manufacture pesticides of natural origin only in the first place?
Ms. Smith, I am not a scientist nor do I claim to be however, I do question just what classifies an organism, be it bacteria or fungus as being genetically modified or engineered. IF an organism is 100% pure then I would assume this to be natural. Given the fact that biotech products that are used on our animal and human food crops as well as being used for insect control show a relatively low “active ingredient†with much higher “inert ingredient/s†then could the “inert ingredient/s†alter the “active ingredient� It is my understanding that biologicals used for plant diseases are to be viable, propagate and actually GROW on the plants and/or insects. I have been told this is how the inhibitory effect works. Now, if these biological pesticides, insecticides, fungicides etc. are not in a 100% pure form, then what are we dealing with here? Additionally, what is to become of the biological/s once they enter the soil of endemic organisms, does this then produce hybrids or mutations?
With reference to the relatively low “active ingredient†in comparison to the other “inert ingredients†on biological products used for plant diseases and insect control, I can only reference the products on the market from the company my son worked for I wish to point out that these “active ingredients†are also listed as CHEMICALS by the EPA:
VARIOUS STRAINS OF FUNGUS:
40.0% UNKNOWN: 60.0%
1.38% UNKNOWN: 98.62%
0.35% UNKNOWN: 99.65%
VARIOUS STRAINS OF BACTERIA
4.6% UNKNOWN: 85.40%
14.6% UNKNOWN: 85.32%
10.0% UNKNOWN: 90.00%
2.10% UNKNOWN: 97.90%
1.42% UNKNOWN: 98.58%
1.34% UNKNOWN: 98.66%
0.35% UNKNOWN: 99.65%
0.07% UNKNOWN: 99.93%
I find it most disturbing, given the numerous outbreaks of e-coli and salmonella outbreaks, that the EPA’s, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division preprinted Form; 8570-6 states:
“After fermentation and prior to further processing, each batch must be tested for the following microbial contaminants and have levels below those listed:â€
•â€E. coli Coliform Bacteriaâ€
•â€Salmonellaâ€
•â€Shigellaâ€
•â€Staphlococciâ€
•â€Vibrioâ€
•â€Yeastâ€
•â€Moldâ€
Why should the public be afraid that ANY of the above human pathogens could be a contaminant of a biological control product used on human and animal food crops and/or used for insect control.
In 2000 the company my son worked for submitted two (2) fermentation batches to the EPA, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division. Instead of granting full registration to the company, based on testing of these submissions, the EPA’s Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division only granted the company a Conditional Time-Limited Registration. Clearly one would assume that what was submitted to the EPA by the company would be perfect however, there is no doubt based on the four (4) page form that was sent to the company the EPA did not come to this conclusion.
Contained on the form sent to the biotechnology company was:
•The submitted manufacturing processed did not have sufficient quality control fermentation batches.
Data required
•Data for the 12 month storage stability of the end-use product has not been submitted.
•Additional data described in the December 12, 1999 review and March 8 2000 letter are required to upgrade submitted process, MRID# 44519-04 to acceptable. This includes:
•1) A formal submission that clearly describes new quality control steps taken to assure the consistent CFU/g values and limit microbial impurities in the Technical Powder.
•2) A 5 batch analysis of Technical Powder produced from cell cultures with latest QC.
•3) Raw data for the above mentioned 5 batch analyses.
Ecological Effects Data Required
•A 21 day Freshwater Aquatic Invertebrate Study must be performed. Attenuated and filter sterilized controls should be used in the test. Test lab should attempt to determine cause of death and whether pathogenicity involved.
•[Shrimp] Required due to report of disease in terrestrial amphipod crustacean associated with B. subtilis infection. Protocol must be submitted before initiating study.
•QST Technical was shown to cause mortality to parasitic Hymenoptera. MRID 44619-14 is graded supplemental. Potential pathogenicity was not investigated.
•[HONEY BEE] All test concentrations showed treatment related mortality. MRID 4456519-17 is supplemental due to the short test duration and the lack of a determination as to whether mortality was due to toxicity only or whether pathogenicity contributed.
My son was exposed to the fermentation batches which were submitted to the EPA by the company as well as the wettable powder of Bacillus Subtilis Technical (QST 713). He did not wear a respirator and was told by the company “it was safeâ€.
And last, but not least I wish to reference the Netherlands, Institute of Food Safety report that was written in 2006 which clearly indicates that the ENVIRONMENTAL RELEASE OF CERTAIN GENETICALLY ENGINEERED (GE) ORGANISMS and natural organisms (or of natural origin) for the purpose of plant disease and/or insect control is being found to not be as safe as had been expected with regard to human health and the environment.
Netherlands, Institute of Food Safety report
EXCERPTS:
Appendix 2: Case study on pesticides of natural origin
M. J. Groot, G.A. Kleter
The common assumption that “natural†means safe is not always true. Some organic pesticides are non-toxic to humans, but others are as toxic, or even more toxic than many synthetic chemical pesticides. Organic pesticides may form an emerging risk due to unexpected toxicity because of intrinsic factors or due to different behavior in the environment.
In this study, two types of organic or biological pesticides are discussed: 1) pesticides based on plant extracts and 2) pesticides based on viable micro-organisms (bio-pesticides). The latter group of pesticides is formed by the bio-pesticides, which are based on living micro-organisms used for control of disease.
Moreover, the regulatory position of bio-pesticides in the EU is discussed.
Classes of biological pesticides
Sudakin (2003) divides bio-pesticides into 3 classes: 1) microbial pesticides like bacteria, fungi, algae, viruses, and protozoa; 2) genetic incorporation of DNA in plants to protect against insects; and 3) biochemical pesticides that consist of naturally occurring chemicals that are active against pests. In this review, only the first class is discussed in the section about bio-pesticides, whereas the third class is discussed in the section about pesticides based on plant extracts. The GMO-based pesticides fall beyond the scope of this review.
Introduction
The recommendations on the issue of pesticides of natural origin include:
2c) to take into account that living organisms used as biopesticides may constitute new hazards because of their ability to multiply after application.
Biopesticides
Biopesticides are an important group of pesticides that can reduce pesticide risks. In general, they have a narrow target range and a very specific mode of action, are slow-acting, have relatively critical
application times, suppress rather than eliminate a pest population, have limited field persistence and a short shelf life. Moreover, they are regarded as safer to humans and the environment than conventional pesticides and as presenting no residue problems (Dewhurst, 2001).
Mechanisms of action
Biopesticides can suppress pests like insects, weeds, and plant pathogens by producing toxins specific to the pest causing a disease, preventing establishment of other microorganisms through competition, antagonism, and hyperparasitism of certain microorganisms (Montesinos, 2003).
The most common approach is to proliferate and apply high numbers of pest antagonists or pest pathogens that directly attack the target organisms. Insect viruses, weed pathogens as herbicides, and several insect- or pathogen targeted bacteria and fungi have been tested (Gerhardson, 2002). Several of such commercial products are on the market, such as a preparation of the fungus Conithyrium minitans for pathogen sclerotia, a strain of Bacillus subtilis against fungal pathogens and, most popular, strains of Bacillus thuringienses for insect control (Gerhardson, 2002).
Another method is selective protection of the infection sites, which can overlap with the pest attacking approach. Here microorganisms are used that can colonize specific substrates or sites where they can compete for nutrients, space, or siderophore production with the pathogens (Raaijmakers et al., 1995).
Residues of biopesticides
When viable micro-organisms are used after application the organisms may grow or multiply and change morphologically or biochemically due to environmental influences. This is in contrast to non-viable residues, which decrease in time. This effect has to be monitored closely. Bio-pesticides’ unpredictable behavior in the environment may pose an emerging risk.
Discussion
Although natural pesticides are generally less toxic than synthetic compounds, unnaturally high levels of natural toxins could cause adverse effects on the environment.
Microbial bio-pesticides have a lower risk of insect resistance than chemical insecticides and their use is increasing (Sudakin, 2003). Bio-pesticides have the ability to multiply and may alter after application which may give rise to new risks. Microbial pesticides may affect the health of the consumer or people exposed to them in several ways including infectious and immunological mechanisms. These organisms are very complex and ill-understood concerning working mechanism, toxin production, specificity, and fate in the environment. This means that they may present a new type of hazard both for the environment and public health (Sudakin, 2003).
General recommendations on organic pesticides
Bio-pesticides containing living organisms may present a new type of hazard both for the environment and public health due to their ability to multiply in the environment and need further investigation.
Ms. Smith, I URGE you to carefully take into consideration what I have said in this letter when you draft a revised RULE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY REGULATIONS. The biotechnology industry is not being honest and forthright in their attempts to cover-up the real truth with regard to this field, their bread and butter so to speak.
There is much corruption and deception in the biotechnology industry and they are not being held accountable for the harm they have caused. There is no real oversight in this industry. Is the cost of lives lost and ruined, not to mention the devastating effects on the environment itself, that future generations will have to try and repair worth turning a blind eye to what is happening in this field?
Sincerely,
Sandi Trend
______________________________
For those that are interested my son was interviewed in San Francisco, the link is http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/15/18570960.php To see the video click the link under “Injured Agraquest Biotech Worker David Bell Tells His Storyâ€
I have also written an article, “The Criminal Cover-up Of Pam Marrone’s Agraquest Operation†which can be read at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/09/18569226.php THERE IS MORE COMPELLING EVIDENCE IN THE “COMMENT SECTIONâ€
Somehow, some way…. this playing God madness has to stop or we are not going to have a world fit to live in.
February 28th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Lots more avbout Monsanto here http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Monsanto
March 1st, 2009 at 6:35 am
Hi,
anybody has an english subtitle for this movie, please?
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
I am in shock seeing this video,this company should be stopped no matter what it takes.It’s greedy companys like this that ruin our world,all in the name of profit.This is just plain stupid why something more has not been done to stop this company.Just shows how terrible our world has become at the hand of companys that only care about their profit and not the advancement of mankind as a whole.Their should be some group formed with the sole purpose of stopping terrible companys like this from polluting our world.Who knows what other terrible things they are hiding our could be in the process of making right now.If this company does not answer for its actions,or take steps to fix what they have destroyed then they are nothing more the common criminals and terrorists that should be locked up.Lets hope Obama hears about this company and destroys them swiftly,with no mercy.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
CLICK: Obama Picks MONSANTO As Head of Agriculture
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:00 pm
well i guess we cant count on him then!! darn!
March 6th, 2009 at 3:37 am
Do you have an english subtitle to this film?
I was finind trough a long time but i didn’t find it!
Thank you for helping!
March 10th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I’ve put the video on my newly launched women’s activism and entrepreneurism site: The New U.S. Woman http://www.thenewuswoman.com Go to the article titled 2. “Franken Foodsâ€
March 12th, 2009 at 10:25 am
NEWSFLASH….. Monsanto To Criminalize Organic Farming ?
March 14th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I don’t know if anyone’s even mentioned this here yet as I haven’t read all the comments.
I have morgellons disease which has been linked to GMO’s, chemtrails and the like. It’s a horrifying disease and one that’s spreading worldwide at a rapid pace. So please, do all you can do to stop this abuse of mankind. It’s not an easy fight, but the more who partake, the more lives will be saved.
God bless ~~ bannanny
March 17th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Monsanto and Corporate, Jail-House, Gang Rape….
Les Visible | One of the ugliest things to be manifesting in the Obama portfolio in these first 50 days is the war against small farmers; against farmer’s markets, alternative and organic growers of produce. There’s more but I don’t…
March 17th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
[...] One of the ugliest things to be manifesting in the Obama portfolio in these first 50 days is the war against small farmers; against farmer’s markets, alternative and organic growers of produce. There’s more but I don’t want to spend my time laying out what you can get from the link. You can get some nice details in the preceding site’s forum about Congresswomen DeLauro and her husband Stan ‘the man’ Greenberg who pimps for Monsanto. And… you can learn all you need to know about Monsanto in this video. [...]
March 18th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
[...] One of the ugliest things to be manifesting in the Obama portfolio in these first 50 days is the war against small farmers; against farmer’s markets, alternative and organic growers of produce. There’s more but I don’t want to spend my time laying out what you can get from the link. You can get some nice details in the preceding site’s forum about Congresswomen DeLauro and her husband Stan ‘the man’ Greenberg who pimps for Monsanto. And… you can learn all you need to know about Monsanto in this video. [...]
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Would masses writing to our congressman about this company help?
March 30th, 2009 at 8:42 am
[...] the “Why a Monsanto Blog?†page: The title Monsanto According to Monsanto is a spoof of The World According to Monsanto, a horribly biased documentary which portrays Monsanto in a very negative light. Aside from the [...]
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:48 pm
[...] Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto Percy Schmeiser is a Canadian farmer whose fields were contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified crops, beginning a decade-long legal struggle that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. His fight for farmer’s rights to the crops that they’ve spent years creating has made him a hero to farmers and opponents of GMOs around the world. Download MP3 Related Links: Percy Schmeiser’s Website The Global Crop Diversity Trust Documentary: The World According to Monsanto [...]
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Thought you’d like to know that THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO will have it’s US TV premiere on Sundance Channel on Tuesday, May 12th at 10pm.
April 5th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Remember what Henry Kissinger once said:
‘If you control the oil you control the country; if you control food, you control the population.’
April 6th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
There is an antidote, we just have to find it.
April 14th, 2009 at 8:34 am
I would advise everyone to go to those discount stores, and buy as many varieties of seeds as they can.
We may need them when MONSANTO destroys all of our now currently available natural crops.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Click to watch: Islands at Risk: Genetic Engineering in Hawaii
April 15th, 2009 at 7:47 am
http://snardfarker.ning.com/profiles/blogs/germany-bans-cultivation-of-gm
April 15th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Not that I’m impressed a lot, but this is more than I expected for when I stumpled upon a link on Furl telling that the info is awesome. Thanks.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:45 pm
greeting from germany
i found this great site searching for an english language
version of the film. great comments too. what we hear in our media is, that the people in us love gmo. seems to be a lie.
the book to the film is out now on amazon, contains many more informations and 25! pages of sources .
http://www.amazon.de/Mit-Gift-Genen-Biotech-Konzern-ver%C3%A4ndert/dp/3421043922/ref=pd_rhf_p_img_1
this is the german language version. if interested please ask amazon for the english version, i can´t find it until now.
gmo and this corporation are the biggest threats ever for this planet with clever image campaigns.
pcb, ddt, argent orange, gmo, round up resistant monster weed and the list goes on and on. All this products campaigned harmless like sweets.
immense social consequences and uncountable tragedies later we know it better.
this criminals must be full stopped now, before it is to late.
this year mon810 is forbidden here, but monsanto gone to court for a decision until may.
we will see.
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 am
monsanto update:
‘Superweed’ explosion threatens Monsanto heartlands
Sunday 19 April 2009
“Superweeds†are plaguing high-tech Monsanto crops in southern US states, driving farmers to use more herbicides, return to conventional crops or even abandon their farms.
http://www.france24.com/en/20090418-superweed-explosion-threatens-monsanto-heartlands-genetically-modified-US-crops
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:57 am
update: good news
European Conference on GMO-free Regions, Biodiversity and Rural Development
http://www.gmo-free-regions.org
April 26th, 2009 at 4:14 am
To “healthfortheworld†and “Joaquin†and anyone else who thinks that Fox News would be a likely disseminator of truth about Monsanto, please watch this 10 minute clip from You Tube which tells the story of how reporters Steve Wilson and Jane Akre tried to tell the truth about Monsanto while they were employed by Fox and were fired for their efforts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axU9ngbTxKw&NR=1
You may also want to watch an excellent documentary by Robert Greenwald entitled “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism†I’ve seen it at Blockbuster in the past and it’s also available on Amazon.com. For reporters with the courage of their convictions when it comes to telling the truth, try asking someone like Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now!†(on LINK TV if you have satellite, or on any of the Pacific Radio Network stations) or Bill Moyers of “The Bill Moyers Journal†on PBS stations, to cover the story about Monsanto. The other way to get the word out about Monsanto is simply to send the link for viewing “The World According to Monsanto†on line to all your friends and acquaintances and ask them to pass it along to their friends and acquaintances.
According to Jeffrey Smith, author of “Genetic Roulette†9 out of 10 people surveyed say they want their food to be labeled to clearly state whether it is or is not a GMO. Monsanto defies the will and the rights of the people because it knows that 53% of people surveyed have also stated that if they knew a food was genetically modified they would not purchase it. Until our food is accurately labeled “GMO†or “Non-GMO†the best way to make sure you are eating only non-GMO food is to eat only organic foods. According to Mr. Smith, if even 5% of the population began right now to commit to eating only non-GMO foods, this would so impact the GMO food poducers bottom line that they would abandon the GM version of that food in the market place, just as they abandoned the GM tomato when the public rejected it (because it tasted like cardboard!) If the public regularly rejects GM foods, Monsanto and companies like them will have no choice but to abandon the genetically modified versions of those foods. But we have to know which foods are genetically modified in order to do that. Most people will not take the time to research the subject, which is why we have to force the issue of correctly labeling our food. Write to your congressional representative and your senators and demand accurate labeling. And tell them to vote against H.R. 875 misnamed as the “Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009″ which seeks to outlaw the selling of organic foods at farmers markets by small organic growers. This bill is being sponsored by Rep. Rosa Delauro (D – CT) whose husband has ties to Monsanto. Find out more about how to avoid GM foods on web sites such as http://www.seedsofdeception.com
April 28th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
[...] It is the most important and fundamental documentary about the future of our food system, and it is available to watch here, or can be bought here. (Also, here is a great review from Truthout.org last November.) If you [...]
May 5th, 2009 at 1:47 am
BAN PESTICIDES CHEMICALS THESE POISON OUR PLANET AND ALL THOSE OF IT – SAVE OUR BEE’S
May 13th, 2009 at 2:35 am
To post #115 on this topic, YES i saw the US premier on Sundance and was moved. Monsanto is pure greed, unadultered deception of it’s purest form, and herein is the main reason i don’t trust my own gov’t.
May 13th, 2009 at 11:33 am
To post #33, WOW, all I have to say is that it is ignorant to talk about someone working 20 years for diversity and last year’s 2008 soybean crop was 99% Monsanto’s patented Round-up Ready on America’s farm land. You say “without genetic diversity a seed company diesâ€. Since corn has been diversified in the last ten years with the Bt gene, our honeybees have died. Einstein said if we lose our honeybees, within a few years humans will die. You need to take a common sense class before you flip out your educated writings. In other words, point the barrel of the gun away from you not toward you. I agree with you there are some real concerns concerning genetic manipulation. Those concerns are not just emotional, they come in the form of colon cancer (doubling almost annually), breast cancer, honeybee die-off, and many other factual happenings. In the year 2006 millions of bushels of rice was dumped on the ground and destroyed in Arkansas and other parts of the Delta because of a few grains of unapproved GM rice making its way into the grain buying stations. This happened while many countries in the world were starving and rice was their basic food source. As for your rhetoric about the film maker, why don’t you watch the DVD “The World According to Monsanto†and realize which side of the fence you have chosen to be on. Let’s go a little further, seed is the first thing God placed on earth to sustain life. If some corporation who really loves money tampers with it enough, is it possible contaminated seed could eradicate humanity? That statement a few years ago was only in science fiction movies but now it requires serious consideration that it could happen. If I worked for Monsanto, I wouldn’t be bragging about it. Oh, one other thing I almost forgot, has the genetic researcher that you work for worked on the terminator gene which is a gene that causes a seed to abort its embryo, sending a gardener or farmer running back to the seed seller buying new seed every year at whatever price the seller wants? With patented seed on the vast majority of America’s farm land we have positioned ourselves one year away from famine should your “genetic diversity†go bad, all for the LOVE OF MONEY. Bye.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Greetings. I have shown this movie and several others to our entire assembly. We are outraged at how corrupt our country has become. England will not allow these vial products in their food. I am thinking about starting a community outreach in order to educate the public in our city. I think many are sleeping when it comes to this kind of truth, but I would like to do whatever I can to help future generations to eat and live as God intended.
Our entire assembly is now making the switch from any GMO’s. It is a hardship we should not have to endure. May God judge Monsanto and anyone who has knowingly aided their cause!
-Pastor John
May 19th, 2009 at 9:15 am
For anyone who wants to watch The World According to Monsanto, it has been airing on the Sundance Channel periodically. The scariest thing about Monsanto is that so few people even know it exists, which is exactly what it wants. Tell everyone you know about this movie. We have to get the word out!!
May 27th, 2009 at 10:53 am
That stupid argument about going back to the days of the horse and buggy is one of the same arguments Monsanto used in the ’50’s against any argument that DDT could be dangerous. Does Monsanto have some big stupid list on the wall of arguments that they like the best?
What we really want is for the chemical companies( and drug companies) to stop lying and covering up all kinds of crap we would want to know, so we can weigh the risks for ourselves. We have that right even though monsanto doesn’t think we do. I think if they say some chemical is perfectly safe, they should be strictly liable for any damages caused by it, just as tort law has been centuries. Such as if you claim to have a kitty cat in your basement, but you’re lying and it’s a tiger, and it gets out whether it’s your fault it gets out or not, you’re responsible for any injuries or damages the tiger causes. I’m a little off there on the tort law, but it’s how I feel.
May 27th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I also have it posted in these two locations: http://alexjonesbackupshow.blip.tv/ and http://www.youtube.com/user/MrSilencemenot
May 31st, 2009 at 10:19 am
The movie can be bought at this link: http://www.seedsofdeception.com They have the only right to sell it in the USA from what I heard. They charge 19.95 and give discounts for group orders. The American Amazon store sells it for almost 90 dollars!!! Join the seeds of deception website and organic consumers org we need to spread the word!! And also, I bet you that “Mike†guy is the same one that works for the company. LOL The spys are everywhere. They pray that we will remain stupid…prove them wrong. peace out
May 31st, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Thanks to pastor John (from post #130).
Also Pat Robertson and the Christian Broadcasting Network are taking on MSG, Aspartame, and food additives in general:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8jbskdLTwM&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16Ng3w2aI5g&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkHpkwJxoxM&NR=1
If such different voices as the CBN and Bill Maher are warning the public against the dangers of our unnatural nutrition, maybe there is some hope.
May 31st, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Honeybee (post #129), I agree that Holy Cow’s post #33 is so hypocritical it is almost funny. She is all for genetic variety, but her idea of variety includes no natural varieties, just as many varieties as her and her colleagues can engineer.
June 5th, 2009 at 11:08 am
I have written to President Obama… but unfortunately, no response. He appointed Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack – who is a Strong Supporter of Genetically Engineered Food & Crops – and paid by Monsanto.
One world order, the president knows about it and could care less. I wonder if his children walk and play in the crops and will ever be sick.
June 8th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Somebody can extract the ENGLISH SUBTITLE from the original DVD? I would like to use it to translate some other languages!
Please help me!
June 9th, 2009 at 1:30 am
It was aired last night by the Greek National Television Channel. Although they aired it quite late, from around 11:45 pm till after 01:30 am, I’m sure a lot of people have watched it.
It is an amazing documentary, quite astonishing. It’s a pitty US folks won’t be able to watch it. I thought that the US people were more active and dynamic about such serious matters, but apparently they are not.
It’s a shame that a single US company has such tremendous power, that even stops documentaries from airing in 2009, in a free world democracy.
Wake up US!! Wake UP!! Rise to the streets….They have made you headless and thoughtless…I’m sure US people can do better than that!
June 9th, 2009 at 7:41 am
STOP THIS EVIL COMPANY BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!!!!!!!!!
June 9th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
The movie can be bought at this link: http://www.seedsofdeception.com They have the only right to sell it in the USA from what I heard. They charge 19.95 and give discounts for group orders. The American Amazon store sells it for almost 90 dollars!!! Join the seeds of deception website and organic consumers org we need to spread the word!! The Local kid on the corner will make you copies for about a dollar if you buy the blank dics then GIVE THEM AWAY. GET ON EVERY SOCIAL NETWORK YOU KNOW AND MENTION THIS. CALL OPRAH….PBS….
June 14th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
the reason this evil is allowed until today is proof that there are more evil doers on earth than good doers.
The good people must take matters in their own hands to UNITE not to talk write or complain but to take action against this enemy. Destroying it overnight make them all drink their poisons for weeds burnt alive and the courts and politicians who side with monsanto those too get t hem out and let them drink a potion of their own wrong doing. If we are to die by billions when there will not be any food left to eat that is safe this rich bastards will fly out into the moon or outerspace stations where they grow good seed and they will live such evil must be destroyed before they poison all our planet.
June 15th, 2009 at 8:05 am
We need to vote out any “representatives†who embrace this company, and vote in anyone who respects the rights of farmers and growers.
June 16th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
So sad, no wonder why people are so sick these day’s!
June 18th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Percy Schmeiser is well known in his neighbourhood and they all know a lot of what is said about him is a farce. He was elevated by the greenpeace and the anti gmo crowd. From someone in the know he was guilty plain and simple. His defense was all complete crap.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Found a new video link – let’s keep the pressure up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axU9ngbTxKw&feature=player_embedded
June 18th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
I farm in Saskatchewan. Some facts. Our cinderella crop has been Canola. 95 percent of the Canola we grow is now genetically modified. There is another company that has another patent on a different gene that allows it to be sprayed with Liberty chemical. Monsanto does not controle the seed, other companies pay monsanto a royalty fee for using the Roundup resistant gene because they have the patent on the gene. Us farmers here eat what we grow.
Bee keepers love to put their bees onto our canola. The bees thrive on the canola. Liberty and Glyphosate(round up) has a lower mammalian toxicity than the chemicals we used to use before our canola was genetically modified. There are no super weeds. The bees are happier in the gm canola than the conventional canola grown before. Same goes for earth worms. Our fields are now loaded with earthworms. I grow a specialty oil canola genetically modified to be healthier to us. Some uses glyphosate some uses liberty. Remember them chemicals are lower toxicity than what was used before and bees are thriving on it, and earthworms are thriving in the soils more than before, in fact all of wildlife is thriving here, we have various deer, geese, ducks, birds of all kinds, give them nesting sites and they will come and be happy, we have mice, gophers, badgers, fox, coyote, moles, ants, all variety of bugs, mosquitos, flies, insects.
I am not saying that monsanto is a great company they do have some very bad past, I am somewhat sad to see us farmers getting dragged down with the likes of people that give scare mongering because corporations are big and a lot of it is just that scare mongering. I don’t think glyphosate should be dragged into the debate about monsantos past. Like everything monsanto has ever done is bad, and will always be bad. Has anyone on here ever grown a garden? The best food you will ever eat will only and can only come from your very own garden. Most fresh foods cannot be stored and transported very far. Hence the foods you consumers eat are grown on larger scale farms one reason is that you buy the cheapest. The large supermarkets like to sell varieties that store better and transport easier not neccessarily taste better. The small trucker that delivers fresh produce is out of business because the consumer cannot get off their fat ass and purchase from them or pay the price it costs to deliver fresh tasty produce. Consumers don’t pay the cost of fresh produce and would also rather eat chips, dip, sodas, all that other crap. I think the first place one should cater to ones health is to eat healthier, get proper excersize, do home cooking, grow a garden, learn where you food comes from, purchase locally, visit the market gardens, don’t freak out if local cost double or more.
June 18th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
To Honeybee #129
The true cause of world honey bee population decline.
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/PDFs/Varroa_Mites_PMP1.pdf
Anyone here ever talk to a bee keeper, I would suggest you do. Hey does anyone even know that you can actually purchase Honey from Buckwheat? Honey from organic? Honey from Borage?
Try it, try to taste the difference, talk about it. Say thankyou to your next encounter with your friendly honey bee.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
To number 125 you comment gm tomatoes tasted bad. Perhaps you had a bad tomato hehe. This is why store bought tomatoes don’t taste as good as home grown, it is because they are picked too green and then just before being put on the store shelf they are put into Ethylene gas chambers to artificially induce color. Read this.
http://homecooking.about.com/od/howtocookvegetables//a/hydroponictoms.htm
GM tomatoes actually tasted better because they produced less of the substance that causes them to rot. Allowing them to stay on the vine longer and ripen naturally. Read this, scroll down to tomatoes.
http://www.bionetonline.org/English/Content/ff_cont3.htm
June 18th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
To #123 “Oh my God†Do you ever wonder why some of these outrageous false articles come out in a country not of the origin of the issue? For your education no farmers are abandoning their farms in your great USA. In your article also the Pigweed infestation was indicated to have been caused by cross pollination which is false. We also have Pigweed in my location, it will produce 10 to 50 thousand seeds if left unchecked. That is normal it is not a super weed. Super in that it produces so many seeds but that is how it survives and it has always done that. The seeds do have a short life in that they must almost entirely germinate withing the first 2 years or they become unviable or unable to germinate ever. Roundup never was a good control of this weed so escapes from chemical control happened and because these farmers rotated from Roundup Soybeans to Roundup cotton they soon had a problem. They solved the problem by rotating to The Genetically Modified Liberty chemical resistant variety of cotton that is not patented by your hated Monsanto but a different company , figure that one out. Liberty the same low mamallian toxicity chemical that I use for growing Canola solved their problem. Jesus Christ they are not abandoning their farms.
http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/FSA-2152.pdf
June 19th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
It seems to me that if MONSANTO is not the “evil†company we know it to and not worried about it’s true nature becoming public knowledge than we should be able to see this documentary on any corporate owned station in the USA. It should not cost almost 90 dollars on Amazon and 19.95 on the http://www.seedsofdeception.com .
As the corporate farms continue to wallow in the poison of the pesticides and get massive kickbacks to grow gmo corn and soy (among others) MONSANTO dreams of owning the food chain and plans to chip your farm animals. I will not buy your gmo food and we will not use your gmo corn and soy for fuel. Hemp makes more sense and it grows just fine with out rows and a lot of diseases.
Did anyone ever read THE SHADOW OF THE SWATISKA – THE ELKHORN MANIFESTO ? Check it out here: http://www.hempfarm.org/Papers/Shadow_of_the_Swastika.html You will see the history behind this push to petrol and see why MONSANTO owned corn and soy is being billed as the panacea for our energy woes. These bio tech pirates want to own the food chain and dream of a trans genetic world.
Why would I believe the transnational biotec corporations that told us the DDT, PCB’s are ok, agent orange is a myth etc.
The website http://www.organicconsumers.org is a good place to look at these issues as is http://www.ifg.org
Considering more and more people are going organic it is no wonder that people from the corporate are trying to infiltrate and skew the knowledge base of the people that know when they see it on the internet. Even Prince Charles has come out against GMO foods. Obama’s wife started an organic garden ….I think she caught some flack for that too.
Bees were doing just fine until we introduced GMO organisms into the food system.
Funny we now have to import them from countries that do not have restricted GMO’s.
A sea of disease and unhealthy food eventually leading to the downfall of us all is the end product of MONSANTO and companies like them. Don’t buy there crap and tell all your friends about this documentary and make copies and give them away. Make this topic one we see on national television. Go Viral
IT IS NOT NICE TO FOOL MOTHER NATURE
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
oh farmer, please…
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/roundup-weed-killer-is-toxic-to-human-cells.-study-intensifies-debate-over-inert-ingredients
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:24 pm
The organic consumer website was nice to go through.
Johnathan interesting that your link talked about the Glyphosate not being harmful but the surfactant that is mixed in it is harmful. A surfactant that can be used on certified organic farms. Not sure about their studies about the lawn rate because if you spray roundup on the lawn it would kill it so I would read with a lot of skepticism. They don’t actually state rates and how humans come into contact with the chemical because as far as I know after spraying roundup there is no residual activity, its effects on plants are on contact only and only the at the time of use. About the tadpoles that is very plausible and us farmers do not spray over water either and we still have an abundance of frogs here, all chemical labels state not to spray over water bodies.
Just some history of how we use chemicals on the farm compared to just 10 years ago. We use GPS to reduce overlap and over application. We use low drift nozzles that produce a more consistant droplet size, to put the chemical on the target and not into the air. We use better protective clothing when applying and use it. I would not let a pregnant woman to have any contact. They are poisons all of them but vary in toxicity. You know 25 years ago we used to hold flag poles at the ends of the fields while the spray plain went back and forth. We held our breath for a bit of course. The plane is not used much here. Ground applicators can cut threw a crop just as well now.
Years ago when the settlers broke up the land they did not have many weeds, cultivation, harrowing was all that was needed. In time plants from other countries were brought over and some local plants became problems. Chemicals solved the problem in the early years but applications, use, and rates were inconsistent. Without them we cannot grow a crop of wheat, barely , canola etc here. There are organic farmers who have tried but I cannot actually see a successful one. One strip of missed chemical can reduce the yields up to 90 percent. We continuous crop here now and I think that is when our earthworms have increased. We don’t sommerfallow or till like the organic growers do so we don’t have a problem with erosion anymore. Reduced tillage and also reduced weed growth to reduce chemicals. Also the reduced tillage also made our ground into a carbon sink. It stores carbon to reduce the greenhouse effect. We can produce very healthy crops here compared to places that have air pollution or water their crops with polluted waters like in China.
June 24th, 2009 at 5:12 am
Farmer it’s nice that you enjoy working for Monsanto,But as a indepent farmer i work for my self and the people i feed.As a dairy farmer i seen the damage gmo can do so please feel free to eat your produce. I need to get back to work
June 24th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
On March 23, 2009 my article, “The Future of Our Food has only just begun†was promoted to Headline at the following oped news:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/THE-FUTURE-OF-OUR-FOOD-HAS-by-Sandi-Trend-090323-900.html
In this article I wrote, “Additionally, live bacteria and fungus are being used (bio-control) for eradication of crop diseases; i.e.; fungus, bacteria, as well as used for insect control.â€
I also wrote, “WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH OUR FOOD AND OUR SAFETY?†I find it most disturbing, given the numerous outbreaks of e-coli and salmonella, that the EPA’s, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division preprinted Form; 8570-6 states:
“After fermentation and prior to further processing, each batch must be tested for the following microbial contaminants and have levels below those listed.â€
E. coli Coliform Bacteria
Salmonella
Shigella
Staphlococci
Vibrio
Yeast
Mold
We all know that spinach, lettuce, tomato’s, peppers, peanuts and now alfalfa have been invaded by E-coli and Salmonella. ALL of these crops have had biological (bio-control) products used on them.
Altho this is certainly not the complete article I suggest it be read if you are interested.
Now, isn’t it obvious that what is being sprayed on our crops and used for insect control is also being fed to cows? This would account for the recent e-coli believed to the the culprit of the the contaminated Toll House Cookies.
(You may want to also review my comments about WHAT COMPELLED me to write the article, The Future of Our Food Has Only Just Begun With Biotechnologyâ€
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/29/18584405.php)
Also, in 1999 the company my son worked submitted to the EPA for approval for registration of one of their products. The EPA only gave them a CONDITIONAL TIME LIMITED registration as it was CONTAMINATED. (please refer to comment #17, #42). You can read the EPA document at http://biotechawareness.com/images/conditional_registration_aq_qst_713_2000_copy.pdf
People, biocontrol products are LIVE bacteria and fungus that are being put on food and used for insect control. You will be surprised as to the low percentage of the active ingredient (what is LISTED as being the bacteria and/or fungus that TARGETS THE CROP DISEASE and/or INSECT. No one knows what the higher INERT INGREDIENTS are as biotech companies say this is “trade secretsâ€
I can only reference the products on the market from the company my son worked for I wish to point out that these “active ingredients†are also listed as CHEMICALS by the EPA:
VARIOUS STRAINS OF FUNGUS:
40.0% UNKNOWN: 60.0%
1.38% UNKNOWN: 98.62%
0.35% UNKNOWN: 99.65%
VARIOUS STRAINS OF BACTERIA
4.6% UNKNOWN: 85.40%
14.6% UNKNOWN: 85.32%
10.0% UNKNOWN: 90.00%
2.10% UNKNOWN: 97.90%
1.42% UNKNOWN: 98.58%
1.34% UNKNOWN: 98.66%
0.35% UNKNOWN: 99.65%
0.07% UNKNOWN: 99.93%
Now last, biocontrol products ARE BEING MANUFACTURED in MEXICO! This is the case with the company where my son worked. These products are then shipped from Mexico to all parts of the world.
GMO’s are not the only problem here.
Sincerely,
Sandi Trend
June 25th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Lots of breaking news on Monsanto, Codex Alimentarius, and other issues related to our toxic food supply can be found at http://www.sweetremedy.tv
The point of the movie ‘Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World’ was to find out whether claims of aspartame’s effects were true or “conspiracy theoryâ€. 7000 miles of travel and face-to-face talks with the players sheds a lot of light on this subject.
This documentary and it’s sequel, ‘Sweet Remedy’ are brilliant sources of information on aspartame, msg, and the excesses and illegalities of the FDA.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:05 am
the person or persons on this site calling himself “farmer†is obviously linked to monsanto and is trying and hopefully not succeeding to discredit this film.
June 27th, 2009 at 2:02 am
(just in case my last comment didn’t go through)
I agree with organic farmer! Does anyone know how to get this site to have a banner to http://www.seedsofdeception.com which is the ONLY place to buy the film in the usa as far as i know.
Check it out and let me know!
thanks!
June 27th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
No I am not connected in any way to Monsanto other than I purchase a few of their products. That does not mean I work for them as Pete says. As a farmer I work for myself and I am only a one lone farmer that speaks for myself and what I believe in. See how easily journalists and out of work professors and a few reject farmers etc. can put together an article like “World According to Monsanto†or worse yet Mbunnies “Shadow of the Swaticka†in a recent post. I am sure “Green Peace is going to make Billions do you people really believe everything they do? The origional founder of Grean Peace did quit the organization because they became too big pushy and don’t listen to scientific facts as they get their funds from public fear mongering. They do just as much harm in the world as good according to me.
Organic farmer I think the big threat is how our meats get raised in the big corporate barns that we now have and I do like to purchase from the small guy and am happy to purchase and consume meats that have been raised at least partially free ranged out doors. We are at the beginnings of a new H1N1 threat as to the amount of new cases in the last couple days, that is real news, not this Monsanto taking over the worlds food crap.
June 27th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Hmmmmm, how did Marie Monique Robin create this film?
To learn more go to.
http://blog.monsantoblog.com/2009/04/06/marie-monique-robin-and-me/
All she did was google on the computor and used what she thought would be good for her Thesis. Interviewed people and used only what including partial statements to make them support her Thesis. All I know is when you use an elevated nieghbour(Shmieser) of mine to international creditation and go on to state that the use of Glyphosate is worse than what we had before then there is something sereiously wrong with your film. There is so many things wrong with this film I don’t know where to turn. This woman is a film maker and she knows where the money is.
June 27th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Sorry I cannot shut up here.
Ok all you Monsanto destructors!
Remember all those farmer suicides in India?
Perhaps you should check out when they increased!
Perhaps you should check out when they decreased!
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/bline/2005/04/07/stories/2005040701600700.htm
Interesting to note, all of India’s cotton is now biotech, perhaps the farmers that did not adopt the technology because of Greenpeace and the like are all dead now.
Slap that on your tombstone.
June 27th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
well mr. FARMER
you say you are a farmer in saskatchewan.i am an organic farmer in saskatchewan.let’s set up a time and place to meet to discuss this face to face.i already know you’ll decline because you are in no way connected to agriculture in saskatchewan.the only way you’ll prove to me and the people on this site is to meet and let’s visit your farm,your welcome to visit mine anytime.i am not a member of greenpeace or any other organization,i am an honest farmer trying to produce healthy food for the world.
as to you trying to discredit this film and the writer and author,monsanto would have already had muti-million dollar lawsuits launched to discredit the film and people who made it.since you are so smart farmer,where is cancer coming from???????? the answer is in the film.
June 27th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Dear Farmer,
you are one big hypocrite: you buy your meats from the small “free range†rancher but you want us to eat your pesticide-ecoli-metylbromyde-dioxane tainted crap.
Why don’t you eat it yourself.
Dude we are concerned with preserving our food, before it is replaced by whatever it is that plants are turning into. We are not into it for the money or because we have been brainwashed by Greenpeace or by “greedy documentaristsâ€, if you have been reading the posts you might have noticed that most of us had already found out the hard way that this way of farming based on chemicals and genetic engineering gives us crap that makes us sick (boil an egg for 15 minutes, or cook your green onions so you don’t get the shits might be good for you but not for me) and what is worse cross pollinates non GE crops so that soon we won’t have a choice.
If you are really a farmer and grow GE stuff you might be sore about us criticising your crops, but please understand that you are contributing to destroying our food supply and replacing it with junk.
June 27th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
mr.Farmer
i use no surfactents on my farm whatsoever.i use only certified organic seed from my own farm with no additives,no surfactents,no seed treatments.i grow my own nitrogen with peas and sweet clover with no use of any additives. so you are WRONG about that one.surfactants are no allowed on organic farms.when we meet,that’s a joke as you’ll never agree to meet,i’ll bring the very very short list of what we are allowed.
June 27th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
mr.FARMER
you seem to be trying to get everyone on here to go to different web sites by suppling the web page with a click of the mouse.who’s feeding you these websites,monsanto right.because right now if your a farmer in saskatchewan,you haven’t got time to be on the computer.you would be out in the field spraying your crops like every other conventional farmer in saskatchewan.
June 28th, 2009 at 12:02 am
So Mr. organic farmer where did Cancer come from 10 years ago or 50 years ago when we didn’t know what people were dying from?, what do you use for fertilizers?
So you use plow downs to add nutrients. any time you take a crop off a field you have to replace the nutrients it removes. Under organic standards what do you do to replace phosphate and sulpher?
Organic man perhaps you can give your name on this site to all the people that would like to buy from you. I will challenge you that you will not because your farm is so full of bullshit your suffocating and cannot get out.
June 28th, 2009 at 12:32 am
I guess I am on the defensive here.
Potatoe bug. I do not grow ecoli, methybromide, dioxane tainted crap. Those chemicals are not used in the production of crops, fact. You talk pesticides? Pesticides are a broad term used for the anything that is a pest weed or insect in crop production even organic.
Potatoe shit head , we eat eggs soft in the center, that is the way to eat eggs. I love vegetables uncooked, what the fuck are you talking about. No one is destroying your food supply. If you want it us farmers will produce it. Talk to organic farmer if you want if that makes you feel good. I bet he won’t give his name out to the world.
June 28th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Organic farmer how can someone meet with such a shithead as you? By your post you have no intention of listening of talking reason. How do you grow your own nutrients ? now is the time to tell the world. N comes from the atmosphere and can be put into the ground with a plow down or a crop that can convert its own. Explain to everyone how you add other nutrients to the ground to grow your organic crops. Explain how your crops are fumigated with more toxic pesticides to control insects in bulk product. I was at the warehouse fumigating the organic produce that left for market as organic.
June 28th, 2009 at 12:52 am
Organic farmer you guys have two companies set up one to purchase products you are not allowed to use and the other to show organic standards what good stewards you are.
June 28th, 2009 at 7:41 am
READ THIS PLEASE
The Vancouver Statement
On the Globalization and Industrialization of Agriculture
June 1998
We believe that the industrialization and globalization of food and fiber imperils humanity and the natural world. Reducing farming to a monocultural, synthetic, transnational corporate business threatens the health, nourishment, right livelihood, and spirituality of communities and the earth. It is insane to believe that we must poison land and water and waste the soil in order to feed and clothe ourselves. Five decades of the so-called Green Revolution have not only led to the destruction and contamination of water, soil, biodiversity, and human communities, but exacerbated hunger worldwide. One of the most critical impacts of industrial agriculture is climate change, which will destroy the natural basis of agriculture itself. The patenting of life, corporate ownership and manipulation of our genetic heritage is one of the greatest threats ever imposed by industrial agriculture: the human right to feed, clothe and shelter ourselves and our families is at stake. Institutions and treaties such as the World Trade Organization, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Codex Alimentarius, North American Free Trade Agreement, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the European Union have accelerated the process of agricultural industrialization and globalization while promoting the rights of corporations over those of people.
We know that there are non-toxic and non-destructive alternatives to global industrial agriculture, and we know that these alternatives can provide more food. Farmers around the world are farming in ways that respect their unique ecological and cultural communities. Building on their wisdom, all farms of the twenty-first century can be ecologically regenerative, community sustaining, biologically and culturally diverse, as well as energy conserving. We must not only build upon the existing knowledge and vision of farmers, but we must expand partnerships and create coalitions that serve to re-empower them.
In order to rescue our food system, we need more skilled farmers who have access to land, seed, and the knowledge of local biological systems. Also essential to a healthy food system, is clean land, air, water and soil and the right to save seeds to ensure future harvests.
Scientific organizations and transnational corporations that are experimenting with, and releasing poisons, synthetic compounds and genetically modified organisms into the biosphere should be held fully accountable for the safety of their practices and products. Corporations, scientists and governments should honor the precautionary principle and take preventive action in the face of scientific uncertainty in order to avoid cultural and ecological harm.
We affirm, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that the right to food is sacred. The right to food transcends basic nutrition and hunger and includes the right to produce one’s own food. We also affirm that consumers have the right to know where their food comes from, what is in it, and how it was produced. Furthermore, farmers and consumers have a right to maintain local control over food production, distribution and consumption.
Our bodies, our plants and animals, our air, water, land, and soil, are not commodities and are not patentable. When a food production system violates the rights of citizens and the natural order of the planet’s ecosystems, it is essential that we the people make use of our inalienable freedom to correct those abuses.
We stand united on these points.
Vancouver Statement Signatories
Hal Hamilton, Center for Sustainable Systems, US
Ronnie Cummins, Pure Food Campaign, US
Tim Lang, Centre for Food Policy, U.K.
Carolyn Raffensperger, Science and Environmental Health Network, US
Cândido Gryzbowski, IBASE, Brazil
Mark Ritchie, Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy, US
Victor Suárez Carrero, ANEC (Asociacion Nacional de Empresas Comercializadoras Campesinas), Mexico
Alejandro Rojas, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Canada
Steve Shrybman, West Coast Environmental Law Association, Canada
José A. Lutzenberger, Fundaçáo Gaia, Brazil
Miguel Altieri, University of California – Berkeley, US
Jeanot Minla Mfou’ou, Agriculture Peasant & Modernization Network, Cameroon
Herb Barbolet and Kathleen Gibson, Farm Folk/City Folk, Canada
Helena Norberg-Hodge, International Society for Ecology and Culture, U.K./US
Carolyn Mugar, Farm Aid, US
Gregor Robertson, Happy Planet Foods, Canada
Mika Iba, Network for Safe and Secure Food and Environment, Japan
Sigmund Kvaloy, Setreng Insitute for Ecophilosophy, Norway
Will Allen, Sustainable Cotton Project, US
Professor Nanjunda Swamy, Karnataka Farmers’ Union, India
Franco Adriano Werlang, Fundaçáo Gaia, Brazil
Lori Ann Thrupp, World Resources Institute, US
Monica Moore, Pesticide Action Network- North America, US
Nancy Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farm, Inc., US
Wendell Berry, Lanes Landing Farm, US
Moura Quayle, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Canada
Andrew Kimbrell, International Center for Technology Assessment, US
Jerry Mander, Public Media Center, US
Kate Duesterberg, University of Vermont – Center for Sustainable Agriculture, US
Brewster Kneen, “The Ram’s Horn,†Canada
Cathleen Kneen, “The Ram’s Horn,†Canada
June 28th, 2009 at 7:47 am
CFS, 660 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 302
Washington, DC 20003 USA
tel: 800.600.6664 email: info@...
website: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
SEVEN DEADLY MYTHS AND FACTS
ABOUT HUNGER
MYTH 1:
Industrial agriculture and free trade will feed the world.
TRUTH:
World hunger is not created by lack of food but by poverty and landlessness which deny people access to food.
Industrial agriculture—i.e., large-scale, corporate-run, export-oriented monoculture farming—and free trade
agreements actually increase hunger by raising the cost of farming, forcing millions of farmers off the land, and
by growing primarily high-profit export and luxury crops rather than food for local people to eat. The United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has found that it is abundance, not scarcity, that best
describes the world’s food supply. Every year, enough wheat, rice, and other grains are produced to provide
every human with 3,500 daily calories. In fact, enough food is grown worldwide to provide 4.3 pounds of food
per person per day, which would include two and a half pounds of grain, beans, and nuts, a pound of fruits and
vegetables, and nearly another pound of meat, milk, and eggs.
As the World Health Organization explains, “Hunger is a question of maldistribution and inequality—not lack of
food.â€
One reason 800 million people go hungry every day is food dependence. As changes in industrial agriculture—
including biotechnology—and international trade agreements dramatically increase the costs of farming and corporate
consolidation, tens of millions of the world’s farmers find themselves in a situation of spending more in
production costs, yet receiving less income. Millions lose their land, their ability to grow their own food and
their income. As corporate-agribusiness takes over, exports may boom while hunger continues unabated or actually
worsens. Export crop production and current trade rules squeeze out basic local food production and local
farmers. The result is more landlessness, more migration to cities, more poverty and more hunger.
MYTH 2:
Industrial food is healthier than traditionally grown food.
TRUTH:
Industrial agriculture contaminates our vegetables and fruits with pesticides, slips dangerous bacteria into our lettuce,
and puts genetically engineered (GE) growth hormones into our milk. As the industrialization of the food
supply progresses, we are witnessing an explosion in human health risks and a significant decrease in the nutritional
value of our meals. A central component of the industrialized food system is the large-scale introduction
of toxic chemicals, which shows no signs of decreasing. Cancer is the primary concern associated with toxic
dependency. Cancer risk affects not only consumers, but also farmers, field hands, and migrant workers.
Industrialized food production has resulted in a rise in food-borne illnesses. Researchers from the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) estimate that food-borne pathogens now infect up to 80 million people a year and cause
over 9,000 deaths in the United States alone. This increase is largely due to the industrialization of poultry and
livestock production and the confinement of food animals in inhumane and overly crowded conditions. Another
factor is the use of antibiotics in farm animal production, which may be accelerating antibiotic resistance exhibited
by dangerous pathogens. When confronted with the health crisis their food has caused, the purveyors of
IFG, 1009 General Kennedy Avenue, #2
San Francisco, CA 94129 USA
tel: 415.561.7650 email: ifg@...
website: http://www.ifg.org
CFS, 660 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 302
Washington, DC 20003 USA
tel: 800.600.6664 email: info@...
website: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
internat ional
forum on
globa l i zat ion
industrialized food assure us that new industrial technologies will fix everything. Irradiating food is one example.
Studies have shown that consuming irradiated meat can cause DNA damage, resulting in abnormalities in laboratory
animals and their offspring. Irradiation may also destroy essential vitamins and nutrients and can make food
taste and smell rancid.
MYTH 3:
Industrial food is cheaper than traditionally grown food and
therefore more accessible.
TRUTH:
If you added the real cost of industrial food—its health, environmental, and social costs—to the current supermarket
price, not even our wealthiest citizens could afford to buy it. We expend tens of billions of dollars in
taxes, medical expenses, toxic clean-ups, insurance premiums, and other pass-along costs to subsidize industrial
food producers. Given the ever-increasing health, environmental, and social destruction involved in industrial
agriculture, the real price of this food production for future generations is incalculable.
Environmental Costs: Intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers seriously pollutes our water, soil, and air. Animal factories
in the U.S. produce 1.3 billion tons of manure each year. Laden with chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones,
the manure leaches into rivers and water tables, polluting drinking supplies and killing fish. The overuse of
chemicals and machines on industrial farms erodes away the topsoil; the U. S. has lost half of its topsoil since
1960. The food on an average American’s plate now travels at least 1,300 miles from the field to the dinner table.
This long-distance transport of industrial food exacerbates air and water pollution problems.
Health Costs: The human health costs of consuming industrial foods include food-borne illnesses, cancer (due to
the use of pesticides, hormones, and other chemical inputs) and obesity and heart disease (due to industrial fastfood
diets). Farmworkers themselves suffer acute pesticide poisoning, and, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, work in one of the most accident-prone industries in the United States.
Loss of Farms and Communities: The dislocation of millions of farmers and thousands of farm communities does not
appear in the usual food cost calculations. Seventy years ago there were nearly 7 million American farmers. Today,
after the onslaught of industrial agriculture, there are only about 2 million, even though the U.S. population has
doubled. Current costs associated with industrial food and agriculture do not include welfare and other government
payments to ex-farmers and farmworkers driven into poverty.
Tax Subsidies: U.S. taxpayers pay billions of dollars in government subsidies to industrial agriculture. Price supports,
price “fixing,†tax credits, and product promotions are all forms of “welfare†for agribusiness. These subsidies add
almost $3 billion to the “hidden†costs of foods to consumers.
MYTH 4:
Industrial agriculture is more efficient and therefore will
feed more people.
TRUTH:
Small farms typically achieve at least four to five times greater output per acre than large farms. Moreover, larger,
less diverse farms require far more mechanical and chemical inputs. These ever-increasing inputs are devastating
to the environment and make these farms far less efficient than smaller, more sustainable farms. Studies show that
smaller farms are more productive than larger farms, in part because small farmers work their land more intensively
and use integrated, and often more sustainable, production systems. As farms get larger, the costs of production
per unit often increase because larger acreage requires more expensive machinery and more chemicals to
protect crops. Moreover, the large monocultures used in industrial farming undermine the genetic integrity of
crops, making them more susceptible to diseases and pests (thus requiring greater use of pesticides).
Smaller farms tend to use a method known as “intercropping,†or mixing plant crops. Smaller farms are more likely
to rotate or combine crops and livestock, with resulting composted manure used to replenish soil fertility.
These small-scale integrated farms produce far more per unit area than large farms. Though the yield per unit
area of one crop (e.g., corn) may be lower, the total output per unit area for small farms, often composed of
more than a dozen crops and numerous animal products, is virtually always higher than that of larger farms.
MYTH 5:
Biotechnology will solve the problems of industrial agriculture.
TRUTH:
New biotech crops will not solve industrial agriculture’s problems, but will compound them and consolidate control
of the world’s food supply into the hands of a few large corporations. Biotechnology will destroy biodiversity
and food security, and drive self-sufficient farmers off their land.
Will Biotechnology Feed the World?: Industrial agriculture has relentlessly pushed the myth that biotechnology
will conquer world hunger. However, the hunger problem facing the world lies not with the amount of food
being produced, but rather with how this food is distributed. If biotech corporations really wanted to feed the
hungry, they would encourage land reform, which puts farmers back on the land, and push for wealth redistribution,
which would allow the poor to buy food.
As for genetic engineering being an answer to world hunger, that too is just another fallacy, and rather could be
a major contributor to starvation. Patents on seeds that are now genetically engineered by biotech corporations
are made to produce a sterile seed after a single growing season, ensuring that the world’s farmers cannot save
their seed and instead will have to buy from corporations every season. More than half of the world’s farmers
rely on saved seeds; should sterile seeds escape from the engineered crop and contaminate non-GE local crops,
unintentionally sterilizing them, mass starvation could result.
Will Biotechnology Protect the Earth?: The idea that biotechnology is beneficial to the environment centers on the
myth that it will reduce pesticide use by creating plants resistant to insects and other pests. In actuality, a study in
2000 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that there is no overall reduction in pesticide use with GE crops.
Will Biotechnology Produce Safe Food?: According to even U.S. government scientists, the genetic engineering of foods
could make safe food toxic. GE foods may contain both old and new allergens, which could create serious reactions
in millions of consumers. Biotech foods can also have lower nutritional values. What makes these risks even
more alarming is that the U.S. government requires no mandatory safety testing or labeling of any GE foods.
Is Biotechnology Cheap and Efficient?: Biotech companies have spent billions of dollars researching the effects of creating
transgenic organisms such as inserting fish genes into tomatoes. To date, biotechnology has yet to bring to
market a single product that actually benefits consumers yet it passes on the enormous costs of their research.
Is “Golden Rice†the Answer?: Golden rice is named for its slightly orange color, due to the incorporation of a daffodil
gene that can produce beta-carotene, a nutrient humans can convert into vitamin A. Because vitamin A deficiency
contributes to blindness and infectious diseases among the poor in developing countries, this rice was aggressively
advertised as a miracle grain. An analysis of industry data shows that in order for those most vulnerable to blindness,
infants, to get enough vitamin A from breast milk, their mothers would have to consume almost (39.6) 40
pounds of cooked rice per day. Similarly, an adult male would need to eat 18 pounds of cooked golden rice to
meet his daily vitamin A requirement. In other words, if golden rice were simply substituted for a daily diet of
conventional white rice, a child or adult would receive only eight percent of their daily vitamin-A requirement.
Even so, the body can only convert beta-carotene into vitamin A if adequate amounts of fat and protein are also
part of the diet. Generally speaking, malnourished people, by definition, lack fat and protein in their diets.
Nutritional deficits can be easily and cheaply corrected with a more varied diet. Green leafy vegetables, oranges,
and red palm oil all are high in vitamin A. So, why pursue Golden Rice? Because 90 percent of the world’s rice is
grown and consumed in Asia, making this part of the world a vast and potentially profitable market for a GE version
of the crop.
MYTH 6:
Nature is to Blame for Hunger
TRUTH:
Human-made forces are making people increasingly vulnerable to nature’s vagaries. Food is always available for
those who can afford it—starvation during hard times hits only the poorest. Millions live on the brink of disaster
in south Asia, Africa and elsewhere, because they are deprived of land by a powerful few, trapped in the unremitting
grip of debt, or miserably paid. Natural events rarely explain deaths; they are simply the final push over the
brink. Human institutions and policies determine who eats and who starves during hard times. Likewise, in America
many homeless die from the cold every winter, yet ultimate responsibility doesn’t lie with the weather. The real
culprits are an economy that fails to offer everyone opportunities, and a society that places economic efficiency
over compassion.
MYTH 7:
Population is to Blame for Hunger
TRUTH:
Population growth is not the root cause of hunger. Like hunger itself, it results from underlying inequities that
deprive people, especially poor women, of economic opportunity and security. According to the U.N. Food and
Agriculture Organization, “Increases in food production in the last thirty five years have outpaced the world’s
unprecedented population growth by about 16 percent.†Although rapid population growth remains a serious
concern in many countries, nowhere does population density explain hunger. For every Bangladesh, a densely
populated and hungry country, we find a Nigeria, Brazil or Bolivia, where abundant food resources coexist with
hunger. Costa Rica, with only half of Honduras’ cropped acres per person, boasts a life expectancy—one indicator
of nutrition —11 years longer than that of Honduras and close to that of developed countries. Rapid population
growth and hunger are endemic to societies where land ownership, jobs, education, health care, and old age
security are beyond the reach of most people. â§
June 28th, 2009 at 10:31 am
mr Farmer
see i knew you wouldn’t meet.i knew you worked for monsanto.YOU’VE just discredited every single word you’ve said on this site.every single word coming from your mouth is BULL****.your just one of the many monsanto uses to discredit anything about chemicals. you sidestepped every question i asked you.YOU TALK THE TALK BUT DON’T WALK THE WALK.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Farmer[a company worker for monsanto]
come and see my farm.i wanted to see yours but it doesn’t exist.my name is stewart geekie,i farm east of weyburn,saskatchewan.come and see my farm anytime.you might have been able to pull the wool over the eyes of the people on this site that are not from the farm but now that i am here,it’s not going to happen any longer.
as for fertility—i use peas and sweet clover for producing nitrogen.
i use buckwheat to produce phosphate.
as for sulfer—there is enough sulfer falling from the sky right now to last a lifetime.you would have known that had you lived in saskatchewan and looked out the window and saw the haze in the air.the haze in the air is from the volcano that erupted in russia and the volcanic ash is falling out in western canada right now.it was carried in on the jetstreams.
i’ve answered your questions,now answer mine?????????
June 28th, 2009 at 10:51 am
WARNING WARNING
FARMER IS A PAID EMPLOYEE OF MONSANTO, DO NOT BELIEVE A WORD HE WRITES.
June 28th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
i must admit that I grow tired of the Orwellian tactics of the NEOCON Farmer. Like the man that owned the Goose that laid the golden egg, mess with the natural structure of the provider and you get nothing but death. Contrary to popular belief people are not that stupid. Please do not think that I am part of the herd and easily swayed by junk science and greedy transnationals bent on owning the food supply.
I refuse to buy the stuff. Will protest against the stuff and will alert on every front as many people and organizations that I can.
I encourage everyone else to also do so . Go VIRAL make copies and buy the DVD from http://www.seedsofdeception.com I plead with this website to change the link from Amazon in Canada (or at least also put a banner link) to the Seeds of Deception site which is the only place in the USA that can sell it. They also give discounts to groups.
The site also has other good information. Check out http://www.ifg.org and http://www.organicconsumers.org etc.
June 28th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Organic farmer says he can produce phosphate by growing Buckwheat, and I am the one that gets called Orwellian and Neocon. Organic as you produce and ship goods off your farmland you must eventually replace nutrients or your system is not sustainable. Perhaps you don’t grow any crops that require much Sulpher. Sorry I cannot give out my name on this site as a lot of organizations have some very religious beliefs about the way things are and they can also be militant. Wish we could all talk sanely. I will keep up my post for a bit but am also a busy farmer and family man. Organic you can say anything you want to me here, why you need to meet me, and try to sucker punch me into giving my name? Sucker punching is for scaredy cats. I don’t work for monsanto.
And I really don’t think sulpher is falling from the sky to feed your crops either, sheesh.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
to the astroturfing “Farmerâ€.
Do you get paid by the post? They usually come in strings. You were the one attacking organic farmer and using bad language first. You were the one attacking his goods. You’re the one calling the organic stuff horribly polluted compared to the glyphosate drenched crap. You’re the one attacking organic farmer about putting his name on here, so you and your monsanto buddies can go after him. Your sucker punching comment is just stupid. You’re the one posting inflammatory stuff and cursing, then just side stepping and refusing to answer any reasonable question.
You came on here with the stupid tactic of being a non-partisan, then reading stuff, and being swayed the other way than logic would dictate. Stupid first year psychology crap. Go on david letterman for stupid “Farmer†tricks as the guy who can suck a gallon of roundup up his ass.
This is so typical of monsanto for trying to make this look like people going after a farmer, and people hating farmers. I love and care for my farmer friends, “Farmerâ€.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
farmer [paid employee of monsanto]
again you’ve proved you know nothing about farming—conventional or organic.i gave you the opportunaty to prove your a farmer—you declined,WHY–your not a farmer,never have been ,never will be.you are a paid employee of monsanto!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i never asked for your name or where your farm was located on here.i asked for you to meet at a nuetral place like the queen city.and from there we’ed go see that you actually had a farm.you declined of some stupid made up reasons because you know i proved you to be a fake and although i can’t prove you work for monsanto,only a monsanto employee would dogde the questions i asked of you.you proved to everyone on this site who you are– a monsanto representative.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
im glad to see the people reading this site are not being swayed by the antics of farmer[a monsanto employee].it’s just like in the film,monsanto will do anything to discredit people who are telling the truth.i’m actually the last little farmer out in my area,all the rest of the land is now owned and operated by large corperate farms who care nothing about the land or what they produce.one corperate farm down the road was spraying for grasshoppers three years ago,it was three days to harvest.he was spraying because the grasshoppers were chewing the wheat heads off and he said he had to spray to protect his crop.i asked him what he was spraying with that close to harvest.he told me the name of the spray,loresban.i said your not supposed to spray that within 60 days before harvest.his answer was “the chinks are going to eat it anywayâ€.corperate farms do not care about the food supply or quality or condition of the food supply,all they care about is if they can make money or not.
by the way this corperate farmer now has prostate cancer,i just think,yep spray some more roundup why don’t you!!!!!!
June 29th, 2009 at 12:05 am
I’m so tired of the lies, this farmer fella is nothing but a propaganda artist who fails at convincing the public here whom have seen the piece on MONSANTO. I take everything farmer posts with a grain of poison, such as the poison that is… MONSANTO.
June 29th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
mbunny the shit has hit the fan and you just opened a can of worms.
Now think about the dog that barks up one tree all day thinking the cat is there. All the while the cat has escaped yet the dog keeps barking all day basically giving up in the end because he is defeated. What he has attempted to do just would not work no matter how long or harder he would bark up that tree. mbunny I will explain that to you shortly since you are the one barking up the wrong tree. Would be much easier and better for your cause if you can identify the problem before I show it to you. That is your test. You only have so much time so time is of the essence. Sorta like the movie Saw1,2,3,4,5,6 not sure if there is a 6 but I like the drama. Dam this is going to be good. But no one is going to get cut in half or die shucks. We should at least have a love story. Mbunny I do like your name are you married? Only the whole world is watching dam that is better right? Since the Geeky Organic Farmer seems like such a bright young man I would like to pick on him and give him a test that everyone can judge him on. Be very careful Geeky Organic Farmer because a lot of people are depending on you.
Ok there are 3 scenarios.
I want you to pick the one that is sustainable. There is only one right answer.
Scenario 1. One quarter section. Farmer grows crops only mostly for export out of the country, inputs manufactured nitrogen, phosphate, sulpher and potash back into the soil.
Scenario 2. One quarter section. Farmer is organic certified. Grows wheat, barley, flax, peas, hemp, oats, and rotates his land from pasture for several years back to crops for a few and the cycle continues. Both meat from livestock and the grains move to a nearby town that is happy to receive his food in place of free drinks, clothing etc.
Scenario 3. One quarter section. Farmer produces a crop along with a few cattle. Indians come along and hold him at gun point. Give us all your food except what you need for winter untill your next crop. Indians party and dance eat all the food and shit and pee and berry it in locations away from their living site but on the same quarter section. Then they supply farmer with warm cloths for winter. Indians are healthy bearly because of sulpher from Mount Pinatabo.
June 29th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
By the way the name Geekie is not listed. Actually does not exist. I am so disappointed. Mbunny I would suggest reading my past posts. Hop to it.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Mbunny hope you don’t mind me calling you by a capital M. But names do have capitals right? I suggest you study uncapitalize Will’s statement it does mean something partially.
I did not say organic stuff was horibly polluted compared to organic grain. Other than that he has something. Except for I do not have Monsanto buddies like he says. And he also has another very important statement you must say.
June 29th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
haha, basically mbunny has 12 hour to make an intelligent statement before looking not very intelligent. Well Ok before everyone’s organic supplier goes beep beep alarm alarm, I will say nothing because beep beep alarm alarm is not going to carry much weight in the next few days.
Sorry to Mr. Potatoe head that I am being perhaps too intense for him. Basically my posts do come in spirts like you say which must be out of this world really. But I will pickon people at my own speed. Potatoe head I want you to step up to the plate please.
June 29th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
to farmer[an employee of Monsanto]
i suggest you do your search again for my name as i have the phone book right here and i’m in it. I have family in Calgary and lots in Manitoba as well.
You forgot a few things in your 3 scenario’s
scenario 1 you forgot to mention that you use chemicals and pesticides that create mutant cells that turn cancerous later in life.i also forgot about a comment in one of your other commentary’s, beekeepers do not put their bees on canola,that’s another joke,the best honey comes from buckwheat,sweet clover and alfalfa fields.
scenario 2 organic farmers do NOT rotate their land back into pasture[WHAT A JOKE].an organic farmer produces just as much and in some cases more than a conventional farmer with no side effects to other human beings,cancer being one. an organic farmer produces his own nitrogen from sweet clover which is seeded with his crop and plowed under the following year just before flowering to produce his own nitrogen.buckwheat produces phosphates the whole growing season.off the scenario for a second,my farm is debt free—all my land is debt free,my machinery is debt free,i do NOT and never have had an operating loan . and i drive a 2008 f-150 supercab FX 4,i go on holidays for at least a month every winter,this year being the Dominican republic,and i have never had an off farm job in my life. HOW MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IS YOUR FARM IN DEBT????? DO YOU OWN ANYTHING OR DOES THE BANK OWN EVERYTHING?????? HOW MUCH MONEY HAVE YOU SWINDLED OUT OF THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT FARM PROGRAMS?????? I’ve never received a penny from any government programs.HOW MUCH IS YOUR OPERATING LOAN THIS YEAR FOR YOU TO MAYBE MAKE HALF OF WHAT I MAKE THIS YEAR????????? ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS MONSANTO SHITHEAD,OR ARE YOU GOING TO DODGE THEM TOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
scenario 3 not only are you a dumb shithead Monsanto employee,but a RACIST as well.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
mr SHITHEAD FARMER [an employee of monsanto]
i’ve just come to the conclusion,your nothing more than a COWARD.a COWARD sitting behind a keyboard calling everyone names and dogding questions.only a COWARD would do so,a COWARD that works for monsanto.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
PLEASE….
If organic farmer and farmer want to get into a pissing contest…. could you please use a private chat room or e-mails and do it there?
The rest of us who view these comments do not wish to be subjected to this. We wish to find scientific and documented material and not the two of you “going at itâ€.
Thank you
June 30th, 2009 at 12:46 am
Poor poor Farmer, let’s all light a candle and have pity on him because he has a type of personality disorder. Let us not feed his delusions and need for attention. Let this be the last time we give his name attention. It is time to center on the problem of how to further the education of the masses that fall prey to NEOCON propaganda.
The way I see it is we have to expand this conversation to a national level. Europe is being pressured by the transnationals to accept GMO and they can only gain if we buy. I like the idea that Pastor John has. He is taking the documentary to his congregation. Any social network that people belong to is a good place to start. I talk about it to my friends and now many have changed to organic and became more interested in exposing MONSANTO and other companies like them.
We are starting viewing parties to discuss this and other topics that are of vital interest to the people. When I think of social triage I always think we must start with open access to the media.
Did you know the public traded corporation has the status of a person under USA law? This needs to be changed. Because with this status they can keep information from us if it is against their corporate interest. Remember what happened when Oprah started talking about Mad Cow and the way the animals were being fed? Big beef companies came down upon her like the wrath of God. I haven’t heard her say too much about it since then.
Has anybody seen Manufacturing Consent? Another good documentary. Their power stems from gaining control of the media and owning the government.
Without a free and independent press democracy cannot prevail. It is imperative to get the airwaves back under the control of the people. I think that this documentary should AT LEAST be shown on the PBS and independent stations. I still don’t understand why it has not been shown. I think we should all call and agitate for it to be shown on national TV.
Anybody you know personally that is in a position of power should be encouraged to see this film.
As a social researcher, I believe that the consumer is the most powerful element of democracy. Never underestimate the power of our dollar. After all, so many people died so that MONSANTO would not lose a single dollar of profit. Imagine how much they will lose when we stop buying their products.
I found out on the organic consumers site that MONSANTO has started to gear up for Roundup Ready sugar beets. That is why when you look on the ingredients label for sugar most likely you will see just the word “sugar†where it used to say “pure cane sugarâ€. I called up my local supermarket and asked them what was the sugar made from. They sent me a letter back saying that it was made from “produceâ€??!!?? WTF…. Please join or at least look at the sites I have put in other posts. And spend the money to buy at least one copy of the DVD and show it around to as many people who will listen. http://www.seedsofdeception.com http://www.organicconsumers.org
June 30th, 2009 at 6:17 am
ST. The pissing match is important. It reveals the real world we live in. Organic farmer did not play the game and decided to change the rules, like he is some sort of God or something. There is only one scenario that is sustainable with the information there in. Would anyone else like to help Geeky out? I think he is incompasitated because his head has been removed from his body by the natives in Scenario 3. No I am not racist I have Indian friends that are laughing at this. mbunny can you pick one scenario?
June 30th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I pick scenario number 3 because it has the complete life cycle. Number 1 did not add micro nutrients so eventually ran out of those. Number 2 Although organic sold more locally than number 1 the nutrients were still exported off of his her quarter section. Number 1 and 2 would have to change in order to survive so what they were doing is not sustainable. I bet farmer in 3 married the chief’s daughter and all lived great lives of the land.
July 1st, 2009 at 6:36 am
Back to what this is about http://www.congress.org/congressorg/webreturn/?url=/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=13553661
July 1st, 2009 at 6:42 am
OR http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issuesaction/alertlist/?issue=2
July 1st, 2009 at 11:54 am
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/webreturn/?url=/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=13553661 PETE thank you for that… it is SO like Bush.
July 1st, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I don’t get it, only pete’s second post works for me, what is so like Bush?
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:07 am
Hey everyone,
Check this out please. I got the link off an ethical corporation site.
http://www.climatechangecorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=5644
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:24 am
http://www.climatechangecorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=5644 Now they are going for sugar cane…
July 4th, 2009 at 8:17 am
To make the Indian Farmer suicide issue more clearer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_suicides_in_India
July 4th, 2009 at 10:45 am
I can see the monsanto sigh from my backyard. There research building is about 100 yards from my house.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
n8 where do you live???
July 7th, 2009 at 3:38 am
Before you think we shouldn’t have investment and research into crops read this.
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Global-starvation-imminent-as-US-faces-crop-failure-18791-3-1.html
July 7th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Dear FarmGirl:
I am in Italy right now: farmers here are selling potatoes at 18 cents/kg and wheat at 60 euros per ton, the buyers approach is pretty much we are buying to do you a favor.
So again: explain why starvation is imminent and yet crops are worthless?
You can take your model of agriculture, go with farmer to some deserted island and never come back.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
The Center For Food Safety CFS, 660 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Suite 302 Washington, DC 2003 USA tel.800.600.6664 Has a paper called SEVEN DEADLY MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT HUNGER MYTH 1: Industrial agriculture and free trade will feed the world. TRUTH: World hunger is not created by lack of food but by poverty and landlessness which deny people access to food. Industrial agriculture—i.e., large-scale, corporate-run, export-oriented monoculture farming—and free trade agreements actually increase hunger by raising the cost of farming, forcing millions of farmers off the land, and by growing primarily high-profit export and luxury crops rather than food for local people to eat. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has found that it is abundance, not scarcity, that best describes the world’s food supply. Every year, enough wheat, rice, and other grains are produced to provide every human with 3,500 daily calories. In fact, enough food is grown worldwide to provide 4.3 pounds of food per person per day, which would include two and a half pounds of grain, beans, and nuts, a pound of fruits and vegetables, and nearly another pound of meat, milk, and eggs. MONSANTO must be stopped! They want to own the food chain, absolutely no moral compass. Obama , Clinton just as in on it as Bush. Do the math. Tell everyone see the documentary!! Don’t believe the Hype Farmgirl
July 7th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Potatoe bug I am not sure what farmers here get for their potatoes but in the store it is worth quite a bit more.
As a farmer in Saskatchewan Canada we are getting double you say for our wheat and shipping still shipping it abroad.
Maybe you need to be an organic grower. Maybe take some notes from Parsley on Agriville.com Instead of bashing and nocking people and corporations down she talks a lot more positive among a crowd of conventional farmers.
http://www.agriville.com/cgi-bin/forums/viewThread.cgi?1246461214
I think if you people want farmers to change their ways you should do it more by example, education( not just saying) Showing. No farmer likes to use chemicals. They do it for neccessity and the laws are such that they can. If organic small and course grain farming was actually more profitable and farmers where shown how, they would adapt. Like in the business world some can and some cannot. Sometimes if there is a will there is a way. I am just a little tired of bashing attitudes. The same goes for Genetically engineered crops, farmers use the technology because it is more efficient and profitable and it is the law. Instead of bashing you can show us first how to grow without the chemicals and to hold the insects off to salvage the crops. Not all the time we use the much more deadlier insecticides but we do on neccessity as far as we know how. There once was an group in Western Canada trying to sell pesticide free small grains. It allowed to the farmer to still use manufactured fertilizers, and use only pre seed chemicals so no chemical was sprayed on the plants. I can see that working better for the farmer but it collapsed on account of no premium.
As far as I am concerned most people posting on here are alienating farmers.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Actually mbunny if you can convert me you may set in motion the other 90 percent of world production.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
The reason mbunny you need to convert me is if you succeed in tearing down, killing and push to extinction Monsanto corp. You will most likely have done nothing.
Another corp. will take its place. Well perhaps I am already banned from the conspiracy website and no one reads this.
July 8th, 2009 at 2:45 am
The corporation is a powerful entity to be sure. One the founding fathers of our country made sure it was contained. We need to contain it again post haste.
Below I am passing along another alert designed to limit our freedoms. Here is a listing we can use to bring up the MONSANTO issue on a national forum. The more we talk about it in every arena the more the people will know. Viral all the way!!
It is time to take this ALERT further by calling into national radio shows today. Making the host and his/her millions of listeners aware of these issues is another key strategy to killing “The PASS Act†S.1261.
Radio Call in Tips:
–Call the show in the first few minutes.
–Call right when the show goes on air, or even start calling BEFORE it goes live. This way you won’t have to press redial for an hour.
–Get the call-in number from their website (or from this email).
–When they go to your call, DO NOT SAY HI, OR HOW ARE YOU DOING, OR GREAT SHOW. As soon as they say, “Let’s go to John in San Diego, what’s up John?†go right into your question or make your
statement.
Tell the host you want to make him aware of an unconstitutional bill, The PASS ACT, S.1261, in committee in the Senate.
State your opposition points:
1. We are opposed to Real ID and the PASS Act
2. We are opposed to being enrolled in a Biometric Identification System
3. We don’t want Social Security Numbers in our DMV databases
4. No RFID chips in our Driver’s Licences
5. No federal intervention with the issuance of our State driver’s licenses
6. We are not willing to trade our freedom for security.
All of these actions are unconstitutional and a direct attack on our civil liberties and our unalienable rights.
National Political Talk Radio Shows:
* The Rush Limbaugh Show 1-800-282-2882 12 Noon to 3 PM Eastern Time
* The Alex Jones Show 1-800-259-9231 11 AM to 3 PM Central Time
* The Alan Colmes Show 1-877-367-2526 10 PM to 1 AM Eastern Time
* The Sean Hannity Show 800-941-7326 3 PM to 6 PM Eastern Time
* The Laura Ingraham Show 800.876.4123
* The Dennis Miller Show 866-993-3664 10 AM to 1 PM Eastern Time
* The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly 1-877-966-7746 9 AM to 12 PM Pacific Time
* The Savage Nation (Michael Savage) 1-800-449-8255 4PM to 7PM Pacific Time
* Neal Boortz 1-877-310-2100 8:30 AM to 1 PM Eastern Time
* Hugh Hewitt 1.877.310.2100
* Michael Medved 1-800-955-1776 3-6 PM Eastern Time
* Mark Levin 1-877-381-3811 6 to 8 PM Eastern Time
* The Glenn Beck Program 1-888-727-2325 6 AM to 9 PM Pacific Time
* The Michael Reagan Talk Show 1-800-468-6453 9 PM to 12 AM Pacific Time
* Jim Bohannon Show 1-866-505-4626 6 PM to 9 PM Pacific Time
* The Matt Drudge Show 1-800-848-9222 6:30 to 9:30 PM Pacific Time Sundays
This ID is a GLOBAL BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (see this video for more details: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kE8xDMokpM ) and is a direct attack on our national security.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
mbunny your crazy
July 10th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Farm girl…..You’re fascist or deluded….or both.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
If you didn’t notice “Farm girl†and “Farmer†are the same person.
“Farmer-Farm Girlâ€-quit saying people are attacking farmers. It’s just Monsanto and it’s astroturfers that say that. We’re attacking Monsanto and corporations that have no morals-lie, cheat, steal, kill, and bribe-to make a few extra dollars.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:37 am
well i haven’t been saying much anymore but do read every comment on here.i do have to say though,i’m glad farm-girl and farmer are using roundup.farm-girl will die from breast cancer and farmer from prostate cancer and the world will be a whole lot better off with two more idiots not on this earth.
July 13th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Farmer and farm girl are probably Monsanto posers and sockpuppets fronting as real people.
In the movie, they cover this cyber subterfuge in one segment.
Grow heirlooms! And open pollinated plants.
SAVE YOUR SEEDS!
GIVE THEM TO YOUR FRIENDS!
That’s the only way to protect our past AND our future.
July 14th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
JEP believe what you want. Farmers in India and China are feeding themselves with genetic modification and genetics period. And I am not monsanto employeee or owner, just the average farmer around the world. No one stop anyone from saving their seeds. Only if a seed gene is patented then farmers must pay for using the technology. Never has a plant been patented that was there before. If a farmer wants to use lower yielding older varieties all the power to them. So are you saying we should be criminals?
July 14th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Just like to mention something to organic farmer. Since 95 percent of the soybeans and canola and corn are GE and sprayed with Roundup or Liberty then I suppose you can do without 95 percent of the population in the world.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
to farm girl
do you honestly believe yourself?
it’s because of gmo crops,corn,soybeans ,canola .etc ,that close to 1 billion people in the world today are close to starvation.you big corporate farms seem to think your doing the world a favor by keeping a billion people starving in the world only to have them die of cancer from roundup, latter in life in a country that cannot treat them.all your doing is subjecting mankind to a horrendous death with cancer.
i wish i was around when in 5 to 20 years from now that they chop your tits off and you die of cancer,just what your thinking when your suffering as your making the rest of the world suffer now.
July 14th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
(Laughing out loud at Organic Farmers post…) I actually believe that Farm girl has not even seen the video, she speaks with an ignorance to wit this blog has not yet seen.
July 15th, 2009 at 5:55 am
- from your 95%, 2009 Germany banned cultivation of GM corn,Why MON 810 IS DANGEROUS for the Environment .All we can do is pray the rest of the world will open there EYES and see the damage GM crops do to livestock ,soil and people.I live to farm!!!!
July 15th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/gmf-agm/appro/24bg_monsanto-ct_monsanto01-eng.php
Let me know where you find that MON 810 is bad other than the consumer is scared of it?
July 15th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLE16356920090414
July 15th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Pete I don’t mean to rain on your parade but when in Germany visiting the farms at spraying time it was interesting to note that the farmers were spraying their canola with roundup even though gm canola is banned there.
Didn’t Brazil and Argentina and Australia also ban GM crops yet the farmers found a way to grow them any way because with them they used less toxic chemicals? So I ask you one question, should farmers be growing crops against the law possibly without any testing or have some sort of system to test these new crops. Sorta like if you ban marajuana some people will smoke it any way. I am sure you are all against marajuanna smoking lol.
July 15th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
This is a study on BT cotton http://www.i-sis.org.uk/BtCottonKillsSoilandFarmers.php
July 15th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Organic farmer you call me a corporate farmer without even knowing much about me. My farm size is just right as far as I am conserned I grew in the past years to become efficient.
I work as hard as I can to get the work done and it gets done not like some other farmers I know. Who says your farm is not any bigger than mine? Who says you cannot buy me out some day? One of Mbunny’s post states starvation is from landlessness, most people only need a tenth of an acre to provide themselves with the food they need. So for about 1/133 of most people’s income for one year they can purchase 1/10th of an acre from me rent would be even much less. It would cost them one hell of a lot more in seeds even if they are not gmo and work and time to do the work. Like someone has a gun to someones head around here. We eat like kings and queens here on the farms here in Canada never even put a drop of chemical on my garden here but to think I am going to bend over all day so I can produce 1/133 of a years income feeding someone else. Forget it, pay me more or what I need and you can have anything you want.
July 15th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
After 5-year absence, Monsanto is back in wheat: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/06555D38B7D3DA96862575F4000557D6?OpenDocument
July 16th, 2009 at 5:20 am
F.G. WITH A ATTITUDE LIKE THAT YOU SHOULD SELL OUT
July 16th, 2009 at 10:08 am
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/business/20crop.html?_r=1
July 16th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
No matter haw many references you throw at a poser like FG, they will always have a pat rebuttal, no matter how lame.
It isn’t ignorance or denial, either, it is pernicious propaganda and nothing less.
If Monasanto doesn’t want the old seed destroyed, then why did Bremer add that clause to the Iraqi reconstruction mandates?
FG isn’t naive. “She†is probably a PR lawyer for the most offensive offenders we have known, in all of history. So don’t expect even a hint of humility or acquiescence, FG’s not getting paid to tell the truth, just to defy it.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
farmer, you trying to discredit greenpeace just proves your prolly someone making money off what monsanto is doing. If the company will not even let independent testing be done to make sure the dirt they call GMO ,is safe. I dont know how anyone could be dumb enough just to trust what their scientists say. This is a failure on the FDA’s part in a big way and also just more proof of how much greed destroys this world. And noone should be able to have a patent on seeds even if they invented them,its the dumbest thing i have ever heard. They infect framers feilds with thier garbage then sue them when it starts to grow there without their knowing, lol. Monsanto is basically food mafia only they have killed more than any mafia ever will.
July 18th, 2009 at 12:28 am
I invite everyone to read my February 23, 2009 OPEN LETTER TO APHIS; REGULATORY ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT on the dangers of not only gmo’s that are being used on our crops and also used for insect control, but the non gmo’s that are being used. But the lack of safety and oversight by government agencies. (biotechawareness.com/index~option~com_content~view~article~id~170:february-23-open-letter-to-aphis-regulatory-analysis-and-development~catid~25:letters~Itemid~54.php
Although the letter is shown in my comment #97 the website shows you the actual documentation. You may also be interested in comments #s 16, 40, 42, 45, 47, 51, 81, 96 and 153
We are in bigger trouble that we could have ever imagined. You, the people need to stop letting the government and the biotech industry control us.
July 18th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/27/18502543.php?show_comments=1#18503136
July 18th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Sandi Trend I am sorry for your sons problems, I like to study some things and I know you don’t have to tell me but I am wondering about why your son David Bell was on compensation before his insident at Agriquest I think it was BlueShield. In fact he was on comp. when going to college for his education for his job to Agriquest and also he was on a returning to work program through workmans comp while starting at Agriquest. Wonder if you are willing to share that, since you are sharing a lot already, sorry very much.
July 18th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
farm girl you just proved without a doubt that you are a stooge for monsanto.you did some reasearch on david,what a crock.you mean monsanto fed you researchto put on here.i hope you die a horrible death with breast cancer when they chop your tits off and farmer goes the same way when they shove medical instruments up his ass and he dies a horrible death with cancer.you 2 monsanto stooges don’t have one braincell between the two of you.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Farm Girl,
David was not going through a worker’s comp program when he went to work at Agraquest. David has never received worker’s compensation. Blue Cross paid a substantial amount of his over $333,000 inmedical bills. Medicare has also paid on his behalf as well as his co-payments (from 1999 through 2005… after 2005 I stopped keeping track of the medical billings). as a result of injury/illness sustained from exposure to known and unknown microorganisms and chemicals. Agraquest has denied any and all responsibility.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
IF Farm Girl has connections to Monsanto this would make sense and is of no surprise to me what-so-ever. Pam Marrone, founder of Agraquest worked at Monsanto, then she started Entotech, it was after Entotech when she started Agraquest. From Agraquest she started Marrone Organic Innovations which name has been revised to Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc., (MBI) “in a move to more accurately represent the company’s leadership in the discovery and development of effective and environmentally responsible pesticide active ingredients from novel biological sources.â€
If you would like to get a view of my son being interviewed it can be found at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2567912703426192318
I have also transcribed this interview with supporting documentation which validates what he has said. Although portions of the actual documents are displayed in this transcription the full documents are displayed below in pdf format . This can be read at http://www.biotechawareness.com/index~option~com_content~view~article~id~174.php
In this interview David said, “I was an injured worker returning to workâ€. Please don’t confuse this to mean he had been injured at a prior time, before Agraquest. What he was referring to the injury/illness he sustained where he ended up at the Immediate Care Medical Clinic on January 18, 1999 after he had told his supervisor at Agraquest he was sick. “Returning to work†is when he returned to Agraquest after his first of four sinus surgeries.
Not only are their unknown hazards for an employee in the biotech lab such as the son my worked for in California, but Ms. McClain who worked as a molecular biologist for 23 years for Pfizer in Connecticut (stem cell research) was also injured on the job. As with my son, Mrs. McClain also encountered the same plight as my son; NOT KNOWING what she had been exposed to THAT MADE HER SICK ( industry’s “TRADE SECRETSâ€), non-compliance of: the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, agencies within the state of Connecticut and California, including U.S. Federal Agencies.
You can see Ms. McClain at http://blip.tv/file/2061380
It is my firm belief that people who work in this industry are afraid of being black-balled for exposing the truth.
Hopefully the recent decision from the Connecticut Appellate Court, released on July 21, 2009 will help. I am sending a link to this article, “Pfizer to pay workers’ comp for exposure to organics†http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=722c8d11-34d1-4401-ba86-b871b6a94f0d
July 19th, 2009 at 10:51 am
You see Organic Farmer cannot you be more like Sandi Trend and if someone has a question just answer the dam question. Her response was so very nice.
Makes everything much more clear. Although I am not affiliated whatsoever with monsanto. I just take it most of the posters on here know each other personally, it is not that way with me. I just think when I get attacked on here like I have it makes the attacker look as bad as monsanto. There are also a lot of trueths to what I have to say some times and sometimes I should be challenged.
July 19th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Sandi plenty of links on here if anyone cares to read them.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/sciencenotfiction/2008/10/24/eleventh-hour-advanced-pest-control-and-the-trouble-with-gmos/
July 19th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Actually I missed a word in the last post. Sandi’s links are on that last link I posted. They should be read.
July 19th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Thank you Farm girl.
July 19th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Your welcome, I almost cry. I read all the links.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I believe everyone would be interested in the following article,
Do foods live up
to the organic label?
http://www.ajc.com/news/do-foods-live-100312.html
This article was submitted to the Metro Atlanta State News on Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 3 p.m. Atlanta time.
Within this article you will note it says, “Doyle, the food safety expert at UGA, pointed out that the organic inspections do not check for food pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli. There is no educational requirement for the inspectors, nor is there a mandate that inspectors actually test the food to verify that it is organic.
As for the concerns about conflicts of interest during inspections, growers and advocates say that certifiers who break the rules risk their federal accreditation.
“It’s a fair and complete system. … There is integrity behind the [organic] label,†said Vernon Mullins of the Georgia Crop Improvement Association, a major certifier in the state.
In the seven years since the federal organic standards took effect, the NOP has canceled the accreditation of two certifying companies in the U.S.
Some watchdogs also see too much wiggle room amid the organic regulations.â€
July 30th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I have nothing against more inspectors, as long as the inspectors are educated. Sandi has a very good point and true that there are not enough inspectors. I can remember not too long ago that a shipment of honey crossed the border from Canada to the USA inspectors found a couple paint chips inside on top of the 45 gallon drums of honey and destroyed the honey so not even the seller could have his honey back. The seller was out some 75000 dollars. Inspectors like this we do not need. I remember shipping borage to a site it Saskatoon,sk. While I was unloading my borage another truck was loading borage. I chatted with the truck driver as I am always currious. He told me he was loading organic borage to be fumigated in his truck to be returned back a few days later. OK so this is organic I was wondering? I suppose they can get around the inspectors somehow.
July 30th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
A neighbour of mine decided to try organic grain on a half section of land. He farms approx. 7 sections in total. He could have kept his organic status on the half section only if he would not grow canola on the rest of his land. That alone stopped his organic farming career. Canola was his money maker. Seems there are a lot of successful organic processors around that also farm non organic grains. If you tell me we need inspectors, the answer is yes, and we need inspectors that actually know what the fuck they are doing, we need inspectors that know how a crop is grown from planting to harvest to storage to shipping. I don’t believe we have that today.
August 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pm
http://www.agriville.com/cgi-bin/forums/viewThread.cgi?1249168230
Found this on a farmer site.
August 7th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
FYI PEOPLE PLEASE READ-GOOD OPPORTUNITY
OFRF Sends Farmers to Washington
As part of our efforts to increase funding for organic ag programs in 2010 and affect the implementation of the 2008 Farm Bill, OFRF sent four organic farmers to Washington DC to lobby their members of Congress and meet with officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Torrey Olson (Gabriel Farm, Sebastapol, California), Alan Haight (Riverhill Farm, Nevada City, California), Sue Baird (Joyful Melodies Farm, Bunceton, Missouri), and Andy Bozzuto (3B Ranch, Northford, Connecticut) each took time away from their farm to fly to Washington in early July. These farmers have either a Representative or Senator on the Agriculture Subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. In addition to their elected officials, the farmer advocates met with high level administrators at the USDA, including USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Administrator Colien Heferan, Marketing and Regulatory Programs Deputy Undersecretary John Ferrell, and Rural Development Administrator Dallas Tonsager. Among the issues discussed were increased funding for organic data collection efforts, increased spending on organic and sustainable ag research and improved integration of organic into USDA conservation programs. For a detailed update of our FY 2010 Appropriations campaign and the implementation of the 2008 Farm Bill, read the stories below.
Read about OFAN farmer advocates and their visits to Washington on the OFRF website. Travel costs for Torrey, Alan, Sue, and Andy were funded through a generous grant from Organic Valley’s Farmers Advocating for Organics Fund (FAFO).
OFRF is always looking for farmers interested in being advocates in their states and in DC. If you are an organic farmer and would like to take a more active role in advocacy work, please send an email to Tracy Lerman, OFRF Policy Organizer, at tracy@... with your name, address, phone number, email address, a brief description of your farm (what you grow, how many acres) and a paragraph describing your interest in political advocacy.
August 9th, 2009 at 1:28 am
Hello my name is curtis.i am thankfull for this report,i would like to ask by any chance do you have a video post on another unilever docu by the name “der buschdoktor†i will like to pass the apreciated information to other people which has the same interest as i do as far as nowing what goes in our bodies
August 9th, 2009 at 5:10 am
BIOTECH COMPANIES TRIED TO BE EXEMPT FROM THE “CLEAN WATER ACT†IT DIDN’T WORK. PLEASE READ BELOW:
http://www.westernlaw.org/pressroom/press-releases/conservationists2019-win-upheld-in-nat2019l-cotton-council-v-epa
6th Circuit denies pesticide industry’s request for rehearing
CINCINNATI, OHIO Aug 03, 2009
Contact: Charlie Tebbutt, Western Environmental Law Center, 541-485-2471 ext 110, (after hours: 541-285-3717), tebbutt@...
The 6th Circuit today issued an order denying the pesticide industry’s petition for rehearing in National Cotton Council v. EPA, No. 06-4630. The order effectively upholds the Court’s earlier finding that pesticide residuals and BIOLOGICAL PESTICIDES constitute pollutants under the Clean Water Act.
Pesticide applications to, over or near water will now require National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The NPDES permits will allow for local citizen input and require the regulatory agencies to evaluate effects on fish and wildlife from individual applications and require monitoring to know exactly how much pesticide is staying in our nation’s waters and affecting aquatic organisms.
“We look forward to making sure that the EPA and state permitting processes will protect people and increase protections for clean water, fish and wildlife†declared Charlie Tebbutt, Western Environmental Law Center attorney and lead counsel for the environmental organizations and organic farm that challenged the rule. “We sincerely hope that the pesticide producers and users will now accept the ruling and move to safer and more effective means of dealing with pests,†continued Tebbutt.
The organizations bringing the case include Baykeeper, National Center for Conservation Science and Policy, Oregon Wild, Saint John’s Organic Farm, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Waterkeeper Alliance, Environment Maine, Toxics Action Center, Peconic Baykeeper and Soundkeeper.
The organizations are represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, the National Environmental Law Center, the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, the Columbia Environmental Law Clinic and Waterkeeper Alliance.
August 29th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Hi, im biologist, and live with my husband an baby in a little rural community at Veracruz, Mexico. So we know about the danger of this products, but most of the people here use this. So i really like to contact with Marie-Monique or to have this videos in spanish language, because we want to “exponerlos†to the people here, but most of them doesn`t know to read, and they are not interesting about this, so we need to present it in spanish and not subtitled. I can not find a link or a direccion to contact with Marie Monique or somebody who can borrow us the videos, so i really apreciate some help. We need it now!!!
August 29th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Hi Vania Macias, Go to http://www.seedsofdeception.com you can buy the video there and also ask them about the spanish edition I know they have it in french not sure about spanish. The price is 19.95 they are the link to Marie-Monique and given permission to sell to usa. Also just put THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO in Spanish in a GOOGLE websearch and a lot of links will come up. I would check out the seedsofdeception site first. Join the center for food safety also there.
good luck amigo!
Bunny
August 29th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
http://gnn.tv/videos/21/Contaminate check out this movie also. http://www.seedsofdeception.com also gives permission for public viewing as long as you don’t charge.
September 5th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Everyone should watch this video as well:
The Future of Food
It is about Monsanto and other companies. Monsanto is not the only “evil†company.
I think it should be noted as well, that not all things done by Monsanto and other agri-farm/GM companies are bad. I think we have benefited from their efforts but there needs to be MUCH stricter regulations and MEGA fines if they break the rules (in which case they would probably pay people off or kill them to hide their law breaking).
We should really try to ban together to spread awareness of this. I have some good ideas as to what to do.
What you have to understand is that the consumer has the power, at this point. One idea would be to stop buying any product from companies who use any GMO’s. Second, boycott any seed company/distributer who sells GM seeds.
Let your dollars/pounds/euro’s do the talking and the companies will hopefully get the message.
There are more extreme ways but those should only be used as a last resort.
What about creating a law that states any farmer wishing to plant a GMO (or types of GMO’s) must inform all residents withing a 75-100 mile radius (as far as the pollen can be spread by wind, which could even be 1000’s of miles) must send notice to all residents within that radius. This would make it cost prohibitive to plant GM seed. This must be sent even to non-farmers as people with organic gardens can be adversly effected by cross pollination.
Think of other ideas that could be used as a bludgeon for these control and profit seeking companies. God and everyone knows that this is how they work so we have to think on the same lines. In a war, no ones wins by playing the nice card and this sure seems to be a war. :(
September 5th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
FDR once said this:
“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. â€
I would say that these seeds may potentially have the ability (I pray they don’t) to destroy our soil and possibly our trees.
September 8th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Monsanto? Sustainable? Water bully, I’d say … http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/sep/03/monsanto-water-greenwash
September 9th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
“Doomsday Seed Vault†in the Arctic
Bill Gates, Rockefeller and the GMO giants know something we don’t
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
September 24th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
We can undermine monsanto’s evil efforts.
Don’t look at the problem, Concentrate on the solution
Scenario #1
If everybody would buy only organic then that would stop monsanto. But the problem is that people always buy nonorganic because of lower pricing and regardless of pesticides.
Now we can sell our organic products at lower than or even at par of nonorganic products and this will cause everybody to buy only organic
Now we won’t have to do this for very long, just enough to stop monsanto, and it won’t take very long for us to recover once we kick out monsanto, we’ll regain everything we lost and well reap the higher rewards. and we’ll also make more money in the present because of our increased volume (More volume, more money)
We have to do this, our future depends on it.
Scenario #2
Monsanto wants to push their crap down our throats. While they would eat healthy food from their organic crops, You know full well they have their own organic crops .
Which they would claim to be research crops
Our job is to find and destroy these crops, This would put them in the same boat as us, and theres no way they’d let that happen, They’ll have to stop with their B,S,
Monsanto’s evil efforts are killing our bees at an allarming rate: Einstien said †that if the bees were to die that would be the end of human life on this planet, in 4 years all would be deadâ€
There’s an old story that goes.
There was a pig digging up accorns to eat, when a crow up in the tree hollered down to the pig “Hey pig you’d better stop digging like that or you’ll uproot the tree†To which the pig replied†Who cares as long as there are accornsâ€
And thats the exact same mentality as Monsanto
November 13th, 2009 at 11:40 am
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/media/press-releases/monsantos-gm-potatoes-on-the-loose
Monsanto could give two shits what WE THE PEOPLE think…so I say, BURY THE BASTARDS.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I (along with many others) am suffering from Morgellons… a horrific and bizarre bio engineered disease. Go to You Tube and type it into search (or my username “bannannyâ€) and you’ll see what’s being created in our world due to companies like Monsanto. You’ll see what all these GMO foods, chemtrails, bio engineering, nano technology, mutated, and altered this and that… you’ll see what’s being produced by all of it. Disease… that’s what they’re producing, and only to line their pockets with gold. Companies like Monsanto are filled with nothing but greed. The aspect of genetically modifying foods, the pesticides they spray on them, and especially altering DNA, is what I call playing God… and it will be man’s demise. It was never supposed to be this way… and I’ve fought hard to stop it all. Unfortunately, I’ve learned it’s a fight I just don’t know how to win. I’ve grown too tired and my strength is depleted just trying to make it thru another day with this disease. So please continue the fight for for all of us too tired to fight now, and do all you can to reach a most unsuspecting public.
hugs ~~ bannanny
November 15th, 2009 at 7:05 am
bannanny, This lady may have some more suggestions but most importantly eat and ware as much organic as possible. http://survivingthemiddleclasscrash.wordpress.com/about/
November 25th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Unfortunately, I watched this piece of garbage on the Sundance Channel last night. I have never seen a more biased hatchet job. Yellow journalism at its worst.
November 29th, 2009 at 8:51 am
The guy above calls the film a “biased hatchet jobâ€. But at the end of the film, a phone-call is placed to Monsanto, for them to respond. MONSANTO FLAT OUT REFUSED! I viewed this film on Sundance Channel the other day, and I was sickened by the death and destruction caused by Monsanto. Not to mention their genetically destroying the very seeds that nature made perfect. All for money.
Monsanto is clearly trying to monopolize and control the entire world’s food supply. People getting diseases from Monsanto products, farmers committing suicide over bad crops. And Monsanto won’t comment on it all? These corporate pigs at Monsanto are the scum of the earth! And many people hope the US justice dept. nails them to the cross! They are clearly breaking the antitrust laws, not to mention responsible for the deaths of an untold number of innocent souls. This year, the Obama Justice Department tossed out the antitrust guidelines of George Bush, because they advocated “extreme hesitancy in the face of potential abuses by monopoly firms.†During the Bush administration, the Justice Department did not file a single case under antimonopoly laws regulating a dominant firm. But that stretch seems unlikely to continue. Monsanto has abused its unlawfully-acquired monopoly power to block competition, thwart innovation and extract from farmers unjustified price increases of over 100 percent in recent years.
Perhaps this could be the one good thing the Obama justice department does, by sticking it to these Monsanto Monsters. Monopolies are both illegal and un-American. That’s monopolies are illegal. That is, of course, unless you’re Monsanto.
November 30th, 2009 at 12:30 am
Unfortunately dear Patriot, don’t expect the Obama administration to work against Monsanto, for starters the current secretary of agriculture is considered by many a Monsanto lackey (you can start by checking what these guys have to say about him: http://www.organicconsumers.org/ ).
November 30th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
By all means be angry at poorly regulated capitalism and the people who feel OK about exploiting other people to make money. But please try not to equate unethical business practice with the science being bad. There are good examples of Monsanto skewing their data to cover up their products down sides and lots of other very worrying things. However, plant biotechnology is a very useful tool and as a humanity would be foolish not to try and use it. To patriot who stated “destroying the very seeds that nature made perfect†– nature (please define nature here?) did not make the Mexican maize crops perfect. Thousands of years of careful human cultivation made the maize good for that particular environment – no doubt along the way they had their fair share of famine, pestilance and disease.
Conventional subsistance / semi subsistance farming does not fit in with how big business works – so it should not try. If Monsanto is deliberatly “polluting†the genetic hot spots of the world – that is disgraceful, equally if it’s covertly imposing it’s products on farmers we should also be very worried. It is clear that letting science to be led by big business is not a cleaver thing to do – as it removes any independence and motivations are also skewed.
Maybe just maybe if we can convince the public sectors of the world’s governments to invest in an independent crop research plant – plant biotech can be put to benevolent use. Maybe localised labs could provide the underlying plant science of the local landraces and avoid mistakes of one size fits all Bt Cotton as we saw in the film.
Please don’t underestimate how much plant biotech could be helpful in solving the problems that farmers face – if the science is applied honestly, ethically, openly and well regulated you have little to worry about.
Oh and please don’t accept that “organic†will solve everything, the actual solution will incorporate the best bits of small scale farming and the best bits of biotechnology, and doesn’t have to involve big business too much.
November 30th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
P.s. I will put my cards on the table for everyone to see. I am a Masters student studying Genetics Manipulation of Plants. My political views are not intrenched, and I certainly don’t have any axe to grind. I’m doing my course to understand the science behind these issues and to make an informed decission. It’s very easy to generalise on these kinds of issues, but it is plainly wrong to do so.
November 30th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Hello ‘Many hues’.
Try taking this quote of yours (quoted below) and sharing it with Monsanto… let us know how far you get with it.
“Maybe just maybe if we can convince the public sectors of the world’s governments to invest in an independent crop research plant – plant biotech can be put to benevolent use. Maybe localised labs could provide the underlying plant science of the local landraces and avoid mistakes of one size fits all Bt Cotton as we saw in the film.
Please don’t underestimate how much plant biotech could be helpful in solving the problems that farmers face – if the science is applied honestly, ethically, openly and well regulated you have little to worry about.
Oh and please don’t accept that “organic†will solve everything, the actual solution will incorporate the best bits of small scale farming and the best bits of biotechnology, and doesn’t have to involve big business too much.â€
December 1st, 2009 at 4:13 am
Many Hues,
let me try to make this as clear as possible:
would you keep your goat and your flowers inside the same fence? Probably not if you intend to put your flowers in a vase.
Your suggestion that organic (I suppose non-GMO crops sound as offensive to you as organic crops anyway) and bio-tech are both necessary and will coexist pacifically is about as smart as locking up your lambs in the same cage with a wolf.
In case you have forgotten, because pollen flies around the very existence of GMO crops outside a controlled and contained environment will slowly destroy the possibility of having non genetically modified crops.
About the necessity of bio-tech science to fence off starvation: you guys care about the starving children of Africa as much as I care to poke an eye out of my head.
Fixing food supply is easy: no more subsidies to bio-techs and large agribusiness, use that money to support small farms instead (like the one my grandparents made a living from, but from which my parents get barely enough to pay their property taxes and insurance), no more interference with the crop markets, allow to store food reserves. Since in Bio-tech spokes-people’s own words, bio-tech crops offer at best a 30% higher yield, non-manipulated crop markets would certainly reduce the waste of produce currently happening (every year in some part of the world some farmers for lack of profit do not harvest some or all of their crops because what they would be getting paid would not cover the cost of harvesting or picking). You are unneeded middlemen, farmers know how to feed the world without your help, and unlike you they can do it without poisoning it.
December 1st, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Hi Potatobug & Jonathon,
Firstly Jonathon – I have no worries in defending myself on holding a lofty ideal – and it doesn’t have to concern Monsanto directly it can act completely independently. Monsanto cannot aggressively buy up a government owned organisation like it has with a lot of smaller biotech firms.
Secondly Potatobug, I think we agree on thing more than realise. I too think that there’s alot of problems caused by sudsidies, trade agreements and agribusiness.
I do not like you refering to me as ‘You Guys’ what / who does that mean? Please don’t generalise- and BTW I care a lot about the starving people in the world, I regularly donate money to action aid and save the children both of which help provide sustainable projects to try and improve this sort of thing. If you respond to my statements so aggressively, I will start to question your open mindedness on these issues.
GM pollen can be considered a type of pollution and it worries me too – I would personally never had authorised herbicide resistance in GM crops. But what if you can make plants that don’t produce pollen with the gene in? This is possible through transforming the plastid such as the chloroplast, within a plant cell – as these are not present into pollen they will not transfer the GM genes to the next generation or introgress sexually with wild species or native cultivars.
I don’t claim to know everything, and I know for a fact that the science is alot more complicated than I described above. But I’m giving you an example to think about. This debate is more complex than just the GM technology – and you have ackowledged that yourself.
I wouldn’t say that the fix is easy – if it’s so easy then why hasn’t it been done? There are reasons behind all of what you see in the world, but a lot of bad reasoning comes from people trying to line there own pockets. I don’t want to make money out of biotech, I want to help people solve agricultural problems. Conventional plant breeding takes a long of time and is not very efficient or precise. GM is alot more precise, however it might have pitfalls. Given that I suggest publicly funded projects that don’t need to satisfy shareholders the result would undoubtably be better. There may still be mistakes but I don’t think you would see the level of coverups that you see in the private sector.
December 1st, 2009 at 2:35 pm
to hues
what your doing IS UNETHICAL!!!!!! i would not be proud of what your doing as you are.you are manipulating everyone on the planet into thinking biotech and gmo foods are good and healthy for everyone to eat. tell me then,why will the biotech and gmo companies NOT.i repeat NOT label what the plants are crossed with to make their frankenstein foods. example lettace,i like to eat lettace as i’m sure a lot of people on here do too.but i won’t eat GMO lettace anymore unless it’s certified organic.WHY,because GMO LETTACE is crossed with the COMMON BARN RAT.i for one will not eat any part of a common barn rat.and i’m sure most of the people in the world wouldn’t either.so why won’t you tell the people what their eating?your creating them under false pretences.your telling them that their good to eat but won’t tell them WHAT THEIR EATTING.
explain to me why you LYE TO THE PEOPLE about what their eating,your the person creating them?????????
December 1st, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Hi Organic farmer,
Thank you for your reply. I don’t think what I am doing is unethical – like I said before – I have an open mind on these issues I trying to form an opinion and playing devil’s advocate helps this process – it may also elucidate some of misinformation or misinterpretation that I think has been stated on these comments. I don’t think I’ve been manipulative in what I said at all, in fact I presented my last argument as a question to consider and stated I wasn’t certain of all the science.
I don’t know of the example of the GMO lettace you mentioned – I’d be interested in reading about if you want to send me a link. But firstly you are wrong to say †a GMO lettace is crossed with a common barn ratâ€, as you cannot “cross†these two organisms other than perhaps by a somatic cell hybrid (a non GM technique) which wouldn’t get past an ethics committee – and almost certainly wouldn’t produce a viable organism. Persumably you mean a rat gene encoding for a benefical protein has been transformed into the lettace genome? This does not mean your eating part of a rat, it doesn’t mean you are making a aminal / plant hybrid, it’s just an extra protein in your lettace that probably is no different to the thousands of safe proteins in your lettace (I cannot say for sure – I don’t know the specifics). You should not use emotive and inaccurate language such as ‘frankinstein foods†if you are accusing me of being manipulative.
I would promote the accurate labeling of all GMO foods, let people decide and I’m pro information. I’m from the UK, we have some GM labeling here, but I know in US and elsewhere it’s a different matter. In fact labelling for a lot of food related issues is, on the whole, insufficient, misleading and inaccurate and therfore could be vastly improved on.
I am not lying to people! and I don’t support anyone lying about what people are eating. I think there is alot of misinformation put out by Monsanto and other companies that have vested interests in covering up something they think will be percieved as negative. I personally think Monsanto are probably guilty of producing products which are dubious and there business practices seem dubious too.
I would also say that there is also a lot of misunderstanding of the science and failure to scientifically weigh up the risks and issues. I know that unless you are a member of scientific community it is hard to gain and gather the information but you should and can try and distinguish between anecdotes and good evidence.
Can the next person who responds please refrain from being insulting to me? Write a well reasoned response – otherwise you are only doing yourself an injustice.
December 1st, 2009 at 7:06 pm
administrator-
is there something wrong with my computer? I used to be able to see the links on the homepage but all of the sudden it is blank. I can click on it but cant see what is there that I am clicking. Please help!
December 1st, 2009 at 7:27 pm
This site is not compatible with IE 8.0 although there is a compatibility button on the browser toolbar next to the refresh button that will fix any errors. Viewing this site with Firefox, Chrome, Safari or older versions of IE still work fine.
December 1st, 2009 at 8:13 pm
mr hues
the only injustice done is by you idiot scientists manipulating the people of this earth.
i don’t know the exact link address but CTV national news is where it was first reported here in canada.go there and you should be able to follow the links. and yes you are correct in saying that it was a gene from the common barn rat put into lettace to make it stay fresher longer on the shelf.if that gene is not part of the common barn rat,what the hell is it then?it definitely is not part of the lettace or any other plant on this earth.it is part of a discusting dirty disease carrying vermine.so explain to me and all the other reader of this site,WHAT IT IS A PART OF THEN?????answer A RAT!!!!!!!!
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:11 am
I have been reading a few of the comments that have recently been posted here. Although I haven’t commented for quite some time, I am very amazed that people are not putting two and two together with the respect to the problem’s with our food in the world; specifically salmonella and e-coli outbreaks.
The question I have is: why is it that everyone is only concerned with genetically modified plants (in relation to problem with human health issues) when there is the very probable danger with LIVING [micro] organisms [fungus and bacteria] being put on food crops (animal and livestock) and sprayed for insect control]?
Hasn’t anyone ever wondered why the EPA’s, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division preprinted Form; 8570-6 [which is sent to biopesticide manufacturing companies] states:
[QUOTE] After fermentation and prior to further processing, each batch must have been tested or the following microbial contaminates and have levels below those listed:
E. coli/ Coliform Bacteria
Salmonella
Shigella
Staphylocci
Vibrio
Yeast
Mold
[END OF QUOTE]
To those that don’t believe this is stated in the EPA’s Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division preprinted Form; 8570-6; please go to, “June 20, 2000 “Conditional Time-Limited†Registration for QST 713 Technical†(click and this will take you to an actual EPA’s Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division preprinted Form; 8570-6)
http://www.biotechawareness.com/index
~option~com_content~view~article~
id~161~Itemid~1.php
To just view the EPA form
http://www.biotechawareness.com/
images/conditional_registration
_aq_qst_713_2000_copy.pdf
Why in the world would the EPA have any concerns of the above microorganisms being in ANY bio-control product?
Even melamine can be traced to bio-control. Biotechnology companies have been using melamine for micro capsule’s (of fungus, bacteria, virus) for long term pest control in biopesticides, biofungicides, bioinsecticides etc. for a long time. [However, the world blamed China for the melamine in milk]
___
I refer you to only one patent which reveals this; United States Patent 6506397 – which in part states:
Abstract:
The present invention features a sustained-release microcapsule for long-term pest controlling. In general, a microcapsule has a capsule core including active pest-control ingredients and diluents, and a capsule shell which physically separates the capsule core from the surrounding medium. Diluents are arranged to entrap active ingredients therein and to provide resistance to mass transfer of the active ingredients therethrough. The capsule shell generally includes the shell pores and provides additional resistance to mass transfer of the active ingredient therethrough. Diluents are selected from a class of material such that the mass transfer resistances existing in the capsule core and/or capsule shell depend on the temperature of the surrounding medium.
23. Microcapsule according to claim 21, wherein said capsule shell is formed by condensation of formaldehyde with at least one of urea and melamine.
Microorganism’s being used? The Netherlands, Institute of Food Safety report that was written in 2006 clearly indicates that the ENVIRONMENTAL RELEASE OF CERTAIN GENETICALLY ENGINEERED (GE) ORGANISMS and natural organisms (or of natural origin) for the purpose of plant disease and/or insect control is being found to not be as safe as had been expected with regard to human health and the environment.
What is being deemed as being a safer and environmentally friendly form of insect and disease control compared to “chemicals†should raise a question in everyone’s mind. Of course, time will tell, won’t it? Unfortunately, when the damage is done it is just that, done. There is going to be no turning back.
And for the readers information; the following bio-control products ARE listed by the EPA as being “chemicalsâ€. This is the “active ingredient†ONLY. Now take into account the HIGH % of “inactive ingredient or inert ingredient/sâ€; what is NOT KNOWN to anyone exposed; be it directly or indirectly through inhalation and/or ingestion.
FUNGUS: Muscodor Albus – QST 20799 [EPA CHEMICAL CODE # 006503]:
Product Name: Andante,
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†0.35% UNKNOWN: 99.65%
Product Name: Arabesque
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†0.35% UNKNOWN: 99.65%
Product Name: Glissade
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†0.35% UNKNOWN: 99.65%
Product Name: QST 20799 TECHNICAL,
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†2.10% UNKNOWN: 97.9%
Manufacturing use only no site , Formulating use only no site
FUNGUS: Lagenidium giganteum [NOT KNOWN IF THERE IS A EPA CHEMICAL CODE]
Product Name: Laginex as
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†40.0% UNKNOWN: 60.0%
Product Name: Technical laginex,
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†100%,
Manufacturing use only no site, Insecticide ,
Miticide , Microbial pesticide
BACTERIA – Bacillus pumilis strain QST 2808 [EPA CHEMICAL CODE # 006485] :
Product Name: Ballad®Plus Biofungicide,
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†1.38% UNKNOWN: 98.62%
Product Name: Qst 2808 mu,
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†1.42% UNKNOWN: 98.58%
Uses: Fungicide/fungistat, Plant Growth Regulator- Manufacturing use only no site , Formulating use only no site,
Product Name on Label: Bacillus pumilus strain QST 2808
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†1.38% UNKNOWN: .98.62%
BACTERIA – Bacillus Subtilis strain QST 713 [EPA CHEMICAL CODE 006479]:
Product Name: Qst 713 technical,
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†14.6% UNKNOWN: 85.4%
Uses: Manufacturing use only no site , Formulating use only no site,
Product Name: Rhapsody as,
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†1.34% UNKNOWN: 98.66%
Product Name: Rhapsody as0,
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†1.34% UNKNOWN: 98.66%
Product Name on Label: Serenade solutions
The EPA Registered Name for this product is: Serenade
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†10.0% UNKNOWN: 90.00%
Product Name: Serenade as
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†1.34% UNKNOWN: 98.66%
Product Name: Serenade aso,
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†1.34% UNKNOWN: 98.66%
Product Name on Label: Serenade solutions biofungicide concentrate
The EPA Registered Name for this product is: Serenade aso
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†1.34% UNKNOWN: 98.66%
Product Name: Serenade biofungicide wettable powder
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†10.0% UNKNOWN: 90.00%
Product Name: Serenade garden ready-to-use (rtu)
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†0.07% UNKNOWN: 99.93
Product Name: Serenade(r) max(tm)
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†14.6% UNKNOWN: 85.4%
Product Name on Label: Serenade solutions biofungicide for home and garden
The EPA Registered Name for this product is: Serenade(r) max(tm)
“ACTIVE INGREDIENT†14.6%% UNKNOWN: 85.4%
I have also just recently found an article that relates to the above bacteria; bacillus subtilis…
“Serenade is the first foliar applied, Bacillus-based biofungicide strong enough to stop foliar diseases of fruits and vegetables,†according to Pamela Marrone, president and CEO of AgraQuest, Inc. [EMPHASIS ADDED]: “Serenade has the ability to attack diseases from both inside and outside the plant. The result is a fungicide that can compete head to head with conventional pesticides on performance, reliability and ease of use. Unlike many conventional pesticides, Serenade is produced via a sustainable fermentation technology that utilizes a natural microbe and agricultural raw materials such as crop proteins and carbohydrates.â€
Could it be that fermentation batches of so called “natural†pest control products are ever contaminated? Also, how can any pest control product be considered in a “natural†state when in fact the percentage can be as low as .07%? As I stated above, what are the “unknown ingredients†that no one is allowed to know?
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:08 am
Sandi, please keep up the good fight, as a farmer i do not use the products you refer to but I’m sure to many of us farmer’s are. I did feed R.R. soy’s to my dairy cows with bad results.Now they have released 8 stax corn for 2010 we all need to fight together to stop all this stuff.
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:58 am
Thank you for your words of encouragement Pete! I just wish other’s out there would heed the words of what I have put before them. Our whole environment is at riskm not to mention the illness and death that has been taking place: no one wants to investigate the issues I have brought forth. Someday, when it is way beyond repair (if not already); then it will be said, I wish I would’ve paid more attention. The problem is, how is so much damage ever going to be undone. We are in a sad state of affairs and I believe it has gone past the stage of repair.
Sandi
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I’m sorry organic farmer but I went to CTV website could find the article on the GMO lettuce, perhaps you can find it and send me the link – you should be able to back up your sources if it’s such a big concern.
I also want to bring up this quote from your message:
“if that gene is not part of the common barn rat,what the hell is it then?it definitely is not part of the lettace or any other plant on this earth.it is part of a discusting dirty disease carrying vermine.so explain to me and all the other reader of this site,WHAT IT IS A PART OF THEN?????answer A RAT!!!!!!!!â€
Discusting dirty and disease carrying? Yes rats carry disease but so do all organisms I can think of – including humans, lettuces, and sweet furry kittens. The only reason we villify rats as particularly horrible disease vectors is the fact they are srewd enough, and have evolved behavioural and reproductive habbits that enable them to evade human’s attempts to erradicate them or totally control them – as a result they can cause us lots of problems. To some how equate the presence of a protein from a rat gene with any associated risk of disease in lettuce is completely wrong and misleading.
You make an interesting point, What makes a species – a species? Just becuase a rat gene encodes for a protein it doesn’t follow the gene belongs to the rat species – or merely that the rat has that gene. The gene maybe conserved in many different animals, or even all eukaryotic organisms. You might also find a rat that didn’t have that functioning gene – does that make it not a rat? No of course not. Maybe you should think of genetics in a more dynamic way – with gene flow a regular and natural occurance. There are reasons why inter kingdom geneflow doesn’t readily occur naturally between plants and animals, but this doesn’t mean it confers a risk to humanity when we eat an protein produced by plant encoded from a gene introduced from an animal. Geneflow does happen between other kingdoms – for an example look up Crown Gall Disease.
Again, I am not trying to manipulate anyone – in fact if anyone has vested interest it’s you, as you’re the one selling organic produce and need to make sure you have a concern market for you food – I am just trying to have a reasoned debate and present what I know. Peace.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
hues you’ve just said a bunch of jumbled jargen that said nothing.you never looked hard enough on the ctv news site,because i found it again but don’t know how to put a link to it.look harder.the question was “is that gene from the rat,not a part of the rat†yes or no? answer the question.your a part of all the idiot scentists that are slowly destroying this earth.the idiot scentist that said hey let’s feed cows to cows,it won’t hurt them and we can get rid of the waste from a cow when it was butchered for meat. what did that idiot scentist create,MAD COW DISEASE for the world.he was a scentist like you from england.maybe you idiot scentists over in england should send the farmers in the world billions and billions of dollars for the losses that you scentists in england created.pay for your mistakes and then you might have the right to make more!!!!!!!
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:45 am
If you want to copy a web address then:
1) Right click the web address at the top.
2) Select Copy from the list that appears
3) Right click this comment box
4) Select paste from the list that appears.
for example: http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=105
That’s the easiest way to do it.
I couldn’t find it, I looked through a 11 search pages from the main CTV website. I also did a few searches on “the web of science e-database†to try and find the original article – couldn’t find it there unfortunately. Please help me to understand your point by getting me this link.
I don’t think what I wrote was jargon, if you don’t understand parts of what I said, I can try and explain in more detail.
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:50 am
is that gene from the rat?
Probably, I haven’t seen the article. But even if it’s isolated from a rat, it doesn’t mean my points are invalid.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I am a college student in the midwest that grew up on a small farm and have just seen the future of food, food inc, and the world according to monsanto this week. I can not believe what is going on, I had no idea. No one that I have talked to does. Its very scary. I wondered why our local news didn’t report anything about this, after all they report on other research such as cell phone use giving you cancer….and then I saw it…… our news is sponsored by Monsanto.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:41 am
I am sure everyone would be “shocked beyond belief†that SO MANY foods; which have been found to be contaminated with salmonella, e-coli etc., etc., are IN FACT found in “ORGANIC FOODSâ€. All anyone has to do is search on the internet with the search words of salmonella, e-coli, and organic.
I wish to point out something; organic is deemed as being “naturalâ€. Am I correct in this presumption? Ok… then “organic farming†then means that either nothing is being used on the plants OR only “natural products†are being used…. is this also correct? So, let’s take for example something “naturalâ€; say the use of ladybugs or another insect to keep crop destroying insects at bay. This I can understand, as a ladybug itself does not pose a threat to human or animal health. Like so many others, if I didn’t know better, I would still believe that “natural†or “organic†means just that; not using anything or the use of one insect to control another, “ONLYâ€.
HOWEVER, what everyone is missing here is that “organic†farming could also mean the use of other “natural†agents, i.e.: bacteria and fungus [or so called "natural"]. These bacteria and/or fungus are used on food crops to fight against “diseases†of crops. Bacteria is used to fight fungal diseases of plants and fungus is used to fight bacterial diseases of plants. Just like the fungus penicillium is used to fight “bacterial†infections in man; AKA Penicillin. When Penicillin is used to treat human infections in mankind, it is NOT just the pure, or “natural†state of the penicillium fungus that is given us;. the penicillium fungus has been altered by pharmaceutical companies.
Likewise, this is what happens with so called “natural†bacteria and fungus that are being used on food crops. What is deemed as “natural†is not as “natural†as one would assume because like the pharmaceutical companies; who make antibiotics, companies who have products on the market for the purpose of killing a bacteria or fungus on a plant do not merely use these bacteria and fungus in a 100% “natural†state. The spore, “Bacillus anthracis†is found in soil and is considered to be “naturalâ€, but when it is cultivated and modified for the wrong purpose it then can very easily become ANTHRAX, and we all know how deadly ANTHRAX is. My point here is just because something is deemed as “natural†doesn’t mean it it safe. Even some “natural†microorganisms, in a pure form do indeed cause disease and even death.
In my previous posts, I have tried my best to inform everyone that products that are used in farming; so called “natural†bacteria and fungus; bio-pesticides, bio-insecticides, bio-fungicides etc. could very well be contaminated and thus we have the overwhelming incidences of salmonella and e-coli food poisonings that we never had before. Remember, these are LIVE bacteria and fungus that are being put on food crops and also used for insect control. When you REALLY look at the “ACTIVE INGREDIENT†of these BIOLOGICAL control products being used in the farm settings; you will note they are fairly low: 0.35%, 2.10% 40.0% 1.38% 1.42%, 1.34%, 10.0%, 0.07%, 14.6%; these were all referenced in my post #267 above (as well as previous posts). So, I then have to ask, “what are the other inactive ingredients� Do they alter the “natural†microorganism? What mutations are they now? What potential harm could be caused? What do they do to the native soil and native microorganisms?
With respect to possible contamination in biological products that are used on human and animal food I refer you to submissions to the EPA and the EPA’s form concerning problems with the submission. http://www.biotechawareness.com/images/conditional_registration_aq_qst_713_2000_copy.pdf [this 4 page form issued by the EPA in 2000 is rather large on the computer monitor so your screen size will have to be reduced (contol and minus key for PCs and command and minus key for Mac users]). Clearly, you will see a problem here.
December 6th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
ARTICLE:
“Not So Fast: Nationwide Recall on Slim Fast Due to Bacteria Contaminationâ€
Slim Fast, the popular weight loss beverage, has issued a recall due to the discovery of harmful bacteria in their product that could cause food poisoning including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The bacteria discovered was Bacillus cereus, which is in the same category as Salmonella as a food-borne illness.
http://northeast-nc.injuryboard.com/defective-and-dangerous-products/not-so-fast-nationwide-recall-on-slim-fast-due-to-bacteria-contamination.aspx?googleid=275412
ST says:
THE possible LINK to BACILLUS CEREUS in connection with biological products used in farming [story above];
Everyone needs to know that natural microorganisms have been used for years on our food crops: ie biopesticides, bioinsecticides, biofungicides, biomicodides etc. Bacillus cereus is amonst those. The following information was taken from one United States Patent ONLY [THERE ARE MANY OTHERS] [US Patent 5869042 - Methods for controlling above-ground plant diseases using antibiotic-producing bacillus sp. ATCC 55608 or 55609].
Naturally-occurring fungicidal bacterial strains are relatively uncommon. Screening programs have identified certain Bacillus sp. (B. sp. includes B. subtilis, B. cereus, B. mycodies, B. anthracis and B. thuringiensis) strains which exhibit antifungal activity. (See, e.g., Stabb et al. (1990) Applied Environ. Microbiol. 60(12):4404-4412). These strains have been shown to produce zwittermicin-A and/or “antibiotic B,†now known as kanosamine (Milner et al. (1996) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:3061-3065), two antibiotic agents which are effective against the soil borne disease “damping-off†caused by Phytophthora medicaginis, Phytophthora nicotianae, Phytophthora aphanidermatum or Sclerotinia minor. (See, Stabb et al., supra).
Zwittermicin A is a water-soluble, acid-stable linear aminopolyol molecule. (See, He et al. (1994) Tetra. Lett. 35(16):2499-2502). U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,379 to Handelsman et al. describes how zwittermicin A-producing B. cereus can be used to control the below-ground seedling diseases “root rot†and “damping off†in alfalfa and soybean. When the seed is coated with zwittermicin-A produced by B. cereus ATCC 53522, the pathogenic activity of the root rot fungus is inhibited. Similarly, application of spore-based formulations of certain B. cereus strains to soybean seeds or the soil surrounding the seeds has been shown to improve soybean yield at field sites. (See, Osburne et al. (1995) Am. Phytophathol. Soc. 79(6): 551-556).
Smith et al. (1993) Plant Disease 77(2):139-142 report that the activity of the soil-borne fungus, Pythium aphandiermatum, that causes cottony cucumber leak can be suppressed using zwittermicin-producing B. cereus strain UW85. Liefert et al. (1995) J. Appl. Bacteriol. 78:97-108 report the production of anti-Botrytis and anti-Alternaria brassicicola antibiotics by two Bacillus strains, B. subtilis CL27 and B. pumilis CL45. The whole broth and cell-free filtrates were active against Botrytis and Alternaria in in vitro tests and were active against Botrytis in in vivo small plants tests on Astilbe. The authors identified three antibiotics produced by the B. subtilis strain CL27, two of which were thought to be peptides and one non-peptide. Unlike the bacterial strains of the present invention, the antibiotics produced by the B. pumilis strain CL45 demonstrated only in vitro activity, no in vivo activity was demonstrated.
December 9th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
It isn’t just Monsanto!! It is many companies that don’t care about anything but profit. That is way everthing is being made in China where there is no control of what they do or how they do it. Never buy chickhen at WalMart. They could be dead for 2 weeks or better, doctered up, and sold to WallyWorld as fresh!! Who allows that? OUR government people!!
December 12th, 2009 at 12:58 am
Three approved GMOs found unsafe: Study
QUOTE:
14 December 2009: In what is being described as the first ever and most comprehensive study of three major GMOs about assessing the effects on mammalian health, researchers from CRIIGEN and Universities of Caen and Rouen have highlighted a number of new sex and often dose dependent side effects linked with their consumption.END OF QUOTE
The report is titled “A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health†and concerns CEREAL http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm
NOTE: THE REPORT @ http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm is concerning corn that has been genetically engineered to tolerate the broad spectrum herbicide Roundup, and two different new insecticides namely modified versions of Cry1Ab (MON 810) and Cry3Bb1 (MON 863) Bacillus thuringiensis-derived proteins.
NOTE: “Cry†means “crystal proteinâ€
THE REPORT CONCLUSIONS:
QUOTE:
5. Conclusions
Patho-physiological profiles are unique for each GM crop/food, underlining the necessity for a case-by-case evaluation of their safety, as is largely admitted and agreed by regulators. It is not possible to make comments concerning any general, similar subchronic toxic effect for all GM foods. However, in the three GM maize varieties that formed the basis of this investigation, new side effects linked to the consumption of these cereals were revealed, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others [4]. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity. This can be due to the new pesticides (herbicide or insecticide) present specifically in each type of GM maize, although unintended metabolic effects due to the mutagenic properties of the GM transformation process cannot be excluded [42]. All three GM maize varieties contain a distinctly different pesticide residue associated with their particular GM event (glyphosate and AMPA in NK 603, modified Cry1Ab in MON 810, modified Cry3Bb1 in MON 863). These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown. Furthermore, any side effect linked to the GM event will be unique in each case as the site of transgene insertion and the spectrum of genome wide mutations will differ between the three modified maize types. In conclusion, our data presented here strongly recommend that additional long-term (up to 2 years) animal feeding studies be performed in at least three species, preferably also multi-generational, to provide true scientifically valid data on the acute and chronic toxic effects of GM crops, feed and foods. Our analysis highlights that the kidneys and liver as particularly important on which to focus such research as there was a clear negative impact on the function of these organs in rats consuming GM maize varieties for just 90 days. END OF QUOTE
Not ONLY is there a problem with genetically modified [engineered] food sources, there is also a problem with WHAT IS BEING PUT ON FOOD SOURCES; biopesticides, bioinsecticides, biofungicides etc. that is not being addressed or even investigated.
Four examples of this [but not limited to] are four (4) United States patents which address cry proteins and Bacillus thuringiensis mutants . I will copy and paste from the United States Patent Office:
PATENT #!)
United States Patent 5,602,032
Liu , et al. [APPROVED] February 11, 1997
Bacillus thuringiensis mutants which produce high yields of crystal delta-endotoxin
Abstract
The invention relates to a mutant of Bacillus thuringiensis which produces a larger amount of crystal delta-endotoxin with a greater pesticidal activity as compared to the corresponding parental strain. The mutant may also have a larger crystal size as compared to the corresponding parental strain. The crystal delta-endotoxin produced by the mutant Bacillus thuringiensis will have an activity directed towards the same pest(s) as its parental Bacillus thuringiensis crystal delta-endotoxin. The invention further relates to a method for producing such a mutant, compositions comprising such a mutant as well as methods for controlling a pest(s) using these compositions.
Inventors:
Liu; Chi-Li (Davis, CA), Marrone; Pamela G. (Davis, CA), Payne; Jewel M. (Davis, CA), Gurtler; Hanne (Holte, DK), Petersen; Annette S. (Birker.o slashed.d, DK)
Assignee:
Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL)
Appl. No.:
08/377,888
Filed:
January 25, 1995
WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
8. The method according to claim 1 in which the mutant produces a CryI crystal delta-endotoxin.
9. The method according to claim 1 in which the mutant produces a CrylA(a)-like crystal delta-endotoxin.
PATENT #2)
United States Patent 5,698,440
Liu , et al. [APPROVED] December 16, 1997
Bacillus thuringiensis mutants which produce high yelds of crystal delta-endotoxin
Abstract
The invention relates to a mutant of Bacillus thuringiensis which produces a larger amount of crystal delta-endotoxin with a greater pesticidal activity as compared to the corresponding parental strain. The mutant may also have a larger crystal size as compared to the corresponding parental strain. The crystal delta-endotoxin produced by the mutant Bacillus thuringiensis will have an activity directed towards the same pest(s) as its parental Bacillus thuringiensis crystal delta-endotoxin. The invention further relates to a method for producing such a mutant, compositions comprising such a mutant as well as methods for controlling a pest(s) using these compositions.
Inventors:
Liu; Chi-Li (Davis, CA), Marrone; Pamela Gail (Davis, CA), Payne; Jewel M. (Davis, CA), Gurtler; Hanne (Holte, DK), Petersen; Annette Schousboe (Birker.o slashed.d, DK)
Assignee:
Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL)
Appl. No.:
08/377,875
Filed:
January 25, 1995
5.6. Example 6
Classical mutagenesis of Bacillus thuringiensis CryIA(a) strain EMCC0073
5.9. Example 9
Determination of size of CryIA(a) crystals from Bacillus thuringiensis mutants EMCC0123 and EMCC0124
PATENT #3)
United States Patent 5,874,289
Liu , et al. [APPROVED] February 23, 1999
Bacillus thuringiensis mutants which produce high yields of crystal delta-endotoxin
Abstract
The invention relates to a mutant of Bacillus thuringiensis which produces a larger amount of crystal delta-endotoxin with a greater pesticidal activity as compared to the corresponding parental strain. The mutant may also have a larger crystal size as compared to the corresponding parental strain. The crystal delta-endotoxin produced by the mutant Bacillus thuringiensis will have an activity directed towards the same pest(s) as its parental Bacillus thuringiensis crystal delta-endotoxin. The invention further relates to a method for producing such a mutant, compositions comprising such a mutant as well as methods for controlling a pest(s) using these compositions.
Inventors:
Liu; Chi-Li (Davis, CA), Marrone; Pamela G. (Davis, CA), Payne; Jewel M. (Davis, CA), Gurtler; Hanne (Holte, DK), Petersen; Annette S. (Birker.o slashed.d, DK)
Assignee:
Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL)
Appl. No.:
08/922,125
Filed:
August 28, 1997
What is Claimed is:
4. The method according to claim 1 in which the mutant produces a Cry I protein.
5. The method according to claim 1 in which the mutant produces a CryIA(a)-like protein.
2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The delta-endotoxins are encoded by cry (crystal protein) genes. The cry genes have been divided into six classes and several subclasses based on relative amino acid homology and pesticidal specificity. The six major classes are Lepidoptera-specific (cryI), Lepidoptera- and Diptera-specific (cryII), Coleoptera-specific (cryhIII), Diptera-specific (cryIV) (Hofte and Whiteley, 1989, Microbiol. Rev. 53:242-255), Coleoptera- and Lepidoptera-specific (referred to as cryV genes by Tailor et al., 1992, Mol. Microbiol. 6:1211-1217); and Nematode-specific (referred to as cryV and cryVI genes by Feitelson et al., 1992, Bio/Technology 10:271-275).
The utility of Bacillus thuringiensis strains for the control of pests is dependent upon efficient and economical production of the active toxins. This in turn is dependent upon the amount of crystal delta-endotoxins which can be produced by fermentation of the active Bacillus thuringiensis strains.
4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In another embodiment, the parental strain may solely produce a CryIA(a)-like crystal delta-endotoxin. Such strains are disclosed in application Ser. No. 08/157,363, filed Nov. 23, 1993, incorporated herein by reference. The CryIA(a)-like crystal delta-endotoxin is encoded by at least one copy of a cryIA(a)-like gene. As defined herein, a “cryIA(a)-like genes is a DNA sequence encoding a CryIA(a)-like protein defined above. In a specific embodiment, the cryIA(a)-like gene has at least 90% homology to the cryIA(a) gene, preferably at least 95% homology to the cryIA(a) gene and most preferably at least 99% homology to the cryIA(a) gene and is shown in the sequence listing as SEQ ID NO:1 shown below.
PATENT #4)
United States Patent 6,210,952
Liu , et al. [APPROVED] April 3, 2001
Bacillus thuringiensis mutants which produce higher yields of crystal delta-endotoxin than their corresponding parental strains
Abstract
The invention relates to a mutant of Bacillus thuringiensis which produces a larger amount of crystal delta-endotoxin with a greater pesticidal activity as compared to the corresponding parental strain. The mutant may also have a larger crystal size as compared to the corresponding parental strain. The crystal delta-endotoxin produced by the mutant Bacillus thuringiensis will have an activity directed towards the same pest(s) as its parental Bacillus thuringiensis crystal delta-endotoxin. The invention further relates to a method for producing such a mutant, compositions comprising such a mutant as well as methods for controlling a pest(s) using these compositions.
Inventors:
Liu; Chi-Li (Davis, CA), Marrone; Pamela Gail (Davis, CA), Payne; Jewel M. (Davis, CA), Gurtler; Hanne (Holte, DK), Petersen; Annette Schousboe (Birker.o slashed.d, DK)
Assignee:
Valent BioSciences Corp. (Libertyville, IL)
Appl. No.:
08/902,412
Filed:
July 29, 1997
4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As defined herein, a CryIA(a)-like crystal delta-endotoxin is a protein in crystalline form substantially homologous to a CryIA(a) protein which is immunologically reactive with antibodies to the CryIA(a) protein and has essentially the same insecticidal activity as a CryIA(a) protein. Preferably, the CryIA(a) like protein has at least 90% homology to the CryIA(a) protein, more preferably at least 95% homology and most preferably at least 99% homology to the CryIA(a) protein.
In another embodiment, the parental strain may solely produce a CryIA(a)-like crystal delta-endotoxin. Such strains are disclosed in application Ser. No. 08/157,363, filed Nov. 23, 1993, incorporated herein by reference. The CryIA(a)-like crystal delta-endotoxin is encoded by at least one copy of a cryIA(a)-like gene. As defined herein, a “cryIA(a)-like gene†is a DNA sequence encoding a CryIA(a)-like protein defined above. In a specific embodiment, the cryIA(a)-like gene has at least 90% homology to the cryIA(a) gene, preferably at least 95% homology to the cryIA(a) gene and most preferably at least 99% homology to the cryIA(a) gene and is shown in the sequence listing as SEQ ID NO:1 shown below.
5. 6. Example 6
Classical Mutagenesis of Bacillus thuringiensis CryIA(a) Strain EMCC0073
5.9. Example 9
Determination of Size of CryIA(a) Crystals from Bacillus thuringiensis Mutants EMCC0123 and EMCC0124
_________________________________________
Now, there you have it with respect to biopesticides, bioinsecticides, biofungicides etc., I DID NOT MAKE THIS UP. I am almost sure the “A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Healthâ€report is going to be “only the tip of the icebergâ€, and many reports such as this will surface over time. The problem is, how do you put the lid back on Pandora’s box?
People, you need to start waking up!!!!!
December 19th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
RR Alfalfa Up For Comment — Again
APHIS public comment period on its safety opens Friday.
John Vogel
Published: Dec 18, 2009
Roundup Ready alfalfa’s re-done environmental impact statement opens for public comment Dec. 18. The 60-day comment period runs through Feb. 16.
The draft EIS, prepared by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, evaluates potential environmental effects of deregulating the genetically engineered plant material. After nearly five years delay by federal court challenges, this EIS, too, concludes that there is no significant impact on the human environment due to granting nonregulated status to RR alfalfa.
To study the draft EIS, visit the APHIS Web site. A fact sheet with frequently asked questions about RR alfalfa and the draft EIS process is also available on the site.
To submit comments online, go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal. To submit comments by mail, send two copies to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.
December 26th, 2009 at 2:00 am
And while you are considering Monsanto, think asbetos, saccchrin, PCBs, DDT,Agent Orange, BGH, aspartame, GMO, Nazis, nuclear waste & NewsCorp