Non-GMO Foods Part 2
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Thank you for joining me again, in our journey of discovery about genetically modified foods, and the need for only non-GMO foods in our diet. As luck would have it, I found an incredible background story on biotech foods by on the last week. "On August 10, 1998, eminent scientist Dr. Arpad Pusztai (pronounced Poos-tie) dared to speak the truth. He had been an enthusiastic supporter of , working on cutting edge safety research with genetically modified (GM) foods. But to his surprise, his experiments showed that GM foods were inherently dangerous. When he relayed his concerns during a short television interview in the , things got ugly. With support from the highest levels of government, biotech defenders quickly mobilized a coordinated attack campaign trying to distort and cover up the evidence. It worked for a while, but when an order of Parliament lifted Dr. Pusztai's gag order, the revelations touched off a media firestorm that ultimately kicked GM foods out of European supermarkets, and derailed the industry's timetable to quickly replace virtually all food with genetically engineered alternatives."
Let's begin again in viewing Video 6 of "" and continue our discussion of biotech foods in an upclose and personal interview with the research team of whistleblowers, including Dr. Stanley Ewan and Dr. Arpad Pusztai.
Jeffrey Smith continues his dramatic story about Dr. Pusztai and biotech foods in of his account, and responds point-by-point to the GMO industry's denial and spin over the Pusztai affair which is still being hyped in their new attack website. In the meantime, GMO labeling is forbidden in the . The FDA and Monsanto are confident these foods are safe. In 1978 Monsanto sponsored studies on the long-term effects of Dioxin. Monsanto studies showed that the dioxin was not a human carcinogen. Another whistleblower, EPA employee Kate Jenkins wrote a memorandum to the EPA Science Advisory Board asking them to review these studies to see if they were correctly done. However, there was no investigation of the studies, but rather an investigation and persecution of Kate Jenkins was carried out by Monsanto.
"Monsanto's GMO's have inundated the world. Principly in North and South America, Asia, and . After only 10 years, crops now cover 250 million acres. 70% are Roundup Roundup resistant, and 30% genetically modified to produce an incesticide called BT. Since 2001, the company has published a yearly document entitled "The Pledge report." A kind of ethics statement in which Monsanto tries to justify its business practices. At the heart of the opposition to GMO's is the subject of patents. This is what Monsanto calls their ' intellectual property', which are supposed to protect their investment. In North America, every farmer who buys biotech seeds must find a technology agreement in which the farmer promises to respect the company's patent on the modified gene."
Biotech crops are protected by , so now many farmers who grow conventional soybeans have been victims of so-called "Gene Police." Created by Monsanto, these "Gene Police" are hired to enforce these laws in farmers fields. There is also a toll-free number farmers can call to report their neighbors, to turn them in for reusing their own seeds. "They want to control the seed. I mean, this is the building blocks of food we're talking about. They...ugh...they are in the process of owning food. All food." Troy Roush
"Today in India, Monsanto controls nearly all of the cottonseed market, forcing the locals to buy its seeds at prices four times higher than conventional varieties. Small farmers must turn to money lenders who charge high interest rates. If the harvest is poor, it means bankruptcy. A vicious circle which is . is the title of a book by physicist . She won the alternative Nobel Prize and heads the Navdanya organization, which aims to conserve traditional seeds. In the beginning, 's battle was against the first green revolution, which brought industrial to India in the 1960's. Today she denounces what she calls the 2nd , that of GMO's protected by patents."
"If they control seed they control food. They know it. It's strategic. It's more powerful than bombs. It's more powerful than guns. This is the best way to control the populations of the world."
"He who controls the nations food supplies, controls the world."
" To preserve its corns diversity, Mexico has banned its genetically modified crops. However, due to the signed with the United States and Canada, Mexico cannot stop the massive importation of American corn, 40% of which is genetically modified. This industrial corn, as it's called in Mexico, is highly subsidized by the US government. So in local markets, it costs half as much as traditional Mexican corn."
Marie-Monique Robin talks with a local Mexican family:
Question: Do you always make your tortilla's with local corn?
Answer: Yes. It's natural and has a better yield. And also it's more nourishing, because it comes from pure soil. That's blue corn. In the past my ancestors only planeted this kind of corn. Today we maintain it as well.
Question: It existed before the Spanish conquest?
Answer: Yes...there's another kind of conquest.
Question: What's the new conquest?
Answer: It's the transgenic conquest that wants to destroy everything by making local corn disappear, so that their industrial corn can dominate. If they succeed, we'll be dependent on multinationals. We'll be forced to buy fertilizer and insecticides they sell, because without them their corn won't grow. Where as the local corn grows very well without fertilizer or herbicide. Look at it. It's very beautiful. ---END
And now, reports: "For the first time in the United States, populations of genetically modified organisms were found to be growing in the wild in North Dakota – along roadsides, in ballparks and cemeteries- and in some cases, have been cross-pollinating to create new plants that are resistant to several strains of herbicides."
"We are going to talk about the production model of GM soybeans promoted by Monsanto. It's a true multinational company. It's everywhere in the world. Its objective is to control all of the world's food production through farmerless farming. The result is that Monsanto is depriving us of our food of our ability to feed ourselves without depending on anyone else. That is why we say that we must fight for our independence. For our land, we must defend our communities, our families, and our country."
Chris Horner of Monsanto's response to an interview request by Marie-Monique Robin: "Yeah we appreciate your persistence in ugh, in asking but ugh you know we've had several conversations internally about this, and ugh have not changed our position...so...there's no reason for us to participate. Our suspicion is that it would not be positive, uhm, so... you know... END
To take this tragedy a little further, is it possible that if the Monsanto corporation contaminates enough seed it could eradicate humanity? I raise this question only because they are one of the biggest backers of the in the Artic, and I'm curious as to why they arn't packing their own crap?
"The seed bank is being built inside a mountain on Spitsbergen Island near the small village of Longyearbyen. It’s almost ready for ‘business’ according to their releases. The bank will have dual blast-proof doors with motion sensors, two airlocks, and walls of steel-reinforced concrete one meter thick. It will contain up to three million different varieties of seeds from the entire world, ‘so that crop diversity can be conserved for the future,’ according to the Norwegian government" .
From the book , by Robin de Ruiter: "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."
Why thank you Monsanto. Not only do your FrankenFoods currently bring us down with different illnesses, you've designed your food in such a way as to harm many future generations as well. No wonder you're hoarding seeds. How many farmers here in the US will you be taking to court now that genetically modified plants have been found growing wild here in America? shows that once out into the wild, these genetically modified plants may cross-pollinate and create entirely new plants that are resistant to more than one herbicide.
"One variety of super-weed, palmer pigweed can grow up to 2.4 meters high, withstands severe heat and prolonged droughts, and produces thousands of seeds with a root system that drains nutrients away from crops. If left unchecked, it takes over an entire field in a year. Some farmers have been forced to abandon their land. To date palmer pigweed infestation in GMO crop regions has been identified in addition to Arkansas, also in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, New Mexico, Mississippi and most recently, Alabama and Missouri."
What does all of this mean? Is it just happening here in my area, that anytime I visit a traditional grocery store they're almost completely void of customers? According to Jeffrey Smith, 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. I think some of the big chains will go bankrupt if they don't see the need to provide genuine food to their customers.
I don't know if people are instinctively rejecting biotech foods, or if they are becoming educated on this subject. I hope both, and that we all continue to and items. We have to do this, our future depends on it. It's not appropriate for corporations to be releasing their genetically modified crops on mankind, and if the public regularly rejects these foods they will have no choice but to abandon these practices. You can find out more about how to on web sites such as , , ,and the . I am still looking at non-GMO food opportunities as well, and will keep you posted.
Sharon Lorraine
GPDB Web Site
BP GAG ORDER
ARNOLD & PORTER – BP HIRED ARNOLD & PORTER, THE SAME LAW FIRM THAT MONSANTO USES TO DESTROY FAMILY FARMERS, TO DESTROY GULF FISHERMEN
Monsanto retained the law firm of Arnold & Porter.
1 Litigation experience with biotechnology patent cases is an exceptional strength among the 700 lawyers on this firm’s staff.
2.Homan McFarling and KemRalph are two farmers who have fought back hard against Monsanto, and when both of their cases went on appeal to the Federal Circuit, onsanto retained former U.S. Solicitor General Seth P. Waxman of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, to prosecute the two farmers.
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