Boycott these Monsanto-pandering factory ‘food’ companies and help drive GMOs out of the food supply
Thursday, June 13, 2013 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) If Americans are truly serious about making real progress in the fight against genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), then we are going to have to take things to the next level by voting with our wallets, and boycotting every single factory food company that continues to secretly use GMOs in its products. And one way to help jump start this efforts is to get the health-conscious community up to speed about which major food companies are still using GMOs in secrecy.
The blog REALfarmacy.com recently created a “Do Not Buy” list that outlines all the major food producers that use GMOs in their products. Besides the more obvious offenders such as Coca-Cola, General Mills, Pepsi, and Frito-Lay, the list also pins “health”-branded food companies like Nature Valley and Morningstar that many people are still unaware also use GMOs in their products. You can view this list here: http://www.realfarmacy.com
As you will notice, virtually every major food brand in America uses GMOs in its products. This is hardly surprising, as the most recent figures show that 88 percent of all corn, 90 percent of all canola (rapeseed), 93 percent of all soybeans, and nearly 100 percent of all sugar beets grown in the U.S. contain transgenic traits patented and owned by Monsanto, Bayer CropScience, and a handful of other biotechnology companies. In fact, any food product that is not certified organic or that is not specifically designated as being non-GMO likely contains GM ingredients.
Purchase only local, non-GMO, organic foods; avoid eating out at restaurants that serve conventional food
Though admittedly difficult due to the sheer volume of contamination caused by GMOs, boycotting all products that contain them will be vital for eventually ridding the food supply of these toxic poisons. Major progress has already been made in the form of voluntary GMO labeling by food chain Chipotle, for instance, as well as mandatory GMO labeling in all Whole Foods Market stores by 2018 (or potentially even 2015, pending the passage of GMO labeling legislation at the individual state level). Even big-box retailer Target has jumped onboard, having announced that it will unveil a new non-GMO store brand known as “Simply Balanced.”
But we must do more. The brands we frequent as health-conscious individuals must be willing to take a stand now to eliminate GMOs from their product lines, or else they are not worth purchasing. Companies like Amy’s Kitchen, Annie’s, Applegate Farms, Beanitos, Bragg, Earthbound Farm, Eden Foods Organics, Kettle, Lundberg Family Farms, Nature’s Path, Organic Valley, and Pacific Foods are among those leading the way in providing clean, non-GMO foods. But what about all the other major brands that are still floundering in their commitment to clean food?
You can view a full list of verified non-GMO brands, as certified by The Non-GMO Project, here: http://www.nongmoproject.org
The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) has also created a Non-GMO Shopping Guide designed to help you avoid common ingredients like soy, canola, cottonseed, corn, sugar from sugar beets, and now wheat – unapproved GM wheat was recently found growing in a commercial field in Oregon – that are likely of GM origin. You can access this guide here: http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/
As far as dining out is concerned, it is always best to ask questions and essentially let restaurant owners and managers know that you are concerned about the quality and integrity of their offerings. As them what types of oils they cook with, for instance, and inquire about which foods are prepared fresh and which ones are canned or bagged. IRT has some helpful tips for avoiding GMOs while dining out that you can access here: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/buy-non-gmo/dine-out-non-gmo
Many of you likely recall the OSGATA vs. Monsanto case from last year. The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA),comprised of some 300,000 individuals and non-GMO farming alliances, filed suit against the biotech behemoth Monsanto in 2011 in order to protect themselves against Monsanto’s suing for incidental GMO seed drift onto their non-GMO fields.
To the world’s outrage, OSGATA’s case was denied last year by judge Naomi Buchwald on insufficient grounds for bringing a preemptive case against Monsanto. In other words, they were denied the right to protect themselves against Monsatno’s frivolous lawsuits. OSGATA vowed to appeal, which they did, and that appeal was finally heard by a three-judge panel on June 10, 2013.
Unfortunately, Judge Buchwald’s decision was again upheld. But this time, we won something. The plaintiffs were denied because Monsanto went on record making a promise. “Monsanto has made binding assurances that it will not take legal action against growers whose crops might inadvertently contain traces of Monsanto biotech genes (because, for example, some transgenic seed or pollen blew onto the grower’s land).
Dan Ravicher, the attorney for OSGATA, understands the recent decision as a partial victory.
“Before this suit, the Organic Seed plaintiffs were forced to take expensive precautions and avoid full use of their land in order to not be falsely accused of patent infringement by Monsanto,” said Ravicher. “The decision today means that the farmers did have the right to bring the suit to protect themselves, but now that Monsanto has bound itself not to sue the plaintiffs, the Court of Appeals believes the suit should not move forward.”
In other words, even though OSGATA again had their case denied, farmers across the nation are now guaranteed protection against Monsanto’s dubious practice of aggressively seeking out otherwise innocent and often unwitting violators to persecute for stealing Monsanto’s “intellectual property”—i.e., their lousy patented GMO seeds.
On the brightest side, today’s decision allows farmers who are contaminated by Monsanto’s GMO junk to sue Monsanto and Monsanto’s customers for damages caused by that contamination without fear Monsanto’s retaliating with a “patent infringement” claim.
Today’s ruling may give farmers a toehold in courts regarding the unwanted contamination of their crops, but it does not protect our food supply from the continued proliferation of Monsanto’s flawed technology,” said Dave Murphy, founder and executive director of Food Democracy Now!, a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit. “The real threat of continued contamination of our nation’s food supply was only highlighted last week when Monsanto’s unapproved GMO wheat was discovered in an Oregon farmer’s field more than 10 years after it was legally planted in that state.”
Despite the Court of Appeals’ Decision today the plaintiffs (OSGATA) still have the option to ask the Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision and to reinstate the case. Attorney Ravicher said the Organic Seed plaintiffs are considering doing so.
We hope they do and gain more injunctions against the biotech bully—for our sake and for the Earth’s sake!
Please continue to boycott all Monsanto products and if you have not, please join GEM for updates and how to safeguard your health and those you love from the pollution of GMOs.
Former Pro-GMO Scientist Speaks Out on the Real Dangers of Genetically Engineered Food
By Dr. Mercola
Who better to speak the truth about the risks posed by genetically modified (GM) foods than Thierry Vrain, a former research scientist for Agriculture Canada? It was Vrain’s job to address public groups and reassure them that GM crops and food were safe, a task he did with considerable knowledge and passion.
But Vrain, who once touted GM crops as a technological advancement indicative of sound science and progress, has since started to acknowledge the steady flow of research coming from prestigious labs and published in high-impact journals – research showing that there is significant reason for concern about GM crops – and he has now changed his position.
Former Pro-GMO Scientist Cites GM Food Safety Concerns
Vrain cites the concerning fact that it is studies done by Monsanto and other biotech companies that claim GM crops have no impact on the environment and are safe to eat. But federal departments in charge of food safety in the US and Canada have not conducted tests to affirm this alleged “safety.”
“There are no long-term feeding studies performed in these countries [US and Canada] to demonstrate the claims that engineered corn and soya are safe. All we have are scientific studies out of Europe and Russia, showing that rats fed engineered food die prematurely.
These studies show that proteins produced by engineered plants are different than what they should be. Inserting a gene in a genome using this technology can and does result in damaged proteins. The scientific literature is full of studies showing that engineered corn and soya contain toxic or allergenic proteins.
… I refute the claims of the biotechnology companies that their engineered crops yield more, that they require less pesticide applications, that they have no impact on the environment and of course that they are safe to eat.”
“The Whole Paradigm of Genetic Engineering Technology is Based on a Misunderstanding”
This misunderstanding is the “one gene, one protein” hypothesis from 70 years ago, which stated that each gene codes for a single protein. However, the Human Genome project completed in 2002 failed dramatically to identify one gene for every one protein in the human body, forcing researchers to look to epigenetic factors — namely, “factors beyond the control of the gene” – to explain how organisms are formed, and how they work.
According to Vrain:
“Genetic engineering is 40 years old. It is based on the naive understanding of the genome based on the One Gene – one protein hypothesis of 70 years ago, that each gene codes for a single protein. The Human Genome project completed in 2002 showed that this hypothesis is wrong.
The whole paradigm of the genetic engineering technology is based on a misunderstanding. Every scientist now learns that any gene can give more than one protein and that inserting a gene anywhere in a plant eventually creates rogue proteins. Some of these proteins are obviously allergenic or toxic.”
In other words, genetic engineering is based on an extremely oversimplified model that suggests that by taking out or adding one or several genes, you can create a particular effect or result. But this premise, which GMO expert Dr. Philip Bereano calls “the Lego model,” is not correct. You cannot simply take out a yellow piece and put in a green piece and call the structure identical because there are complex interactions that are still going to take place and be altered, even if the initial structure still stands.
Serious Problems May Arise From Horizontal Gene Transfer
GE plants and animals are created using horizontal gene transfer (also called horizontal inheritance), as contrasted with vertical gene transfer, which is the mechanism in natural reproduction. Vertical gene transfer, or vertical inheritance, is the transmission of genes from the parent generation to offspring via sexual or asexual reproduction, i.e., breeding a male and female from one species.
By contrast, horizontal gene transfer involves injecting a gene from one species into a completely different species, which yields unexpected and often unpredictable results. Proponents of GM crops assume they can apply the principles of vertical inheritance to horizontal inheritance, but according to Dr. David Suzuki, an award-winning geneticist, this assumption is flawed in just about every possible way and is “just lousy science.”
Genes don’t function in a vacuum — they act in the context of the entire genome. Whole sets of genes are turned on and off in order to arrive at a particular organism, and the entire orchestration is an activated genome. It’s a dangerous mistake to assume a gene’s traits are expressed properly, regardless of where they’re inserted. The safety of GM food is based only on a hypothesis, and this hypothesis is already being proven wrong.
Leading Scientists Disprove GMO Safety
Vrain cites the compelling report “GMO Myths and Truths”2 as just one of many scientific examples disputing the claims of the biotech industry that GM crops yield better and more nutritious food, save on the use of pesticides, have no environmental impact whatsoever and are perfectly safe to eat. The authors took a science-based approach to evaluating the available research, arriving at the conclusion that most of the scientific evidence regarding safety and increased yield potential do not at all support the claims. In fact, the evidence demonstrates the claims for genetically engineered foods are not just wildly overblown – they simply aren’t true.
The authors of this critical report include Michael Antoniou, PhD, who heads the Gene Expression and Therapy Group at King’s College at London School of Medicine in the UK. He’s a 28-year veteran of genetic engineering technology who has himself invented a number of gene expression biotechnologies; and John Fagan, PhD, a leading authority on food sustainability, biosafety, and GE testing. If you want to get a comprehensive understanding of genetically engineered foods, I strongly recommend reading this report.
Not only are GM foods less nutritious than non-GM foods, they pose distinct health risks, are inadequately regulated, harm the environment and farmers, and are a poor solution to world hunger. Worse still, these questionable GM crops are now polluting non-GM crops, leading to contamination that cannot ever be “recalled” the way you can take a bad drug off the market … once traditional foods are contaminated with GM genes, there is no going back! Vrain expanded:3
“Genetic pollution is so prevalent in North and South America where GM crops are grown that the fields of conventional and organic grower are regularly contaminated with engineered pollen and losing certification. The canola and flax export market from Canada to Europe (a few hundreds of millions of dollars) were recently lost because of genetic pollution.”
American Academy of Environmental Medicine Called for Moratorium on GM Foods FOUR Years Ago
In 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called for a moratorium on GM foods, and said that long-term independent studies must be conducted, stating:
“Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food, including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. …There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation…”
Despite this sound warning, GM foods continue to be added to the US food supply with no warning to the Americans buying and eating this food. Genetic manipulation of crops, and more recently food animals, is a dangerous game that has repeatedly revealed that assumptions about how genetic alterations work and the effects they have on animals and humans who consume such foods are deeply flawed and incomplete. Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant claims genetically engineered crops are “the most-tested food product that the world has ever seen.” What he doesn’t tell you is that:
Industry-funded research predictably affects the outcome of the trial. This has been verified by dozens of scientific reviews comparing funding with the findings of the study. When industry funds the research, it’s virtually guaranteed to be positive. Therefore, independent studies must be done to replicate and thus verify results.
The longest industry-funded animal feeding study was 90 days, which recent research has confirmed is FAR too short. In the world’s first independently funded lifetime feeding study, massive health problems set in during and after the 13th month, including organ damage and cancer.
Companies like Monsanto and Syngenta rarely if ever allow independent researchers access to their patented seeds, citing the legal protection these seeds have under patent laws. Hence independent research is extremely difficult to conduct.
There is no safety monitoring. Meaning, once the GM item in question has been approved, not a single country on earth is actively monitoring and tracking reports of potential health effects.
It Might Take More Than One Bite to Kill You …
“One argument I hear repeatedly is that nobody has been sick or died after a meal (or a trillion meals since 1996) of GM food,” Vrain said. “Nobody gets ill from smoking a pack of cigarettes either. But it sure adds up, and we did not know that in the 1950s before we started our wave of epidemics of cancer. Except this time it is not about a bit of smoke, it’s the whole food system that is of concern. The corporate interest must be subordinated to the public interest, and the policy of substantial equivalence must be scrapped as it is clearly untrue.”
Remember, Vrain used to give talks about the benefits of GM foods, but he simply couldn’t ignore the research any longer … and why, then, should you? All in all, if GM foods have something wrong with them that potentially could cause widespread illness or environmental devastation, Monsanto would rather NOT have you find out about it. Not through independent research, nor through a simple little label that would allow you to opt out of the experiment, should you choose not to take them on their word. As Vrain continued:
“The Bt corn and soya plants that are now everywhere in our environment are registered as insecticides. But are these insecticidal plants regulated and have their proteins been tested for safety? Not by the federal departments in charge of food safety, not in Canada and not in the U.S.
… We should all take these studies seriously and demand that government agencies replicate them rather than rely on studies paid for by the biotech companies … Individuals should be encouraged to make their decisions on food safety based on scientific evidence and personal choice, not on emotion or the personal opinions of others.”
At present, the only way to avoid GM foods is to ditch processed foods from your grocery list, and revert back to whole foods grown according to organic standards.
Keep Fighting for Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods
While California Prop. 37 failed to pass last November, by a very narrow margin, the fight for GMO labeling is far from over. The field-of-play has now moved to the state of Washington, where the people’s initiative 522, “The People’s Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act,” will require food sold in retail outlets to be labeled if it contains genetically engineered ingredients. As stated on LabelitWA.org:
“Calorie and nutritional information were not always required on food labels. But since 1990 it has been required and most consumers use this information every day. Country-of-origin labeling wasn’t required until 2002. The trans fat content of foods didn’t have to be labeled until 2006. Now, all of these labeling requirements are accepted as important for consumers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also says we must know with labeling if our orange juice is from fresh oranges or frozen concentrate.
Doesn’t it make sense that genetically engineered foods containing experimental viral, bacterial, insect, plant or animal genes should be labeled, too? Genetically engineered foods do not have to be tested for safety before entering the market. No long-term human feeding studies have been done. The research we have is raising serious questions about the impact to human health and the environment.
I-522 provides the transparency people deserve. I-522 will not raise costs to consumers or food producers. It simply would add more information to food labels, which manufacturers change routinely anyway, all the time. I-522 does not impose any significant cost on our state. It does not require the state to conduct label surveillance, or to initiate or pursue enforcement. The state may choose to do so, as a policy choice, but I-522 was written to avoid raising costs to the state or consumers.”
Remember, as with CA Prop. 37, they need support of people like YOU to succeed. Prop. 37 failed with a very narrow margin simply because we didn’t have the funds to counter the massive ad campaigns created by the No on 37 camp, led by Monsanto and other major food companies. Let’s not allow Monsanto and its allies to confuse and mislead the people of Washington and Vermont as they did in California. So please, I urge you to get involved and help in any way you can, regardless of what state you live in.
No matter where you live in the United States, please donate money to these labeling efforts through the Organic Consumers Fund.
If you live in Washington State, please sign the I-522 petition. You can also volunteer to help gather signatures across the state.
(NaturalNews) When it comes to protecting the public from GMOs, Hungary knows how to get the job done: set fire to the fields growing GM corn!
Although environmentalists might at first argue about the ramifications of burning so much organic matter right out in the open, the deeper truth is that genetic pollution poses a vastly more serious threat to our world, and burning GM corn is the one sure way to destroy the poisonous genetic code contained in plant tissues. In fact, I hope to see the day when the U.S. courts order the destruction of all GM corn fields across America. And I suspect that if the courts won’t rise to the occasion, the People will sooner or later find a way to get it done on their own. Think “Army of the 12 Monkeys” but with a GMO slant.
Lajos Bognar, Hungary’s Minister of Rural Development, reported this week that around 500 hectares of GM corn were ordered burned by the government. Hungary has criminalized the planting of genetically modified crops of any kind, and it has repeatedly burned thousands of hectares of illegal GM crops in years past.
This news was originally published in Portuguese at Rede Brasil Atual. An English translation has been posted at GMwatch.org.
GMOs are outlawed across the planet
GMOs have been banned in 27 countries, and GMOs are required to be labeled in at least 50 countries. In America, where Monsanto has deployed an insidious degree of influence over the legislature and courts, GMOs are neither illegal nor required to be labeled. In fact, 71 U.S. Senators recently voted against a measure that would have allowed states to pass their own food labeling laws.
Those Senators are now known as the Monsanto 71. The list includes Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, both senators from agricultural states (Kentucky and Texas) where Monsanto continues to exercise heavy influence over farmers.
Shockingly, most farmers who are planting GMOs have no knowledge whatsoever of what GMOs are or why people don’t want them in their food. They’ve been lied to by the biotech industry which promised them “higher yields” and “greater profits.” In reality, GM crop yields have plummeted even while giving rise to herbicide-resistant “superweeds” that now threaten many farms. With soils that have been rendered sterile with glyphosate and crop yields falling, farmers are increasingly finding themselves in dire straights.
Their only way out, of course, is to return to planting non-GMO crops. But wisdom moves very, very slowly through Texas A&M, a Monsanto stronghold and key propaganda center for pushing frankenfoods in the South.
A genetic apocalypse may devastate America’s bread basket
Hungary was wise to protect its agricultural sector from Monsanto’s imperialism. In contrast, America is incredibly foolish to sell out its food supply to destructive corporate interests that value nothing but profit.
By disallowing GMO labeling and promoting the continued commercialization of genetically modified crops (thanks, USDA!), the U.S. government is playing Russian roulette with America’s food future. One day, something the scientists didn’t anticipate will kick in, and the crimes against nature that have been committed by Monsanto will explode into a genetic apocalypse that threatens the future of life on our planet.
Remember: GMOs aren’t merely “pollution” in the classic sense. They are self-replicating pollution that may be impossible to stop. Hence the wisdom of burning GM corn fields to the ground. Fire destroys DNA and breaks down vegetable matter into its elemental constituents: carbon and mineral ash, essentially. Fields that were once dangerous are now harmless. Fire restores sanity by destroying the engineered DNA dreamed up by mad scientists working for arrogant, foolish corporations who think they’re smarter than Mother Nature and God.
Mark my words: there will come a day when Americans will wish they had burned all the GM corn fields to the ground. But by then it will be too late. The blight will be upon us, and with it comes the starvation, the suffering, the desperation and the riots. Hunger turns all family men into savages, just as greed turns all corporate men into demons.
To avoid both outcomes, we must banish GMOs now. Indict the executives of Monsanto for conspiracy to commit mass poisoning of the people. Invoke the RICO Act. Pull out the Patriot Act. Use whatever laws are on the books to put this monster away so that future generations do not have to suffer the devastating consequences of open-world genetic experiments gone awry.
If we don’t learn from Hungary, we will sooner or later be schooled by hunger.
Could the global tide in support of GMO’s be turning? A new report reveals that the formerly pro-GMO Chinese government, one of the largest consumers of GMO food crops in the world, is beginning to crack down on GM corn shipments from the US that have not followed appropriate biosafety regulations.
According to a news brief released by GMWatch.org, China destroyed three shipments of GM corn imported from the US. GMWatch.org reported:
“The law says that the [Chinese] Ministry of Agriculture must require environmental and food safety tests to be carried out by Chinese institutions, in order to verify data provided by the seed developer. All these documents must be reviewed by the National Biosafety Committee before the MOA can issue a safety certificate. Yet these shipments of US corn did not have the relevant safety certificates and approval documents, according to the news reports below.”
The first two shipments are referenced on the website of the Zhuhai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, confirming that two illegal GM corn shipments entered Wanzai Port in Zhuhai City on May 7th, and were subsequently destroyed:
“Recently, during inspection and quarantine of imported food from USA by a certain company, the Wanzai Office of Zhuhai Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (in Guangdong Province in the south of China) detected two shipments containing GM corn products, which are not in compliance with China’s “Entry and Exit of Genetically Modified Products Inspection and Quarantine Management Approach“. The Office destroyed the two shipments of corn according to the provisions.*”
Recently, the Harbin Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau intercepted inbound mail of 21 cartons of corn seeds from USA, totaling 115 kgs, which were detected as GM seeds. This is the first time that the Heilongjiang Provincial Inspection and Quarantine System has intercepted inbound corn seeds containing GM ingredients. These corn seeds will be destroyed. *
Surprisingly, despite these seemingly drastic steps by Chinese authorities to destroy GM seeds, an article in China Daily from last year explains that the consumption of GM soybeans is already universal in China, even despite widespread public concerns that they have not been adequately safety tested:
Summary: Imported RR soybeans (Roundup herbicide resistant GM soybeans) has already accounted to over 80% of total consumption of soybeans in China, but the assessment and approval procedures for the initial imported GM soybeans, has been oppugned that it’s examination procedures exists with defects. According to news reports, on Feb. 20, 2012, Gu Xiu-lin and other three citizens upon application were approved to check the “certification documents for the GM soybeans obtaining safety certificates”.
The China Daily article goes on to quote Shi Yan-quan, Deputy Director, Agricultural Finance and Education Dept., who stated on April 20, 2012, that over 50 million tons of GMO soybeans were imported to China in 2011 alone. The article also refers to the fact that for eight years, 1.3 billion Chinese consumers have been consuming Monsanto‘s GM food crops, relying entirely on biotech-funded safety evaluations, without any independent safety testing carried out by the Chinese government. Additionally, a revealing study published in 2012 found that the Chinese print media is completely co-opted by biotech industry influence. They revealed that “48.1% of articles were largely supportive of the GM technology research and development programs and the adoption of GM cottons, while 51.9% of articles were neutral on the subject of GMOs. Risks associated with GMOs were mentioned in the newspaper articles, but none of the articles expressed negative tones in regards to GMOs.” The authors concluded: “Chinese print media is largely supportive of GMOs. It also indicates that the print media describes the Chinese government as actively pursuing national GMO research and development programs and the promotion of GM cotton usage.”
Are these latest incidents a sign that the Chinese government is beginning to take more seriously the health threats associated with the consumption of genetically modified food? According to the GMWatch.org report’s primary informant, who for purposes of anonymity goes by the pseudonym “Mr. Li”:
[T]he new government’s decisive move to destroy the illegal GMOs “progressive, encouraging, and satisfying”. He regards it as a sign that it is keeping its promise to work for the people and the nation.
Mr Li said: “The deeply pro-GMO old government would not have made such a thing public. It would have secretly returned the shipments, or in most cases it would not even have inspected shipments that could contain GM ingredients.
The shocking minutes relating to President Putin’s meeting this past week with US Secretary of State John Kerry reveal the Russian leaders “extreme outrage” over the Obama regimes continued protection of global seed and plant bio-genetic giants Syngenta and Monsanto in the face of a growing “bee apocalypse” that the Kremlin warns “will most certainly” lead to world war.
According to these minutes, released in the Kremlin today by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation (MNRE), Putin was so incensed over the Obama regimes refusal to discuss this grave matter that he refused for three hours to even meet with Kerry, who had traveled to Moscow on a scheduled diplomatic mission, but then relented so as to not cause an even greater rift between these two nations.
At the center of this dispute between Russia and the US, this MNRE report says, is the “undisputed evidence” that a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically related to nicotine, known as neonicotinoids, are destroying our planets bee population, and which if left unchecked could destroy our world’s ability to grow enough food to feed its population.
So grave has this situation become, the MNRE reports, the full European Commission (EC) this past week instituted a two-year precautionary ban (set to begin on 1 December 2013) on these “bee killing” pesticides following the lead of Switzerland, France, Italy, Russia, Slovenia and Ukraine, all of whom had previously banned these most dangerous of genetically altered organisms from being used on the continent.
Two of the most feared neonicotinoids being banned are Actara and Cruiser made by the Swiss global bio-tech seed and pesticide giant Syngenta AG which employs over 26,000 people in over 90 countries and ranks third in total global sales in the commercial agricultural seeds market.
Important to note, this report says, is that Syngenta, along with bio-tech giants Monsanto, Bayer, Dow and DuPont, now control nearly 100% of the global market for genetically modified pesticides, plants and seeds.
“As part of a study on impacts from the world’s most widely used class of insecticides, nicotine-like chemicals called neonicotinoids, American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has called for a ban on their use as seed treatments and for the suspension of all applications pending an independent review of the products’ effects on birds, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, and other wildlife.
“It is clear that these chemicals have the potential to affect entire food chains. The environmental persistence of the neonicotinoids, their propensity for runoff and for groundwater infiltration, and their cumulative and largely irreversible mode of action in invertebrates raise significant environmental concerns,” said Cynthia Palmer, co-author of the report and Pesticides Program Manager for ABC, one of the nation’s leading bird conservation organizations.
ABC commissioned world renowned environmental toxicologist Dr. Pierre Mineau to conduct the research. The 100-page report, “The Impact of the Nation’s Most Widely Used Insecticides on Birds,” reviews 200 studies on neonicotinoids including industry research obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act. The report evaluates the toxicological risk to birds and aquatic systems and includes extensive comparisons with the older pesticides that the neonicotinoids have replaced. The assessment concludes that the neonicotinoids are lethal to birds and to the aquatic systems on which they depend.
“A single corn kernel coated with a neonicotinoid can kill a songbird,” Palmer said. “Even a tiny grain of wheat or canola treated with the oldest neonicotinoid — called imidacloprid — can fatally poison a bird. And as little as 1/10th of a neonicotinoid-coated corn seed per day during egg-laying season is all that is needed to affect reproduction.”
The new report concludes that neonicotinoid contamination levels in both surface- and ground water in the United States and around the world are already beyond the threshold found to kill many aquatic invertebrates.”
And to how bad the world’s agricultural system has really become due to these genetically modified plants, pesticides and seeds, this report continues, can be seen by the EC’s proposal this past week, following their ban on neonicotinoids, in which they plan to criminalize nearly all seeds and plants not registered with the European Union, and as we can, in part, read:
“Europe is rushing towards the good ol days circa 1939, 40… A new law proposed by the European Commission would make it illegal to “grow, reproduce or trade” any vegetable seeds that have not been “tested, approved and accepted” by a new EU bureaucracy named the “EU Plant Variety Agency.”
It’s called the Plant Reproductive Material Law, and it attempts to put the government in charge of virtually all plants and seeds. Home gardeners who grow their own plants from non-regulated seeds would be considered criminals under this law.”
This MRNE report points out that even though this EC action may appear draconian, it is nevertheless necessary in order to purge the continent from continued contamination of these genetically bred “seed monstrosities.”
To the “truer” reason for the Obama regimes protection of these bio-tech giants destroying our world, the MRNE says, can be viewed in the report titled “How did Barack Obama become Monsanto’s man in Washington?” and which, in part, says:
“After his victory in the 2008 election, Obama filled key posts with Monsanto people, in federal agencies that wield tremendous force in food issues, the USDA and the FDA: At the USDA, as the director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Roger Beachy, former director of the Monsanto Danforth Center. As deputy commissioner of the FDA, the new food-safety-issues czar, the infamous Michael Taylor, former vice-president for public policy for Monsanto. Taylor had been instrumental in getting approval for Monsanto’s genetically engineered bovine growth hormone.”
“The US House of Representatives quietly passed a last-minute addition to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 last week – including a provision protecting genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks.
The rider, which is officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, has been derided by opponents of biotech lobbying as the “Monsanto Protection Act,” as it would strip federal courts of the authority to immediately halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crop regardless of any consumer health concerns.
The provision, also decried as a “biotech rider,” should have gone through the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees for review. Instead, no hearings were held, and the piece was evidently unknown to most Democrats (who hold the majority in the Senate) prior to its approval as part of HR 993, the short-term funding bill that was approved to avoid a federal government shutdown.”
Despite numerous outcries for GMO labeling, no one really knows if the food they are buying contains GMO’s or not… until now.
A new app called ‘Buycott” was unleashed in May of 2013 but was temporarily taken off the market because their server could not handle the traffic to their website. At one point, the Buycott app was being downloaded at a rate of up to 10 downloads per second!
The app is once again available for all smartphones but as of this date of publication, I am receiving the following message:
“We’re experiencing an unexpected influx of users. No activity yet.”
That being said, I was still able to scan products.
Developer Ivan Pardo stated on the company’s Facebook page that they were working on moving to a new server that can handle the traffic.
Buycott is a free smartphone app that allows you to scan any given product at the grocery store and not only tells you which foods are ultimately linked to Monsanto and their GMO’s but also companies who are engaging in cruelty to animals or other negative behaviors.
You can also view the “Family Tree” of any given product to see which companies are tied into corporate conglomerates who have a record of unethical testing and practices.
Additionally, you can start user created campaigns to either support or boycott specific products. For example, you could start a campaign against any given company who did not support GMO labeling or Prop 37 in California.
Another beneficial app is called “Fooducate”. While this app does not tell you if a product contains GMO’s or not, it does tell you the many negative ingredients in any given product, such as nitrates, aspartame, high fructose corn sugar, etc… and gives you nutritional advice on why certain ingredients are not beneficial to your health.
Fooducate will also recommend “Better Options” for any product you scan, but keep in mind that these products may contain GMO’s.
It has become apparent that the FDA is as corrupt as the Monsanto officials who have been promoted to various government positions, such as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was a corporate lawyer for Monsanto in the 1970’s.
According to OpenSecretsBlog, Monsanto has plenty of other ties to Washington. Eight lawmakers own stock in Monsanto, including Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and Reps. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Jim Renacci (R-Ohio), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.).
At one point in time, aspartame was banned by the FDA. According to an article on Rense,
In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet. Monsanto was apparently untroubled by aspartame’s clouded past, including a 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it “might induce brain tumors.”
The FDA had actually banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (former Secretary of Defense) vow to “call in his markers,” to get it approved.
On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and Reagan’s new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry’s decision.
It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame’s favor. Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame.
The FDA never approved of fluoride in our drinking water, either.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states thatfluoride is not a mineral nutrient; it is a prescription drug. Every prescription drug has side-effects, including fluoride. Fluoride has never received FDA approval and does not meet the legal requirements of safety and effectiveness necessary for such approval. Once this drug is put in the water there is no control over individual dosage.
If the government and the FDA will not protect the people against bioterrorism and eugenics through genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) then it is up to the people to take a stand against Monsanto. For anybody who has a smartphone, I highly suggest that you upload these apps and make a statement against Monsanto by boycotting ALL of their products.
NaturalNews) America is the land of the free. You are free to choose to consume any products you want to, whether they are toxic or whether they are organic. Most people, if given the choice, would like to avoid cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s disease, but how many people are fooled by labels on products and by the doctors, nurses, dentists, hospitals, FDA and food scientists who actually recommend toxic food stuff, as if its good for you? How many millions of people in the USA alone are falling for the greatest addiction of them all, junk science? (http://www.naturalnews.com)
Doctors and nurses in hospitals across the country recommend Ensure for protein when recovering from surgery or sickness, but what’s in this toxic box of liquid other than basic protein? What chemicals, heavy metals and food agent “criminals” are waiting to infect your system?
The soy craze hit the USA over the past couple decades, when people figured out that most meat came from CAFOs, where the corporate farmers load up the animals with artificial growth hormones, antibiotics, and even add ammonia to most meat to kill bacteria. But how is soy toxic? Is this just another BAD choice for protein, including tofu, soy milk, and soy sauce? It’s time to do that research and “opt out” of toxic protein sources posing as nutrition.
Canola oil is rapeseed oil with a little less toxicity. Oh, you didn’t know? It’s in just about everything that has vegetable oil in it these days. It’s in the fresh food bar at the beloved Whole Foods, it’s in most salad dressings, and people fry stuff at high heat with it all the time, adding to their blood acidity and turning nutritious food rancid in seconds.
Nestle wants to take over the world’s water supply. They’ll probably add fluoride to all the potable water, a known insecticide that tears up human cleansing organs and leads to prostate and bladder cancer. Are you supporting this massive corporate evil mission? What else do you buy that’s manufactured, bottled, bagged or boxed by Nestle? http://www.fluoride-history.de/p-insecticides.htm
Whole grains! Whole wheat! Natural 7 grains! Quick, grab that cereal and that bread and those muffins off the shelves and shove them down your throat, or give them to your kids, because they’re so good for you, right? Did you know wheat in the USA is being genetically modified to contain pesticide you can’t wash off? Did you know whole grains cause inflammation, along with table salt, MSG, animal fat and Aspartame? The country that eats worm killer, weed killer, and bug killer just can’t seem to find the cure for cancer, but everybody should keep donating money and marching around like we’re searching for a way to stop dying from eating pesticide, herbicide, fungicide and insecticide, because that makes a lot of sense.
Yes, Stevia is a natural sweet leaf from Brazil that is ground up and makes a cup of coffee or tea taste sweet, without all those sugar calories, and without synthetic ingredients that screw up your liver and your kidneys. But did you know that Stevia sold out to a corporation, and Truvia is Stevia mixed with chemicals in a lab, and THAT is synthetic? Truvia is GMO. You better know the difference, or it might come back to “bite you” with that “c” word nobody likes to talk about.
(http://www.dietitiancassie.com/the-truth-on-truvia/) (http://www.naturalnews.com)
Americans go to stores and buy bottled water, mostly thinking some big 18-wheel truck with a huge reservoir tank drove up to some mountains and captured some perfect mountain spring water loaded with minerals, hauled it back to the factory, put it in harmless plastic bottles, and delivered it in time for them to drink up and stay hydrated! Nothing is further from the truth. Most bottled water (like Dasani) and flavored waters are made from tap water, fluoridated and chlorinated DEAD water, with no nutrients and no minerals to speak of, and then the plastic bottles seep BPA, Bisphenol-A, into the water, especially when the bottles get heated or are older than a couple months, and all you’re drinking is toxins. (http://www.naturalnews.com/036680_fluoride_bottled_water_children.html)
Diet meals are mostly processed and contain artificial sweeteners, which cause cancer. Chemotherapy is a chemical treatment for a disease which is fueled by chemical consumption. Is this the kind of diet you want to be on? This diet will help you lose weight, all of it, when they write your epitaph and put you six feet under ground. Eat real food. Juicing raw organic vegetables is the best way to lose weight and get to your natural balanced weight and stay there for life. Keep reading: (http://www.naturalnews.com/034666_longevity_aging_prevention.html)
The biggest lie, the biggest hoax, the biggest scam in the nutrition business today is multi-vitamins and vitamin C that is dead, toxic, and synthetic pollution for the body. Vitamin complexes like One-A-Day, Centrum, Equate and other “popular brands” you find at Walmart, Kmart, pharmacies and grocery stores are doing the exact opposite to your body than the intended purpose. It’s time to stop eating rocks and get vitamins that make you healthy and keep you healthy, like they’re supposed to. Check out the well-researched “Mega” vitamins the Health Ranger inspects and recommends: (http://www.naturalnews.com)
Get the inside scoop on the top 10 toxic and tricky food stuff “criminals” being dished out like candy
1. Ensure (served up in hospitals as protein); You gotta have your protein! (http://www.nowpublic.com) There are plenty of proteins in raw vegetables; don’t let them fool you.
7. Deer Park’s absurdity of “added fluoride” to bottled water and Dasani tap water revealed! Check your ‘brand’ for fluoride: (http://www.examiner.com)
8. Investigate protein powders; like soy, whey, and casein (like in protein shakes and powdered coffee creamers): (http://www.naturalnews.com)
10. Multivitamins; great reviews and the inside scoop on typical synthetic “trash” posing as vitamins and minerals: (http://www.naturalnews.com)
Stop choosing poison for food and water. Stop eating toxic proteins and rocks for minerals. Eat live, raw organic food, drink real mountain spring water, take organic multi-vitamins, and detoxify your blood using superfoods and natural remedies. Don’t fall for the hype and don’t believe any product is good for you if it is advertised on television, in the newspapers or anywhere else Big Pharma advertisements appear!
Last updated on May 24, 2013 at 12:00 am EDT by in5d Alternative News
The following is a list of Monsanto Free Seed Companies. If the government will not stand up for our rights, then it is time to make a statement on our own. Personally, I’ve bought seeds from Baker Creek Seed Company, who have a very large assortment of heirloom seeds, but feel free to shop and compare any and all of these companies.
Names are in alphabetical order. Try to search for a company in your bioregion when possible. Also, it never hurts to ask any company if they sell any Seminis seeds or seeds from Seminis’ partners.
(Sites with *asterisks* have the additional approval and endorsement by Farmwars.info and verification by recognized leaders in the battle)
Organic farmers have yet another environmental hazard to contend with, this time compliments of the U.S. Government in the form of chemtrails. A mess of toxic chemicals, these harmful sprays pollute the soil, water and air while compromising the health of humans, animals and plants. And now Monsanto has developed seeds that will weather the effect of the sprays, creating a tidy profit for the corporation while organics suffer. If this poisoning continues, true organic farming may become impossible in the not so distant future.
Chemtrail cocktail
Geo-engineering hides behind the claim of arresting global warming through atmospheric spraying of arsenic, aerosol, aluminum, barium, depleted uranium and substantial amounts of mercury. There’s only one problem – what goes up, must come down. These chemicals are seriously polluting our waterways and soil while seeping into crops and contaminating livestock, not to mention changing the weather patterns. Plants are especially sensitive to the soil degradation that occurs with chemtrail spraying, creating serious issues concerning our food supply.
What does the top GM seed corporation do when crops die from chemtrail contamination? It profits. True to form, Monsanto has used the devastation caused by geo-engineering to its advantage by creating patented GM seeds that withstand the effects of chemtrails. The seeds are designed to survive extreme weather conditions, pollution, salt stress, heavy metals and mineralized soils. According to Farm Wars, the patents for stress-tolerant plants not only include the main GM crops of corn, soybean, wheat, cotton, rice and canola, but also:
What this means is that these mutant plants will be able to survive the onslaught of chemtrail toxins and severe weather changes whereas organic crops are bound to whither and die – giving Monsanto further control over the global food supply. Even if organic farmers shield their crops from atmospheric chemicals and unpredictable weather, toxins still leach into the groundwater, eventually polluting the soil and plants. This scenario is a boon for Monsanto yet a disaster for those who appreciate clean and healthy food.
If we truly want to preserve organic farming, chemtrails must be stopped. Global Skywatchand Kimberly Gamble of Thrive Movement offer several strategies to help shut down the spraying.
Important to note, this report says, is that Syngenta, along with bio-tech giants Monsanto, Bayer, Dow and DuPont, now 
A new app called ‘Buycott” was unleashed in May of 2013 but was temporarily taken off the market because their server could not handle the traffic to their website. At one point, the Buycott app was being downloaded at a rate of up to 10 downloads per second!
For example, you could start a campaign against any given company who did not support GMO labeling or Prop 37 in California.
~in5d