Global March Against Monsanto

Posted on May 25, 2015 by marcia

March Against Monsanto explodes globally… World citizens stage massive protests across 38 countries, 428 cities… mainstream media pretends it never happened

Sunday, May 24, 2015
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) The March Against Monsanto exploded across the planet today as protesters took to the streets in 38 countries and 428 cities to protest the world’s most evil corporation: Monsanto. (Tweet this story #MarchAgainstMonsanto)

Protesters from New York, London, Berlin, Paris and even across South America, Asia and India rallied against the toxic agricultural practices of Monsanto, a corporation whose business model depends on poisoning the citizens of the planet, destroying the agricultural ecosystem, monopolizing the seed supply and hiring online character assassins to attack anyone who opposes its agenda.

Protesters worldwide took to the streets today to demand GMO labeling and bans on Roundup (glyphosate), the toxic herbicide chemical that even the World Health Organization recently linked to cancer. “We need to stop feeding humanity such a vile toxin,” said one protester.

Watch the protest compilation video from RT here: (see more pictures below)

Photo credit h/t to John Graf for the above two photos.

Mainstream media totally compromised, refuses to cover massive global uprising against Monsanto

As expected, virtually the entire “sellout” mainstream media refused to cover the event, pretending that the citizens of the world aren’t rising up against an enormous corporate evil that threatens the future of our planet.

The Associated Press ran a story mentioning local protests in Hawaii but refused to print the words “March Against Monsanto” or to even mention that these protests were taking place in over 400 cities across the globe.

Nearly the entire western media has been infiltrated and corrupted by Monsanto, including the once-respected magazine National Geographic which now functions as the propaganda arm for the life-destroying biotech industry. National Geographic’s magazines are now filled with multi-page ads for Big Pharma and Big Biotech, while its editors ludicrously attempt to paint scientists and citizens who have concerns about GMOs as tin foil hat-wearing lunatics.

Once-celebrated newspapers like the Washington Post have also been entirely overrun by Monsanto infiltration and disinformation. The paper’s science editors function as nothing more than Monsanto puppets and propaganda mouthpieces, pushing biotech talking points as if they were scientific fact while utterly ignoring the realities of cancer-causing glyphosate, seed supply monopolization, genetic pollution and Monsanto’s lawsuit attacks on farmers.

Today, only the Independent Media covers the truth about Monsanto, GMOs and glyphosate. Every mainstream media news source has sold out humanity to pure evil.

Here are some of the photos from RT’s March Against Monsanto video:

New emphasis on glyphosate (Roundup)

This year’s marches featured increased emphasis on the toxicity of Roundup (glyphosate), Monsanto’s weed killer chemical that’s sprayed liberally on crops.

Glyphosate has been linked to cancer by the World Health Organization, and researchers around the world believe glyphosate is linked to increased risks of cancer tumors in humans and animals that consume GMO crops.

This photo from the Seralini study shows how glyphosate and GMOs caused massive, fatal tumors in laboratory rats:

Learn more about glyphosate toxicity and the dangers of GMOs at these important websites:
http://www.gmoseralini.org/en/
http://www.gmoevidence.com/
http://gmojudycarman.org/

Glyphosate is also now strongly suspected of contributing to the autism epidemic. Dr. Stephanie Seneff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is now warning that if the chemical poisoning of our world isn’t stopped, nearly half of all children born in the United States by the year 2025 will be autistic.

Watch this video from Next News Network for more details:

Hillary Clinton’s ties to Monsanto exposed

Natural News has been key in exposing Hillary Clinton’s deep ties to Monsanto. Now known as the “Bride of Frankenfood,” Hillary Clinton is a pro-Monsanto operative who hired a top Monsanto lobbyist to help run her campaign.

She also represented Monsanto as a lawyer with her now-infamous Rose Law Firm in Arkansas. Clinton is so pro-Monsanto and pro-GMO that she even spoke on behalf of the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

If Hillary Clinton becomes President, Monsanto will occupy the White House. This is why it’s absolutely crucial that the Democratic party find someone else to win the primary who isn’t a Monsanto puppet.

If Hillary Clinton becomes president, you can expect the full Monsanto agenda to be aggressively pushed as national policy:

• A nationwide federal ban on GMO labeling.

• Immediate USDA approval of all experimental GMO crops.

• Extreme, politically motivated attacks against all anti-GMO activists, scientists and journalists.

• Huge increases in taxpayer-funded subsidies for farmers who grow GMO crops.

• Aggressive corporate imperialism push to overturn bans on glyphosate and GMOs by other nations.

• Possibly even attempts by the FDA to outlaw non-GMO Project Verified labels in the same way they attacked hormone-free labels for cow’s milk.

Make no mistake: A vote for Hillary is a vote for Monsanto.

Spread the word

#MarchAgainstMonsanto
#ClintonMonsanto2016

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/049833_March_Against_Monsanto_citizen_protests_glyphosate_toxicity.html#ixzz3bB3Nctbd

Gluten Intolerance – GMO’s

Posted on April 12, 2015 by marcia

Is it Gluten Intolerance or are We Being Poisoned?

Via Sadie Nardinion Mar 8, 2015

Eleditor’s note: Elephant is a diverse community of sixteen million readers and hundreds of writers (you can write too!). We are reader-created. Many blogs here are experience, opinion, and not fact or The One Right Point of View. We welcome all points of view, especially when offered with more sources and less invective, more frankness and less PR. Dislike this Op-Ed or opinion? Share your own take here.

I have Celiac Disease symptoms in the USA, but not in Italy or most places in Europe that regulate their food and lean “bio” or organic.

The incidence of Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance and all the gut-wrenching, bloating, and autoimmune disorders it can cause has exploded over the past 10-15 years, and now we may know why.

I began having symptoms like terrible stomach and gut pain, severe bloating (five pounds of fluid in an hour that lasts for days), fatigue, joint pain, rapid weight loss, migraines and malnutrition in the Midwest right when these herbicides began being used in my beloved Heartland, and now they’re used all over—and much more.

As someone close to the farming process and those who farm, including friends whose farms were bought out by Monsanto, making them employees of this behemoth, I can tell you that there are many other chemicals used in planting, during the growth phase and pre and post-harvest. Researchers are focusing on one in particular, a chemical in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup named glyphosate. This toxic compound has been shown to cause Celiac-like symptoms in animals.

You think?

Since glyphosate-based herbicides appeared on the market in the 1970s, the incidence of Celiac in America have skyrocketed by 400 percent.

Coincidence? Or maybe much more.

As someone who grew up in the Midwest where Monsanto and their herbicides began moving into our food supply—and as someone who developed this disease at the exact same time, after being alive for 15 years without any symptoms whatsoever, I can tell you this company is no joke and they don’t care about your health—just the bottom line.

They and other companies like them are the factory farms of vegetables and grains.

If we as yogis or supporters of small, family, organic farms and if we are at all concerned about the wellness of ourselves and if we wouldn’t let our children eat Oscar Mayer hot dogs three times a day, or give them a spoonful of herbicide once a year—then why are we participating in, and then mystified when strange illnesses begin presenting themselves after a few years of eating those “regular old” bagels, pasta, muffins and tofu?

Now, I’m aware that there are genetic markers for Celias Sprue (aka Celiac Disease), and some people are absolutely unable to ingest wheat or other gluten-containing products. I’m not advising you to go to Italy with me and chow down on a fettucini Alfredo, and I know other countries, including Italy, are exhibiting Celiac as well.

However, it’s worth noting that many, many people without the genetic marker are reacting to gluten. And some with the genetic marker, myself included, react far worse to conventional or GMO or sprayed wheat, corn and soy, than non-GMO and non-chemicalized product. In countries like Italy, where GMO and chemicals are not as ubiquitous as in the States and Canada, we see the disease rearing its ugly head at a fraction of what it is here.

I believe all people, whether you are exhibiting symptoms or not, would do well to cease their support of non-organic foods containing pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics and other crap.

I believe we are intelligent enough to stop arguing about the fact that we should no longer swallow—or support companies that spray their products with things that kill life forms like insects, plants and animals–and, quite possibly—us too.

What do you think? Is Celiac Disease something our bodies just suddenly all made up at once?

Or is it environmentally caused by this company and others like it?

What are you gonna do about it in your own diet?

Here’s how I’ve decided to be the change I want to see in my own body, and the larger world community:

I’m personally boycotting products made from Monsanto-produced food, other pro-chemical companies and as many GMOS as I can suss out of my daily diet. I am going to focus solely on small, organic family farms.

And please—remove saccharin and aspartame (fake sugars and things containing them).

Our bodies are trying to get us to listen to the simple fact that we cannot continue arguing Mother Nature.

She will always win.

Will you do this with me? A company can’t thrive if we don’t buy…

from: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/03/are-you-celiac-gluten-intolerant-or-actually-being-poisoned/

Coming Soon: GMO Apples & Potatoes

Posted on April 11, 2015 by marcia

FDA Approves New GMO Foods Apples and Potatoes

9th April 2015

By Dr. Edward F. Group

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Genetically-modified food is one of the most controversial subjects today. Not only are regulations loose and manufacturers getting away with not labeling them, they’re being approved at an alarmingly swift rate without the appropriate long-term health assessment. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved of two GMO foods, potatoes and apples, as safe and equally nutritious as conventional varieties, and they’re pushing to get these items to a grocery store near you.

The Approval of GMO Foods Apples and Potatoes

The new approval is covering six varieties of potatoes and two varieties of apples. [1] The potatoes come from Idaho from the J. R. Simplot Co., and the apples come from Canadian company Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc. Fortunately for the health food movement, McDonald’s, a long-time client of J. R. Simplot Co., is no longer purchasing from the company, opting out of using GMO potatoes for its food.

ConAgra is another big-name company that supplies potatoes for restaurants all across the world, and it is also in line with consumer demand for non-GMO potato varieties. While french fries and hash browns are certainly not health fare, it does go to show how companies listen and respond to the desires of consumers. In order to keep up the fight against GMOs and keep them out of our food supply, we need to continue advocating for labeling laws that will help us, as consumers, differentiate between natural food and Frankenfood.

What You Can Do

Along with contacting the FDA and urging them to look into labeling laws, there are a few things you can do to get the ball moving. Buying organic as much as possible shows companies that consumers are demanding more natural, non-GMO foods. Consumer research into buying trends weigh heavily on the actions of companies in producing their products, so vote with your pocketbook by buying as many of your products as natural as possible.

-Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, NP, DACBN, DCBCN, DABFM

from: http://wakeup-world.com/2015/04/09/fda-approves-new-gmo-foods-apples-and-potatoes/

Monsanto’s Debunking Dept.

Posted on April 1, 2015 by marcia

Monsanto Scientist Lets a Massive Secret Slip

by PAUL FASSA

There’s nothing better than seeing those who work for the devil get their feet caught in their mouths. There have been two events recently that make one cheer for our side as Monsanto embarks on challenging the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) analysis of Roundup as a carcinogenic that was published in the March 2015 journal The Lancet Oncology.

Monsanto’s vice president of global regulatory affairs Philip Miller asserted the following:
“We question the quality of the assessment. The WHO has something to explain.” In other words, we think we have the clout to make sure the WHO discredits this finding as “unscientific”.

After all, Monsanto has managed to keep their false PR front up for a couple of decades while getting scientists who question Monsanto’s science discredited, their publications removed, and even fired from long term academic positions. Nasty bunch they are.

Interesting that Monsanto challenges independent studies while not producing their own funded research studies for scrutiny. A lot of scientists are on the dole with Monsanto. But it appears Monsanto’s bad karma may be catching up with them.

Monsanto’s Discredit Bureau

Daily Koss posted an article by occupystephanie where she attended a talk to agricultural students by Dr. William “Bill” Moar, whose mission it is to assure everyone of Monsanto products safety. Here’s what she revealed:

One student asked what Monsanto was doing to counter the “bad science” around their work. Dr. Moar, perhaps forgetting that this was a public event, then revealed that Monsanto indeed had “an entire department” (waving his arm for emphasis) dedicated to “debunking” science which disagreed with theirs. As far as I know this is the first time that a Monsanto functionary has publically admitted that they have such an entity which brings their immense political and financial weight to bear on scientists who dare to publish against them. The Discredit Bureau will not be found on their official website.

The challenge for Monsanto’s Discredit Bureau is steep in attacking the unimpeachably respected Lancet and the international scientific bodies of WHO and IARC. However, they have no choice but to attack since the stakes are so very high for them. Glyphosate is their hallmark product upon which the majority of their profits are based. Make no mistake, this is extremely bad news for Monsanto.

Monsanto holds up the sheer abundance of their own well-funded studies citing the safety of Glyphosate, done over only the past twenty years which is a short period of time in scientific inquiry particularly when dissenting research is actively suppressed. They also hold up the findings of regulatory bodies, particularly in the United States where the revolving door between agrochemical corporations and government spins at high speed.

Controversial Funny Interview That Went Viral; Another Blow to Monsanto’s Image

The clip comes from a French documentary soon to be released where Dr. Patrick Moore is being interviewed about Monsanto’s Golden Rice. The interviewer throws a curve at Moore about Roundup’s safety and Moore quips that it’s so safe you could drink it without harm. What happens next is a hoot!

The controversy whirls around who Patrick Moore actually is. Monsanto says he’s not a lobbyist. Monsanto mouthpiece Forbes jumps all over that fact and introduces that factoid that he’s from Greenpeace.

Greenpeace claims he’s simply a PR whore for whomever will pay, and after his short stint with Greenpeace Canada years ago he went into representing various industries that Greenpeace was opposing while claiming to be an environmentalist.

From Greenpeace International’s site: “Media outlets often either state or imply that Mr. Moore still represents Greenpeace, or fail to mention that he is a paid lobbyist and not an independent source.” The Greenpeace site lists Moore’s resume’ representing polluting industries after a brief stint with Greenpeace of Canada years ago.

He is most likely a shill who is covertly supported by Monsanto, just as former Greenpeacer Mark Lynas, an author and “environmental climate change activist” has become an international spokesman for Monsanto and the biotech industry after doing a bit of GMO bashing prior to his conversion.

Nothing confuses those uncertain about GMOs more than outspoken shills, paid covertly, who claim to be environmentalists now preaching how they “see the science” of GMOs for saving the world from any future food crisis without polluting the environment.

from: http://www.realfarmacy.com/monsanto-scientist-lets-massive-secret-slip/

Monsanto Questions WHO on Cancer Link

Posted on March 25, 2015 by marcia

Monsanto Asks World Health Organization to ‘Retract’ Cancer Link

Will the WHO make the change?

by Anthony Gucciardi
Posted on March 25, 2015

Just days after the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer released a report publicly declaring the well-known link between Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide and cancer, the GMO leviathan is already calling on the entire agency to issue a ‘retraction.’

Recently, Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide – the most widely used and best-selling herbicide in the U.S. and one of the world’s most popular weed-killers – has been labeled a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Now Monsanto is fighting that assessment.

As reported by The Lancet:

“In March, 2015, 17 experts from 11 countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC; Lyon, France) to assess the carcinogenicity of the organophosphate pesticides tetrachlorvinphos, parathion, malathion, diazinon, and glyphosate (table). These assessments will be published as volume 112 of the IARC Monographs.”

Instead of deciding to make the product safer, or even delving into the realm of the conclusion from the scientists that Roundup is ‘probably carcinogenic (cancer-causing) to humans,’ Monsanto instead stated that they ‘question’ the assessment.

“We question the quality of the assessment,”the vice president of global regulatory affairs for Monsanto, Philip Miller, stated in an interview. “The WHO has something to explain.”

I think Monsanto has something to explain. And so do many scientific experts around the globe.

“There are a number of independent, published manuscripts that clearly indicate that glyphosate … can promote cancer and tumor growth,” said Dave Schubert, from the cellular neurobiology laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. “It should be banned.”

Numerous past studies have proposed what most of us have already surmised, that glyphosate – the main ingredient in Monsanto’s RoundUp – is utterly killing us. What’s more – it is causing damage in much smaller servings than the agriculture industry is dishing out in its common GMO and pesticide spraying practices.

With the already existing plethora of research pointing towards Roundup’s dangers, as well as this most recent assessment from the WHO, I think we have reason enough to find a better way to stop weeds.

Photo credit: Noah Berger, Bloomberg

GMO’s & World Hunger

Posted on August 6, 2014 by marcia

Can GMOs Help Feed the World?

The Mind Unleashed

on 3 August, 2014 at 12:21

The claims about genetically engineered foods have been quite lofty. Monsanto and other proponents of biotechnology are fond of saying that genetic engineering is necessary if the world’s food supply is to keep up with seven billion people and counting. They claim GE crops produce higher yields, solve pest and weed problems, are safe for humans and the environment, and are the cure for world hunger.

As John Robbins writes, if Monsanto’s true goal is addressing hunger, then their seeds would be designed to fix the core problems that underlie the hunger issue, such as:[1]

-Able to grow on substandard or marginal soils
-Able to produce more high-quality protein with increased per-acre yield, without the need for expensive machinery, chemicals, fertilizers or water
-Engineered to favor small farms over larger farms
-Cheap and freely available without restrictive licensing
-Designed for crops that feed people, not livestock

If GE foods were really a viable way to eliminate world hunger, then meeting these challenges would be a powerful argument in their favor, would it not? So, what does the science say?

Monsanto gets a failing grade across the board.

With nearly 100 million acres of GE food now planted worldwide, Monsanto’s crops have yet to do one thing to alleviate hunger, particularly for the world’s less fortunate. In fact, most of that acreage is devoted to growing corn and transgenic soybeans for livestock feed.

GE Crops Produce a Higher Yield … Right?

No—their yield is actually lower. Overall, research has shown a 5 to 10 percent reduction in yield for GE soybeans versus the conventional variety. Other GE crops are performing equally poorly.[2] These plants are weak, malnourished and fail with the slightest environmental stress or drought. Agronomists and plant scientists have made far greater advances in yields with conventional breeding methods than with GE crops.

The yields of GE cotton have been particularly abysmal. Scientists have determined that growing GE cotton in the US can result in a 40 percent drop in income. In India, the situation is much worse with up to 100 percent failure rates for Bt cotton, leaving farmers in total financial ruin. According to the National Crime Records Bureau of India, more than 182,900 Indian farmers took their own lives between 1997 and 2007 as a result of GE crop failures—a staggering 46 farmer suicides each and every day.[3]

GE Crops Require Fewer Chemicals … Don’t They?

It turns out that GE crops fail miserably in this respect too. GE crops actually need more toxic chemicals, not less. Eighty-five percent of all GE seeds are engineered for herbicide tolerance—specifically, Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” cotton, corn, soy, and canola seeds. As a result, pesticide use has increased dramatically. Since the introduction of GE crops, more than 120 million pounds of additional pesticides have been used in the US.[4]

Sixty percent of GE crops are resistant to weed killers, fueling a dramatic rise in herbicide use—especially Monsanto’s Roundup, which contains the extremely toxic chemical glyphosate. Roundup is now used in more than 80 percent of all GE crops worldwide, and the only one who benefits from THIS is Monsanto. They produce the seeds that require a massive application of an herbicide that they just happen to produce. How convenient for them!

Not only are these toxic chemicals being used far too heavily, but they are killing our bees and butterflies, polluting our waterways, destroying our soil, and creating resistant super-weeds and mutant pesticide-resistant insects that we have no way to control.[5]

Mother Nature Hates Monocultures

Studies comparing large mechanized farms to small farms have shown that small farms doing multiple and succession plantings are significantly more productive than the monoculture plantings used in large mechanized farms. A report compiled by about 400 of the world’s top scientists concluded our current agricultural system is unsustainable. We need farming methods that rebuild our ecological systems rather than demolish them. Organic farms consistently produce 80 to 90 percent higher yields than monoculture operations.[6] Genetic “bio-invasion” is the biggest risk organic farmers face today.[7]

Biodiversity is key to a healthy ecosystem—and therefore a healthy food supply. In a diverse population, some plants will have natural resistance and will fare better than others, saving the group as a whole from catastrophe. Poor soil quality is a serious problem for farmers across the globe. Our soil is depleting at more than 13 percent the rate it can be replaced due to our chemical-based agriculture system. Massive monoculture has also resulted in the extinction of 75 percent of the world’s crop varieties over the last century.[8]

It can be safely said, then, that GE crops were not developed for the purpose of solving world hunger, but to ensure that everything we eat is owned by them. Their goal is maximum profit.

History has proven that artificially inserted genes can have unintended and disastrous consequences. The reality is that GE farming practices are not the solution to world hunger, but rather the very heart of the problem, virtually guaranteeing future crop collapses and subsequent famine. Sustainable, biodynamic agriculture is the real solution!

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/08/can-gmos-help-feed-world.html

Monsanto’s New Non-GMO Foods

Posted on March 13, 2014 by marcia

Finally, Monsanto introduces new strains of food that are NOT genetically modified

(NaturalNews) Monsanto is a name that is synonymous with Big Agriculture and, more importantly, genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The company’s Roundup herbicide, which is used almost exclusively around the world, has been blamed for the development of resistant superweeds that are filling up farmers’ fields in the U.S. and abroad.

And speaking of farmers, Monsanto is also synonymous with the term “lawsuit” — as in the company protects its licensed seeds the way a mother and father protect a child. More than a few farmers have been hauled into court for reusing Monsanto brand seeds from one year to the next, in violation of the company’s trademark.

But what Monsanto is known best for is its creation of GM foods and crops. There is hardly a hectare or acre of soybeans or corn whose seeds have not come from the GMO labs at Monsanto.

Now, however, as consumers have become increasingly leery of genetically altered food, and as some nations have even banned the growth and sale of some GM crops, Monsanto has finally developed new produce that has not been genetically modified one iota. As reported by Wired magazine recently:

Changing the agricultural game is what Monsanto does. … So it’s not particularly surprising that the company is introducing novel strains of familiar food crops, invented at Monsanto and endowed by their creators with powers and abilities far beyond what you usually see in the produce section. The lettuce is sweeter and crunchier than romaine and has the stay-fresh quality of iceberg. The peppers come in miniature, single-serving sizes to reduce leftovers. The broccoli has three times the usual amount of glucoraphanin, a compound that helps boost antioxidant levels. Stark’s department, the global trade division, came up with all of them.

“Grocery stores are looking in the produce aisle for something that pops, that feels different,” Monsanto exec Kenny Avery told the magazine. “And consumers are looking for the same thing.”

Crossbred, not genetically modified

If they are correct, they will know soon enough. Because Monsanto is set to introduce Frescada lettuce, BellaFina peppers, and Beneforte broccoli — and nary a one of them has been genetically modified (also planned for introduction into U.S. supermarkets: a type of melon, a watermelon and an onion).

The Big Ag giant created all of the vegetables using a tried-and-true natural technique — crossbreeding, which is the same “technology” that farmers have been using for hundreds of years to optimize their crops and yields.

“That doesn’t mean they are low tech, exactly. Stark’s division is drawing on Monsanto’s accumulated scientific know-how to create vegetables that have all the advantages of genetically modified organisms without any of the Frankenfoods ick factor,” Wired reported.

And as some cities and states — and food chains like Whole Foods — consider laws and changes in current business practices to require GMO labeling of foods, such requirements won’t apply to Monsanto’s new breed of “super” vegetables. That’s because, despite being developed in a laboratory environment, they are nonetheless as natural as what you would find at a farmers’ market. If you kept them pesticide-free and transported them less than 100 miles, you could actually label them organic. Here’s how the veggies were developed:

— Beneforte broccoli – Derived by crossbreeding commercial broccoli with a strain that grows wild in southern Italy (price will be around $2.50 a pound);

— Bellafina bell peppers – These will be essentially bite-sized, to reduce waste. They were derived through the selective breeding of plants with smaller and smaller peppers (price estimated to be about $1.50 per three-pepper bag);

— Melorange – This was derived by crossbreeding cantaloupe with European heritage melons containing a gene for a fruity, floral aroma (price should be around $3.00 a melon);

— Evermild onion – This sweeter, less tear-inducing strain was developed by crossbreeding individual plants that have lower levels of pyruvate, which affects pungency, and lachrymatory factor (price should fluctuate between $0.70 and $2.00 a pound).

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/044290_Monsanto_foods_conventional_breeding.html#ixzz2vrZrJwib

Who is Behind the Codex Alimentarius?

Posted on October 24, 2013 by marcia

Front Groups Exposed—50 Industry Groups Form a New Alliance to Manipulate Public Opinion About Junk Food, GMOs, and Harmful Additives

May 29, 2013

By Dr. Mercola

The United Nations established the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1962. Usually referred to as “Codex,” it consists of approximately 170 member countries that set food guidelines and standards for the world.
Over the years, Codex has been embroiled in controversy for a number of reasons, but now our investigations show that Monsanto―one of the world’s largest producers of genetically-modified seeds―is behind a significant number of front groups that control Codex policy.
Most recently, more than 50 industry trade groups formed a new alliance called Alliance to Feed the Future. These groups represent multi-national food, biotech, and chemical companies that generate hundreds of billions of dollars-worth of revenue each year
Alliance to Feed the Future claims its purpose is to “balance the public dialogue” on modern agriculture and large-scale food production and technology. Or, in other words, they aim to become the go-to source for “real” information about the junk being sold as “food”
The Kellen Company is instrumental in creating and managing front groups for the processed food and chemical industries. These front groups are specifically created to mislead you about the product in question, protect industry profits, and influence regulatory agencies

If you think it’s tough sorting truth from industry propaganda and lies, get ready for even tougher times ahead. More than 50 front groups, working on behalf of food and biotechnology trade groups―Monsanto being the most prominent―have formed a new coalition called Alliance to Feed the Future.

The alliance, which is being coordinated by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), was created to “balance the public dialogue” on modern agriculture and large-scale food production and technology, i.e. this group will aim to become the go-to source for “real” information about the junk being sold as “food.”

The groups comprising this new alliance represent multi-national food companies, biotech industry, and chemical companies that generate hundreds of billions of dollars worth of revenue from food related sales every year.

On the upside, this alliance and many other industry-sponsored front groups masquerading as non-profits and consumer protection organizations are becoming increasingly exposed for what they really are, and I will point out several of them in this article.

Michele Simon, JD, MPH, policy consultant with Center for Food Safety recently published a report titled: Best Public Relations Money Can Buy: A Guide to Food Industry Front Groups¹ also reveals how the food and agricultural industry hide behind friendly-sounding organizations aimed at fooling the public, policymakers and media alike.

Many Industry Front Groups Are Created to Dominate Codex Discussions

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, conceived by the United Nations in 1962, was birthed through a series of relationships between the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as the American FDA and USDA.

The Codex Alimentarius itself is a compilation of food standards, codes of practice and guidelines that specify all requirements related to foods, whether processed, semi-processed, genetically engineered, or raw.

Its purported purpose is to “protect consumers’ health, ensure fair business practices within the food trade, and eliminate international food trade barriers by standardizing food quality.”

There are a number of different working groups that meet regularly to establish food standards of every imaginable kind. For example, the Physical Working Group on Food Additives recently held meetings in Beijing, China. The 45th session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) ended on March 22.

On the agenda were discussions about aluminum-containing food additives. Are they safe or should they be eliminated from the worldwide Codex standards? The National Health Federation (NHF), the only health-freedom group allowed to speak at the meeting, dished out harsh criticism on the additives, calling for their removal. In a Facebook update, the NHF wrote:²

“The usual Codex suspects (the delegations of Australia, the United States and Canada) plus the trade organizations of the International Food Additives Council (IFAC) and the International Council of Grocery Manufacturers Associations (ICGMA) were the industry apologists for keeping aluminum in food additives.

In dishing out scorching criticism of aluminum’s proponents, NHF came under return fire from Australia, IFAC, and the Chairman.

IFAC – which does not seem to disclose any of its members… along with its sidekick ICGMA, cried out constantly that the ‘Industry’ just could not make it without aluminum food additives. Their members spraying equipment ‘might overheat and catch fire,’ IFAC lamented.

When NHF suggested that this was a not a genuine issue; that the industry could easily innovate its way out of this ‘problem’ and create non-overheating equipment, NHF was criticized by the Chairman for suggesting that IFAC might not be telling the truth.

By the end of the day, the success of the EU and NHF could be tallied by numerous uses of aluminum food additives that the Working Group will suggest be discontinued to the full Committee meeting… although there were also many food-additive uses that stayed in place (albeit usually at reduced levels), no thanks to the interventions of Australia, the U.S., Canada, IFAC, and ICGMA.”

Who’s Behind the International Food Additives Council (IFAC)?

to read more, go to: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/29/codex-front-groups.aspx?e_cid=20130529_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20130529

People’s Initiative 522, GMO’s, & Food

Posted on October 16, 2013 by marcia

Ronnie Cummins on Turning the Tide Against Monsanto

October 13, 2013

By Dr. Mercola

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUDeKapnhVs

Story at-a-glance

Between October 18 and November 5, Washington State voters will mail in their ballots for the people’s initiative 522, “The People’s Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act.” Your support is urgently needed
Mounting peer-reviewed research reveals a wide variety of health hazards associated with consuming genetically engineered foods and the chemicals that accompany these crops
Part of the original industry rationale for using GE crops was that they could be sprayed with less toxic herbicides, such as Roundup—which was touted as harmless and biodegradable
Now, mounting research reveals that Roundup may actually be one of the most toxic chemicals ever to enter our food supply
49 percent of American farmers are now battling Roundup resistant weeds in their corn- and soy fields. In an effort to get rid of them, they’re resorting to ever-increasing amounts of Roundup and more toxic herbicides such as 2,4-D and Dicamba

Between October 18 and November 5 the next big GMO-labeling vote will take place in the United States; this time in Washington State, where citizens will cast their votes for the people’s initiative 522, “The People’s Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act.”

Initiative 522 (I-522) will require seeds, raw agricultural commodities, and processed foods to be labeled if they’re produced using genetic engineering.¹

The success of this ballot initiative is dependent on public donations, and we’re up against industry giants with very deep pockets, so please, help us win this key GMO labeling battle and continue to build momentum for GMO labeling in other states by making a donation to the Organic Consumers Fund (OCF) today.

The video above features Ronnie Cummins, the national director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and the Organic Consumers Fund—one of our allies in the movement to build a sustainable and healthy system of food and farming in the United States.

Part of this food movement is the Millions Against Monsanto campaign, and campaigns pushing for labeling of genetically engineered foods across the US.

The first March Against Monsanto, which took place in May, 2013 was really an extraordinary event that did not get the media attention it deserved. Some two million people in 450 cities and 50 countries took to the streets with the same message—that genetic engineering and Monsanto are out of control, and we need labeling and safety testing.

According to Cummins:

“We need to get these crops off the market or marginalized. That’s what worries Monsanto and the rest of the food industry. Last November, they came close to a disaster when the California ballot initiative Proposition 37 nearly passed. We got 48.5 percent of the vote. They beat us by one and a half percentage points. Well, Monsanto and their allies – Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kraft, and the rest – they had to spend 50 million dollars to beat us in California.”

Why Are Chemical Companies in Charge of Our Food Supply?

For a long time, Monsanto appeared to be perched on top of the world, making enormous profits and wielding near unparalleled political clout. One of the most recent examples of their political power was the insertion of the “Monsanto Protection Act” rider into the appropriation bill, back in January, which basically eliminated the power of the federal judiciary to control genetically engineered crops. As explained by Cummins:

“Under this Monsanto rider to the appropriation bill, even if a federal court rules that a genetically engineered crop has been improperly approved—that it could harm the environment or public health, they can’t stop it. Monsanto’s chief cheerleader in the Senate, Roy Blunt from Missouri, was very proud of this rider, and it went through.

But in a sign of change, millions of people complained, emailed and called Congress, and caused the backers of the bill to back off and say that, ‘Well, it’ll expire on September 30 and then it won’t be part of the Farm Bill or continuing appropriations.’”

Thankfully, the rider, which was renewed by the House of Representatives, was finally voted down by the Senate, thanks to your overwhelming support and affirmative action. As of September 30, the “Monsanto Protection Act” expired. It just goes to show how critical it is that we unite and address these issues together. It’s the only way we will make positive change.

It’s worth remembering though that Monsanto is not alone in recklessly pushing genetically engineered (GE) crops and foods. The following five multi-national chemical companies are also major players:

DuPont

Dow

Bayer

Syngenta

BASF

All of these chemical companies have tried to reposition themselves as “life science” companies, but, as Cummins points out, “they’re still the same old companies whose bottom line depends on selling as many toxic herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides as possible.” Disturbingly, these chemical companies have also bought out most of the seed industry, worldwide, making it extremely difficult for farmers to buy non-GE seeds.

Monsanto’s Grip Slips as Americans Become Better Informed

to read more, go to: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/13/cummins-gmo-labeling.aspx?e_cid=20131013Z1_SNL_Art_1&utm_source=snl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20131013Z1

New Types of GMO’s COming

Posted on September 7, 2013 by marcia

Stealth GMOs Are Coming: Approved & Unlabeled Everywhere

September 6, 2013 by admin

Genetically modified organisms are a terrifying development when we know they exist, but there’s a new system of creating GMOs that’s getting a complete pass. By fiat, our governments are allowing a process that produces genetically modified ‘foods’ for sale with absolutely no oversight. They can be called natural, or simply not labeled. Nothing, absolutely nothing, interferes with their introduction into the food supply.

by Heidi Stevenson

Genetic engineering means changing the genetic material of a living plant, fungus, or animal. What we’ve been fighting is merely one type, recombinant DNA, in which the gene from one species is transplanted into another. But it isn’t the only way to change genes. Another technique has been developed and patented, technically called oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis (ODM), but branded Rapid Transit Development System (RTDS) by Cibus, of San Diego, California.

A type of rapeseed has already been developed using this technique. The UK’s Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), a part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), reviewed this product back in 2011 and concluded:

ACRE considers that herbicide tolerant (HT) oilseed rape plants produced by Cibus LLC have been developed using a form of mutagenesis. It considers that this technique does not involve the use of recombinant nucleic acid molecules. Consequently, the HT oilseed rape plants could be excluded from the GMO Deliberate Release legislation in accordance with Annex 1B of Directive 2001/18/EC.

In other words, an organism that’s been genetically mutated by ODM/RTDS is not being treated by the government as a genetically modified organism! This technique is sliding around the concerns of genetically engineered plants and animals by using a technique different from recombinant DNA.

New Zealand has taken an equivalent stance. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) told Cibus back in 2004 that they could go ahead with no need to go through an approval process and absolutely no oversight!

Cibus has filed for patents from the EU on several crops, including:

Glyphosate-tolerant crops, including corn, wheat, rice, barley, soybean, cotton, sugarbeet, oilseed rape, canola, flax, sunflower, potato, tobacco, tomato, alfalfa, poplar, pine, eucalyptus, apple, lettuce, peas, lentils, grape, turf grasses and Brassica species (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.).
Sulfonylurea herbicide-tolerant canola/rapeseed.

These crops are being sold as natural! They are even claiming that these genetically engineered crops were developed using a technique that’s been in use since World War II, which is obviously untrue.

What Is Oligonucleotide-Directed Mutagenesis?

First, let’s define some terms:

Nucleotide: The basic structural unit of DNA.
Oligonucleotide: A molecule that contains a small group of nucleotides. Therefore, an oligonucleotide is a small string of the units that make up DNA.
Mutagenesis: Something that can cause a mutation.

ODM involves the use of synthetic oligonucleotides. They call this molecule a Gene Repair Oligonucleotide (GRON). It contains the desired genetic change, which consists of a single nucleotide. This chain of nucleotides is inserted into the DNA of an organism. However, it’s done in such a way that the organism sees an error. So, the organism’s own DNA repair system is enlisted to fix the error. In that error-repairing process, the genetic change is affixed into the organism’s DNA.

How does this actually happen? In fact, no one knows! The technique works, but the Senior Vice President of Cibus, Peter Beetham, has admitted that the means by which the repair occurs is “elusive”. The Institute of Science in Society tells us:

Mismatch repair is ordinarily used by the cell following mistakes in DNA replication or recombination as well as in DNA damage. It relies on enzymes that recognise the mismatch by comparing the strand to a template strand’s homologous region … after which the DNA mismatched sequence is cleaved out, the correct bases synthesised and the DNA re-ligated back together. This is a highly complex process essential to the integrity of the DNA and the cell. However, this remains a speculation, and others have suggested that homologous recombination, transcription as well as DNA replication processes are involved.

So, this absolutely critical process is, essentially, a mystery. Whether it could create serious damage to DNA is unknown. Whether it might affect other parts of the DNA is unknown. Whether it has the potential of causing changes that might prove harmful to anyone who eats the resultant produce is unknown! In other words, the only thing that’s known about this process is that the desired change is made in a species. Whether other changes are made or that change might prove harmful in some as-yet unknown way is unknown.

Yet, our governing agencies have seen fit to not only rubber stamp the ODM process, but to give it a complete pass. Cibus is allowed to sell obviously genetically engineered products as “natural”. They are not required to submit to any oversight of any sort. They can churn out stuff with no labeling of any sort and leave the public entirely in the dark about the fact that they are, indeed, eating genetically engineered foods that haven’t even undergone the pathetically limited oversight of governmental agencies for GMOs produced by Monsanto and other corporations.

You thought that Monsanto was scary? Welcome to Cibus, Monsanto on steroids!

from: http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2013-09-06/stealth-gmos-are-coming-approved-unlabeled-everywhere/