http://www.viacampesina.org/downloads/pdf/en/Monsanto-Publication-EN-Final-Version.pdf
WASHINGTON (US) / MONTEVIDEO (URUGUAY), PARIS (FRANCE), APRIL 4, 2012 – Today, the day that biotech giant Monsanto releases its second quarter earnings, a new report by civil society organisations shows that around the world small-holder and organic farmers, local communities and social movements are increasingly resisting and rejecting Monsanto, and the agro-industrial model that it represents.
Posted in Greenpeace, World Food Politics, Monsanto
Tagged Monsanto, Roundup Ready
2. Send your letter to the Minister of Agriculture instantly from http://www.cban.ca/alfalfaaction1
3. Find more information and action – get more involved at http://www.cban.ca/alfalfa
Posted in Food Security, Ge alfalfa
Tagged Biotech Companies, GM Alfalfa, GM crops, GMO, Monsanto, Roundup Ready, Small Farmer, Take Action!
From CountryWorld Online
For the first time since 2006, Roundup Ready alfalfa has been planted, despite suits that aimed to block the action. Continue reading
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/11/22/pesticide-review-roundup.html
A court has ordered Health Canada to reconsider its decision not to review the effects of a popular herbicide, a ruling that some say will strengthen the public’s hand in forcing the government to answer environmental concerns.
“We put a crack in the door,” said Josette Wier, who took the government to court after a forestry company began spraying Roundup from airplanes near her Smithers, B.C., home. “That door was locked — it was impossible.” Continue reading
Posted in Biotech Companies, Food Security, Herbicides, Monsanto
Tagged Monsanto, Roundup Ready
Read this excellent resource on the dangers of Roundup:
Posted in Biotech Companies, Herbicides, Pesticides
Tagged Biotech Companies, GE Foods, Glyphosate, Herbicides, Pesticides, Roundup Ready
Glyphosate, the non-selective herbicide that is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup formula, is up for a routine safety review in the United States and Canada. The herbicide has been used in eliminating weeds in soybeans, corn, cotton, as well as for lawn and garden maintenance since the early 1970s. “More than 2 billion lbs of herbicide were used globally in 2007, with one quarter of that total – 531 million lbs – used in the United States in that timeframe, according to a report issued in February by the EPA,” recently reported Reuters. Since at least 1996, the thirst for glyphosate was fueled in large measure by the development of glyphosate tolerant crops (e.g., Monsanto’s Roundup Ready lines), which are able to withstand continued application of this herbicide. Continue reading
Posted in GE Corn, GE Soy, Herbicides, Monsanto, Pesticides
Tagged Biotech Companies, Center For Food Safety, Roundup Ready
According to a just released report with input from 20 citizens’ organizations, GMOs are bad news – as reported in the London Guardian: “Genetic engineering has failed to increase the yield of any food crop but has vastly increased the use of chemicals and the growth of “superweeds”, according to a report by 20 Indian, south-east Asian, African and Latin American food and conservation groups representing millions of people.” You can read the Guardian article and download the report at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/19/gm-crops-insecurity-superweeds-pesticides?newsfeed=true
Superweeds have become a major problem with GE farming, especially with canola where superweeds are being found in fields, along roads and railway tracks. These weeds are genetically engineered and resistant to herbicides. See the latest study from the University of Kansas at:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/Canadian+canola+escapes+into+wild+study/5509691/story.html
This post about birth defects and Round Up (the herbicide used on GE crops) was sent by an organic farmer on Vancouver Island. It’s an interesting piece because it is written by a group of well respected scientists who have brought together a lot of information on Round Up. If you don’t have time to read the whole thing, just look at the summary. Anyone would have to think twice about spraying Round Up after reading this.
http://farmandranchfreedom.org/sff/RoundupandBirthDefects.pdf
Posted in Canadian Politics & Food, Food Security
Tagged GE, GMO, Herbicides, Independent Research, Roundup Ready, Vancouver Island
Significant levels of the world’s most-used herbicide have been detected in air and water samples from two U.S. farm states, government scientists said on Wednesday, in groundbreaking research on the active ingredient in Monsanto Co’s Roundup.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/31/us-glyphosate-pollution-idUSTRE77U61720110831
Steve Marsh is the owner of a certified organic farm in Western Australia. In late December, he received notice from Western Australia’s Department of Agriculture and Food (DFAWA) that 293 hectares – later found to be 325 hectares – of his organic farm had been contaminated by Roundup Ready canola. The GM canola arrived on his property from a neighboring farm.
Australia’s leading organic certifier, the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia (NASAA), suspended certification on the 70% of Mr. Marsh’s farm containing the GM canola.
Posted in Biotech Companies, Monsanto, Take Action!, World Food Politics
Tagged Ban GM crops, Food Security, GMO, Monsanto, Roundup Ready, Steve Marsh, Take Action!
(NaturalNews) For those of us wondering how bad the untested genetically modified food experiment is going to get before it gets any better, a ray of hope was just offered. A San Francisco judge, the very honorable, Judge Jeffrey White just ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service violated environmental law because of inadequate environmental testing of genetically modified sugar beets. He ruled that the agency failed to see if the genetically altered beets would eventually share their funky pesticide proof genes with other crops. Judge White noted that pollen from sugar beets can be blown long distances and pollinate other crops, including table beets and chard.
White wrote, “The potential elimination of farmers’ choice to grow non-genetically engineered crops, or consumers’ choice to eat non-genetically engineered food … has a significant effect on the human environment.”
From Non-GMO’s guest blogger Deniza Gertsberg, author of the GMO Journal.
A fundamental change occurred when the first genetically engineered crops went commercial in 1996. Farmers who planted GE crops that were altered to withstand continued application of herbicide glyphosate began to rely on a single system for weed management — the use of glyphosate, sold under brand name Roundup and manufactured by Monsanto. As Dr. David A. Mortensen of the Pennsylvania State University noted in his testimony before the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee on July 28, 2010, “[i]n evolutionary terms, widespread and persistent glyphosate use without diversity in weed control practices is a strong selection pressure for weeds able to survive glyphosate.” (”Mortensen Testimony”). In other words, get ready for the invasion of superweeds.
Posted in Biotech Companies, Herbicides, Pesticides
Tagged 2-4-D, Andrew Kimbrell, Dicamba, Glyphosate, Herbicides, Monsanto, Non-GMO Project, Pig weed, Roundup Ready, Super Weeds, Triazines
St. Louis Business Journal, USA, Kelsey Volkmann
West Virginia’s attorney general sued Monsanto on Monday, saying the agritech giant refuses to cooperate with his office’s investigation of soybeans genetically modified to withstand the company’s Roundup weedkiller.
Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s suit asks the court to prohibit Monsanto from selling any of its products in West Virginia until it fully complies with the subpoena.
(Thank you Barron’s 
Monsanto’s Tough Week: Now It’s Birth Defects
By Tiernan Ray
Tough week for Monsanto (MON). Tuesday, word went around that the company’s “SmartStax” seeds were yielding less in Iowa’s corn harvest than expected. That prompted analysts, including Goldman Sachs, to cut their price targets on the stock.
Today, it’s the rumor that the company’s herbicide, “Roundup,” could be causing birth defects, based on a study released by researchers in Argentina, and published in the August issue of the academic journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.
The study itself focuses broadly on herbicides containing glyphosate, but F. William Engdahl over at Global Research lays out the explicit connection to Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, writing:
Widespread reports of human malformations began to be reported in Argentina beginning 2002, two years after widespread aerial spraying of Roundup and planting of [Roundup Ready] Soybeans was begun. The test animals used by CarrascoÃs group share similar developmental mechanisms with humans. The authors concluded that the results ìraise concerns about the clinical findings from human offspring in populations exposed to Roundup in agricultural fields.î Carrasco added, ìThe toxicity classification of glyphosate is too low. In some cases this can be a powerful poison.î
(April: Let’s not fail to realize the crops/plants themselves contain pesticides within every living cell on the plant. Studies need to be done on this as well?)
Monsanto shares today ended down 9 cents at $47.91, which is actually pretty good considering the state of the broader market today.
Washington, D.C. - The spread of weeds resistant to Roundup herbicide is bringing new scrutiny to the government’s regulation of biotech crops.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, a longtime critic of the biotech industry, said the U.S. Agriculture Department has been too quick to approve new varieties of herbicide-tolerant crops and other biotech products.
“Now, more than ever, farmers need to have a Department of Agriculture that takes care to preserve and protect the farming environment for generations to come,” Kucinich said during a House hearing he chaired Wednesday on the spread of Roundup-resistant weeds.
One weed scientist, David Mortensen at Penn State University, said the government should restrict the use of herbicide-tolerant crops and impose a tax on biotech seeds to fund research and education programs.
The resistant weeds cannot be killed by the sole use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, which has become broadly popular with farmers with the advent more than a decade ago of soybeans, cotton, corn and other crops that are immune to the chemical. The weeds now infest about 11 million acres, a fivefold increase in three years, Mortensen said.
By the Organic Consumers Association
A recent study by eminent oncologists Dr. Lennart Hardell and Dr. Mikael
Eriksson of Sweden [1], has revealed clear links between one of the
world’s biggest selling herbicide, glyphosate, to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form
of cancer [2].
In the study published in the 15 March 1999 Journal of American Cancer
Society, the researchers also maintain that exposure to glyphosate
‘yielded increased risks for NHL.’ They stress that with the rapidly increasing use
of glyphosate since the time the study was carried out, ‘glyphosate
deserves further epidemiologic studies.’
Glyphosate, commonly known as Roundup, is the world’s most widely used
herbicide. It is estimated that for 1998, over a 112,000 tonnes of
glyphosate was used world-wide. It indiscriminately kills off a wide
variety of weeds after application and is primarily used to control annual
and perennial plants.
BOCA RATON, Fla., Jul 29, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (“Robbins Geller”) (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/monsanto/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on behalf of purchasers of the common stock of Monsanto Company (“Monsanto” or the “Company”) /quotes/comstock/13*!mon/quotes/nls/mon (MON 57.84, -0.07, -0.12%) between January 7, 2009 and May 27, 2010, inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”).
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, David J. George of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. If you are a member of this Class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/monsanto/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges Monsanto and certain of its officers and executives with violations of the Exchange Act. Monsanto is a provider of agricultural products for farmers including seeds, biotechnology trait products, and herbicides, most notably Roundup(R).
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s true financial condition, business and prospects. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants failed to disclose: (i) that demand for the Company’s herbicide products was substantially declining as competition from Chinese producers of generic glyphosate products was causing a collapse in the prices of glyphosate products; (ii) that the Company would be unable to maintain herbicide prices as defendants knew that they had to cut prices significantly to be able to compete with the avalanche of generic herbicide products that were entering the market; and (iii) that, as a result of the foregoing, defendants’ positive statements about the Company, its earnings, prospects and financial condition were lacking in a reasonable basis and materially misleading.
By Carey Gillam
Following the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on GE alfalfa – that means that it is illegal to plant Monsanto’s GE alfalfa, at least until the U.S. government has finished its environmental review.
Now, 50 U.S. politicians – Democrats and Republicans – are calling for a
continued ban even after the environment review. (This shows the
importance of this issue and is yet another indication that the fight on
GE alfalfa is far from a done deal even in the U.S!) Write to your MP and
ask them to do the same as the US politicians – send a letter instantly
from http://www.cban.ca/474action
**U.S. lawmakers call for continued ban on biotech alfalfa*
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2326472520100623
* Say USDA has “ignored” regulatory authority
* Say U.S. organic dairy industry threatened
KANSAS CITY, June 23 (Reuters) – More than 50 U.S. lawmakers are calling on the U.S. Agriculture Department to keep Monsanto’s (MON.N) biotech alfalfa out of farm fields, despite a Supreme Court ruling this week that cleared the way for limited planting pending environmental reviews.
The lawmakers said the biotech alfalfa presents too great a risk to
conventional and organic agriculture to ever allow it.
“We believe that the broad regulatory authority available to you has been ignored, in order to justify deregulation of a biotech crop that has limited utility to anyone except the manufacturer,” the letter addressed to Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack said.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, and Rep. Peter DeFazio, a Democrat from Oregon, were joined by 49 other representatives and five
other senators in asking Vilsack to ensure that Monsanto’s genetically
engineered alfalfa is not approved for commercial use.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a case brought by
Monsanto to stop the current injunction on planting GM alfalfa in the
U.S., has upheld the injunction! The National Farmers Union brought
forward Canada’s experience with GM canola to support the case. Now the US Department of Agriculture will be the deciding party on GM alfalfa – they
are preparing their final Environmental Impact Statement (as ordered by
the courts). Canadian groups also submitted comments to the USDA as part
of this process.
You can write to your MP today to support alfalfa farmers and request that
your MP supports Bill C-474 http://www.cban.ca/474action
July 21
SUPREME COURT ruling in “Monsanto Case” is victory for Center for Food Safety, Farmers
High Court Delivers Ruling That Leaves Ban on Planting of Roundup Ready Alfalfa in Place in First-Ever Case on a Genetically-engineered Crop
Washington, DC June 21, 2010 – The Center for Food Safety today celebratedthe United States Supreme Court’s decision in Monsanto v. Geerston Farms, the first genetically modified crop case ever brought before the Supreme Court. Although the High Court decision reverses parts of the lower courts’ rulings, the judgment holds that a vacatur bars the planting of
Monsanto’s Roundup Ready Alfalfa until and unless future deregulation
occurs. It is a victory for the Center for Food Safety and the Farmers
and Consumers it represents.
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Canadian Politics & Food, CBAN, Food Security, Monsanto, World GE Politics
Tagged Ban GM crops, Biotech Companies, Canadian Food Politics, CBAN, Center For Food Safety, Farmers Sue USDA, Food Security, Geertson Farms, GM Alfalfa, GMO, Monsanto, Roundup Ready, USDA
http://www.truthout.org/haitian-farmers-commit-burning-monsanto-hybrid-seeds59616
Tuesday 18 May 2010
by: Beverly Bell, t r u t h o u t | Report
Jonas Deronzil from Verrettes has been farming since 1974. Like small
producers throughout Haiti, his meager income from corn, rice and
beans is threatened by new competition from Monsanto.
“A new earthquake” is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-
Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that
Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn
seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic
pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto’s seeds, and has
called for a march to protest the corporation’s presence in Haiti on
June 4, for World Environment Day.
In an open letter sent May 14, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the executive
director of MPP and the spokesperson for the National Peasant Movement
of the Congress of Papay (MPNKP), called the entry of Monsanto seeds
into Haiti “a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on
biodiversity, on Creole seeds … and on what is left our environment
in Haiti.”(1) Haitian social movements have been vocal in their
opposition to agribusiness imports of seeds and food, which undermines
local production with local seed stocks. They have expressed special
concern about the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
For now, without a law regulating the use of GMOs in Haiti, the
Ministry of Agriculture rejected Monsanto’s offer of Roundup Ready
GMOs seeds. In an email exchange, a Monsanto representative assured
the Ministry of Agriculture that the seeds being donated are not GMOs.
April: There just wasn’t enough time in the day to post the really good stuff in full, so I am going to start listing the links to articles I think you may want or need.
HRAC members decide to boycott Genetically Modified foods
French Wine to Be Modified Genetically
Prisoners turn over a new leaf with eye on environment
Orwell-Speak Award Goes to Canada’s GM “Enviropig”
Protesters Block Monsanto in the Netherlands – Demanding End to GMOs
Facebook Page (Arzeena Hamir, GE Free Steering Committee) on Roger’s Sugar: asking us to send Roger’s an email on GMO Sugarbeets. Please let Roger’s know that you will not buy their products anymore.
Chemtrails and Monsanto’s New Aluminum Resistance Gene – Coincidence?
Posted in American Politics & Food, Animal Health and GMO, BioFuels, Biotech Companies, Canadian Politics & Food, CBAN, Food Security, GE Corn, GE Flax, GE Soy, Herbicides, Monsanto, Pesticides, Take Action!, World GE Politics
Tagged April Reeves, Ban GM crops, Bayer CropScience, Biotech Companies, Center For Food Safety, Dow AgroSciences, Food Security, GM Alfalfa, GMO, Monsanto, Roger's Sugar, Roundup Ready, Small Farmer, Take Action!, USDA
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) A group of Oregon farmers are seeking an injunction against this year’s planting of Monsanto’s genetically engineered sugar beets. The groups of organic farmers, food safety advocates and conservationists, is seeking to persuade a judge to ban the crop until the USDA provides a proper environmental impact statement proving that the crops are safe and that they will not cross-contaminate nearby fields.
The debate over whether or not to allow GE crops into the food supply has been a hotly debated one, but the biotech industry has been the side unable to prove that its products are safe. Those concerned about the negative consequences of GE crops have plenty of unresolved questions that demand answers prior to any GE crop being approved. Yet in reality, the USDA has succumbed to industry pressure instead, jeopardizing the entire food industry.
Nearly half of the nation’s sugar beets are genetically modified. They can be found planted on more than one million acres across ten states. The beets have been engineered to be resistant to Monsanto’s “RoundUp” herbicide, but their components are not limited to the fields in which they are planted, spreading across the landscape via pollen and seeds carried in the wind. Because it is impossible to track where GE plant fragments end up, there is no ensuring that any crop is truly non-GE or organic.
April: finally, a study showing links with pesticides and ADHD in children! But did they study the links; where the pesticides came from – the sprayed pesticide or the pesticide that lives within every cell on a GMO RoundUp Ready plant? The plant that is found in almost every packaged and processed food in North America? This remains to be studied…
WASHINGTON – Children exposed to higher levels of pesticide found on commercially grown fruit and vegetables in the United States were more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a study published Monday.
Researchers in the United States and Canada studied data from 1,139 children aged between 8 and 15 and found that children with higher residue levels of pesticides known as organophosphates were roughly twice as likely to have ADHD, the study in the Journal of Pediatrics found.
By April Reeves, May 7 2010
I read it across the ‘ticker’ on CNN yesterday: US farmers deal with super weeds: single worst production threat in the history of agriculture we have ever seen. Strong words. Now, CNN often is a bit ‘expressive’ in their dialogue, but this time I have to agree.
What surprises me are the people who are surprised. Really, it was a matter of time, like many of the issues of GM crops that will eventually surface. We have said for how long now – it’s not sustainable to mess with Mother Nature. But no one listened. 3 of the big GM crops have super weeds: corn, cotton and soy.
So we ‘heretics’ and ‘fear mongers’ once again shake our heads and laugh. It was evident to anyone with any thread of common sense and vision that this day would come. And it came fast.
You can only sustain healthy agriculture through diversity in your crop choices. Monocrops (single plant crops) will eventually fall prey to either disease or in this case, resistance. I’m sure the bugs will be a tough one to destroy this year as well. Climate change as well, demands a biodiversity in order to survive. It’s the old way, but it’s THE way. While man runs around trying to fix everything, even that which is not broken, eventually it will bite him in the butt.
Farmers are curious: if they have to work longer hours (pulling weeds), do the same things they were doing before GM crops (tilling, changing chemicals), then why spend the extra money on GM seeds? While corn and some soy and cotton may prove higher yields, that should not be a concern any more: what matters is profit, and commodity crops are losing their value as junk food processors demand lower and lower prices to compete.
It’s a treadmill that’s almost impossible to get off of. We have been fed a promise that’s now leading us into chemical dependency.
So what does all this mean?
Unless Monsanto can either engineer another type of plant, or create stronger, nastier chemical pesticides, they have succeeded in taking out mass amounts of shareholder value. Creating new crops take millions of dollars. If these crops have a short duration before they implode and turn useless, the value is just not there for investors. So by subjecting farmers to stronger chemicals is the answer? No wonder young people have no interested in going int0 mass agriculture. They are moving into organics and traditional farming instead. Children are growing up much smarter than many of the older folks…
Farmers will incur additional costs trying to maintain what was suppose to be an easy, infallible system. Those costs will be passed on to the consumer, unless the tab is picked up by government subsidies (that would be you, the taxpayer).
Maybe we should take a page from our antibiotics book for super germs. Don’t we learn anything from history? Especially recent history.
Please see below that Monsanto is fighting back to stop Bill C-474
and CBAN’s successful campaign. 1. The industry arguments are desperate and make very little sense – stay tuned for CBAN rebuttal of industry arguments: “If you let groups like CBAN offer their comment I don’t think it really has any interest whatsoever in protecting farmers’
rights to access to new technology.” – Trish Jordan, Monsanto Canada
(from below article)
2. House of Commons Agriculture Committee hearings on Bill C-474 will
happen in late May and early June.
3. Your actions continue: Vancouver Kingsway NDP MP Don Davies
presented a petition in the House of Commons April 29 in support of
Bill C-474, signed by well over 100 students, organized by Chanel and
Cassandra Ly, Emily Chan and Brendan Chan. “These students took the
leadership and initiative to educate their classmates about this
important issue raised by this bill and I am proud to present their
views in Parliament on their behalf. These students want to protect
the environment, ensure the health of Canadians and support community
food producers. I join with them in calling for the swift passage of
this bill through committee and into law,” said Mr. Davies in the
House of Commons. You can download the petition from http://www.cban.ca/474
and request your MP to present in the House also.
Article:
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Canadian Politics & Food, CBAN, Food Security, Monsanto, Take Action!, World GE Politics
Tagged Alex Atamanenko, Ban GM crops, Biotech Companies, Canadian Food Politics, Canola Council of Canada, CBAN, CCC, Don Davies NDP MP, Food Security, GMO, JoAnne Buth, Lucy Sharratt, Monsanto, Roundup Ready, Support Bill C-474
April: while this case may appear to be about GE alfalfa contaminating organic crops, it has a secondary, and in my opinion, worse outcome.
Monsanto is petitioning for an injunction to stop any future law suit against them for anything. This is the worst part, as no one could ever take them to court again for anything: this is very broad: crop damage, human diseases, environmental failures and chemical contamination.
What does this mean? Now we can only sit back and watch, as Monsanto can now do whatever they want, to whomever they please. And we can’t do a thing about it, legally.
Here is a lengthy post filled with information about the beginnings of this historic case. Remember fellow Canadians, this could be us. Bees don’t need passports. We wait on the edge of our seats to hear the outcome….
Supreme Court to take first look at Genetically Modified Crops in Case
with NEPA Implications
The New York Times, USA by Gabriel Nelson 22.04.2010
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Tuesday
involving a federal judge?s temporary ban on a breed of pesticide-
resistant alfalfa, setting the stage for the court’s first-ever ruling
on genetically modified crops.
Legal experts do not expect a blockbuster decision on the merits of
regulating modified plants such as Monsanto Co.’s Roundup Ready
alfalfa, but the case, Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, has drawn
widespread interest because the justices could issue a ruling that
would raise or lower the threshold for challenges under the National
Environmental Policy Act.
Environmental groups, which frequently use the statute to bring
lawsuits against government agencies and industry groups, ‘don’t
expect anything good’ to come from the Supreme Court’s eventual
decision, said David Bookbinder, chief climate counsel at the Sierra
Club. It seems that some of the justices are ‘on a kick to gut NEPA
remedies,’ he said earlier this year during a panel discussion on
environmental law at Georgetown University.
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Food Security, Monsanto, Organic Growers & Seeds, Take Action!, World GE Politics
Tagged Ban GM crops, Biotech Companies, Court injunction, Freedom, GE Alfalfa, Geertson Farms, GM Alfalfa, GMO, Human rights, Monsanto, Roundup Ready, TNC's, US Supreme Court, USDA
The Street, USA Scott Eden 07.04.2010
ST. LOUIS (TheStreet) — Monsanto’s moment of self-reckoning has
arrived — at least when it comes to its financial growth forecasts.
In a conference call with analysts and investors Wednesday morning
following another disappointing quarterly earnings report, Monsanto
management effectively said that they’d got it all wrong. They were
turning over a new leaf — or a new cornstalk, as the case may be.
“This management has eaten a lot of crow,” said Charlie Rentschler,
an equities analyst at Morgan Joseph who participated in the call and
described it as “very sober.”
“They’re admitting their mistakes and they’re trying to modify their
ways. Assuming they can do this, it’s a step-change in how this
company has been operated. As far as I’m concerned they’ve been a
pretty arrogant bunch,” Rentschler said of the company, especially in
its relationships with distributors and end-users on the farm.
“They’ve had a lot of swagger — a do-it-my-way-or-hit-the-highway-
type attitude. They say now that’s going to stop.”
April: we’ll see if this is just another propaganda shot at working their shares back up. Farmers are bowing out of their technologies this year, too many people are now anti-GMO, and a host of other reasons are likely why this article has appeared. Can’t imagine Hugh Grant bowing to anything, but I do think we will see all versions of softer press releases from them. Not sure it will reflect the inner workings of the corporation though: you can say anything on paper: it’s harder to actually DO it. Remember: don’t let those shareholders down: must profit at all costs!
Continue reading
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Food Security, Monsanto, World GE Politics
Tagged Ban GM crops, Biotech Companies, Canadian Food Politics, Farmer skepticism, Food Secure, Food Security, GMO, Monsanto, Roundup Ready, Roundup Ready 2, SmartStax Corn, Sustainability, Yield promises
But recent findings by Kremer and other agricultural scientists are raising fresh concerns about Monsanto’s products and the Washington agencies that oversee them. The same seeds and chemicals spread across millions of acres of U.S. farmland could be creating unforeseen problems in the plants and soil, this body of research shows.
Kremer, who works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), is among a group of scientists who are turning up potential problems with glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup and the most widely used weed-killer in the world.
“This could be something quite big. We might be setting up a huge problem,” said Kremer, who expressed alarm that regulators were not paying enough attention to the potential risks from biotechnology on the farm, including his own research.
Concerns range from worries about how nontraditional genetic traits in crops could affect human and animal health to the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds.
Biotech crop supporters say there is a wealth of evidence that the crops on the market are safe, but critics argue that after only 14 years of commercialized GMOs, it is still unclear whether or not the technology has long-term adverse effects.
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Canadian Politics & Food, Food Security, Herbicides, Monsanto, Pesticides, World GE Politics
Tagged Biotech Companies, Food Security, Glyphosate, GMO, Monsanto, Robert Kremer, Roundup Ready, Sustainability, Union of Concerned Scientists, USDA, WHO
From: Lucy Sharratt – CBAN Coordinator: coordinator@cban.ca
Monsanto earnings down, scraps profit target – farmers reject high priced GE seeds
Monsanto’s earnings disappoint – abandon target to double profits in 5 years – Farmers don’t buy Monsanto’s high prices.
Monsanto’s second quarter earnings did not match their projections, though the company is still robust (some were expecting worse results). Here are summary points from the below news:
- 19% drop in fiscal second quarter earnings, scrapped its target to double profit in 5 years.
- Monsanto shares have fallen about 15% this year.
- Equities analyst refers to Monsanto’s arrogance, its ambitious growth projections were unrealistic.
- Farmers refusing to pay new high price for Monsanto’s eight trait GE corn “SmartStax” $75/bag http://www.cban.ca/corn
- Farmers also refusing to pay high prices for Roundup Ready2 technology.
- Monsanto’s claims to higher yield not substantiated with third-party data.
- Monsanto now reducing prices, heavily discounting SmartStax = “penetration pricing” to gain market share.
For more info on Monsanto: http://www.cban.ca/monsanto
You can write a letter from CBAN’s website to the Minister of Health asking her to withdraw approval for Monsanto’s “SmartStax” corn: http://www.cban.ca/corn
Monsanto’s genetically engineered “Roundup Ready” seed line now accounts for 93 percent of the soybeans and 82 percent of the corn produced in the U.S., according to a recent Bloomberg article.
Should you be concerned? As Michael Pollan has pointed out, corn is the “keystone species of the industrial food system, along with its sidekick, soybean”:
Take a typical fast food meal. Corn is the sweetener in the soda. It’s in the corn-fed beef Big Mac patty, and in the high-fructose syrup in the bun, and in the secret sauce….The “four different fuels” in a Lunchables meal, are all essentially corn-based. The chicken nugget—including feed for the chicken, fillers, binders, coating, and dipping sauce—is all corn….even the salads at McDonald’s are full of high-fructose corn syrup and thickeners made from corn.”
LUXEMBOURG, March 9 (Reuters)
U.S. biotech giant Monsanto’s (MON.N) EU patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds should not extend to cover imports of processed soybean meal into the 27-nation bloc, an adviser to Europe’s top court said.
The opinion from Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi must still be confirmed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a final ruling. But it is a setback for Monsanto in its legal battle to secure royalty payments on the use of its seeds.
I found this documentary in it’s full version!
Feb 26, 2010, Josette Dunn
The annual GM industry-funded survey of global GM crops, by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agro-biotech Applications (ISAAA), shows 7 of the 25 GM countries grew less genetically manipulated (GM) crops in 2009. No more countries adopted GM and just 2.7% of global agricultural land was used for GM soy, corn, canola and cotton.
This slowdown in GM crops appears to be largely due to the widespread public concern about the safety of consuming GM foods. “Most GM product goes into animal feed, biofuels or cotton products, as shoppers avoid eating GM foods” says Gene Ethics Director Bob Phelps.
“GM is not a global industry. Just six countries dominate GM cropping, with the USA, Brazil, Argentina, India, Canada and China growing 95% of all GM crops. Though 20 other countries, including Australia, grow some GM they are just dabbling.
“The Cartagena Biosafety Protocol will be completed this year, giving countries more grounds for saying ‘no’ to GM crops. 156 countries are now members of the treaty but Australia is not among them.”
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is an international agreement on biosafety, as a supplement to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Biosafety Protocol aims to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Canadian Politics & Food, Food Security, World GE Politics
Tagged Argentina, Biotech Companies, Brazil, Bt Cotton, Canada, Cartagena biosafety protocol, China, Food Security, Glyphosate, GM biofuels, GM canola, GM Corn, GM labeling, GM soy, India, ISAAA, Roundup Ready, Sustainability, USA
Monday 22 February 2010, by Sailendra Nath Ghosh
The following is the lucidest possible exposition of transgenic genetic engineering. There has been no other exposition anywhere with comparable lucidity of this intricate subject. Since this kind of engineering poses a threat to life’s survival on earth, it has become a crucial political issue. This article was published in Mainstream Annual 2001 (dated December 22, 2001). It is being reproduced here, with minor alternations by the author, in view of the latest controversy surrounding Bt brinjal.
Despite this massive evidence that harmony with Nature gives plentitude and permanence, the practitioners of “nature-conquering science” are now embarking on an yet more dangerous course—namely, “transgenic genetic engineering”. Bioscience—whose purpose was to understand the interlinkages between and among plant and animal species and to find thereform the clues to least expensive agri- and other cultures and cures for diseases—has long been hijacked by commercial interests to enthrone biotechnology, in which the emphasis is on mass production rather than production by the masses. Hybridisation, tissue culture, even cloning to a limited extent of endangered species to repair the damage of near-extinction already done to bioresources, was permissible. But what is now being attempted in the wake of the failure of the “Green Revolution” is a hydra-headed disaster, a biological holocaust, more insidious than nuclear holocaust because it is silent and, in the initial stages, imperceptible.
The “bright” idea is to transfer genes to unrelated species that never interbreed in nature, such as inserting toad genes into potatoes or genes of some bacteria into crop plants. Scientists have taken the gene in a firefly that emits light and inserted it into the genetic code of tobacco plant. Anti-freeze gene from the “flounder fish” has been inserted into the genetic code of tomato plant to protect the plant from cold spells. Insecticide producing gene from bacteria and viruses are being inserted into plants. Attempts are being made to create novel life forms that have not existed before.
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Canadian Politics & Food, Food Security, Monsanto, Take Action!, World Food Politics
Tagged Allergens, Antibiotic resistant, Biological Holocaust, Bt Brinjal, Bt Cotton, Bt Toxin, Expression, Horizontal Gene Transfer, Marker Genes, Monsanto, Pathogens, Plasmids, Roundup Ready, Superweeds, Survival, Sustainability, Threat to mankind, Toad genes, Transgenic, Trasposons
Farmers and Furious Curious Twists of Injustice
Farmers have been front and center pawns in the GM Food chess game. To their credit, farmers historically have a hard working life and little return for their investment of blood, sweat, tears and dollars. They spend their morning, days and evenings working, day in and day out, week after week, year after year, and the prospect of being part of a growing corporation could offer great appeal along with the aspiration of one day retiring. While yes, they are partly responsible for producing GM crops, they are also responding to the consumer’s demand and a corporation’s command.
Sadly, once again, Syndrome’s immoral wanton ways are masked by a facade of hope for the greater good. Global Exchange lists the top 14 ‘Most Wanted’ Human Rights violators for 2007 (I didn’t see a ‘Most Wanted’ list for 2008 or 2009). Monsanto is on that list for abuses of displacement, health violations, and child labor. According to Global Exchange, in India, an estimated 12, 400 children were working for Monsanto in cottonseed production as of 2007. Global Exchange adds how a number of (unspecified) children have died from exposure to pesticides.
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Canadian Politics & Food, Food Security, GE Corn, GE Soy, Monsanto, World GE Politics
Tagged Ban GM crops, Bayer CropScience, Biotech Companies, Canadian Food Politics, Food Secure, GE Foods, Global Exchange, GMO, Kenda Swartz Pepper, Monsanto, Roundup Ready, Small Farmer, Sustainability, Syngenta, Unilever
The debate on genetically modified (GM) brinjal variety continues to generate heat. Former managing director of Monsanto India, Tiruvadi Jagadisan, is the latest to join the critics of Bt brinjal, perhaps the first industry insider to do so.
Jagadisan, who worked with Monsanto for nearly two decades, including eight years as the managing director of India operations, spoke against the new variety during the public consultation held in Bangalore on Saturday.
On Monday, he elaborated by saying the company “used to fake scientific data” submitted to government regulatory agencies to get commercial approvals for its products in India.
CBAN is coordinating new global action against GM wheat – Please
consider donating to support our campaign www.cban.ca/donate Thank you.
You can see the full report about market impacts in the US at http://www.worc.org/GM-Wheat
Biotech wheat could slam U.S. wheat prices -report
Wed Jan 27, 2010 3:50pm EST
* European Union and Japan opposed to biotech wheat
* Lost exports could send U.S. spring wheat down 40 pct
By Carey Gillam
CHICAGO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat prices could fall by 40 percent
or more if industry efforts to develop a biotech wheat succeed,
according to an industry report issued on Wednesday.
The report, issued by the Western Organization of Resource Councils, a
farmer and rancher group, cited persistent opposition to genetically
modified wheat in Europe, Japan, and other Asian countries. It said
buyers in those countries probably would shift purchases away from the
United States, if a biotech wheat was commercialized here.
The price of U.S. hard red spring wheat would fall 40 percent, the
report predicted, and the price of durum wheat would drop 57 percent.
“Introduction of genetically modified wheat in the United States is a
risky proposition,” said the report’s author, industry consultant Neal
Blue, a former research economist at Ohio State University.
Any biotech wheat is still years from commercialization as companies
like Monsanto Co, Dow AgroSciences, and others research various
improvements to the crop through genetic modifications and other means.
From Jeffrey Smith: Responsible Technology.org
When Forbes magazine declared Monsanto as the Company of the Year for 2009, millions of surprised people were forced to reevaluate their opinions about a major corporation. Now they no longer trust Forbes.
Monsanto is one of the most despised corporations on earth. This is the first in a series of articles that expose their not-so-hidden dark side and how, if unrestrained, Monsanto could unleash a cataclysm. Indeed, it has already started…
Part 1 of 10
At a biotech industry conference in January 1999, a representative from Arthur Anderson, LLP explained how they had helped Monsanto design their strategic plan. First, his team asked Monsanto executives what their ideal future looked like in 15 to 20 years. The executives described a world with 100% of all commercial seeds genetically modified and patented. Anderson consultants then worked backwards from that goal, and developed the strategy and tactics to achieve it. They presented Monsanto with the steps and procedures needed to obtain a place of industry dominance in a world in which natural seeds were virtually extinct.
This was a bold new direction for Monsanto, which needed a big change to distance them from a controversial past. As a chemical company, they had polluted the landscape with some of the most poisonous substances ever produced, contaminated virtually every human and animal on earth, and got fined and convicted of deception and wrongdoing. According to a former Monsanto vice president, “We were despised by our customers.”
So they redefined themselves as a “life sciences” company, and then proceeded to pollute the landscape with toxic herbicide, contaminate the gene pool for all future generations with genetically modified plants, and get fined and convicted of deception and wrongdoing. Monsanto’s chief European spokesman admitted in 1999, “Everybody over here hates us.” Now the rest of the world is catching on.
“Saving the World” and Other Lies
Continue reading
Posted in American Politics & Food, Animal Health and GMO, Biotech Companies, Food Security, Herbicides, Monsanto, Pesticides, World GE Politics
Tagged Biotech Companies, Food Security, GE Foods, GMO, Institute For Responsible Technology, Jeffrey Smith, Monsanto, Robert Shapiro, Roundup Ready, World Hunger
Unfortunately, there are still those who are unaware of the many improprieties and outright crimes committed by Monsanto, such as:
After 30 years of GMO experimentation, we have the data to show:
By April Reeves
Monsanto is always trying to convince North Americans that Roundup Ready is safe and won’t create resistance, but in Australia, farmers sign on the dotted line to keep vigil over their use of the chemical.
“However, the ministry flagged the importance of farmers following procedures to avoid any threat of weedkiller resistance being spread to surrounding plants.
Is this not a direct admission to a problem? Those of us who protest these chemicals already know of Roundup’s hazards, yet our governments go on blindly approving it.
Now Monsanto is putting the responsibility onto the farmer. “It’s your problem if something goes wrong” seems to be the statement here.
Why would any farmer WANT to take this on? Does this now open up the farmer to potential law suits from anyone?
Please continue to eat Organic as much and whenever you can.
Send your comments to the US Department of Agriculture by February 16,
2010.
Its not yet legal for Monsanto to sell its GM alfalfa seeds in Canada
but a US injunction on planting in that country could soon be
overturned. If GM alfalfa is planted in the US, it will quickly
contaminate our food system as well as Canadian alfalfa crops. It will
also lead to the legalization of GM alfalfa in Canada (Canada approved
Monsanto’s GM Roundup Ready alfalfa in 2005 but it still needs variety
registration as a last step before commercialization here).
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) was court-ordered to conduct
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on alfalfa and GM alfalfa
plantings were halted until this EIS was satisfactorily completed.
This draft EIS is now out for comment until February 16. Farmers and
their organizations in Canada are encouraged to send comments about
the expected impact of GM alfalfa contamination. Consumers are also
asked to express their concern.
Our strong action could stop GM alfalfa and result in an unprecedented
ruling about the real contamination risks of GM.
Please take one of these three actions.
1. Send comments from the web: Our partner in the US, The Center of
Food Safety, has launched an action where consumers and farmers can
send comments from their website http://ga3.org/campaign/alfalfaEIS
2. Coordinate with us to write your substantial comments – Please also
send us your comments and cc them to the Minister of Agriculture and
Agriculture Critics from other Parties. Contact Lucy Sharratt, CBAN
Coordinator at 613 241 2267 ext.6 or coordinator@cban.ca
3. Sign your group to the “No to GMO Alfalfa” statement http://www.cban.ca/alfalfa
The “No to GMO Alfalfa” Campaign in Canada is coordinated by the
Organic Agriculture Protection Fund of the Saskatchewan Organic
Directorate and the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network
For more information: http://www.cban.ca/alfalfa coordinator@cban.ca
613 241 2267 ext. 6
Tell the US Government That You Care About GE Contamination of Organic
Food!
In 2006, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sued the Department of
Agriculture (USDA) for its illegal approval of Monsanto’s genetically
engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. The federal courts sided with
CFS and banned GE alfalfa until the USDA fully analyzed the impacts of
the plant on the environment, farmers, and the public in a rigorous
analysis known as an environmental impact statement (or EIS). USDA
released its draft EIS on December 14, 2009. A 60-day comment period
is now open until February 16, 2010. This is the first time the USDA
has done this type of analysis for any GE crop. Therefore, the final
decision will have broad implications for all GE crops.
CFS has begun analyzing the EIS and it is clear that the USDA has not
taken the concerns of non-GE alfalfa farmers, organic dairies, or
consumers seriously. USDA’s preliminary determination is to once
again deregulate GE alfalfa without any limitations or protections for
farmers or the environment. Instead USDA has completely dismissed the
fact that contamination will threaten export and domestic markets and
organic meat and dairy products. And, incredibly, USDA is claiming
that there is no evidence that consumers care about such GE
contamination of organic!
USDA also claims that consumers will not reject GE contamination of
organic alfalfa if the contamination is unintentional or if the
transgenic material is not transmitted to the end milk or meat
product, despite the fact that more than 75% of consumers believe that
they are purchasing products without GE ingredients when they buy
organic.
USDA claims that Monsanto’s seed contracts require measures sufficient
to prevent genetic contamination, and that there is no evidence to the
contrary. But in the lawsuit requiring this document, the Court found
that contamination had already occurred in the fields of several
Western states with these same business-as-usual practices in place!
USDA predicts that the approval of GE alfalfa would damage family
farms and organic markets, yet doesn’t even consider any limitations
or protections against this scenario. Small, family farmers are the
backbone and future of American agriculture and must be protected.
Organic agriculture provides many benefits to society: healthy foods
for consumers, economic opportunities for family farmers and urban and
rural communities, and a farming system that improves the quality of
the environment. However, the continued vitality of this sector is
imperiled by the complete absence of measures to protect organic
production systems from GE contamination and subsequent environmental,
consumer, and economic losses.
Tell USDA That You DO Care About GE Contamination of Organic Crops and
Food! http://ga3.org/campaign/alfalfaEIS
This alert was published by the Organic Agriculture Protection Fund of
the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate and the Canadian Biotechnology
Action Network. January 2010.
Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)
Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental Justice
431 Gilmour Street, Second Floor
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 0R5
Phone: 613 241 2267 ext.6
Fax: 613 241 2506
coordinator@cban.ca
www.cban.ca
(21 January 2010) In the USA, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) intends to permit the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) alfalfa once more. This recommendation is based on a newly-completed environmental impact assessment. Year-long legal conflicts were antecedent.
From GMO Compass, a good resource site
The cultivation approval of herbicide-tolerant GM alfalfa issued in 2005 was revoked in 2007 after a Californian court ordered the thorough environmental impact assessment. Diverse environmental groups and consumer associations had filed suit against the approval. The plaintiffs accused the administration of insufficient investigation with regard to possible environmental damage, such as may occur through outcrossing with conventional plants or wild relatives as well as through the spread of resistant weeds.
The GM alfalfa was developed by the agro-biotechnology firm Monsanto and displays tolerance to herbicide containing the active ingredient 
glyphosate (RoundupReady).
By court ordinance, the cultivation of GM alfalfa was subject to strict constraints: for example, fields intended for planting required approval from the agricultural authority. Special obligations applied to the transport, storage and labeling of the harvest. Monsanto filed high-level suits against these constraints and negotiations are expected this year.
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Food Security, Monsanto
Tagged Ban GM crops, Food Security, GE Foods, GM Alfalfa, GM Sugarbeet, GMO, Monsanto, Roundup Ready, USDA
Monsanto has just been named “2009 Company of the Year” by Forbes Magazine. It’s an interesting read of a rather slanted version of the great things Monsanto does for the world, while leaving out the realities Monsanto has to deal with on a daily basis. Forbes obviously ignores the ruthless tactics of Monsanto, is afraid of losing ad revenue, or simply chooses to dish out frivolous content.
A comment from the article sums it up nicely:
This article is nothing more than a blatant PR attempt to divert from the fact that two circuit appeals court rulings stopped the planting of GM alfalfa and GM sugar beets.
It failed to address farmer suicides due to poverty brought on by the high prices of BT cotton and the contracts and patents on these seeds that bind poor farmers to them, causing many to commit suicide by drinking Round Up.
It fails to address the exacerbation of climate change and pollution through the deforestation of the Amazon and other Latin American countries to grow GM soy which is pushing small farmers off their land in lieu of creating mega monocultures that are not providing stable economies for poor farmers.
Mitchell Hartman reports: Virtually the entire sugar beet crop in the United States is genetically engineered to protect it from herbicides. Now, a lawsuit claiming the biotech beets pose a risk to other varieties could threaten sugar production (link to article 1, 2).
Kai Ryssdal: The most heavily-traded futures contract in New York today was not oil. It wasn’t gold. You’ll probably never guess, so I’ll just go ahead and give you the answer: Sugar was the hot commodity today as traders backed it down off 28-year highs. Rumors of a big purchase by the Indian government helped drive that.
Here in this country more than half our sugar comes from beets. From a beet crop that is almost entirely genetically modified. Organic farmers and food-safety advocates are suing to keep that crop out of the ground this coming spring. From the Marketplace Entrepreneurship Desk at Oregon Public Broadcasting, Mitchell Hartman reports.
According to this press release from the Canadian Curling Association,
their corporate sponsor “Monsanto remains focused on enabling both
small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land
while conserving more of our world’s natural resources such as water
and energy.”
If anyone would like to correct the Canadian Curling
Association, you can write to Greg Stremlaw, Chief Executive Officer,
Canadian Curling Association 613-834-2076, ext 117
gstremlaw@curling.ca 1660 Vimont Court Cumberland, Ontario K4A 4J4
(Please, please email this man – April)
Monsanto Canada Signs New Multi-Year Presenting Sponsorship
http://www.seasonofchampions.ca/2010worlds/news497.asp
OTTAWA, June 16, 2009…The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) today
announced that Monsanto Canada has extended its involvement as the
presenting sponsor of several premier curling championships in Canada
through 2013.
This new multi-year agreement makes Monsanto the presenting sponsor of
the 2010 Ford world women’s curling championship, March 20-28 in Swift
Current, Saskatchewan, the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Tim Hortons Brier
(Canadian men’s curling championship) and the next three Continental
Cups (the Ryder Cup-like competition featuring Team North America
versus Team World) during those seasons, at sites and dates to be
announced.
Continue reading
By April Reeves
I responded to this article in the ‘editorial’ on their Nov. 26/09 publication. It was written by 5 people. I wonder if the Producer is writing ‘nice’ things about Monsanto in order to continue their advertising. I owned a publication once; I know what that’s all about…
GM Acceptance/Opponents Fading
Positive signs for greater acceptance of GM foods, by Bruce Dyck, Terry Fries, Barb Glen, D’Arce Mcmillan and Ken Zacharias
GREENPEACE’S European campaign against genetically modified crops has hurt Canadian farmers. The organization pressured European authorities to test Canadian flax for the presence of unauthorized genetically altered seed and pressured mustard processors to avoid Canadian mustard seed.
Greenpeace got what it wanted in the Triffid flax situation, a trumped up “scandal” to rail against, to frighten consumers about the alleged dangers of GM crops and inadequate government regulation and oversight.
Canadian farmers got what they didn’t want, market disruption, lower prices and a costly new flax testing system.
But they might take hope in signs that European obstacles to trade in GM crops are eroding and Greenpeace’s anti-GM campaign will eventually fail.
Monsanto’s control over seeds and the seed market: Investigation (Lucy Sharratt – CBAN Coordinator)
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:34:11 -0500
Also see that there is a new report: “The Seed Price Premium: The
Magnitude and Impact of the Biotech and Organic Seed Price Premium” www.organic-center.org
http://www.seattlepi.com/business/1310ap_us_seed_giant.html
Monsanto seed business role revealed
By Christopher Leonard, Associated Press
December 14 2009
EDITED
Confidential contracts detailing Monsanto Co.’s business practices
reveal how the world’s biggest seed developer is squeezing
competitors, controlling smaller seed companies and protecting its
dominance over the multi-billion-dollar market for genetically altered
crops, an Associated Press investigation has found.
With Monsanto’s patented genes being inserted into roughly 95 percent
of all soybeans and 80 percent of all corn grown in the U.S., the
company also is using its wide reach to control the ability of new
biotech firms to get wide distribution for their products, according
to a review of several Monsanto licensing agreements and dozens of
interviews with seed industry participants, agriculture and legal
experts.
Continue reading
Friday 11 December 2009
by: Le Monde with AFP | Le Monde
A new European study “clearly reveals … new side effects linked with GM maize consumption” affected the liver and kidneys, but also other organs for three Monsanto GMO corn varieties. (Photo: DawnOne)
A study published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences demonstrates the toxicity of three genetically modified corn varieties from the American seed company Monsanto, the Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (Criigen, based in Caen), which participated in that study, announced Friday, December 11.
“For the first time in the world, we’ve proven that GMO are neither sufficiently healthy nor proper to be commercialized. [...] Each time, for all three GMOs, the kidneys and liver, which are the main organs that react to a chemical food poisoning, had problems,” indicated Gilles-Eric Séralini, an expert member of the Commission for Biotechnology Reevaluation, created by the EU in 2008.
