The Ontarion | A pig of two tales: Enviropig

The Ontarion | Enviropig: invention continues to be a heavily debated issue for professors, students and Guelphites alike: Kelsey Rideout: The issue of genetically modified meat into our food supply.

via The Ontarion | A pig of two tales 
.

Monsanto and Propsition 19: GMO Terminator Cannabis

April: Here’s a post that may elicit a fair amount of “comments”. I warn you, this is loooooong….  It goes over, in detail, the “who’s who” in this scandal, and speaks of corporate control issues (we all know this by now). It also suggests that Monsanto may be bringing the Terminator Technology out of the closet, after paying almost $2Billion (if you add up the interest since 07) for the technology. Regardless of a world-wide moratorium in place, Monsanto is not letting Terminator go, and will surely try to recoup that money somehow, somewhere. And what better way to start than with hemp. But what interested me was the relationship to Guelph University: “Multi-national companies like Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayor Crop Science, and Semex have set up in Guelph because of the ability to closely interact with research and the ease of access to human, capital, and government resources, as well as the ability to attract investment.” Enjoy…

radicaljusticeman | September 9, 2010

PROPOSITION 19, MONSANTO, AND GMO TERMINATOR CANNABIS

An article by D.M. Murdock written in August 2010 and entitled “Why hemp could save the world” states:

Stop “Enviropig”: Take action to stop GM Animals in Canada

Stop “EnviroPig”! Take Action today to stop genetically modified
animals.

Write to the Minister of Health instantly from http://www.cban.ca/enviropigaction

Health Canada could soon approve the first genetically modified (GM)
animal for human consumption. The University of Guelph has applied for
food safety approval of its GM pig – they call it “Enviropig”.

The GM pig contains genetic material from a mouse and E-coli bacteria,
and is engineered to excrete less phosphorus in its feces. Its owners
claim that “Enviropig” can reduce water pollution caused by excess
pig manure that comes from industrial factory farms. A GM pig is not
needed to solve this problem. Pigs can be raised without causing
phosphorus pollution – by making changes to production practices or
using an enzyme feed supplement that helps pigs digest grains.

“Enviropig” is not needed by farmers and is not wanted by consumers.
“Enviropig” is unacceptable and will harm the markets for Canada’s
hog producers at a time of severe economic crisis in the industry.

Health Canada is wasting precious public resources trying to assess the safety of a GM animal that no one wants. Health Canada does not have the capacity to regulate this complex technology for human safety.

Write to the Minister of Health today from http://www.cban.ca/enviropigaction
and tell her that GM animals are not acceptable in our food system.
Tell her that you don’t want to eat “Enviropig”

For more information on “Enviropig” and how you can join the campaign
visit http://www.cban.ca/enviropig

Donate today to support the campaign to stop “Enviropig” http://www.cban.ca/donate

This action alert was issued May 18 2010, by the Canadian
Biotechnology Action Network www.cban.ca in partnership with Beyond
Factory Farming www.beyondfactoryfarming.org

Join us in building the campaign: http://www.cban.ca/enviropig

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

Take action to Stop “Envriopig”: No GM Animals http://www.cban.ca/enviropig
Donate Today http://www.cban.ca/donate
Subscribe to the CBAN News and Action Listserve http://www.cban.ca/About/CBAN-e-News

Guelph’s “Enviropig” Satisfies Requirements of EPA

Angela Mulholland, CTV.ca News Date: Saturday Mar. 6, 2010 11:01 AM ET

The Enviropig, a Canadian-designed, genetically-engineered hog, recently edged a little closer to full regulatory approval. But how likely is the pig to ever make it to the dinner tables of Canadians?

Enviropigs are a line of line Yorkshire pigs genetically enhanced to be more environmentally friendly. The porkers, created by researchers at the University of Guelph, have a modified gene that gives them the ability to digest phosphorus in grain more efficiently.

The result? They poop up to 60 per cent less phosphorus into their manure.

That’s a good thing, since the phosphorus in the manure of factory farm animals is known to promote algae growth in water, leading to fish kills and other water problems.

Enviropigs have been under development for well over 10 years, with the aim that they could be one day be sold to commercial hog farmers.

But so far, while the researchers have enjoyed the support of Ontario Pork, a full commercial partner has yet to sign on. And much of the reason for that is the complicated regulatory hurdles of getting the pigs and their meat approved for eating.

One of those hurdles was finally crossed last month, when the University of Guelph announced that it had satisfied the requirements of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, allowing the Enviropig to be produced under strict confinement and control measures.

What that means is that the federal government has determined that the pigs are not toxic to the environment. They are also convinced that the pigs do not pose any other threats to the environment — such as what might happen if the pigs escaped their quarters at the university and integrated themselves into other pig populations. (April here: so what happened to studies on human health? Why do they always miss that?)

GM Pigs: what can you do?

by April Reeves, March 1, 2010

The “Enviropig” (trademarked) is about to debut onto your dinner plate for 2010. This pig has been genetically altered so that it’s poop contains less phosphorus. Factory farming has given way to increases in phosphorus production.

It was created by Guelph University and the Ontario Pork group.

Once again, zero long term testing was done.

Following along the recent swine flu pandemic (??) this GM pig could create a great deal of problems for hog producers in Canada. Given that consumers are already against GM foods by a strong majority (labeling statistics), this modified piggy could do significant damage to the entire pork industry.

All we need to do is get the message out.

Here is a list of email addresses. I would love it if you would write one really nice letter to these folks, letting them know that IF this pig makes it out of Guelph’s doors, you will stop eating pork until GM pigs are no longer used in Canada.

Just copy and paste all these email addresses into one group in your email sending application. Please don’t call it a private group: let them all see just how many emails you are sending to. That’s where the power is.

Thanks, and let’s hope this wakes someone up.

Ontario Pork, and other Canadian Provincial Hog Boards