loss for our side

What many of you might not know is that there is a battle… a war…. going on between environmentalists, organic farmers, cild advocates, and the like, against big agribusiness like Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland over food labeling.  

As we have talked about before, there are no requirements to state on the label that the food is made with GMO products and there is a wide range of definitions behind what “free-range” means.  The other ongoing battle is the one about “hormone free milk”.

We lost that battle yesterday, according to The Daily Green:

It’s a blow to truth-in-labeling advocates, a blow to consumers and a blow to organic farmers. It’s a win for Monsanto, the agrichemical giant that started the lawsuit, and a win for Eli Lilly, which bought Monsanto’s synthetic recombinant bovine growth hormones (known as rBST or rBGH). The use of these hormones is banned throughout most other first world nations. The labeling issue is moot in the 27-nation European Union, along with Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, since they don’t allow the use of synthetic hormones in the first place.

My opinion is that we should NOT be drinking milk in the first place, for a litany of reasons, one being the use of hormones.  However, milk seems to be a staple in the American diet that is just not going away and so in that case, I wish for it to be very clear to people what they are putting in their bodies.  Sadly, the big business has one this time.

However, if it is clearly labeled USDA Organic Certified.. please feel safe in knowing there is no added hormone.  But that is the ONLY way you can feel safe about it.

Please pass this on to parents… it is the children that will be the most affected by this!

weekend roundup

A listing of interesting articles, then I did not give expanded coverage.

GMO, article 1:
GMO Job: Will the Obama administration be the first to seriously regulate genetically modified food?, via Grist.org

On the heels of a report out of Germany, emphatically concludes that awidely used strain of GM corn appears to decrease both birthrates and the size of offspring in mice — and the problems seem to grow with each generation, Grist investigates if Obama will stop the GMO legacy. Given whom he just appointed to Secretary of Agriculture, and the fact that he has the hands of some Monsanto executives in his pockets, I am going to say: probably not.

GMO article #2:
Seeds of doubt: Rules for bioengineered crops need close monitoring

To create genetically modified crops, scientists swap the genes from one microorganism or plant to another plant, in combinations that could never occur naturally. The result might be corn immune to weedkillers; cotton that automatically fends off pests; even “pharma-plants” that are tiny, green laboratories for cultivating powerful medicines.

It’s easy to see how genetically modified crops might solve a range of ancient problems.

 

The problem is not that genetically modified crops are in some way “unnatural” — few plants are as unnatural as domesticated corn or wheat, which require intensive human effort to grow at all.

GMO article #3:
Monsanto Funds Groups to Improve Mississippi River Water

With a $5 million contribution from the St. Louis-based Monsanto corporation, The Nature Conservancy, the Iowa Soybean Association and Delta Wildlife will work with farmers to remove nutrients and sediment from agricultural runoff in the Mississippi River Basin.

“Our goal is to use science – research and data – to systematically develop and implement a suite of management techniques that help production agriculture measurably improve stewardship while maintaining or increasing profitability,” Wolf said.

another food one:
Multitasking canola: A California miracle crop?

Farmers, water managers and agriculture researchers are closely watching an experiment using canola plants to absorb the salt from soil and water. The seeds are then crushed to extract oil for blending into environmentally friendly biodiesel.

“It’s all part of what we have to try to do here to turn a profit,” said Diener, who also grows almonds, tomatoes, grapes and corn on 5,000 acres.

food, glorious food

There have been quite a few articles in recent weeks about our food supply. It is hard to write about each one and not have you feel bombarded with information, so I thought what would be best was to post links to each with blurbs about the importance of this information.

Lula’s Green Light for Monsanto Has Flooded Brazil with GMO Soya & Increased Amazon Deforestation, via Environmental News Network

Lula’s government promotes genetically-modified organisms despite social opposition.

Brazil is home to one of the world’s largest areas of genetically-modified seed cultivations with 15 million hectares in 2007. The greatest increase of these crops occurred under the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, despite growing opposition from Brazilian farmers and environmentalists.

Most of the concern centers around the reorganization of the National Biosafety Technical Commission or CTNBio, under Lula’s Administration. The group used to be a heavy critic of genetically modified agriculture, but has moved towards a favorable voice under new appointments. For example, the approval for use of MON810. Critics argued that the approval of MON810 for commercial use in Spain, Argentina and the United States, and other countries, had caused the contamination of conventional corn varieties with genetically-modified corn and led to social and economic problems. “The lack of segregation, identification and effective procedures led to the contamination of conventional varieties with transgenic varieties,” they said. These warnings were ignored by the committee.

In this same article, is the information that deforestation of the Amazon has increased by 4% due to encroaching farm exploitation. Many of the suspecting farms produce GMO soy.

All in all, Brazil has two factions; one that is strongly fighting global warming and the deforestation of the Amazon and the other that is enacting policy that encourages farming using GMO seeds. We have seen in the United States that farmers need to grow mass acreage of GMO seeds to not only counter the cost of the seeds, but also because these crops are commodity crops, which require larger volume.

It will be interesting to see how this progresses.

Food crunch opens doors to bioengineered crops, via wibw.com

Surging costs, population growth, and drought and other setbacks linked to global climate change are pressuring world food supplies, while soaring prices on the street have triggered riots and raised the number of people going hungry to more than 923 million, according to U.N. estimates.

With food demand forecast to increase by half by 2030, the incentive to use genetic engineering to boost harvests and protect precious crops from insects and other damage has never been greater.

The article goes on to discuss all the various areas where GM food is being embraced as a fix to the food crisis caused by global warming. What the article does not address is the criticism of using GM seeds for crops; primarily the affect on human health (due to the overuse of antibiotics) and the possibility of plant extinction (due to a bacteria wiping out the entire plant population). There are many other reasons why GMO is seen, by many food educators and policy makers, as a bad answer to the growing food concern. You can flip through this site to find many links, or do a simple google search.

EU approves genetically modified soybean for import, via ENN.

The European Union has authorized imports of a genetically modified (GM) soybean type for sale across its 27 national markets for the next 10 years, the European Commission said on Thursday.

Developed and marketed by Monsanto, the soybean is destined for use in food and animal feed, not for growing. It is a second-generation GM product known by its code number MON 89788 and commercially as Roundup RReady2Yield.

The reason this article is worthy of attention is because of how the soy is going to be used: animal feed. It is important to understand that animals evolved eating grasses. Like humans, they are designed to digest food that they are genetically built to eat. As an example, cows became ruminants because they are supposed to digest grass and by eating grain they become sick and require more antibiotics than necessary. In other words, when animals eat grains like corn and soy they are sick and that sickness is transferred to you when you eat them.

The EU has long fought the dominance of GM food in their society. I am curious as to what changed.

how does one say “I told you so” without sounding like a jerk?

and maybe I just don’t care….

Why eating GM food could lower your fertility, via Daily Mail, UK.

In an article published today, something I knew all along was verified: GM food affects us.

Professor Dr Jurgen Zentek, Professor for Veterinary Medicine at the University of Vienna and lead author of the study, said a GM diet effected the fertility of mice.

GM expert at Greenpeace International, Dr Jan van Aken, said: ‘Genetically Engineered food appears to be acting as a birth control agent, potentially leading to infertility.

‘If this is not reason enough to close down the whole biotech industry once and for all, I am not sure what kind of disaster we are waiting for.

‘Playing genetic roulette with our food crops is like playing Russian roulette with consumers and public health.’

In the article they state something that I think should make everyone open their ears and eyes: Most studies of GM food has been done in the Biotech industry and with mega-corporations like Monsanto. This is the one of the first, allowed, studies from an independent laboratory. I think as we see more labs providing scientifically backed research, we will start to see the truth. Remember, if the truth will effect the bottom line of a corporation, why in the world would they want you to know it?

Also, in the country, labels are not required to state whether the food you eat is GM. Therefore, farmer’s markets, organic, CSA’s, grow your own… those are the best options. Most of all, try not to eat prepackaged food. I know it is difficult but these are your children and your children’s children we are talking about.

move over HFCS, there’s a new kid in town

I don’t really think that is true. The corn industry is way to big to fall off the face of the Earth. However, there is a new sweetener making a prolific rise to the top of the food chain.

Sugar Beets. A new player on the GMO scene and currently accounts for 30% of the world’s sugar consumption.

It is genetically modified by Monsanto and requires FOUR TIMES the space of a typical cane field. And, this shouldn’t surprise you, but the EPA just changed the requirements for sugar beets, by allowing a 5000% increase in the amount of pesticide allowed to remain on the beet prior to processing. Yum… sugar pesticide! Also remember that the FDA has allowed for legislation absolutely no labeling requirements of GMO products. So, you have no idea what you might be ingesting.

This is always a nice follow-up to their mess of the whole Bisphenol A situation:

In fact, FDA took no substantive action to study the food safety risks of GM food even after it concluded that the GM supplement, L-tryptophan, was the possible cause of 37 deaths and 1,500 disabling illnesses from a rare condition known as eosinophilia myalgia syndrome.

Hershey’s and Mars (yes, Mom, your M&M’s) are slated to switch over this year, if not already.

Look for products labeled: made with sugar cane, cane juice or certified organic.

wind beneath my… seeds?

A landmark law was passed in California today that protects your food.

To give a little background… there is this company called Monsanto. The genetically engineer seeds. If you buy their seeds, you sign a contract saying that you will not harvest the seeds, of the incoming crops, for future use. Obviously, because of patent laws, the seeds, the genes, the plants are protected and deemed Monsanto property.

The company has taken that one step further. As anyone who has taken Bio 101 knows, seeds travel. They are blown by the wind, or taken by birds, or what-have-you. It is a great evolutionary feature of a seed. Well, Monsanto doesn’t think so, and they have made it a practice to sue farmer’s who have not bought the seeds, but because of seed travel they have made it onto their property. Following me so far?

Farmer’s have gotten the short end of the stick in this situation and have lost everything because Monsanto is a big company that has a lot of money and resources to sue, and sue, and sue these small farmers.

Well, in California… NOT ANYMORE!!! HAH! AB-541 passed in this state which prevents Monsanto from suing farmer’s for an event that happens naturally like speed dispersal. You can read all about it HERE.

But trust me… this is a very, VERY good thing!!

whoa…. whoa there

This is a very interesting video… Michael Pollan, my favorite food author, which you know if you visit this site frequently and the CEO of Monsanto, who you know I dislike if you visit this site frequently… sat down for a little chat about the future of food.

I think the video is well worth the viewing. And, in my opinion, the topic is very complex but VERY IMPERATIVE in understanding how food is grown, used, manipulated and the impact of all of this on our supply.

I do not know how to stress enough that, in my opinion, changing to CFL’s and reducing your use of your car are all well and good, and necessary. However, if you do not change how you eat and where that food comes from, we are in a much more dire circumstance than you can even imagine.

Please watch the video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9I1IkbcHNE]

and then also read THIS article about saving our seeds before genetic manipulation takes over and destroys our supply.