…

“The ACB recently published a report featuring Smartstax entitled ‘The stacked gene revolution: A biosafety nightmare’. It pointed out that while the majority of commercially cultivated GM food crops contain three new genes at most, Smartstax contains eight.

The centre said that several prominent scientists at the United Nations have expressed grave concerns about the biosafety implications of this, and also the lax safety assessments carried out.”

It’s Friday and I’m not really in the mood to get all excited about this. It really is Same Shit Different Day, and I have for the moment lost hope for SA. Our politicians can’t stop filling their pockets long enough to tell Julius to STFU, so how are they going to resist Monsanto, who I’m sure will make it worth their while signing on the dotted line?

Anyways, YOU can still get worked up and go kick some ass. Here’s some stuff from the Organic Consumers Association to get you started:

(PS: I wonder what our government’s standpoint on number 3 would be, given the recent renewed interest in land redistribution and giving land to small scale PDA farmers?)

10 Things Monsanto Does Not Want You to Know

What’s wrong with Genetic Engineering?
Genetic engineering is a radical technology that breaks down genetic barriers between humans, plants and animals. Once released, these genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can easily spread and interbreed with other organisms, and they are virtually impossible to recall back to the laboratory. Monsanto provides roughly 90% of GMO seeds in the world. These seeds have been genetically modified to produce their own pesticide or survive repeated spraying of their toxic herbicide Roundup. Monsanto’s GMOs are not designed to increase yields to feed the world, but rather to increase Monsanto’s profits by increasing the use of chemicals such as Roundup and selling their highpriced patented seeds which farmers must buy every year. Due to the enormous political clout of Monsanto, the American public is being denied the right to know whether their foods are genetically engineered or not. Following is a list of 10 facts about Monsanto and GMOs, and how they can adversely affect your health, local farmers, and the planet.

1 No GMO Labeling Laws in the US
Foods containing GMOs don’t have to be labeled in the US. Monsanto has fought hard to prevent labeling laws. This is alarming, since approximately 70% of processed foods in the US now contain GMO ingredients. The European Union, Japan, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and many other nations now require mandatory GMO labeling.

2 Lack of Adequate Safety Testing
In May 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle announced the FDA’s anticonsumer right-to-know policy which stated that GMO foods need not be labeled nor safety-tested. Meanwhile, prominent scientists such as Arpad Pusztai and Gilles-Eric Seralini have publicized alarming research revealing severe damage to animals fed GMO foods.

3 Monsanto Puts Small Farmers out of Business
Percy Schmeiser is a Canadian farmer whose canola fields were contaminated with Monsanto’s Round-Up Ready Canola by pollen from a nearby GMO farm. Monsanto successfully argued in a lawsuit that Schmeiser violated their patent rights, and forced Schmeiser to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. This type of biotech bullying is happening all over North America.

4 Monsanto Products Pollute the Developing World
Monsanto’s deadly legacy includes the production of Agent Orange and DDT. Now massive aerial spraying of Roundup in Columbia is being used by the US and the Colombian government as a counter-insurgency tactic, contaminating food crops and poisoning villagers.

5 Monsanto Blocking Government Regulations
A revolving door exists between Monsanto and US regulatory and judicial bodies making key decisions. Justice Clarence Thomas, a former Monsanto lawyer, was the one who wrote the majority opinion on a key Monsanto case. Michael Taylor once worked for the FDA, later represented Monsanto as a lawyer, then returned as the FDA’s Deputy
Commissioner for Policy when rBGH was granted approval.

6 Monsanto Guilty of False Advertising
France’s highest court ruled in 2009 that Monsanto had lied about the safety of its weed killer Roundup. The court confirmed an earlier judgment that Monsanto had falsely advertised its herbicide as “biodegradable”.

7 Consumers Reject Bovine Growth Hormone
In the wake of mass consumer pressure, major retailers such as Safeway, Publix, Wal-Mart, and Kroger banned store brand milk products containing Monsanto’s controversial genetically engineered hormone rBGH. Starbucks, under pressure from the OCA and our allies, has likewise banned rBGH milk.

8 GMO Crops Do Not Increase Yields
A major UN/World Bank-sponsored report compiled by 400 scientists and endorsed by 58 countries concluded that GM crops have little to offer to the challenges of poverty, hunger, and climate change. Better alternatives are available, and the report championed organic farming as the sustainable way forward for developing countries.

9 Monsanto Controls US Soy Market
In 1996, when Monsanto began selling Roundup Ready soybeans, only 2% of soybeans in the US contained their patented gene. By 2008, over 90% of soybeans in the US contained Monsanto’s gene.

10 GMO Foods May Lead to Food Allergies
In March 1999, UK researchers at the York Laboratory were alarmed to discover that reactions to soy had skyrocketed by 50% over the previous year. Genetically modified soy had recently entered the UK from US imports and the soy used in the study was largely GM.
 

Old Julia is at it again. On IOL this morning: “Why should athletics in South Africa suffer because they (Nedbank) hate an individual? They mustn’t use Chuene as an excuse.We must expose their real agenda: and that is that Nedbank is disappointed because medals were won by three Africans.”

Who’d have thought he has space for yet another foot in his mouth?
I missed this one before - he puts his foot in it by saying Caster is ugly:

Milking it:
Only after a public outcry, Nestle decided they will not be doing business with Mugabe anymore. See the IOL article here, and from this BBC article (via email, fanks mom) it seems they will be sidestepping the issue by buying from the Zim government. Of course the Zim government will NEVER buy from Mugabe…..

Just another case of a big corporation doing as they please until they get caught out.

About the birds & bees:
via OCA:
“Imidacloprid, marketed as Merit by the original manufacturer Bayer, is well documented for its toxicity to bees, as well as birds, worms and aquatic life. Many beekeepers, environmentalists and scientists — though not all — feel that imidacloprid is the root cause of colony collapse disorder (CCD) of bees.

France has long-since banned most applications of imidacloprid ever since the synthetic nicotine compound was blamed for wiping out its bee-keeping industry during the 1990s. The Bayer Corporation reportedly paid French beekeepers $70 million to rebuild the beekeeping industry, but as recently as Sept. 15 a representative of Bayer claimed to the Boston Globe that imidacloprid has “no connection whatsoever” to colony collapse disorder. Widespread evidence and common sense suggest otherwise.”

Yes, and smoking does not cause cancer, ’cause the doctor also smokes it.

If you can’t measure it…..
Check out how much pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers your are saving when buying organic with this online calculator.

He told farmers in Delmas during a farmers’ day that the market for GM-free maize was dwindling – only 750 000 tons of GM-free maize were required at present, relatively similar to last year’s numbers.”

Full article here.

That’s even worse than I thought….

Demand action!!. Insist on proper labeling, detailing harmful additives such as MSG, and clearly indicates whether the product is genetically modified or not.

“The study brings to light ‘a significant underestimation of the initial signs of diseases like cancer and diseases of the hormonal, immune, nervous and reproductive systems, among others. We demand the systematic publication of the results of these tests, which we could only obtain on a case by case basis by taking legal action.’

‘Agricultural GM companies and evaluation committees systematically overlook the side effects of GMOs and pesticides. This is clearly illustrated by the EFSA and the US FDA, which evaluated the controversial GM maize varieties MON 863 and MON 810,’ “

Read the full article here.

My issue is that these facts are purposely hidden from the public by the producers. If there are people happy to use these products, fine, let them do it, but I want the choice NOT to. I don’t want to be fooled into eating this crap by false advertising and / or labelling.

As they say: “You are what you eat.” – why risk it? 

(Shrivelled Homunculus 01 by ~timmolloy on deviant ART)

Some snippets from the site:
“Atrazine, a pesticide, is found in 71% of US drinking water. Banned in Europe,, atrazine disrupts hormone systems.”

“How much is too much?”
“Pesticide regulations in the U.S. are well behind much of the rest of the industrialized world. This is mostly because agrichemical corporations like Monsanto have too much influence in Washington
….
Atrazine, a suspected endocrine disruptor recently banned in Europe, is the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S.”

To give you an idea of the levels of toxins and known harmfull substances we’re exposed to, I checked out lettuce, every dieters staple and a “safe, healthy” food right? Think again:

So next time you’re out shopping – check out the labels, choose organic. Help save the world, live longer, live healthier - all in one go.

The American Academy Of Environmental Medicine Calls For Immediate Moratorium On Genetically Modified Foods
“Citing several animal studies, the AAEM concludes “there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects” and that “GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health.”

Now you may comfort yourself that that is a USofA based article. Think again. Our most precious guwwamunt has already allowed GM maize crops – the same sort that’s banned in the EU, to be grown here. It’s late, I’m tired, and you know google. Go educate yourself – here’s a starting point.

And check out the site & buy the DVD

an eye opener – trust me. Papa USA and the sisters Big Corporations don’t give a sh!t. It’s profit margins first, settle class action later outside court, if at all.