Monsanto Admits Own 'Bt Cotton' Ineffective Against Pests

· Firm asks farmers to switch to its second-generation product to delay resistance further.[!!!]
· Monsanto's advice ridiculous, say scientists.
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/06/stories/2010030658401400.htm

For the first time anywhere in the world, biotech agriculture giant Monsanto has admitted that insects have developed resistance to its Bt cotton crop. Field monitoring in parts of Gujarat has discovered that the Bt crop is no longer effective against the pink bollworm pest there.
[...]
In November 2009, Monsanto's scientists detected unusual survival of the pink bollworm pest while monitoring the Bt cotton crop in Gujarat. In January and February, samples taken from the field were tested in Monsanto's laboratories. It has been confirmed that pink bollworm is now resistant to the pest-killing protein of Bt cotton in four districts — Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagarh and Rajkot.
[...]
Agricultural scientists and activists say Monsanto's advice is “ridiculous”. The Bollgard II product has no additional toxin to combat pink bollworm, says G.V. Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. It is simply that as a newer product, Bollgard II will take longer for the pest to develop resistance. Anyway, the Bt toxin is only active for 90 days, while pink bollworm is a late season pest, he adds.
Read more...

[More info...]
- Genetically Modified... Fish[!!!]
- Just Say No 2 GMO (Spa Subs)
- Transgénicos: un peligro para la salud
- Everything YOU HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous G.M. Foods
- GMO Scandal: The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans

Genetically Modified... Fish[!!!]

A 10-year effort by University of Rhode Island scientist Terry Bradley to develop transgenic rainbow trout with enhanced muscle growth has yielded fish with what have been described as six-pack abs and muscular shoulders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVx9m3ucGcY

[More info...]
- Just Say No 2 GMO (Spa Subs)
- Transgénicos: un peligro para la salud
- Everything YOU HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous G.M. Foods
- GMO Scandal: The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans

EU Approves Amflora, BASF's Genetically Optimized Starch Potato

According to 'The Chemical Company',

• BASF plans to start commercial cultivation in 2010[!!]
• Amflora will increase the competitiveness of the European starch industry[?!]

http://www.basf.com/group/pressrelease/P-10-179

Ludwigshafen , Germany – March 2, 2010 – Today the European Commission approved Amflora, BASF's genetically optimized starch potato, for commercial application in Europe. The potato can now be used for the production of industrial starch.

"After waiting for more than 13 years, we are delighted that the European Commission has approved Amflora," said Stefan Marcinowski, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. “We hope, that this decision is a milestone for further innovative products that will promote a competitive and sustainable agriculture in Europe.”

"The way is now clear for commercial cultivation of Amflora this year," said Peter Eckes, President of BASF Plant Science. "Amflora will strengthen the international position of the European potato starch industry."

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed on several occasions during the approval process that Amflora is safe for humans, animals and the environment.[!!!]
Please, read more...

Just Say No 2 GMO (Spa Subs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uspzk87E3E

[More info...]
- Transgénicos: un peligro para la salud
- Everything YOU HAVE TO KNOW about Dangerous G.M. Foods
- GMO Scandal: The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans

La debacle del arroz de Bayer en EE UU

· En 2006 la multinacional alemana Bayer AG desarrolló una modalidad de arroz transgénico no autorizado que contaminó el 30% de la cosecha estadounidense.

http://www.diagonalperiodico.net/Nuevo-articulo,9921.html

Los cultivos experimentales ya han causado estragos en otros lugares del planeta, con repercusiones a escala global. Así, en 2006 Estados Unidos vivió un episodio de crisis agrícola, cuando la empresa alemana Bayer AG, a través de su subsidiaria Bayer CropScience, desarrolló el arroz transgénico no autorizado Liberty Link, que contaminó el 30% de la cosecha estadounidense. El foco fue situado en Riceland, en el Estado de Arkansas, lugar de producción y comercialización de la tercera parte del arroz estadounidense y el más grande a nivel mundial.
Como consecuencia de esta amenaza, tanto la Unión Europea como Japón bloquearon la importación de arroz norteamericano, lo que supuso a los agricultores afectados unas pérdidas que Greenpeace estimó en 1.200 millones de dólares, derivadas de los gastos para analizar las cosechas, retirar productos, cancelar pedidos y embargar importaciones.
A todo esto se añaden las pérdidas por los daños en la imagen y la falta de confianza por parte de los consumidores. Tras el incidente, Bayer Crop- Science, que intentó evadir toda responsabilidad, alegando que la contaminación se produjo por una causa “de fuerza mayor”, fue condenada a finales de 2009 por un tribunal de EEUU al pago de dos millones de dólares en concepto de indemnización a dos campesinos de Missouri, cuyos cultivos de arroz resultaron contaminados por el cruce con la variedad transgénica Liberty Link.

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Cien campos secretos de prueba de transgénicos con la connivencia del PSOE

· Desde 2008 no se publican las actas de la Comisión Nacional de Bioseguridad informando en qué campos del Estado se cultivan Organismos Genéticamente Modificados. Empresas como Pioneer, Bayer o Monsanto tienen las puertas abiertas para experimentar.

http://www.diagonalperiodico.net/Cien-campos-secretos-de-prueba-de.html

“Tenemos constancia de que se llevan años haciendo experimentos con semillas transgénicas al aire libre sin que los Concelhos, en el caso de Galicia, los ayuntamientos o las organizaciones sociales tengan conocimiento de ello. Desde el Ministerio y la Xunta nos han ocultado información”. Así lo declaraba para DIAGONAL Charo Sánchez, agricultora y secretaria de medio ambiente del Sindicato Labrego Galego (SLG) tras descubrir informes de campos de ensayo de maíz al aire libre realizados en 2008 en los concelhos de Arteixo o Santa Uxía. “Algo que desde la Administración nos habían negado. Ha sido como un jarro de agua fría”.
La información sobre los cultivos experimentales con organismos genéticamente modificados (OGM) sigue siendo oscura y confusa. Los campos de prueba al aire libre son, normalmente, parcelas arrendadas por las multinacionales a agricultores y agricultoras para probar nuevas variedades transgénicas (maíz, patata, remolacha o algodón, entre otras). Ensayos que forman parte de los protocolos previos exigidos por la Agencia Europea de Seguridad Alimentaria para autorizar el cultivo comercial de nuevas variedades de OGM.
Un proceso por el que ya pasó el maíz MON810, el único transgénico que se cultiva comercialmente en el Estado español de manera legal, a pesar de haber levantado ampollas en la sociedad civil por sus consecuencias sociales o medioambientales. De hecho, el pasado mes de octubre, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente Rural y Marino (MARM) reconocía por primera vez la existencia de personas afectadas por contaminación de sus cultivos con maíz transgénico MON810. Un peligro que se multiplica con los campos experimentales de transgénicos, cuyo cultivo comercial está prohibido por su falta de garantías, ya que ni siquiera han pasado por un trámite previo que evalúe su seguridad.

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Transgénicos: un peligro para la salud

· Los últimos estudios de universidades francesas demuestran los efectos nocivos para la salud del maíz importado, cultivado y consumido en el Estado español.

http://www.diagonalperiodico.net/Transgenicos-un-peligro-para-la.html

Desde el inicio de la liberación de los cultivos transgénicos, ya se anticipaba que estos nuevos alimentos podrían generar problemas para la salud. Pero desde hace un tiempo tenemos ya pruebas, evidencias científicas, que demuestran que la manipulación genética de cultivos alimentarios tiene implicaciones peligrosas para la salud humana. Hace sólo unas semanas se hacía público un estudio desarrollado por científicos franceses de las Universidades de Caen y Rouen, que analiza los riesgos para la salud asociados a tres variedades distintas de maíz modificado genéticamente: MON810, MON863 y NK603.
El MON810 es el único autorizado para su cultivo en la UE, y España es prácticamente el único país europeo que lo cultiva a gran escala. Los otros dos están autorizados para su importación y para consumo humano. Los científicos utilizaron los datos en bruto que la propia multinacional Monsanto usó para conseguir la aprobación de sus maíces. Obtenidos por vía judicial, es la primera vez que estos datos son analizados por investigadores independientes. Los autores encontraron evidencias de daños en hígado o riñones, y muestras de problemas en el sistema metabólico en mamíferos. También critican la forma en la que Monsanto había analizado los datos, sin seguir los estándares científicos internacionales.
Pero hay más casos de estudios que revelan riesgos para la salud de maíces transgénicos aprobados para consumo humano. En noviembre de 2008, un estudio de la Universidad de Viena, patrocinado por el Gobierno de Austria, encontró que los ratones alimentados con un maíz transgénico, conocido como NK603xMON810 tenían menos descendencia, a consecuencia directa del consumo de este maíz. Este estudio demostró que es imposible predecir los efectos de la modificación genética en la salud.

Leer más...

GM Foods NOT Served in Monsanto Cafeteria [!!!]

http://stuffedandstarved.org/drupal/node/189

An old story seems to have sprouted up again in the food blogosphere [This post from stuffedandstarved.org, is dated 15 August, 2007!]. I'm not sure why it has resurfaced, but it's well worth reprinting. Here's the Associated Press version from 21st December, 1999.

Genetically modified food banned in Monsanto staff cafeteria

AP 21dec99
LONDON - Genetically modified food has been banned from the staff cafeteria at Monsanto Co.'s UK headquarters by the company's own caterer, GM food giant Monsanto confirmed Tuesday.
Granada Food Services, whose customers include Monsanto's High Wycombe office near London, recently told clients it would not supply food containing GM soya and GM maize due to customer concerns.
In a statement to clients, Granada said the move was designed "to ensure that you, the customer, can feel confident in the food we serve."
Genetic engineering involves splicing a single gene from one organism to another. GM products, including Monsanto's genetically engineered corn, have recently met with safety concerns in parts of Europe and Asia.
In October, the European Union adopted new marketing rules requiring companies to label food as genetically modified if more than one percent of the product contains GM organisms. Granada's statement said the ban also brings the company into compliance with the new regulations.
Monsanto played down the staff cafeteria policy, and denied it was an embarrassment to have a GM food ban at the head office of a company manufacturing GM crop seeds.
"We believe in choice. At our Cambridge restaurant the notice says some products may contain genetically modified organisms because our staff are happy to eat foods sprayed with fewer chemicals," said Tony Combes, Monsanto's director of corporate affairs.
Combes also pointed out that Granada's GM policy was a blanket ban covering all of its customers and did not target Monsanto specifically.
"It has nothing to do with us really," said Combes. Opponents of GM food said they believe the ban showed a lack of confidence in Monsanto, however.
"The public has made its concerns about GM ingredients very clear. Now it appears that even Monsanto's own catering firm has no confidence in this new technology," said Adrian Bebb, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth.

[Source: stuffedandstarved.org]

"Monsanto: Company of the Year" [!!!] - Forbes

[...by now this should come as no surprise. Forbes' reason for being is exactly this: corporate propaganda. And as such, none of the article will be reproduced in this post... the link is there, along with the authors' names... for the curious.]
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0118/americas-best-company-10-gmos-dupont-planet-versus-monsanto.html

[Hugh Grant: Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Monsanto]

Article name: "The Planet Versus Monsanto" [This implies a confrontation between 'humans' and Monsanto... pathetic]
by Robert Langreth and Matthew Herper, Forbes Magazine

[Source: www.forbes.com]

US$ 2 million verdict against Bayer for genetic contamination

http://weblog.greenpeace.org/makingwaves/archives/2009/12/us_2_million_verdict_against_b.html#more

by Brian, Greenpeace International (12.07.2009)

Contamination of normal plants by GE (genetically engineered) plants is something we’ve been shouting about for years at Greenpeace. In 2006 we released a report[below] that showed that the "accidental" release of GE rice by Bayer into the US rice supply led to global costs of between US$ 741 million and US$ 1.285 billion.
Some of those costs are now coming home to roost. A jury in the US ruled on Friday that Bayer is to pay two Missouri farmers over US $ 2 million. Not a huge amount for a multinational company, but this ruling relates to two cases amongst thousands currently pending. If the average remains US $ 1 million per farmer, Bayer could end up dishing out a nine digit figure! Although we are all rather happy here at Greenpeace that liability is landing where it belongs, it is crazy what it takes before those responsible are brought to justice:

Does our food supply have to be contaminated and millions of dollars of damage done before legislators wake up to the need to stop this stuff?

Genetically Engineered strains should simply not be released into the environment: the scientific understanding of their impacts on ecosystems and human health is inadequate, and once out there, we can't put them back in the lab. Bayer actually admitted during the trial that “[e]ven the best [containment protocols] can’t guarantee perfection” – they were always aware that contamination was possible, and even unavoidable.
This GE rice variety has never been commercially planted, and despite this, an estimated 30% of US rice stocks were contaminated. All we know is that Bayer conducted experimental field trials that were stopped in 2001, and there has been no explanation of how it occurred to this day. The next court cases begin in January with farmers from Arkansas and Mississippi – it looks like Bayer is in for a bumpy ride.

It’s time GE was assigned to the technology scrapheap and the way paved by governments and investors in agriculture for modern ecological farming.

[Source: weblog.greenpeace.org]

'Risky Business' - Greenpeace, 2006
· Economic and regulatory impacts from the unintended release of genetically engineered rice varieties into the rice merchandising system of the US.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24034898

GM Rice LL62 (Spa Subs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-BQq2aBdYo

Tell USDA: Keep Nanotech OUT of Organic!

http://truefoodnow.org/2009/10/16/usda-considers-a-ban-on-nanotech-in-organic/

USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is voting on whether nanotechnology should be banned from use in Organic products. Thanks to your overwhelming outcry in May 2009 the Board’s initial recommendation is to keep nanotech out of organic entirely. Now, we need your help again to make sure USDA holds the line! The critical vote on the Board’s final recommendation will be held in Washington D.C. on Nov 3.
Nanotechnology is contrary to Organic Principles and could further entrench industrial/chemical agriculture and industrial food as our dominant paradigm, to the detriment of public health and the environment. Tell NOSB to ensure the integrity of Organic on this issue by voting that USDA ban nanotechnology as an excluded method.

[Source: truefoodnow.org]

GMO Scandal: The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans

·Scientific Tests Must Be Approved by Industry First.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14570

by F. William Engdahl
One of the great mysteries surrounding the spread of GMO plants around the world since the first commercial crops were released in the early 1990’s in the USA and Argentina has been the absence of independent scientific studies of possible long-term effects of a diet of GMO plants on humans or even rats. Now it has come to light the real reason. The GMO agribusiness companies like Monsanto, BASF, Pioneer, Syngenta and others prohibit independent research.
An editorial in the respected American scientific monthly magazine, Scientific American, August 2009 reveals the shocking and alarming reality behind the proliferation of GMO products throughout the food chain of the planet since 1994. There are no independent scientific studies published in any reputed scientific journal in the world for one simple reason. It is impossible to independently verify that GMO crops such as Monsanto Roundup Ready Soybeans or MON8110 GMO maize perform as the company claims, or that, as the company also claims, that they have no harmful side effects because the GMO companies forbid such tests!

Please, read more...

More on Monsanto...

Monsanto spent $2 million on lobbying in Q1 2009
[From grist.org]

Monsanto dominates the global market for GMO seeds like Microsoft dominates the operating-system software market.
You don’t skirt around antitrust enforcement like that without having good friends in Washinton. And to make friends, you’ve got have guys in suits working the Hill and the agencies. La Vida Locavore’s ever-enterprising Jill Richardson got her hands on Monsanto’s first-quarter lobbying disclosure form (PDF). Turns out, the GMO-seed giant spent $2 million pushing its agenda in Washington the first three months of the year.
[...]
Monsanto’s other big legislative concern? Strengthening already-draconian patent protection for the GMO seed industry—the one it dominates like Microsoft dominate operating system software.

Read all of it...

Monsanto Planting Seeds in the White House?
[From opednews.com]

Apparently, President Obama is considering appointing Michael Taylor to head the new Food Safety Working Group. Who's Michael Taylor? From Food Politics (care of Jill Richardson):
Mr. Taylor is a lawyer who began his revolving door adventures as counsel to FDA. He then moved to King & Spalding, a private-sector law firm representing Monsanto, a leading agricultural biotechnology company. In 1991 he returned to the FDA as Deputy Commissioner for Policy, where he was part of the team that issued the agency's decidedly industry-friendly policy on food biotechnology and that approved the use of Monsanto's genetically engineered growth hormone in dairy cows.
His questionable role in these decisions led to an investigation by the federal General Accounting Office, which eventually exonerated him of all conflict-of-interest charges. In 1994, Mr. Taylor moved to USDA to become administrator of its Food Safety and Inspection Service... After another stint in private legal practice with King & Spalding, Mr. Taylor again joined Monsanto as Vice President for Public Policy in 1998.

Read more...