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

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]

Codex Alimentarius - La trampa para destruir nuestra salud

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

"La Comisión del Codex Alimentarius fue creada en 1963 por la FAO y la OMS para desarrollar normas alimentarias, reglamentos y otros textos relacionados tales como códigos de prácticas bajo el Programa Conjunto FAO/OMS de Normas Alimentarias. Las materias principales de este Programa son la protección de la salud de los consumidores, asegurar unas prácticas de comercio claras y promocionar la coordinación de todas las normas alimentarias acordadas por las organizaciones gubernamentales y no gubernamentales." [más...]

[Codex Alimentarius en la Unión Europea...]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/25144791

[Codex Alimentarius en España...]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/25144668

[Referencias...]
- Normas alimentarias FAO/OMS - Codex Alimentarius
- Directiva 2002/46/CE del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo
- Real Decreto 1487/2009, BOE-A-2009-16109
- La Bóveda Global de Semillas de Svalbard, Noruega
- NWO Observer - Food Control

Stop 'Monsantosizing' Food, Seeds and Animals!

The undersigned individuals, organisations and institutions call on governments and patent offices to stop this worrying development and to revise existing patent regulations. The patent regulations in the EU, US and in many other countries, as well as the WTO Trips Agreement, urgently need to be reviewed in order to stop the monopolisation and corporate control of the world’s genetic resources. This review should lead to a regulation that guarantees the right to food and a prohibition of patents on plants and farm animals.

English...

Stoppt die 'Monsantosierung' von Lebensmitteln, Saatgut und Tieren!

Die unterzeichnenden Personen, Organisationen und Institutionen appellieren an die Regierungen und Patentämter, die bestehenden Regeln im Patentrecht zu überprüfen. Die Patentgesetze der EU, der USA und vielen anderen Regionen müssen verändert werden, um die fortschreitende Monopolisierung und die weltweite Kontrolle der genetischen Ressourcen durch wenige große internationale Konzerne zu verhindern. Durch neue Regelungen soll das Recht auf Nahrung gestärkt und Patente auf Pflanzen und landwirtschaftliche Nutztiere verboten werden.

Deutsch...

Halte à la 'Monsantonisation' des aliments, des semences et des animaux!

Les personnes, organisations et institutions soussignées en appellent aux gouvernements et aux offices de brevets à mettre le haro sur ce développement des plus inquiétants et à revoir la législation en vigueur sur les brevets. Les règlementations sur les brevets de l’UE, des USA et de nombreux autres pays devraient être revues de suite afin d’arrêter la monopolisation et la mainmise des entreprises sur les ressources génétiques mondiales. Cette révision devrait poursuivre l’objectif de garantir le droit à l’alimentation et d’interdire les brevets sur les plantes et les animaux de rente.

Français...

¡Detengamos la 'Monsantorización' de la comida, las semillas y los animales!

Las abajo firmantes personas, organizaciones e instituciones lanzan un llamamiento a los gobiernos y a las oficinas de patentes para poner coto a este desarrollo preocupante y para que se revisen las regulaciones sobre patentes existentes. Las regulaciones sobre patentes de la UE, los EE.UU. y muchos otros países, así como también los así llamados Acuerdos Trips de la OMC deben ser revisados con urgencia para poner coto a la monopolización y al control empresarial de los recursos genéticos del mundo. Esta revisión debería conducir a una regulación que garantice el derecho a la alimentación y la prohibición de patentes sobre plantas y animales de la granja.

Castellano...

Controlling Our Food

A new documentary was aired on French television.
-A documentary that Americans won’t ever see-
The gigantic bio-tech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the
agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.

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...

A Moratorium on Genetically Manipulated (GMO) Foods

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13701

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has just issued a call for an immediate moratorium on Genetically Manipulated (GMO) Foods.
In a just-released position paper on GMO foods, the AAEM states that ‘GM foods pose a serious health risk’ and calls for a moratorium on GMO foods. Citing several animal studies, the AAEM concludes ‘there is more than a casual association between GMO 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.’ The report is a devastating blow to the multibillion dollar international agribusiness industry, most especially to Monsanto Corporation, the world’s leading purveyor of GMO seeds and related herbicides.
In a press release dated May 19, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, which describes itself as ‘an international association of physicians and other professionals dedicated to addressing the clinical aspects of environmental health,’ called immediately for the following emergency measures to be taken regarding human consumption of GMO foods:
* A moratorium on GMO food; implementation of immediate long term safety testing and labelling of GMO food.
* Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community and the public to avoid GMO foods.
* Physicians to consider the role of GMO foods in their patients' disease processes.
* More independent long term scientific studies to begin gathering data to investigate the role of GMO foods on human health.
The AAEM chairperson, Dr Amy Dean notes that ‘Multiple animal studies have shown that GM foods cause damage to various organ systems in the body. With this mounting evidence, it is imperative to have a moratorium on GM foods for the safety of our patients' and the public's health.’ The President of the AAEM, Dr Jennifer Armstrong stressed that ‘Physicians are probably seeing the effects in their patients, but need to know how to ask the right questions. The most common foods in North America which are consumed that are GMO are corn, soy, canola, and cottonseed oil.’ The AAEM's position paper on Genetically Modified foods can be found at http:aaemonline.org.
The paper further states that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) technology ‘abrogates natural reproductive processes, selection occurs at the single cell level, the procedure is highly mutagenic and routinely breeches genera barriers, and the technique has only been used commercially for 10 years.’
The AAEM paper further states, ‘several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food consumption including infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis, insulin regulation, cell signalling, and protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen and gastrointestinal system.’
They add, ‘There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation as defined by Hill's Criteria in the areas of strength of association, consistency, specificity, biological gradient, and biological plausibility. The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.’

Please, read more...

Exclusive: The Monsanto Connection

http://dprogram.net/2009/04/27/exclusive-the-monsanto-connection-robert-singer/

I[Dprogram.net's Sakerfa] recently published an article “Grandmother Scores Huge Victory over Monsanto”.
The article was a magnet for controversy because I claimed the best way to fight Monsanto and HR 875 was by growing your own food and saving seeds.
[...]
1. Monsanto is one of the most powerful multi-national corporations in the world. The Global One-World Government New World Order conspiracy, of which Monsanto is a part, is aimed at controlling millions via the food they eat. “Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people,” said Henry Kissinger in 1970.
2. Monsanto uses overt and covert strategies to accomplish their goals. Monsanto is behind both sides of the battle over HR 875. They don’t leave important matters like these to chance.
3. Monsanto’s tentacles reach into every aspect of our society: government, private industry, the military, law enforcement and, of course, agriculture. Large, small, organic and non-organic farmers—and don’t forget libertarian grass roots activists—are all influenced directly and indirectly by Monsanto. The company that rose to power in the 20th century as a leading chemical giant now focuses on agriculture. In Monsanto’s world, there is no room for the family farmer. The company’s well-known corporate bullying tactics have made this clear. Just ask Percy Schmeiser, the brave Canola farmer who dared to take on Monsanto.
4. HR 875’s vague wording was intentional.
5. Family Farmers (organic and non-organic) are under attack, but not by Congresswoman DeLauro, the author of HR 875 whose husband was a political consultant to Monsanto 10 years ago.
6. The timing of HR 875 coincides with the slow food, Locavore, and urban gardening movements in the United States and, for that matter, any slow food movement anywhere in the world.
7. The E-coli and salmonella outbreaks related to spinach, tomatoes and peanuts are the work of Monsanto’s agents: Things don’t happen; they’re made to happen.
8. Healthy Family Farm owner Sharon Palmer was arrested for selling raw goat milk, and the Ohio food co-op raided Gestapo-style was obviously instigated by Monsanto agents in a move designed to intimidate urban gardeners.
Learn more...

El 'lobby' de los transgénicos controla la política alimentaria del Gobierno

·El reciente veto de Alemania a estos productos deja a España como principal defensor.
·La ministra Garmendia presidió el mayor grupo de presión nacional.
http://gnosistema.blogspot.com/2009/04/el-lobby-de-los-transgenicos-controla.html

[La ministra Garmendia]

España se ve cada vez más sola en Bruselas a la hora de defender los cultivos de alimentos transgénicos. En los últimos meses, países como Grecia, Austria o la República Checa han prohibido la plantación de este tipo de productos dentro de sus fronteras. A ellos se les unieron recientemente Francia y Alemania, que vetaron a sus agricultores el uso de la semilla del maíz de Monsanto, la empresa líder del sector, denominada MON-810, aludiendo a supuestos riesgos sanitarios y medioambientales. Pese al aluvión de prohibiciones, la Administración española continúa defendiendo al sector en Bruselas y nuestro país copa el 80% de la producción de transgénicos de Europa.

Con un Ejecutivo que ha hecho del ecologismo uno de sus pilares, esta actitud podría sorprender, pero sus detractores esgrimen un motivo más que evidente: el lobby del sector ha logrado infiltrarse en el Gobierno. Prueba de ello es que la ministra de Innovación y Ciencia, Cristina Garmendia, ostentaba el cargo de presidenta de Asebio, considerado el mayor grupo de presión de los transgénicos en España, en el mismo momento de recibir la llamada de Zapatero. Su actual jefe de gabinete, Jorge Barrero, era el secretario general.

Leer más...

Germany Bans Cultivation of GM Corn [Yes!]

·Monsanto uprooted[...HA!].
·Germany has banned the cultivation of GM corn, claiming that MON 810 is dangerous for the environment. But that argument might not stand up in court and Berlin could face fines totalling millions of euros if American multinational Monsanto decides to challenge the prohobition of its seed[but will they? Do they want the exposure? Will this be settled away from public scrutiny? Hum...]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,618913,00.html

Greenpeace activists take a sample from a Monsanto test site near Borken in North Rhine-Westphalia: The GM crop MON 810 has been banned in Germany.

The sowing season may be just around the corner, but this year German farmers will not be planting genetically modified crops: German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner announced Tuesday she was banning the cultivation of GM corn in Germany.
Under the new regulations, the cultivation of MON 810, a GM corn produced by the American biotech giant Monsanto, will be prohibited in Germany, as will the sale of its seed. Aigner told reporters Tuesday she had legitimate reasons to believe that MON 810 posed "a danger to the environment," a position which she said the Environment Ministry also supported. In taking the step, Aigner is taking advantage of a clause in EU law which allows individual countries to impose such bans[...good to know!].
"Contrary to assertions stating otherwise, my decision is not politically motivated," Aigner said, referring to reports that she had come under pressure to impose a ban from within her party, the conservative Bavaria-based Christian Social Union. She stressed that the ban should be understood as an "individual case" and not as a statement of principle regarding future policy relating to genetic engineering.

Read more...