GMO Corn Headed for US Supermarket Shelves
SustainableBusiness.com News
Genetically engineered sweet corn from Monsanto is headed for Walmart
store shelves, the first GE product to travel from farms directly to
consumer plates.
Other Monsanto GE foods have first been processed into animal feed, sugars, oils, fibers and other ingredients found in a wide variety of conventional food, says Beyond Pesticides.
Website: http://earthopensource.org/files/pdfs/GMO_Myths_and_Truth/GMO_Myths_and_Truths_1.3.pdfOther Monsanto GE foods have first been processed into animal feed, sugars, oils, fibers and other ingredients found in a wide variety of conventional food, says Beyond Pesticides.
And you won't even know it, since there is no federal labeling
requirement for GMO foods in the US. The most recent attempt at labeling
was removed from the Farm Bill in late June when Congress succumbed to corporate lobbyists.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) quietly approved Monsanto's corn
at the end of 2011. The "drought tolerant" corn is designed to be
resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide and to produce a Bt toxin that
kills insects that try to feed on the plants. The corn is being grown
in the Midwest, Northwest, Southeast and Texas.
Despite an onslaught of consumer pressure (500,000 signatures), Walmart
confirmed that it has no objection to selling the corn in a statement to
The Chicago Tribune. "After closely looking at both sides of
the debate and collaborating with a number of respected food safety
experts, we see no scientifically validated safety reasons to implement
restrictions on this product," the company told the Tribune.
While Whole Foods and Trader Joes have vowed not to sell the corn, and
food company General Mills has come out against it, Safeway, Kroger and
other grocery chains are silent on the issue.
Monsanto's corn is touted as a safer, less toxic alternative to Dow Chemical's, which uses the 2,4-D (the key ingredient in Agent Orange!), and which is also going through the approval process. Scientists say those claims are false, reports Beyond Pesticides.
For one thing, there is growing concern over increasing rates of insect
resistance to Bt crops. GE corn with Bt also negatively impacts soil
life, reducing the presence of beneficial mycorrhizal fungi that are
important for nutrient and water uptake.
GE crops also present cross-pollination risks for organic farms, and are
increasingly being connected as one of the causes of collapse of
polliinator populations, such as honey bees.
And GE crops are the subject of an ongoing dispute over patents between Monsanto and local farmers. More than 300,000 people including farmers, seed growers and agricultural organizations participated in a recent lawsuit against Monsanto. A federal judge dismissed the case in February, and the organics community has appealed (see more information below).
And GE crops are the subject of an ongoing dispute over patents between Monsanto and local farmers. More than 300,000 people including farmers, seed growers and agricultural organizations participated in a recent lawsuit against Monsanto. A federal judge dismissed the case in February, and the organics community has appealed (see more information below).
Scientists Sour on GMOs
Meanwhile, scientific evidence on the danger of GMOs is building.
"GMO Myths and Truths" concludes GMOs create toxins and allergens in foods, and encourage new strains of herbicide-resistant superweeds as more farm and communities are exposed to these chemicals.
"GMO Myths and Truths" concludes GMOs create toxins and allergens in foods, and encourage new strains of herbicide-resistant superweeds as more farm and communities are exposed to these chemicals.
Epidemiological studies have also demonstrated a link between herbicide use, and birth defects and cancer, the report finds.
Taken together, the data offers more evidence why policymakers should be
leery of using GMO for animal or human food, according to the report's
authors.
"Research studies show that genetically modified crops have harmful
effects on laboratory animals in feeding trials and on the environment
during cultivation," says one author, Dr. Michael Antoniou, an expert in
genetic engineering from Kings College London School of Medicine. "They
have increased the use of pesticides and have failed to increase
yields. Our report concludes that there are safer and more effective
alternatives to meeting the world's food needs."
The "GMO Myths and Truths" report seeks to counter the "PR machine" used
by biotech companies to discredit independent research into the effects
of GMOs.
"The GM industry is trying to change our food supply in far-reaching and
potentially dangerous ways," says Claire Robinson, research director of
Earth Open Source. "We all need to inform ourselves about what is going
on and ensure that we -- not biotechnology companies -- keep control of
our food system and crop seeds."
Farmers Renew Legal Offensive Against Monsanto
Speaking of control, The Organic Seeds Growers and Trade Association
(OSGTA) filed a brief in early July asking a US Appeals Court in
Washington, D.C., to reverse a decision that dismissed their 2011
lawsuit seeking to invalidate Monsanto's GMO seed patents and to prevent
the company from suing farmers whose crops became genetically
contaminated by air-borne seeds.
11 prominent law professors and 14 renowned organic food safety and
consumer nonprofit organizations quickly came out in support of the
farmers' appeal.
"Monsanto continues to claim that plaintiffs' concerns about being
accused of patent infringement after being contaminated by Monsanto's
transgenic seed are unsubstantiated and unjustified," says Dan Ravicher,
attorney for the nonprofit Publlic Patent Foundation, which represents
the plaintiffs in the suit. "But now two impeccable groups have joined
with plaintiffs in explaining to the Court of Appeals how real and
legitimate their concerns really are, especially since Monsanto
continues to refuse to simply promise never to sue contaminated farmers
for patent infringement."
Dozens of farmers have been driven into bankruptcy and many organic and
non-GMO farmers are now afraid to plant seeds. Every year Monsanto
investigates more than 500 farmers with “seed police,” says OGSTA. To
date, the company has brought suits against 144 farmers; 700 farmers
have been forced to settle out of court for undisclosed sums.
“We have a right to farm the way we choose,” says Maine organic seed
farmer Jim Gerritsen, president of OSGTA. “Yet Monsanto is unwilling to
control their GMO pollution and they refuse to sign a binding covenant
not-to-sue our family farmers for patent infringement should their seed
contaminate our crops. Monsanto’s publicized ‘Commitment’ promising that
they would not sue farmers was described by Monsanto’s own lawyers as
being ‘vague.’ "
Download the "GMO Myths and Truths" report:
Source: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/23944
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