GMO NEWS AROUND THE GLOBE 10-3-2014

California Ban on Genetically Engineered Salmon Expands Protections, but ...

eNews Park Forest

- ‎16 hours ago‎

“California has taken an important step to protect its native salmon and trout stocks. Genetically engineered salmon pose a serious risk to our waterways and our native fish populations,” said Rebecca Spector, West Coast Director of CFS.

Center for Research on Globalization

China Rejects US Hay Exports Due to Genetically Modified Alfalfa Contamination Center for Research on Globalization  - ‎38 minutes ago‎ The Chinese used to be quite confident that their hay was GMO free, but all that is about to change. Hay exported to the country from the U.S.

Japan, South Korea can stop GMO testing -wheat group official

Reuters

- ‎18 hours ago‎

The unapproved wheat was also found this summer in Montana, growing in a research plot where field trials of the GMO wheat were conducted from 2000 to 2003.

Forex Magnates

Exclusive: GMO Click Officially Sets-up Shop in London under FCA Authorisation Forex Magnates  - ‎2 hours ago‎ Japanese origin FX broker, GMO CLICK Securities (GMO), has been granted authorisation under the homage of Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

GMO Appears to be Isolated Incident

RFD-TV

- ‎Oct 2, 2014‎

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RFD-TV) The USDA and Monsanto both say the discovery of a strain of GMO wheat in a research plot appears to be an isolated incident.

Statesman Journal

Donor(s) behind $3.6 million contribution unknown

Statesman Journal

- ‎20 hours ago‎

If Oregonians pass Measure 92 this November, food companies would need to include the words "Genetically Engineered" on the packaging of foods produced with GMO ingredients starting in 2016. Raw food, like apples or potatoes, that aren't usually ...

Newsweek

Can GMOs Save Our Oranges?

Newsweek

- ‎Oct 2, 2014‎

GMOs are despised for a number of reasons. Some are factually based (increasing pesticide resistance in GMOs does indeed increase pesticide use); others are just phobic (a piece of corn with fish genes in it won't taste like fish).

Care2.com

Monsanto Announces 'Global Center' for Developing GMO Corn

Care2.com

- ‎20 hours ago‎

Monsanto announced this week that it is opening a new facility in Mexico to research and develop new genetically modified versions of corn.

GMO ROUND-UP - ITEMS IN THE NEWS

International Business Times

Median GMO labeling would cost consumers $2.30 per year: New pro-Measure ...

The Oregonian - OregonLive.com

- ‎19 hours ago‎

Scott Bates, co-sponsor of Oregon's Measure 92, the GMO labeling initiative, addressed a pro-labeling rally in Salem recently.

Grist

Here are 4 problems that GMO labeling won't solve

Grist

- ‎14 hours ago‎

This election season, there are initiatives on the ballot in Colorado and Oregon to label foods made with the help of genetic engineering, and there are legislative efforts to do the same in dozens of other states.

KUNC

No Matter How Colorado Votes, GMO Labeling Debate Far From Finished KUNC  - ‎Oct 1, 2014‎ Voters in Colorado will decide whether or not they want the state to require labels on foods containing genetically modified ingredients, or GMOs. The 2014 ballot measure highlights a much larger national conversation about the safety and prevalence of ...

GMO Appears to be Isolated Incident RFD-TV  - ‎57 minutes ago‎ NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RFD-TV) The USDA and Monsanto both say the discovery of a strain of GMO wheat in a research plot appears to be an isolated incident.

Mountain Xpress

Preserving our place on the planet: A food-community discussion on GMO and ... Mountain Xpress  - ‎19 hours ago‎ To that, Seifert offered this: “It is they, the giant multinational corporations, determining what kind of seeds [farmers] will grow, and this started before GMO, it started with hybridization of crops and the conglomeration of seed companies from ...

Zimbabweans feasting on GMOs

NewsDay

- ‎11 hours ago‎

DESPITE the government's seemingly hard stance on the consumption of genetically modified foods (GMOs), Zimbabweans continue to consume them as the country's agro-based industries are performing way below par, an economist has said.

Opinion: Vancouver limited in banning GMOs Vancouver Courier  - ‎14 hours ago‎ As a food policy nerd, I'm delighted to see the issue of genetically engineered foods, or GMOs, making its way onto the platforms of both the Vancouver Greens and COPE.

Map shows where GMOs are planted in Costa Rica

Inside Costa Rica

- ‎22 hours ago‎

October 1st, 2014 (La Voz) The majority of farms using genetically modified cotton, corn and soy seeds, also known as GMOs, are located in Guanacaste, in the areas around Cañas, Las Juntas and Liberia, according to a map produced by the State ...

Monsanto gift to nature center prompts charge of 'greenwashing'

TheDay.com

- ‎11 hours ago‎

But they worry that Monsanto is using the nature center to make the company look better on environmental issues than it actually is - which is a hallmark of greenwashing, employed most infamously by British Petroleum after the Deepwater Horizon oil ...

Monsanto science education grant applications available

Maui News

- ‎8 hours ago‎

Monsanto science education grant applications available. Mon, October 6, 2014. Applications are now being accepted for the Monsanto Hawaii Science Education Fund. This grant program is open to public schools serving students at the intermediate school, ...

Monsanto Company Sets Webcast and Analyst/Media Call for Fourth Quarter ...

MarketWatch

- ‎17 hours ago‎

ST. LOUIS, Oct 01, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Monsanto Company MON, -1.54% announced it will issue the company's financial results for its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter and full year on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014, prior to market open.

PROPOSED 2,4-D GMO PESTICIDE-RESISTANT CROPS - REQUIRE 13 TIMES MORE SPRAYING - LA TIMES: NO!

Editorial

Escalating the weed wars

A new generation of herbicide-resistant crops is wending its way through the federal approval process. (Charlie Neibergall / AP)

By The Times Editorial Board contact the reporter

OpinionEditorialsU.S. Department of AgricultureEnvironmental Politics

The way to deal with so-called superweeds isn't by escalating the arms race against them

Monsanto is developing a new generation of herbicide-resistant crops able to withstand a third weed killer.

When crops were first introduced that had been engineered to withstand the herbicide glyphosate — better known by the trade name Roundup — the agricultural industry said it would confer a terrific environmental advantage. Glyphosate is a relatively benign herbicide, after all, and the industry claimed it would be able to use less of it to get rid of weeds, without harming the corn or soy.

Just as the nation must stop overusing antibiotics if it hopes to slow the emergence of resistant infections, it must do the same with herbicides and genetically modified crops. -  

At first, farmers did spray less glyphosate. But resistant versions of the weeds soon cropped up. That meant heavier, repeated spraying, which in turn meant more resistant weeds.
No problem, agribusiness said. We'll just make new crops genetically engineered to resist other herbicides.
But that's not a solution. Just as the nation must stop overusing antibiotics if it hopes to slow the emergence of resistant infections, it must do the same with herbicides and genetically modified crops. The way to deal with so-called superweeds isn't by escalating the arms race against them.

lRelated

Opinion L.A.

A new generation of herbicide-resistant crops is wending its way through the federal approval process. A division of Dow Chemical recently won the approval of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for corn and soy that have been bioengineered to withstand spraying with both glyphosate and 2,4-D, a more toxic weed-killer that some critics say is dangerous to the environment and to people. Why both? About 18 weeds have developed resistance to 2,4-D over the more than 50 years it has been in use. So the idea is to use both herbicides, with each one eradicating the weeds that the other one can't.

Editorial

But first, the Environmental Protection Agency would have to approve the special blending of the two herbicides developed by Dow. Called Enlist Duo, the mix has been formulated not to drift over large areas as 2,4-D commonly does. It would thus reduce the risk of killing crops miles away. According to USDA estimates, the introduction of the new crops would mean the spraying of five to 13 times as much 2,4-D by the year 2020.
Meanwhile, Monsanto, the developer of Roundup Ready corn, is developing its own new generation of herbicide-resistant crops able to withstand a third weed killer.

• Use weed and feed on your lawn? You're using 2,4-D...
  
  

The USDA considers only whether the genetically engineered seeds represent a hazard to other crops; the EPA is responsible for overseeing the safety of herbicides used in agriculture. No agency looks at the bigger policy question of whether the nation is embarking on a potentially dangerous path toward creating ever-more-resistant weeds and spraying them and crops with larger and larger doses of stronger herbicides. That question should be answered before the country escalates the war out in the fields.

Source:  http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-gmo-food-20140930-story.html

ILLEGAL, UNAPPROVED GMO WHEAT FOUND - AGAIN: GLUTEN INTOLERANCE STILL A MYSTERY?

'Failed Policy' That Threatens Farmers: Watchdog

USDA says genetically engineered wheat discovered on Montana farm

by

Andrea Germanos, staff writer

"Coexistence between genetically engineered and non-genetically engineered crops is a failed policy that fundamentally cannot work," stated Andrew Kimbrell, executive director for Center for Food Safety. (Photo:  luke chan/flickr/cc)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday revealed that it was opening an investigation into the appearance of unapproved genetically engineered wheat in Montana.
It marks the second time the USDA is issuing notice of a discovery of rogue genetically engineered (or GMO) wheat. There is no commercially-approved GMO wheat.
According to a statement issued by the USDA, the discovery of the Roundup-resistant GMO wheat was made in July at Montana State University’s Southern Agricultural Research Center (SARC) in Huntley, Montana. That location was the site of Monsanto-led GMO wheat trials, approved by the USDA, from 2000 to 2003.
The agency stated that the GMO wheat found at the Montana site is different from the rogue GMO wheat spotted in 2013 on an 80-acre Oregon farm which was not the site of trial tests. That discovery sparked international backlash, with Japan and South Korea suspending some imports of U.S. wheat and the European Union calling for more testing of U.S. wheat. It also sparked a class action lawsuit by U.S. wheat farmers against Monsanto, charging that the GMO wheat finding caused them economic damage.
In the same announcement issued Friday, the USDA states that it is ending the investigation into the Oregon GMO wheat discovery, stating that it "appears to be an isolated incident," and that the Oregon wheat is "significantly different" from the Montana wheat.
It states that there is no evidence that there is now GMO wheat in commerce and that it is unclear how the GMO wheat ended up on the Oregon farm.
Watchdog group Center for Food Safety, however, charges that the new discovery poses a threat to farmers and should be a call to stop open-air field trials.
"Once again, USDA and the biotech industry have put farmers and the food supply at risk," Andrew Kimbrell, executive director for Center for Food Safety, said in a statement. "Coexistence between genetically engineered and non-genetically engineered crops is a failed policy that fundamentally cannot work. Genetic contamination is a serious threat to farmers across the country."
"USDA cannot keep treating these as isolated incidents; contamination is the inevitable outcome of GMO crop technology," he added. "USDA should, at a minimum, immediately place a moratorium on open-air field testing of genetically engineered crops."

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TELLPRESIDENT OBAMA: NO AGENT ORANGE 2,4-d CROPS AND NO MORE ROUNDUP CROPS!!!!! BEFORE THE EPA APPROVES THEM!

Tell President Obama to stop the new 2,4-D and Roundup crops. Click here. As you may know, the USDA made the crazy and  horrific decision to allow Agent Orange crops to be planted. These corn and soy plants produced by Dow Chemical Company are engineered to be sprayed with 2,4-D herbicide, a component of Agent Orange. Exposure to the chemical 2,4-D is linked to an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, thyroid & reproductive problems, Parkinson’s disease and neurological damage. The EPA has yet to approve crops that are tolerant to both Roundup and 2,4-D, known as “Enlist Duo,” and Dr. Oz had the brilliant idea of using Obama's petition site to get his attention in this last ditch attempt effort to protect the population. In an unprecedented move, he announced on TV that he is starting this petition and urged Americans to sign asking Obama to block this approval. To-date, there are 48,487 signatures already and when it reaches 100,000, Obama is forced to replay. Let's make it a million! We should be outraged at this decision made by the USDA and should block these crops. Furthermore, this petition appropriately puts the President in the center of the controversy, as it is his FDA, USDA and EPA agencies that are allowing this very dangerous precedent. Ultimately he is in charge. Let’s' demand that he do the right thing. Irrespective of how you feel about Dr. Oz's positions in other areas, this is could prove to be the brilliant stroke needed to protect us all. I hope you will sign along with me. Safe Eating Begins with Informed Eating, Jeffrey Smith and the small but mighty IRT team!