News regarding the dangers of GMOs and biotech, and the advantages of organic sustainable agriculture.

Trial of Raw Milk Farmer in Wisconsin Seen as Pivotal Case for Food Rights

Now that a Wisconsin judge has rejected raw milk farmer Vernon Hershberger's religious freedom arguments to justify having a witness testify on his behalf, his trial looks likely to go forward as scheduled beginning May 20. The reason the case is so important politically is that it isn’t just about whether Hershberger has the right to distribute food privately, it is about whether all of us have this right on either end of the equation--to distribute food privately or to contract with producers to obtain food privately.

GMO Labeling Bill Introduced in Congress

The bill has some teeth. The question is whether it has legs. The Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act was introduced last Wednesday in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Glyphosate: World’s Top Weed Killer May Kill You Too According to New Study

Glyphosate is assumed to be safe for humans. As a result, it’s become the world’s best-selling herbicide. However, a groundbreaking study documents that it may actually be fueling the plague of chronic & immune diseases, including cancer and autism. This study documents the underlying systemic damage produced by glyphosate, then discusses how that damage leads to specific diseases.

At Chicken Plants, Chemicals Blamed for Health Ailments are Poised to Proliferate

When Jose Navarro landed a job as a federal poultry inspector in 2006, he moved his wife and newborn son to a rural town in Upstate New York near the processing plant, believing it was a steppingstone to a better life. Five years later, Navarro was dead. The 37-year-old’s lungs had bled out. Under new proposed rules, which could be finalized as soon as this summer, the number of chemical treatments used on the birds is also likely to increase further, according to agency documents and USDA inspectors.

Permaculture Can Help Farmers Produce More Food

Small-scale farmers produce food for 70% of the global population. Yet, they are some of the world's poorest and most food insecure people. Alternatives to conventional farming should be embraced to improve subsistence farmers' yields and to ensure adequate food production for the growing global population. The stark reality, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, is that the world needs to produce more food with fewer resources.

Canadian Government Destroys Heritage Sheep Herd and Wants to Send Farmer to Prison

A single sheep sold in 2007 died on a farm more than 1,500 miles away. It tested positive for a disease called scrapie. Scrapie is a prion disease in the same category as “mad cow” disease. However, unlike mad cow, scrapie is not transmissible to humans. Its impact on sheep farms is financial: infected sheep tend to lose wool, produce fewer lambs, and die young. The CFIA conducted live biopsies on Montana’s flock during 2011. All were negative for disease. None showed any symptoms of illness. But the CFIA said the live tests were only 88% accurate. They would need to kill the sheep and dissect their brains to know for sure whether they were ill, they said. So in the end, that's what they did, and now they are prosecuting Montana as well.

Your Tax Dollars May Buy 400,000 Tons of Sugar to Keep Prices Artificially High

The US is the world’s largest sugar producer. The US Department of Agriculture makes loans every year to processors of domestically grown sugarcane and sugar beets. Over 50% of the sugar is from GMO sugar beets. Last October, sugar processors borrowed $862 million from the USDA. The loans did little to keep sugar prices high, however: they have fallen 18% since October. Sugar processors are afraid they’ll have to default on their loans, which could result in $80 million in losses to the USDA’s price support program. USDA is considering helping them out once again—this time by buying 400,000 tons of sugar, just so they can pay back their loan!

How will GMO Salmon Impact Human Health?

Right now President Obama and bureaucrats at the Food and Drug Administration are preparing to unleash genetically engineered salmon on the market. After years of controversial regulatory review, this past week the Obama administration cleared a final hurdle for AquaBounty’s GMO salmon to be approved at any moment. The deadline for the comment period for GMO salmon is ending this Friday, April 26th, 2013. We need your help to get as many comments as possible, please make a comment and pass this on! Every voice counts!

Colony Collapse Disorder Is a Fraud: Pesticides Cause Bee Die-Offs

The term, Colony Collapse Disorder, is fraudulent, designed to direct attention from the known cause. Agribusiness, the poison manufacturers making death-producing pesticides, is the other face of Big Pharma.

Nursing Mother Handcuffed and Dragged Off to Jail for Grazing Animals in Wrong Place

Their family dinner was interrupted when some 15 law enforcement officers from Weld County showed up to handcuff and arrest Renee for an offense that had allegedly occurred several months earlier: “grazing animals in the municipal right of way.”

USDA Considering Allowing Antibiotics in Organic Tree Fruit Production

There is no debate that low level, chronic dietary exposure to antibiotics is deleterious to human health. This is especially important in light of the disproportionate intake of apples and apple products by children.

The Hidden Health Hazards of Antibiotics in Meat

David A. Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 1990 to 1997, warns that antibiotic-resistant pathogens in livestock are on the rise as a result of the fact that, in the US, antibiotics are routinely fed to livestock not only to fight infection, but to promote unhealthy (though profitable) weight gain.

“Monsanto Protection Act” Triggers a Firestorm of Protest and Public Outrage

It’s being called the straw that broke the camel’s back. Bloomberg, The New York Times, Politico—media of all political persuasions—ran searingly critical articles about the biotech rider that the Senate slipped into the Continuing Resolution despite messages pouring into Congress.

Scientists Want Assurances New GMO is Safe

The scientists’ latest concerns relate to GM plants which are being designed to make a new ribonucleic acid molecule which has the ability to silence or activate certain genes in the plant and the impacts this could have on humans, perhaps even turning off human genes.

Seeds of Dissent: How the Biotech Industry is Gagging the Science Around Genetically Modified Foods

Independent scientists whose findings contradict claims of biotech companies regularly come under attack by GM proponents.

How GMO Farming and Food Is Making Our Gut Flora UNFRIENDLY

by Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo.com 

Two studies published in the past six months reveal a disturbing finding: glyphosate-based herbicides such as Roundup® appear to suppress the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, leading to the overgrowth of extremely pathogenic bacteria.

Late last year, in an article titled Roundup Herbicide Linked to Overgrowth of Deadly Bacteria, we reported on new research indicating that glyphosate-based herbicides such […]

Michigan Attorney General Threatens Family Farm in Pastured Hog Production

Health Impact News

Here is the latest video update from Mark Baker of Bakers Green Acres Family Farm. You can read the original story we did on their situation in Michigan last year here: Michigan DNR Attacks Free-range Family Farms to Protect Pork Industry

In this latest video update, Mark shows a letter he and his attorney […]

Big Agriculture Takes Control of Congress – Gets Immunity from GMO Lawsuits

Health Impact News Editor Comments:
Since the Alliance for Natural Health published this report below, more information has been uncovered about the GMO protection rider that Food Democracy Now had labeled “The Monsanto Protection Act.” The law containing the rider was signed by President Obama late last night (March 26th). David Rogers of Politico has […]

Study: Roundup More Toxic Than Glyphosate

CRIIGEN PRESS RELEASE
THE MOST WIDELY USED HERBICIDE IN THE WORLD CONTAINS COMPOUNDS MORE TOXIC THAN DECLARED – NEW RESEARCH SHOWS
Caen, Feb. 21st, 2013 – In a new research published in the high ranked scientific journal Toxicology, Robin Mesnage, Benoît Bernay and Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini, from the University of Caen, France, have proven (from a […]

Farmers’ seed options drastically reduced in GMO-producing countries

Click Image to enlarge.
Graphic by Phil Howard, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
Full graphic click here (can zoom in).
By Ken Roseboro
The Organic and Non-GMO Report
Excerpts:
One of the claims made by proponents of genetically modified crops is that GM technology increases farmers’ seed choices. They also claim that farmers in countries that restrict GMO production have fewer […]