Roundup herbicide (glyphosate) is in our air, rain, groundwater, soil and most food in the U.S., and an increasing body of research reveals it has cancer-promoting properties. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research have recently confirmed the carcinogenic potential of Roundup herbicide using human skin cells (HaCaT ) exposed to extremely low concentrations of the world's best selling herbicide.
Joanna Shepherd-Bailey, PhD, has released a new report demonstrating how not labeling GMOs hurts the economy, makes the food industry less competitive worldwide, has a negative impact on food exports, imports, and jobs, diminishes tax revenue, and has a ripple impact on other associated industries. This is all, of course, in addition to the harm to consumers who are forced to eat an untested and potentially very dangerous food. What will happen if we don’t label GMOs? Dr. Shepherd-Bailey’s report shows that our ability to compete worldwide in agricultural products will be harmed.
Thanks to the activism of the American citizens, the controversial provision was removed from the government funding bill that was signed into law last week. The bill, which passed both the House and the Senate on October 16, was a triumph of citizen involvement. The provision, which stripped federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of potentially hazardous genetically engineered crops, is now history.
There is no scientific consensus that genetically modified foods and crops are safe, according to a statement released by an international group of over 85 scientists, academics and physicians. The statement comes in response to recent claims from the GM industry and some scientists and commentators that there is a “scientific consensus” that GM foods and crops are safe for human and animal health and the environment. The newly released statement calls such claims “misleading” and states, “The claimed consensus on GMO safety does not exist.” Decisions on the future of our food and agriculture should not be based on misleading and misrepresentative claims that a “scientific consensus” exists on GMO safety.
An Eastern Washington farmer says he has no idea how genetically engineered alfalfa started growing in his fields. "I want to protect other farmers," Peila, who farms near the town of Royal City, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday in explaining why he is coming forward to tell his story.
There are NO peer-reviewed scientific papers establishing the safety of GMO crops. There are, however, both clinical and peer-reviewed scientific papers showing the hazards of GMO crops, including harmful secondary effects. Epidemiological patterns show there’s an identical rise in over 30 human diseases alongside our increased usage of glyphosate and the increased prevalence of genetically engineered proteins in our food. Glyphosate is not “just” an herbicide. It was originally patented as a mineral chelator. It immobilizes nutrients, making them unavailable for your body. It’s also patented as a potent antibiotic that can devastate human gut bacteria. The EPA recently doubled the amount of glyphosate allowed in food. Soybean oil is now allowed to contain a whopping 4,000 times the limit at which it can impact your health.
The introduction of genetically engineered (GE) crops has corresponded with increasing monopolization of seed by biotechnology companies and higher seed costs. This has led to tragedies in some countries, while pushing out conventional, non-GE seeds and reducing farmer seed choices. Four companies now control 40 percent of the seed market, and the problem is particularly bad in the U.S. with the government subsidized corn and soybean seed markets.
Testbiotech has published a global overview of countries where there has been an uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered oilseed rape (canola). The countries include Canada, the US, Japan, Australia, and Europe. In many cases the plants have escaped far beyond the fields into the environment. In some cases, the transgenes have moved into populations of wild relatives. Furthermore, new combinations of DNA constructs have been found which were never approved for release into the environment.
Last March, what the world has been calling the “Monsanto Protection Act”, was inserted at the last minute into a “must-pass” funding bill to keep the government running through the use of a congressional tool known as a Continuing Resolution (CR). The so-called Farmer Assurance Provision—misnamed because, frankly, the only ones who are assured about anything are GMO manufacturers like Monsanto—actually strips federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of potentially hazardous genetically engineered crops while USDA is performing an environmental impact statement. It’s a huge blow to the justice system, completely overriding judicial safeguards that protect both farmers and the public. The emergency funding period (and with it, this sneak provision) ends September 30, but since Congress has been unable to pass their appropriations bills, they will try to extend the CR as another stop-gap to prevent total government shutdown. Not surprisingly, the same noxious language has already appeared in the House Appropriations CR that was nearly voted upon last week! However, because it’s so controversial and Congress is afraid of citizen backlash, that bill is still sitting in the House—just waiting for the right opportunity to be pushed through. Help us put an end to this underhanded end-run around the courts once and for all.
It was announced this past week in the in several media sources that a new plant-based egg replacement product funded by Bill Gates and Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel was being launched at some Whole Foods stores in California. The product is advertised as "GMO free", but is made mostly from canola oil. Is this really a healthy food? Why do so many health food stores and "health products" manufacturers use canola oil, and why is this product considered healthy? What power do we as consumers have to affect the choices of foods available in the market place? Read More.
