Monsanto seems to leave its mark on every part of the food industry. This is an interesting video on milk-something that is a staple of every, average American home. Thought you'd find it interesting.
According to this film by Jeffrey Smith, it has been found that dairy products from cows treated with Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST) may sharply increase cancer risk and other diseases, especially in children. Already banned in most industrialized nations, it was approved in the US on the backs of fired whistleblowers, manipulated research, and a corporate takeover at the FDA. This film includes footage prepared for a Fox TV station—canceled after a letter from Monsanto's attorney threatened "dire consequences."
Part 1
Part 2
Have a great day,
Stephen
“Any scientist who tells you they know that GMOs are safe and not to worry about it, is either ignorant of the history of science or is deliberately lying. Nobody knows what the long-term effect will be.” – Geneticist, David Suzuki, giving the 2008 Commonwealth Lecture in London
"Monsanto, enemy of organic farmers and anti-GMO advocates alike, will likely be allowed to conduct its own environmental studies as part of a two-year USDA experiment. But there is no good that can possibly come of an experiment where the company behind nearly every genetically modified crop in our daily diets is allowed to decide whether its products are causing any environmental harm. And Monsanto isn't the only biotech company that will be permitted to police itself.
As it stands, the USDA is responsible for assessing environmental impacts of new GMO crops. The agency has been lax about this, to say the least. In 2005, the USDA gave Monsanto the go-ahead to unleash its sugar beets before preparing an Environmental Impact Statement. This decision eventually triggered a judge to rule that Monsanto sugar beet seedlings should be ripped from the ground.
Because the USDA is so bad at doing its job on time, the agency decided to see if anyone else was prepared to do its safety testing work instead. And so it looks like the USDA will at least temporarily hand over environmental impact reporting responsibilities to the biotech companies behind GMO crops. The pilot program will allow these companies to conduct their own environmental assessments of crops or outsource the work to contractors." Read the whole article.
This is important because now we have Round-Up resistant Super Weeds. What's next?
Till next time, Stephen
BTW: Click HERE for a great cartoon that is so apropos for the subject being discussed, and there's more if you follow the prompts.
"Agriculture bio-technology will find a supporter occupying he White House next year, regardless of which candidate wins the election in November." Monsanta, in-house Newsletter dated Oct. 6th, 2000.
Studies done on GMO soy beans were done at the University of Arkansas. Interesting findings. GMO fed rats had suppressed immune systems & other health challenges! A terminator gene (known as the suicide gene) is put into crops to kill them after a certain point. Result: Stop normal seed production. (The co-owner of this terminator gene patent is the United States Government.) Patented genes are not limited to food! Should food, or any life at all, be patented? Monsanto and Big Agribusiness thinks so! GMO foods that were approved for release: Zucchini, Hawaiian Papaya, Tobacco, Crook Neck Squash, Flax, Radicchio, Rice, Sugar Beet, Bovine Growth Hormone, Peppers, Carrots, 15 different kinds of fish, etc... Mexico banned the growing of GMO corn-Why?
That story is most interesting. All this information and more is told in the movie, Future of Food. It is a movie that you must watch. It is a movie that everyone needs to watch. It can be found on Netflix to watch instantly. If you don't have Netflix, you can get a free trial by clicking HERE or on the banner to the right. Be aware of what is going on. We are what we eat!
I wrote about GMO's, or Genetically Modified Organisms, back in April, and we recently got an email from a friend of ours with this information. If not promoting seeds from the corporations like Monsanto is something that you feel strongly about, read the following and visit this site. It states this...
"Tell your senators: Monsanto can't feed the world:
Last year's food riots in Haiti, India, Indonesia and elsewhere sounded the alarm bell for a painful level of global hunger that is only going to increase with a growing population and a changing climate. In a promising move, the G8 -- a group of the world's eight wealthiest nations -- has just announced a shift away from providing direct food aid to developing countries and towards helping farmers abroad produce and distribute their own food.
That's a laudable goal. But the Obama administration along with members of the U.S. Congress are using this singular moment to move their own agenda: propping up U.S. biotechnology companies like Monsanto. They hope to accomplish this by promoting genetically modified seeds and chemical inputs as tools to fight hunger through an exclusive focus on increasing crop yields. One powerful Senate committee has already passed a bill, sponsored by Senators Casey (D-PA) and Lugar (R-IN), that requires GMO technology to be part of the U.S. agricultural research agenda abroad. We need to tell them not to use our tax dollars to market Monsanto's products abroad!
Despite all the hype, GMOs have simply failed to deliver: there is no evidence that exporting this technology to the developing world will actually boost productivity. A recent analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that GMOs have had almost no impact on crop yields in the United States. Further, GMOs have little to offer drought-prone regions like Africa. Simply put: there are no drought-tolerant GMOs currently on the market. The only two GMO seed traits available -- sold by the biotechnology giants Monsanto and Bayer CropScience -- are herbicide tolerance and pest resistance for a handful of commodity crops like corn, soy and cotton. And not only are the existing seeds expensive but the use of these seeds would also tether poor farmers to the synthetic pesticides and fertilizers GMOs require.
Dedicating millions of dollars in aid money to biotechnology companies also reduces the funding available for proven agro-ecological systems and infrastructure improvements that are more appropriate for small and limited-resource producers.
Sign this petition today to tell your Senators that the path out of poverty isn't through Monsanto's doors. Ask them to oppose Casey-Lugar and any development aid bill that promotes GMO technology."Click Here to visit the site.
You may or may not agree with the political viewpoints of the site, but with regards to GMO's in general, it appears that many countries around the world refuse to use GMO seeds, nor do they want GMO food imported into their country. That is how strongly they voice their opinion on the subject.
What do they know that we don't? One country will not use GMO seeds, I understand, for at least 20 years until they know for sure that long range effects have been thoroughly studied and using them has been verified to be safe for their populace. Sounds like a good idea? What do you think? Are we playing God by splicing and changing genetic structures? Is it the Dr. Moreau syndrome of H.G. Wells' story written in 1896?
Sometimes, we just don't know what we don't know... How may it affect future generations? IF we don't know for sure, is it really worth taking that chance? Or, don't we care? Think about it...
The world is changing. What use to be a world of purity in agriculture, leaving nature to do its own thing year after year, is becoming big business. Big corporations are turning farming into money-making, agricultural-science that is tainted with Frankenstein-like tendencies.
About 30 years ago, there was a movie produced entitled Henderson Monster. It is available on NetFlix. We highly recommend it.
It was not dealing with science-fiction monsters as the title infers. Instead, it was a subtle expose' of how science, even in university labs, was big business and suggested that someday man would "own" genetic codes. Man, corporations, would have the ability to control life, manipulate life,...even own life, if you will. The year the movie was made, the first genes were patented. Fiction became non-fiction over night!
There was once the comment made: He who controls the food, controls the population. It appears to be coming to that. The above paragraph, is now reality. Big corporations, like Monsanto, do "own" the genetic codes of plant seeds. Farmers are finding, that once they start using them, they have to continue using the seeds on infinitum. Oh, and then there's the animal genes in our food-GMO's, and...well, ... that's another post. To elaborate on that at this time would probably make this post at least ten pages.---Another time.
To get back to the subject at hand--There are bills being considered in Congress that are bringing to an urgency something that we all must be informed of if the choice to eat organic foods is of importance to you. They are bills HR. 875 and S. 425 (Click on links to view bills). The bills, like many, incorporate many issues in them, but, even though lengthy, it is of vital concern to those who value their rights to live holistically.
We know first hand that not all those in congress show up for a congressional hearing on a bill or read it in its entirety. In this case, we hope they do. Take the time to read the bill yourself, and read between the lines. Under a heading described as protecting the public health and ensuring the safety of food, it creates a new "Food Safety Administration" within Health and Human Services. Oddly, it doesn't just add regulations to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) which is also under HHS. The bill applies to all manner of "Food Establishments" and "Food Production Facilities" (the following is an excerpt).
(14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation. The bill would appear to even cover some fishing boats and potentially your downtown hot dog street vendors. "Transportation" of food also could be covered.
I encourage you to peruse the bill, particularly sections 206 and 207 under title 2, and section 3 that classifies the different definitions. The definitions will explain what the 5 classifications of the food establishments are. In essence, the small time farmer may have to jump giant hoops in the testing of foods, and new types of storage, etc., since it is very broadly-based written. That is the problem. Also, all these new regulations would be very expensive to conform to, and, if that be the case, government loans would be needed, and...you know what's next as a result of that: Conformity without choice. By not conforming and following suit of the new regulations, they will be in violation leading, no doubt, to a great price to be paid. In addition, again, by the way it is written, everything points to the possibility that the small time organic farmer could be penalized for trying to adhere to their God-given right to be holistic in farming.
Refer to the above points. Call your Legislators: 1-202-224-3121. Let's preserve the small organic gardener. We need them! And, if anyone has a small organic garden in their own back yard, it might, may, could, heaven forbid, apply to you.
