Critical Observer

FARMERS SEE DANGER FROM GMOs; REJECT GMO SEEDS

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIVVTCGJ7EELxPEnorvLZI6Ao01zCisgLAPEGUuiWk9KSsJY01uA_-TRXHQ9BpotwmmSgwuliSXlhQogIB5S226wicqAkM8HTt16gm-g6164agHdjNYmTuA8IAmla3V-JuIU_lIYesyI/s1600/00000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIVVTCGJ7EELxPEnorvLZI6Ao01zCisgLAPEGUuiWk9KSsJY01uA_-TRXHQ9BpotwmmSgwuliSXlhQogIB5S226wicqAkM8HTt16gm-g6164agHdjNYmTuA8IAmla3V-JuIU_lIYesyI/s640/00000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
GM crops reportedly come with increasingly high costs and few benefits, and as a result, many farmers are refusing to plant them.<br />
<br />
On its website, Monsanto – the world’s biggest producer of genetically modified organisms – claims that these realities are false. The manufacturer says that by genetically building certain traits into seeds, such as insect and herbicide tolerance, it can “help to increase yields by protecting the yield that would otherwise be lost due to insects or weeds.” Monsanto goes on to list five countries that have seen rather drastic increases in crop yields since the introduction of GM traits.<br />
<br />
But nothing is more powerful than first-hand accounts from farmers who have tried to utilize GM crops in their own fields.<br />
<br />
Illinois farmer Dan Beyers told the San Jose Mercury News last week that he abandoned GM corn and soybean seeds that had been altered to withstand glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, because planting the crops no longer made sense financially.<br />
<br />
“As they added more traits, we didn’t really see a yield advantage. And every time they added a trait, they added cost,” said Beyers, who also worries that GMO seeds could be damaging his soil.<br />
<br />
According to the Mercury News, anecdotal evidence suggests that Beyers is far from alone in his rejection of GM crops. [1]<br />
<br />
As the world begins to wake up to and worry about the impact GMOs could have on humans and the environment, non-GMO foods – especially soybeans – are in high demand. Thus, they make farmers far more money. The demand for non-GMO crops is largely driven by foreign nations like Japan and South Korea, which are constantly in the market for conventional (non-GM) soybeans.<br />
<br />
Plus, non-GM seeds are just plain cheaper because they lack the need to recoup the massive costs of research and development that are basically built into the price of GM seeds. [1]<br />
<br />
Even if profit is the cornerstone on which this change is based, it is still telling. After all, experts project over $35 billion in sales for organic, non-GMO foods in 2015. As GMO corn, soy, and other GM grain prices rise, along with the costs to grow them (associated with more pesticide and herbicide use to control super weeds, for example), farmers are looking past the GMO propaganda which promised higher yields and more cash for farmers who grew their poison crops.<br />
<br />
This phenomenon is explained clearly in “The Genetic Engineering of Food and the Failure of Science” (full text available for download here) published in The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food.<br />
<br />
Gilbert Hostetler, president of Illinois-based Prairie Hybrids commented:<br />
<br />
“Our non-GMO seed sales are significantly higher than last year.”<br />
Mac Ehrhardt, president of Minnesota-based Albert Lea Seed reports that he is selling more conventional (he describes conventional corn as non-GMO) corn seed by the end of November than he did all of last year. He says that farmers are turning to non-GMO to cut costs and to earn more money for their non-GMO yields.<br />
<br />
Farmers are also fearful of planting GM seeds in their fields because they see the damage already caused by GMOs and wearily wonder what kind of toll they might take on their businesses in the future. Glyphosate is becoming less effective as more weeds become resistant to the chemical. “Roundup isn’t cleaning up the fields the way it used to,” Beyers said.<br />
<br />
In order for a crop to be considered non-GMO, it must contain less than 1% of glyphosate.<br />
<br />
The ever-present nature of glyphosate is making it hard for non-GMO farmers to keep their crops “clean.” Sometimes glyphosate from neighboring farms finds its way onto non-GMO farmers’ crops, for example, making it hard for farmers to keep their crops separate from GMO crops. This is called GMO cross-contamination, and it’s a problem.<br />
<br />
GMO farmers have to be more cautious about where they spray herbicides, and non-GMO farmers simply have to hope that GMO farmers will be careful.<br />
<br />
This article originally appeared at Natural Society.

FARMERS SEE DANGER FROM GMOs; REJECT GMO SEEDS

GM crops reportedly come with increasingly high costs and few benefits, and as a result, many farmers are refusing to plant them. On its...

Read Article »

WHO: GMO Food Health Studies Over 90 Days Not Required

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCINO39UGYoeKTzLyMKMA1hGs9BC33tN0c3HNwHOeuFWPvuyKw2BgqAo7hOes2NgBlhtqCQouiKxWgfp2Atp0EMoDebv1bMHSmi43aDqNPxkb3G7y5JtbNt2TXO7BN3xx0v6r2toqvmx0/s1600/00000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCINO39UGYoeKTzLyMKMA1hGs9BC33tN0c3HNwHOeuFWPvuyKw2BgqAo7hOes2NgBlhtqCQouiKxWgfp2Atp0EMoDebv1bMHSmi43aDqNPxkb3G7y5JtbNt2TXO7BN3xx0v6r2toqvmx0/s640/00000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<h5 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; line-height: 1.1;">Have you ever wondered why the World Health Organization (WHO) only requires 90 days of testing on GM crops before scientists are allowed to call them ‘safe’ or ‘statistically equivalent’?</span></h5>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yeah, so have I.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now that all of the suppressed science about GM food is coming out, it makes perfect sense why an agency that has such a heavy hand in the world food supply would act as though they were conducting a real investigation of genetically modified organisms, all while shoring up information they’ve had that GM food is toxic for decades.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is the WHO’s current statement on GMOs on its website, despite the WHO IARC’s recent findings that glyphosate is ‘probably carcinogenic.’</span></div>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: none !important; line-height: 1.25; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">“G</em><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">enetically modified (GM) foods are foods derived from organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally, e.g. through the introduction of a gene from a different organism. Currently available GM foods stem mostly from plants, but in the future foods derived from GM microorganisms or GM animals are likely to be introduced on the market. Most existing genetically modified crops have been developed to improve yield, through the introduction of resistance to plant diseases or of increased tolerance of herbicides.</em></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: none !important; line-height: 1.25;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the future, genetic modification could be aimed at altering the nutrient content of food, reducing its allergenic potential, or improving the efficiency of food production systems. All GM foods should be assessed before being allowed on the market. FAO/WHO Codex guidelines exist for risk analysis of GM food.”</span></em></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Notice there is no mention whatsoever that GM foods have not been proven safe, or that their claims of giving plants resistance to disease or even increased resistance to herbicides has been found to be untrue.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In an FAQs section, the following answer is given to a commonly asked question:</span></div>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: none !important; line-height: 1.25; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">How is a safety assessment of GM food conducted?</em></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: none !important; line-height: 1.25;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The safety assessment of GM foods generally focuses on: (a) direct health effects (toxicity), (b) potential to provoke allergic reaction (allergenicity); (c) specific components thought to have nutritional or toxic properties; (d) the stability of the inserted gene; (e) nutritional effects associated with genetic modification; and (f) any unintended effects which could result from the gene insertion.”</span></em></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Notice how the requirement of only three months for testing all of these ‘unintended side effects’ is glaringly missing.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Notice how there is no mention of the fact that in a <a href="http://www.enveurope.com/content/26/1/14" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #025ab4; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">widely used study</a>, rats who dined on a 33% GM diet for their full lifetimes, typically between 30 and 36 months, became seriously ill with health problems that started showing up at – guess which month? Four.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In just four months, a trifling four weeks after the WHO’s required duration for GM testing, we can see the truth of what genetically modified food does to our health. (Begin at minute <span data-term="goog_1446675872" style="box-sizing: border-box;">3:37.)</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<center style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wA2GhOCtmBE" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden !important; width: 620px;" width="560"></iframe></span></center>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Australia’s Dr. Judy Carmen brings out this point of inadequate testing in her talk to the SHAKA movement. You can watch that video in full here.</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<center style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3D6z0HqpZWQ" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden !important; width: 620px;" width="560"></iframe></span></center>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">The WHO could have picked any arbitrary number of months to ensure that GMOs were safe, and make sure that the public wasn’t dining on food that would cause serious damage to their intestines, their livers, their reproductive organs, and their brains. But I suppose just THREE months will do just fine when </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">experimenting with the global food supply</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"> and global population.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 25.7142868041992px;">by</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 25.7142868041992px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 25.7142868041992px; text-transform: uppercase;">CHRISTINA SARICH |</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 25.7142868041992px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 25.7142868041992px; text-transform: uppercase;">AUGUST 27, 2015</span></span>

WHO: GMO Food Health Studies Over 90 Days Not Required

Have you ever wondered why the World Health Organization (WHO) only requires 90 days of testing on GM crops before scientists are allowed...

Read Article »

Germany Seeking Ban on GMO Seeds just like Scotland

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDvFeAuc91YfW22-tqSUy1e1_29kVgqdvm68ma9aavsBYzWt2oNBZDiaSR7jfqD1CHdbzBBDaO_4kGhByrVy2pBrBeDtJqVTJCwPfSc66sT5dag1DvK84kVrF_g3WezXFQS8buCC2syCU/s1600/00000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDvFeAuc91YfW22-tqSUy1e1_29kVgqdvm68ma9aavsBYzWt2oNBZDiaSR7jfqD1CHdbzBBDaO_4kGhByrVy2pBrBeDtJqVTJCwPfSc66sT5dag1DvK84kVrF_g3WezXFQS8buCC2syCU/s640/00000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Germany is taking steps to outlaw the cultivation of genetically modified crops in Europe’s biggest economy. The Agriculture Ministry plans to officially request that producers of GMOs exclude Germany when applying to sell seeds in European Union, Christian Fronczak, a spokesman for the ministry, said Tuesday. Scotland took similar measures earlier this month.<br />
<br />
“The German government is clear in that it seeks a nationwide cultivation ban,” Fronczak said by phone from Berlin. “There’s resistance from all sides, from the public to the farmers.”<br />
<br />
Germany is taking advantage of new measures allowing countries to opt out of growing gene-modified crops. Switzerland’s Syngenta AG and U.S. rival Monsanto Co. have been among the strongest proponents of the seeds, which are mostly banned in the EU because of what some say are uncertain environmental and health effects. Monsanto maintains the products are safe.<br />
<br />
The Agriculture Ministry has asked for the backing of state ministries in a letter sent in the past few days, Fronczak said. Germany gave state governments a deadline until Sept. 11 to reply. If it doesn’t hear any objections from the states, it will ask that companies exclude Germany from their applications to sell GMO seeds, Fronczak said.<br />
<br />
There is one genetically modified crop, a variety of corn designed to be pest-resistant, already grown in the EU and eight pending applications for GMO seeds, according to an April statement from the European Commission.<br />
<br />
By: Stefan Nicola of Bloomberg Business

Germany Seeking Ban on GMO Seeds just like Scotland

Germany is taking steps to outlaw the cultivation of genetically modified crops in Europe’s biggest economy. The Agriculture Ministry pla...

Read Article »