News

2014-12-08 | permalink

The largest German poultry brand returns to GMO-Free feed

German Poultry Industry Giant Returns to GMO-Free Production

Wiesenhof, the largest German poultry producer, has announced that it will turn back to using GM-free animal feed due to consumer demand. Wiesenhof’s U-turn comes just 10 months after the German Poultry Association (ZDG) unilaterally declared that it was stopping using GM-free animal feed, following similar moves by other associations in England and Denmark. The reasons provided for the step after over a decade of GMO-free feeding were an alleged shortage of GMO-free soya, the risk of contamination, and the associated legal uncertainty. Wiesenhof confirmed on Friday that they will soon be in a position to supply GM-Free fed poultry again, as this is what is “desired by customers”.

Alexander Hissting of VLOG (Association Food without Genetic Engineering) told Spiegel; “We expect an almost complete return of the poultry meat industry to GMO -free production in the coming months.”

Wiesenhof’s decision is a direct result of pressure from the top German supermarkets. In late August the supermarkets, with a broad consensus, demanded the German Poultry Association (ZDG) to stop using GMO feed for both egg and poultry meat production, starting from January 1st 2015.

2014-12-05 | permalink

New EU GMO law leaves countries exposed to industry attacks

Brussels – At the end of a late-night round of negotiations, national governments agreed on a new EU law to provide countries the right to ban GM crops in their territory. However, the agreed text delivers less than it promises, as it prevents countries to use evidence of environmental harm to justify national bans of GM crops.

2014-12-04 | permalink

Minnesota Schools Go GMO Free

MINNESOTA SCHOOL DISTRICTS AIM TO REDUCE GMOs in SCHOOL FOOD

GMO Awareness Day will be paired with efforts to transition to non-GMO foods

November 3, 2014—(Minneapolis, MN) Five Minnesota school districts plan to raise awareness about genetically modified foods and take steps to reduce GMO content in school meals.

Schools in Hopkins, Minneapolis, Orono, Shakopee, and Westonka will celebrate GMO Awareness Day on November 5 by offering non-GMO menu options and communicating to students and families about GMOs.

Director-level staff at the five districts began meeting to discuss GMOs in April, 2014, and decided to hold a collective awareness-raising event to help engage their communities.

“We want to start conversations about the foods we serve and how our decision-making works,” says Laura Metzger, Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Westonka Public Schools.

“Our students will grow up to make their own decisions about the foods they eat, so this is an opportunity for education.”

GMOs, or “genetically modified organisms,” are plants or animals produced using a technology that merges DNA from different species to create new combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding.

Now that most corn, soy, canola, cotton, and sugar beet crops grown in the United States are genetically modified, it is estimated that up to 80 percent of processed foods in U.S. supermarkets contain GMOs.

2014-12-03 | permalink

United Nations: The world agricultural needs can be met with localized organic farms

United Nations Calls for an End to Industrialized Farming

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In 2013, the United Nations announced that the world's agricultural needs can be met with localized organic farms. That's right, we do not need giant monocultures that pour, spray and coat our produce with massive amounts of poisons, only to create mutant pests and weeds while decimating pollinators and harming human health. Don't believe the hype: We do not need genetically modified foods "to feed the world."

From my experience, many of these - how shall we call them - "worker bees" (i.e the GMO salesmen) who work for these companies and spread this propaganda, actually believe conventional tactics are necessary to ensure food security. They've drunk the Kool-Aid and cannot envision another possibility. The changes threaten their very existence.

Organic agriculture, which has gone from a fringe movement to a multibillion industry, can produce high yields and withstand disaster and duress much better than chemical-reliant crops, according to reports coming out of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM), which held its 18th annual world congress in Istanbul this past October.

And a 30-year study from the Rodale Institute, showed that organic farm fields yielded 33 percent more in drought years compared with chemically managed ones.

In an article titled "Yes Organic Food Can Feed the world," Anna Lappe, author and educator, known for her work as an expert on food systems, writes that "organic agriculture is taking off around the world, especially where it's needed most."

2014-12-01 | permalink

Introducing GMO to farmers in Kenya would be jumping the gun

Kenya told to defer introduction of GM crops

Kenya has been asked to delay introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops and boost the use of conventional means of food production.

Sylvia Mwichuli, a director at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, said the East African nation should not be in a hurry to introduce GM crops because the current means of food production are under-utilised.

“We should fully exploit the science that we have before introducing new technologies that we cannot fully handle,” she said on Tuesday.

Mwichuli noted that Kenya’s farmers barely know innovative methods of food production available in the country, the reason why they do not use them.

“Introducing GM to them would be jumping the gun. The technology is not the panacea to food insecurity. There are many more beneficial technologies in Kenya that have not been spread to farmers. That is where we should start with,” she said.