News
2012-07-20 | permalink
GMO Free Idaho (USA) protesters gather at Sen. Mike Crapo’s Boise office to demand labels
Genetically modified foods are detrimental to human health and should carry clear labeling that warns consumers, argued protesters with GMO Free Idaho, standing outside U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo's office on July 18. ”We're here to educate people on what a GMO is,” said Leslie Stoddard. ”Ninety percent of consumers, when polled, said they wanted GMOs labelled.” GMO's are genetically modified organisms, or crops with DNA that has been modified to increase yields and flourish around chemical sprays, like Monsanto's Roundup. The farm bill recently debated by the U.S. Senate included an amendment introduced by Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, which would give states the ability to require labels on foods containing GMOs. However, that amendment was defeated 73 to 26, with Sen. Crapo voting against.
Boise Weekly, USA: GMO Free Idaho protesters gather at Sen. Mike Crapo’s Boise office to demand labels2012-07-20 | permalink
Battle over genetically engineered food heading to Californian (USA) voters
A fight over genetically engineered foods has been heating up in the nation's grocery aisles. Now it's headed for the ballot box. Voters will soon decide whether to make California the first state in the country to require labels on products such as sweet corn whose genes have been altered to make them resistant to pests. Proposition 37 promises to set up a big-money battle pitting natural food businesses and activists against multinational companies including PepsiCo,Coca-Cola and Kellogg. Backers and opponents have already raised nearly $4 million combined for campaigns to sway voters, an amount that's likely to swell into the tens of millions of dollars as the November election approaches.
2012-07-19 | permalink
Dow's 2,4-D-ready corn and soy seeds in US
Every year, about half of all US farmland is planted in corn and soy. Upward of 90 percent of soy and 70 percent of corn is engineered to withstand a herbicide called glyphosate through Monsanto's Roundup Ready seed lines. And after so many years of lashing so much land with the same herbicide, glyphosate-resistant superweeds are now vexing farmers and "alarming" weed control experts throughout the Midwest. Dow's 2,4-D-ready corn and soy seeds will be engineered to withstand glyphosate and 2,4-D, so farmers can douse their fields with both herbicides. According to an analysis of USDA data by the Center for Food Safety, farmers applied 4.9 million pounds of glyphosate to soybean crops in 1994, the year before Roundup Ready seeds hit the field. By 2006 (the last year for which there is data), glyphosate use in soybeans had hit 96.7 million pounds—a nearly 20-fold increase.
2012-07-18 | permalink
EU Commission (temporarily) stops approvals for cultivation of GE crops
Recent investigations reveal that new approvals for the cultivation of genetically engineered crops in Europe in 2012 are unlikely. The Commission returned the dossiers for three maize lines to the European Food Safety Agency. [...] ”In our view, this is a first sign that the Commission acknowledges that the present risk assessment for genetically engineered crops must be improved considerably. If EFSA was honest they would admit that there isn't even any precise knowledge about the content of insecticidal Bt toxin in the plants”, says Christoph Then for Testbiotech „During the last ten years, there have been manifest problems with the independence of EFSA's GMO experts.
2012-07-18 | permalink
Stand-off looms over US plans to cut GMO crop oversight
Efforts to write benefits for biotech seed companies into U.S. legislation, including the new Farm Bill, are sparking a backlash from groups that say the multiple measures would severely limit U.S. oversight of genetically modified crops. From online petitions to face-to-face lobbying on Capitol Hill, an array of consumer and environmental organizations and individuals are ringing alarm bells over moves they say will eradicate badly needed safety checks on crops genetically modified to withstand herbicides, pests and pesticides. The measures could speed the path to market for big biotech companies like Monsanto and Dow Chemical that make billions of dollars from genetically altered corn, soybeans, cotton and other crops.
