Is glyphosate a critical tool to control weeds or a cancer-causing health and an environmental menace? The U.S. and Canadian governments plan to re-evaluate the safety of glyphosate.
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Without mention of socioeconomic facts and reiterating biotech industry talking points about GMOs, last year’s workshop of Islamic scholars wholeheartedly approved of agricultural biotechnology. However, conclusions of the workshop are questionable. Is the massive honeybee die off a canary in the coal mine telling us that the pesticide treadmill, as our current state of agriculture has come to be known, is short sighted and dangerous? Lack of independent studies on the impact of transgenic crops on honeybees, independently, and in combination with other chemicals, further calls into doubt the industry’s safety claims. While massive bee die offs have been occurring for more than half a decade, the connection between colony collapse disorder and pesticides, particularly serious concern about systemic pesticides, has been downplayed by the EPA and the industry. It’s hard to imagine American agriculture without bees and, yet, we may be seeing the end of beekeeping following years of mysterious collapses of honey bee colonies in the United States and the world. Monsanto’s stronghold over seed patents was reinforced recently when an appeals court affirmed a prior ruling against a farmer, this time for buying seeds as “commodity” seeds from a local grain elevator. Report finds tremendous concentration of businesses controlling chicken production over the last 50 years. Combined with America’s insatiable hunger for chicken, this has led to tremendous waste disposal problems as well as public health concerns. Faced with another government agency’s failure to follow the laws, advocate groups had to resort to the courts yet again, making the judicial system the last stopgap for even the most sensible environmental policy. The recent lawsuit against ConAgra Foods challenges the “pure” and “100% natural” labeling on the popular line of Wesson cooking oils allegedly made with genetically modified corn and soybeans. Watch this discussion about the nature of the suit. Farmers and agricultural organizations demanded their right to be heard after Monsanto asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit challenging the company’s aggressive enforcement of genetically modified seed patents. A new army of out-of-control herbicide-resistant weeds has many farmers across agricultural states returning to the very same practices that the chemical “miracle” was supposed to eliminate. Our in depth look at the emerged battleground and solutions. The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture is meeting to “review the causes and consequences of government over-regulation of agriculture biotechnology.” Public pension fund managers are increasingly investing in commodities like farmland around the globe. Should workers’ retirement savings be invested in schemes used to displace workers in other parts of the world? Monsanto is forced to backtrack on a lawsuit alleging that two Erie area farmers saved patented seeds. We look at that and, also, the latest on Anonymous hacking attack against Monsanto Two class action suits challenge the “pure” and “100% natural” labeling of ConAgra’s line of Wesson cooking oils. Can something genetically modified be also natural and pure? Cows producing human breast milk?! Hold the laughter, this story is real. Scientists in China and Argentina genetically modified cows to produce human breast milk. Milk and cookies, anyone? We have been closely following the “ag gag” bills that are cropping up across the country criminalizing the undercover taking of farm videos and photographs. New York is the latest state to consider a bill that would impose more stringent sanctions on those revealing animal abuse than the abusers themselves. Genetically modified crops reinforce genetic homogeneity and promote large scale monocultures, they increase vulnerability of crops to climate change, pests and diseases and thus contribute to the decline in biodiversity. In the age where 75% of our plant genetic diversity has been lost, we must ask whether GMOs are doing more harm than good. Gold rush is a thing of the past. The name of the new game is “land grab”, where governments of developed nations and multinational companies are leasing or buying large tracks of land across the African continent and other countries around the world in a feverish rush to grow crops for food and bio-fuel. “Society stands on the precipice of forever being bound to transgenic agriculture and transgenic food” reads the first sentence in the amended complaint filed by farmers, environmentalist, researchers and consumer groups against Monsanto. New plaintiffs strengthen the resolve to stand up to Big M. The Future of Food conference can be neatly summed up by this timeless aphorism uttered by Mahatma Gandhi: You must be the change you want to see in the world. Let’s get to work! If approved by the FDA, a new bill introduced in California, known as The Consumers Right To Know Act, would require labeling on all genetically engineered salmon sold in California. Recently, Sec. of Agriculture Tom Vilsack compared biotechnology and sustainable agriculture to two sons, for whom he declared equal love. Read on to learn why biotech has in fact been the agency’s favorite “son.” |
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