Twelve Ways to Drive GMOs and Monsanto's Roundup off the Market

[marmar]

Twelve Ways to Drive GMOs and Monsanto's Roundup off the Market

Friday, 09 January 2015 10:41
By Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association | Op-Ed


The technology of agricultural genetic engineering (GE) is the controversial practice of gene-splicing and disrupting the genetic blueprints of plants and trees in a lab, to produce patented seeds. The seeds are generally one of two types. One type, which includes Monsanto's Roundup-resistant crops, produces plants that survive the spraying of poisons, while all the other plants around them die. The other type produces a plant that manufactures its own pest-killing poison, designed to target a specific pest.

Contrary to what some in the biotech industry and the media claim, genetic engineering of plants is not the same thing as selective breeding, or hybridization. Genetic modification involves inserting foreign genetic material (DNA) into an organism. Selective breeding does not.

For two decades, Monsanto and its cohorts (Syngenta, Dow, DuPont, Bayer, and BASF) have been randomly inserting the genes of one species into a non-related species, or genetically "interfering" with the instructions of an organism's RNA—utilizing viruses, antibiotic-resistant genes and bacteria as vectors, markers and promoters—to create gene-spliced seeds and crops. Through clever marketing, they've captured the loyalty of North America's (and many other nations') chemical-intensive farmers, grain traders and Junk Food corporations. Fortunately, in the 28 member states of the European Union, where GMOs must be labeled and independently safety-tested, there are little or no GMO crops planted, and few GMO foods or food ingredients on supermarket shelves or restaurant menus.

Although Monsanto, industry scientists and corporate agribusiness claim that GMO crops and foods, and the chemicals that accompany them, are perfectly safe and therefore need no labeling or independent safety-testing, hundreds of independent scientists, that is, those not on the payroll of Monsanto or its minions, cite literally hundreds of studies showing that GMOs and their companion chemicals, such as Roundup, are extremely toxic. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/28457-twelve-ways-to-drive-gmos-and-monsanto-s-roundup-off-the-market

[Cha]

1. K&R

[djean111]

2. I believe Monsanto is going to use the TPP and TTIP and other "trade" agreements

to slither into the world markets. They will claim that any country or state that bans GMOs is hurting their profits. I believe a lot of corporations are just salivating at the thought of the TTP and TTIP and other Investor State enablers.

[Faryn Balyncd]

4. +1

[antiquie]

3. More from Hawai'i SEED - The future is seeded by the actions of today.

About GMOs

[StoneCarver]

5. I need a list.

1. Stop Congress from passing the Pompeo bill (HR #4432) in 2015, which would take away states rights to pass mandatory GMO food labeling bills, and make it legal for unscrupulous food and beverage companies to continue mislabeling GMO-tainted foods as "natural" or "all natural."

2. Stop Congress from "fast-tracking" and passing secretly negotiated "Free Trade" agreements (the TPP-Trans-Pacific Partnership, and TTIP-Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) that would weaken consumer and states rights to label and safety test GMO and factory-farmed foods.

3. Pass more state laws requiring mandatory labels on GMOs.

4. Pass more bans on GMOs, neonicotinoids and pesticides at the township, city, and county levels.

5. Support Vermont, Maui (Hawaii), Jackson and Josephine counties (Oregon) in their federal and state legal battles to uphold their laws requiring labels and/or bans on GMOs.

6. Educate the public on the dangers and cruelty of GMO-fed, factory-farmed meat, dairy and egg products, and organize a "Great Boycott" of all factory-farmed foods.

7. Support mandatory state legislation to label dairy products and chain restaurant food coming from factory farms or CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations).

8. Pressure retail natural food stores and coops to follow the lead of Whole Foods Market and the Natural Grocer to label and/or ban all GMO-derived foods, including meat and animal products and deli foods, from their stores.

9. Pressure restaurants to follow the lead of organic/grass fed restaurants and ban, or at least label, all GMO ingredients.

10. Support consumer efforts to test for Roundup/glyphosate contamination in drinking water, human urine, breast milk, and in non-GMO food products such as wheat, potatoes, oats, peas, lentils and dry beans that are currently sprayed with Roundup before harvest.

11. Educate the public on the positive health, environmental, ethical and climate-friendly (greenhouse gas sequestering) attributes of organic, grass-fed, and pasture-raised food and farming.

12. Boycott the "Traitor Brand" products of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, International Dairy Foods Association, and the Snack Food Association.

[Overseas]

6. K&R. The 12 ways are later in article. Hadn't heard of Pompeo bill before

Stop Congress from passing the Pompeo bill (HR #4432) in 2015, which would take away states rights to pass mandatory GMO food labeling bills, and make it legal for unscrupulous food and beverage companies to continue mislabeling GMO-tainted foods as "natural" or "all natural."

Opposing the TPP was another recommendation.

[PatSeg]

7. Glad I got here

before the GMO advocates who will call us all anti-science.

Thanks for posting!

[blackspade]

8. GMOs are poison to us and the earth.