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Showing Original Post only (View all)Sorry, Monsanto: The Science Is on Our Side, Not Yours [View all]
Sorry, Monsanto: The Science Is on Our Side, Not YoursFriday, 27 March 2015 10:41
By Katherine Paul, Organic Consumers Association | Op-Ed
A few weeks ago, I spoke by phone with Cathleen Enright, executive vice president of the Biotech Industry Organization (BIO). (Long story).
During the course of our conversation, when we touched on the subject of the science behind the debate over whether or not GMOs are "safe" (me arguing that there's no scientific consensus) Enright said, "Then you must not believe in climate change, either."
I glossed over that accusation, though it struck me as odd. And random. Until less than a week later, on March 9 (2015), an article appeared in the Guardian under this headline: "The anti-GM lobby appears to be taking a page out of the Climategate playbook."
That's when I realized what I should have known. Enright's comment wasn't random at all. It's just a new twist on an old talking pointfrom an industry on the verge of crumbling under the weight of an avalanche of new credible, scientific evidence exposing not only the dangers of GMO crops and the toxic chemicals used to grow them, but the extent to which both Monsanto and U.S. government agencies like the EPA, FDA and USDA have covered up those dangers. (Side note: Turns out the authors of the Guardian piece all have ties to, surprise, the biotech industry).
Here are just a few examples of the latest reports, articles and books exposing the dangers of GMOs, Big Ag's toxic chemicals and evidence of a decades-long cover-up to keep consumers in the dark.
New study: World Health Organization declares glyphosate a human carcinogen. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) decision was reported in The Lancet Oncology, on Friday, March 20 (2015). Predictably, Monsanto went on the attack, demanding the study be retracted.......................(more)
New study: Roundup causes antibiotic resistance in bacteria. In the first study of its kind, a research lead by a team from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand says that commonly used herbicides, including the world's most used herbicide Roundup, can cause bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics. Cause for concern? You bet, when nearly 2 million people die annually from antibiotic-resistant infections.
New article: "GMO Science Deniers: Monsanto and the USDA," points out what we all learned in third-grade science (but what Monsanto and the USDA refuse to acknowledge): That plants evolve to adapt to their environment, with the stronger ones winning out. Hence the fact that over time, Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops have bred a new generation of superweeds. Yet, incredibly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) bought into Monsanto's anti-science claim that the continuous use of Roundup, over time, would not produce evolving Roundup-resistant weeds. Of course, that's exactly what's happened.
New book: Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government, and Systematically Deceived the Public, exposes how the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) disregarded the warnings of its own scientists in order to foster the biotech industry's agenda. According to author Steven Druker, the FDA broke U.S. food safety laws when the agency made a blanket presumption that GE foods qualified to be categorized "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS). And they did it in order to push GMOs into the market with no pre-market safety testing.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/29899-sorry-monsanto-the-science-is-on-our-side-not-yours
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Monsanto pays those same people MORE. We can't compete with the money in politics. Which is why
sabrina 1
Mar 2015
#96
Lack of research funding is due to funding agencies not finding a good reason to spend their money.
Buzz Clik
Mar 2015
#115
Nonsense round up ready crops are huge in America, and we were lied into accepting them.
bettyellen
Mar 2015
#5
"Maybe you can wash it down with nice tall glass of that "harmless" Roundup while you are at it."
NuclearDem
Mar 2015
#28
while your what is at it? there is a difference between your and you're (you are).
niyad
Mar 2015
#41
Anyone who knows about golden rice knows that the research is being done by a non-profit
eridani
Mar 2015
#77
Can't find any info about whether is is being widely used or not. A more important concern IMO--
eridani
Mar 2015
#144
Just tell us what is a GMO vegetable and what is not. We can do the rest. We are adults and it is
sabrina 1
Mar 2015
#99
You can't explain why the American people should be denied the right that all of Europe's citizens
sabrina 1
Mar 2015
#103
Monsanto suing a researchers for unauthorized research: You can prove that, right?
Buzz Clik
Mar 2015
#114
Predatory business practices are hardly an indication of the things you claim. n/t
Buzz Clik
Mar 2015
#56
where *did* they get their seeds, since you have to sign a contract to get proprietary seeds?
ND-Dem
Mar 2015
#63
The editors of Scientific American. Clearly they know nothing, are conspiracy-mongers, and
ND-Dem
Mar 2015
#66
You are aware that this is from 5 years ago and Monsanto changed their blanket agreement since?
FLPanhandle
Mar 2015
#68
so the hell what? cosmetic change only. it's *you* who's not improving your reputation,
ND-Dem
Mar 2015
#71
"68. You are aware that...is from 5 years ago and Monsanto changed their blanket agreement since?"
ND-Dem
Mar 2015
#105
recurring theme with 'some.' Disagree in a thread and you're a shill and 'swarming.'
wyldwolf
Mar 2015
#26
An exercise in cherry-picking, brought to you by the organic industry's most rabid lobbying group.
NuclearDem
Mar 2015
#6
Can we have a comment on ^this^ post from the eternal defenders of corporate sanctity
Zorra
Mar 2015
#54
This article reveals more about the patent illogic and unscientific reasoning of many GMO opponents
FarrenH
Mar 2015
#13
GMO ingredients are so intertwined into our food supply, it is difficult to find foods without them.
Dont call me Shirley
Mar 2015
#14
No, not brilliant. But not nearly as stupid as trying to equate e coli to the veg it's growing on.
DisgustipatedinCA
Mar 2015
#92
Organic food doesn't kill, just the e. coli from the shit used to fertilize it kills!
Major Nikon
Mar 2015
#98
It's embarrassing to DU that every report pushing anti-GMO zealotry winds up on the Greatest page
Orrex
Mar 2015
#32
In the case of GMO companies, they have veto power over research, thereby insuring there's
ND-Dem
Mar 2015
#69
So, you concede that there are no published, peer reviewed, scientific anti-GMO studies.
FLPanhandle
Mar 2015
#73
Right; except Monsanto has a lock on who can do research & what type of research can be done,
ND-Dem
Mar 2015
#78
Yes, yes. We've got your point that there is no scientific evidence for the anti-GMO postion
FLPanhandle
Mar 2015
#80
To publish the research, you have to get the seed from an approved source and sign an
ND-Dem
Mar 2015
#104
So your concern about "genes jumping species" is there for any seed development technology.
HuckleB
Mar 2015
#101
Now the city of San Diego has to sue Monsanto.. for fucking up their Bay with chemicals..
Cha
Mar 2015
#102
Watch a GMO Advocate Claim a Weed Killer Is Safe to Drink but Then Refuse to Drink It
Generic Other
Mar 2015
#143