Genetically Modified Foods and the Justice System

I found a really good article about genetically modified foods, and a possible turning tide.

This past August, a federal judge ruled that a genetically modified crop should be destroyed because of concerns over dangers posed to humans.

In August 2010 US District Judge Jeffrey White of California ruled that all of the future plantings of Monsanto’s GM beets should stop until the United States Department of Agriculture could conduct an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) that would prove the safety of the crop.
Not surprisingly, the USDA violated the ruling. They permitted Monsanto to plant the genetically modified beet crop.
Consequently Judge White ordered the crops destroyed.

This caused “the equivalent of a tantrum” on the part of Monsanto. They claimed the equivalent of the sugar beet apocalypse would occur if they were forced to destroy this crop.

To continue in this vein, the jury is still out on genetically modified (GM) foods. It has been shown that GM foods have caused organ damage in rats, which can lead to a whole host of problems, including non-hodgkins.

Monsanto documentary

There’s an interesting documentary from Germany about a Canadian farmer who’s in a legal battle with Monsanto. Neighboring farms were using Monsanto-patented seeds, some of which were carried by the wind into his crops. Now Monsanto is suing him for patent infringement.

The pink-cheeked, plainspoken Schmeiser tells how he first discovered that genetically modified canola seeds were infiltrating his crop — only to get sued by the seeds' designer, Monsanto, for patent infringement. Sounds crazy, yes, but it gets a zillion times worse: Monsanto actually won a $400,000 judgment against Schmeiser, and, when the farmer refused to give up the fight, the company sued him again, this time demanding $1 million. Schmeiser was forced to fight all the way to the Canadian Supreme Court, and even then, his victory was Pyrrhic at best: Monsanto's canola seeds have taken over North America.

It’s not available on Netflix, but there are speeches and other bits about him on youtube and vimeo. You can also get the movie off of his website.

Cancer and PCBs are in love

Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have been linked to cancer, specifically non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Check out this video where The Non-Hodgkin's Project explains this magical relationship between this poisonous group of chemicals and NHL:



The Non-Hodgkin's Project is all about exposing this link, as well as forcing Monsanto to acknowledge responsibility for this issue. According to The Non-Hodgkin's site, Monsanto "the controversial biotechnology company, manufactured 99 percent of all the PCBs produced in the United States." If you would like to sign a petition telling Monsanto just this, click here.

Goofy Rap Video with a Real Message

October is Non-Genetically Modified Organism Month, according to Natural News, and in the celebratory spirit of awareness, Natural News activist Michael Adams just released an anti-GMO music video of sorts.

"I'm really excited to be able to sing about the dangers of GMOs and help alert people to what's really in their foods," Adams said. "This is an issue that touches the lives of virtually everyone. Genetically engineered foods have invaded our food supply, and people have a right to know what that means to their health."

-Natural News

Now, I appreciate when passionate advocates embrace alternative means of reaching the public with their message. Sometimes, they can take it to far. I'll let you decide where this viral video falls on the spectrum:

Got Natural Milk?

For decades, Monsanto has been claiming that there is no difference between natural milk and milk from cows injected with their genetically engineered drug rBGH (also called rBST). When dairy farmers who refused to use Monsanto's GMO drug labeled their products as such, Monsanto would take them to court and file complaints with the FDA. For nearly two decades, Monsanto and the FDA got away with it. An Ohio court, however, decided to review the facts and after surveying 20 years of research, they're finally countering Monsanto's claims. According to GenerationGreen.org,

The court noted that scientists have found at least three significant differences that make rBGH milk inferior to natural milk:

• Milk from cows injected with rBGH has higher somatic cell counts; in other words, there’s more pus in the milk. The court notes that this can lead to milk that sours more quickly (not to mention that most people would prefer to avoid pus-filled milk).


• The use of rBGH “induces an unnatural period of milk production,” during which injected cows produce inferior milk that has lower protein and higher fat content.


• Milk from injected cows contains higher levels of a hormone called IGF-1; several studies have linked high levels of IGF-1 in blood with breast and prostate cancer, among other health hazards.

This marks a significant change in direction for US food policy. Up until now, regulatory agencies showed a willingness to accept Monsanto's false claims. In fact, there is evidence that the FDA knew about the inferiority of GMO milk, yet they never acted on it.

It took one Midwestern court to stand up to the FDA and expose the truth about GMO milk. Hopefully they're going to set the trend!

Anniston, Alabama - my heart is with you

For nearly four decades, Monsanto Company dumped toxic waste into the local environment of Anniston, Alabama. PCBs were manufactured at this plant, and found their way into local landfills and waterways.

Monsanto engaged in many cover up activities. They bought their 70-acre plant in Anniston in 1935, and documents dating back to the mid-1930s reveal that company officials were aware of the devestating health effects caused by PCBs. Then, in 1966, a biologist hired by Monsanto placed bluegill fish along a creek in Anniston. All of the fish died within 3 1/2 minutes. The descriptions of the fish's death is pretty gruesome:

"I've never seen anything like it in my life," said Mack Finley, another former Ferguson grad student, now an aquatic biologist at Austin Peay State University. "Their skin would literally slough off, like a blood blister on the bottom of your foot."

But Monsanto stayed quiet for decades, amassing an unfathomable wealth, until the official PCB ban went into effect in the late 1970s.

Today, Anniston is a ghost town. Many residents got sick with various illnesses, and some left. To date, Monsanto still has not been forced to clean up the poisonous mess it left in this small town.

This sounds like a terrible, horror movie, but its real. Now, innocent people like Lucy are suffering because of it. It's a sad day.

Monsanto made PCBs

So PCBs, the toxic group of chemicals that have been shown to cause NHL, were once manufactured by Monsanto, the world wide conglomerate that has also been responsible for a number of ethically questionable products. Before production of PCBs was banned in 1977, Monsanto not only synthesized these toxins, but dumped them in the environment and people everywhere are suffering the consequences. I found this picture online, and it pretty much sums it all up:

Image from www.environmentalgraffiti.com

Interesting study out of Sweden

Earlier today I was reading a disturbing article that talked about how the world's best selling herbicide has a "clear link" to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Here is a link to that article, Nate if you are reading this, then you should check this out.

"New Study Links Monsanto's Roundup to Cancer

PRESS RELEASE - 22 JUNE - New Study Links Monsanto's Roundup to Cancer

A recent study by eminent oncologists Dr. Lennart Hardell and Dr. Mikael Eriksson of Sweden [1], has revealed clear links between one of the world's biggest selling herbicide, glyphosate, to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer [2].
In the study published in the 15 March 1999 Journal of American Cancer Society, the researchers also maintain that exposure to glyphosate 'yielded increased risks for NHL.' They stress that with the rapidly increasing use of glyphosate since the time the study was carried out, 'glyphosate deserves further epidemiologic studies.'

Glyphosate, commonly known as Roundup, is the world's most widely used herbicide. It is estimated that for 1998, over a 112,000 tonnes of glyphosate was used world-wide. It indiscriminately kills off a wide variety of weeds after application and is primarily used to control annual and perennial plants.

71% of genetically engineered crops planted in 1998 are designed to be resistant to herbicides such as glyphosate, marketed by Monsanto as Roundup. Companies developing herbicide resistant crops are also increasing their production capacity for the herbicides such as glyphosate, and also requesting permits for higher residues of these chemicals in genetically engineered food. For example, Monsanto have already received permits for a threefold increase in herbicide residues on genetically engineered soybeans in Europe and the U.S., up from 6 parts per million (PPM) to 20 PPM."

http://www.safe2use.com/pesticidenews/roundup.htm

Scary link between PCBs and cancer

Cerro, Pharmacia named in another suit over Sauget pollution
From The Madison St. Clair Record last week:

Another Illinois resident whose relative died after being exposed to hazardous substances near Sauget has filed a lawsuit over the release of those substances.

Wanda Hurtt filed a lawsuit June 18 against Cerro Flow Products, Inc., Pharmacia Corporation, Solutia, Inc., Pfizer and Monsanto AG Products.

As a result of her exposure to the PCBs, the recently deceased Annie Pearl Able developed cancer and died, according to the complaint.

"According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, a lifetime dose of one milligram of PCBs is sufficient to cause cancer and other serious and life-threatening diseases," the suit states. "According to the World Health Organization, there is not a safe level of exposure to PCBs."

Not only are the PCBs dangerous to humans, but they also are hazardous to the environment, the suit states.

The releases began after the W.G. Krummrich Plant, which is also referred to as the Monsanto Facility in the complaint, began producing, storing and disposing PCBs at its facility, Hurtt claims.

In fact, "more PCBs were produced at the Monsanto Facility than at any other site in the United States, and perhaps even the free world," the suit states.

"To this day, one or more of the Monsanto Defendants and their consultants are actively engaged in a campaign of deception to mislead the residents and real property owners of communities adjacent to the Release Sites, including the Plaintiffs, into believing that the Substances do not present, and have never presented, any threat to the residents or to the real property of those adjacent communities," the complaint says.

Nate and Mary, if you're reading this, how scary is this?! This is just what you guys have been talking about lately.