San Diego Biotech Event

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Feb 17, 2010 at 21:44:48 PM PST

The "titans of agribusiness" have delivered up decades of diet-related illness and unprecedented environmental destruction, not to mention a record number of hungry people (despite a simultaneous increase in the per capita amount of food produced), so why would we trust what they say now? We've had 30 years of biotech promises with little to show for it besides herbicide-tolerant and insecticide-producing traits that result in an overall increase in pesticide spraying and don't even increase crop yield. A 2008 UN/World Bank sponsored report written by over 400 scientists (the IAASTD report) found that biotech was incompatible with the needs of smallholder farmers who make up the majority of the world's hungry. Their recommendation for feeding the world was going organic, which would increase developing world crop yields by an estimated 80 percent. Yet, for some reason, even the U.S. government continues to listen only to the biotech industry and not to independent scientists who raise concerns about biotechnology.

I'd also like to rebut the idea in the article that we need a soybean with extra omega-3s. Our problem is not a lack of plants with omega-3s. Flax seed has plenty. But omega-3s are not very shelf-stable. Flax oil has to be kept in a dark bottle in the fridge and it still has a short shelf-life. THAT is why we don't get enough omega-3s in our diet. A GM soybean won't solve the problem, as any omega-3 added to a crop will make the crop less shelf-stable and thus less attractive to food manufacturers. Of course, omega-3's and shelflife are trade offs with one another that must be balanced, but there's nothing a GMO will accomplish that existing plants don't already do.

If other folks in San Diego want to submit letters to Letters at Uniontrib dot com, please CC me and I will publish them on this blog in a future post. Remember to keep your letters under 150 words and include your full name, address, and phone.

Monsanto and Microsoft Get It On For Africa

by: Miep

Wed Feb 17, 2010 at 20:23:02 PM PST

Washington, D.C. - Pioneer Hi-Bred is joining with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help scientists in Africa develop genetically engineered corn varieties that would allow poor farmers increase their yields with less fertilizer.

The aim of the project is to increase corn yields by 50 percent over the average now reached by African varieties, said Paul Schickler, president of Pioneer, a Johnston-based unit of DuPont.

The project represents the latest effort by U.S. seed giants to promote their products as being potentially beneficial to small-scale farmers in Africa, a continent with chronic food shortages but where countries have been reluctant to permit genetically modified crops.

Some Thoughts on Seeds

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Feb 14, 2010 at 19:49:03 PM PST

With a few exceptions, every single plant-based food you eat comes from a seed. And the animal products you eat came from animals that ate plants that came from seeds. In fact, the only foods you eat that don't come from seeds are fungi or ferns. Those come from spores. The average American might not give a lot of thought to seeds, but seeds play a pretty big role in his or her life nonetheless. As a sustainable food activist and writer over the past several years, I've had to learn quite a bit about seeds. But it didn't really hit home until I started gardening.

This diary is cross-posted from Firedoglake.  

Mmm.. Monsanto Brand Onions

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Feb 05, 2010 at 08:07:04 AM PST

As the article notes, this is Monsanto's first attempt to brand a vegetable for consumers in the U.S. We can expect to see more in the future.  

Monsanto's Adventures in Court

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Jan 18, 2010 at 13:49:36 PM PST

Recall that Monsanto owns the Roundup Ready trait and other seed companies are only allowed to engineer it into their own seeds if they sign contracts with Monsanto. DuPont previously got a license from Monsanto to develop a line of Roundup Ready corn and soybeans. However, they've now developed a NEW line of seeds called Optimum GAT that adds a new DuPont gene along with the Monsanto genes... and Monsanto sued them over it.

The U.S. District cout in St. Louis ruled that DuPont did NOT have the right to do this, according to Monsanto's licensing agreement with DuPont. However, this decision only holds IF Monsanto's licensing agreement isn't ruled to be illegal. DuPont is challenging Monsanto's licensing agreement on antitrust grounds, saying that it represents anticompetitive behavior. In other words, Monsanto may have won Round 1 but buckle up for a long ride:

"This litigation is just beginning; we will now vigorously pursue our antitrust, license and patent fraud claims," DuPont Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas L. Sager said in a statement Saturday.

Meanwhile, Monsanto's also in court over its GM alfalfa.

GMO Corn Linked to Organ Damage

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Jan 13, 2010 at 18:19:10 PM PST

The biggest question for me is: Are the American people a population of lab rats? Apparently so. These varieties are legal in the U.S. MON810 goes by the trade name YieldGard Corn Borer and MON863 goes by the trade name YieldGard Rootworm Corn in the U.S. and Canada. NK603 sells under the name Roundup Ready corn. If I understand things right, many farmers I met in Iowa used "triple stacked" corn, which means that all 3 of these traits were engineered into the same seeds.

As of 2009, according to the USDA, 17 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. is "Bt" corn, 22 percent is "RoundUp Ready," and 46 percent has more than one trait stacked into it. Altogether, GM corn makes up 85 percent of the corn we grow. Translation: Unless you eat organic (and probably even then because of genetic pollution), congratulations! You are a lab rat! Enjoy the organ damage.

(Of course, Monsanto's already claimed that this study isn't true and that their products do not cause organ damage. I'd like to see further study happen - ASAP! And, in the meantime, how about pulling Monsanto's GM corn off the market until the science is conclusive one way or the other? I, for one, do NOT want to be a lab rat, thankyouverymuch.)

Just say no to GMO's- A rant

by: Boulder Belt

Sun Jan 10, 2010 at 09:11:33 AM PST

I have a subscription to acres USA and in this month's issue is a chilling interview with Jeffery Smith, author of Seeds of Destruction. A book that takes on the lies of the biotech industry

Here I present to you in a format that allows you to read this interview in your web browser of this interview

After reading this I have decided I can no longer eat from the industrial food stream. I am lucky in that 85% to 90% of my diet is already local and organic (i.e. GMO free) so cutting out the monthly fast food trips won't be that hard to do (though eating at unenlightened friends' homes is another issue). Also I have long been a label reader and have been aware how pervasive GMO's are in the conventional industrial food stream.

But what can you do? Start by buying more of your food from local sources. Find a farmers market or if you want to do more, join a CSA. I happen to know of one near Eaton, OH that is taking members right now-Boulder Belt Farm Share Initiative-that serves members in Dayton, Oxford, Fairfield/West Chester/Northern Cincy.

Read labels and if it has corn, coy, cotton seed or canola assume it has GMO ingredients. And learn what words mean such things are in the food. For example, lecithin means there is soy, vitamin C means corn, etc., etc.. Oh and if there are partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup (and Soda pop has both) do not eat it-this is poison they are serving us

Finally, don't be the victim-take back the responsibility from the corporations over what you put in your body. For too long we have allowed them to call the shots and they have returned the favor by serving us poisons that make us sick (but hey, that means big bucks for the drug industry), obese (big bucks for the weight loss industry) and now we are seeing that GMO's may well cause our kids to be sterile. So now is the time to stand up and just say no to GMO's

Gates Foundation = Monsanto

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 18:27:40 PM PST

Monsanto Under Fire For Anticompetitive Behavior

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 22:27:31 PM PST

This week the AP wrote up Monsanto's role in the seed industry and Monsanto responded on their blog.

Monsanto Doesn't Think Trust Busting is Necessary

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PST

Following a decade of unchecked consolidation, it is time for the Justice Department to take a hard look at potentially anticompetitive behavior.

A good place to start is with Monsanto, which is trying to block DuPont from adding its own genetic traits to Monsanto's Roundup Ready technology to produce soybeans that would be resistant to multiple pesticides. Seeds carrying Monsanto's genes can resist Roundup, the ubiquitous weedkiller. They are the dominant standard in American fields - present in 97 percent of the soybean crops and 79 percent of the corn, akin to Microsoft Windows on computers.

They conclude that "No company should dominate such an essential business."

Yesterday the New York Times printed Monsanto's response. They basically say that we must make better seeds in order to feed the world in a sustainable way, and Monsanto invests more in this than anyone else - including their competitors. Therefore, Monsanto concludes, we oughta leave them alone and let them do their thing.

That's bullshit. Monsanto has a big chunk of the market share in the seed industry. When the top 4 companies control 40% of the market, they can manipulate the market unfairly. For seeds the top 4 companies control 75% of the market. There's no question that Monsanto's size is a problem for fair competition.

Monsanto Wants to Save Our Oceans

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Nov 02, 2009 at 13:59:56 PM PST

The confirmation of GRAS status enables food companies to develop and test foods containing the new omega-3 oil, which are important steps towards consumers being able to benefit from this omega-3 product in a variety of food products with an acceptable taste experience.

As you can see on Monsanto Today, Monsanto is very pleased to give the world such a great product - one which will provide a source of omega-3s in our diet without a fishy flavor, and one which will mean we don't need to overfish the oceans in order to get enough omega-3s. I'm sorry, but that's like inflating the tires on a Hummer and saying you're doing something to help fight global warming. Let me explain.

When Monsanto and DuPont Offer to Help, Be Suspicious

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Sep 23, 2009 at 10:11:55 AM PDT

DuPont, Monsanto, ADM and John Deere realize the days of jaw-dropping profits are numbered if they don't change tactics. So under the guise of humanitarianism, these giants have come together and invited receptive politicians like Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) with the distinct strategy of furthering their aims worldwide: to these corporations, the US has been conquered by industrial agriculture (it may be worth noting that 40 million US citizens are currently food insecure) - so now they must spread what isn't working here abroad to continue to make ever larger profits.

Civil Eats also calls on people to quit following Sen. Dick Lugar off an agricultural cliff in the effort to solve world hunger (Lugar was the keynote speaker at the Global Hunger Initiative symposium this week):

Lugar has been in the Senate for over 30 years, and serves as the ranking Republican member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms, and is also a ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee. In that time, he has become the go-to person on hunger issues. Everyone in the Senate defers to Lugar on hunger, and most have been unwilling to stand up to him, even when he is making a bad decision

Rodale Institute CEO Tim LaSalle also spoke out about the event, saying "New Big Ag Push to Fight World Hunger Misses What Organic Ag Is Already Doing:"

The GHI overture appears to be geared to grab even more money, attention, research, trade and policy support for high-input dependent systems. This mission runs counter to calls from several world food study groups... who say organic and ecological production systems are the best hope for transforming the "feeding the world" challenge from simply producing more corn and soybeans on industrial farms toward growing more diverse and nutritive crops, better suited to feed the hungry poor, produced in more ecologically sound ways based on locally-available, biologically renewable resources.

Food-focused farmers already know how well biology works. Without further research, organic farms in widely varied climates and sizes are already producing highly nutritious food in sustainable ways that are reducing greenhouse gases, increasing resilience in the face of changing climatic conditions, and providing greater economic opportunity.

With a fraction of the hundreds of millions of research dollars already spent to overcome chemical agriculture's failures, agricultural researchers around the world could work on organic farming advances relevant to their bioregions. NGOs dedicated to exploring ecologically sound ways to optimize hunger-relieving livestock and crop production could adopt and teach organic techniques to help bring degraded soils into production -- a goal of the GHI's white paper -- while improving nutrition through complex crop mixes that are impossible when pesticides are used.

I've also included a U.S. Food Crisis Working Group press release about the Global Harvest Initiative, below.

Hillary and Vilsack To Promote GMOs in Africa

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Aug 04, 2009 at 15:10:15 PM PDT

Also during the high-level tour, the top US diplomat will on Wednesday afternoon visit the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) laboratories along Waiyaki Way.

She will be accompanied by US Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsack, together with U.S. Representatives Donald M. Payne and Nita M. Lowey.

"The visit will focus on KARI's contributions to Kenya's food security and agricultural development. It will include a laboratory tour, discussion with KARI staff and collaborating partners, observation of a maize research plot, and ceremonial tree-planting," according to a brief from the US embassy in Nairobi.

Here's what the USDA says about Vilsack's trip to Africa:

As part of the Obama Administration's efforts to enhance global food security, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will attend the 8th U.S.-Sub-Saharan African Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum in Nairobi, Kenya from Aug. 4-6, 2009. At the forum, Vilsack will highlight the USDA's ongoing food security efforts in Africa and other places throughout the world which is focused on building the agricultural industry in developing countries.

Here's what the press release says about his visit to KARI with Secretary Clinton:

Finally, he plans to visit the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and meet with women scientists receiving African Women in Agricultural Research and Development fellowships.

Who are those research grant winners that Vilsack is meeting with? If you scan the list, you'll notice several are involved with biotechnology. One works with the Uganda agency that is partnering with Monsanto to create drought tolerant corn.

Below I've included a press release from the U.S. Food Crisis Working Group about Clinton and Vilsack's trip and visit to KARI.

UPDATE: A few more links...  "KARI Adopts Genetically Modified Maize" and a post about pros and cons of a Kenyan biosafety bill

Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

• What happens when a cropduster gets too close to an organic farm? Nothing good.

• Wanna take some action against NAIS? Click on the link and send an email to the USDA.

• Why are artisan producers so important? Read this article on a local salumi company and you'll begin to understand. From the age, breed, and feed of the pigs to the lack of nitrates to the unique recipes, Knight Salumi produces a product that just cannot be obtained through our corporate food system.

• "Three wise men" made a pilgrimage to DC last week: Wes Jackson, Wendell Berry, and Fred Kirschanmann. Here's a Q&A with the trio. I sure hope the politicians who met with them valued their input.

• Organics grew 118% (by acreage) worldwide between 2000 and 2007. Organics are still less than 1% of global agriculture, however. 97% of spending on organics occurs in the U.S. and E.U. I think this is probably only looking at CERTIFIED organics - who knows how much uncertified land is managed organically in developing countries by people who never converted to industrial techniques.

• ACTION: Re-examine our trade agreements. The TRADE Act looks like a great bill to support.

• A Pennsylvania school board didn't want to hear the consequences of allowing a CAFO to locate near where the school buses are parked. You can see the presentation they WOULD have seen at the link.

• Here's a great article on bogus "local" campaigns by major corporations who are anything but.

• Hillary Clinton thinks Indian farmer suicides are due to a need for loans. Well, sort of. If you want to take a really shallow view of it, then yes. But there's a lot more to the story than just that, and I doubt Hillary wants to "go there" because it might involve questioning free trade and industrial agriculture.

• Food stamps are getting easier to use at farmers' markets, says the NYT. GOOD. This is a very hot topic near where I live. We had no markets that took food stamps a little over a year ago. Now we have several, and it really wasn't that difficult to set up (so I'm told). Yet, most markets around here STILL don't take food stamps, because those in charge haven't taken the steps to do so (and presumably either haven't thought about it or don't want to).

• What's going on in California's Central Valley? Well, it's not good. As the water dried up, so did the paychecks. This article calls Fresno "California's Detroit."

• A new study smacks down Monsanto. From the abstract:

  Chronic health effects are increasing in the world such as cancers, hormonal, reproductive, nervous, or immune diseases, even in young people. During regulatory toxicological subchronic tests to prevent these on mammalian health, prior commercialization of chemicals, including pesticides and drugs, or GMOs, some statistically significant findings may be revealed. This discussion is about the need to investigate the relevant criteria to consider those as biologically significant. The sex differences and the non linear dose or time related effects should be considered in contrast to the claims of a Monsanto-supported expert panel about a GMO, the MON 863 Bt maize, but also for pesticides or drugs, in particular to reveal hormone-dependent diseases and first signs of toxicities.

GM Corn FAIL

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jul 23, 2009 at 06:33:24 AM PDT

Many African nations are reluctant to try GMOs, but South Africa allows them. Corn is the country's main staple. From the article:

South African farmers suffered millions of dollars in lost income when 82,000 hectares of genetically-manipulated corn (maize) failed to produce hardly any seeds.The plants look lush and healthy from the outside. Monsanto has offered compensation.

Monsanto blames the failure of the three varieties of corn planted on these farms, in three South African provinces, on alleged 'underfertilisation processes in the laboratory". Some 280 of the 1,000 farmers who planted the three varieties of Monsanto corn this year, have reported extensive seedless corn problems.