GMOs

America has a sweet tooth. We eat over 8 tons of sugar derived from different sources every year. For decades farmers provided a myriad of food makers with the sugar they needed without relying on GM sugar beets. But with promises made by Monsanto in 2008 (the year genetically modified sugar beet seeds were introduced), farmers began counting on increased yields and reduced costs. Now they face record low sales as American consumers demand non-GMO food.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration just approved the sale of genetically modified salmon – the first GM animal allowed on the market.
The FDA says that AquaBounty’s product will not require special labeling because it is nutritionally equivalent to conventional farm-raised Atlantic salmon, though this has not been proven.

In a sneaky plan to get around regulatory approval, one US-based company tried to ship genetically modified salmon eggs to Prince Edward Island in Canada, which were then meant to be sent to Panama to be used in what activists are calling a ‘huge, live experiment’ which could have permanently damaged non-GM salmon.

The biotech firm Editas Medicine says that humans who have had their DNA genetically modified could exist within the next 2 years. The company announced that it will soon start the first trials of what it calls a groundbreaking new technique.

How do you continue to push GM crops on a population that has overwhelmingly voted against them in poll after poll? You start a campaign similar to the one the tobacco industry began in the 1920’s with the help of Edward Bernays to discredit any naysayers and even put doctors in commercials smoking cigarettes. You also do whatever it takes to buy out ‘real’ scientists and call those into question who inquire about the true safety of GM foods. You label them anti-science and discredit their credentials.

By Colin Todhunter | CounterPunch | November 13, 2015 Genetically modified (GM) crops are going to feed the world. Not only that, supporters of GM technology say it will produce better yields than non-GM crops, increase farmers’ incomes, lead to less chemical inputs, be better suited to climatic changes, is safe for human consumption and […]

RT | November 13, 2015 One of the world’s largest GMO producers has been challenged by an MIT graduate who claims there are absolutely no GMO safety assessment standards. He earlier alleged that GMO-engineered plants accumulate high levels of formaldehyde. Livingston (New Jersey) High School Hall of Fame member, Dr. V A Shiva Ayyadurai threw […]

In June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled that the there was “no convincing evidence” that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide ‘Roundup,’ is an endocrine disruptor. The conclusion was based on an assessment of 52 chemicals and the likelihood that any of them could be classified as such. [1]

A Supreme Court in Mexico recently denied biotech the right to push GM soy in the country, and the ramifications of the decision is helping to save Mayan beekeepers’ honey.
Beekeepers in the Mexican sates of Yucatan and Campeche were concerned about GM contamination of their honey, but will now be protected.

Three environmental groups are calling for a halt to the open field trials planned for GM moths at Cornell University.