Battle Escalates Against Genetically Modified Crops
By Kanya D’Almeida
Home to a fast-growing network of farmers’ markets, cooperatives and organic farms, but also the breeding ground for mammoth for-profit corporations that now hold patents to over 50 percent of the world’s seeds, the United States is weathering a battle between Big Agro and a ripening movement for food justice and security.
Conflicting ideologies about agriculture have become ground zero for this war over the production, distribution and consumption of the world’s food.
One camp – led by agro giants like Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta – define successful agriculture and hunger alleviation as the use of advanced technologies to stimulate yields of mono-crops.
The other side argues that industrial agriculture pollutes, destroys and disrupts nature by dismissing the importance of relationships necessary for any ecosystem to thrive.
At the heart of this struggle is the debate about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which were given the green light in 1990 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated, “(We) are not aware of any information showing that GMO foods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way.
But a report released Wednesday by the Washington- based Food and Water Watch (FWW) on the destructive impacts of GMOs added fuel to a two-decades-long fight by farmers, economists and experts against the FDA’s conclusions.
“Genetically Engineered Food: An Overview” details how the genetic engineering of seeds, crops and animals for human consumption is not the foolproof answer long championed by agribusiness and biotechnology industries to feeding the world.
To the contrary, the study found that genetically engineered/modified (GE/M) organisms do not out-perform their natural counterparts, and their proliferation into vast tracts of cropland have caused a slew of environmental and health crises, and actually increased poverty by forcing millions of farmers to “buy” patented seeds at exorbitant prices.
The report also says that three U.S. federal agencies – the FDA, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – are complicit in these crises due to shoddy oversight, weak enforcement of regulations and a complete absence of coordination.
It found that Big Agro spent half a billion dollars between 1999 and 2009 on lobbying to ease GE regulatory oversight, push GE approvals and prevent GE labeling.
This, after attorney Steven Druker in 1999 obtained 40,000 pages of FDA files containing “memorandum after memorandum warning about the hazards of (GE) food,” including the likelihood that they contained, “toxins, carcinogens or allergens” and testified that GE foods violated “sound science and U.S. law”.
Ceci King, a member of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, told IPS that in 2011, an estimated “60 to 70 percent of all processed foods in the U.S. contain at least one GE element.”
Unstoppable proliferation?
According to the report, over 365 million acres of GE crops were cultivated in 29 countries in 2010 alone, representing 10 percent of global cropland.
“The United States is the world leader in GE crop production, with 165 million acres, or nearly half of global production,” Patty Lovera, assistant director of FWW, told IPS.
“From only seven percent of soybean acres and one percent of corn acres in 1996, GE cultivation in the U.S. shot up to 94 percent of soybean and 88 percent of corn acres in 2011,” she added.
The bulk of these crops came from seeds owned by Monsanto.
“Eighty-four percent of GM crops in the world today are herbicide- resistant soybeans, corn, cotton or canola, predominantly Monsanto’s ‘Roundup Ready’ varieties that withstand dousing with herbicide,” Bill Frees, science policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and author of ‘Why GM Crops Will Not Feed the World’, told IPS.
“Pesticide and chemical companies like Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, Dow and Bayer have bought up many of the world’s largest seed companies, and now call themselves biotech companies – this represents a historic merger of the pesticide and seed industries, which allows them to profit twice by developing expensive GM seeds that increase use of the company’s herbicide products,” he added.
Seed patents, an off-shoot of the “agro-biotech revolution” that also spawned GE/M, have had two negative consequences since their original issuance by the U.S. Patent Office in the mid-1990s, Frees told IPS: “They enticed pesticide companies to buy up seed firms; and they led to criminalization of seed-saving.”
“Farmers have saved seeds from their harvest to replant the next year for millennia,” he added. “Monsanto is changing that. The company has already sued thousands of farmers in the U.S. for saving and replanting its patented seeds and won an estimated 85 to 160 million dollars from farmers, in lawsuits that have ruined farmers’ lives, and (partially explains) why we have ever fewer farmers in America.”
The pushback
Ray Tricomo, a mentor at the Kalpulli Turtle Island Multiversity in Minnesota, told IPS, “People of color must re-radicalize themselves and go on the offensive including the return to land bases, from Turtle Island to Africa and Asia.”
“Ancient knowledge systems are to be painstakingly recovered, even if it takes centuries,” he added.
And this is exactly what is happening.
Despite the deep pockets and aggressive efforts of Big Agro, a major pushback from a broad coalition of forces has limited 80 percent of GE/M planting to just three export-oriented countries: the U.S., Brazil and Argentina.
Nearly two dozen other countries, including the European Union and China, have passed mandatory GE/M labeling, and millions around the world are refusing seed patenting and developing seed banks to protect, share and preserve their seeds.
In Florida, the 4,000-strong Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is organizing to resist farm wage-slavery and “seed-servitude”. The Landless Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil has organized 400,000 peasants to join forces with the nearly half-billion farms around the world that are responsible for producing 70 percent of the world’s food.
Navdanya, an organization in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh, has united 500,000 farmers in their struggle to fight chemical dependency and save indigenous seeds, including preserving over 3,000 varieties of rice.
“For five years, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (CSD) had indigenous farmers from all over the globe come to speak against destructive farm practices and GMOs,” King told IPS.
“During the Indigenous People’s Permanent Forum, there were complaints about the harm caused by industrial agriculture and the acts in the name of agribusinesses. Farm workers like the (CIW) are protesting their fate,” she added.
“They are picketing companies like Trader Joes and Whole Foods, letting the public know that their tomatoes were picked from workers who are basically slave labor.”
“Third World Network is fighting back by exploring the problem of GMOs and publishing findings that scientists working on GMOs are capitalists using humans as guinea pigs in a global lab experiment,” she added.
“[Numerous] deaths and disabilities have been traced back to a GM product emulating tryptophan. It took nearly 20 years to find the source of the problem,” King told IPS.
“GM technology is antithetical to an agro-ecological approach to agriculture, our only hope for truly sustainable food production,” Frees told IPS.
“Without radical change we will continue to have famines,” he added. “Haiti is a good example of what happens when a country’s farmers are put out of business by cheap, subsidized imports from a rich producer nation (here the U.S.).”
This article was published at NationofChange at: http://www.nationofchange.org/battle-escalates-against-genetically-modified-crops-1317535432. All rights are reserved.
The Truth About Health Care! – video 9:07 min.
Source: Uploaded by UndergroundWellness on Jan 28, 2011 to YouTube
Sean Crofton expresses his views about health care in America.
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Causes of Childhood Obesity and Diabetes
By Max Buddenbrock
Based on childhood obesity statistics, the First Lady has very high concerns for childhood obesity in America. If you read the newspapers, you may have seen the headline “Michelle Obama Says: Childhood Obesity a National Security Threat.” This has led to much concern for childhood obesity prevention.
Childhood obesity causes might surprise you, for there are many reasons that children are in need of weight loss. One of the childhood obesity facts that might not be apparent to many is that it is the number one health crisis among children. The childhood obesity statistics clearly show that a majority of young people weigh 20% or more than normal for their height.
Childhood Obesity Facts
1. Parental neglect is a contributing factor to childhood obesity. Neglect in this case can be in the form of not watching what a child eats or constantly supplying the wrong types of food. Another way that parents neglect their children is by allowing them to sit too much and not exercise.
2. Too many televisions in the house are another contributor to childhood obesity statistics. Every family member seems to have a television so they all can watch exactly what they want every waking hour of the day. Childhood obesity causes stem from inactivity and overeating, and they are both encouraged by watching television.
3. Fast foods should rank at the top of childhood obesity causes. It has long been known that sugars and fats are packed into the chicken, burgers, soft drinks, and fries that are so readily available in fast food restaurants. What Can Be Done Toward Weight Loss in Children?
Childhood obesity facts point directly to the lifestyles all parents not only lead but allow their children to lead, too. If America is to do anything about weight loss in children, it must begin at the parental level.
When babies are fat, no one is concerned about their weight loss because it is considered healthy for babies to be chubby. The problem arises because parents never consider children to be anything but babies until they have already developed bad habits. One childhood obesity fact that is abundantly clear is that parents do not know how to say “no” to many of the things that lead to childhood obesity statistics.
The school system has become a heavy contributor to childhood obesity causes. They may offer some healthy food choices, but children aren’t going to opt for those when they can have pizza, burgers, sugar filled sodas, and fries. Considering the opportunities children have for bad foods, it is no wonder they reach maturity without understanding about proper nutrition.
Promoting Healthier Lifestyle Habits
Eating healthier and exercising more are the prime contributors to weight loss for both children and their parents. Children learn what they live, so the earlier parents start teaching kids about proper nutrition and exercise, the more likely they will be to carry those habits on into adulthood and lead healthier lives.
Max Buddenbrock – About the Author:
Mini Pharmacy is a family-owned-and-operated diabetic testing supplies business providing convenient home delivery prescription services with free shipping within the U.S. Mini Pharmacy is determined to help you easily and effectively manage your diabetes. We serve everyone who requires testing supplies by providing top-quality, brand-name diabetic and medical testing supplies and over-the-counter pharmacy items.
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Source: Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/causes-of-childhood-obesity-and-diabetes-5232467.html#ixzz1ZheSfvFi
Eric Schlosser: Fast Food Nation: video 27:19 min.
Source: Uploaded by AllanGregg on Aug 11, 2010 to Youtube
Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation,” in which he points out the impact of fast food on health and food production around the world.
Dry Foot Cream – How to Use It?
Note: This article has been reprinted as written by the author. The syntax can be a little fuzzy but the points are clear! FoodSpook
By: Gail Luckenbach
For those who or someone you recognize suffers from diabetes, you then know that there’s a lot of wellness complications that go together with it. Not simply are there insulin shots to worry about, but there are lots of skin situations also. The issue that diabetics have is their skin dries out. You can get ways which they will have to just take all day to find out to it they are providing their skin the appropriate remedy. Individuals with diabetes suffer the worst skin situations on their feet. Because of this there are actually extraordinary products and services generated just for them. As being a make any difference of inescapable fact, you will discover diabetic foot socks which are commonly approved by physicians. A different imperative merchandise for anyone with diabetes is diabetics foot cream.
There are various diabetic foot cream manufacturers about the sector. As to which product or service will be the very best is dependent on you and what you have located out about each and every item. You’ll want to examine critiques and suggestions from physicians. Just after all, they are the folks would know which lotions function and which creams usually are not as efficient because they should really be. You can order your foot cream on line and save money. You’ll be able to also read through the evaluations via the internet. Internet buying is a best for any health and wellbeing care merchandise for these causes.
What you wish to glance for in diabetics foot cream can be a lotion that does additional than hydrate your foot. Thirty percent of individuals essentially have problems with diabetes in accordance to some medical practitioners and analysts. This implies that many people today have dry ft which they commonly are not caring for. Conventional lotions will hydrate your feet. Anyone with diabetes demands a cream that may also soothe the foot. Dry foot may be irritating and even from time to time unpleasant. When feet are certainly not cared for, foot may even end up numb. It is a critical problem that can avoid you from savoring your each day living. The answer to this issue can be to just take your foot overall health critically and also to care for your feet as your doctor suggests. A powerful, soothing foot cream is important.
Anyone with diabetes should really soak his / her foot in warm drinking water for at a minimum twenty minutes each and every day. Up coming they should utilize the diabetics foot cream that they have ordered. This tends to avoid dry skin, irritation, and foot numbness. If often taken care of for inside the proper way, diabetes does not have to become hazardous in your foot health and fitness. By using the correct services and next the measures to somme foot treatment, you could have the preference to not experience dry, stinging feet actually once again and keep away from foot numbness altogether.
Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com
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