GMOs

GM Crops Don’t Deliver What They Promise (REPORT & VIDEO)

You consistently hear about how GMOs can help save the world. You hear how they can help poor farmers. You hear that they are greener (more environmentally friendly). You hear that the world needs them….

But who do you hear all this from? (GMO companies and the politicians they buy.)

Nnimmo Bassey, head of Friends of the Earth International, *slams* these claims. He reports in the video below that GM crops are not good for small farmers at all. They are created for the large monoculture farms of agribusinesses (and chemical companies which, conveniently, also produce the GMOs). The require the use of tons of herbicides and pesticides, which is worse for the environment.

Meanwhile, promises of drought-resistant and salt-tolerant crops have not been fulfilled.

Non-GMO Month & New GMO Report

Heather mentioned on Saturday that October is Non-GMO month and she has pledged to not eat GMOs (or processed foods) for the whole month. Good luck to you, Heather!

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is participating in Non-GMO month too, of course. It had a great intro to the month, that first starts with some highlights (and lowlights) of the year so far and then predicts how October is going to change things up. Also, Food & Water Watch has just released a big report on GMOs.

Monsanto Pulled to Court by India for “Biopiracy”

Monsanto and India don’t have a very cozy relationship. Monsanto came in on the promise of cheaper crops, alleviating hunger, and so on and so on. India found out before long that they got totally ripped off and screwed by the agribusiness multinational giant. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Indian farmers have actually committed suicide in response to Monsanto’s screw-you (with a smile), give-money-to-us genetically modified (GM) crops.

The latest in this long, sad saga is that the National Biodiversity Authority of India (NBA) is suing Monsanto, Mahyco, and other collaborators who were involved in “accessing and using local brinjal varieties in developing Bt Brinjal without prior approval of the competent authorities” (aka biopiracy).