from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:
All those of you who've ever wondered exactly what benefits expensive technological fixes have actually brought to farming, food production and human well-being, should read a wonderful article by Devinder Sharma exposing the myths of techno-utopianism through some well-chosen facts. We've excerpted it here but it's well worth reading in full (ASIA).
Also useful as an antidote to some of the less questioning pieces appearing in our media about GM crops solving world hunger etc. is an article by a leading researcher, originally published in Trends in Plant Science, which points out that contrary to all the claims about GM plants increasing yields, very few are ever likely to do so! (GM AND YIELDS).
Finally, some particularly good news. The pipeline of GM crops under research is drying up (THE AMERICAS).
Claire This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org
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CONTENTS
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THE AMERICAS
ASIA
EUROPE
LOBBYWATCH
RESEARCH
GM AND YIELDS
DUD SCIENCE
CORPORATE CRIMES
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
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THE AMERICAS
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+ THE FARM BUREAU: WORKING FOR MONSANTO
EXCERPT from intelligent letter in the Lake County Record-Bee (California paper) about the Farm Bureau's opposition to regulation of GM Roundup Ready alfalfa:
Got a good chuckle out of the Farm Bureau response to the proposed regulation of Roundup ready Alfalfa in Lake County. It was truly classic! Instead of attempting to refute the multitude of reasons put forth to justify the proposed ordinance, the main tactic employed was to change the subject to the much broader issue of all biotechnology.
They can't say this new alfalfa won't mean more poison being used here, because it will. They can't say that contamination of other growers' crops isn't a real problem because Monsanto's own studies show it is. They can't say that the increase in herbicide use won't lead to poison-resistant weeds sooner because they know it will. They can't say that the main active ingredient in Roundup is safe because there are piles of evidence to the contrary.
... The Farm Bureau is also quoted in the Record-Bee as saying, "This is just a technological way to increase production using less pesticides," an absurd statement that turns reality on its head. Of course our local Farm Bureau is against regulation of a genetically modified crop, since their positions are handed down from the state Farm Bureau where support of the biotech companies is automatic due to their financial interdependence.
More on the sorry history of the Farm Bureau's support for agribiz and right-wing causes: http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=267
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5631
+ NEW STUDY REVEALS THOUSANDS OF FIELD TESTS OF GM CROPS...
More than 47,000 field tests of GM crops were authorized by the US Dept of Agriculture between 1987 and 2004 despite serious environmental threats and inadequate regulations to monitor impacts, according to a new report.
Both the National Academy of Sciences and the General Accounting Office have criticized the USDA for inadequate oversight and expertise in authorizing the release of genetically engineered crops. Nevertheless, this new study reveals substantial increases in 2003 and 2004 of testing of crops engineered to produce pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals, as well as of many new crops never before released.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5624
+ ... BUT GM CROPS PIPELINE DRYING UP
Worldwide data shows that the pipeline of GM crops research is drying up even in the US, the global leader in GM crop research. And statistics available from other nations show that the decline in field trials of GM crops began in 2003.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5626
+ MONSANTO-SPONSORED ' DOCUMENTARY' STIRS ANGER
A new television series set for distribution this fall to public TV stations across US is drawing fire because its funders exploit a model of factory farming that has profoundly undermined the same rural lifestyle the program is meant to showcase.
The telecast, 'America's Heartland', consists of twenty half-hour episodes produced by PBS affiliate KVIE in Sacramento. The bulk of the new national program's underwriting will be provided by the farming trade group the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and Monsanto.
In a letter sent to public television managers about America's Heartland, 70 groups suggest stations should either forego showing the series or schedule complementary programming to expose Heartland as a "piece of propaganda."
The coalition wrote:
"The destruction of America's rural communities and the disappearance of its small farmers is an important story that needs to be told. This story, one of rural depopulation, dwindling economic opportunities, industrial levels of pollution and their attendant health and social concerns, is the ugly reality of the excesses that come from the unregulated large-scale industrialized agricultural system promoted by corporate America."
The signatories say they are concerned that Heartland is "being produced to put a friendly face on the very forces that are causing these problems."
While the program's underwriters may not control editorial content, Sheldon Rampton, research director at the Center for Media and Democracy, a media watchdog group, said he is "sure that Monsanto and company have a pretty good idea about what shows are going to be broadcast." He added, "I think they can feel confident the program they're sponsoring is not going to sponsor investigative journalism about genetic engineering or pesticide use."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5636
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5372
+ THE REV. PAT ROBERTSON SAYS U.S. SHOULD KILL VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT
The founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network says the US should assassinate Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. The Reverend Pat Robertson said, "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability." Assassinating Chavez would, according to the TV evangelist, be "a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."
In April 2004, Chavez cancelled a contract with Monsanto and announced that the cultivation of GM crops would be prohibited on Venezuelan soil.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5633
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ASIA
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+ JAPAN FINDS 9th U.S. CORN CARGO TAINTED WITH Bt10
Japan's Agriculture Ministry said it discovered a ninth US feed grain cargo tainted with Syngenta's illegal Bt10 biotech corn, and has told the importer to destroy it or ship it back to the US.
So far more than 20,000 tons of contaminated corn has been detected during customs inspection in 6 different ports across Japan.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5643
+ TECHNOLOGY HAS ITS PITFALLS
An article with the above title by Devinder Sharma is well worth reading in full, as an antidote to the ludicrous techno-utopianism of current politicos. As well as exposing the seldom-addressed con of "certified seed", in the excerpt below, Devinder reveals the lies and failures linked with the pushing of other techno-fixes such as pesticides and Bt cotton.
EXCERPTS:
In a desperate effort to seek a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has signed a deal with the United States. Addressing recently a joint session of the US Congress, he said: "The Green Revolution lifted countless millions above poverty.... I am very happy to say that US President George Bush and I have decided to launch second generation of India-US collaboration in agriculture."
Reiterating time and again that his government's topmost priority is to increase the growth rate in agriculture, [Singh] follows the same technology prescription that led to the collapse of the green revolution. Without first ascertaining the reasons behind the terrible agrarian crisis, much of it the result of imposing environmentally-unfriendly alien technology, the prime minister embarks on the faulty promise of a 'second' green revolution.
Technology too has its pitfalls. Much of the crisis today that afflicts every nook and corner of rural India is the result of an unsustainable technology that did not integrate well with the social milieu...
... For ages, farmers had traditionally been selecting and maintaining good quality seed... Agricultural scientists, for reasons that remain unexplained, began to doubt the ability of farmers to maintain seed quality.
Aided by the World Bank, the Ministry of Agriculture launched a National Seeds Project in 1967... All that the huge [seed] processing plants were supposed to do was to provide 'certified' seeds of food crops, mainly self-pollinating crops, to farmers.
... Studies have subsequently shown that there is hardly any difference in the quality and productivity of processed 'certified' seed and the normal seed of self-pollinating crops like wheat and rice. In fact, what remains relatively unknown is that the 18,000 tonnes of dwarf wheat seed that was imported in 1966 from Mexico, which ushered in the wheat revolution, was not 'certified' processed seed. It was cleaned wheat grain collected from Mexican farmers. If the cleaned grain could bring about a record production, what was the need to push expensive 'certified' seed to the farmers?
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5638
Another antidote to techno-utopianism, this time from Australian politician Ian Cohen's brilliant 2004 speech on GM in the New South Wales (Australia) Legislative Council, is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5639
+ MORE ON "INADEQUATE" BT COTTON IN INDIA
Following our reports in recent Weekly Watches, another article, this time from the Bangkok Post, covers the Indian government-sponsored research which found GM Bt cotton is still vulnerable to bollworm attack because of "inadequate" Bt toxin expression.
EXCERPT:
It appears that this [Indian government regulator GEAC] panel approved new varieties even after CICR findings raised doubts over varieties released earlier. Though the study was published in July 2005, it relates to harvests in 2002-03.
''This is both deliberate suppression of information and a failure of regulation,'' said Dr Suman Sahai, president of New Delhi-based Gene Campaign. ''The CICR being an institute of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, the data should have been available with GEAC as soon as CICR had them, given the controversial nature of the subject and the goals of the study.''
The group has served a legal notice to the environment ministry seeking action against GEAC for approving faulty GM varieties.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5641
+ U.S. GROWERS PUSH SOY PRODUCTS IN INDIA
Soybean growers from the US are planning to enter the Indian market in a big way with a variety of soy products. "India imports about $10 million worth of American soy products. We are aiming at increasing the level of our soy-products exports to India to about $30 million," said Robert Bob L Rikli, secretary of the American Soybean Association (ASA).
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5627
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EUROPE
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+ NORTHERN IRELAND DAIRY FARMERS WARNED OVER GM FEED
The agriculture spokesperson of one of Northern Ireland's two largets political parties, Sinn Fein, has called on the farming industry to vigorously oppose moves to introduce GM through an EU loophole. Michelle Gildernew also voiced concerns about the effect on milk quality and consumer reaction if it is fed to herds.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5642
+ WOMENS INSTITUTES APPEAL TO LULA
The National Federation of Women's Institutes, the UK's largest women's organisation with some 215,000 members, has written to Brazil's President Lula asking him to take a firm stance on the issue of GM and ensure that non-GM soy contracts are maintained.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5642
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LOBBYWATCH
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+ AMERICAN SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION - HEALTH SCARES AND SMEAR CAMPAIGNS
One of the most striking things about the pro-GM propaganda campaign is the frequency with which GM proponents accuse the critics of precisely the behaviour they themselves engage in!
Here's a beautiful example. The American Soybean Association (ASA) has been at the forefront of those who, with the help of millions of dollars from Monsanto and others, have vociferously complained about the threat to US exports from an "anti-biotech" campaign that ASA's Technical Director, Kimball Nill, has characterised as made up of "unsubstantiated" and "untrue and deliberately misleading" assertions.
It's interesting, then, to read recent articles about the way that ASA has promoted US soybean exports at the expense of tropical crops via a long standing "smear campaign" that has generated "negative publicity since the mid-1980s". Oh yes, and it involves health scares!
The articles tell how the American Soybean Association (ASA) has led a continued negative campaign against coconut oil that has displaced 70,000 coconut farmers and resulted in an economic loss of $1.4 billion of the coconut industry over the last 20 years.
The Philippine Coconut Oil Producers Association, Inc. (PCOPA) disputes claims by ASA that tropical oils containing saturated fats are unhealthy, while those rich in polyunsaturated are much healthier.
They point out that research has linked polyunsaturated fat to cancer and other problems. Tropical oils like coconut oil have been shown to be safe and beneficial.
Modern research has shown that not all saturated fats are alike and that fatty acids in coconut oil, the medium chain triglycerides, do not raise serum cholesterol or contribute to heart disease but are in fact very healthy. PCOPA said that contrary to conventional belief, saturated fats are in fact beneficial in many ways.
GM WATCH comment: Many health professionals are now recommending that people cook with coconut oil, as research shows beneficial effects. See details of peer-reviewed studies on coconut oil at
http://www.coconutoil.com/peer_reviewed.htm
and some gruesome info about soy, including links to studies, at
http://thyroid.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soyonlineservice.co.nz
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5640
+ KREBS TO BROADCAST TO CHILDREN ON GM AND THE FUTURE OF FOOD
Every Christmas, Britain's Royal Institution runs a series of Christmas Lectures aimed at school children (specifically 11-14 year olds) and their families. The Lectures, as well as being delivered over 5 days directly to an audience of young people, are also televised nationwide by the BBC.
This year's Christmas Lectures are entitled "Food Matters" and come with such engaging titles as "The gourmet ape" and "Yuck or yummy". They include consideration of whether "chemicals in food" are dangerous.
The "truth behind this", as The Guardian reported this week, will be delivered by Sir John Krebs, the controversial former head of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Sir John will also be giving a lecture on "Food for the future" in which "John will ask whether new farming methods such as genetically modified crops will be the solution, or whether we will all have to become vegetarians". He'll also consider the question, "Will the future bring us the chocolate bar that treats heart disease or the mood-enhancing potato crisp?"
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5632
The idea of the Christmas Lectures is to stimulate and entertain young people's thinking over important scientific issues. Their ethos is one that could be described as, all good fun based on all good science.
It's extraordinary in this context to consider what the review of Sir John's record at the FSA - commissioned by the FSA itself - determined. This review, conducted by Baroness Dean, concluded that the "vast majority" of people consulted felt that the FSA under Sir John had "deviated from its normal stance of making statements based solely on scientific evidence", when "speaking against organic food and for GM food". Baroness Dean stressed that "This view was expressed not only by stakeholders representing organic and GM interest groups, but by those who would be regarded as supporters and natural allies of the Agency".
So why, in these circumstances, choose Sir John to give the Christmas Lectures? Enter the head of the Royal Institution, and close ally of Sir John, Baroness Susan Geenfield.
Greenfield has been at the heart of efforts to control how controversial scientific issues, like GM crops and cloning, are communicated to the public - most notably, via the Science Media Centre (SMC), which she played the key role in founding, and via her work with the largely industry-backed Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC), whom Greenfield advises.
More on Krebs (whose actual field of expertise is bird behaviour!): http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=73
More on Greenfield: http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=144
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5628
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5632
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RESEARCH
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+ REPLACEMENT FOUND FOR ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT GENES IN GM CROPS
According to the journal Nature, scientists may have developed a less controversial way to bioengineer plants, by replacing antibiotic resistant marker genes normally borrowed from E. coli bacteria with a gene from weeds. The team claims the new technique could make GM crops less contentious in places such as Europe.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5629
+ FRIENDS OF THE EARTH RESPONSE TO NEW RESEARCH
Clare Oxborrow of Friends of the Earth comments:
... it is not clear what the actual function of those [new weed] genes is and what impact inserting them could have on the plant.
The researchers admit that "their functions remain largely unknown". his raises a number of questions; what are the consequences for food safety? Will there be any adverse effects during cultivation? It doesn't look like there were any attempts to address these issues, for example, only things like plant height and number of leaves were assessed when comparing the GM to the non-GM plant.
The research was carried out on tobacco, not food plants. In tobacco, only the leaf is used whereas in food crops other parts of the plant are used, such as storage organs. It is not clear whether this technique would even work in food plants and if it did, again, what the impact would be.
Whilst this may solve one problem associated with genetic modification, it could well create new ones.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5630
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GM AND YIELDS
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+ POOR RECORD ON CROP YIELDS FROM 40 YEARS OF BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Here's an antidote to the numerous articles in the media claiming that GM will solve food shortages through higher yields. An article by leading researcher Tom Sinclair, published in Trends in Plant Science, points out that very few GM crops show increased yield:
EXCERPTS: Genetic engineering techniques are frequently proposed as ways to increase crop yields, especially in areas of the developing world where the people suffer from malnutrition and agricultural productivity is low. However, despite 40 years of biochemical and physiological research, there have been very few cases that led directly to improved cultivars with better yield.
A target for genetic engineers has been to increase 'nitrogen-use efficiency. However, efforts to improve a plant's nitrogen metabolism by changing its genome are unlikely to succeed because plant biochemistry is already extremely 'efficient' in nitrogen uptake and use. It may be difficult to improve whole plant traits because it seems unlikely that engineering a single or even a few genes can easily manipulate these traits.
Much biochemical and physiological research has focused on drought tolerance, to enable plants to survive long periods of drought. However, for most annual grain crops, a drought severe enough to threaten the plant's survival will inevitably result in such a low yield that survival is a moot point.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5635
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DUD SCIENCE
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+ GM BASED ON DUD SCIENCE
A wide range of scientists should speak out for much stricter control of gene-tampering because it is based on dud science, says scientist and Christian, Dr Robert Mann.
More: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5637
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CORPORATE CRIMES
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+ FALLEN LEAVES, BROKEN LIVES
As well as GMOs, Monsanto has long been a producer of highly toxic chemicals and not just for industrial and agricultural uses, but also for military ones. These include deadly PCBs and the infamous dioxin-laden Agent Orange, the powerful defoliant used in Vietnam which led to the biggest class action suit in US history involving thousands of former GIs.
But as the article (from UTNE magazine) from which the following excerpt is taken makes clear, theirs was only a part of the catastrophic suffering caused by the US's industrial-military complex.
EXCERPT:
...in the ancient imperial capital of Hue, famous for the brutal battle portrayed in the movie Full Metal Jacket, Tu Ai, a woman in her 20s, tells her neighbor's story: The family's father was infected by Agent Orange during the war. Later he married and had seven children, all of whom who were "strong, intelligent, and attending school." Each child, upon reaching the mid-teens, "became foolish."
One by one they lost their ability to read, speak, and finally to perform everyday functions. The aging, heartbroken parents had to keep these loved ones in wooden cages while desperately struggling to earn a subsistence living and seek "repair."
In Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and all the other major cities and towns of the south, children like these dot the sidewalks, begging as they walk on their hips, crawl, or push themselves on makeshift carts - their useless limbs dragging, dangling, or slung over their shoulders.
For more excerpts and some staggering statistics:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5634
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CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
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We're repeating this one as it's an important one.
+ HELP POLISH FARMER FACING PRISON FOR PROTESTING ILLEGAL GMOs
Here's a call for help from the International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside. Their colleague, Marian Zagorny, is facing a prison sentence of 1 year or more for attempting to block illegal shipments of GM grain and actively protesting against the introduction of GMOs and the factory farming of pigs in Poland.
We've posted a letter at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5606
supporting Marian which you can post or fax to the Polish president, the court and the relevant minister.