Chris “Kikila” Perrin – Big Biotech Looks To Make Third World Into West’s Genetically Modified Bread Basket

GMOs (or Genetically Modified Organisms) — perhaps one of the sacred cow topics of anti-neoliberal, anti-globalization activist discourse, they are as confusingly scientific as vaccines and carry with them just as fervent criticism and defense. For the most part, some of the suggested benefits of GMOs have fallen flat: Corporate claims that genetically modified crops provide an easy solution to the problem of world hunger have …

it’s all about food – Mark Lewis, Chmachyakyakya: 8000-year Crops – 07.26.16

Part I: Mark Lewis, Chmachyakyakya: 8000-year Crops The most local form of local eating is wild plant foraging, and Mark Lewis of Arizona has been foraging the deserts and mountains of the Southwest for a long time, harvesting 2000 edibles and 500 medicinals throughout Arizona and the Sonoran/Bajan SW for 45 years using experience and knowledge from his grandfather and his …

Katherine Paul – Six Questions for Monsanto

Monsanto may not be the largest company in the world. Or the worst. But the St. Louis, Mo. biotech giant has become the poster child for all that’s wrong with our industrial food and farming system. With 21,000 employees in 66 countries and $15 billion in revenue, Monsanto is a biotech industry heavyweight. The St. Louis, Mo.-based monopolizer of seeds …

ELIZABETH HENDERSON – Organic Farmers Are Not Anti-Science but Genetic Engineers Often Are

At one of the public brainstorming sessions for the New York Organic Action Plan, an organic farmer made an impassioned plea for “independent science” and told us that, with 8.5 billion mouths to feed by 2050, we will need genetic engineering to prevent starvation. I would like to examine these words carefully to decipher what they mean, how they are being used, and …

Christina Sarich – Monsanto’s Next Weedkiller Uses RNA And It’s Far Worse Than RoundUp

(UR) The main ingredient in Monsanto’s best-selling herbicide, glyphosate, has already been named the most-used herbicide in history — and the company hopes you will continue to focus on the nefarious ramifications of a two-decades-long spraying spree with this carcinogenic chemical concoction while its patents on ‘RoundUp Ready’ seeds expire. While you and I are obsessed with glyphosate, Monsanto is turning to other genetically-modified atrocities — …

Monsanto Profits Drop 25% AGAIN as Farmers, Individuals go Organic

Biotech giant Monsanto reported multiple profit-plummets in 2015 relating to sales for both its genetically modified crop creations and its best-selling herbicide, Roundup. Once again, Monsanto has reported declining profits for the fiscal second-quarter earnings – by 25%. For Monsanto’s 2nd quarter, total sales for Monsanto dropped 13%; with one of Monsanto’s top-sellers, corn seeds, falling 11%. The biotech giant …

New Study: Bt Toxins 100% Lethal to Amphibians

The biotech industry once told the world that Bt insecticidal crops were only harmful to insects and were harmless to pets and people. But a new study of the ecotoxicological risks of widespread commercial Bt spraying found otherwise. Introban®, a Bt-containing product, caused 100% lethality in amphibians. Dr. Eva Sirinathsinghii tested the effects of Introban®, a commercial formulation of a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) …

GMO crops in US threaten to exterminate monarch butterflies

Monarch butterflies depend on milkweed as a food source and habitat, but crops like Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soy and corn are killing off these plants. While the monarch butterfly population made a comeback this year, the past two decades have been a major struggle for the vanishing species, and GMO crops in the United States along the migration route are …

Genetically modified crop cultivation plateaus in US

Cultivation of genetically modified crops looks to have hit a peak in the U.S. as a soft international grain market pushes farmers to grow more traditional varieties in exchange for special premiums. GM crops accounted for 94% of U.S. soybean cultivation by area in the 2015-16 growing season, unchanged from a year earlier, the Department of Agriculture reported last July. …

Wenonah Hauter – The United States of Monsanto?

This week thousands of Americans took time out of their busy days to call their Senators to demand that they vote against the DARK Act, a bill sponsored by Kansas Senator Pat Roberts, which would prevent consumers from knowing if the food they eat and feed their families contains genetically engineered (GMO) ingredients. Their support for GMO labeling was echoed …