GM foods story in papers

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I'm glad someone else is keeping abreast of the puns!

I'm a sucker for them.

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Sorry about this, vtsnowedin.

Vermont Senate votes 26-2 for GMO labeling

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I recall an Independent senator from Vermont doing something else eminently sensible in the news earlier on today...wish I could remember what it was! I read too much news...

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We don't really need any more evidence about GM and glyphosate. But others do. Here's another story.

That non-GMO soybeans are no longer available in the market is a myth.

"Of course it can be purchased, and the price premium is 40-50 kroner per 100 kg, but then Denmark can set an example in providing food that does not harm consumers," he said.

The price premium is worth it, according Ib Borup Pedersen, because it translates quickly into better health in the herd.

"And then the farmers would not find it hard to stand by the products they produce," he said.

And the largest supplier of animal feed in Ireland supply GM feed throughout virtually all their range. So don't be taken in by any false claims about the safety of Irish produce - if you buy Irish (non-organic), you're consuming and encouraging GM.

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Beware of any stories involving the Science Media Centre, which has uncriticised access to major media as well as highly GMO-biased influence over Cameron.

SMC received 34 percent of its nearly £600,000 in funding from corporations and trade groups for the fiscal year that ended March 2013, according to its website. Its current funders include BASF, Bayer, and Syngenta -- three of the world's biggest pesticide and GMO corporations -- as well as a number of agrichemical trade groups like CropLife International.

Source

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These guys seem to practically run the Farmers' Guardian newspaper, which is rather depressing.

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These guys seem to practically run the Farmers' Guardian newspaper, which is rather depressing.

All farmers' papers are depressing. Oh...

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Re-publication of Séralini study

Authors' comments on original requests for retraction can be found here.

We first published these results in Food and Chemical Toxicology (FCT) on 19 September, 2012 [3] after a careful and thorough peer review. However, 1 year and 2 months later, in an unusual step, the editor-in-chief requested the retraction of our study, while conceding that the data were not incorrect and that there was no misconduct and no fraud or intentional misinterpretation. According to him, some data were inconclusive, but for reasons already known at the time of submission of the paper. The present paper is a summary of the debate resulting in this retraction, which in our view is a historic example of conflicts of interests in the scientific assessments of products commercialized worldwide.

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Any dealings with GM are antithetical to honesty (not that you needed more proof).

Tang brought the rice into China illegally, and one of her Chinese partners faked ethics approval documents. During the study, a Chinese official emailed Tang saying he was taking mention of GMO off the consent forms, because it was “too sensitive,”

Shades of anti-labelling lobbying in the states.

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Nature is wonderful. The armyworn has evolved to be tolerant to the killer compound in Dow and DuPont's Bt corn in Brazil after only three years.

Source

Just as in the original story of DDT, where chemical companies ended up making the boll weevil stronger, our world would be measurably better off without this particular pursuit of money. It is simply an evil waste of ingenuity.

GM resistance is spreading! Go insects!

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In sovereign countries, where the might of Monsanto and friends is limited, the people and their governments are rejecting their monopoly and failed technology. But this news is suppressed by the PR machine.

Russia has completely banned GMOs with deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev saying, “If the Americans like to eat GMO products, let them eat it then. We don’t need to do that; we have enough space and opportunities to produce organic food”.

China has banned GMOs in military food supplies. Italy has just passed a law, Campo libre, making planting GMO crops punishable with a prison sentence of one to three years and a fine of 10,000-30,000 euros. Italian minister of agriculture Nunzia De Girolamo said in a statement: “Our agriculture is based on biodiversity, on quality, and we must continue to aim for these without ventures that, even from the economic point of view, wouldn’t make us competitive.”

Vandana Shiva's latest on GMOs

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Students to 'earn' $900 by eating gee-emmed bananas

They also noted that federal authorities have declared genetically modified foods safe, and that there are a range of similar vegetables and fruits already being consumed.

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Shiva's comprehensive response to Michael Specter's genetically engineered flatulence in The New Yorker.

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Woo hoo!

Guatemala rejects Monsanto law

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The new EU commission - the good, the bad and the etc.

In his speech Juncker said he intended "to review the legislation applicable to the authorisation of GMOs" and indicated he would be seeking a more democratic approach.

"To me, it is simply not right that under the current rules, the Commission (EC) is legally forced to authorise new organisms for import and processing even though a clear majority of Member States is against."

This was a reference to the notorious vote where a majority of EU states opposed to the authorisation of a GMO maize variety were over ruled by a minority in favour of approval due to the 'weighting' of votes cast by some larger - and pro-GMO - member states led by the UK.