Because
as the “seed farmers” — aka chemical companies — will tell you in the
“myth-busters” ad they've been running in The Garden Island:
Since
1996 we have been safely eating foods from genetically engineered
ingredients with no evidence of harm demonstrated anywhere in the
world. Genetically engineered crops are the most regulated
agricultural commodities in the nation.
Well,
not so tightly regulated as that other agricultural commodity, hemp,
which still cannot be grown without a rarely issued federal license —
despite its proven value as a food, fiber and fuel source that
doesn't require a lot of water, fertilizer or pesticides. So why is it
that GE crops and their associated chemicals can be planted with
impunity anywhere in the U.S., but hemp is still outlawed?
The
myth-busters piece, which claims to want to “put the falsehoods
aside and talk facts,” then goes on to deliver the biggest whopper
of them all, and I'm not talking burgers:
Genetic
engineering has helped decrease pesticide applications from our plant
care routine.
Oh,
really? That's not what the U.S. government says:
The
greatest glyphosate use is in the Mississippi River basin, where most
applications are for weed control on genetically-modified corn,
soybeans and cotton. Overall, agricultural use of glyphosate
(Roundup) has increased from less than 11,000 tons in 1992 to more
than 88,000 tons in 2007.”
In
these studies, Glyphosate was frequently detected in surface waters,
rain and air in areas where it is heavily used in the basin. The
consistent occurrence of glyphosate in streams and air indicates its
transport from its point of use into the broader environment.
"Though
glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world, we know
very little about its long term effects to the environment,"
says Paul Capel, USGS chemist and an author on this study.
So
please, don't try to tell us that GE crops are some of the most
thoroughly researched in the world.
Continuing
on the topic of chemical companies, the international spotlight
recently has been trained on imidacloprid, the world's most
widely-used insecticide. The European Union recently banned it and
two other neonicotinoids from some crops for two years because it's
linked to bee deaths. But Dutch researcher Dr Jeroen van der Sluijs
says much stronger action is needed because the pesticide is devastating dragonflies, snails and other water-based species:
Van
der Sluijs added that half the 20,000 tonnes of the imidacloprid
produced each year is not affected by the EU ban. It is used not to
treat crops, but to combat fleas and other pests in cattle, dogs and
cats.
"All this imidacloprid ends up in surface water," he
said. The pollution was so bad in some places that the ditch water in
fields could have been used as an effective pesticide, he said.
Not
surprisingly, another U.S. government study has for the first time documented just how fast frogs, toads and salamanders are
disappearing from their habitat. Significant declines are occurring
even in protected areas, like national parks and wildlife refuges. Why should we care?
"Amphibians
have been a constant presence in our planet's ponds, streams, lakes
and rivers for 350 million years or so, surviving countless changes
that caused many other groups of animals to go extinct," said
USGS Director Suzette Kimball. "This is why the findings of this
study are so noteworthy; they demonstrate that the pressures
amphibians now face exceed the ability of many of these survivors to
cope."
An
unprecedented stocktake of UK wildlife has revealed that most species
are struggling and that one in three have halved in number in the
past half century. [M]any animals, birds, insects, fish and plants
are in trouble.
The
causes include the intensification of farming, with the consequent
loss of meadows, hedgerows and ponds and increased pesticide use, as
well as building development, overfishing and climate change.
In
other words, "we have met the enemy and he is us."
Getting
back to that ubiquitous high fructose corn syrup — made from all
that Roundup Ready and Bt corn and added to nearly every processed
food sold in the conventional grocery store — another study finds a
possible link between the practice of feeding commercial honeybees
high-fructose corn syrup and the collapse of honeybee colonies around
the world.
It seems that feeding bees high fructose corn syrup, which is cheap and allows the valuable honey to be sold, compromises the bees' immune systems and makes them more vulnerable to pathogens and pesticides. Or to put it more scientifically, “constituents found in honey...specifically induce detoxification genes.”
It's
so fascinating how we make like we know it all, like we've really got
a handle on this crazy complex thing called life, yet we're
constantly finding new pieces to the puzzle and trying to fit them
in. You know, before it's too late. Though just last night, listening
to Midnite's “Bushman,” I was struck by the lyrics:
“Don't
you think they know
The
system is too far gone”
Which
could prompt some folks to get anxious, anguished, apocalyptic. As Robert Jensen writes:
Many
associate “apocalypse” with the rapture-ranting that grows out of
some interpretations of the Christian Book of Revelation (aka, the
Apocalypse of John), but it’s helpful to remember that the word’s
original meaning is not “end of the world.” “Revelation” from
Latin and “apocalypse” from Greek both mean a lifting of the
veil, a disclosure of something hidden, a coming to clarity. Speaking
apocalyptically, in this sense, can deepen our understanding of the
crises and help us see through the many illusions that powerful
people and institutions create.
But
there is an ending we have to confront. Once we’ve honestly faced
the crises, then we can deal with what is ending—not all the world,
but the systems that currently structure our lives. Life as we know
it is, indeed, coming to an end.
Or as a wise friend observed, "Shouldn't you just try to create diversity in your own life every way you can?"
And for our last myth-buster, does Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho actually think anyone believes she wasn't involved in going after Councilman Tim Bynum for a zoning violation? Give it up, girl. Please.
And for our last myth-buster, does Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho actually think anyone believes she wasn't involved in going after Councilman Tim Bynum for a zoning violation? Give it up, girl. Please.
I have to laugh (because crying isn't much fun and is less productive methinks) when anyone says that Roundup is essentially innocuous. Bull. I'm not particularly sensitive to chemicals of any kind, but when a former landlord had her gardener soak the ground underneath my cottage with Roundup as a "preventive measure" the aroma was sickening...literally. I had to take my dog (Shasta was still with me then) and cat and go stay with a friend for a week. Even the dog (a 120 lb German Shepherd) was also showing effects of the crap.I saw the "mythbuster" bit and about choked on it. What bull. Either they really believe their own BS, or they know what they're doing is bad for us and don't give a rusty duck. Either choice doesn't say much for the integrity and/or acumen of American business.
ReplyDeleteBee aware... http://topinfopost.com/2013/05/28/russia-warns-obama-monsanto
ReplyDeleteThe most convincing evidence for me relates to the egrets that once covered the trees on the east bank of the Waimea River just below Pioneers research center and gmo corn fields. . . . . it was a bit gross seeing the trees in the evenings--covered with egrets(so many that the trees turned white) . . . . it's, at the present, scary because there are NO egrets on the trees. Even if they are called "rubbish birds", their disappearance is a tell tale sign of the consequences of what's taking place up on the east plains of the Waimea River.
ReplyDeleteWith ex-Monsanto executives now working for the USDA and FDA appointed by Obama, it seems "government" is not for the people but for profits for those who support it with campaign contributions.
ReplyDeleteIf pot were legalized, people would grow their own, and then, where would the drug dealers....including the pharmaceutical industry peddling anti-anxiety drugs make their money?
Its always about money not health.
Dr Shibai
We should all be extremely upset with these, now criminal, denials of the effects of glyphosate on humans. http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416 This link details a study done by Stephanie Seneff from MIT, a specialist dealing in research into "western disease." (Diabetes, Autism etc....) What she has proven here is that glyphosate effects the "shikimate" pathways in the gut bacteria, causing serious problems with vitamin synthesizing, digestion and whole lot more. Monsanto and Syngenta etc... have been using the science that in the human body (excluding all bacteria) the cells do not have the shikimate pathways, so it would be impossible to effect humans with glyphosate! The gig is up, and the internet has allowed those who wish it, the proper knowledge to begin calling these so called scientists what they really are, LIARS and Criminals. They do nothing to improve our economy, and worst of all, they are destroying Hawaii's #1 resource, the land and the water. The days of the failed monoculture industry are numbered, and once they are gone, we can once again start to build a sustainable economy through REAL food production.
ReplyDelete