Filed under: agriculture, Bio Weapons, corruption, depopulation, Dictatorship, EPA, Eugenics, Fascism, fda, food safety, genetic engineering, genetically modified, GM corn, gm crops, gm food, GM foods, health and environment, Human Experiments, malthusian, malthusian catastrophe, Monsanto, Population Control, scandal, softkill, toxic earth, toxic environment, toxicity | Tags: GM corn, gm soy, kidney failure, liver damage, liver health
GM Food Causes Liver and Kidney Damage
Disturbing Fact: 75% of processed foods that Americans eat have genetically modified ingredients
Daily Mail
January 21, 2010
Fresh fears were raised over GM crops yesterday after a study showed they can cause liver and kidney damage.
According to the research, animals fed on three strains of genetically modified maize created by the U.S. biotech firm Monsanto suffered signs of organ damage after just three months.
The findings only came to light after Monsanto was forced to publish its raw data on safety tests by anti-GM campaigners.
They add to the evidence that GM crops may damage health as well as be harmful to the environment.
The figures released by Monsanto were examined by French researcher Dr Gilles-Eric Seralini, from the University of Caen.
Yesterday he called for more studies to check for long-term organ damage.
‘What we’ve shown is clearly not proof of toxicity, but signs of toxicity,’ he told New Scientist magazine. ‘I’m sure there’s no acute toxicity but who’s to say there are no chronic effects?’
The experiments were carried out by Monsanto researchers on three strains of GM maize. Two of the varieties contained genes for the Bt protein which protects the plant against the corn borer pest, while a third was genetically modified to be resistant to the weedkiller glyphosate. All three strains are widely grown in America, while one is the only GM crop grown in Europe, mostly in Spain.
Monsanto only released the raw data after a legal challenge from Greenpeace, the Swedish Board of Agriculture and French anti- GM campaigners.
Dr Seralini concluded that rats which ate the GM maize had ‘ statistically significant’ signs of liver and kidney damage. Each strain was linked to unusual concentrations of hormones in the blood and urine of rats fed the maize for three months, compared to rats given a non-GM diet.
The higher hormone levels suggest that animals’ livers and kidneys are not working properly.
Female rats fed one of the strains also had higher blood sugar levels and raised levels of fatty substances caused triglycerides, Dr Seralini reported in the International Journal of Microbiology.
The analysis concluded: ‘These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown.’
Monsanto claimed the analysis of its data was ‘based on faulty analytical methods and reasoning, and does not call into question the safety findings for these products’.
Filed under: agriculture, Bio Weapons, depopulation, Dictatorship, DNA, EPA, Eugenics, Fascism, fda, food safety, genetic engineering, genetically modified, GM, GM corn, gm food, GM foods, health and environment, Human Experiments, malthusian, malthusian catastrophe, Monsanto, New World Order, NWO, Oppression, softkill
Is Monsanto’s Corn Destroying Your Internal Organs?
Sustainable Food
January 8, 2010
Yes, this is another story about Monsanto, the controversy-prone American agricultural giant that, according to Greenpeace, sells 90 percent of the world’s genetically modified seeds.
The company’s dominance is such that even the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating it for possible antitrust practices.
But the government has been a willing partner in marketing GMO crops, repeatedly refusing to require GMO foods to be labeled (as the E.U. does) and signing off on their alleged safety.
Funny thing about that: There’s hardly any research to back it up: The government hasn’t funded it and independent researchers can’t get a hold of the — patented — seeds.
What studies there are don’t look good. One Australian report suggests the GMO corn made by Monsanto causes significant fertility problems in mice (and, by implication, possibly humans).
And a new study — which had to resort to analyzing data sets produced by studies conducted by Monsanto and another biotech firm, Covance Laboratories, and submitted to European governments because researchers couldn’t get seeds — has found that Monsanto corn impairs rats’ kidneys and livers. The “data strongly suggests” that after just 90 days of eating GM corn, rats experienced kidney toxicity and showed effects to their hearts, adrenal glands, spleen and blood cells. (The study was published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences.)
The authors explain that their analysis of the data differed from Monsanto’s because the company overlooked different reactions in male and female rats. The ag giant continues to maintain that its GMO corn is safe.
So what happens to humans who eat GM corn products as well as animals who’ve been fed GM corn? That’s a darn good question, and one the U.S. government ought to have an answer to before waving these products into the food supply. (And if you think that just because humans and livestock aren’t dropping dead on the spot GMOs must be fine, read this very sane analysis.)
Take action and Get the FDA to Suspend Approval for Monsanto’s GMO corn.
Filed under: agriculture, animal cruelty, ben bernanke, Bio Weapons, depopulation, Dictatorship, DNA, EPA, Eugenics, Fascism, fda, food safety, genetic engineering, genetically modified, GM, GM corn, gm food, GM foods, health and environment, Holocaust, Human Experiments, malthusian catastrophe, Monsanto, New World Order, NWO, Oppression, softkill | Tags: health alert, spider goat
Monsanto named “Company of the Year” by Forbes Magazine
NoWorldSystem
January 7, 2010
Monsanto is named “2009 Company of the Year” by Forbes Magazine. This is just another slap in the face on the American people, just as devaluer-in-chief Ben Bernanke was nominated “Man of The Year” by Times Magazine, it’s completely absurd.
Filed under: Animal Abuse, animal cruelty, Bio Weapons, bovine growth hormone, cancer, depopulation, Dictatorship, Empire, Eugenics, fda, food market, food safety, genetic engineering, genetically engineered, genetically engineered food, genetically modified, Genocide, GM, gm food, GM foods, GMO, GMOs, health and environment, Human Experiments, malthusian catastrophe, Monsanto, rBST, soft kill, toxicity, Uncategorized | Tags: (IGF-1, Cancer Prevention Coalition, CPC, homogenization, milk, pasteurization
Genetically engineered hormones used by dairy industry promote cancer
E. Huff
Natural News
November 17, 2009
An industry report claiming that the genetically-engineered hormone Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) is safe has received criticism from the Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC) for its dubious findings. Funded by producers of rBST, the report was conducted entirely by industry-paid consultants rather than by independent, credible scientists, indicating it is fallacious.
Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, chairman of the CPC, lambasted the report for failing to recognize the grave, scientifically-proven dangers imposed by rBST. Author of the 2006 book What’s In Your Milk?, Dr. Epstein stated the report was “blatantly false”.
One of the primary effects of rBST on cows is that is causes them to become seriously ill with various diseases including mastitis, an infection of the udder that ultimately contaminates milk with pus. Commonly branded as Posilac, rBST unnaturally increases milk production at the expense of the cow’s health, the repercussions of which are passed on to the consumer.
Monsanto, the original creator of rBST, was forced to reveal the truth that rBST induces roughly 20 toxic effects, all of which end up tainting the milk with disease. When farmers then treat these illnesses with antibiotics, those too end up in the milk that is eventually drunk by unsuspecting consumers.
Got milk hormones?
Research has also revealed that rBST-treated milk is both chemically and nutritionally different than natural milk and that traces of the hormone end up in the milk. Those who drink rBST-tainted milk readily absorb the hormone in their digestive tract which is then assimilated into the blood.
Milk from rBST-treated cows contains unnaturally high levels of natural growth factor (IGF-1) which inhibits the body’s natural defense mechanisms designed to fend off cancer. Well-documented scientific studies have implicated the hormone in precipitating prostate, breast, and colon cancer.
CPC has been working for decades to eliminate rBST from the milk supply. In 1990, the group issued a warning in conjunction with over 40 other organizations about the dangers of rBST. The warning fell upon deaf ears at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which continued to accept the flawed notion that rBST was safe in spite of its proven dangers.
In 2007, CPC sent a petition to the FDA entitled “Seeking Withdrawal of the New Animal Drug application for rBST”, which was endorsed by several farmer and consumer protection groups. Citing Congressional concerns about the hormone that date back to the 1980s, as well as countless studies illustrating the toxicity of rBST, these groups labored to reform the FDA’s flawed position. Unfortunately, the FDA ignored the facts and continues to keep the interests of industry as its priority at the expense of consumer protection.
Dr. Epstein’s recommendation, especially for children who are most susceptible to cancer-causing additives like rBST, is to choose organic milk if they are going to drink milk at all. Organic milk is not allowed to contain rBST or any artificial hormones and is the best alternative to conventional milk that may be tainted with rBST.
Organic, raw milk is the most preferable option as it is a whole, living food rich in beneficial enzymes, probiotics, and other nutrients that get destroyed during pasteurization and homogenization. Many believe raw milk is a perfect food rich in essential vitamins and high in protein.
Filed under: agriculture, animal cruelty, Bio Weapons, cancer, David Rockefeller, depopulation, Dictatorship, DNA, Empire, EPA, Eugenics, Eugenics Society, Fascism, fda, food market, food safety, genetic engineering, genetically engineered, genetically engineered food, genetically modified, genetics, Genocide, GM, GM corn, gm food, GM foods, GMO, GMOs, health and environment, Holocaust, Human Experiments, malthusian catastrophe, Monsanto, New World Order, NWO, Oppression, Population Control, rockefeller, Science and technology, soft kill, super weapons, syngenta, toxicity, White House | Tags: Michael Taylor, spider goat
GMO foods are changing the DNA of humans
Filed under: 1984, agriculture, Big Brother, biometrics, cargill, consolidation, Control Grid, department of agriculture, digital angel, Echelon, fda, food safety, global elite, global government, Globalism, gps, Mad Cow, mandatory microchipping, michigan, microchip, Monsanto, nanny state, New World Order, NWO, Oppression, organic, orwell, RFID, Science and technology, Spy, Surveillance, USDA, Verichip | Tags: internet of things, microchip implant cancer, National Animal Identification System, rfid cancer, Ubiquitous living, utopia
Amish farmers lose court battle against RFID
Beasts must still be numbered, says court
The Register
July 31, 2009
Michigan farmers have failed in their attempt to block the introduction of RFID tags for cattle, despite arguments about the cost and the risk of upsetting an otherwise benevolent deity.
The case was bought by the catchily-named Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defence Fund (FTCLDF), representing small farmers in Michigan as well as a group of six Amish farmers: the former concerned about the cost of the tags, while the latter were more worried about eternal damnation brought on by applying numbers to God’s own cattle.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) tried to get the case dismissed back in November last year, but only now has it managed to have the case thrown out on the basis that it is a Michigan ruling and thus subject to state laws, rather than part of any agenda being set by the USDA as part of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), against which the plaintiff’s case was based.
Even in Michigan the law is intended to be voluntary, but the plaintiffs clearly believe that the voluntary status is just a ruse under which a mandatory ruling can be later implemented, which would threaten their livelihoods, or eternal souls, as appropriate. It’s worth noting, as the Judge did, that even Amish cattle already have numbered metal ear studs, so the contention that numbering cattle is against God’s law was already in shaky ground.
As for the USDA agenda, RFID Journal covers the case in some detail including quotes from a Michigan representative explaining:
“We implemented this program nearly 10 years ago… This was done pre-NAIS. Michigan is the only state with a mandatory electronic animal-tracking program, but it is also the only state with documented bovine TB cases”
Electronic tracking, in this instance, doesn’t necessarily mean RFID tags. The same thing can be, and is, achieved using the existing metal studs, with the data gathered electronically whenever the cattle are moved. But such assurances aren’t going to dent a good conspiracy theory about federal control.
National Animal Identification System
Insane Food Bill 2749 Passes House On 2nd Try. HR 2749: Totalitarian Control Of Our Food Supply
Filed under: 2008 olympics, agriculture, asia, beijing, China, EPA, Eugenics, fda, federal crime, genetically modified, Genocide, Globalism, GM, gm crops, gm food, health and environment, Human Experiments, malthusian catastrophe, melamine, Monsanto, olympics, Population Control, USDA | Tags: cyromazine, dangerous candy, deadly candy, halloween, halloween candy, herbicide glyphosate, hersheys, infant deaths, infanticide, John Schorr, kelloggs, kidneys, lactose powder, M&Ms, made in china, mars, milk, non-fat milk powder, pet food, powdered milk, roundup, roundup ready, sugar, sugar beet, sugar beets, target, trick or treating, u.s. food safety, u.s. food supply, wheat gluten, whole milk powder
Halloween Candy With Melamine on U.S. Store Shelves?
This Halloween, Say No To Candy Containing GM Sugar
Joanne Waldron
NaturalNews
October 27, 2008
Parents in Brazil are refusing to feed their children products made using genetically-modified sugar, according to an article at Food & Water Watch. Halloween is just around the corner, and unbeknownst to many American parents, foods like Kellogg’s cereal and Hershey’s chocolate may be made with sugar from genetically-modified sugar beets, warns Kisha Lewellyn Schlegel in a report at NewWest.net. There are many reasons that parents of American children need to be concerned.
Why Would They Use GM Sugar Beets?
Not surprisingly, it’s all about the money. These sugar beets have been genetically altered so that they can withstand regular applications of a weed killer made by Monsanto known as RoundUp. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently increased the allowable residue of the active ingredient of the weed killer (known as glyphosate) on beetroots by a whopping 5000%. Those scientists at the EPA are really doing their jobs protecting everyone, eh?
What’s The Trouble With Glyphosate?
So, what’s the trouble with the weed killer residue? Probably the biggest issue is that there have been studies linking glyphosate exposure to cancer and other health problems. Of course, there is also the Network of Concerned Farmers, a group of farmers who believe that glyphosate can create “super weeds” that are resistant to herbicides. Then, of course, there is a concern that these frankenfood crops may be responsible for the gene pollution of other crops and plants.
Monsanto Hires a Team of Lobbyists – Parents Must Take Action!
While the sugar industry is trying to keep their use of genetically-modified sugar beets quiet, Monsanto has hired a whole team of lobbyists to work on their behalf. This is why it is very important for concerned parents to make their views known before it is too late! Contact Nancy Pelosi at AmericanVoices@house.gov, and tell her that laws are needed to protect consumers from genetically-modified sugar beets. It is also important to send faxes to lawmakers. One can (at the time of this writing) send two free faxes per day at FaxZero.com right from any computer with an Internet connection (see terms and conditions at the site). Consumers should never have to worry about getting cancer from eating a piece of Halloween candy. (Even if parents are strict about what their children eat at home, it’s hard to police what they might be given at at class parties at school.) Why not send a free fax to two different lawmakers every single day? If enough people complain, lawmakers will have to listen. E-mail or fax this article to lawmakers today.
Don’t Support Child Slave Labor
Unfortunately, there is another reason to be concerned about the candy one purchases. According to an article by Dr. Edward Group, two of the companies that rule the chocolate industry (M&M/Mars and Hershey’s) purchase much of their cocoa from the Ivory Coast. Unfortunately, Ivory Coast cocoa farms use child slave labor to work their farms. Parents must consider whether they really want their children indulging in sweets made at the expense of other children.
Dr. Group: Put Your Money Where Your Health Is
Dr. Group believes parents can make their voices heard by voting with their dollars, by purchasing only organic chocolate and candy products. Dr Group asks parents to ask themselves if they would buy a chocolate bar if the label on the product said: “Consuming this candy bar may cause cancer – contains sugar from genetically engineered beets, cocoa harvested by child slaves, and harmful pesticides and fungicides.” Sounds much less appealing, doesn’t it?
Filed under: agriculture, EPA, genetically modified, GM, gm crops, gm food, health and environment, Human Experiments, idaho, minnesota, Monsanto, north dakota, Science and technology, USDA | Tags: halloween, herbicide glyphosate, hersheys, John Schorr, m&M, mars, roundup, roundup ready, sugar, sugar beet, sugar beets, u.s. food supply
Sugar now coming from genetically modified sugar beets
Mike Adams
NaturalNews
October 7, 2008
This year saw the first commercial planting of genetically modified (GM) sugar beets in the United States, with that sugar to hit the food supply soon after.
Farmers across the country will soon be planting Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar beet, genetically engineered for resistance to Monsanto’s herbicide glyphosate (marketed as Roundup). John Schorr, agriculture manager for Amalgamated Sugar, estimates that 95 percent of the sugar beet crop in Idaho will be of the new GM variety in 2008, or a total of 150,000 out of 167,000 acres.
Approximately 1.4 million acres of sugar beets are planted in the United States each year, primarily in Minnesota and North Dakota’s Red River Valley, as well as the Pacific Northwest, Great Plains and Great Lakes areas.
In response to the anticipated flood of GM sugar onto the food market, the consumer group Citizens for Health has launched an email campaign to pressure three major sugar and candy companies to refuse the new product. In 2001, American Crystal Sugar, Hershey’s and M&M Mars all promised that they would not use GM sugar; Citizens for Health is asking consumers to email those companies from the group’s Web site and urge them to keep that promise.
“Since half of the granulated sugar in the U.S. comes from sugar beets, the infiltration of GE sugar beets represents a significant alteration of our food supply,” Citizens for Health says on its Web site. “Unlike traditional breeding, genetic engineering creates new life forms that would never occur in nature, creating new and unpredictable health and environmental risks.”
In 1999, candy companies’ refusal to purchase GM sugar scuttled Monsanto’s first attempt to introduce Roundup Ready sugar beets.
On another front, a coalition of farmer and environmental groups is seeking to block the planting of the GM beets through a federal lawsuit. The plaintiffs in the case – the Center for Food Safety, High Mowing Organic Seeds, the Organic Seed Alliance and the Sierra Club – are represented by lawyers from the Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice.
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) changed the classification of Roundup Ready sugar beets from regulated to deregulated, meaning that the GM beets could be planted without a special permit. But the lawsuit alleges that the USDA failed to properly conduct an environmental review into the impacts of this deregulation.
“The law requires the government to take a hard look at the impact that deregulating Roundup Ready sugar beets will have on human health, agriculture and the environment,” said Greg Loarie of Earthjustice. “The government cannot simply ignore the fact that deregulation will harm organic farmers and consumers, and exacerbate the growing epidemic of herbicide resistant weeds.”
Critics point out that Roundup Ready crops encourage increased chemical use, with dangerous effects on both human health and the environment. In addition to contaminating soil and water, pesticides leave potentially dangerous residue on food plants themselves.
Citizens for Health says that this is a particular concern in light of the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent compliance with a Monsanto request to increase the allowable levels of glyphosate residue on sugar beet roots by 5000 percent.
“Sugar is extracted from the beet’s root, and the result is more glyphosate pesticide in our sugar,” the group said.
Another concern is that such plants encourage the development of “superweeds” that are resistant to Roundup.
“Just as overuse of antibiotics eventually breeds drug resistant bacteria, overuse of Roundup eventually breeds Roundup-resistant weeds,” said Kevin Golden of the Center for Food Safety. “When that happens, farmers are forced to rely on even more toxic herbicides to control those weeds.”
USDA data reveals that in the 10 years after the 1994 introduction of Roundup Ready crops, herbicide use increased by 15 times. This has led to a concurrent increase in superweeds. While no cases of Roundup-resistant weeds were known in the U.S. corn belt in 2000, this year the roster of such weeds includes marestail, common and giant ragweed, waterhemp, Palmer pigweed, Cocklebur, lambsquarters, morning glory and velvetleaf.
Ninety-nine percent of U.S. superweeds are resistant to Roundup.
GM crops may also cross-breed with non-GM plants of the same or closely related species. The primary seed-growing region for sugar beets – the Willamette Valley of Oregon – is also a major seed-growing area for the closely related organic chard and table beets. Since all these species are wind pollinated, the chances of contamination are very high.
“Contamination from genetically modified pollen is a major risk to both the conventional and organic seed farmers, who have a long history in the Willamette Valley,” said Matthew Dillon, director of advocacy for the Organic Seed Alliance. “The economic impact of contamination affects not only these seed farmers, but the beet and chard farmers who rely on the genetic integrity of their varieties.”
Crops contaminated by cross-pollination with GM varieties can no longer be certified organic.
Since corn syrup is an even more widely used sweetener than sugar and the majority of corn grown in the United States is also Roundup Ready, food safety advocates note that nearly all sweetened food in the United States will soon be GM. Because U.S. law does not require labeling of GM ingredients, consumers of products from candy to breakfast cereal will soon be unknowingly exposed to engineered sugar, with unknown health consequences.
“As a consumer, I’m very concerned about genetically engineered sugar making its way into the products I eat,” Neil Carman of the Sierra Club said.
Filed under: agriculture, fda, genetically engineered, genetically modified, GM, gm crops, gm food, health and environment, Mad Cow, Monsanto, Science and technology | Tags: cloned, cloned animals, cloned beef, frankenfoods, genetically engineered eggs, genetically engineered meat, genetically engineered milk, genetically modified eggs, genetically modified meat, genetically modified milk, GM eggs, GM meat, GM milk, pig mouse, round-up ready, u.s. food supply
More “Frankenfoods” heading toward American dinner tables
Telegraph
September 18, 2008
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed legal framework which is expected to open the market to meat and milk produced from modified animals, which detractors have already termed “Frankenfood”.
Such creatures, which could include new hen breeds capable of laying healthier eggs and cows that are immune to mad cow disease, have been developed already.
But producers have been discouraged from marketing their creations by the absence of clear rules governing such a controversial issue.
The government wants the guidelines to resolve questions such as as whether altered animals are safe for human consumption or whether they pose a risk to the environment.
“Genetic engineering of animals is here and has been here for some time,” said Larisa Rudenko, a science policy adviser with the FDA’s veterinary medicine centre.
“We intend to provide a rigorous, risk-based regulatory path for developers to follow to help ensure public health and the health of animals.”
Consumer groups welcomed plans to regulate the area but were alarmed by apparent gaps in the proposals.
They pointed out that the FDA does not, for example, plan to insist that all such meat, fish and poultry be labeled as genetically-engineered.
“They are talking about pigs that are going to have mouse genes in them, and this is not going to be labeled,” said Jean Halloran, director of food policy for Consumers Union. “We are close to speechless on this.”
The FDA has already ruled that cloned animals – which are not the same – are safe to eat.
The agency will continue to exempt genetically-altered animals that pose little risk, such as aquarium fish that were recently changed so they would glow in the dark.
Genetically-engineered animals, which are created by the insertion of a gene from one species of animal into the DNA of another, could fulfil a similar role in food production to GM plants.
Genetic engineering is already widely used in agriculture to produce higher-yielding or disease-resistant crops. However, all sides are aware that consumers may be rather more alarmed by the idea of eating GM meat.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.c..you-genetically-engineered-meat/
Monsanto’s Dangerous Herbicide Will Generate $1.8 Billion in Profits
http://v.mercola.com/b..rate–1-8-Billion-in-Profits-70015.aspx
Filed under: agriculture, Britain, Dissent, Europe, european union, genetically modified, global economy, GM, gm crops, gm food, health and environment, Human Experiments, Inflation, Monsanto, Police State, Prince Charles, Protest, United Kingdom | Tags: prince of wales
Prince Charles warns GM crops risk causing the biggest-ever environmental disaster
Telegraph
August 12, 2008
The mass development of genetically modified crops risks causing the world’s worst environmental disaster, The Prince of Wales has warned.
In his most outspoken intervention on the issue of GM food, the Prince said that multi-national companies were conducting an experiment with nature which had gone “seriously wrong”.
The Prince, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph, also expressed the fear that food would run out because of the damage being wreaked on the earth’s soil by scientists’ research.
He accused firms of conducting a “gigantic experiment I think with nature and the whole of humanity which has gone seriously wrong”.
Filed under: 1984, ADA, Alex Jones, Atzlan, Big Brother, Bill Clinton, biometrics, Bohemian Grove, brainwashing, Child Abuse, Conditioning, David Rockefeller, Dick Cheney, Dictatorship, Eugenics, fluoride, Genocide, George Bush, global elite, global government, Globalism, GM, gm food, gordon brown, health and environment, Hillary Clinton, Hitler, Iraq, Martial Law, Media, Media Fear, Monsanto, Nazi, New World Order, North American Union, Oppression, Police State, Population Control, Propaganda, skull & bones, skull and bones, SPP, Surveillance, Tony Blair, Troops, UN, War On Terror
Question Your Reality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpFu_bYkomc
Filed under: Arctic, bill gates, David Rockefeller, Monsanto, norway, rockefeller, UN, Warren Buffett, WHO
‘Doomsday’ seeds arrive in Norway
The first consignment of seeds bound for the “doomsday vault” on Svalbard has arrived in Norway.
Twenty-one boxes containing 7,000 seed samples from 36 African nations were sent by the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
The final leg of the journey will take the seeds to the remote Arctic Island.
The vault is intended to act as insurance so that food production can be restarted anywhere on Earth after a regional or global catastrophe.
Built deep inside a mountain, the structure will eventually house a vast collection of seeds; safeguarding world crops against possible future disasters including nuclear wars and dangerous climate change.
The temperature inside the Svalbard Global Seed Vault will drop to -18C (0F) in order to preserve the seeds.
The Norwegian government is paying the $9m (£4.5m) construction costs of the vault, which will have enough space to house 4.5 million seed samples.
The seeds, weighing 330kg (730lb), are made up of varieties of domesticated and wild cowpea, maize, soybean and bambara groundnut.
“The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture genebank houses the world’s largest collection of cowpeas, with over 15,000 unique varieties from 88 countries around the world,” said Dr Dominique Dumet, the institute’s genebank manager.
During January, other national seed banks supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) began packing and shipping duplicate collections that will be stored at Svalbard.
These included collections from Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines and Syria.
Collectively, CGIAR centres maintain 600,000 plant varieties in crop genebanks in a global effort to conserve agricultural biodiversity.
The collection and maintenance of the seeds is being co-ordinated by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which has responsibility of ensuring the “conservation of crop diversity in perpetuity”.
“The seed vault is the perfect place for keeping seeds safe for centuries,” said Cary Fowler, the Trust’s executive director.
“At these temperatures, seeds for important crops like wheat, barley and peas can last for up to 1,000 years.”
The seed vault has been built 120m (390ft) inside a mountain on Spitsbergen, one of four islands that make up Svalbard.
The site, roughly 1,000km (600 miles) north of mainland Norway, was chosen as the location for the vault because it was very remote and it also offered the level of stability required for the long-term project.
The vault is scheduled to be formally opened on 26 February.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
Police tear-gas farmers in clash over French GM crops
Independent
August 27, 2007
Growing tensions in France between opponents and supporters of genetically modified crops have led to violent confrontations.
Gendarmes used tear gas and batons to prevent pro-GM farmers from invading a picnic for militant opponents of genetically modified maize at the town of Verdun-sur-Garonne in south-west France over the weekend.
Hardly a day has gone by this summer without opponents of GM maize – both environmental campaigners and small farmers – invading fields and trampling or cutting down crops. The protesters, led by the small- farmers’ leader, José Bové, claim a citizens’ right to destroy crops which, they say, threaten ecological calamity and the subjection of farmers to the whims of agro-industrial, multinational companies.
Tempers have risen to boiling point since the suicide earlier this month of a farmer in the Lot département who had agreed to plant a small section of GM maize. He took his life a few days after he had been warned that anti-GM protesters planned to hold a picnic on his fields.
The largest French farmers’ federation, the FNSEA, called for Saturday’s demonstration to protest against attacks on crops and alleged government inaction. Gendarmes used tear gas to prevent the farmers from crossing a bridge to the site of the anti-GM picnic, which was addressed by the extravagantly moustachioed M. Bové.
“If Bové keeps on cutting down our crops, we’re going to shave his moustache,” said one protester.
Michel Masson, head of the FNSEA in the central area of France, said: “There has already been one death and I can tell you that many farmers, rather than hang themselves from a tree, are now ready to take their rifles off the wall.”
The confrontation is partly between town and country. It is also a confrontation between two different approaches to agriculture. The FNSEA supports a “scientific” and highly productive approach to agriculture. M. Bové and his supporters argue for a traditional, small-scale approach.
Successive governments have shied away from legislating clearly on GM crops. Most types are banned but farmers have been allowed to plant, experimentally, a variety of maize called MON810, developed by the US company, Monsanto, which is said to be immune to insect attack.
noworldsystem.com 