savoy011

Too costly? Really!? Consumers Union Study GMO FOOD LABELING? RIGHT-TO-KNOW COST IS  $2.43  PER  PERSON A YEAR Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | October 4, 2014 According to a new analysis commissioned by Consumers Union (CU) the median cost to consumers of state laws requiring labeling of genetically engineered food is $2.30 per person annually. The report is available online now here .  The CU study – which includes a comprehensive annotated bibliography of studies on the economics of labeling – presents a major scientific rebuke to claims being made by the biotechnology industry. The corporate opponents of GMO labeling, including major chain grocers, have repeatedly misled the public by claiming labeling requirements will significantly increase consumer costs by hundreds and perhaps even thousands of dollars a year.   There is no reliable study proving these claims and the research most often cited by the promoters of GMO foods is produced by the agro-biotech an...

Mexican judge bans planting of GMO soy CROP SEEN AS THREAT TO HONEY BEE COLONIES Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | July 24, 2014 According to reports appearing in the Mexican print media, a federal district court judge in Yucatán yesterday overturned a permit issued to Monsanto , the U.S.-based multinational corporation that is a leading purveyor of genetically modified crops (GMOs). The permit, which had been issued by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock , Rural Development , Fisheries and Food on June 6, 2012, allowed the commercial planting of GM soy bean in Yucatán . The ruling was based on consideration of scientific evidence demonstrating (to the judge’s satisfaction) that GMO soy crop plantings threaten Mexican honey production in the states of Campeche , Quintana Roo, and Yucatán. An op-ed piece appearing in yesterday’s La Jornada (July 23), applauded the decision with insightful commentary suggesting that the federal agencies involved in this dispute are guilt...

What can I do for seed freedom? Credit: porevit-eko Moderator’s Note: We have previously reported on the connection between private intelligence and security corporations and the tar sands oil and fracking industry sectors. Thousands of former military (Navy, Army, Marines), counterintelligence, and intelligence community soldiers and experts staff these corporations.   [ See our report on the use of the U.S. Army’s Counter-insurgency Manual by security outfits hired by fracking operators and their ancillary services.] It seems that wherever environmental struggles are unfolding, the private and state-run security and intelligence agencies will be involved, on the corporate side of course. The militarization of intelligence gathering and security surrounding intensive energy development installations has led to the criminalizing and harassment of legal forms of citizen protest and organizing. This includes targeting activists for domestic spying and infiltration of organizations...

Cartoon courtesy of gmeducation Farmers describe failure of Roundup ready crops TRANSGENIC CROPS CONTAMINATE CONVENTIONAL SEED AND UNDERMINE PREMIUM NON-GMO MARKETS Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | April 3, 2014 In a recent comment submitted to the USDA/APHIS on my opposition to the proposed co-existence policy, I describe how a growing number of GMO farmers actually want off the stacked-traits transgenic treadmill . In the coming days I will be posting a variety of evidence of this phenomenon gleaned from video and audio clips and ethnographic narratives from ongoing policy action research by a fairly diverse group of colleagues associated with a nonGMO listserv. Farmers are the best source for direct knowledge of the experience of working with transgenic crops. Here is one of those GMO American farmers explaining why he wants to get off the treadmill and wishes for preferably non-GMO alternatives to the current desperate situation farmers face across the globe. Monsanto’s technology i...