Category: Potatoes in History

“One of the strongest set of cautions appeared within an extensive report issued by the Royal Society of Canada, which declared (a) that it is ‘scientifically unjustifiable’ to presume that GE foods are safe and (b) that the ‘default presumption’ for every one of them should be that the genetic alteration has induced unintended and potentially harmful side effects…

“Laboratory testing has confirmed the legitimacy of the concerns, and a number of well-conducted research studies on GE foods published in peer-reviewed scientific journals have detected statistically significant instances of harm to the laboratory animals that were consigned to consume them. Moreover, a review of the scientific literature on GE foods (itself published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2009) concluded that ‘most’ of the safety assessments have not only indicated problems, but indicated that ‘many GM [genetically modified] foods have some common toxic effects.'”

http://www.independentsciencenews.org/science-media/the-gmo-dark-act-cannot-survive-the-light/

“’I really take issue with the line that so many American farmers regularly repeat about feeding the world,’ says Marten, a third generation farmer working huge swathes of land near Penn Yan. ‘I always want to ask Corn Belt farmers whether they, or anybody they know, have ever eaten anything that they grow on their farm. The answer is almost invariably no.’

“Yet this is the story we’re told by Big Agriculture – it’s the story we want to believe as consumers – about the farms in this country: they are the source of bountiful wagon loads of food that feed the world, and farmers are using the latest and greatest technology to make this happen.

“But, in the end, that’s just a story. It’s a series of happy caricatures we put on posters to encourage ourselves to stay calm and carry on. It’s anything but the truth.”

http://www.boomtowntable.com/unconventional-klaas/2015/12/6/unconventional-klaas#comments-5664d458e4b02b0e953ec6c0=

“This is a collapse of journalistic standards. When reporters quote sources about food issues such as GMOs or organic food, readers deserve to know if the sources have been funded by Monsanto or have other conflicts of interest.

“The principal effect of failing to reveal these conflicts of interest is to unfairly enhance the credibility of Monsanto-funded academics, and their support of GMOs and criticism of organic food, while detracting from the credibility of consumer advocates.”

http://usrtk.org/gmo/journalists-failed-to-disclose-sources-funding-from-monsanto-a-short-report/

“The F.D.A. said there is no reason to mandate labeling because there is no material difference between engineered and natural fish on qualities like nutritional content. But the value of that information should be left to consumers to decide.

“Vermont enacted a law last year that will require labeling of genetically engineered foods starting next July unless a suit filed in June 2014 by four industry trade groups derails it. Other states with strong consumer movements may try to follow.

“The House passed a bill on July 23, 2015, that would pre-empt states from requiring such labeling, and industry groups are pressing the Senate to attach similar language as a rider to an omnibus spending bill. The Senate should rebuff that tactic and allow states to adopt mandatory labeling laws if they wish.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/opinion/tell-consumers-what-they-are-eating.html?_r=2

“The decision revived a class-action lawsuit against Herb Thyme Farms Inc., a large herb grower with many farms throughout California.

“Most of the company’s farms grow herbs conventionally, but one farm is organic and has been properly certified as such, the court said.

“The lawsuit contends that Herb Thyme processes its conventional and organic herbs together under an organic label and even sells some herbs grown entirely with chemicals as organic.”

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-organic-court-20151203-story.html

“Industrial agriculture is a fossil fuel-based system which contributes more than 40 per cent of the greenhouse gases leading to climate change. Along with the globalised food system, industrial agriculture is to be blamed for at least 50 per cent of the global warming…

“Returning organic matter to the soil builds up soil nitrogen. Organic farming can increase nitrogen content of soil between 44-144 per cent, depending on the crops that are grown. Organic farming not only avoids the emissions that come from industrial agriculture, it transforms carbon in the air through photosynthesis and builds it up in the soil, thus contributing to higher soil fertility, higher food production and nutrition and a sustainable, zero-cost technology for addressing climate change.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crP5EVZdvLE&feature=youtu.be

“Beets’ share of all U.S. sugar deliveries – which represent total demand to major users and customers – fell to less than 41 percent of the U.S. total of 11.8 million tons (10.7 million tonnes) in the last fiscal year, a record low, down from 47 percent of 10.4 million tons in the 2008 crop year, the year the biotech seeds were introduced on a commercial scale, according to U.S. government data dating from 1992…

“Food manufacturers are taking seriously the backlash from consumers, including Millennials, the generation of people now in their 20s and 30s, who are perceived to care more about the ingredients on their plates.

Companies including Hershey Co, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc , Unilever Plc subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc and General Mills Inc have pledged to ditch GMO ingredients in some products, bowing to customer pressure…

“Hershey will stop using beet sugar in its Kisses and Milk Chocolate bars, two of its best-known products, by the end of the year. Vermont has passed a law, due to come into effect next year, which requires food with GMO ingredients to be so labeled. It’s the first such law in the nation and a move that some industry experts think could drive consumers toward organic and other non-GMO foods.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/29/us-sugar-gmo-insight-idUSKCN0SN0C720151029#PsdeRtRiTRbI2IoX.99

“Dow created Enlist crops as a quick fix for the problem created by ‘Roundup Ready’ crops, the previous generation of genetically engineered crops designed to resist the effects of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide.”

http://www.panna.org/press-release/epa-pulls-registration-dow-enlist-duo-herbicide-citing-high-toxicity-levels