What’s the problem with genetically engineered wheat found in Oregon?

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Cassady Sharp

Genetically modified wheat fields in Aberdeen, Saskatchewan.

You may have heard the news that the USDA found genetically engineered wheat in an Oregon field. The USDA has never approved genetically engineered wheat for US farming so how did it get here?

According to officials, the wheat is the same strand of a tested seed from Monsanto 10 years ago.

This discovery is problematic for US agriculture trade as the US exports half of its wheat crop, and several countries do not accept genetically engineered crops.

“This outbreak of GE wheat growing in the US confirms our concerns that GE crops cannot be controlled. This is the latest in a long line of incidents involving the contamination of our food supply with GE crops not approved for human consumption,” said Greenpeace International scientist Janet Cotter. ”The developers of GE wheat have repeatedly said that GE wheat will not contaminate conventional or organic wheat because it is predominantly self-pollinating (i.e. the pollen does not spread very far, unlike crops such as maize and oilseed rape). Despite these empty promises, GE contamination has happened.”

The Agriculture Department is investigating how the wheat got to the US, and how far it may have spread.

Tell the USDA to ban field tests of genetically engineered crops!

6 Reasons to March against Monsanto May 25th

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Cassady Sharp

Aerial view of a crop circle made by local farmers and Greenpeace volunteers

There aren’t too many corporations more globally disliked than the sustainable agriculture company Monsanto. And by “sustainable agriculture,” they mean genetically engineering food crops with unknown chemicals leading to health and environmental risks including a jarring decline in global bee populations.

This Saturday, May 25, thousands of global activists will participate in marches against Monsanto in 250 cities around the world. Initially organized and created by Tami Monroe Canal, mother of two young daughters, this global movement aims to fight back against a multinational corporation putting profit over human and environmental health. Continue reading →

Will big biotech giants destroy Mexican corn? Join us and say no!

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Aleira Lara

The Mexican government is likely to authorize the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) corn in Mexico. And until now Mexican citizens, with the help of organisations like Greenpeace, have managed to prevent agribusiness giants like Monsanto, DuPont and Dow AgroSciences from gaining approval in Mexico for genetically engineered corn.

But this looks like it could change.

The agriculture ministry in Mexico may allow foreign companies to plant genetically engineered corn on 2.4 million hectares of land. Continue reading →

Avoid buying Koch Industries products with new phone app!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Connor Gibson

Here’s a cool new toy. A popular article on Forbes today details a new smart phone app called “Buycott,” which is catching the attention of shoppers who want to make sure their money spent on groceries and other basic products isn’t enriching corporations with bad records on social and environmental responsibility.

Take Koch Industries. Greenpeace has written extensively about the Koch brothers’ $67 million in support for groups that deny climate change science and promote industries that pollute our air and water, our politics, and our health. The millions of dollars going to groups like ALEC and the State Policy Network also serves to break unions, privatize education, and water down healthcare reform.

Those are good reasons not to give a dime to the multi-billionaire Koch brothers, who own the vast majority of Koch Industries’ private stock. Yet many consumers may not realize that buying products like Quilted Northern toilet paper or Brawny paper towels contributes to Koch profits through their giant pulp and paper subsidiary, Georgia-Pacific. Nor perhaps did the incoming Obama Administration realize that the 2009 inaugural carpet was made by a Koch subsidiary called INVISTA. What a crummy business deal–the President buys your carpet, then you coordinate hundreds of millions of dollars from billionaires determined to defeat his re-election bid…if only there had been an app!

“I have a question–who bought this Koch Industries carpet? Are you serious?!”

The President’s staff aren’t alone. You may well have Koch products in your house. Continue reading →

‘Monsanto Protection Act’ adopted in the US

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Eric Darier

Imagine a democratic government adopting a legislation that would instruct its own Department of Agriculture “to ignore any judicial rulings that block the planting of crops that the court determines to be illegal”(according to Senator Jon Tester D-MT).

In essence, this is what the US Congress has done by adopting a small clause (Section 735) inside the 2013 agricultural budget. Continue reading →

Monsanto supports GMO labeling in the UK but not in the US

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Tyler Sanville

“Monsanto fully supports UK food manufactures and retailers in their introduction of these labels. We believe you should be aware of all the facts before making a purchase.”

This quote comes from an advertisement that Monsanto ran in the UK in the late 1990′s when consumers demanded that genetically engineered food be labeled. Monsanto may not have initially liked the idea, but as the policy became inevitable, they began running ads in support of labeling, to pretend they supported it all along. The European Union mandated labeling of all genetically engineered foods in 2003.

Nearly a decade later, California may become the first state in the US to require genetically engineered food to be labeled. With only a few days until the proposal is put to a vote, Monsanto has already given over $8 million to a front group that is blitzing California’s airwaves with anti-labeling advertisements. The “No on 37″ group has raised well over $40 million so far, with Monsanto as the largest donor.

What gives? Do Monsanto executives think it’s okay for British parents to know what’s in the food they feed their kids, while treating America’s children as “guinea kids”?

Vote Yes on Proposition 37 to ensure the labeling of genetically engineered food in California, because we have the right to know.

California Prop 37: The Right to Know

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Charlie Cray

With less than a week to go before California voters decide whether they want food that contains genetically engineered (GE) ingredients to be explicitly labeled as such, the board of the American Association for the Advance of Science (AAAS) has proclaimed from its prestigious perch that those who want Frankenfoods to be labeled are little more than emotional nuts who know nothing about science.

That the AAAS would enjoin this battle is hardly a surprise, given its longstanding ties to Monsanto and other companies with a direct interest in the outcome. But the group says that its real motivation for opposing mandatory labeling is because doing so would “mislead and falsely alarm consumers.”

“Our concern is that ideology not trump science here,” AAAS Chief Executive Alan Leshner told the LA Times. “We do regulation of foods to protect the public health.” Continue reading →