-------- Forwarded Message --------
| Subject: | [Health_and_Healing] Ending GMOs Now |
|---|---|
| Date: | Tue, 21 Apr 2015 23:45:36 -0700 |
| From: | Bill Kingsbury b.b.bb@verizon.net [Health_and_Healing] <Health_and_Healing@yahoogroups.com> |
| Reply-To: | Health_and_Healing@yahoogroups.com |
The Institute of Science in Society
Science Society Sustainability
www.i-sis.org.uk
This article can be found on the I-SIS website at
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Ending_GMOs_Now.php
ISIS Report 21/04/15
Global rejection sent Monsanto profits plummeting, farmers abandoning GM crops in record numbers, reclassification of glyphosate as probable carcinogen triggering fresh calls for bans and restrictions; GMOs failing old and new, while organic and non-GMO markets continue booming; the days of GMOs are numbered, let's hasten the demise... Dr Mae-Wan HoEnding GMOs Now
Please circulate widely and repost, but you must give the URL of the original and preserve all the links back to articles on our website. If you find this report useful, please support ISIS by subscribing to our magazine Science in Society, and encourage your friends to do so. Or have a look at the ISIS bookstore for other publications
Sign the petition to ban glyphosate here: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_dont_silence_science_loc/
The year 2015 is auspicious. It started with oil prices plunging to a five year low, sparking a downsizing wave in an industry desperate to rid itself of stranded assets as burgeoning renewable energies are making oil redundant and civil society grassroots movements are winning major campaigns to divest mega-investments from fossil fuels and leave oil in the ground (see [1] Age of Oil Ending? SiS 65).
Simultaneously, a remarkable conjunction of events is boding ill for GMOs (genetically modified organisms). There is superb synergy between the end of oil and the end of the heavily oil-dependent GMO monoculture for a truly sustainable world under climate change, which we made clear in a comprehensive report [2] Food Futures Now -Organic -Sustainable -Fossil Fuel Free published in 2008. So let's read the signs, and do our best to hasten the end of GMOs.
Mass rejection of US GM corn exports and record losses
It began with China rejecting shipment after shipment of US corn imports that tested positive for Syngenta's Agrisure Vipera GM corn released and deregulated in the US since 2011, but not approved in China. Between November 2013 and April 2014, 1.45 million tonnes of US GM corn were destroyed or turned back [3]. Farmers and farming businesses in 20 States in the US have filed more than 360 lawsuits against Syngenta and hundreds more are expected as a federal judge is organizing the complex case. Claims may be up to $3 billion [4]. Although China eventually approved Vipera in December 2014, sales have not improved for US corn growers [3]. One reason is that China has been importing Ukrainian non-GMO corn under a loan-for-grain deal [5]. Ukraine shipped nearly 1 million tonnes to China in 2014, 470 047 tonnes were shipped in January 2015, and more expected to follow.
The other more significant reason is that US farmers are abandoning GMO crops and returning to non-GMO or switching to organic crops (see later).
GMO labelling fight reaches national level in the US
The GMO labelling movement in the US has been inching forward, despite the fact that 64 countries worldwide now label food containing GMOs, including China, Japan, Russia, Australia and all the EU countries. Three states, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island have passed GMO labelling laws so far, but California, Colorado and Oregon have been defeated thanks to heavily-funded counter-campaigns by Monsanto, DuPont and the Grocery Manufacturers Association [6]. A total of 70 bills for labelling were proposed in 30 states within the past two years. Now, the battle has shifted to the national level. Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo introduced the 'DARK' (denying Americans the right to know) Act, which would pre-empt states from setting up their own GMO labelling systems and bar them from defining "natural" foods as free from GMOs. Food safety advocates and consumer groups are fighting back, supporting a national mandatory labelling bill called the Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act, re-introduced in February by a group of congressional Democrats.
Non-GMO and organic produce continue steep growth trajectory
Meanwhile, the Non-GMO project continues its growth trajectory. At the beginning of 2015, it includes more than 20 000 products in over 1 500 companies, accounting for $8.5 billion in sales [7].
The US organic market, similarly, is poised to surpass 45 billion in 2015 [8] owing to rising per capita expenditure, increasing health consciousness, growing awareness of the benefits of chemical free (and GMO-free) organic food and rise in organic farming. Strong distribution channels of manufacturers tied up with retailers have made organic produce such as fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and packaged food in the market more accessible and visible.
US farmers turn non GMO & organic in record numbers, GM traits fail, and Monsanto profits plummet
Simultaneously, record numbers of US farmers are switching back to non-GMO crops in 2015 [9]. Mac Ehrhardt, president of Minnesota-based Albert Lea Seed reports selling more conventional non-GMO corn seed by the end of November 2014 than he did all of last year. Tim Daley, an agronomist at Stonebridge, Ltd., an Iowa-based buyer of non-GMO soybeans also sees a marked demand by farmers for non-GMO seed. He said "some companies have seen a 50 % increase in sales of non-GMO seed, and some have said they've sold more non-GMO seed this year than in the last five."
The main draw of non-GMO is more profit: no technology fees plus a premium, and yields more. GM traits have failed against rising tides of herbicide resistant superweeds and Bt resistant insects. One corn breeder who preferred to remain anonymous said:
"The insect and herbicide traits are losing effectiveness with increased resistant rootworm and weed species. Growers are tired of paying for input costs that are reduced in efficacy and funding additional forms of crop protection."
A substantial proportion of non-GMO seed sales go to organic growers. The mega company, General Mills, purchased organic food company Annie's Homegrown for nearly $1 billion. And other large food corporations are looking to swallow up smaller organic food companies.
In January 2015, Monsanto announced its earnings fell 34 % in the first fiscal quarter as South American farmers reject GMO crops [10]. US farmers harvested record crops of soybeans and corn last year, sending prices to their lowest levels in years. Monsanto's agricultural products revenue fell more than 8 % to $2.87 billion in the period on lower sales of corn seeds and herbicide.
There has been a growing backlash against GMOs in Latin America since Peru approved a 10 year moratorium in November 2012 and Costa Rica has changed its stance on growing GMOs [11]. In 2012, Brazilian farmers sued Monsanto for collecting royalties on crops, and won. In 2014, Brazilian farmers again demand Monsanto refund their money for pest-resistant Bt corn that failed to protect against the target pest corn leaf worm [12]. The pest killed the crops instead of dying, and an extra $54 per ha had to be spent for pest control at a time when corn prices are very low. The Bt corn seeds are produced by Dow Agrosciences, DuPont, Monsanto and Syngenta. The very same problems had been occurring in the US and elsewhere with different Bt corn and cotton crops. In April 2015, Monsanto again announced lost profits into the second quarter of 15 %, even more than projected by most experts [13]. And Monsanto vice president Kerry J. Preete sold 27 580 shares of Monsanto company stock [14], just over 40 % of his holdings.
More is in store for the beleaguered biotech giant.
Top selling herbicide reclassified a probable human carcinogen
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