Is it just a romantic, anti-science notion to ditch agrichemicals,
GMOs, monocultures and patents? Or, is
it a necessity?
This is the story of how small-holders become trapped by
addiction to pesticides, and how two villages in India got clean.
Climate change and GM go hand in hand
September 2019
Paul D. Thacker, a journalist with a nose for industry-led
corruption of science and regulations, has commented that climate change denial
and promotion of GMOs go together like peanut butter and jelly.
At first glance, it's not obvious why: it seems to involve a unique ability to entertain two opposing beliefs at the same time. Climate change deniers say climate change isn't happening so we don't need to do anything. GMO promoters say we need GM 'solutions' to feed the world and to save the environment because of climate change.
At first glance, it's not obvious why: it seems to involve a unique ability to entertain two opposing beliefs at the same time. Climate change deniers say climate change isn't happening so we don't need to do anything. GMO promoters say we need GM 'solutions' to feed the world and to save the environment because of climate change.
However, when there's money involved, some people can
believe anything. Admitting that climate
change is a damaging reality and rejecting GM foods are both harmful to big
business
Super-simplified agri-systems support disease
August 2019
In 1996, an outbreak of E.coli 0157 bacterial disease in Scotland involved the largest recorded number of infected adults in whom the early digestive-tract symptoms progressed to life-threatening kidney disease. Twenty-eight of them died.
That same year, 7,966 individuals were diagnosed with E.coli 0157 infection in a single outbreak in Japan.
Because the guts of healthy cattle are a reservoir for E.coli 0157, the animals, their manure, and the land they've grazed, are potential sources of the infection. The bacteria can also make their way from fields into the water supply.
The Scottish E.coli 0157 outbreak was caused by contaminated raw meat stored next to cooked meat. The Japanese outbreak was caused by radish sprouts contaminated by infected water.
E.coli 0157 -
In 1996, an outbreak of E.coli 0157 bacterial disease in Scotland involved the largest recorded number of infected adults in whom the early digestive-tract symptoms progressed to life-threatening kidney disease. Twenty-eight of them died.
That same year, 7,966 individuals were diagnosed with E.coli 0157 infection in a single outbreak in Japan.
Because the guts of healthy cattle are a reservoir for E.coli 0157, the animals, their manure, and the land they've grazed, are potential sources of the infection. The bacteria can also make their way from fields into the water supply.
The Scottish E.coli 0157 outbreak was caused by contaminated raw meat stored next to cooked meat. The Japanese outbreak was caused by radish sprouts contaminated by infected water.
Organic foods have always been seen as
an arch-enemy by biotech proponents. In a desperate attempt to trash
organics, they've even been blamed for deadly infections of E.coli
0157 bacteria.
Bogus bleeding beef
August 2019
Remember the bleeding GM veggie-burgers
rolled out across America in 2017? That's the fake meat produced by
a similar method to the way Belgian beer's been made for nearly a
thousand years? [1]
The Impossible Burger arrived courtesy
of $80 million worth of research plus $300 million worth of promotion
from foodie celebrities, and a heap of hype. Breathless write-ups
name the Impossible Burger this year's 'It' food craze taking America
by storm, and a wake-up call to the meat industry.
Indeed, the long-term goal of the bogus
burger's manufacturer, Impossible Foods Inc., is to disrupt the meat
industry and convert meat eaters to their products. Impossible
Burgers are set to be followed by Impossible Sausages for pizzas and
Impossible Steak.
Golden rice fast becoming colourless
August 2019
A major focus for the biofortification
of food now being warmly embraced by governments in developing
countries is beta-carotene, or 'pro-vitamin A' [1].
Beta-carotene is a precursor of vitamin
A, an essential micronutrient whose deficiency can seriously damage
vision, the immune-system, and the embryo. The assumption that
putting beta-carotene into rice, a staple food which doesn't
naturally produce any vitamin A precursors, will benefit the health
of the poor sounds good, until you look at the devil in the detail.
'Biofortification' - reinforcing malnutrition
August 2019
'Biofortified' crops, with increased
levels of one, or a few, micro-nutrients, were first released in
2004. Since then, their use has been eagerly embraced by governments
of developing countries as a cheap way to address malnutrition*.
*micro-nutrient
deficiencies
In particular, iron, zinc and vitamin A
in staple foods, such as rice and millet, have been a focus for
biofortification schemes. Both conventional breeding and,
increasingly, GM techniques are being used to achieve these
'nutritionally enhanced' crops.
America's GM plans
August 2019
Since the Big Bang of synthetic
pesticides during World War II, US regulators from both major
political parties have adopted lax, pro-industry standards that have
kept potentially dangerous pesticides legal. This attitude has
extended to GMOs.
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