GUARDIAN UK: The US-EU trade deal could take Monsanto's GM crops off the table

[proverbialwisdom]

MUST READ ARTICLE!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/15/us-eu-trade-deal-monsanto-crops

The US-EU trade deal could take Monsanto's GM crops off the table
A debate over food standards with the largest US trading partner could affect what Americans are eating for dinner

Heidi Moore
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 May 2013 09.30 EDT

As President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron stood smiling for the cameras at a press conference on free trade this week, a secret lurked behind them: the average American couldn't care less about whether the US has a good trade deal with Europe, or whether Europeans buy our products or we buy theirs. With over 12 million unemployed people at home, no one's worried about whether we have enough ripe cheese from France or beer from Germany.

Yet a confluence of events over the past week shows that Cameron's visit is important to Americans. One of the things he and other leaders will be negotiating are what kinds of American food they want brought into their countries cheaply.

Here's why what Europe wants matters: the EU, which loathes American food safety practices, could, by exerting pressure on the negotiations, actually end up improving the quality or variety of food available to Americans.

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The US Department of Agriculture dealt Monsanto a rare blow merely by insisting that its new seeds – the ones resistant to powerful herbicides – require at least another year of examination for safety. The delay was met with surprise.

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[ananda]

1. I would love to see all gm foods eliminated from the food chain.

..

[lovuian]

2. yes They have LOST the battle

its downhill from here on out
Monsanto will fall

The EU and the World is well aware that the US credibility and trust is at its lowest point in American history
The Voters in the EU have spoken

[1-Old-Man]

7. and isn't it amazing the extent to which we have been propagandized to accept the shit we do.

Death by a thousand cuts I suppose, but it is amazing to me that Americans do not seen to care what kind of shit we are fed by corporate agriculture. Why aren't we the ones at the voting booth throwing out politicians who write the laws that allow these man made outrages to exist in the first place.

By the way, as I type this I have to say that I am no fan of the agricultural practices that actually feed much of europe. But my distaste for it comes from a hatred for "green house" vegetables and that is a practice; a matter of the mechanics of production, not the genetics of the thing produced.

[Roland99]

3. Went to a Tesco Metro shop today....

Walked thru the cheese area and the aroma was amazing! Oh it smelled so good.

Try that at a Publix, Kroger, or Super Target.

[proverbialwisdom]

4. GUARDIAN UK: Diplomatic cables reveal aggressive GM lobbying by US officials

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/15/diplomatic-cables-gm-lobbying-us

Diplomatic cables reveal aggressive GM lobbying by US officials

Review of more than 900 cables reveals campaign to break down resistance to GM products in Europe and other countries

Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 May 2013 05.15 EDT

[Donald Ian Rankin]

5. I'm mildly terrified by the writer's assessment of priorities.

I don't know if she's wrong about people caring more about banning Monsanto's crops than about an EU/US trade deal, but it scares me if she's right.

[proverbialwisdom]

6. 'Mildly terrified' by prioritizing (from article's comments) human health over corporate wealth?

To each his own, I guess.

[proverbialwisdom]

8. The need to rely on foreign media and Wikileaks for factually honest reporting troubles me.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022867777

Check it out.

[proverbialwisdom]

9. HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER, say what?

Please start reading here: http://gmwatch.org/component/search/?searchword=Horizontal+gene&ordering=newest&searchphrase=all

[proverbialwisdom]

10. September, 2000: 'This is not sound science, and it is not sound public health.'

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2000-09-03/news/0009030374_1_genetically-modified-new-proteins

"Genetically Altered Foods: We Are Being Exposed to One of the Largest Uncontrolled Experiments in History"

Martha Herbert
Chicago Tribune

September 3, 2000

BOSTON - Today the vast majority of foods in supermarkets contain genetically modified substances whose effects on our health are unknown. As a medical doctor, I can assure you that no one in the medical profession would attempt to perform experiments on human subjects without their consent. Such conduct is illegal and unethical. Yet manufacturers of genetically altered foods are exposing us to one of the largest uncontrolled experiments in modern history.

In less than five years these companies have flooded the marketplace with thousands of untested and unlabeled products containing foreign genetic material. These genetically modified foods pose several very real dangers because they have been engineered to create novel proteins that retard spoilage, produce their own pesticides against insects, or allow plants to tolerate larger and larger doses of weed killers. Despite claims that these food products are based on "sound science," in truth, neither manufacturers nor the government has studied the effects of these genetically altered organisms or their new proteins on people-especially babies, the elderly, and the sick. Can these products be toxic? Can they cause immune system problems? Can they damage an infant's developing nervous system? We need answers to these questions, and until then genetically altered ingredients should be removed from the food we eat.

As a pediatric neurologist, I especially worry about the safety of modified foods when it comes to children. We know that the human immune system, for example, is not fully developed in infants. Consequently, pediatricians have long been concerned about early introduction of new proteins into the immature gut and developing body of small children. Infants with colic are often switched to soy formula. Yet we have no information on how they might be affected by drinking genetically engineered soy, even though this product may be their sole or major source of nutrition for months. Because these foods are unlabeled, most parents feed their babies genetically altered formula whether they want to or not. Even proteins that are normally part of the human diet may, when introduced too early, lead to auto-immune and hypersensitivity or "allergic" reactions later.

Some studies suggest that the epidemic increase in asthma (it has doubled since 1980) may have links to early dietary exposures. The behavior problems of many children with autism and attention disorders get worse when they are exposed to certain foods. Yet as more unlabeled and untested genetically engineered foods enter the market, there is no one monitoring how the millions of people with immune system vulnerability are reacting to them and the novel proteins and fragments of viruses they can contain. In fact, without labeling, there is no possible way to track such health effects. This is not sound science, and it is not sound public health.

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More at link.

Best and saddest expert analysis I have encountered on GMOs ever - discovered last year.