The World According To Monsanto

[BelgianMadCow]

Full length docu on Monsanto and GMOs. Must watch imho - if you care about food safety, and even for those who are well informed. It goes to the heart of the matter.

I found the book equally great.

March against Monsanto 25th of May, worldwide in 300 cities. Going to Brussels myself.

[limpyhobbler]

1. tagging to watch later. nt

[proverbialwisdom]

2. 'Monsanto Protection Act' might be repealed in Senate

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_27551.cfm

'Monsanto Protection Act' might be repealed in Senate
RT , May 17, 2013

Straight to the Source: wow, where's national US media?

The so-called Monsanto Protection Act signed into law earlier this year caused such an outrage that people around the world are planning to protest the biotech company later this month. Now a United States senator is expected to try and repeal that law.

According to the Huffington Post, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) plans to introduce an amendment in Washington that would repeal Section 735 from the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013, a provision that has put St. Louis, Missouri-based Monsanto in the sights of environmentalists around the world.

Deep within the nearly 600-page spending bill, Section 735 includes language that lets biotech companies that experiment with genetically-engineered and genetically-modified crops test and sell lab-made products even if legal action is taken against them.

"The provision would strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of an illegal, potentially hazardous GE crop while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) assesses those potential hazards," dozens of farmers wrote the House of Representatives before the bill was passed in March. "Further, it would compel USDA to allow continued planting of that same crop upon request, even if in the course of its assessment the Department finds that it poses previously unrecognized risks."

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[proverbialwisdom]

3. Huffington Post via OCA.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_27545.cfm

Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant: Our Critics Are Fueled By 'Elitism'
Huffington Post, May 16, 2013

Straight to the Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/16/hugh-grant-monsanto-elitism_n_3285378.html?utm_hp_ref=business

It's not controversial pesticide-resistent crops that fuel Monsanto's critics, according to the company's CEO; it's their own desire to keep poor people from cheap food.

Hugh Grant, CEO of Monsanto, told Bloomberg News in an interview that opponents of genetically-engineered crops, who can afford to choose what kind of food they buy, aren't concerned with the needs of the rest of the world. And their opposition is preventing those in need from getting access to cheaper food.

"There is this strange kind of reverse elitism: If I'm going to do this, then everything else shouldn't exist," Grant told Bloomberg. "There is space in the supermarket shelf for all of us."

Monsanto, the world's largest seed-maker, according to Bloomberg, has been a frequent target of criticism by activists who say its genetically-modified crops can pose a danger to both consumers and the environment by leading to increased pesticide use and the rise of pesticide-resistent "superweeds."

The Department of Agriculture announced last week that they've ordered more investigations into the environmental impact of a new technology developed by Monsanto and Dow Chemical that makes herbicide-resistant crops. The announcement came after the Environmental Protection Agency refused a petition to ban the sale of the technology.

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[BelgianMadCow]

5. The fact he feels thh need to preemptively respond to the march

shows how big this is getting.

The fact he uses such a ridiculous argument (elitism) is, ermmm..a sign he's got nothing better?

[proverbialwisdom]

4. PR Push by Ag and Biotech Industries Has a Secret Weapon: Moms

Related: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2011/01/27/wal-marts-mom-in-chief-targets-millennial-mothers-advertising-campaign-consumer-supermom-real-women/

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_27477.cfm

PR Push by Ag and Biotech Industries Has a Secret Weapon: Moms
By Georgina Gustin
St.Louis Today, May 3, 2013

Straight to the Source: http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/pr-push-by-ag-and-biotech-industries-has-a-secret/article_4905971c-9eaa-5094-8fdb-eb65db31f121.html

Betsie Estes is a mother of two young kids who lives in suburban Chicago.

She's also public relations gold.

Last week, Estes was in the audience at an annual biotechnology industry conference in Chicago, attended by the industry's power players, Creve Coeur-based Monsanto Co., and its competitors, Bayer, Dow, DuPont, among them.

After the gathering, Estes jotted a few thoughts on her blog.

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That's the kind of message the industry wants to hear - that they're not the bad guys - and it's the Betsie Esteses of the "momosphere" who are, increasingly, being invited to convey it.

"Moms are really important because they're the most influential consumers in the country," said David Wescott, director of digital strategy with the public relations firm, APCO Worldwide. "They're increasingly finding their own peers to be the most credible sources of information."

So, what does an industry do when it wants to nudge public opinion in its favor? Find moms - preferably with blogs.

In the past several years, as American agriculture has come under greater scrutiny for everything from biotechnology to antibiotics use, farmers and farm industry groups have banded together to push back against the growing criticism, which has, they fear, grown closer to the mainstream.

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[BelgianMadCow]

6. and a pretty impressive march it was

http://rt.com/news/march-against-monsanto-gmo-776/
2 million people in over 400 cities!