Farms of the Future

[DeSwiss]

[font size=3]Monsanto/Bayer’s GM Plants Contaminate Europe Despite Ban[/font]



Posted on: Thursday, December 25th 2014 at 9:30 am
Written By: Sayer Ji, Founder


[font size=1]New evidence reveals that despite a ban on cultivation of GM rapeseed in Europe, Monsanto and Bayer's plants are now freely growing there.[/font]

A new study published in PLoS titled ,"Unexpected Diversity of Feral Genetically Modified Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L.) Despite a Cultivation and Import Ban in Switzerland", is believed to be the first report of its kind showing that despite a cultivation and seed import ban of genetically modified (GM) oilseed rape in Switzerland, Monsanto and Bayer's GM plants have been introduced into the environment there, confirming fears that once the GM genie has been let out of the bottle it can not be put back.

*snip*

What is even more remarkable about the discovery of feral GM plants in Europe is that they have been banned from cultivation:

“In the European Union, GM OSR cultivation is presently prohibited and authorization for the import for food and feed processing is confined to the GM OSR events GT73 (Roundup Ready, Monsanto), MS8, RF3, MS8xRF3 and T45 (all traded as InVigor, Bayer CropScience). GM crop plants have found even less acceptance in Switzerland where currently neither the import nor the cultivation of GM OSR is allowed at least until the end of 2017. Nevertheless, the spread of GM OSR cannot totally be prevented by cultivation or import bans. In Japan, where GM OSR is imported but not cultivated, feral glyphosate- and glufosinate-resistant GM OSR plants have repeatedly been detected in port areas and along transportation routes. The feral GM plants found most likely originated from imported transgenic seeds that were spilled during transport to oilseed processing facilities. Two countrywide studies from Switzerland have reported the occurrence of glyphosate-resistant GT73 OSR from four sites in 2011 and 2012. The case of Switzerland is remarkable, because GM OSR has neither been cultivated nor imported into the country.”

[font color=darkblue]If Switzerland has banned both the cultivation and importation of GM rapeseed plants into the country, how did they end up there?[/font]

The authors of the study propose the feral GT73 OSR “probably originated from spillage of conventional OSR seeds or other seed imports that were contaminated with GM seeds.”

[font color=darkblue]This raises a larger question: how much of the world’s food supply is now contaminated with GM plant material?[/font]

MORE

- Welp, this is where we're headed folks.... to the place where the only food that's available and/or affordable -- will end up killing you. But you won't starve. And as we die-off, Monsanto will suddenly discover that it has put itself out of business. Because corpses need neither seeds nor pesticides.

As Jacques Fresco said: ''The system is headed for collapse. And it doesn't require a revolution. It doesn't require that we do anything except leave it alone. It will destroy itself.''

[louis-t]

1. It wouldn't surprise me to find out Monsanto put it there.

Spillage, indeed. Have they started suing European farmers yet?

[silverweb]

7. My first thought, too.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Wouldn't surprise me even a little bit.

[Dont call me Shirley]

2. Criminals!

[drynberg]

3. SMALL PROBLEM: BECAUSE MONSANTAN AND OTHERS LIKE DOW ARE POLLUTING THE TOTAL

Environment with GM poison plants, even if these GMO farms collapse, they will affect others with their polluted seed stock and then massive shortages of food will result, starving billions...hardly a negligible effect, no? Monsatan & Others need to be brought before local courts and sued for all that can be gotten again and again, as just waiting for them to dissipate is folly.

[DeSwiss]

4. There are plenty of heirloom seeds out there.

- Not to mention Svalbard and many, many other smaller seed banks.

I even have heirloom seeds myself that go back to the 80's. And they're still viable as I planted some collard seeds in later November and they're still growing.

We'll get by. Just not with the corporate model (see video above), as it always leads to death.

on edit:

And there are functioning models out there right now:

Will Allen - Growing Power @ Youtube

[jtuck004]

8. We should set aside a few hundred billion and set up Will Allen type greenhouses in every city.

On a few hundred acres. Let people who are homeless camp, and eventually build underground structures as shelters. Let them teach others about food, and life.

We will probably be there at some point, because we have insured that we will have more poverty ahead by our current policies, and more of this country will start to look like abandoned areas of Detroit. Be nice if we could get ahead of the curve, but that's not how we do things.

[jtuck004]

9. Still, I am glad people are seeing the value in heirlooms.

Here.

[SoapBox]

5. Soylent Green...

Or something along those lines.

[zeemike]

6. Those are good ideas but there are other ideas too.

Like aquaculture which can be used to restore land to it's fertility
And we have a lot of farm land that is just plain worn out by modern farming practices that could be restored...and that is being done now all over the world and it works...

[DeSwiss]

11. Geoff Lawton and Paul Weaton are my fav permies!

Last edited Fri Dec 26, 2014, 11:54 PM - Edit history (1)

- And as with nature itself, there should be a myriad of different approaches to the resolving of all our problems. Including food. No one person has the answer. But the answers must be derived based upon facts and science, not politics and money. There is no ''one way'' to solve problems. Not just one monoculture but a plethora-culture. Diversity is the spice of life!

on edit:

However, there is the issue of feral GMOs in the environment. Which is what the PLoS study (above) found. Once GMO's get into the wild they can pass their cancer-causing traits on. And once there, we'll never be rid of them. Thus, the need to move farming into a more controlled environment.

[zeemike]

12. I have watched a lot of those videos but never seen those.

And that last one explains the problems well...the term Frankinfood fits.
And now Frankentrees?...we must be insane.

[jtuck004]

10. This is important, and worth learning about if one wants a life in a future where food

and water are likely to be in short supply. That convenient food package, and some people, may go the way of the 10 animals that were determined to be extinct just in this decade.

On top of that we just signed an agreement that insures we will continues to warm the world up with our exhausts, changing our climate and our expectations of food production.

It takes time and skill to learn how to raise your own food crop, btw. Which means many who are unprepared may wish they had studied this a bit before the day they need it.

Interesting article...
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/food_security_what_crops_will_feed_the_world_if_we_run_out_of_farmland_.2.html

"In short, there’s enough land to feed the world—but not enough to feed the world Big Macs."