[Sca-cooks] FW: genetically engineereed foods OT- OT- WAY OT

[Tara Sersen Boroson]

>*Genetically Modified plants contaminate conventionally grown and organic
>plants and honey.
>etc.
>

And those are only a few of the problems out there.  Montsanto has been 
agressively pursuing farmers whom they find to have instances of their 
RoundUp Ready products in their fields without licences.  Never mind 
that these aren't the varieties that the farmers planted, but that they 
cross-pollinated from neighboring fields or were scattered from passing 
trucks.  So far, an appeals court in Canada has upheld Montsanto's claim 
in one instance, even while admitting that the product wasn't planted 
intentionally or that the farmer had any knowledge of it's presence.  
They make cases based on "investigators" who gather data by going 
illegally into the fields and collecting samples - one farmer caught 
someone in photos.  If they'll do that, who's to say they're not also 
planting those seeds themselves?  This isn't a paranoid idea - the more 
farmers they can force to pay their fees, the more who will be 
perpetually forced to buy their product; The more their product is in a 
community, the harder it is for other farmers to maintain their crop 
integrity.  They are also using intimidation to get farmers to pay 
massive sums of money to "settle" these claims out of court.  And, when 
farmers have the guts to take them to court, they are forging documents 
to "prove" that the farmers signed licence agreements.  This is 
happening both in the US and Canada.

Also, the RoundUp Ready canola has already begun to cross-polinate with 
weeds.  Many farmers spray RoundUp to clear their fields before planting 
in the spring, and are finding that some of the weeds are now resistant.

Further, these companies are buying off the World Bank and Congress to 
force developing countries to purchase their products in exchange for 
development loans.  The licences that come with them forbid the farmers, 
who's governments are forcing them to buy the seed, to save seeds from 
season to season, so they have to continue purchasing the seed from the 
companies.  That is an expensive way to farm.

Also, the afore mentioned Bt corn is breeding resistant pests.  This is 
a serious problem for organic farmers who rely on real Bt in much more 
limited quantites for pest control.

Those are just off the top of my head.

Finally, let's remember how many other Great Advances of Science have 
been sold to us as the Next Great Way to Feed Ourselves... and turned 
out to be dangerous.  Think trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup, the 
diminishment in healthful qualities and increase of disease transmission 
from meats and dairy products as a result of feed lot production, entire 
economies demolished by the "Green Revolution".  Forgive me if I want 
more proof before accepting new claims of safety.  Better living through 
science - when it comes to my health, prove it first.

-Magdalena

-- 
Tara Sersen Boroson

You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him to find it for himself. - Galileo Galilei