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  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Ending GMOs Now! Fwd: Announcing Science in Society #66 - Summer 2015
  • Date: Fri, 15 May 2015 13:18:20 -0400

------------begin forwarded message------

Ending GMOs Now

/Global rejection sent Monsanto profits plummeting, farmers abandoning
GM crops in record numbers, reclassification of glyphosate as probable
carcinogen triggering fresh calls for bans and restrictions; GMOs
failing old and new, while organic and non-GMO markets continue booming;
the days of GMOs are numbered, let’s hasten the demise/

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject: Announcing Science in Society #66 - Summer 2015
Date: Fri, 15 May 2015 12:23:36 +0100 (BST)
From: press-release@i-sis.org.uk
To: cedecor@gmx.net


The Institute of Science in Society


Science Society Sustainability

www.i-sis.org.uk <http://www.i-sis.org.uk>

This article can be found on the I-SIS website at
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/AnnouncingScienceinSociety66.php

If you would like to be removed from our mailing list unsubscribe at
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------------------------------------------------------------------------


ISIS Report 21/04/15


Announcing Science in Society #66 - Summer 2015

Reclaiming Science for the Public Good
Subscribe to the magazine here http://www.i-sis.org.uk/subscribe
Download this magazine as a PDF document from the ISIS members area
<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/sismembers.php>,
or as a digital download here
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/onlinestore/fullReports.php#515
also available with references here
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/onlinestore/fullReports.php#516


From the Editors - Ending GMOs Now

Science in Society issue 66, cover image

/Global rejection sent Monsanto profits plummeting, farmers abandoning
GM crops in record numbers, reclassification of glyphosate as probable
carcinogen triggering fresh calls for bans and restrictions; GMOs
failing old and new, while organic and non-GMO markets continue booming;
the days of GMOs are numbered, let’s hasten the demise/

The year 2015 is auspicious. It started with oil prices plunging to a
five year low, sparking a downsizing wave in an industry desperate to
rid itself of stranded assets as burgeoning renewable energies are
making oil redundant and civil society grassroots movements are winning
major campaigns to divest mega-investments from fossil fuels and leave
oil in the ground (see Age of Oil Ending?
<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Age_of_Oil_Ending.php> /SiS/ 65).

Simultaneously, a remarkable conjunction of events is boding ill for
GMOs (genetically modified organisms). There is superb synergy between
the end of oil and the end of the heavily oil-dependent GMO monoculture
for a truly sustainable world under climate change, which we made clear
in a comprehensive report Food Futures Now -Organic -Sustainable -Fossil
Fuel Free <http://www.i-sis.org.uk/foodFutures.php> published in 2008.
So let’s read the signs, and do our best to hasten the end of GMOs.


Mass rejection of US GM corn exports and record losses

It began with China rejecting shipment after shipment of US corn imports
that tested positive for Syngenta’s Agrisure Vipera GM corn released and
deregulated in the US since 2011, but not approved in China. Between
November 2013 and April 2014, 1.45 million tonnes of US GM corn were
destroyed or turned back. Farmers and farming businesses in 20 States in
the US have filed more than 360 lawsuits against Syngenta and hundreds
more are expected as a federal judge is organizing the complex case.
Claims may be up to $3 billion. Although China eventually approved
Vipera in December 2014, sales have not improved for US corn growers.
One reason is that China has been importing Ukrainian non-GMO corn under
a loan-for-grain deal. Ukraine shipped nearly 1 million tonnes to China
in 2014, 470 047 tonnes were shipped in January 2015, and more are
expected to follow.

The other more significant reason is that US farmers are abandoning GMO
crops and returning to non-GMO or switching to organic crops (see later).


GMO labelling fight reaches national level in the US

The GMO labelling movement in the US has been inching forward, despite
the fact that 64 countries worldwide now label food containing GMOs,
including China, Japan, Russia, Australia and all the EU countries.
Three states, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island have passed GMO labelling
laws so far, but California, Colorado and Oregon have been defeated
thanks to heavily-funded counter-campaigns by Monsanto, DuPont and the
Grocery Manufacturers Association. A total of 70 bills for labelling
were proposed in 30 states within the past two years. Now, the battle
has shifted to the national level. Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo
introduced the ‘DARK’ (denying Americans the right to know) Act, which
would pre-empt states from setting up their own GMO labelling systems
and bar them from defining “natural” foods as free from GMOs. Food
safety advocates and consumer groups are fighting back, supporting a
national mandatory labelling bill called the Genetically Engineered Food
Right to Know Act, re-introduced in February by a group of congressional
Democrats.


Non-GMO and organic produce continue steep growth trajectory

Meanwhile, the Non-GMO project continues its growth trajectory. At the
beginning of 2015, Non-GMO includes more than 20 000 products in over 1
500 companies, accounting for $8.5 billion in sales.

The US organic market, similarly, is poised to surpass $45 billion in
2015 owing to rising per capita expenditure, increasing health
consciousness, growing awareness of the benefits of chemical free (and
GMO-free) organic food and rise in organic farming. Strong distribution
channels of manufacturers tied up with retailers have made organic
produce such as fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and packaged food
in the market more accessible and visible.


US farmers turn non-GMO & organic in record numbers, GM traits
fail, and Monsanto profits plummet

Simultaneously, record numbers of US farmers are switching back to
non-GMO crops in 2015. Mac Ehrhardt, president of Minnesota-based Albert
Lea Seed reports selling more conventional non-GMO corn seed by the end
of November 2014 than he did all of last year. Tim Daley, an agronomist
at Stonebridge, Ltd., an Iowa-based buyer of non-GMO soybeans also sees
a marked demand by farmers for non-GMO seed. He said “some companies
have seen a 50 % increase in sales of non-GMO seed, and some have said
they’ve sold more non-GMO seed this year than in the last five.”

The main draw of non-GMO is more profit: no technology fees plus a
premium, and higher yields. GM traits have failed against rising tides
of herbicide resistant superweeds and Bt resistant insects. One corn
breeder who preferred to remain anonymous said:

/“The insect and herbicide traits are losing effectiveness with
increased resistant rootworm and weed species. Growers are tired of
paying for input costs that are reduced in efficacy and funding
additional forms of crop protection.”/

A substantial proportion of non-GMO seed sales go to organic growers.
The mega company, General Mills, purchased organic food company Annie’s
Homegrown for nearly $1 billion. And other large food corporations are
looking to swallow up smaller organic food companies.

In January 2015, Monsanto announced its earnings fell 34 % in the first
fiscal quarter as South American farmers reject GMO crops. US farmers
harvested record crops of soybeans and corn last year, sending prices to
their lowest levels in years. Monsanto’s agricultural products revenue
fell more than 8 % to $2.87 billion in the period on lower sales of corn
seeds and herbicide.

There has been a growing backlash against GMOs in Latin America since
Peru approved a 10 year moratorium in November 2012 and Costa Rica has
changed its stance on growing GMOs. In 2012, Brazilian farmers sued
Monsanto for collecting royalties on crops, and won. In 2014, Brazilian
farmers again demand Monsanto refund their money for pest-resistant Bt
corn that failed to protect against the target pest corn leaf worm. The
pest killed the crops instead of dying, and an extra $54 per ha had to
be spent for pest control at a time when corn prices are very low. The
Bt corn seeds are produced by Dow Agrosciences, DuPont, Monsanto and
Syngenta. The very same problems had been occurring in the US and
elsewhere with different Bt corn and cotton crops. In April 2015,
Monsanto again announced lost profits into the second quarter of 15 %,
even more than projected by most experts. And Monsanto vice president
Kerry J. Preete sold 27 580 shares of Monsanto company stock, just over
40 % of his holdings.

More is in store for the beleaguered biotech giant.


Top selling herbicide reclassified a probable human carcinogen

On 20 March 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
of the World Health Organization (WHO), the world authority on cancer,
declared the herbicide glyphosate ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’. A
Working Group of 17 experts from 11 countries met at IARC headquarters
in Lyon, France, 3-10 March 2015 after almost a year of review and
preparation, including a comprehensive review of the latest available
scientific evidence. The experts were selected on the basis of their
expertise and most importantly, /the absence of real or apparent
conflicts of interest/. The Working Group considered “reports that have
been published or accepted for publication in the openly available
scientific literature” as well as “data from governmental reports that
are publicly available”.

Among the findings cited for their decision, the IARC pointedly referred
to US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) evidence of glyphosate’s
carcinogenic potential from animal studies analysed since the 1980s,
which has been suppressed by EPA (see Glyphosate and Cancer
<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Glyphosate_and_Cancer.php>, /SiS/ 62), and
involved changing glyphosate’s original classification as ‘possibly
carcinogenic’ to ‘non-carcinogenic’. In 2013, EPA gave approval to raise
the allowable limits of glyphosate contamination in farm-grown food and
animal feed. The amount of allowable glyphosate in oilseed crops
(except for canola and soy) went up from 20 ppm to 40 ppm, 100 000 times
the amount needed to induce breast cancer cells (see Glyphosate
“Probably Carcinogenic to Humans” Latest WHO Assessment
<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Glyphosate_Probably_Carcinogenic_to_Humans.php>,
/SiS/
66).

Monsanto, whose $15.9 billion of annual sales are closely tied to
glyphosate, immediately protested that the scientific data did not
support the conclusions and has outrageously called on IARC to ‘retract’
its assessment (see Elsevier Climb Down over Séralini Retraction but
IARC Retraction Next for Monsanto
<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Elsevier_Climb_Down_over_Seralini_Retraction.php>,
/SiS/ 66). “We don’t know how IARC could reach a conclusion that is such
a dramatic departure from the conclusion reached by all regulatory
agencies around the globe,” Philip Miller, Monsanto’s vice-president of
global regulatory affairs, told the press. Apart from the EPA’s 2013
hike of allowable glyphosate contamination levels, the German government
completed a four year evaluation of glyphosate on behalf of the EU,
concluding that it was “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk in humans”.

What Monsanto failed to reveal is that the EU’s re-assessment, entrusted
to the German government, was in reality carried out by the Glyphosate
Task Force, a Monsanto-led consortium of chemical companies to promote
glyphosate in Europe. The re-assessment was most narrowly based in
industry studies and others that concurred with the findings from
industry (see Scandal of Glyphosate Re-assessment in Europe
<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Scandal_of_Glyphosate_Reassessment_in_Europe.php>,
/SiS /63).

It is clear that we have the world authority on cancer’s evidence-based
assessment free from conflict of interest pitched against the
Monsanto-led corrupt approvals in US and Europe.


Reaction in USA, top GM producer in the world

According to the new yearly report from industry funded International
Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), “18
million farmers in 28 countries planted more than 181 million hectares
[of GM crops] in 2014, up from 175 million in 27 countries in 2013.” The
top grower by far is USA with 73.1 m ha (40.3 %), Brazil comes second
with 42.2 mha (23.3 %) and Argentina third with 24.3 m ha (13.4 %).
Thus, the top three growers account for more than 75 % of GM crop area;
and they are the countries that reacted most strongly to the IARC
reclassification of glyphosate as probable carcinogen.

The US EPA is re-evaluating glyphosate mainly for weed resistance, and
will be requiring a weed resistance management plan. According to data
gathered by the USDA and US weed scientists, at least 14 weed species
and biotypes in the US have developed glyphosate resistance affecting
more than 60 million acres of US farmland.

The EPA action comes in the wake of the IARC reclassification.
Although EPA’s weed management plan will not address human health
concerns, the agency is analysing health data as part of the required
re-evaluation of the herbicide. EPA is under pressure from
environmentalists, scientists and opponents of GMOs to exert tighter
control over glyphosate. On March 26, a coalition of public interest
groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center
for Food Safety sent a letter to EPA administrator Gina McCarthy urging
the agency to “weigh heavily” WHO’s finding in its risk assessment.

At least 283.5 million pounds of glyphosate were used in U.S.
agriculture in 2012, the most recent year for which data are available,
up from 110 million pounds in 2002, according to the US Geological
Survey. Globally, the herbicide is a key ingredient in more than 700
products and is used to control weeds in gardens, along roadsides as
well as millions of acres of farmland. According to the US Department of
Agriculture, more than 90 % of the soybeans and cotton grown in the
country last year, and 89 % of the corn, was genetically modified to
withstand herbicide applications.

US consumer groups, scientists and food companies have already begun
testing substances ranging from breakfast cereal to breast milk for
glyphosate. Requests spiked after the IARC reclassification.

Ben Winkler, laboratory manager at Microbe Inotech Laboratories in St.
Louis said the lab has received three to four requests a week to test
foods and other substances for glyphosate residues, as opposed to three
to four requests a year previously. Microbe has handled recent requests
for glyphosate residue testing from small food companies, an advocacy
group testing baby formula and a group of doctors who want to test
patients’ urine for glyphosate residues. Abraxis LLC, a diagnostics
company based in Warminster, Pennsylvania, has also seen a “measurable
increase” in glyphosate testing. Tests by Abraxis found glyphosate
residues in 41 of 69 honey samples and in 10 of 28 soy sauces; Microbe
tests detected glyphosate in three of 18 breast milk samples and in six
of 40 infant formula samples.

North Dakota State University agronomist Joel Ransom reported to the US
Wheat Quality Council in February that tests he ordered showed traces of
glyphosate in several US and Canadian flour samples.

EPA told Reuters that it may start testing food products for glyphosate
residues “as public concern rises over possible links to disease.” And
Health Canada is looking into re-labelling Roundup in the light of the
new classification and to begin public consultations.


Reactions from second largest GM producer Brazil

Brazil’s National Cancer Institute (INCA) of the country’s Ministry of
Health issued a new report on 6 April 2015, which says the release of GM
crops in Brazil has helped make it the largest consumer of agrochemicals
in the world. Current national consumption of agrochemical is equivalent
to 0.2 litres per inhabitant. Agrochemical sales increased from US$ 2
billion in 2001 to $8.5 billion in 2011; and GM crops is a key cause of
the trend.

The report continues: “The cropping pattern with the intensive use of
pesticides generates major harms, including environmental pollution and
poisoning of workers and the population in general. Acute pesticide
poisoning is the best known effect and affects especially those exposed
in the workplace (occupational exposure). This is characterized by
effects such as irritation of the skin and eyes, itching, cramps,
vomiting, diarrhoea, spasms, breathing difficulties, seizures and death.

“Already chronic poisoning may affect the whole population, as this is
due to multiple exposures to pesticides, that is, the presence of
pesticide residues in food and the environment, usually at low doses.
... Among the effects that can be associated with chronic exposure to
pesticide active ingredients are infertility, impotence, abortions,
malformations, neurotoxicity, hormonal disruption, effects on the immune
system, and cancer.”

Regarding sources of exposure, the report says, “It is noteworthy that
pesticide residues not only occur in fresh food, but also in many
processed food products, such as cookies, chips, breads, breakfast
cereals, lasagne, pizza and other ingredients that contain wheat, corn
and soybeans, for example. Pesticide traces may still be present in meat
and milk of animals fed with these crops, due to the process of
bioaccumulation.

“Therefore, the concern over pesticides must not mean a reduction in the
consumption of fruits and vegetables, which are key foods in healthy
eating and of great importance in preventing cancer. The main focus must
be on combating the use of pesticides, which contaminate all vital
resources, including food, soil, water, breastmilk and air. In addition,
methods of cultivation free from pesticide use can produce fruits,
vegetables and legumes such as beans, with the greatest anticancer
potential.”

In 2012, the report states, INCA organized a seminar on pesticides and
cancer in partnership with the National Health Surveillance Agency
(ANVISA) and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ). The event brought
together health professionals, researchers, farmers and consumers to
discuss the risks to human health from exposure to pesticides,
particularly its relationship with certain types of cancer. And in 2013,
together with FIOCRUZ and ABRASCO (Brazilian Association of Collective
Health), INCA signed a declaration warning of the dangers of the
pesticide market.

In that context, INCA says, the purpose of the new report is “to mark
the position of the INCA against current pesticide use practices in
Brazil and highlight the health risks, particularly with regard to the
causes of cancer.” The report’s authors approvingly cite the recent
verdict of the World Health Organisation’s cancer agency IARC that
glyphosate herbicide is a “probable carcinogen”.

The report calls for stronger regulation of pesticides and for the
development of agroecological alternatives to the dominant
pesticide-dependent GMO agricultural model.

Three days later, ANVISA announced officially that it will reassess the
glyphosate risk in the country, in the wake of IARC re-classification of
glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen.


Reactions in third largest GM producer Argentina

Independent scientists from Argentina reacted promptly to the IARC
reclassification in a series of quotes compiled by journalist Dario Aranda.

*Rafael Lajmanovich*, a professor at the Department of Ecotoxicology,
National University of Litoral and researcher at CONICET (Argentina’s
National Scientific and Technical Research Council), who has conducted
over 85 research investigations on agrochemicals, said: “The
international scientific community has warned for years, backed up by
studies, that glyphosate is carcinogenic. It is good that WHO has
recognized this fact.” Further, “The National Library of Medicine in the
United States (Medline) has more than 500 scientific papers on the
toxicity of glyphosate.”

*Fernando Manas*, a member of the Genetics and Environmental Mutagenesis
(GEMA) Group at the National University of Río Cuarto, who has
investigated the effect of agrochemicals, for the past 9 years,
publishing over 15 scientific articles, confirmed the link between
glyphosate and genetic damage, which leads to cancer and a higher risk
of spontaneous abortions and birth defects in the new born. He said:
“The recent classification by IARC-WHO is a consequence of the growing
scientific evidence that has been generated by several independent
investigators. */This evidence, deliberately ignored until now, means
that have been used millions of gallons of herbicide with carcinogenic
potential according to regulations designed for a virtually harmless
substance. He charged that for two decades entire populations were
“subjected” to chronic pesticide exposures “based on criteria developed
by the same companies that produce and market” agrochemicals/*.

*Raul Horacio Lucero* (molecular biologist and researcher at
Northeastern University, located in Chaco) and *Damian Verzeñassi*
(Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Rosario) have studied the
impact of agrochemicals for more than a decade. They confirmed
malformations and cancer (among other effects). They too noted the long
time it took for WHO-IARC to produce the appropriate classification, but
also highlighted the fact that on a scale of five, glyphosate has been
classified in the second category of carcinogens. Both researchers
called for “urgent” application of the precautionary principle, as
required by the General Environmental Law.

*Medardo Avila Vazquez* of Physicians Network of Fumigated Peoples,
explained that according to the new classification, “glyphosate is as
carcinogenic as PCB (a chemical compound used in electrical transformers
and now banned) and formaldehyde, both members of Group 2A”.

The Federation of Health Professional in Argentina (FESPROSA)
representing more than 30 000 doctors and health professionals issued a
statement to support the IARC reclassification. FESPROSA includes the
Social Health Collective of Andres Carrasco, researcher at CONICET who
died a year ago, showed that glyphosate caused embryonic abnormalities
similar to birth defects in families living near sprayed fields.

“In our country glyphosate is applied to more than 28 million hectares
each year the soil is sprayed with more than 320 million litres, putting
13 million people at risk, according to the Physicians Network of
Sprayed Peoples (RMPF)...”

“Glyphosate not only causes cancer. It is also associated with increased
spontaneous abortions, birth defects, skin diseases, and respiratory and
neurological disease.”

“Health authorities, including the National Ministry of Health and the
political powers, can no longer look away. Agribusiness cannot keep
growing at the expense of the health of the Argentine people. The 30 000
health professionals in Argentina in the FESPROSA ask that glyphosate is
now prohibited in our country and that a debate on the necessary
restructuring of agribusiness is opened, focusing on the application of
technologies that do not endanger human life.”

A Cordoba province bill introduced by Cordoba legislator Santiago
Calivijo aims to prohibit the aerial spraying of glyphosate herbicides
as well as malathion, diazinon, tetrachlovinphos and parathion. Further,
gr0und application is to be forbidden within 1 500 metres from urban
areas, rivers, and reservoirs. Current provincial law allows aerial
spraying of glyphosate herbicides up to 500 metres from urban areas.


New GM crops failing dismally

The ISAAA brief proudly announced that 28 countries grew GM crops in
2014, an increase of one over the 27 countries in 2013. It stated:
“Notably Bangladesh, a small poor country approved Bt brinjal/eggplant
for the first time on 30 October 2013, and in record time – less than
100 days after approval – small farmers commercialized Bt brinjal on 22
January 2014.”

It failed to report the disastrous crop failures (see Bangladeshi Bt
Brinjal Pilot Scheme Failed
<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Bangladeshi_Bt_Brinjal_trial_fails.php>, /SiS/
63). The commercialization was introduced over widespread protest. Bt
brinjal strains were distributed to Bangladeshi farmers and grown again
in 2015 in many districts; and the crops failed yet again, even more
dismally Bt Brinjal Fails Two Years Running Risks Spreading Disease
<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Bt_Brinjal_Fails_Two_Years_Running.php> (/SiS/
66). A new disease appears to have struck all the Bt varieties grown,
killing the plants prematurely, running a risk of spreading the disease
to the indigenous varieties in this centre of origin and biodiversity
for brinjal.

The Bangladeshi Bt brinjal commercialization serves as a lesson for
other countries targeted by Monsanto and other biotech companies for
growing GM crops as rejection is rife worldwide and the top growers are
retreating from a massive failed experiment.


GMO myths thoroughly exposed

The two main arguments for promoting GMOs are that GMOs are needed to
feed the world and GMOs are based on sound science; and both have been
thoroughly exposed as myths.

First, the GMO industry is definitely not based on sound science. A new
book by US lawyer Steven Druker meticulously exposes the fraudulent
science of the GMO agritech sector. GM foods were first commercialised
in 1992 but only because the Food and Drug Administration covered up the
extensive warnings of its own scientists about the dangers, lied about
the facts and violated federal food safety law by permitting these foods
to be marketed without having been proven safe through standard testing.
Druker also documents how many well-placed scientists have repeatedly
issued misleading statements about GM foods, as have leading scientific
institutions such as the US National Academy of Sciences, the American
Association for the Advancement of Science and the UK’s Royal Society.

And, a new report released by the Washington DC based Environmental
Working Group puts paid to the argument that GMOs are needed to feed the
world. A thorough analysis of recent research conducted in the US and
around the world shows that genetic modification has not significantly
improved the yields of crops such as corn and soy. Instead GM crops have
increased the use of toxic herbicides and led to herbicide resistant
super weeds.

Over the past 20 years, yields of both GM corn and soy have been no
different from traditionally bred non-GM corn and soy grown in
Europe.Corn and soy account for roughly 80 % of global land area growing
GM crops, and both are overwhelmingly used for animal feed and biofuels,
not for food.

Genetic modification compares very unfavourably with conventional
breeding in generating useful new varieties (see Genetic Modification
Trails Conventional Breeding By Far
<
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Genetic_Modification_Trails_Conventional_Breeding_By_Far.php
>,
SiS 64). Industry supported research found that it can take more than
$100 million to research and develop a single GM variety. In comparison,
it typically costs only about $1 million to develop a new variety by
traditional breeding. In Africa, traditional crossbreeding has so far
outperformed genetic engineering in improving drought tolerance and
efficiency of resource use.

The report suggests several simple measures that will feed the world
without GMOs.

* Smarter use of fertilizers, as over-fertilization pollutes water and
increases emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas with global
warming potential 310 times that of CO2
* Reducing food waste, which account for a third of all food grown
around the world by weight and a quarter by calories. In the US
about 40 % food production is wasted, some 60 million tonnes a year
worth an estimated $162 billion. Furthermore, 31 % of US cropland
and 25 % US fresh water are consumed in growing that wasted food.
Reducing waste by just 30 % would feed about 50 million people, the
same number that live in food-insecure households in the US. In
developing countries about a third of food is wasted but mostly on
the farm, due to inadequate storage or inability to get the food to
the market. Improving infrastructure such as roads, transportation,
and storage facilities is essential.
* Reversing biofuels incentives: in 2010 ~5 % of all calories grown
globally were used to make biofuels. In the US ~40 % of corn grown
goes to produce corn ethanol driven by federal mandate to blend it
with vehicle fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Shifting crops
used for biofuels back to food production would increase the global
calorie supply by 8 %.
* Reducing meat consumption: meat production occupies about
three-quarters of agricultural land, and on average it takes about
10 calories of animal feed to produce one calorie of meat. Shifting
from grain-fed beef to chicken or grass-fed beef could reduce the
amount of land devoted to growing animal feed such as corn and soy,
and increase food availability by 54 %. Cutting global meat
consumption by half could increase food supplies by 27 % along with
major benefits for health and the environment.


To conclude

GM crops are a massive failed experiment that has lasted over 20 years,
laying waste to land and people’s lives and livelihoods, leaving behind
a toxic legacy that will take decades to heal.

The world has woken up from the GM nightmare. Global rejection has
triggered a record return to non-GMO crops in the world’s top producing
country. Simultaneously, Independent evidence-based science has finally
triumphed in appropriately classifying glyphosate – used on some 90 % of
GM crops – as a probable human carcinogen, overturning the fraudulent
industry science that had allowed the herbicide to poison people and
planet for the past 30 years. Calls for banning glyphosate are now
coming from the top GMO producing countries in the world. All the signs
are that the days of GMOs are numbered.

The world is shifting to a truly sustainable non-GM organic agriculture
without fossil fuels. Let us hasten the arrival of a sustainable,
equitable world by banishing both glyphosate and GMOs, starting with our
homes and gardens, our local communities.

You may also like to sign the petition to ban glyphosate here:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_dont_silence_science_loc/

/Fully referenced versions of all the articles including this editorial
are available on ISIS members website./


Contents

>From the Editors - Ending GMOs Now

Health Watch
Low Fat & Low Saturated Fat Diet Bad for Health
Statins for the Healthy are Harmful
MMR Controversy Reignites

Freeing the World from GMOs
Glyphosate ‘Probably Carcinogenic to Humans’ Latest WHO Assessment
Ten NGOs Ask China to Stop Producing Glyphosate to Protect World Health
Biodiversity or GMOs: Will The Future of Nutrition Be in Women’s
Hands or Under Corporate Control?
Devastating Impacts of Glyphosate Use with GMO Seeds in Argentina
Goats Fed GM Soybean Produce Abnormal Milk, Reduces Weight of Off-Spring
Bt Brinjal Fails Two Years Running Risks Spreading Disease
Elsevier Climb Down over Séralini Retraction but IARC Retraction
Next for Monsanto

100 % Renewables
Supercapacitors for Flexible Energy Storage & Ultrafast Superpower
All-Carbon Graphene Supercapacitors Coming Part 1
Graphene Liquid Crystal Electric Dream Coat
All-Carbon Graphene Supercapacitors Coming Part 2

No Nuclear
Spiralling Cost of Nuclear Power Station

New Age of Water
/Rosetta/ for a Water Universe
Protons in Quantum Jazz Concert
Water Structured in the Golden Ratio
Story of Phi Part 7

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