Remember those flagrant claims that Big Biotech made, that genetically modified foods were a big reason why the world was enjoying food with less pesticide residues? Well, it turns out, those promises were like all the other biotech claims – baseless.
What has really happened is one class of harmful pesticides has simply been replaced by another. A massive increase in bee-toxic neonicotinoids has replaced chemical insecticides used previously.
This isn’t the first time a scientific study revealed that Monsanto and their ilk actually cause greater pesticide use, but a new study points out specifically how biotech has caused a “rapid increase” in neonicotinoid insecticide use – especially in the widely planted GM corn and soy crops. Just how much of an increase are we talking about, for all who want to claim there is no ‘statistical’ evidence against GM agriculture?
More neonics were used to the tune of 34−44% more for GM soybeans and 79−100% of GM corn hectares being treated in 2011.
I’d say that accounts for a ‘dramatic increase’ no matter how you want to look at the numbers. We aren’t arguing over half a percentage point here – biotech has caused an almost 100% increase in damaging chemical pesticides in the last several years.
Margaret Douglas, graduate student in entomology at Pennsylvania State University and an author of the study, commented:
“Previous studies suggested that the percentage of corn acres treated with insecticides decreased during the 2000s, but once we took seed treatments into account we found the opposite pattern. Our results show that application of neonicotinoids to seed of corn and soybeans has driven a major surge in the U.S. cropland treated with insecticides since the mid-2000s.”
No wonder the bees and butterflies are dying. The study also found that over 40 million hectares of land are doused in neonics since the industry has promoted an “insurance-based approach to pest management” causing a now limited availability of neonicotinoid-free seed, farmers are running out of other options.
What’s more, the study outlines that Bt crops planted were not included in the original Big Biotech studies which allowed them to claim that their manipulated crops were allowing for fewer pesticides to be sprayed – that’s because Bt crops ARE a pesticide. The Bt toxins are inside every fiber of the plant once it grows, and insects that eat them end up, essentially, with an exploded gut as their form of a quick and painful death.
Put more gently, the researchers stated that studies claiming that Bt crops have decreased insecticide use “do not seem to have considered seed treatments, and so may have overstated reductions in insecticide use.”
I’ll say. Monsanto’s Bt toxins don’t just kill insects. They have also been known to harm human embryo cells. E Toxin Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has also been found in the blood of pregnant women and baby’s cordblood. Yet Monsanto asserts that their pesticide in the form of Bt crops are safe.
Read: List of Foods we Could Lose Without the Bees
Straight from Monsanto’s Pages:
“Are foods and ingredients developed through biotechnology (or GMOs) safe to eat?
Yes. Plants and crops with GM traits have been tested more than any other crops—with no credible evidence of harm to humans or animals.
As consumers ourselves, we place the highest priority on the safety of our products and conduct rigorous and comprehensive testing on each. In fact, seeds with GM traits have been tested more than any other crops in the history of agriculture – with no credible evidence of harm to humans or animals.
Governmental regulatory agencies, scientific organizations and leading health associations worldwide agree that food grown from GM crops is safe to eat. The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the British Royal Society, among others that have examined the evidence, all come to the same conclusion: consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is safe to eat and no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredi¬ents from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques (i.e. plant breeding).”
Misleading Studies
As just an example of the type of data switcheroonie that Monsanto likes to play with, there was a meta-analysis published by Klumper and Qaim, which claimed a 37% reduction in chemical pesticide use from GM crops overall and a 42% reduction from Bt insecticidal crops. Of course this study was hyped by pro-GMOers – “look, see, we aren’t really poisoning you!” This report completely disregarded insecticidal seed treatments when claiming reductions in chemical insecticide use from GM crops. This has been highlighted in of GMO Myths and Truths, as well as by Dr Doug Gurian-Sherman.
Gurian-Sherman explains, “In reality, corn engineered to kill certain insect pests – AKA Bt corn – has mainly resulted in the replacement of one group of chemical insecticides with another.” The new study proves the point with hard data.
The study’s authors warn:
“This pattern of use may have unintended consequences, namely resistance in target pests, outbreaks of nontarget pests, and pollution with detrimental effects cascading to wildlife… some of these effects have already emerged.”
It is certainly advice to heed considering that another new study found the neonicotinoid insecticide, clothianidin, has been found in milkweed (the food of the monarch butterfly) at levels harmful to monarch larvae (abstract below).
This means that bees, butterflies, etc are being decimated due to additional ‘stressors’ in the form of GM herbicides, pesticides, and insecticides – it doesn’t matter what you call them, or how they are applied – sprayed on, or genetically insinuated into the plant by altering its DNA – its toxic #%&%*% that shouldn’t be used in our food supply.
A good read for the biotech industry would be Prof Robert Van Den Bosch’s book “The Pesticide Conspiracy,” which explains that pesticide use actively creates pest attacks by wiping out the natural pest predators. A more recent book, Poison Spring, by former US EPA staffer Evaggelos Vallianatos, demolishes the notion that pesticide use is based on any kind of sound science at all.
The abstract says:
“Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) frequently consume milkweed in and near agroecosystems and consequently may be exposed to pesticides like neonicotinoids. We conducted a dose response study to determine lethal and sublethal doses of clothianidin using a 36-h exposure scenario. We then quantified clothianidin levels found in milkweed leaves adjacent to maize fields. Toxicity assays revealed LC10, LC50, and LC90 values of 7.72, 15.63, and 30.70 ppb, respectively. Sublethal effects (larval size) were observed at 1 ppb. Contaminated milkweed plants had an average of 1.14 ±0.10 ppb clothianidin, with a maximum of 4 ppb in a single plant. This research suggests that clothianidin could function as a stressor to monarch populations.”
Cute little story that tells half the information. Why not point out the millions of pounds of organophosphates we used back in the early nineties that have all but disappeared. Why not point out that in the nineties hardly no one ever used any insecticides on soybeans, unless it was a rescue treatment. Why not point out that the commercial non-gmo seed is treated with the same insecticides as the gmos. If gmos leave these insecticides will not only still be used, but many others will be added to the list as well. Once again very poor reporting.
The main cause of the monarch butterfly’s decline is the loss of
milkweed — its food — in its U.S. breeding grounds, a new study has
found. That all but confirms that the spread of genetically modified
crops is indirectly killing the monarch.
This past winter, the number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico
fell to its lowest since 1993, when records first started being kept,
the World Wildlife Fund and Mexico’s Environment Department reported in
January. That report blamed the loss of milkweed owing to genetically
modified crops and urban sprawl in the U.S. and illegal logging in the
butterflies’ Mexican wintering ground.
Monarch migration said to be in trouble as numbers fall
Now, an analysis combining all the known data about monarch
populations and the factors that influence them shows that the monarch’s
biggest threat is in the U.S., not Mexico.
The leaves of the milkweed plant are the only place that monarchs lay
their eggs and the only food that monarch butterfly caterpillars will
eat. A large proportion of monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains breed in
the U.S. corn belt, stretching from Kansas in the west to Ohio in the
east, and south to north from Missouri to North Dakota.
Yes it has to be the gmos. It has nothing to do with the millions of more acres that went into production over the last couple of years. The milkweed would have disappeared if those acres were planted to gmos or planted with non gmo and sprayed with conventional chemicals. Why twist everything? Very sad when you only try to tell part of the story. Now tell us what kind of government we have “little” johnny.
get off the “tell us what kind of government we have” you damn well know the answer….if the federal government was not evil you would not have to be here defending them as a paid shill……If the creator up above would have desired chemicals that cause death to be put into our food (peoples and animals and plants} he would have put them there from day one……..and no, I will accept NO discussion on this point!
Strange how GOD didn’t make the food we have today either since almost all of it was was changed by man. You can also say if God wanted us to fly he would have given us wings, but that didn’t stop us either now did it . For the government part, if you think it is so bad then you are free to leave anytime you wish. If you really think it is that evil it also shows that you have no idea what kind of government we have either.
Bobo you and your Monsanto bosses are losing the battle against the American consumer and common sense – the one thing you so badly lack.
(Reuters)
– Oregon’s biggest city on Wednesday banned the use of an insecticide
on city lands blamed by conservationists as a factor in the decline of honey bees in recent years.
Despite protests from farmers who argued the insecticide was crucial for crop production, the Portland City Commission voted unanimously to immediately suspend use of products that contain neonicotinoids.
Such pesticides are widely used on crops and on plants as well as trees in gardens, parks and commercial nurseries.
Portland brings to at least eight the number of U.S. municipalities, including Seattle and Spokane in neighboring Washington state, that have banned the chemicals amid what conservationists say is mounting evidence the insecticide is a culprit in the decline of bees and other pollinating insects.
Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz successfully sought approval of the measure on Wednesday as a public health issue requiring emergency action that would immediately outlaw use of neonicotinoids in such areas as municipal parks, streets and gardens.
“I think we’re doing another good thing for the city of Portland, Oregon … and maybe the entire world,” Fritz said.
Opponents like Oregonians for Food and Shelter, a coalition of farmers, foresters and other pesticide users, said findings by some scientists suggesting honey bees have been severely harmed by the insecticide have been refuted by other researchers.
Scott Dahlman, the group’s policy director, said the decision by Portland leaders was based on “fear and ideology” rather than sound science about bees and other pollinators, which are vital for food production.
“Farmers have a huge investment in honey bees but they also need
insecticides to protect their crops from destructive pests,” he said.
Aimee Code, pesticide program coordinator for the Xerces Society for
Invertebrate Conservation, said momentum was building among local
governments to prohibit use of such chemicals even as the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency mulls restricting or curtailing their use.
Eugene, Oregon, and Shorewood, Minnesota, are among eight municipalities that have passed bans similar to the one in Portland, said Code.
The federal Fish and Wildlife Service is to prohibit neonicotinoid use at national wildlife refuges by next January.
Who really cares what they do in the city “little” jonny. Must farmers don’t spray those pesticides anyway, most are used as seed treatments applied to the seed by the seed company. Farmers are also smart enough as to know when to spray insecticides to help protect the bees. Once again “little” jonny, you have completely screwed it up again. Now why don’t you tell us what kind of a government we have before your wife comes home from tool shopping.
It’s no use Bobo- Soon they will be coming to take you away HAHAHEHE. Then the only farm you will be working on will be the funny farm!
Again you don’t pay attention as I don’t work on a farm “little” jonny, I work in a retail plant that supplies farmers. Have you ever gotten anything right? Obviously not since your wife has to go tool shopping. By the way “little” jonny tell us what kind of government we have.
Calm down Bobo and take a deep breath- didn’t know you were so easily upset.
You’ll be fine as long as you stick to your schedule. Hey listen if you want to work in a retail plant – no problem- although you should stick to your story. Last time you posted you were a farmer, then you were a laborer- I just can’t keep up with your changes in occupation.
It takes a lot more than someone like you to make me mad “little” jonny. As far as my story it has never changed. Worked in my families retail business for over twenty years now. We supply local farmers. It really isn’t to surprising that you can’t get it right jonny, after all you haven’t been able to get anything right. Especially what kind of government we have “little” jonny.
Keep that fantasy going. It will help you cope with reality Bobo
The reality is you are an idiot. Soon congress will pass the voluntary labeling law, and the new gmos will just keep rolling out of the labs. Let’s face it science isn’t behind you and when actually put to a vote the people aren’t behind you. Maybe Jonny, it is time to backup before your wife leaves you for another tool shopping adventure and figure out what type of government we have.
Bobo you’re getting upset again. Now calm down and take two deep breaths. Did you take your meds today?
Yes the labeling laws will soon be announced, GMO labels will be widespread and you will be out of a job. But all is not lost. You have provided many a laugh for those few people who bothered to read your posts.
Hang in there Bobo – everything will work out all right as soon as you finish up at the institution.
My company has been in business for over a hundred years. We will still sell seed, fertilizer and chemicals to farmers whether gmos are here or not. So again you proved that you don’t have a clue “little” Jonny. So just tell us did your wife find a new tool? Or is she test driving several models? Do tell us what type of government we have Jonny.
Keep on living the fantasy Bobo.
Yes as good as my company has done the last few years, some days I’m afraid it is a dream Jonny. I am able to pay the taxes that support your welfare check. Sad you collect off a government and you don’t even care what type it is.
It’s too bad you don’t even qualify for a welfare check since your mommy pays for your room and board.
I don’t qualify since I’m a taxpayer, not a tax moocher like you “little” Jonny. By the way tell us what type of government we have.
Doesn’t matter BoBo! If it isn’t on the label, we figure that the manufacturer voluntarily didn’t want to do it. So we just won’t buy it! We’ll keep doing that! Then when your shareholders feel the pain, then maybe you will too! 90% of American consumers want it labeled, NOT voluntarily! Don’t label? Then we’ll voluntarily assume it contains endocrine disruptors! We’ll keep working it back… Working it back to the source!
This post is to help Bobo understand about the birds and the bees:
A controversial agricultural insecticide that has been implicated in the
collapse of bee colonies around the world also appears to be causing
bird populations to drop, according to a new study. The insecticides
known as neonicotinoids are designed to attack the central nervous
system of insects that devour crops, but only about 5 percent of the
chemical compound stays on the plant. The rest leaches into the soil and
water, where it does its magic on other bugs, the researchers said.
In areas with high loads of the pesticide, “insects in general are
dropping dead, and therefore there is less food for the birds available
to feed their offspring,” said Caspar Hallmann, an ecologist and lead
author of the paper published this week in Nature.
Whatever the cause, bird populations are dropping at about 3.5 percent a year in farmland areas where surface-water concentrations of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid are high. At that rate, in 10 years bird populations could decline more than 30 percent.
imidacloprid is no used widely on the farm, again with the most popular being a seed treatment for corn. Now for the uneducated like yourself “little” jonny, if it is in a seed treatment then it goes in the ground so it won’t be present in surface water because it is under the dirt. Do we need to draw a picture? Secondly, you are wrong again because when it is present in water and in the presence of light the half life is between 1 and 4 hours. Again you are speaking about things you know nothing about. Maybe you should first tell us what kind of government we have “little” jonny.
Sorry you replied to the wrong post. Try again.
So you admit your previous one was wrong? Thanks again for showing you lied. Try to tell us what kind of government we have now “little” Jonny.
Nothing worth responding to here.
Translation: Jonny can’t even come up with a response, ncluding for what type of government we have.
Still Nothing worth responding to. By the way what does “ncluding ” mean Bobo?
100 thumbs down.
1002 thumbs down.
1003 thumbs down.
Blah Blah Blah . Talmudic ZioNazi tool.
10022 thumbs down.
You can’t expect too much in the way of an intelligent discussion with Bobo. He has been brainwashed by Consanto into thinking he is some sort of business man but I have it on good information that he is living in his mommy’s basement working as a troll for Sinsanto (and getting paid quite poorly).
a person nearly feels a sense of sorrow for people like you describe…and this GMO guy……he doesn’t do well for himself on this web site. His comments are mostly blab….
I quite agree.
“Yes it has to be the gmos.”
Finally I think you are coming to your senses
Out of context again? That is a losers tactic, which is what your side is doing. By the way what kind of government do we have Jonny?
Well if I am guilty of that then you are even more so
That’s called hypocrisy Bobo
Prove it, on no you can’t that would require research, and you can’t even research what type of government we have “little” Jonny.
Nothing to prove Bobo – you must be losing it
Ok then since you can’t back up your lies, no one actually expected you to anyway, just tell us what type of government we have.
oh stfu
1001 thumbs down.
Bobo, I can’t believe I’m going to say this BUT, You have more hot air than Hubert Horatio Humphrey!
Sorry you can’t handle the truth.
ROTFLMFAO You know Hubert was a big wind bag don’t ewe? If Lord Barry is going to save ewe as well as the middle class, I’d say you’ll probably be retrained for a highly skilled team player at Ronald’s flipping sliders. Monsatan has dropped 20% since their high water mark in 2008. I can for see another 20% in half that time with all the lawsuits. 2 all beef patties, hmmmm can they really say that? 2 hormone and antibiotic,,,,,,, GMO’ed special chemical GMO sauce. Maybe the Queen instead, aye? Hold the toxins hold the hormones, specail orders make us a groan….
greedy liar low quality food makes people easier to control
If you are talking about junk food it was here before gmos and if gmos diappear junk food will still exist. Sorry, but you are wrong again.
“The milkweed would have disappeared if those acres were planted to gmos
or planted with non gmo and sprayed with conventional chemicals.”
Now I know you are a fraud. Not even skepty would agree with that nonsense.
atrazine and status herbicide can both be used on any type of corn and will take out milkweed. Again you know not what you talk about. So just tell us what kind of government we have jonny.
…..milkweed was not especially well managed before the introduction of
Round Up and RR corn and soybeans. Milkweed is effectively killed by
glyphosates but not as easily with other herbicides or tillage
practices. The significantly improved management of milkweed as a pest
resulted in more than a 50% reduction in milkweed in fields. (Soybean
glyphosate use 1994-2006 increased nearly 3,000% and in corn fields
2000-2010 increased over 1,500%). Given that half of the monarchs in
Mexico overwintering populations come from the Midwest and major
reductions in milkweed populations occurred in that same area, it is a
reasonable place to start looking for cause and effect. So while a
correlation absolutely does not indicate cause and effect, this one is
not unreasonable given that monarchs are pretty much obligated to
milkweed to host their larvae.
A.Emery
Put some status on it and get back with me. Oh I forgot hands on isn’t your cup of tea is it Jon jon? Maybe you should just tell us what type of government we have.
The board needs a translation….again…
Come on Roberta, the gang here is still waiting for you to give us a sensible response.
You can’t understand because you are out of your league. Tell us ough if you can, what kind of government we have “little” Jon.
“Tell us ough” what’s this mean Bobo? have you been dipping into the sauce again? Come on Bobo we’re waiting. Come on you can do it!
a sick greedy pos government is that what you wanna hear?
yes they poisoned people during prohibition
yes they killed buffalo by the millions just to let it rot
yes they gave indians smallpox with blankets
is that the government your are referring to?
Has our government done everything right? No, but who can claim that? Let the one without sin cast the first stone. Show us a better government, and then you go live there if you don’t like this one.
“Atrazine and status herbicide can both be used on any type of corn and will take out milkweed.”
So what’s your point?Do you want an “A” for this amazing discovery?
You claimed I was a fraud because I said milkweed would be killed on non gmo corn ground as easily as gmo corn ground. Again you were proved wrong. Making you look stupid Jonny isn’t even a challenge.
“You claimed I was a fraud because I said milkweed would be killed on non gmo corn ground as easily as gmo corn ground.”
What ?????????????????????????
You’re losing it buddy
Don’t even remember what you said? So sad, just as sad as not knowing what chemicals are actually applied to crops.
“Don’t even remember what you said?”
Bobo you really have to stop dipping into that corn whiskey- especially with all those toxic chemicals in that brew buddy!
Bourbon is a man’s drink Jonny, I guess that is why you stick to cool ade. Now tell us what type of government we have.
hard alcohol kills brain cells
Yes, it kills brain cells. Weak ones. As weak ones die the stronger ones survive, and the whole becomes stronger. So drinking makes us smarter.
1004 thumbs down.
The words “methyl bromide” went mainstream this week (April 7, 2015), with the news that a Delaware family had been poisoned by the pesticide while on vacation in the Virgin Islands. In its report
on the story, NBC news pointed out that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn’t allow exterminators to use methyl bromide in the U.S.—but the agency does grant a “critical use exemption” to certain farmers, including strawberry farmers.
What better opportunity to call on Driscoll’s, the largest organic and “natural” strawberry company in the world, to stop using methyl bromide on strawberry seedlings that the company then sells to organic farmers, so they can raise “organic” strawberries.
Driscoll’s uses toxic fumigants, including methyl bromide, on all of the company’s strawberry seedlings. The company then sells those seedlings, to, among others, organic farmers, who raise the
plants organically and sell them under the organic label.
How does Driscol’sl get away with this scam? The company has convinced its organic certifier, California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), and the USDA National Organic Program (NOP),
that there are no “commercially available” sources for legitimately organic strawberry seedlings.
But that’s just not true.
TAKE ACTION! Tell Driscoll’s to stop using toxic fumigants on organic strawberries, and start growing seedlings for their organic farmers organically!
Just 15 days after the World Health Organization said that
glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, is a probable
human carcinogen, our friends at the EPA signed off on additional uses
of a new herbicide containing glyphosate. Dow’s Enlist Duo, concocted
from a deadly mix of 2,4-D and glyphosate, can now be used in nine
additional states. That makes 16 states whose citizens will be directly
exposed to more glyphosate (with a dash of 2,4-D, a chemical used to
make Agent Orange).
Dow rejoiced at the news. And immediately said it would seek approval of the product in even more states.
This is what we’re up against. Corporations
willing to poison everything in sight with impunity, in order to line
their CEO’s pockets and enrich their shareholders. Government agencies
blinded and bedazzled by “technology” at any price. And politicians so
beholden to their corporate donors they’re willing to sell their
constituents down the polluted river to keep those corporations happy.
The notion of a “corporation” isn’t inherently evil. But
the corporation that has no purpose other than to enrich a few, at the
cost of many, and fulfills that purpose by peddling poisons under the
false pretense of “helping farmers” or “feeding the world,” is.
Fortunately more and more scientists, more and more
journalists, and more and more consumers are seeing through the lies and
the fraud. And speaking out.
We are making progress, even if it sometimes
seems too slow. With your help, we will keep moving toward a sane world,
where prosperous farms and farmers enrich their communities, rather
than poison them, by producing real, healthful, non-toxic food.
Donate to the Organic Consumers Association (tax-deductible, helps support our work on behalf of organic standards, fair trade and public education)
Donate to the Organic Consumers Fund (non-tax-deductible, but necessary for our GMO labeling legislative efforts)
2,4-D is already used on a huge amount of crops acres already not to mention it is sold over the counter in most hardware stores for lawn use. This isn’t anything new. By creating the new gmo glyphoste usage can be reduced thanks to adding in a “dash” of 2,4-D (again thanks for leaving out more information that 2,4-D was the minor part of agent orange).. By the way “little” jonny why don’t you tell us what kind of government we have.
By all means you and your friends go enjoy a tall cool glass of roundup. Then we can finish the real roundup.
Don’t want to do anything like that, it is for sale and helps farmers feed the world.
“helps farmers feed the world”
Prove it Bobo
The U.S. has had two record crop years in a row. Now tell us what type of government we have “little” jon jon.
“The U.S. has had two record crop years in a row.”
That’s your proof?? LOL
You can’t prove squat Roberta. You never have and you never will.
Looking it up is simple, but beyond you. So is telling us what kind of government we have.
Well if it is simple ( like you) look it up dimwit and tell us all about it. Everyone is waiting for you to come true
No you need the practice Jonny. Learn to do something for yourself for a change. Sounds like you will have to now that your wife found her a real tool. While researching tell us what type of government we have.
a greedy plutocratic government that spies on its own people and uses people in third world countries as guinea pigs for their drug experiments, just ask Guatemala 🙂
1006 thumbs down.
CONSUMERS HAVE THE POWER!
Today,
Lowe’s announced that it’s making a public commitment to phase out
neonicotinoid pesticides – the most significant public commitment so far
for a retailer of its size.
So what does this mean?
Here’s what Lowe’s had to say in their just-released 2015 Corporate
Social Responsibility Report1:
Lowe’s
is committed to regularly reviewing the products and information we
offer customers and we’re taking the following actions to support
pollinator health:
Including greater organic and non-neonic product selections
Phasing out the sale of products that contain neonic pesticides within 48 months as suitable
alternatives become commercially available
Working with growers to eliminate the use of neonic pesticides on bee-attractive plants we sell
Encouraging growers to use biological control programs
Educating employees and customers through in-store resources such as brochures, fact sheets and product labels
CFS members sent thousands of emails, prodded Lowe’s on social media, and even rallied in
front of Lowe’s stores to urge the company to protect our pollinators. While this is not a silver bullet solution, this is a major step and you should be very proud of your role in this fight.
This progress would not have been possible without the thousands of emails and calls from members like you, and the hard work of our allies like Friends of the Earth and others.
Thank you for all that you do for bees,
Center for Food Safety
————————————————–
(Lowe’s Home Improvement, 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility report http://responsibility.lowes.co…, page 27)
GMOs cross pollinate and their seeds can travel. It is impossible to
fully clean up our contaminated gene pool. Self-propagating GMO
pollution will outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste.
The potential impact is huge, threatening the health of future
generations. GMO contamination has also caused economic losses for
organic and non-GMO farmers who often struggle to keep their crops pure.
Most GM crops are engineered to be “herbicide tolerant”―they deadly weed
killer. Monsanto, for example, sells Roundup Ready crops, designed to
survive applications of their Roundup herbicide.
Between 1996 and 2008, US farmers sprayed an extra 383 million pounds
of herbicide on GMOs. Overuse of Roundup results in “superweeds,”
resistant to the herbicide. This is causing farmers to use even more
toxic herbicides every year. Not only does this create environmental
harm, GM foods contain higher residues of toxic herbicides. Roundup, for
example, is linked with sterility, hormone disruption, birth defects,
and cancer.
Strange how some people only put out part of the information. Spraying more herbicides sounds bad until you realize that we are planting millions of more acres now than we were in the nineties. So while the amount per acre went down the total stil went up thanks to these new acres. It is very easy to twist the truth when you are dishonest.
“Spraying more herbicides sounds bad”
No really do ya think?
Duh!
Geez aren’t some people strange!
Wrong again Jonny, so tell us what kind of government we have.
the kind that pays people to lie for profit!
Strike one but thanks for playing conspiracy theorist.
1030 thumbs down.
The GM crops on the market today are not designed to address hunger
In 2013, 57% of the world’s GM crops were engineered to be herbicide tolerant, 16% were engineered to be insect resistant (Bt), and 27% were “stacked” with both these traits. This means that 84% of all
GM crops are tolerant to some groups of herbicides. Other traits, such as virus resistance and drought tolerance, account for less than 1% of global GM crop acres. Four GM crops account for almost 100% of worldwide GM crop acreage: soy, corn, cotton and canola. All four have been developed for large-scale industrial farming and are used as cash crops for export, to produce fuel, or for processed food and animal feed. There are very few GM fruits and vegetables on the market, or GM grains that are used for direct human consumption.
Just three countries – US, Brazil and Argentina – account for over 77% of the world’s GM crops. Ten countries account for 98% of the total GM acreage.
Also means Home Depot won’t be far behind! And people think signing petitions are a waste of time!
You are so right and yes let’s hope that HD and others will follow suit.
I remember speaking with one of the organizers of the anti-Vietnam war movement just after the end of war.
I made a comment to her that it looked like the government at that time had finally decided that it was time to get out of Vietnam. She remarked that the main reason the gov’t changed their mind was due to incessant pressure from the huge public outcry over the war. After that I realized that if there was enough pressure from the citizens anything was possible.
Bye Bye Home depot . Buy Lowe’s .
Herbicide-resistant crops—by generating an epidemic of resistant weeds—lead directly to increased use of hazardous chemicals,” said Bill Freese, a science policy analyst at Center for Food Safety. “EPA should reject this request.”
Propazine is a possible human carcinogen and a “restricted use pesticide”—the EPA’s category for particularly hazardous agricultural chemicals. The EPA has found that propazine, like atrazine, is an endocrine disruptor (disrupts the hormonal system) and that when fed to pregnant rats, it causes birth defects in their young. Propazine is persistent, requiring years to break down, and is detected in both ground and surface waters. The European Union has banned propazine due to its toxicity.
Granting the emergency request to use propazine to kill glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth—also known as pigweed—would lead to a 10-fold increase in the use of the toxic herbicide, from just
20,000-50,000 pounds in 2010 and 2011 to 280,000 pounds per year.
“Herbicide-resistant crops lead to increased herbicide use and this is just the beginning,” added Freese. “Monsanto, Dow Chemical and the other pesticide-seed giants have developed a host
of genetically engineered crops that will trigger a huge spike in the use of toxic weed-killers. This is hazardous to farmers, to consumers and to the environment.”
lyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth is one of 14 glyphosate-resistant weed species that have been generated by intensive use of glyphosate with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready crops, which are genetically engineered to withstand repeated dousing with the herbicide. Texas’ 3 million acres of cotton represents about one-quarter of the U.S.’ annual production.
When Monsanto came up with its Roundup Ready system of genetically engineered seeds in the 1990s, designed for immunity to the herbicide glyphosate, the Big Ag giant seemed like a superhero to farmers looking for an effective way to fight weeds.
But alas, this was a superhero with a fatal flaw. Before they knew what hit them, farmers’ weed problems morphed into a national superweed crisis. Superweeds have now spread to more than 60 million acres of U.S. farmland, wreaking environmental and economic havoc along the way.
Monsanto and other Big Ag companies say they can fix this problem, but their solutions look awfully similar to the one that has already failed. Why consider this “let’s do it again” approach when there are
real solutions available? A Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) briefing paper, The Rise of Superweeds, explains how this crisis developed—and outlines what can be done about it. UCS calls the solution healthy farms, which use practices grounded in the science of agroecology that are “sustainable and cost-effective, and more and more farmers are putting it into practice.” These practices make farms healthier, and recent research shows that they work.
>Yeah okay
Research overwhelmingly supports that GMOs reduce pesticide use:
Here’s a meta-analysis of 147 studies showing [GMOs reduce pesticide use by 37%](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0111629).
There are plenty of other sources that support GMOs reducing pesticide use, such as [this one](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X10001737) which found that GMOs reduce insecticide use by 55% in India.
[And another study showing that GMOs increase yields and reduce herbicide use by 40% in developing countries](http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/124/3/923.full).
[A study of Chinese farms found GMOs reduce pesticide spraying, improving the farmers’ health.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title%20Word&term=Pray%5Bauthor%5D%20AND%20Five%20years%20of%20Bt%20cotton%20in%20China%20-%20the%20benefits%20continue)
Not to mention that the only data your source–Natural Society (biased?)–shows is a graph of neonic use. This isn’t even a GM pestcide; it’s widely used across the board.
In fact, when you read the linked paper (I doubt you did), it actually discusses hybrid crops–not GMOs. It discusses the use of neonic applications on hybrid seeds.