Defending the Truth

WTO TO EUROPEANS: EAT YOUR FRANKENFOODS
The World Trade Organization (WTO), responding to intense pressure from the Bush Administration and the biotech industry, has ruled that the European Union's (EU) moratorium on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from 1998-2004 was illegal. The moratorium was put in place because of EU concerns on human safety, environmental pollution, and inadequate testing, and has subsequently been officially lifted. Canada and Argentina backed the U.S. in filing a complaint with the WTO in 2003, alleging that the moratorium was a violation of international trade laws. The Bush Administration has claimed that the EU ban has hurt U.S. farmers who grow genetically engineered crops, and that the EU should pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties to the U.S. But market analysts point out that the WTO ruling will not benefit the biotech industry, because EU food manufacturers and supermarket chains, fearing a consumer backlash, will continue to refuse to sell food products containing GMOs, no matter what the WTO says. U.S. Trade officials have admitted that the main impact of the WTO ruling will be to intimidate smaller nations from banning GMOs. http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/ruling060208.cfm

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image parody
by Michael Gibbs
BIG BROTHER WANTS TO TRACK ANIMALS AND THEIR OWNERS
Plans for a system that would require tagging or implanting all farm animals with radio frequency devices and registering those animals with a federal government tracking system have been delayed until after 2009, the USDA announced last week. The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) has been gaining support in the corporate agribusiness world, supposedly as a method for sourcing the origins of Mad Cow disease or possible terrorist biological attacks on the nation's livestock. Opponents point out the plan was drawn up by corporate behemoths like Monsanto and would require every owner of even a single animal to register their home with a national tracking system, including Global Positing Coordinates (for satellite tracking) and implant or tag every animal with a radio frequency device (RFID). Large-scale livestock producers say NAIS would help them control an outbreak of disease by allowing individual animals to be tracked to their origins. Small-scale farmers say the registration fees, RFID expenses and administrative bureaucracy of the system would drive them out of business. The USDA announced a delay in the launch of the program last week, based on disputes in the cattle industry over who gets control of the overall database. The OCA is in the process of building an online NAIS information and action center to help citizens educate themselves and offer feedback to the USDA on the NAIS issue.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ofgu/ID060202.cfm

This is an issue that is very important to most Europeans. They don't want genetically modified ANYTHING!!!!! And I couldn't agree more.

No one is sure what the long term results of eating genetically modified foods will be. More research needs to be done (for a long period of time) before it is unleashed on the masses.

It is all about the bottom line over what is good for people and it is the main reason why I think Bush, and people with this way of thinking (ie a large portion of the American public) are morally corrupt.

It's already unleashed on U.S.
http://www.krafty.org/flash/

but seedless grapes are sooo good. i hate how here in italy i always have to disect my grapes before eating them. but yea they should do research to see if there is anything wrong with genetically altered food products.

grow up and eat the grapes!
I'm glad you agree that research should be done.


$$$$ over PEOPLE = always bad idea

The risks that GMO's pose are very serious, I'm surprised this information isn't very wide-spread. That's only half of it, too, basically these companies who created the WTO have one goal, which is of course, profits. Create jobs for & feed the third world my ass. They're enslaving them, if anything.

Many seeds that are shipped to India, China, Central America, and the MidEast by the fatcats of agriculture, such as Monsanto (may they burn in Hell), have a "terminator" gene implanted in them. This basically means that after one season, the crop dies off. This keeps farmers in other countries completely dependant on the supplier (Monsanto), because after one season, they have to buy more seeds if they want to remain competitive in the market.

Even more serious, these crops with the self-termination gene can contaminate other crops. Suddenly, natural crops won't produce seeds anymore because of this contamination.

They've put human genes in pigs, to make them grow faster, and larger, which resulted in gross mutations of muscle structure. I've seen the pictures- these pigs were bulky as hell, yet couldn't even stand up.

I've forgotten what kind of gene they put in Salmon/Bass, but basically it made them grow about 6 times larger than in nature, but the drawback was that these fish were very aggressive and stupid as hell. Even worse, thousands of these fish escape every year and find their way back to their natural habitat--now we have fish that don't know how to spawn contaminating the natural species, which could prove to be a very serious form of biopollution.

The idea of genetic engineering is that, since modifying the technology to compliment nature is too inefficient, we can modify nature to fit the technology. What they fail to remember as their ambitions cloud their conscience, is that nature is already perfect, and should be left to evolve in it's own natural way. This forced evolution through genetic engineering can only result in disaster over time.

There's a lot of risks that are very serious,
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/lifecynical.php

http://www.experiencefestival.com/community/index.php

Spread it on!

This kick about genetically modified foods is 90% hype.

Y'all are aware, aren't you, that you've been eating genetically altered food for decades? All modern farmers raise "hybrid" corn and beans - which is ALWAYS genetically altered. Certain traits are bred into, and out of, livestock. That means it is genetically altered meat. And do you know that EVERY apple you buy is genetically altered? That's right, they are ALL hybrids!

We're NOT talking about spraying harmful chemicals into stuff - although that's done by some food companies who are using the chemicals as preservatives.


People would do well to honestly look at what is actually harmful and what is not. This GA Food hype in Europe was basically a political ploy - and a lot of gullible people bought into it.

This is exactly the point. NOONE KNOWS YET. It could be very dangerous to our health and much, much longer term research is needed before farmers are set loose with this stuff.

It is sad that we are being treated like guinea pigs in America, and all for a buck. But alas, the average republican, and to a certain extent the average American is just not sensitive to these sorts of issues (health, global warming, etc). We have become very detached from the nature that surrounds us and as a result our loved ones will die prematurely.

Yeah, that's right. Try your best to make a partisan issue of it.

Do you know what "stuff" these farmers are being "set loose with"?

I'm talking about HYBRID crops. You're aware, aren't you, that ALL corn, soybeans, canola, alfalfa, etc. have been HYBRID for DECADES? We're not talking about injecting hormones or steroids into something. We're talking about genetic manipulation - which has been going on for years and years and years.