1.Ireland: Only chemical firm giants benefit from GM crops
2.South Africa takes an unacceptable risk
3.India - Green Revolution has collapsed: Tikait
4.Australia: Council calls for clear labels to avoid GM food confusion
5.Switzerland: Syngenta struggles to shrug off GM concerns
EXTRACT: For small farmers all over the world, genetically modified (GM) seeds have been a disaster. In promoting GM and government subsidies for patented seeds, huge, mostly American, multicorporations, have overseen the slow death of natural agriculture. Faced with this "agripower", untold numbers of farmers in India have lost their livelihood and taken their own lives. (item 2)
"The Green Revolution has collapsed and farmers are committing suicide in many States. This proves that the entire plan to increase productivity has gone haywire."
(item 1)
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1.Ireland: Only chemical firm giants benefit from GM crops
Irish Examiner, letter to the editor, 5 August 2008
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php
The dishonest campaign to force GM crops into Ireland continues unabated for one simple reason.
Ireland without GM crops could be the bread basket of Europe because of all the Europeans that don't want them. We would have a competitive advantage and that is what the people that are pushing the GM monster don't want. If we get bullied dishonestly down the same road as the other countries, Irish agriculture can start closing down now. May I briefly recap on some of the facts about GM crops, rather than the self-serving, half-truths that are being put out by the chemical companies behind GM foods and the poisons they spray on them:
1. It is well known that GM crops do not increase yields.
2. It is well known that their total resistance to specific herbicides comes at huge cost to the quality of the crops that can now be drenched in those poisonous chemicals (sold by the same company, of course) before being sold to us to eat. And let's not go into the damage to the environment caused [by] being able to safely smother crops and the surrounding area in chemicals for the chance of a little more profit.
3. It is well known that the limited research that has been done shows clearly that there are potential dangers to human and animal health and that much more research is needed.
4. Simply because lots of people were using asbestos and smoking cigarettes did not mean that it was therefore safe for more people to do so, which is what paid experts said at the time and what at least one government adviser is saying now.
5. It is well known that most small farmers will be driven out of business because of the need to buy seeds every year instead of using the natural seeds from the previous crop as they have done for generations.
This is because of the totally unnecessary terminator gene and will be especially cruel to the poorer areas of the world.
Admittedly corporations are not in business for human welfare but our politicians should at least pretend to be interested.
In summary, GM crops offer not one single benefit to anybody except chemical company profits. Will anybody be accountable for the food disaster to come? Of course not. Future humans, as usual, will just have to surmount the disasters of politicians' ruthless self-interest.
Richard D Barton
Tinahely
Co.Wicklow.
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2.South Africa takes an unacceptable risk
John Pilger
Mail & Guardian (South Africa), 5 August 2008
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php
For small farmers all over the world, genetically modified (GM) seeds have been a disaster. In promoting GM and government subsidies for patented seeds huge, mostly American, multicorporations, have overseen the slow death of natural agriculture. Faced with this "agripower", untold numbers of farmers in India have lost their livelihood and taken their own lives.
In Europe cultivating GM crops faces a ban because it poses, say scientists, "unacceptable risks". A strain of GM maize has been banned outright in several European countries and is not grown at all in Britain. Studies show how the chemicals produced by these crops can contaminate the environment and the food we eat.
Why, then, is South Africa the only country within the South African Development Community growing GM maize, cotton and soya? Why is South Africa's food industry already saturated with GM products which British supermarkets refuse to stock? Mariam Mayet of the African Centre of Biosafety says: "When South Africa passed GMO legislation in 1997, most people weren't aware of how contentious the technology would become - Everything is contaminated and, to make matters worse, labelling of GM content is not mandatory."
South Africa has concluded trade agreements with mighty corporations, such as Monsanto, which promote the subsidisation of patented seeds. Small farmers are bound into an export-only system, abandoning subsistence agriculture -- without having been warned of the dangers.
"It all looks very nice on paper," says Mayet, "but it is a clever ploy to get access to people's land. Small-scale farmers who sign up for GM deals quickly lose control over seed management, production and eventually their land. This means they lose control over food sovereignty."
"Food sovereignty" means the most basic human right to feed and sustain ourselves. One reason food prices are climbing all over the world is the market grip of corporations such as Monsanto, Dow and Cargill, the world's biggest grain company. Another reason is the huge subsidy that the rich world's agripower gets from governments, notably in the US and Europe -- subsidies that are damned as heresy when developing governments dare to legislate protection of their own food supply.
Such hypocrisy defines the way those who make the policies of the rich world regard the rest of humanity. For South Africa the prospect is the eventual loss of all home subsistence production. That can means hunger and worse -- unless someone says no.
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3.India - Green Revolution has collapsed: Tikait
The Hindu, 5 August 2008
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php
NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahinder Singh Tikait on Monday said that 40 years after the dawn of the Green Revolution the agriculture sector was once again at the crossroads.
Addressing a rally of farmers from different parts of the country at Jantar Mantar here, Mr. Tikait said: "Agriculture has become less remunerative over the years. The Green Revolution has collapsed and farmers are committing suicide in many States. This proves that the entire plan to increase productivity has gone haywire."
Pointing out that liberalisation had resulted in import of genetically engineered foods and seeds, BKU (Delhi) leader Yudhvir Singh said the UPA Government had allowed import of processed food containing genetically modified organisms without having any regulatory mechanism. "In order to protect our bio-diversity, we demand a complete ban on commercial release as well as import of all genetically modified crops, foods and seeds in the country. The Government must support ecological agriculture and provide incentive for growing toxic-free food through organic farming," he added.
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4.Council calls for clear labels to avoid GM food confusion
Business Spectator (Australia), 5 August 2008
Abstracted from The West Australian
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php
The Conservation Council of Western Australia (WA) is seeking improved standards for genetically modified (GM) food labelling. Council spokeswoman for sustainable agriculture, Maggie Lilith, said there is no reason stringent labelling requirements for GM ingredients cannot be introduced in Australia as they have been in the EU. The Food Standards Australia New Zealand Board does not require GM labelling for margarine and other oils produced from GM seeds because DNA and protein in the seed is removed during the refining process. Critics say small amounts of GM DNA and protein could remain.
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5.Switzerland: Syngenta struggles to shrug off GM concerns
SwissInfo, 4 August 2008
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php
Swiss agrochemical giant Syngenta continues to make healthy profits in the field of improving crop yields despite facing continued criticism.
The firm says its crop protection agents and genetically modified (GM) seeds are helping to increase global food supply, but watchdog groups claim some of its activities harm developing countries.
"Across all our businesses, we are intensifying our focus on emerging markets in order to bring the benefits of modern agricultural technology to countries where the need for productivity gains is most pronounced."
But non-governmental organisations, such as the Berne Declaration, claim that some of Syngenta's activities are harming the very developing countries it is seeking to help.
The pressure group has waged a long campaign against the toxic Paraquat weed killer that has been banned in Europe and several other countries. It also criticises the company for trying to file patents on living organisms, such as rice genes, which it claims could hinder the research of competitors.
Biofuel controversy
Berne Declaration spokesman FranÃois Meienberg also accused Syngenta of adding to the problems of food productivity by developing genetically modified corn for biofuels that is reducing the amount of crops available for consumption.
"By promoting biofuels they are playing a part in the rising food prices that we have seen in the last few months and years," he told swissinfo.
"They have always told us that we need genetically modified organisms (GMOs) because there is a limited surface available for agricultural production. But it is a contradiction to say we need to use this land to produce biofuels because this will have a negative impact on food security."
Syngenta, which has always maintained the safety of the Paraquat weed killer, hit back at the criticism by saying that its work to enhance corn production also helps produce more food.
"Syngenta is also working on second-generation biofuels, which will use organic waste matter, and not the food part of the plant," the company added in a statement to swissinfo.
GM moratorium
The company is also facing a hostile environment to its GMO activities in Switzerland, which in 2005 approved a five-year moratorium on agricultural use. A GM crop test site in Zurich was destroyed in June.
This has forced Syngenta to increase its activities in this field in the United States and the company is also building a research centre in China.
"Syngenta believes that all farmers should be able to choose the best available technologies, including GM to meet their crop production needs in a sustainable way. GM is a safe technology that has been successfully used by farmers for many years," the firm stated.
The company remains convinced that its work will help solve the food shortages of the world, but the debate is set to rumble on. [shortened]