Monsanto genetically modifying consumer rights

[Guest guest]

 

KD Weber <wvadreamin

 

Thursday, 24 July 2003 4:21

Monsanto genetically modifying consumer rights

 

 

GENETICALLY MODIFYING CONSUMER RIGHTS

 

Monsanto is suing Portland, Maine-based Oakhurst Dairy for labeling their

milk " Our Farmers' Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormones. " According to

Monsanto, manufacturer of the genetically engineered recombinant Bovine

Growth Hormone (known as rBGH or rBST), Oakhurst Dairy does not have the

right to let its customers know whether its milk is laced with genetically

engineered hormones. Oakhurst says they've been labeling their products

like

this for four years, in response to consumer demand. Although rBGH has

been

banned in every industrialized nation in the world except for the United

States, Monsanto continues to claim that rBGH-derived milk is no different

from the natural stuff, despite documentation that rBGH milk contains

substantially higher levels of a potent cancer tumor promoter called

IGF-1.

Monsanto sued two dairies and threatened several thousand retailers in

1994

for labeling or advertising milk and dairy products as " rBGH-free. "

Despite

Monsanto's intimidation tactics, more than 10% of U.S. milk is currently

labeled as " rBGH-free, " while sales of organic milk and dairy products

(which prohibit rBGH) are booming. In recent months a Monsanto-funded

front

group, the Center for Consumer Freedom, has launched a smear campaign

against organic dairies, including Organic Valley, claiming they are

defrauding consumers.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbgh/071303_rbgh.cfm

For a full discussion on the rBGH controversy, see the rBGH section on the

OCA website:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbghlink.html

 

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QUICK QUIZ: HOW U.S. DEMOCRACY WORKS

 

Question: How is it that every industrialized nation in the world has

banned

Monsanto's rBGH as unsafe, but it's legal (and unlabeled) in the United

States?

 

Answer: In order for the FDA to determine if Monsanto's growth hormones

were

safe or not, Monsanto was required to submit a scientific report on that

topic. Margaret Miller, one of Monsanto's researchers put the report

together. Shortly before the report submission, Miller left Monsanto and

was

hired by the FDA. Her first job for the FDA was to determine whether or

not

to approve the report she wrote for Monsanto. In short, Monsanto approved

its own report. Assisting Miller was another former Monsanto researcher,

Susan Sechen. Deciding whether or not rBGH-derived milk should be labeled

fell under the jurisdiction of another FDA official, Michael Taylor, who

previously worked as a lawyer for Monsanto.

 

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WEIRD WHEAT WEILDS WOES

 

Scientists from the University of Manitoba have released a report

indicating, " Under current conditions the release of Roundup Ready wheat

in

Western Canada would be environmentally unsafe. " Monsanto's GE wheat would

lead to an increase in the use of glyphosate herbicide, a widely-used

chemical now being linked to increased growth of fungal plant pathogens,

known as fusarium head blight (FHB). FHB has already caused tens of

millions

of dollars in losses for wheat farmers on the eastern prairies of Canada.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/071403_ge_wheat.cfm

 

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HOW MONSANTO'S POLICIES HAVE BECOME U.S. POLICY

 

Prior to being the Supreme Court Judge who put G.W. in office, Clarence

Thomas was Monsanto's lawyer. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (Anne

Veneman) was on the Board of Directors of Monsanto's Calgene Corporation.

The Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) was on the Board of Directors

of

Monsanto's Searle pharmaceuticals. The U.S. Secretary of Health, Tommy

Thompson, received $50,000 in donations from Monsanto during his winning

campaign for Wisconsin's governor. The two congressmen receiving the most

donations from Monsanto during the last election were Larry Combest

(Chairman of the House Agricultural Committee) and Attorney General John

Ashcroft. (Source: Dairy Education Board)

 

 

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GE-WHIZ, AFRICA'S POOR, NOT DUMB

 

According to a piece in the New York Times, Bush and his biotech backers

are

grossly mistaken in their claim that GE crops would help alleviate hunger

in

Africa. " The first generation of genetically modified food crops - corn

and

soybean seeds - were created to make pest management simpler on America's

large, mechanized farms. The technologies would be far less effective on

African farms, which are small and diversified and rely largely on human

labor, " wrote respected scientist Dr. Charles Benbrook. The article also

points out that GE crops need nearly ideal growing conditions, something

the

arid and drought-ridden climes of Africa simply cannot provide- not to

mention the fact that impoverished African farmers can't even afford GE

seeds, which typically cost 35% more than traditional seeds.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/071403_ge_africa.cfm

 

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