Monsanto, Dow, GMOs, and Big Agro

   (3/1/12; I have just re-worked this page. I realize that the material is cumbersome, and it is somewhat annoying to wade through the multiple links. I only know what I read, and I have no doubt there is other material out there on the net providing counter arguments. I am looking from the stand point of one in the midst of a small ecosystem which is part of me; which I love and depend on for my sustenance. I want to protect this little world; my family, the bees, all the organisms with which I am interdependent.)

   (A personal note; for a long time I followed the 'Roundup' controversy from a distance. I knew I would never bring that stuff onto my farm. I knew there were no other agricultural operations nearby, so I felt safe from drifting spray.
   I had not considered actions of other people on the farm. My view changed recently. My husband came into the garden one year (about 2008 or 2009) and sprayed Roundup all over a patch of poison ivy- as well as spraying it all over a bunch of wire arches that I use for trellises when I plant beans and peas. He never told me about it.
   A month later we were showing a friend (Phil Harris) through the garden. My husband announced triumphantly that he had sprayed the area. He was proud of himself and his work. When I vigorously protested, he said 'Then you just get down there and pull out that poison ivy by hand',
   In Maine, there has been legislation established to require notification of neighbors when chemical spraying of crops occurs on adjoining properties. it is a pity that no legislation protects one from the actions of their spouse. My husband had evidently 1) bought into Monsanto's claims that Roundup is non-toxic, and 2) felt no responsibility to notify me or in any other way protect me from any consequences of directly handling the metal arches that had been contaminated. I commonly work without gloves. I had no way of knowing what had been done. I have no idea where my hands were after that; if I wiped the sweat off my face; if I picked herb leaves and ate them, etc.
   If I were a patient at my hospital, and the triage nurse asked me our standard question about abuse as I do; 'Are you safe at home?', in this context I would have to say, 'No, I am not'.)

   Anyone following the sustainable agriculture movement, the organic farming movement; anyone remembering the Vietnam era, anyone who has a surviving friend or family member dealing with the after-effects of Agent Orange, anyone who read Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring'; has surely encountered press releases on the groups mentioned under this heading. Both insecticides and defoliants are agents known to harm not only the target species, but the environment, including all the rest of us; the humans, the birds, the water-fowl; the chain of life. People have very deep objections to genetically engineered species. You are what you eat.
   Any discussion of the herbicidal products of Monsanto and Dow is incomplete without accompanying discussion of their Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)- i.e. seed able to resist the effects of the herbicide, or in some cases actually carrying encoding within its genome for some substance inimicable to insects or other organisms (Bacillus thuringensis genes- i.e. BT-engineered corn seed).

   The Cornucopia Institute; http://www.cornucopia.org/ is an organization working to 'promote economic justice for family scale farming'

The Cornucopia Institute; Mission Statement;

'...Mission

'...Seeking economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Through research, advocacy, and economic development our goal is to empower farmers - partnered with consumers - in support of ecologically produced local, organic and authentic food.'

I include some excerpts from their articles.

1. Monsanto, Roundup, and GMOs

'...According to available data, Grocery Manufacturers of America estimates 70-75 percent of the processed foods found in supermarkets today contain genetically engineered ingredients. Monsanto (one of the producers) is required to label these products in European countries, but not in the United States.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-murphy/gmo-seeds-food_b_1012676.html

'...In 2011, an estimated 94 percent of soybeans, 88 percent of corn, 90 percent of cotton, 93 percent of canola and 95 percent of sugar beets produced in the U.S. contain GMOs. And since most items in the grocery store include common ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, vegetable oils made from corn, soybeans, cottonseed and canola, with 8 out of every 10 bites of processed food, Americans are consuming genetically engineered foods without knowing it.'

   And why is it, again, that we are having such a huge upswing in asthma and severe, potentially life-threatening allergies to food? And why is it, again, that the bees are suffering colony collapse? They eat pollen, you know. We are hurting our Mother. We are hurting our fellow creatures. We are devastating our home.

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    In 1973, Monsanto released 'Roundup', a defoliating herbicide. In 1996 Monsanto released the first genetically modified seed (soybeans), genetically engineered to be 'Roundup ready'. Articles abound with allegations and supporting data concerning increasing resistance of insects to Roundup. See the Wikipedia write-up;

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_(herbicide)#Genetically_modified_crops

2. Dow Chemical and 2,4-D

   During the Vietnam war, Dow Chemical was a supplier of 'Agent Orange', a defoliant including the ingredient 2,4-D, for use in jungle warfare. As of present day, 2,4-D is still around, and may be coming soon to a cornfield near you. The following web site and excerpted material outline efforts by Dow to move forward toward another GMO corn. The general sequence in these efforts seems to be 1) develop the seed, 2) patent it, 3) have it assessed and 'de-regulated'- moved into a 'non-pest' status. From material excerpted below, this is the cogent description;
'...The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Dow AgroScience LLC seeking a determination of nonregulated status of corn designated as DAS-40278-9, which has been genetically engineered for increased resistance to broadleaf herbicides in the phenoxy auxin group (such as the herbicide 2,4-D) and resistance to grass herbicides in the aryloxyphenoxypropionate acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase inhibitor group (such as quizalofop herbicides).' The corn is referred to as 'Corn event DAS-40278-9'.
   Hey, corn is not an event. Corn is my food.

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   Again, from The Cornucopia Organization;

http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/12/action-alert-say-no-to-dow-chemicals-ge-corn-petition/

excerpted material;

'Proven in the Jungles of Vietnam as Part of Agent Orange!

'...Dow Chemical is seeking USDA approval for a genetically engineered (GE) version of corn that is resistant to 2,4-D, a herbicide that was used in the formulation of the highly toxic defoliant Agent Orange. Agent Orange (half 2,4-D by composition) was extensively used in Vietnam by the military to destroy forests and crops.

'...Dow’s Christmas gift for America was formally announced, by the USDA, in the December 27, 2011 edition of the Federal Register. If the federal government wants to bury something in the news, and burn up part of our window to publicly respond, you can bet they’ll do it around the holidays. The public has 60 days to comment on Dow’s petition for deregulation, and can do so online at:

'... http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001

'...Weeds are increasingly adapting to Monsanto’s genetically engineered line of crops that rely on the use of a different herbicide, glyphosate, which Monsanto markets as Round-up®. This is leading competitors, like Dow, and proponents of GE agriculture to look for weed killing alternatives. Herbicides more toxic than Round-up® appear to be next up in the pipeline.

'...2,4-D, a systemic herbicide, is used on many types of broadleaf weeds. It is a chlorinated phenoxy compound that has caused serious eye and skin irritation among agricultural workers. According to information compiles by Cornell university, rats fed 2,4-D produced “fetuses with abdominal cavity bleeding and increased mortality.” And 2,4-D may cause infertility, birth defects, organ toxicity and neurological effects.

'...As Dow’s GE corn is resistant to the herbicide, it is possible that the plant may absorb 2,4-D residues into its structure, and then transfer those chemicals, or their related metabolites, to livestock and humans consuming corn or milk, meat and eggs produced from the GE crop.'

   The following is an excerpt from 'Regulations.gov'; the web site contains the details of Dow's petition;

http://www.regulations.gov/#%21documentDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001

'...Petitions, Plant Pest Risk Assessments, and Environmental Assessments; Availability: Dow AgroScience, LLC, Corn Genetically Engineered for Herbicide Tolerance

'...[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2011)] [Notices] [Pages 80872-80873] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2011-33009] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service [Docket No. APHIS-2010-0103] Dow AgroScience LLC; Availability of Petition, Plant Pest Risk Assessment, and Environmental Assessment for Determination of Nonregulated Status of Corn Genetically Engineered for Herbicide Tolerance AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: We are advising the public that the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has received a petition from Dow AgroScience LLC seeking a determination of nonregulated status of corn designated as DAS-40278-9, which has been genetically engineered for increased resistance to broadleaf herbicides in the phenoxy auxin group (such as the herbicide 2,4-D) and resistance to grass herbicides in the aryloxyphenoxypropionate acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase inhibitor group (such as quizalofop herbicides). The petition has been submitted in accordance with our regulations concerning the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms and products. We are soliciting comments on whether this genetically engineered corn is likely to pose a plant pest risk. We are making available for public comment the Dow AgroScience LLC petition, our plant pest risk assessment, and our draft environmental assessment for the proposed determination of nonregulated status. DATES: We will consider all comments that we receive on or before February 27, 2012. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail ;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001. Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Send your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2010-0103, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737- 1238. Supporting documents and any comments we receive on this docket may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2010- 0103 or in our reading room, which is located in room 1141 of the USDA South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC. Normal reading room hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 690-2817 before coming. The petition, draft environmental assessment, and plant pest risk assessment are also available on the APHIS Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/aphisdocs/09_23301p.pdf (this is a 170 page pdf file of the Dow Chemical petition)

'...APHIS has received a petition (APHIS Petition Number 09-233-01p) from Dow AgroScience LLC (Dow) of Indianapolis, IN, seeking a determination of nonregulated status of corn (Zea mays) designated as event DAS-40278-9, which has been genetically engineered for increased resistance to broadleaf herbicides in the phenoxy auxin group (such as the herbicide 2,4-D) and resistance to grass herbicides in the aryloxyphenoxypropionate acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase inhibitor group (such as quizalofop herbicides), stating that this corn is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and, therefore, should not be a regulated article under APHIS' regulations in 7 CFR part 340. As described in the petition, corn event DAS-40278-9 has been genetically engineered to express the aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase protein AAD-1. Corn event DAS-40278-9 is currently regulated under 7 CFR part 340. Interstate movements and field tests of corn event DAS- 40278-9 have been conducted under permits issued or notifications acknowledged by APHIS.'

3. Other supporting material;

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-france-pesticides-monsanto-idUSTRE81C0VQ20120213

'...Reuters) - A French court on Monday declared U.S. biotech giant Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, a judgment that could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides.

Another write up may be found at; http://www.organicconsumers.org/ , website for the 'Organic Consumers Association (OCA); Campaigning for Health, Justice, Sustainability, Peace, and Democracy'.
They also have pages dedicated to 'Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology', concerning both Dow;
( http://www.organicconsumers.org/gelink.cfm ), and much discussion of Monsanto;
( http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm ).

4. Syngenta and Atrazine

Syngenta produced Paraquat in the 1960s.

5. Martek, Mead Johnson, DHA, and ARA

http://newsroom.martek.com/index.php?s=5256&item=4925

'...Martek Biosciences Announces Extended Global Sole-Source Supply Agreement With Mead Johnson

'...Martek has been supplying DHA and ARA to Mead Johnson for use in infant formula under a global 25-year license agreement executed in 1992. In May 2006, Martek and Mead Johnson entered into a supply agreement that established Martek as Mead Johnson's global sole-source supplier of DHA and ARA for use in its infant formula products. Mead Johnson first launched infant formulas containing Martek's DHA and ARA in international markets in 2000. Mead Johnson launched Enfamil LIPIL®, the first infant formula in the U.S. to feature DHA and ARA, in 2002.'

'Food-Industrial Complex'

(see also 'conspiracy theory, #9)
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=120594.0
http://wildopenheart.com/2011/11/16/your-food-industrial-complex-makes-me-sick/