- 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.
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- 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."
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- 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.
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- <http://207.68.164.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=e0a623fb38f8c80c88c
84740f032f8e4&lat=1058666713&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eorganicconsumers
%2eorg%2frbgh%2f071303_rbgh%2ecfm>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://207.68.164.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=d746ee68899ad4b
184019bc0f6b93459&lat=1058666713&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eorganicconsumers
%2eorg%2frbghlink%2ehtml>http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbghlink.html
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- QUICK QUIZ: HOW U.S. DEMOCRACY WORKS
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- 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?
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- 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
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- 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://207.68.164.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=b5f251734603ab75269
1a4dadc48bdf2&lat=1058666713&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eorganicconsumers
%2eorg%2fge%2f071403_ge_wheat%2ecfm>http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/071403_ge_wheat.cfm
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- HOW MONSANTO'S POLICIES HAVE BECOME U.S. POLICY
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- 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
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- 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://207.68.164.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=60504ec8c898fb99f9f54a99557dfd6d&lat=
058666713&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eorganicconsumers%2eorg%2fge%2f071403
_ge_africa%2ecfm>http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/071403_ge_africa.cfm
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