Petition to the President.

Shaking up the White House hive

Feb 4, 2015 by Paul Towers

As I spoke to a packed room at the EcoFarm Conference late last month, it was clear that many of us eagerly await the unveiling of the White House's new plan to protect bees. But if recent events are any indication, officials aren’t getting the message that pesticides are a key part of the problem. Just one day before my talk, EPA approved another bee-harming pesticide.

http://www.panna.org/blog/shaking-white-house-hive

These videos are only available to watch for a short period of time.

Today's speaker's videos have one day, ten hours left, so don't put it off.

https://healthygutsummit.com/schedule/?i...78f113eb96882d8

Video: The Case for Labeling ‪#‎GMO‬ Foods - Jeffrey Smith presents a Legislative Briefing in Sacramento, CA

Jeffrey summarizes why the safety assessments conducted by the FDA and regulators worldwide teeter on a foundation of outdated science and false assumptions, and why genetically engineered foods must urgently become our nation's top food safety priority.

1hr 48+ mins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqniJB0DMRY&feature=youtu.be

EPA Approval of Dow’s Enlist Duo Herbicide Violates Endangered Species Act

Lawsuit filed to protect endangered whooping crane and Indiana bat from toxic herbicide to be used on genetically engineered crops

February 9, 2015

San Francisco, CA — A coalition of farmers and environmental groups filed a motion Friday to stay the EPA’s October 2014 decision to approve a powerful new herbicide called “Enlist Duo” for use on genetically engineered (GE) crops in six Midwestern states. The groups maintain that EPA violated...

http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2015/...red-species-act

Modern Farmer

The Post-GMO Economy

One mainstream farmer is returning to conventional seed — and he’s not alone

By Elizabeth Royte on December 6, 2013

Still, winning converts to conventional corn can be an uphill slog. Post-harvest, farmers face a barrage of TV and print ads touting the latest seed technology. There’s a subtler psychology at work, too. Farmers have close relationships with their seed dealers, who often live nearby and keep them company at local baseball games, PTA meetings or church. “You can’t break up with them,” Bloom says, noting that seed dealers work on commission. DuPont Pioneer, for example, offers him a non-GMO corn for $180 a bag, while Wyffels Hybrids sold the same for $115 a bag last year.

Why does Pioneer charge so much? Because it doesn’t want lower-priced conventional seed to lure customers away from GMOs. Bloom says a company dealer confessed: “We don’t want our farmers to buy it.”

http://modernfarmer.com/2013/12/post-gmo-economy/

Institute for Responsible Technology

“If these GE loblolly pines are released on a large scale in the US, there will be no way to stop them from cross contaminating native loblolly pines,” said biologist Dr. Rachel Smolker of Biofuelwatch. “This is deliberate, irreversible and completely irresponsible contamination of the environment with unknown and possibly devastating consequences. Forest ecosystems are barely understood, and the introduction of trees with genes for modified wood characteristics could have all manner of negative impacts on soils, fungi, insects, wildlife, songbirds, and public health. And all this for short term commercial profit.”

http://sustainablepulse.com/2015/02/01/global-outrage-grows-unregulated-gm-trees/#.VNq_wI0tGAI

The World According to Monsanto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FGGlSvt0U4&feature=youtu.be

Erin Brockovich

Before the sides line up to shoot at each other (and me), pay very close attention to what my question is.

What is wrong with a consumer's Right to Know?

If you want patent protection... and you want to sell your products to me, don't I have a Right to Know that is has been genetically altered. What is the problem with notification? What is there to hide? If it is safe... great; tell me and let me make my decision informed.

The Deny Americans the Right to Know – or DARK – Act is expected to be reintroduced in Congress any day now. This reprehensible anti-labeling bill would both rule out any federal labeling requirement for genetically engineered foods and deny states the right to enact their own labeling legislation. In other words, if the DARK Act passes, the fight for genetic engineering (GE) labeling is over.

In order to stop the DARK Act in its tracks, we need to make sure that every single supporter of GE labeling is heard loud and clear. That’s why this week I am joining forces with activists around the country in a National Week of Action to call on Congress to oppose the DARK Act and support mandatory GE labeling.

Monsanto, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (an industry front group) and others have already spent over $100 million to keep consumers in the dark in Washington, California, Oregon and Colorado alone. And with millions more at their disposal, you can bet that Big Food will be pulling out all the stops to get this reprehensible bill passed this year.

Let’s prove that the American people are louder than Big Food lobbyists.

https://takeaction.takepart.com/actions/oppose-the-dark-act

February 9, 2015

GMO Free NY

The NY Assembly is finally back in business and it just passed its first bill of the year. And guess what?!? It's a good one! It protects farmers from being sued for patent infringement if their crops are unintentionally and unknowingly cross-contaminated with patented GMO crops! Woohoo! Now we just need the Senate to pass it, too. We can't take any credit for this awesomeness but we sure as heck can celebrate it!!

"If a farmer is sued for infringing on a patent related to genetically modified organisms, they would be able to avoid paying damages if they can prove that they “did not knowingly and intentionally introduce the genetically engineered or genetically modified organisms into his or her plants or seeds or onto his or her property and he or she did not knowingly gain from the distinctive traits due to genetic modification or genetic engineering.”

http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2015/02/09/on-feb-9-assembly-passes-first-bill-of-2015/

10 Banned Foods Americans Should Stop Eating Infographic

http://www.mercola.com/infographics/10-b...ods_facebookdoc

Astroturf and manipulation of media messages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bYAQ-ZZtEU#t=157

NY Times

Gene-Altered Apples Get U.S. Approval

By ANDREW POLLACK FEB. 13, 2015

The government on Friday approved the commercial planting of genetically engineered apples that are resistant to turning brown when sliced or bruised.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/14/business/gmo-apples-are-approved-for-growing-in-us.html?_r=1

BREAKING:

Connecticut becomes the first state to introduce legislation to BAN Scotts' Roundup Ready GMO grass.

http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/CGABillStatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=HB6041

February 13th, 2015

Congress: Don’t Mess With Meat Labels

By Katherine Cirullo

This week brought progress for consumers, ranchers and food safety advocates who want to know where their food is produced. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has dropped an anti-consumer lawsuit filed by meatpackers and industry groups against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), that would have denied U.S. shoppers the right to know where the meat they purchase was born, raised and slaughtered.

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/blogs/congress-dont-mess-with-meat-labels/

National GMO Labeling Bill Reintroduced as U.S. Reps, Citizens Demand the Right to Know

By Nick Meyer On February 12, 2015

A new bipartisan bill that would give Americans more information about what’s in their food was reintroduced on Thursday, Feb. 12 in both the U.S. Senate and House, as announced on the Center for Food Safety’s website.

The bill, introduced by Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, would require that food manufacturers label foods that contain genetically modified ingredients.

“We cannot continue to keep Americans in the dark about the food they eat,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio.

“More than sixty other countries make it easy for consumers to choose. Why should the U.S. be any different? If food manufacturers stand by their product and the technology they use to make it, they should have no problem disclosing that information to consumers.”

http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/ge...-right-to-know/

Sign the Petition

https://www.facebook.com/notes/actions-f...889710961069591

Happy Valentine's Day to our local organic farmers:

Autumn's Harvest Farm in Romulus and Felenz Family Farm in Phelps

https://www.facebook.com/MomsAcrossAmeri...5540584/?type=1

2/12/15

Syngenta's Phillipson admits Atrazine banned in home country

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZcm7728CZg

"In Hendersonville, NC this was once drinking water. Now it is a dead zone. Nothing can live when oxygen is gone. What caused this? Glyphosate and atrazine which came from an apple tree farm on top of a mountain above this drinking water. The entire 150 acres shows a buffer of fast growing moss. People who drank this water have gotten numerous illnesses and cancer. The trees in the area are growing a fungus.

You see... The poisoning of OUR earth has to be stopped. It goes much deeper than our foods and a GMO label. These poisons are DESTROYING our home which was once abundant with life. People, animals, trees, & bees are dying!!! All for profit...GREED!!

Can we please just WAKE UP??!! For Mother Earth and our children and grandchildren... Speak up ... raise hell... ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY!!!"

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202709519418690&set=gm.837927479587065&type=1

Okanagan orchardists upset over genetically modified apples
February 13, 2015

While the U.S. government has deregulated the Arctic apple, the product is not approved in Canada at this time.

“If consumers want to be perfectly assured that they are not eating a GMO apple, then avoid purchase of U.S. Granny Smith and golden delicious apples,” said Steele.

http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/291896321.html?mobile=true

Are Your Medications Safe?

The FDA buries evidence of fraud in medical trials. My students and I dug it up.

By Charles Seife

If you manage to get your hands on these documents, you’ll see that, most of the time, key portions are redacted: information that describes what drug the researcher was studying, the name of the study, and precisely how the misconduct affected the quality of the data are all blacked out. These redactions make it all but impossible to figure out which study is tainted. My students and I looked at FDA documents relating to roughly 600 clinical trials in which one of the researchers running the trial failed an FDA inspection. In only roughly 100 cases were we able to figure out which study, which drug, and which pharmaceutical company were involved. (We cracked a bunch of the redactions by cross-referencing the documents with clinical trials data, checking various other databases, and using carefully crafted Google searches.) For the other 500, the FDA was successfully able to shield the drugmaker (and the study sponsor) from public exposure.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and...idden_from.html