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MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexico’s main agricultural lobby on Saturday criticized the government’s decision to ban genetically modified corn, while organic growers hailed the move that should protect smaller farmers.
Mexico will “revoke and refrain from granting permits for the release of genetically modified corn seeds into the environment,” stated a decree issued Thursday evening, which also mandated the phase out of GMO corn imports by 2024.
Of course, like all other technologies, gene editing could be used for good or ill. But in all likelihood, given the current UK administration’s infatuation with technological fixes and its conviction that only further intensification can feed a hungry world, gene editing is likely to be deployed in such a way that it will further accelerate the devastating narrowing of the gene pool which has been a feature of postwar farming, not only in the UK but throughout the world.
“Gene editing has the ability to harness the genetic resources that Mother Nature has provided in order to tackle the challenges of our age. This includes breeding crops that perform better, reducing costs to farmers and impacts on the environment and helping us all adapt to the challenges of climate change.”
A federal jury found in favor of Bader Farms on all counts in a lawsuit against Bayer and BASF. On Friday, the jury awarded $15 million of the requested $20.9 million in damages requested by Bader Farms. On Saturday, the jury also awarded Bader Farms $250 million in punitive damages.
It’s unlikely that Joe Biden expected that, of all his cabinet nominees, his choice for US agriculture secretary would cause the most blowback. Yet that is exactly what happened. The former secretary Tom Vilsack, fresh off the revolving door, is a kind of all-in-one package of what frustrates so many about the Democratic party.
The transition from an industrial, polluting, wasteful agricultural system to one that supports the health of our soil, our crops and our people requires committed farmers—and committed leaders.
If, like us, you dream of an organic, regenerative food system led by independent family farmers, then news that Joe Biden has asked Tom Vilsack to return to his Obama Era post as Secretary of Agriculture should be a real cause for concern.
TAKE ACTION: Tell the Senate: Vote No on Vilsack for Secretary of Agriculture
President-Elect Joe Biden has nominated Tom Vilsack as Agriculture Secretary.
This is bad news.
Tom Vilsack was “Mr. Monsanto” even before he started at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2009. As Iowa’s governor (1999–2007), he had been named Governor of the Year by the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Today, he continues to serve agribusiness as the head of the US Dairy Export Council, which is deeply invested in perpetuating the system of CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations), the use of pesticide-drenched genetically modified feed, and the practice of keeping prices paid to farmers below the cost of production to drive the consolidation of ever-larger factory farms.
As USDA Secretary from 2009-2017, Vilsack approved more new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) than any Secretary before him or since.
Mexico’s Agriculture Department has proposed rules for phasing out the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in weed killer Roundup, by early 2024. The rules were praised by environmentalists and organic producers who have complained of pesticide contamination. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has long objected to glyphosate.
Prolonged exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of the weedkiller Roundup causes significant harm to keystone species, according to new research at the University of Birmingham. A team in the University’s School of Biosciences used waterfleas, or Daphnia, to test the effects prolonged exposure to concentrations of Roundup deemed safe by regulatory agencies.
Mexico’s Agriculture Department has proposed rules for phasing out the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in weed killer Roundup, by early 2024. The rules were praised by environmentalists and organic producers who have complained of pesticide contamination, but drew criticism from many farmers.
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