Genetic Engineering
GMO = Genetically Modified Organism
GMOs are created in a lab, by inserting a gene from one organism into another unrelated organism, producing plants and animals that would never occur in nature. No long-term safety studies have been done on humans, but animal studies link the consumption of GMOs to an increase in allergies, kidney and liver disease, ADHD, cancer, infertility, chronic immune disorders and more.
Say no to GMOs!
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA)—Monsanto’s Evil Twin—is pulling out all the stops to keep you in the dark about what’s in your food. The GMA plans to sue in federal court to overturn Vermont’s new GMO labeling law, H.112. And it’s pushing a bill in Congress that would not only overturn every state’s right to enact a GMO labeling law, but also legalize the practice of labeling GMO foods “natural.”
Take the pledge today to boycott the 300-plus members of the GMA,
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Sometimes technological advances come about to answer the wrong question. But what happens when you ask the right question but technology is the wrong tool? You get Muufri. If you don’t feel comfortable drinking milk from a cow but do feel comfortable drinking milk that a few guys made in the lab on summer vacation, then Muufri is for you.
Here’s what Muufri and its makers, Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi, got right. We have a huge industrial agricultural problem and one of its worst aspects is CAFOs-Confined Feeding Animal Operations—those “factory farms” where animal are crowded
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In an acclaimed new book being launched Wednesday in London, American public interest attorney Steven Druker reveals how the US government and leading scientific institutions have systematically misrepresented the facts about GMOs and the scientific research that casts doubt on their safety.
The book, Altered Genes, Twisted Truth, features a foreword by the renowned primatologist Dame Jane Goodall, hailing it as “without doubt one of the most important books of the last 50 years”.
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On Wednesday, February 25, 2015, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, once again floated the idea of consumers using barcodes to identify foods that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as an alternative to requiring food manufacturers to put a label on products that contain GMOs.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: Consumers Want GMO Labels, not Barcodes! Read moregmofoodslabels
WASHINGTON — In the ever-complicated debate over labeling of genetically modified foods, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack offers this idea: Use your smartphone.
Vilsack told members of Congress on Wednesday that consumers could just use their phones to scan special bar codes or other symbols on food packages in the grocery store. All sorts of information could pop up, such as whether the food’s ingredients include genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
Read moreOn Wednesday last week (February 25, 2015), the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, once again floated the idea of consumers using barcodes to identify foods that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as an alternative to requiring food manufacturers to put a label on products that contain GMOs.
Referring to the ongoing debate over GMO labeling laws, Vilsack (according to the Associated Press) told the House during a hearing on agriculture spending: “We could solve that issue in a heartbeat.”
Solve the issue for whom? Tot-Toting Moms with
It’s a growing controversy: Should GMO foods always be labeled so consumers are aware that the product contains genetically modified ingredients?
GMOs—or genetically modified organisms—are created in a lab by altering the genetic makeup of a plant or an animal. Ninety-two percent of Americans believe that GMO foods—widely found in kitchens across the country—should be labeled before they’re sold, according to a recent nationally representative survey of 1,004 people from the Consumer Reports National Research Center
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For the past two decades, developers of genetically engineered (GE) crops and their corporate allies have maintained that because their products are so obviously safe, there is no need to label them. Thanks to marketing campaigns, squelched state initiatives and a flood of GE products on the market, the public has largely adopted this belief as well.
Would it shock the public to know that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has never formally approved any GE crop as safe for human consumption?
war on gmos
Since when is the safety of genetically modified food considered “settled science” on a par with the reality of evolution? That was the question that jumped to mind when I saw the cover of the March 2015 National Geographic and the lead article, “Why Do Many Reasonable People Doubt Science?”
The cover title: “The War on Science.” The image: a movie set of a fake moon landing. Superimposed: a list of irrational battles being waged by “science doubters” against an implied scientific consensus:
“Climate change does not exist.”
“Evolution never happened.”
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Many consumers and food activists use social media platforms to stay informed and engage in important debates about the future of our food system. But increasing corporate influence in these spaces requires us to differentiate fact from spin as we encounter hundreds of posts and tweets per day. Big Ag’s attempts to shape social media debates expose its fear of criticism from a growing food movement demanding corporate transparency, regulation, and sustainable alternatives to industrial agriculture.
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