From the open publishing newswire: WISCONSIN - January 4 - Over the holidays, the United States Department of Agriculture announced its approval of a novel strain of genetically engineered corn, developed by Monsanto, purportedly being "drought tolerant."

Despite receiving nearly 45,000 public comments in opposition to this particular genetically engineered (GE) corn variety (and only 23 comments in favor), the Obama administration gave Monsanto the green light to release its newest GE corn variety freely into the environment and American food supply, without any governmental oversight or safety tracking.

www.cornucopia.org

[ Related: Bt Crops Failures & Hazards
| Super-Rice without GM ]

From the open publishing newswire: This morning 30 protesters from Earth First! have shut down the BASF UK headquarters (1) at Cheadle Hulme near Manchester (2), to highlight the company's role in pushing GM onto our plates. BASF is planning to run the UK's only trial of GM crops this year, a trial of blight resistant potatoes.

The protesters arrived early in the morning at the flagship offices and have since been blockading the gate by sitting in front of it and locking on sing d-locks and other equipment. They are successfully preventing any staff from entering and are demanding the company pull out of GM immediately. They have also hung a giant 30 x 10ft banner reading "No To GM". The protesters are planning to blockade the gate for several hours.

uk indymedia

From the open publishing newswire: There is a new participant in the international deliberations on global warming and agrofuels: the biotechnology industry. The corporate giants of the genetics industry propose new technologies, including genetically modified trees, second generation cellulosic ethanol, and synthetic biology, to wean society off fossil fuels and fight climate change.

The implications for Latin America are breathtaking. The biotechnology industry's massive move into the energy sector brings together major social and ecological issues in the region, such as agrofuel promotion, genetically modified (GM) crops, and the growth of agribusiness monocultures. Latin American civil society's aspirations of land reform, environmental protection, alternatives to neoliberalism, and food and energy sovereignty, are at stake.


 http://www.nwrage.org

From the open publishing newswire: A field planted with experimental oilseed rape a decade ago found transgenic specimens were still growing there despite intensive efforts over the years to remove the seeds, according to researchers in Sweden. This is the first time a genetically modified crop has endured so long and critics say it shows that genetically modified organisms cannot be contained once released.

"We should assume that GM organisms cannot be confined, and ask instead what will become of them when they escape."

From the open publishing newswire: A field planted with experimental oilseed rape a decade ago found transgenic specimens were still growing there despite intensive efforts over the years to remove the seeds, according to researchers in Sweden. This is the first time a genetically modified crop has endured so long and critics say it shows that genetically modified organisms cannot be contained once released.

"This study confirms that GM crops are difficult to confine," said Professor Mark Westoby, a plant ecologist from Macquarie University in Australia. "We should assume that GM organisms cannot be confined, and ask instead what will become of them when they escape."

From the open publishing newswire: A corporate agri-tech giant with its fingers prodding suspiciously around Cascadia has blood on its hands, and you should know about it. Agri-giant Syngenta has secretly tested its genetically modified crops on Oregon farmland, against the will of the majority of Cascadians. This same transnational corporation secretly helped to funnel more than $5 million into an Oregon election to defeat a ballot measure that would have required, for the first time in the nation, that GM crops be labeled before being foisted off on consumers. Bizarrely, Syngenta is also a sustaining member of the "Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation," a pro-industry propaganda generator that seeks to colonize the minds of our children. And now, Syngenta is a corporate killer.

From the open publishing newswire: Greenpeace volunteers in Romania quarantined a whole island where GM soya crops are being grown, which is illegal under EU law. Vehicles leaving Braila island were hosed down by people wearing white biohazard suits to prevent genetic contamination spreading to the mainland. Even a donkey and cart were washed and made GM-free!


Greenpeace, 5 September 2007
 http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/gm/gm-quarantine-in-romania-20070905

 http://www.nwrage.org

From the open publishing newswire: On June 1, 2007 the United States Justice Department gave the green light for Monsanto's $1.5 billion takeover of the world's largest cotton seed company, Delta & Pine Land (D&PL) -- the US company that developed and patented the world's first Terminator seed technology.

Terminator seeds are genetically engineered to be sterile after first harvest and were developed to stop farmers from saving seed.

"As the biggest seed company in the world, Monsanto stands to gain the most by incorporating Terminator technology into all its seeds, thus forcing farmers to buy new seed every year" said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.

From the open publishing newswire: An important element in the struggle in Oaxaca is the defence and protection of the precious and unfortunately seriously threatened spiritual,environmental and agricultural natural resources of their state. Oaxaca is the birthplace of corn in the world, and the US is now aggressively and deviously manipulating Mexican economic structures to force the importation of vast quantities of US GM maize. This is an issue of URGENT importance, both for Oaxaca, Mexico and the world.

www.schoolsforchiapas.com

From the open publishing newswire: The Zapatista community is selling GMO-free Mayan corn. The seed is being sent all over the world in an effort to save an old lineage. Mutated corn seed is being planted by corporate interests to destroy this old lineage. The money from the sale of the corn will be used to build Chiapas schools. Sow the seeds of resistance and join the growing movement against transgenic contamination of Mayan corn in Chiapas, Mexico!

By planting Zapatista corn, you become a part of a global effort to preserve a vital genetic heritage that has evolved over thousands of years. You can plant these powerful Zapatista corn seeds in your community, farm, home, school, or family gardens. These seeds have been donated by Zapatista farmers who hope and pray that people of conscience around the world will provide respectful sanctuary for this living part of their cultural heritage. Despite massive importation from the USA of corn carrying genetic modifications, the autonomous Mayan communities in Chiapas are dedicated to keeping their corn pure and natural.

To find out more about this seed go to:
 http://www.schoolsforchiapas.org/english/get-involved/grow-zapatista-gmo-free-corn.html

From the open publishing newswire: Why Cloned Food Should Be Inedible and Unacceptable: The mission of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to protect the public's health through assuring the safety of our nation's food supply. The FDA's purpose is NOT to facilitate the dumping of dubious food products onto people's dinner plates for the sake of corporate profit.

FDA first unveiled the commercially motivated lie of "substantial equivalance" back in 1993 when it railroaded through approval of recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). Now we know from a real scientific study (May 2006 Journal of Reproductive Health) that milk induced through genetic engineering is NOT the same...but, because of FDA's irresponsible rubberstamping, U.S. consumers now suffer reproductive problems from...rBGH dairy products with elevated levels of Insulin Like Growth Factor - 1 (IGF-1).

That is why it is so disturbing to hear about the FDA's Dec. 28, 2006 determination that cloned livestock byproducts are indeed safe for human consumption, and to read a subsequent wave of editorials clamoring for fullblown commercialization of cloned milk and meat. Once again , it seems the FDA is over eager to become an accomplice in the corporate forcefeeding of questionable byproducts to an unwitting populace. Whether it is genetic engineering, biopharming, nanotechnology, irradiation, or cloning, it is hard to escape the thought that U.S farmers and consumers are now guinea pigs caught up in some massive frankenfood experiment that the rest of the world is wise enough to watch from a safe distance. Deadline for public feedback: April 2nd, 2007. Refer to Docket 2006P-0145.

Why Cloned Food Should Be Inedible and Unacceptable
related: Cloned Meat is NOT a clone: up to 5% expressed differently, clones more deformed,cancerous

From the open publishing newswire: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Precedent-setting Decision May Block Planting, Sales of Monsanto Alfalfa

Washington, DC (February 14, 2007) ­In what will likely be a precedent-setting ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California decided in favor of farmers, consumers, and environmentalists who filed a suit calling the USDA's approval of genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa a threat to farmers' livelihoods and a risk to the environment. Judge Breyer ordered that a full Environmental Impact Statement must be carried out on "Roundup Ready" alfalfa, the GE variety developed by Monsanto and Forage Genetics. The decision may prevent this season's sales and planting of Monsanto's GE alfalfa and future submissions of other GE crops for commercial deregulation.

In his ruling, the judge consistently found USDA's arguments unconvincing, without scientific basis, and/or contrary to the law. For example: "... For those farmers who choose to grow non-genetically engineered alfalfa, the possibility that their crops will be infected with the engineered gene is tantamount to the elimination of all alfalfa; they cannot grow their chosen crop."

 http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org

From the open publishing newswire: PAN Latin America partners in Paraguay seek global solidarity in response to the death of 11-year-old Silvino Talavera from pesticide spraying. The men responsible for Silvino's death have yet to be brought to justice, but Silvino's mother, Petrona Villasboa, continues to press forward, "One has to have strength to struggle. I will struggle to the very end, because I think of the large number of children that live in my community." The case is currently scheduled to expire in December. Your action is needed to help keep the case and court process moving forward.

RAP-AL: People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty