General

Researchers with Friends of the Earth US and the Pesticide Research Institute say that more than half of the nursery plants studied contained residues of “neonicotinoid” pesticides, a substance increasingly thought to be contributing to mass die-offs of global honey-bee populations. “At the levels observed in our report, the high percentage of contaminated plants and concentrations suggest this problem is widespread,” Lisa Archer, a co-author of the new report and director of Friends of the Earth US’s food and technology program, told Inter Press Service (IPS). “Unfortunately, too many home gardeners have likely become a source of exposure to pesticides that have been shown to harm, weaken and kill bees. It’s pretty shocking that consumers who may be purchasing these plants specifically to help bees could, in fact, be poisoning them.”

Since the first genetically modified crops in the U.S. were approved in the mid-’90s, millions of acres have been planted with these crops. Most of the harvest goes to animal feed and other uses, but it’s estimated that about 70 percent of processed foods in the U.S. contain GMO ingredients. 90% of corn grown in the U.S. in 2013 is genetically modified. Most corn grown in the U.S. is used for animal feed and non-food products like ethanol, but it is also used in processed foods for humans — most often as high-fructose corn syrup. (This is different from the genetically modified sweet corn introduced by Monsanto in 2011.) How it may show up on labels: corn syrup, corn meal, dextrin. 93%of soybeans grown in the U.S. in 2013 are genetically modified. Like corn, much of the nation’s soy crop is used for animal feed and energy. A number of the top brands of soy milk, tofu and other obvious foods are organic and GMO-free. How it may show up on labels: soy protein, soy flour, lethicin. 90%of cotton grown in the U.S. in 2013 is genetically modified. Cotton is mostly used for textiles, but cottonseed oil is used as a cheaper substitute for olive or canola oil in foods like salad dressing and potato chips. How it may show up on labels: cottonseed oil. 90%of canola grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. Canola oil is used in food, while the seed meal is used in livestock feed. How it may show up on labels: canola oil. 95%of sugar beets grown in the U.S. are genetically modified. Monsanto introduced herbicide-resistant sugar beets in 2008, and it has been considered the fastest adoption of any genetically engineered crop. Opponents sought to block the crop in court, and it continues to be contentious. In June, thousands of plants were destroyed by vandals in southwest Oregon. How it may show up on labels: sugar, sucrose. 88% of alfalfa grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. Humans don’t eat alfalfa, but it’s a main source of feed for animals like dairy cows. Critics worry about contamination with organic feed.

Today the Court of Dendermonde, Belgium, convicted 11 activists of organised crime in relation to their participation in a day of action against a GM potato field which took place in Wetteren on May 29th, 2011. The activists were convicted of criminal gang forming, criminal damage and resisting arrest, and were given suspended prison sentences of between 3 and 6 ,months, plus fines, damages and court costs totalling more than 25 thousand euros. There was some relief among the activists on hearing the verdict, but also concern that this verdict creates an extremely dangerous precedent for everyone who values the right of citizens to freedom of speech. This is the first time that environmental activists have been convicted of organised crime charges in Belgium. The activists plan to appeal against todays’ verdict. ”This conviction for organised crime is completely out of proportion with the ‘crime’ of uprooting a few potatoes from a controversial GM crop which was grown for mainly promotional reasons.” said Barbara Van Dyck, one of the defendants. ‘ The aim of the action was to trigger public debate about the introduction of GMOs into agriculture. The field trial itself was later found by a separate court to be unlawful because they did not have a valid permit for the crop.’

In this Communiqué, ETC Group identifies the major corporate players that control industrial farm inputs. Together with our companion poster, Who will feed us? The industrial food chain or the peasant food web?, ETC Group aims to de-construct the myths surrounding the effectiveness of the industrial food system. ETC Group has been monitoring the power and global reach of agro-industrial corporations for several decades – including the increasingly consolidated control of agricultural inputs for the industrial food chain: proprietary seeds and livestock genetics, chemical pesticides and fertilizers and animal pharmaceuticals. Collectively, these inputs are the chemical and biological engines that drive industrial agriculture. This update documents the continuing concentration (surprise, surprise), but it also brings us to three conclusions important to both peasant producers and policy makers. 1. Cartels are commonplace, 2. The “invisible hold” of the market is growing, and 3. Climate research shows that we don’t know (that) we don’t know our food system.

All around him, even in a place as beautiful as the Little Qualicum River estuary, his office for 30 years as a biologist for the Canadian Wildlife Service, he sees the unravelling of "the web of life." "It's happening very quickly," he says. Registered Professional Biologist Neil Dawe has written over 80 papers on birds, ecology and the environment. He received Environment Canada's Regional Citation of Excellence Award for his work in co-founding and co-chairing the Brant Wildlife Festival. He received the Outstanding Service Award from the Federation of B.C. Naturalists and the Ian McTaggart-Cowan Award of Excellence in Biology from the Association of Professional Biologists of B.C. In 2006, he retired from the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, after 31 years of managing National Wildlife Areas and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries on Vancouver Island. He is President of the Qualicum Institute: www.qualicuminstitute.ca.

Environment Canada had conducted a water study in Saskatchewan on canola/ oilseed rape fields both last year and this year. They found Clothianidin in a large number of agricultural sites where Canola (oilseed rape) had been planted in 2011. The concentrations of residual Clothianidin in puddles and ditches were almost one thousand times the LD50 required to kill bees.Clothianidin concentrations ranged from 5.1 to 2280 ng/L. The average Clothianidin contamination of water was 162.9 ng/L. The scientifc presentation is attached.