March against Monsanto May 25th Dublin, Cork, Clare and Galway

by fred Fri May 29, 2015 14:48

another successful worldwide march against monsanto went ahead this year.
some info here:
http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/

Here's an interesting related article that appeared today on http://www.counterpunch.org
which discusses monsanto buying syngenta, glyphosate toxicity, and the banning of aerial
glyphosate spraying in Columbia and along the Ecuador border due to fears of carcinogenic effects and
other toxic effects of the chemical:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/05/29/monsantos-chemic...mbia/

by T Sat Jun 01, 2013 10:53

In yet more good news Japan has halted the importation of US wheat which was supposed to be GM free but has found to be contaminated with GMOs. This is both good news and bad news at the same time. Good because countries are beginning to reject this stuff and it sends a signal to farmers that their GM crops will be largely worthless and bad news because it shows widespread GM contamination has occurred and as planned by Monsanto and other biotech companies like them.

The story as reported at the link below goes onto to explain this:

Monsanto is a ticking time bomb for U.S. agriculture
This proves, without any question, that Monsanto's genetic experiments which "escaped" into commercial wheat fields are now going to devastate U.S. wheat farmers. Expect the floor to drop out on wheat prices, and watch for a huge backlash against the USDA by U.S. farmers who stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars on this.

As the USDA has now admitted, Monsanto's GMO experiments from 1998 - 2005 were held in open wheat fields. The genetically engineered wheat escaped and found its way into commercial wheat fields in Oregon (and possibly 15 other states), causing self-replicating genetic pollution that now taints the entire U.S. wheat industry.

"Asian consumers are keenly sensitive to gene-altered food, with few countries allowing imports of such cereals for human consumption," writes Reuters. It continues:

Asia imports more than 40 million tonnes of wheat annually, almost a third of the global trade of 140-150 million tonnes. The bulk of the region's supplies come from the United States, the world's biggest exporter, and Australia, the No. 2 supplier.

by fred Wed May 29, 2013 16:41

it's great to hear stories like this. I remember when we burned the first GM crops here in Ireland.

Alas, we'd probably roll over now and let them plant them.

T is right in his observation regarding the strategic placement of the GMO's for maximum contamination.

Once the genes spread widely, it's game over.

by T Wed May 29, 2013 16:27

It is great to have good news to report now and again and on Monday (27th May) GMWatch reported that Hungary took the very wise decision to torch 500 hectares of GM crops.

The initial opening paragraphs says:

Hungary decided to eliminate all plantations using GMO seeds from Monsanto. According to the Minister of Rural Development Lajos Bognar, around 500 hectares of corn crops were burned this week - equivalent to five million square meters. The intention is that the country has no produce originating from genetically modified material. [ Ireland should be doing this to protect our own integrity as a source of good wholesome food. ]

According to the information portal Real Pharmacy yesterday (23 May), the cornfields that were destroyed were scattered around the Hungarian territory and had been recently planted. Thus, poisonous corn pollen was not about to be dispersed in the air, and so there was no danger to the population..........

As we can see their is a sting in this story because it would appear that Monsanto and other biotech seed companies are intentionally trying to distribute these seeds and get them grown in such a way as to cause the maximum cross-contamination as possible.

Full report at the link below

by fred Sun May 26, 2013 08:52

Irelands future lies in the production of high quality organic food. Any idiot can see that. What other natural resource have we left that hasn't been stolen or given away to some corporation at this stage by corrupt government actors?

Allowing GM in here effectively gives away our only hope of a self sustaining future and sentences us to dependency and serfdom, as our GM food is sold for "race to the bottom" prices and most of the cost of production goes into the huge volume of expensive toxic chemicals we pour on the soil supplied by psychotic corporations like Monsanto, which, as entities with the rights of humans but none of the basic needs of humans, don't have to worry about poisoned food or air or water or soil.

by T Sat May 25, 2013 13:28

This is from Jan 3rd 2013 Poland banned cultivation of GM crops and the legislation specifically bans two genetically modified crops – MON 810 maize from Monsanto and BASF Amflora potato.

Before the Poland joined the EU there was very very little use of pesticides and chemicals in general in Polish agriculture and the vast majority of the farms were small holdings. Effectively the entire food supply in Poland was high quality organic food. Since then things have been changing for the worse as corporations attempt to push their products and trend towards larger farms which tend to use more industrial and harmful methods, is increasing.

by T Sat May 25, 2013 11:00

A few weeks back Obama signed into law what is basically a Monsanto Protection act. As reported at the link below and widely reported elsewhere Monsanto had a key part in drafting the legislation.

The bill was apparently written by freshman Sen. Roy Blunt in collusion with Monsanto, with them helping to craft the exact language of the document.

- “The Center for Responsive Politics notes that Sen. Blunt received $64,250 from Monsanto to go towards his campaign committee between 2008 and 2012. The Money Monocle website adds that Blunt has been the largest Republican Party recipient of Monsanto funding as of late.”

- Many members of Congress were apparently unaware that the “Monsanto Protection Act” was a part of the spending bill that they were voting on.

But most importantly or rather horrifyingly the act states that if any future research shows that GMOs or GE seeds cause significant health problems, cancer, etc, anything, that the federal courts no longer have any power to stop their spread, use, or sales. And a number of years ago the original home of the corn plant -Mexico where many species exist -and where Mexico was proudly selling it as non GM corn, the entire crop in the country was shown to be contaminated through cross-pollination and it is now reckoned there are no corn plants that haven't picked up the genes.

Similar things have happened with other crops where GM ones have spread out of control. Much of this is related to the fact that food must be labelled in Europe if it contains genetically modified plants whereas in the US it does not have to be labelled and the likes of Monsanto and others fought tooth and nail to step a recent attempt (and succeeded) to introduce GM labeling. How this relates to cross-contamination is that these corporations encouraged practices that lead to it and made no effort to keep GM and non GM separated. The intention is that once all the non GM crops are contaminated then it makes it impossible for people selling non GM food to label it as non GM food because of contamination and in all likelihood they would challenge them in the courts and win if they did.

Returning to the Monsanto Protection Act, here are some more points raised in the report:

“On Tuesday, Pres. Obama inked his name to H.R. 933, a continuing resolution spending bill approved in Congress days earlier. Buried 78 pages within the bill exists a provision that grossly protects biotech corporations such as the Missouri-based Monsanto Company from litigation.”

“In light of approval from the House and Senate, more than 250,000 people signed a petition asking the president to veto the spending bill over the biotech rider tacked on, an item that has since been widely referred to as the ‘Monsanto Protection Act.’”

“But Obama ignored [the petition],” as the IB Times notes, “instead choosing to sign a bill that effectively bars federal courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of GMO or GE crops and seeds, no matter what health consequences from the consumption of these products may come to light in the future.”


Full text of the above report at:

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2013/05/monsanto-p....html

by W. Finnerty Sat May 25, 2013 09:06

The excerpts in the section below are from:
http://rt.com/usa/monsanto-march-against-senate-766/

Published time (by RT): May 24, 2013 18:09

=== === ===

Protesters will demand a ban on GMOs, which many believe have detrimental health effects. They will also rally against Monsanto’s patenting rights, which allow the corporation to monopolize the seed industry.

“For too long, Monsanto has been the benefactor of corporate subsidies and political favoritism,” states the Facebook page of the March Against Monsanto, Washington, D.C. “Organic and small farmers suffer losses while Monsanto continues to forge its monopoly over the world’s food supply, including exclusive patenting rights over seeds and genetic makeup.”

=== === ===

Related Link:
"Monsanto, corporate subsidies, and political favoritism ..."
http://tinyurl.com/oap7hnm

by Slugwoman Fri May 24, 2013 21:37

Sligo town, the Source Café 1.00, meeting and info...
Castlebar 1.30, meeting at the Mall area, protest, heading to Enda Kennys office..

by lefty Wed May 22, 2013 15:22

There is some more info on the activities of monsanto and it's army of lobbyists here:

https://www.indymedia.ie/article/103472

by Unknown Sat May 11, 2013 14:51

A march is also planned for galway at 2pm Eyre square