Monsanto buys congress

Don_P · July 26, 2015, 12:38:01 PM

The House last week passed "H.R.1599 - Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015" by a margin of 275-150. This law would deny states the ability to require producers of genetically engineered food products from having to disclose them to the public.

QuoteThe FDA must allow, but not require, GMO food to be labeled as GMO.

The FDA must regulate the use of "natural" on food labels.

This bill amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require the Agricultural Marketing Service to establish a program to certify non-GMO food.

This bill preempts state and local restrictions on GMOs or GMO food and labeling requirements for GMOs, GMO food, non-GMO food, or "natural" food.

A very few states have managed to pass laws requiring companies to label GMO food, just as at current count, 64 foreign countries have done. 100 million dollars later Monsanto has managed to get this bill passed to prevent this and to invalidate those state's labelling requirements... thank you representatives

I've come to realize that most Americans really don't know what a genetically modified organism is, if you don't please google for a definition. As always, watch your sources, from both sides. What we are currently talking about is trangenesis of DNA from unrelated organisms. A relative representing hundreds of seed companies and his plant pathologist wife were here last week, the coming twist is sysgenesis, hopping evolution on the backs of viruses. I would certainly rather we didn't play God, we're not that bright. I do think we need to demand the right to know whether someone has tampered with our food. These folks are not interested in feeding the world, these are power brokers, the same people who brought us chemical warfare. The end game is who will control the food supply of the planet, who will get food. If they are as blinded as I think, it may end up being no one.

MountainDon · July 26, 2015, 04:04:45 PM

In many places you get a lot of blank looks and "so-what" shoulder shrugs if you mention GMO. Very sad state of affairs.

Mass confusion over the label "natural" as well.

This link shows how your rep voted, so you can ask them why or congratulate them.

This time my rep agreed with me! Doesn't always happen.

While having one system of labeling for the entire country would be good, it is only good if the law means that the origin must be noted as GMO / Non GMO, IMO. There are lot of seemingly good points being made in favor of the bill. Like many Gov Bills the title is misleading.

July 26, 2015, 04:44:34 PM

Note, there is another bill, HR 913 that is a good bill but is still in committee. Call your rep button on that page

And on the good side... it is commonly thought that when the senate gets to its version of HR 1599 they will not pass it.

Right-to-know-gmo

garyc · July 26, 2015, 06:36:24 PM

This is one of the reason the wife and I bough our property so we could plaint a large garden using heirloom seeds. I thank the big corporations takes profit's over our well being. I wonder how much they spent getting this bill passed?

John Raabe · July 26, 2015, 06:58:28 PM

HR-913 Sounds like a very reasonable bill. Thanks for those links.

Interesting that the Gov Track site itself rates this as having "0% chance of being enacted".

Don't you think the vast majority of the public would want to know what is in their food?

July 26, 2015, 07:11:10 PM

Quote from: John Raabe on July 26, 2015, 06:58:28 PM

Don't you think the vast majority of the public would want to know what is in their food?

I believe that too many of the public are not knowledgeable enough to make intelligent decisions about what they eat. Call me a pessimist I guess. Otherwise I can't reconcile why so many people eat so many factory produced meals and snacks. Many let the often lower price of the factory produced, GMO containing meal/snack/food take precedence over the non-GMO product that usually also has more preservatives.

I acknowledge price is important. But personally I believe cheaper factory made foods cost us more in long term health issues.

Advantages of GMO's include higher yields and less water use. Living in a desert makes that attractive, but is not the whole story. On a totally different topic area... many of our problems can be traced to there being too many people on the planet and many of us in the wrong places. Has been for some time. Including me and a few hundred thousand in the desert where I live. What to do?

That is a very tricky subject to handle.

Don_P · July 26, 2015, 09:43:29 PM

Actually, they hoped for higher yields, to my knowledge that hasn't happened.

Pine Cone · July 27, 2015, 12:00:31 AM

The other big part of GMO modification of food crops is to increase the plant's tolerance to pesticides. Much cheaper to produce food crops if you can use herbicides and insecticides without worrying about killing your crop.

As a forester I have sprayed and recommened herbicide sprays, but trees aren't the main part of our diet. Most pesticide applications in forestry are a once-or-twice every 40 years application. For GMO crops it means the the food you eat can be sprayed a dozen or more times before it reachs your table.

I wear protective gear when using herbicides, but I don't want to wear it in the kitchen or dining room...

Don_P · July 27, 2015, 08:40:05 PM

That was one farmer's point, the GMO's weren't his bigest concern, it was the herbicides he was using on food crops. He also pointed out roundup resistant weeds in his field, natural selection at work, bred by this practice. It'll take something stronger soon.

July 29, 2015, 08:18:40 AM

Nearly all corn and soybean seed is made by Monsanto now.

More broadly, isn't this how we have chosen to live as a species? We all become experts at one thing, and exploit it for money. Then we trade the money with experts at another thing. I'm not saying it doesn't have its positives, as most of us wouldn't exist without industrialization. But, I think it's undeniable that virtually everything is institutionalized now. I personally haven't found the money very rewarding, and am trying to live closer 'to the land' now.

Natural/GMO label or not, most soybean grown in North America is shipped to China, processed, and shipped back. I'm not sure any cash crops are "natural."

I think the only way this will change is through educating the young and interested. It will never be legislated away.

MountainDon · March 03, 2016, 07:29:42 PM

I borrowed / copied this from a friend.....

The DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) act moved out of committee today heading for a senate vote. This bill would forbid labeling of GMO food. Another bill has also been introduced that would require labeling of genetically modified food.
http://agfax.com/2016/03/01/senate-ag-committee-advances-biotech-labeling-bill-dtn/

Gotta wonder, if this is such a great new product, why do they want to hide it? Have you ever seen a company make such a technological "stride" without wanting to crow about it and thereby gain market share?

Grab your senator's ear and let them know you would rather know what is in the food you eat.

For those who prefer to email, here's a handy page. Enter your ZIP and then your name, etc, and click

MountainDon · March 16, 2016, 02:18:44 PM

The Senate did the right thing this morning. They voted against the DARK act.

rick91351 · March 16, 2016, 07:02:01 PM

May be the Trumpsters are waking up congress - BTW Not plugging the Donald. Just people are so tired of not be listened and ignored. Only reason the Donald is doing so well...... IMHO

MountainDon · March 18, 2016, 04:09:36 PM

Today General Mills has announced that it will begin labeling GMO ingredients in all its products.

March 18, 2016, 08:01:30 PM

We may be allowed to participate in a grand experiment. If these foods are labeled, one part of society will no doubt never consume it, another will. Absent the FDA doing the testing that they should be doing on these foods, we have the opportunity to do it. I am curious, although not curious enough to be an unpaid test subject when offered an alternative.

Herb Maniac · April 11, 2016, 02:10:30 PM

This is why I supplement my diet with herbal products, mostly powdered mixed into a drink or smoothie. Gotta get some proper nutrition somehow.

Don_P · April 20, 2016, 10:02:01 PM

ChemChina buys Syngenta
http://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/2016-02-09/chemchinas-purchase-of-syngenta-wont-be-the-last-in-the-chemical-sector
This gives Syngenta quite a market for their gmo seed and pesticides.

garyc · April 26, 2016, 06:41:57 AM

Here is a short video of our government at work.
http://althealthworks.com/3157/what-hillary-clinton-said-40-seconds-into-this-video-should-have-anyone-who-cares-about-organic-food-on-notice/

Don_P · April 26, 2016, 10:09:54 PM

They are old friends

If you think back to his administration, we were beginning to realize we had already lost out on the whole information age, everybody's going to get rich with computers scheme. It was time to regroup and grab onto the next big thing and stay ahead of the world this time. Biotech. It was during that time that we relaxed the rules. They could hit the market much faster if we didn't have to test them. At each step of the way big ag and the government partnered to move these products out into the world food and drug supply. Not always a bad idea but probably not the best move in hindsight. Just because it was a dumb idea then doesn't mean we need to keep heading down that path. Lest we slam one candidate though, I'd look behind the curtain.

garyc · April 27, 2016, 07:32:49 AM

Quote from: Don_P on April 26, 2016, 10:09:54 PM
They are old friends
If you think back to his administration, we were beginning to realize we had already lost out on the whole information age, everybody's going to get rich with computers scheme. It was time to regroup and grab onto the next big thing and stay ahead of the world this time. Biotech. It was during that time that we relaxed the rules. They could hit the market much faster if we didn't have to test them. At each step of the way big ag and the government partnered to move these products out into the world food and drug supply. Not always a bad idea but probably not the best move in hindsight. Just because it was a dumb idea then doesn't mean we need to keep heading down that path. Lest we slam one candidate though, I'd look behind the curtain.

Don you are right! Both sides of our government are paid off with big chemical & drug companies.

July 01, 2016, 08:41:51 PM

Mitch McConnell introduced a GMO labelling bill on Thursday directly to the floor, it should be voted on midweek next week. Remember VT's food labeling laws went into effect today requiring GMO laced foods be clearly labeled. The bill McConnell introduced allows a broad and misleading array of methods of labeling and no consequences for not labeling. This bill is intended to replace and gut state labeling laws. Big ag is trying very hard not to comply, they also are not ready for todays labeling requirements.

Don_P · July 12, 2016, 08:55:11 PM

The DARK act has passed the senate, the house will probably vote this week. If this passes we will not know what is in our food and we will pay for an educational program teaching us how wonderful genetically modified organisms are... although we won't actually be allowed to know whether we are consuming them.
https://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/dark-act/

Don_P · July 15, 2016, 05:30:29 PM

Yesterday the house did pass the new federal GMO labeling law S764. This abolishes all state laws regarding GMO labeling and replaces it with the new federal requirements which are voluntary, will not begin for 2 years, do not apply to any new products, etc. We have lost the right to ask or know what is in the food we eat. Obama can veto, Hillary is already bought off and I doubt Trump is bright enough to care. We the people just lost bigtime.

Don_P · August 04, 2016, 05:09:52 PM

Obama broke with his stated pre election policy and signed the DARK act into law. The law prohibits state labeling requirements and doesn't really require national labeling. We've lost the right to know if our food has been tampered with.

The shift will probably be toward finding a way to label foods "non-genetically modified". This type of labeling has met with resistance from big ag in the past. Remembering the milk lobby made it illegal to say your milk was from bovine growth hormone free cows.

Don_P · September 24, 2016, 11:17:21 PM

It appears Monsanto and Bayer are going to merge. Aside from aspirin, Bayer is the largest producer of the neonicitinoid pesticides implicated in massive bee dieoffs. Monsanto's genetically modified seed and herbicides with Bayer's pesticides. If the DOJ allows this merger to go through 90 percent of the world food supply will be controlled by 4 multinational companies. We are rapidly approaching the point where governments will cease to matter. The people that control the food are in control.