come and neither do the freakin' scientists who are modifying our food. NO THANK YOU! If it's not naturally grown, I'm not eating it and neither is my family.
Just for starters:
Crisis Position
Safe Food News 2000
Richard Strohman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California at Berkeley
When you insert a single gene into a plant or an animal, the technology will work. You will be able to move that gene from organism A to organism B. You will be able to know that the transfer was successful. You will be able to know that the gene is being expressed, and even that the function of the gene is being expressed. So you'll get the desired characteristic. But you will also get other effects that you couldn't have predicted from your original assumptions. You will have also produced changes in the cell or the organism as a whole that are unpredictable. And that's what the science is having to deal with.
"The reason why Monsanto can claim scientific soundness is that they are only answering the technical question, 'Can I move this gene and this characteristic from A to B?' They are not asking the questions that the current understanding of cell biology demands. You can ask the technical question and get the answer you are looking for. You can take a gene from A and put it into B. We know that. But that's the only question we can answer with certainty. We now realize that there are a whole host of other questions.
"Genes exist in networks, interactive networks which have a logic of their own. The technology point of view does not deal with these networks. It simply addresses genes in isolation. But genes do not exist in isolation. And the fact that the industry folks don't deal with these networks is what makes their science incomplete and dangerous. If you send these new genetic structures out into the world, into hundreds of thousands of acres, you're going into the world with a premature application of a scientific principle.
"We're in a crisis position where we know the weakness of the genetic concept, but we don't know how to incorporate it into a new, more complete understanding. Monsanto knows this. DuPont knows this. Novartis knows this. They all know what I know. But they don't want to look at it because it's too complicated and it's going to cost too much to figure out. The number of questions, the number of possibilities for what happens to a cell, to the whole organism when you insert a foreign gene, are almost incalculable. And the time it would take to assess the infinite possibilities that arise is beyond the capabilities of computers. But that's what you get when you're dealing with living systems."http://www.mindfully.org/GE/Strohman-Safe-Food.htmDeclaration of Seed Sovereignty
Board of County Commissioners
Santa Fe County
Following an initiative last March by the Traditional Native American Farmers' Association and others, Santa Fe County, NM has passed a landmark "Declaration of Seed Sovereignty," addressing GMO contamination in context of the specific threats it poses to indigenous agricultures. More information is available at
http://www.7genfund.org/aff-tra-nat-ame.htmlWhereas, our ability to grow food is the culmination of countless generations of sowing and harvesting seeds and those seeds are the continuation of an unbroken line from our ancestors to us and to our children and grandchildren.
Whereas, our ancestors developed a relationship with plants that allowed their cultivation for food and medicine and this has been a central element of our culture and our survival for millennia in regions throughout the world.
Whereas, the concurrent development of cultures of Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas resulted in a plethora of food and crop types including grains such as maize and wheat; legumes such as beans and lentils; fruits such as squash and chile; vegetables such as spinach and those of the cabbage family; and roots such as potatoes and turnips.
Whereas these foods and crops, though developed independently of each other, came together in New Mexico with the meeting of Spanish, Mexican, and Native American cultures to create a unique and diverse indigenous agricultural system and land-based culture.
Whereas, just as our families are attached to our homes, our seeds learn to thrive in their place of cultivation by developing a relationship with the soil, water, agricultural practices, ceremonies, and prayers; thereby giving seeds a sacred place in our families and communities.
Whereas, the way in which seeds become attached to a place makes them native seeds, also known as landraces, also makes them an important element of the generational memory of our communities.
Whereas the continued nurturing of native seeds or landraces has provided the basis for the community coming together for communal work such as cleaning acequias and preparing fields as well as in ceremony, prayers, and blessings; thereby binding our communities, traditions, and cultures together.
Whereas the practices embodied in working the land and water and caring for seeds provides the basis for our respectful connection to the Earth and with each other.
Whereas, our practices in caring for native seeds (landraces) and growing crops provide for much of our traditional diet and results in our ability to feed ourselves with healthy food that is culturally and spiritually significant.
Whereas, clean air, soil, water and landscapes have been essential elements in the development and nurturing of seeds as well as the harvesting of wild plants; and that these elements of air, land, and water have been contaminated to certain degrees.
Whereas corporate seed industries have created a technology that takes the genetic material from a foreign species and inserts it into a landrace and is known as Genetically Engineered (GE) or transgenic crops.
Whereas seed corporations patent the seeds, genetics, and/or the processes used in the manipulation of landraces, and have gone so far as to patent other wild plants or the properties contained in the plants.
Whereas GE crops have escaped into the environment with maize in Oaxaca, Mexico and canola in Canada and crossed into native seeds and wild plants.
Whereas organic farmers have been sued by seed corporations when these patented genetic strains have been identified in the farmers' crops, even though the farmers were unable to see or stop pollen from genetically engineered crops from blowing over the landscape and into their fields, thus contaminating the farmers' crops.
Whereas the effect of this technology on the environment or human health when consumed is not fully understood.
Whereas the seed industry refuses to label GE seeds and food products containing GE ingredients.
Whereas the pervasiveness of GE crops in our area cannot then be fully known due to the lack of labeling and therefore carries the potential for genetic pollution on our landraces.
Whereas countries such as Japan, England, and countries in Africa have refused genetically modified foods and prohibit the introduction of GE crops on their lands because of their unknown health effects.
Whereas indigenous cultures around the world are the originators, developers, and owners of the original genetic material used in the genetic modification of crops by corporations today.
Whereas this declaration must be a living, adaptable document that can be amended as needed in response to rapidly changing GE technology that brings about other potential assaults to seeds and our culture.
Now therefore be it resolved, that the Board of County Commissioners of Santa Fe County supports the following:
The traditional farmers of Indo-Hispano and Native American ancestry of current-day northern New Mexico collectively and intentionally seek to continue the seed-saving traditions of our ancestors and maintain the landraces that are indigenous to the region of northern New Mexico.
Seek to engage youth in the continuation of the traditions of growing traditional foods, sharing scarce water resources, sharing seeds, and celebrating our harvests.
Reject the validity of corporations' ownership claims to crops and wild plants that belong to our cultural history and identity.
Object to the seed industry's refusal to label seeds or products containing GE technology and ingredients and demand all genetically modified seeds and foods containing GE ingredients in the State of New Mexico to be labeled as such.
Object to the cultivation of GE seeds in general but especially within range of our traditional agricultural systems that can lead to the contamination of our seeds, wild plants, traditional foods, and cultural property.
We will work with each other, local, tribal, and state governments to create zones that will be free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and GE technology.
We will also work together to address other environmental abuses that contaminate our air, soil and water quality that certainly affects our health, the health of our seeds and agriculture, and the health of future generations.
We will work together with the traditional farmers representing various acequia, Pueblo, tribal and surrounding communities to create, support, and collaborate toward projects and programs focused on revitalization of food traditions, agriculture, and seed saving and sharing.
Passed, approved and adopted this 30th day of January, 2007<snip>
Board of County Commissioners
Virginia Vigil, Chair
Valerie Espinoza, Santa Fe County Clerk
Stephen C. Ross, Santa Fe County Attorney
http://www.saynotogmos.org/ud2007/ufeb07b.php#llriceNotes on the Teratogenicity of Glufosinate
Glufosinate is a herbicide that kills almost everything green; it is used extensively with genetically engineered crops including corn, canola, and soybeans. The herbicide resistant crops were approved by the Canadian and United States governments, even though there was clear evidence that the herbicide caused birth defects in experimental animals. The chemical acts by causing premature cell death in the immature brain by a process called apotosis. It also prevents development of glutamate channels in the brain, thus disrupting cellular communication. The birth defects observed in animals included brain defects leading to behavioral changes. Cleft lip and skeletal defects or kidney and urethra injury were observed in treated newborn. The herbicide also caused miscarriage and reduced conception in treated mothers. Exposure of male farm workers caused birth defects in their children.Glufosinate use may be increased greatly by introduction of liberty link crops such as corn, canola, and soybeans along with commercial rice. The herbicide may also be used as a desiccant prior to grain harvest on crops that are not resistant to glufosinate (such applications are used to mature grains threatened by frost damage). Such applications are undesirable because the microbial activity is reduced at low temperature and more teratogen will enter the surface and groundwater.<snip>
References on LibertyLink Rice
Agrawal, G, Yamazaki, M, Kobayashi, M, Hirochika, R, Miyao, A and Hirochika, H "Screening of rice viviparous mutants generated by endogenous retrotransposon Tos17 insertion tagging of a zeaanthin epoxidase4 gene and a novel OsTATC gene" Zool Plant Physiology 125, 1248-57
Elmore, R, Roeth, F, Nelson, L, Shapiro, C, Klein, R, Knezevic, S and Martin, A "Glyphosare resistant soybean cultivars yields compared with sister lines" 2001 Agron J. 93, 408-12
Ge ,S, Sang, T, Lu, B, and Hong, D "Phylogeny of rice genomes with emphasis on origins of allotertraploid species" 1999 Proc. Natnl Acad Sci USA 96, 14400-5
Labra, M. Savini, C, Bracale, M, Pelucchi, N, Columbo, L, Bardini, M and Sala, F "Genomic changes in transgenic rice plants produed by infecting calli with Agrobacterium tumefacians "2001 Plant Cell Reports On line reports DOI 10.1007/s002990100329
References on Glufosinate and Birth Defects
EPA/OTS:Doc #88-920003678
FuJii, T. and Ohata, T. J.Toxicol.Sci. 1994, 19, 328.
Garcia, A., Benavides, F., Fletcher, T. and Orts, E. "Paternal exposure to pesticides and congenital malformations" Scand J Work Environ Health 24, 473-80, 1998)
Watanabe, T. and Iwase, T. Terat.Carcinog. Mutagen 1996, 287, 1996
Watanabe, T. Neurosci Lett. 1997, 222, 17
Watanabe, T. Teratology 1995, 4, 25B
Professor Joe Cummins, professor emeritus of genetics at the University of Western Ontario, is one of the foremost scientists active in the campaign to protect the safety of crops, foods, human health, and the environment. Prior to joining Western in 1972, he taught genetics at Rutgers University and the University of Washington (Seattle) and since 1968 has been involved in a range of environmental issues related to mercury, asbestos, PCBs, pesticides, toxic waste, and genetic engineering. Prof. Cummins is the author of more than 200 scientific and popular articles and has published recently in Nature Biotechnology, The Ecologist, and Biotechnology and Development Review. He lives in London, Ontario, Canada. His e-mail: jcummins@uwo.ca
http://www.saynotogmos.org/ud2007/ufeb07b.php#llriceExtreme Genetic Engineering
ETC Group News Release
January 16, 2007
A new report by the ETC Group concludes that the social, environmental and bio-weapons threats of synthetic biology surpass the possible dangers and abuses of biotech. The full text of the 70-page report, Extreme Genetic Engineering: An Introduction to Synthetic Biology, is available for downloading free-of-charge on the ETC Group website: www.etcgroup.org
"Genetic engineering is passe," said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of ETC Group. "Today, scientists aren't just mapping genomes and manipulating genes, they're building life from scratch - and they're doing it in the absence of societal debate and regulatory oversight," said Mooney.
Synbio - dubbed "genetic engineering on steroids" - is inspired by the convergence of nano-scale biology, computing and engineering. Using a laptop computer, published gene sequence information and mail-order synthetic DNA, just about anyone has the potential to construct genes or entire genomes from scratch (including those of lethal pathogens). Scientists predict that within 2-5 years it will be possible to synthesise any virus; the first de novo bacterium will likely make its debut in 2007; in 5-10 years simple bacterial genomes will be synthesised routinely and it will become no big deal to cobble together a designer genome, insert it into an empty bacterial cell and - voila - give birth to a living, self-replicating organism. Other synthetic biologists hope to reconfigure the genetic pathways of existing organisms to perform new functions - such as manufacturing high-value drugs or chemicals.
A clutch of entrepreneurial scientists, including the gene maverick J. Craig Venter, is setting up synthetic biology companies backed by government funding and venture capital. They aim to commercialise new biological parts, devices and systems that don't exist in the natural world - some of which are designed for environmental release. Advocates insist that synthetic biology is the key to cheap biofuels, a cure for malaria, and climate change remediation - media-friendly goals that aim to mollify public concerns about a dangerous and controversial technology. Ultimately synthetic biology means cheaper and widely accessible tools to build bioweapons, virulent pathogens and artificial organisms that could pose grave threats to people and the planet. The danger is not just bio-terror, but "bio-error," warns ETC Group.
Despite calls for open source biology, corporate and academic scientists are winning exclusive monopoly patents on the products and processes of synthetic genetics. Like biotech, the power to make synthetic life could be concentrated in the hands of major multinational firms. As gene synthesis becomes cheaper and faster, it will become easier to synthesise a microbe than to find it in nature or retrieve it from a gene bank. Biological samples, sequenced and stored in digital form, will move instantaneously across the globe and be resurrected in corporate labs thousands of miles away - a practice that could erode future support for genetic conservation and create new challenges for international negotiations on biodiversity.<snip>
http://www.saynotogmos.org/ud2007/ujan07a.phpFood From Cloned Animals: These Products Should Remain in the Lab
By David Schubert
San Diego Union-Tribune
January 3, 2007
It is curious that the U.S. population seems willing to act as guinea pigs solely for the financial benefit of a few companies. This is most recently exemplified by the lack of outcry over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's move toward allowing the sale of milk and meat from cloned animals without any required labeling. The FDA decision is another example of the continuing sway that the U.S. agricultural biotechnology and chemical companies have over federal agencies.
The conclusion that cloned animal products are safe to eat is based almost completely on data and arguments provided by the companies that will profit from their sale. Similar scenarios allowed the introduction of genetically modified, or GM, foods 10 years ago, and the massive and largely unregulated introduction of pesticides after World War II.
The development of an agricultural system based on chemical pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides led to an increase in farm productivity and cheaper food. But it also blanketed our planet with chemicals now known to cause cancer, birth defects and huge environmental problems as well as bringing about economic disparities between populations who do and do not have the technology. More important, however, is the realization that had we given a little more thought and study to agricultural methods at the time, we would have come up with the more sustainable farming methods that are now being widely adapted.
Innovation and technological advancement are major driving forces for modern society, but they must be done in the context of both need and potential risk. Many European countries have outlawed toxic agricultural chemicals that are still widely used in the United States, and require much more stringent testing for adverse health and environmental effects before the introduction of new ones.<snip>
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