Monsanto buys one of the Leading Bee Research Co's

[YurtGirl]

We have always fought natural issues in farming and various crops, SOMETIMES with major devastation of a particular crop countrywide, not frequently, and usually that is because of human factors (like planting too much of one thing). But natural methods of fighting such things can and have been used very effectively for centuries. There is no denying that biodiverse crops give far more protection in not allowing a major food supply shortage.

In Ireland they were all planting the same potato and that was THE staple. It's how they made flour, bread, porrige... Crops like corn, wheat, rice... none of that was a major crop. So when the one variety of potatoes went bust, they starved. Many farmers today are planting corn, corn is in everything. It's one of the least nutrient available foods for people, but the most grown. And the majority of it in the US is GMO. Why is that? Were people having major issues with corn crops before GMO came to 'save the day'? Not that I'm aware of.

Obie, late blight may have hit every variety of tomato (I find it hard to believe, but I'm not up on that so I won't argue), but it did not hit every variety of potato. History has well documented that the main reason for the devastation in Ireland was the vast reliance on a monoculture in their farming practices. I only bring that up because PW somehow saw fit to include it. If a blight hits that reaches every variety of a species and cross breeding for plant strength and resilience in natural ways can't help it, then the scientists go and mess around with the genes, adding animal, other plant, etc. genes and perhaps they release it the very next season so we're all 'saved'. (Talk about a doomsday prophecy) But then we have untested genetics in our food on a grand scale. Ten years later we may see the effects. We may not, but that's a pretty serious gamble that I'd rather not take part in. I guess I'd rather not have the quick 'fix', the miracle cure. If it's too good to be true, it usually is. I'd rather just change my food until we've found a proven safe way to deal with the issue.



Melissa Fletcher
___________________________
"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973

[liskir]

Monsanto in the white house

"The new president filled key posts with Monsanto people, in federal agencies that wield tremendous force in food issues, the USDA and the FDA:

At the USDA, as the director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Roger Beachy, former director of the Monsanto Danforth Center.

As deputy commissioner of the FDA, the new food-safety-issues czar, the infamous Michael Taylor, former vice-president for public policy for Monsanto. Taylor had been instrumental in getting approval for Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone.

As commissioner of the USDA, Iowa governor, Tom Vilsack. Vilsack had set up a national group, the Governors' Biotechnology Partnership, and had been given a Governor of the Year Award by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, whose members include Monsanto.

As the new Agriculture Trade Representative, who would push GMOs for export, Islam Siddiqui, a former Monsanto lobbyist.

As the new counsel for the USDA, Ramona Romero, who had been corporate counsel for another biotech giant, DuPont.

As the new head of the USAID, Rajiv Shah, who had previously worked in key positions for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a major funder of GMO agriculture research.

We should also remember that Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, once worked for the Rose law firm. That firm was counsel to Monsanto.

Obama nominated Elena Kagan to the US Supreme Court. Kagan, as federal solicitor general, had previously argued for Monsanto in the Monsanto v. Geertson seed case before the Supreme Court.

The deck was stacked. Obama hadn't simply made honest mistakes. Obama hadn't just failed to exercise proper oversight in selecting appointees. He wasn't just experiencing a failure of short-term memory. He was staking out territory on behalf of Monsanto and other GMO corporate giants.

And now let us look at what key Obama appointees have wrought for their true bosses. Let's see what GMO crops have walked through the open door of the Obama presidency.

Monsanto GMO alfalfa.
Monsanto GMO sugar beets.
Monsanto GMO Bt soybean.
Coming soon: Monsanto's GMO sweet corn.
Syngenta GMO corn for ethanol.
Syngenta GMO stacked corn.
Pioneer GMO soybean.
Syngenta GMO Bt cotton.
Bayer GMO cotton.
ATryn, an anti-clotting agent from the milk of transgenic goats.
A GMO papaya strain.
And perhaps, soon, genetically engineered salmon and apples.

This is an extraordinary parade. It, in fact, makes Barack Obama the most GMO-dedicated politician in America.

You don't attain that position through errors or oversights. Obama was, all along, a stealth operative on behalf of Monsanto, biotech, GMOs, and corporate control of the future of agriculture.

From this perspective, Michelle Obama's campaign for gardens and clean, organic, nutritious food is nothing more than a diversion, a cover story floated to obscure what her husband has actually been doing.

Nor is it coincidental that two of the Obama's biggest supporters, Bill Gates and George Soros, purchased 900,000 and 500,000 shares of Monsanto, respectively, in 2010.

Now in 2012, we are seeing, as Mike Adams reveals, a new attack on organic food: organic is an elitist fetish, a nonsensical preoccupation of the 1%, as against the 99%. We are told that conventionally grown, pesticide-laden, genetically engineered food is just as good, is no problem, and patriotic Americans should be loyal to it.

In other words, we should be loyal to the corporate giants who are taking over the food supply, are exercising patent rights on food ownership, are doing whatever they can to squeeze small farmers out of business, are giving us nutritionally deficient food, are lying through their teeth about the heavy health risks of eating this GMO food.

We should be loyal to the police who are ordering homeowners to rip out their vegetable gardens on their lawns.

Yes, this is a coordinated attack on clean nutritious unpoisoned food, and it reaches all the way up into the White House, does a quick detour around Michelle Obama's smokescreen operation, and arrives in the Oval Office, at the desk of Barack Obama.

Why isn't Barack out there on the White House lawn picking a few delicious organic vegetables from the garden?

Why isn't he posing in front of a hundred media cameras taking a bite out of an organic non-GMO tomato?

Why isn't he leading the way on a campaign to have people in inner cities plant more community organic gardens, to fend off hunger, ill-health, and poverty?

Why isn't he?

Because he's working for Monsanto.

Monsanto, the same company, by the way, who took the advice of Mitt Romney, many years ago, to stop overtly promoting chemical pesticides and, instead, get into genetics.

Sources:

http://redgreenandblue.org/2012/02/02/mo...nt-part-2/

http://redgreenandblue.org/2011/02/09/mo...overnment/

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/...fied-foods

http://fooddemocracynow.org/blog/2011/fe...-no-monsa/

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/ge...red-foods/

http://news.yahoo.com/not-altruistic-tru...00462.html

Jon Rappoport

The author of an explosive collection, THE MATRIX REVEALED, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails atwww.nomorefakenews.com"


"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped" Dr. Ron Paul 2012

[Rob Tucker]

liskir,

You have an opportunity to rework your post and bring it into a discussion of Hawaii or Puna related issues or watch it go away.
Go to Top of Page

Assume the best and ask questions.

Punaweb moderator

[liskir]

Doesn't Monsanto lease huge chunks of land to grow GMO frankenfoods here on the BI?

"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped" Dr. Ron Paul 2012

[YurtGirl]

I'm not sure about the Big Island, but they bought up/leased up a bunch of the old Dole Pineapple land on Oahu. Are there places they lease here on the Big Island to grow??


Melissa Fletcher
___________________________
"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973

[rainyjim]

Aren't those huge field of papaya you see along 130 and 132 GMO papayas? I had thought there was some connection between Monsanto and the University of Hawaii - correct me if I'm wrong

Cheers

rainyjim

[Obie]

quote:

---

Originally posted by liskir

Doesn't Monsanto lease huge chunks of land to grow GMO frankenfoods here on the BI?

"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped" Dr. Ron Paul 2012

---

No,They don't grow anything on the big Island.

[Wuzzerdad]

[]

Trying to keep this on track, but while I am not a fan of Monsanto they actually have the money and reserch facilities to find answers. As a grain farmer I plant GMO seed and some of it has traits patented from Monsanto. What puzzels me is does anybody realize the "traits" are natural traits from corn plants that exhibit certain desireable qualities. They are planted next to each other and pollinated naturally and produce GMO seed for production. Nothing special or out of the ordinary happens to make GMO seed.
[]

If you took 2 non GMO crops and did the same thing you would have GMO seed...do you get it yet?? [?]

However, if you are one of the people who thing they are splicing genes from other plants and animals into corn or soybeans, you are mistaken. I had a lady physically threaten me when I told her what I just said, she screamed and said the were using genes from aborted fetuses to produce GMO seed.[B)]

So if you are one of those, please get on some medication so the rest of us don't suffer your rants, and if Monsanto is investigating the Bee issue, good for them, they have all the money and staff to do it, and that can't be a bit bad for Hawaii...[]


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
Mahalo
Rick

[kalakoa]

Yes, and we can always trust them to tell us exactly what's going on. If they say they're not on the BI, who's to tell us otherwise?

[Midnight Rambler]

quote:

---

Originally posted by rainyjim

Aren't those huge field of papaya you see along 130 and 132 GMO papayas? I had thought there was some connection between Monsanto and the University of Hawaii - correct me if I'm wrong

---

Again, you're wrong. Monsanto has a patent on the technology used to develop the GMO papayas, so they had a stake in the licensing of them, but had no role in developing them and the seeds are sold by the Papaya Administrative Committee, which is run by the papaya growers' association.
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/NPH-2.pdf