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Our right to know if it’s GMO is officially under attack—again.

Organic Consumers July 24, 2019

Our right to know if it’s GMO is officially under attack—again.

On June 6, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed to overhaul longstanding regulations governing genetically modified organisms (GMO). The  proposed new rule would revise the agency's current method for regulating genetically modified plants, and would exclude newer so-called “gene-edited” GMOs. 

In a statement, the USDA said the new rule came "in response to advances in genetic engineering." 

A week later, in the political equivalent of a one-two-punch, President Trump bolstered the USDA’s proposal by signing an executive order directing the USDA, as well as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, to "streamline" GMO regulations in the U.S. for agricultural biotechnology, including for genetically modified livestock and seeds. 

The full import of these two moves, and specifically the threat that they represent to consumer freedom, is only just starting to sink in—and the need for consumer action has become urgent. Contact the USDA here.

Farmers Busted for Marketing Conventional Crops as Certified Organic

ACSH  October 12, 2018

Three farmers in Nebraska just plead guilty to a food fraud scheme in which they were selling conventionally grown corn and soybeans as organic. They pulled off this scheme from 2010 to 2017 and made nearly $11 million in the process. How could they get away with it for so long?

For starters, nobody can tell the difference between conventional and organic food. It's not as if organic corn and soybeans look, smell, or taste differently compared to their conventional counterparts. So, the only way to catch food fraud is by doing a chemical analysis. In this case, the analysis would look for the presence of pesticides that are banned according to organic agriculture's (completely arbitrary) rules.

These rules are supposedly enforced by the National Organic Program (NOP), which is part of the USDA. Obviously, it isn't doing a particularly good job. According to the Washington Post:

"[T]he [organic food] system suffers from multiple weaknesses in enforcement: Farmers hire their own inspection companies; most inspections are announced days or weeks in advance and lack the element of surprise; and testing for pesticides is the exception rather than the rule."

In other words, the USDA's policy is just to trust farmers and suppliers if they say their food is organic. As a result of such a lax attitude toward regulation, food fraud occurs, not just with homegrown crops but with imported ones, as well.

The organic industry is built upon a gigantic lie: that is, the notion that "natural" farming methods are safer and healthier while "unnatural" methods are dangerous. Worse, the organic industry perpetuates a myth that it does not use pesticides, when it absolutely does. It should surprise no one, therefore, that such a deceptive industry would attract its fair share of hucksters.

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Monsanto’s Cancer-Causing Herbicide Detected In Organic Foods

Michelle Toole

Think you can avoid glyphosate by buying organic? Think again. A new investigation by Tropical Traditions reveals that many products in the organic grain market in the U.S. contain glyphosate residue at levels almost the same as conventional grains.

You and your loved ones likely ingested Monsanto’s cancer-causing herbicide with breakfast this morning and the FDA couldn’t care less.

The FDA is demonstrating their incompetence yet again by completely ignoring a critical report that shows how ubiquitous Monsanto’s carcinogenic Roundup has truly become.

According to the report released by the Alliance for Natural Health USA, detectable levels of glyphosate, the chief ingredient in Roundup, were found in numerous breakfast food items. Glyphosate, which has been linked to cancer by the World Health Organization, was found in bread products, cereals and coffee creamers.

What is really concerning, and exemplifies the need for an immediate ban on the carcinogenic herbicide, is that some of the highest levels of the toxic chemical were found in organic foods, such as eggs and breads. The organic eggs tested were especially tainted with glyphosate, far exceeding regulatory standards.

Microbe Infotech Laboratories, founded by former Monsanto scientist Bruce Hemming, conducted the testing. For 25 years, Microbe has been well-respected and is the go-to lab for glyphosate testing by food companies and consumer groups.

The report confirms what many have feared for a long time. Glyphosate is making its way into our food in ways that we may not realize. For example, last year a separate study found 75% of rain and air samples tested positive for Monsanto’s cancer-causing poison. What kind of ramifications do you think this will have for those growing organic gardens? (via march against monsanto)

“The fact that it is showing up in foods like eggs and coffee creamer, which don’t directly contact the herbicide, shows that it’s being passed on by animals who ingest it in their feed,” said Gretchen DuBeau, executive director of ANH-USA. “This is contrary to everything that regulators and industry scientists have been telling the public.”

Why Should We be Concerned about Glyphosate?

Glyphosate is in 80% of our food supply in the U.S., and some scientists believe it may well be the most toxic chemical ever approved for commercial use. Glyphosate is now linked to kidney disease, antibiotic resistant bacteria, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, depression, ADHD, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, cancer, cachexia, infertility, and developmental malformations. It destroys the microbiome of humans and plants, which is the root cause of many modern diseases.(health impact news)       HHL