JEN BOON
Foods containing GMO have not been “independently proven over the long term” to have no adverse health impacts. Why are politicians and certain “experts” hell bent on pushing GM foods into our lives, when there is significant independent research available of the damage caused from genetically modified agricultural crops?
Those that purport to be in charge and declare they are acting in the interest of all Australians should be spending their time checking out the volumes of “independent research and studies” freely available on the Internet that publicise the significant problems with GM crops, such as the dilemma faced by Brazilian farmers after having sprayed their crops twice already with no result and now don’t have the money to apply a third application of fungicide being recommended by the GM proponents, when all farmers are led to believe that by using GM seed they would need less fungicides, pesticides and fertilizers? It is reported that when smaller farmers are struggling to make a living, they are then “rescued” by cashed-up multinationals that buy their properties at fire sale prices to either remove competition or add to the multi-national’s industrial scale agricultural enterprises.
From an ethical and moral point of view, why doesn’t Australia’s regulatory bodies with their massive backup of bureaucrats research and read the same easily accessible information that any member of the public can and then make decisions that are in the best interest of average individual Australians and Australia, rather than as is usually the case pandering to the every whim of the Australian subsidiaries of multi-national companies whose singular aim is to control significant segments of world food production?
GM lobby to flood the world
What does it take to get through to the tyrants of the genetically modified (GM) industry, our elected State and Federal politicians, our Government Departments with their own agenda, and large corporations with their primary financial motivation of maximising profits regardless of ethics and human costs that the majority of Australians do not want to relinquish their rights to choose to eat GMO free foods?
Why is it that our politicians approve and agree with laws that dilute consumers rights by allowing the spread of GM foods into our food chain when they have limited or absolutely no detailed information or the expertise to properly understand the issues and the irreversible impacts of their actions, and instead seem to solely rely on the “heavily biased recommendations and studies“ from the laboratories of the GM proponents? How naïve are the majority of our elected politicians?
How naïve and how disappointing it is to read that even Mr Michael Moore, our Government Public Health Association’s CEO supports GM crops? When did he receive a mandate from the majority of Australian’s to be an advocate for GMO? What right has he to decide for over 20 million people what he thinks is best for us?
The vast majority of medical and natural health practitioners say it is much healthier to eat only non-GM pesticide and chemical free preferably organic foods ….. so why won’t the same politicians, Government Health and Agriculture departments across Australia not consider changing the laws to legislate from now on only non-GM pesticide and chemical free organic vegetarian foods may be consumed? Of course they will not as they would consider this to be undemocratic to force people to become vegetarians despite that it would almost certainly result in a much healthier population and significantly reduced demands on our over-stretched health system?
Foods containing GMO have not been “independently proven over the long term” to have no adverse health impacts. Why are politicians and certain “experts” hell bent on pushing GM foods into our lives, when there is significant independent research available of the damage caused from genetically modified agricultural crops?
The GM proponents and our Government representatives must surely be aware of how difficult and time consuming it is to “clean up” agricultural land where “experimental” crops using genetically modified seeds have been trialed, as was the case with trials in Tasmania and elsewhere?
It was insulting and outrageous to read the statement in The Mercury on 24 June 2009 that “billions of people in the developed and developing worlds suffering from diseases like diabetes 2, colorectal cancer, cardio vascular problems and inflammations conditions will have their “bad effects” of these illnesses reduced by optimising the nutritional value of the GM foods”, as in linking genetically modified fruit and vegetables with health benefits. I consider this surely to be a misleading statement; when will the Government demand a full retraction and correction?
Those that purport to be in charge and declare they are acting in the interest of all Australians should be spending their time checking out the volumes of “independent research and studies” freely available on the Internet that publicise the significant problems with GM crops, such as the dilemma faced by Brazilian farmers after having sprayed their crops twice already with no result and now don’t have the money to apply a third application of fungicide being recommended by the GM proponents, when all farmers are led to believe that by using GM seed they would need less fungicides, pesticides and fertilizers? It is reported that when smaller farmers are struggling to make a living, they are then “rescued” by cashed-up multinationals that buy their properties at fire sale prices to either remove competition or add to the multi-national’s industrial scale agricultural enterprises.
From an ethical and moral point of view, why doesn’t Australia’s regulatory bodies with their massive backup of bureaucrats research and read the same easily accessible information that any member of the public can and then make decisions that are in the best interest of average individual Australians and Australia, rather than as is usually the case pandering to the every whim of the Australian subsidiaries of multi-national companies whose singular aim is to control significant segments of world food production?
Why don’t the politicians and regulatory bodies read and take heed of the numerous articles that report that shoppers are increasingly demanding cleaner, greener food, and a move back to heritage varieties of fruit and vegetables, to traditional breeds of livestock for meats and to seasonal crops? This is the way to a healthy body, not through altered foods.
Why is that very few of our politicians and bureaucrats are smart enough to question why worldwide there are exponentially increasing numbers of children and adults that are allergic and sensitive to a majority of quite ordinary foods these days such as: dairy, peanuts, bread, eggs, milk, other nuts, fish, soy, some fruits and vegetables, the list goes on? Why do they all accept without question the so-called scientific reports tabled by the GM companies that dismiss any claims that the rapid increase in allergy problems might be linked with genetically modified ingredients in our food chain? Why are most of our Politicians and regulatory bodies not independently working for all Australians instead of becoming the puppets of the deep-pocketed GM multi-national proponents seeking ever-increasing control over our lives and erosion of our basic freedoms?
Why are our politicians allowing laws to be put in place that permit GM foods and other substances to infiltrate and contaminate non-GM fresh and manufactured foods without there be any need for the consumer to be advised that GM contamination may be present? Why do our politicians and bureaucrats allow laws that favour the GM proponents and erode the basic rights of ordinary Australians who want to choose a GM free existence?
Why are our politicians so weak that they refuse to stand up to the GM proponents and demand “truly independent evidence of the long term safety to the environment, animal and human health”? Instead our politicians and bureaucrats rely on biased studies produced by the GM tyrants that simply declare that over the past 13 years there have been “no reports of adverse environmental or health effects”. These are from the same companies that are profiting by bulldozing their way through pristine rainforests across many developing countries under the pretence of establishing sustainable agriculture in their quest to control significant segments of the world food chain, and certainly have no interest in the welfare of the native forest dwellers and small farmers who are seen as a source of cheap labour or if they object are often killed as they defend their land where they and their ancestors have scratched a meagre living for their families; which says a lot about the ethics of the ethics and morals of those producing the “no adverse impacts reports”.
I was under the impression that I live in a country that respects and is proud of its democratic philosophies, but on a near daily bases I observe what can only be described as our leaders acting in a dictatorial way comparative to communist regimes with NO respect for the basic rights and best interests of the 20 million individual Australians. The majority of our politicians in the two major political parties seem to be increasingly acting more like the dictators that the world despises including the Military Junta of Myanmar, Mao Tse-Tung, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and many others who are still in power today.
This growing undemocratic behaviour should be a wake up call to all Australians who love freedom and our easy way of life in Australia, so bitterly fought for over the decades, that it is time to spell out very clearly in no uncertain terms to our major political parties that unless they start putting the interests of ordinary Australians ahead of their political party corporate benefactors, then it is time to go!
Jen Boon
Stephan
July 5, 2009 at 16:44
GM crops (as opposed to hybridisation) have been around for not much more than a decade. How the hell can anyone say that they’ve studied GM crops on a long term basis?
Long term as opposed to what?
The plants and animals around us are the result (depending on your beliefs) of millions of years of evolution. The animals and we have been testing them over that time. That’s what I call long term “study”.
Jeez – Mobile phones are safe too – well aren’t they?
Think about it.
Nice little diatribe Jen.
Cheers
Stephan
John Latham
July 5, 2009 at 22:16
Knowing human nature I suspect your comments Jen are of incredibly serious concern; to the health and happiness of more than one rosy human.
More action needed. By whom??
Richard Davis
July 5, 2009 at 23:52
(1) If you have children Stephan, perhaps they will want the freedom to choose the best nutrition and wont want their food controlled by a handfull of global corporate interests who’s only agenda is profit.
Why does Codex want to water down organic standards in this way? Simple. Organic foods promote better health than non-organic foods by virtue of their containing higher levels of micronutrients. In addition, of course, organic foods don’t contain pesticides, residues of veterinary drugs or genetically-modified organisms. Good health is inimical to the “business with disease”, and this ultimately makes organic foods a threat to the pharmaceutical and chemical cartel; not only because they promote better health, but also because they result in lower sales of pesticides and veterinary drugs – and thus in lower profits.
http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/THE_FOUNDATION/Events/codex-whatisit.html
Further guidelines and standards for GM foods are now in the process of being drafted by Codex. The eventual adoption of these texts will further contribute to making the approval, and importation, of GM foods that comply with them mandatory for all WTO member countries. Crucially, therefore, the United States, Canada and Argentina are also pushing for there to be no requirement for manufacturers or exporters of GM foods to disclose the presence of genetically modified organisms on their product labelling. This is exactly what the big GM food manufacturers want, of course, as they have long realized that growing numbers of people are opposed to GM food products, and moreover that they will not be able to change public opinion about these products anytime soon.
Unlike the seeds for regular foods, the seeds for GM foods can be patented. This, essentially, is the real key to why biotech companies are so desperate for these foods to be forced onto world markets, as the potential long-term profits are so colossal as to compare quite favorably with the market in pharmaceutical drugs. Given therefore that some of the major players in the pharmaceutical industry, such as Bayer and BASF, are also major players in the biotech industry, it can be seen that the pharmaceutical industry is once again positioning itself as a key beneficiary at Codex.
Stephan
July 6, 2009 at 12:56
Richard
Uhm, I may not have said it specifically but I am 100% dead set AGAINST GM crops or animals. I thought the particular thrust of my post and the purported “safety” of GM by comparing it with that of mobile phones would make that clear. I see not.
Cheers
Stephan