It appears that the rights of corporation have prevailed over the rights of people. HR 933 was approved and signed by President Obama. Tucked into a spending bill which was supposed to prevent government fiscal shutdown, most of those who voted for the bill were unaware of this “act” which was inserted by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt. With it's passage, the act effectively allows Monsanto the right to do whatever it wants.
In short this bill now gives Monsanto the right to plant Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) even if a federal court has ruled that the organism presents a danger to the environment. In other words, even if crops are clearly determined to be dangerous, they cannot be stopped because Monsanto has been given the authority to do as they wish. This legislation effectively gives Monsanto the right to override the government on this issue. I believe this is a very dangerous state of affairs and one which will have severe consequences.
GMOs are pervasive in our food supply. Far more than many people realize. And the health consequences can be significant. Allergies have increased tremendously with the introduction of GMO soy, cotton, corn, and papaya. GMOs have been shown to reduce digestive enzymes, affect liver health, even to cause reproductive health problems. Environmentally GMOs have been proven to create superweeds, kill bees and butterflies (without pollinators crops don't grow), release toxins into the water supply, and have contaminated sustainably and organically grown crops.
Your right to choose what you eat is limited due to the current state of affairs which does not require labeling of GMO. Growing numbers of people want to know what's in their food. I believe that will come to pass, either through legislation or through consumer pressure. Whole Foods has made a huge step in the right direction by requiring that all foods sold in their stores after 2018 must be labeled for the presence of GMOs. It's not soon enough but it is coming. If there was clear, identifying labeling in place people would be much more aware of how pervasive this is in their food.
But now with the passage of this bill there has been a set-back which serves no purpose except to line the pockets of Monsanto. It is disturbing and overwhelming to see how one corporation can essentially create a corporate coup, to take over, making themselves above the law.
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What is a GMO
Mira, Thank you so very much for sharing more insight on this bill. It is only through education of our society that this we can ever hope to win back our basic right to know what is in our food. You vote with your buying dollar people….!
I had read about that being included in the other bill, and was flabergasted. All of us need to be paying attention and in communication with our legislators about issues like these that impact us so directly.
Mira,
This is amazing! How do these loopholes sneak through?
Gosh thanks for bringing this to our attention – while I am not based in the USA here in Australia we often follow suit with such things. Forewarned and aware!
This is so disturbing. Thank you for educating people about the potential harm that can come from GMO’s.
Lisa
Hi Mira,
I met you at the WAPF Conference this year. I spoke with you a bit about your book ‘The Pantry Principle.’ I’ve been reading your blog and just realized you are the same woman I spoke with at the conference. Thank you for writing about this outrageous bill. I look forward to reading your book.
Victoria
Hi Mira
Thanks for bringing this to our attention and for sharing the research. We all know we do need more research on this but in the meantime we want foods to be labeled and to have the choice should we so choose not to eat GMO food.
For Monsanto to get a free-pass on this is quite incredible to me and very disturbing. If they have nothing to hide and no concerns why do they need something like this?
I am terribly disappointed with our legislative process and legislators who voted on this. I also feel that sneaking unrelated legislation into bills should be stopped immediately. If not, then legislators need to put something in place to check for things like this so they can’t say they didn’t know it was there.
I’m fuming on many levels….as you can tell!
Trudy
You are right on the money Mira. It seems as GMO production goes up so do conditions, syndromes, allergies, disease and cancer.. Coincidence?
Sandra Stetson liked this on Facebook.
There is very clear science that demonstrates the negative effects of GMO. If you go through the links in the article you will find direct links to many of the studies as well as well-respected news sources which have reported on this issue.
It is rare to see so much misinformation in such a short article. Where on earth do you get your information about supposed risks of GMO? Please provide some supporting evidence!
=(
Dorothy Whitfield liked this on Facebook.
It’s VERY disturbing
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