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SamH
Guest
Actually the products have been approved - but a federal judge overturned that approval (based on what?). Why should I think that a federal judge knows more about corn than the US Department of Agriculture?
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bitznbitez
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Ridgerunner
Guest
Blunt is my senator, and was formerly my representative from my district. He can be slick and wily, and I don’t like everything he does. But this time, it’s hard to argue very much. Here’s what happened:
“The measure follows a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2011 that allowed farmers to plant St. Louis- based Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar beets while the agency completed a court-mandated environmental impact statement. A federal judge in San Francisco ruled in 2009 that the USDA erred in approving the crop without more scrutiny.”
So the USDA approved the product. Then the ACLU brought suit in the notoriously left wing Ninth Circuit (California) to block it. The Ninth Circuit is the most overruled court in the U.S. (by the Supreme Court) Then Blunt put a provision in the spending bill to undo what the ACLU and the Ninth Circuit did while the lawsuit winds its way through the court system.
And there are plenty of Roundup-ready products already on the market.
Hard to fault Blunt too much for this.
“The measure follows a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2011 that allowed farmers to plant St. Louis- based Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar beets while the agency completed a court-mandated environmental impact statement. A federal judge in San Francisco ruled in 2009 that the USDA erred in approving the crop without more scrutiny.”
So the USDA approved the product. Then the ACLU brought suit in the notoriously left wing Ninth Circuit (California) to block it. The Ninth Circuit is the most overruled court in the U.S. (by the Supreme Court) Then Blunt put a provision in the spending bill to undo what the ACLU and the Ninth Circuit did while the lawsuit winds its way through the court system.
And there are plenty of Roundup-ready products already on the market.
Hard to fault Blunt too much for this.
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mountainmama
Guest
I don’t normally do this, but I am making an exception this time.
Monsanto sued a organic farmer up in Canada because the wind had cross bred Monsanto’s GM corn with the farmers organic corn. The farmer counter sued, then Monsanto counter sued and so on and so on. What Monsanto has and is doing is making it so the plants produce sterile seeds or no seeds. So the people who buy seeds to do their gardening or farming instead of keeping the seeds from the plants that they have grown, they must buy more seeds from the company. Another example: the farmers in India had saved seeds from their crops for years and years. Monsanto goes over there and sells them the seed that they produce, when the farmers cannot save the seed (because it will not produce what was grown or produces a mutant of the variety of the plant) the farmers do not have the money to buy the seed and so therefore, there are starving people in the country.
It has been recommended by some opponents of the bill, to plant the organic seeds as far away from the GM fields as possible because of cross breeding. And if the cross breeding occurs, the organic seed will not be pure and who knows what we will get.
Also, think about the grain that will be fed to the livestock -corn, oats, wheat, etc that is from the GM or the genetically engineered seed. What is that doing to our meet sources? Let alone our dairy and eggs?
Also, because of this bill, organic farmers are at risk of law suits of every kind, if the “Monsanto” companies think they are infringed upon by the mostly small organic farmers. And these farmers are not wealthy enough to fight the big companies. And one wonders why organic food is more expensive. Raw milk is no longer allowed to be sold in a lot states. (What about the Amish who have been doing this for over a hundred years?) The companies and sometimes the FDA is attacking the people who sell eggs - (only eggs!) to help with cost of feed. I have sold eggs to people that I have known and they raved about how much better they tasted then the store bought kind. When was the last time anyone has heard of someone getting deathly ill or have died because of organic foods? It is nearly always because of the processing or packing plants.
Another point: What about the obestity problem of the U.S.? Could it be the way our food is mass produced? With fillers and with stuff that any normal person cannot pronounce? Sure some of it is because of people electing to sit and not be active is part of it.
This is something that is very harmful to us as a nation. We must defend our God given right to protect what has been given to us by God. What God has created is good.
Monsanto sued a organic farmer up in Canada because the wind had cross bred Monsanto’s GM corn with the farmers organic corn. The farmer counter sued, then Monsanto counter sued and so on and so on. What Monsanto has and is doing is making it so the plants produce sterile seeds or no seeds. So the people who buy seeds to do their gardening or farming instead of keeping the seeds from the plants that they have grown, they must buy more seeds from the company. Another example: the farmers in India had saved seeds from their crops for years and years. Monsanto goes over there and sells them the seed that they produce, when the farmers cannot save the seed (because it will not produce what was grown or produces a mutant of the variety of the plant) the farmers do not have the money to buy the seed and so therefore, there are starving people in the country.
It has been recommended by some opponents of the bill, to plant the organic seeds as far away from the GM fields as possible because of cross breeding. And if the cross breeding occurs, the organic seed will not be pure and who knows what we will get.
Also, think about the grain that will be fed to the livestock -corn, oats, wheat, etc that is from the GM or the genetically engineered seed. What is that doing to our meet sources? Let alone our dairy and eggs?
Also, because of this bill, organic farmers are at risk of law suits of every kind, if the “Monsanto” companies think they are infringed upon by the mostly small organic farmers. And these farmers are not wealthy enough to fight the big companies. And one wonders why organic food is more expensive. Raw milk is no longer allowed to be sold in a lot states. (What about the Amish who have been doing this for over a hundred years?) The companies and sometimes the FDA is attacking the people who sell eggs - (only eggs!) to help with cost of feed. I have sold eggs to people that I have known and they raved about how much better they tasted then the store bought kind. When was the last time anyone has heard of someone getting deathly ill or have died because of organic foods? It is nearly always because of the processing or packing plants.
Another point: What about the obestity problem of the U.S.? Could it be the way our food is mass produced? With fillers and with stuff that any normal person cannot pronounce? Sure some of it is because of people electing to sit and not be active is part of it.
This is something that is very harmful to us as a nation. We must defend our God given right to protect what has been given to us by God. What God has created is good.
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Ridgerunner
Guest
Two years ago.
Little girl from this area got a severe salmonella infection from goats’ milk bought at a local organic foods store. She nearly died, and has permanent kidney damage from it.
I’m not against all organic foods, but one has to be aware that they can be just as contaminated as non-organic foods, and can easily be more so.
I grew up in the country, and “paid my dues” by exposure to just about every food-borne illness there is. So I would readily buy your eggs for myself, and I’m sure I would enjoy them. But I wouldn’t feed them to a little kid. Nothing personal, pardner, I just know how organic foods are raised.
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SamH
Guest
When you buy Monsanto Roundup Ready seeds you sign a contract agreeing that you will not save your grain and replant it. It is part of the purchase price. If you don’t want to abide by that contract you don;t have to buy their seed.
As for the lawsuit about “cross pollenation” I believe this is it:
articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/17/local/la-me-gs-organic-farmers-sue-monsanto-to-stop-patent-suits-20120217
They are suing Monsanto but I could find no case of Monsanto counter suing or filing a lawsuit against anyone over cross pollenation.
There have been a few cases where farmers kept seed back and planted it in violation of their agreement with Monsanto and claimed the seed was the result of cross pollentation but genetic testing proved this was false.
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SamH
Guest
Source?
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bitznbitez
Guest
naturalnews.com/032256_USDA_Monsanto.html
If that is to hippy dippy of a pub for your liking there are other more mainstream ones too. Google around.
Food is best when its natural not when its engineered to maximize profit and to ensure the entire seedbase is under patent control.
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SamH
Guest
Did you happen to see the outcome of that idea? It didn’t happen.
infowars.com/exposing-monsanto%E2%80%99s-financial-interest-in-government/
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scipio337
Guest
Blunt should drop it from the bill. But not for the reason some want it to. It’s pork, plain and simple.
I remember the doom and gloom of the “population bomb” during the 70’s. (Try reading the first few chapters of Clark’s *2001: A Space Odyssey * with its food riots, rationing, etc) By this point, we are supposed to be dying by the 10’s of millions due to starvation. We haven’t. Why? Advances in agricultural technology.
Unfortunately, the average person can’t roll out of bed and drive to Whole Foods to get their certified organic arugula.
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SamH
Guest
That was probably grown using genetically modified or hybrid seeds and chemical fertilizer. Few people seem to realize the difference between hybrid, heirloom and genetically modified crops.
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bitznbitez
Guest
I think we basically agree. I always was of the view that the population time bomb was hooey. A substantial part of it being invented to explain why the marxists were starving vast parts of their populations in Russia and China. The rest being why we needed to rollout massive birth control and abortion campaigns.
In general the use of nitrogen fertilizers and things are great but this genetic engineering, etc… oy
I’d settle for requiring food labeling laws, like in Europe, this food contains genetically engineered _____. Of course in Europe lately they have also had to start labeling various beef products “This product contains Horsemeat
” So who really knows.
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Dawnia
Guest
There is a case right now before SCOTUS on how far Monsanto’s patent rights extend. Bowman v Monsanto
Bowman bought grain from an elevator and planted that as a second crop. Monsanto sued over infringement. Bowman didn’t buy grain from Monsanto and didn’t sign a contract. Should be interesting to see how SCOTUS rules.
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Ridgerunner
Guest
There are a lot of types of corn, some of them pretty new. But then, corn itself is anything but a “natural” product. It can’t grow in the wild, and doesn’t. Somehow or other, Indians long ago converted a naturally occurring grass that doesn’t resemble corn in any way, into what we see now.
I understand that corn in places like Mexico is very different from ours, and has hundreds of specialized varieties, each with different characteristics desired for this purpose or that. Our corn isn’t exactly a monoculture, but it’s a lot closer to one than theirs is.
I can understand that the genetic engineering of Monsanto or other companies that do it speed up and specialize the process of targeting certain characteristics. But I don’t see how it’s really different from what has happened with corn for millenia.
And Monsanto sure isn’t the only company that patents its seed.
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SamH
Guest
Tell that to the people that used Napster for music file sharing. They didn’t have an agreement with anyone and found themselves being sued (successfully)for millions.
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SamH
Guest
Basically they speed up the hybrid process.
Some of the extreme draught resistant strains saved farmers (that planted it) millions last year - I couldn’t believe the difference between fields right next to each other. The dry land draught resistant strain looked better than most irrigated corn last summer.
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Ridgerunner
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Some of the differences are dramatic, depending on the particular seed one uses. I don’t know all of those differences, but there certainly are farmers who do. But I think farmers are gambling on their belief about one condition occurring rather than another.
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EmperorNapoleon
Guest
That is MUCH different. There are several problems with Monsanto not the least of which is their aggressive enforcement of their patents; even when accidental violations occur. This company has been known to sue farmers over cross-polination and strong arms them into buying their seeds.
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Ridgerunner
Guest
But that’s not quite the topic, is it? Isn’t it whether Blunt did something he should not have done by putting a provision in a spending bill which reinstates the USDA’s action after the 9th Circuit blocked it. Scipio feels it is an unwarranted “pork” provision. Since I think the 9th Circuit is nutty and left wing (the most reversed federal circuit in the nation) I think Blunt did a reasonable thing.
Frankly, I have to wonder about all of this accidental violations business. I have seen many a farm field in which one segment of a single field is planted with a Monsanto brand name and the very next one is planted with some other company’s seed, like Pioneer. I have seen fields in which there are several brands right next to each other. One group of rows is one thing and the very next row is something else.
I could certainly be wrong, but just looking it up briefly, it appears to me the “cross pollenation” claims are largely counterclaims or defenses against Monsanto patent infringement cases. Monsanto claims patent infringement because Farmer X has corn with Monsanto genes from seed he didn’t buy, and Farmer X claims the genes are due to cross-pollenation.
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