Sunday 9 March 2014
Tony Abbott - first outed in the Australian Parliament for being 'sexist' & 'misogynist' - now being called a 'homophobic' 'heartless racist'. Has a prime minister ever been so tellingly described in Hansard before?
Tuesday 24 July 2012
Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association et al. v Monsanto: the fight continues
Thursday 15 March 2012
One in the eye for Monsanto & Co
The Australian 12 March 2010:
A SALT-RESISTANT wheat variety developed by an Australian team through old-fashioned cross-breeding rather than genetic modification is increasing crop yields by up to 25 per cent in salinity-prone areas, and could help counter food security concerns.
Researchers from Adelaide University's Waite Institute, the CSIRO and the NSW government first isolated the gene in an ancient relative of durum wheat -- used to make couscous and pasta flour -- 15 years ago.
The breakthrough was published in the international journal Nature Biotechnology overnight…..researchers had spent more than a decade using traditional cross-breeding techniques to blend the 10,000-year-old durum with its modern cousin to increase its salt resistance without genetic modification…..
Rana Munns, Richard A James & Bo Xu, Asmini Athman, Simon J Conn, Charlotte Jordans, Caitlin S Byrt, Ray A Hare, Stephen D Tyerman, Mark Tester, Darren Plett and Matthew Gilliham are to be congratulated for the research behind Wheat grain yield on saline soils is improved by an ancestral Na+ transporter gene in the March issue of Nature Biotechnology (R.M., R.A.J., R.A.H., M.T., D.P. and M.G. conceived the project and planned experiments. R.M. and M.G. supervised the research. B.X. performed all Xenopus, yeast and protoplast experiments and R.A.J. performed field research. C.S.B. performed wheat genotyping. S.D.T. assisted with electrophysiology experiments. S.J.C., A.A. and C.J. performed in situ PCR and qPCR. M.G., D.P., R.A.J. and R.M. wrote the manuscript. All authors commented on the manuscript).
Dr. Rana Munns is Chief Research Scientist at the C.S.I.R.O. and began her investigations many years ago - her profile is here.
The C.S.I.R.O. is reported to have conducted field trials of durum wheat varieties containing new salt tolerant genes in northern NSW in 2009-10.
This is science which seeks to improve cereal crops but does not risk contaminating wild grass populations with novel genetically modified organisms which never existed before in nature. It potentially does not have the same exploitative limitations imposed on farmers by biotech industry giants like Monsanto & Co.
As there are 12 types of groundwater flow systems contributing to dryland salinity across Australia, research into salt resistant food crops is also very relevant to national food security.
Commonwealth Intergovernmental Working Group for the UNCCD, April 2002
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Tuesday 10 January 2012
Monsanto & Co. begins 2012 in court - again
Monday 2 January 2012
Queensland genetically modified bananas anyone?
Is Genetically modified becoming something of a dirty term with the Australian general public?
Putting two and two together it is obvious that the Queensland University of Technology tried very hard to avoid both the GMO acronym and again naming its funding source as the Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH) Initiative - which was launched as a health initiative by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is in turn is associated with Monsanto & Co through its shareholdings in that notorious biotech giant.
Sunday 16 October 2011
It's World Food Day Today, 16 October 2011
It is World Food Day today and it’s no surprise to find that this event is supported by the multinational biotech industry and agricultural sectors which promote GMO crops.
To counteract this I suggest……………………...
Send an email of support to Millions Against Monsanto here.
Sign up for Mothers Against Monsanto weekly newsletter here and join the network here.
Contact your Federal MP and tell him or her that you demand a review of the Australian Government’s position on GMO labelling. Contact details here and here.
Write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper stating how you feel about genetically modified crops and foods.
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Saturday 2 July 2011
Monsanto's GM canola? Can't give the stuff away in WA
The following may be read while softly humming that old song Who’s sorry now?
The West Australian on December 16, 2010:
Harvesting a WA record 13,000-hectare genetically modified canola crop is a time-critical challenge for man and machine.
Monsanto plays hard in the West Australian on April 21, 2011:
GM canola seed company Monsanto estimated GM canola crops would surge from about 70,000 hectares to 100,000ha in WA this year.
On GM Canola seed costs for farmers in the West Australian on May 18, 2011:
“The seed is about $70 a hectare, but home-grown seed is about $12-$18 a hectare….. GM canola growers need to pay seed developer Monsanto a $3 technology fee on top of the seed and an end point royalty of $13.20 when they deliver the product. GM canola is also discounted on the world market, with growers receiving about $20 a tonne less than regular varieties.
The West Australian on May 26, 2011:
Two of Australia’s biggest grain traders say they have no plans to take genetically modified canola this season.
Elders-Toepfer Grain acting WA accumulations manager Ben Noll said the company was not currently taking GM canola and that was unlikely to change as the season progressed.
“From where we sit at the moment, we’re all non-GM, ” he said.
“We’re in the process of being involved in certification for the sustainability of canola products.”
Under the European Union Renewable Energy Directive, canola for the European premium-paying biofuel market requires International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), which means sustainably produced canola is in and GM canola is out.
Glencore Grain, both Australia and WA’s second-biggest grain exporter, is not taking GM canola either — at least for the moment.
The company is also in the midst of ISCC……
Mr Haddrill said 95 per cent of WA’s canola went to Europe last year and given the dry conditions across much of northern Europe, demand would likely be high again this season……..
Gavilon currently has a $40 discount for GM canola and AWB has a $30 discount.
Viterra has GM canola bidding at $45 below non-GM and Emerald at $30 below.
The Hon. Peter Collier representing the West Australia Minister for Agriculture in the WA Parliament on June 23, 2011 in response to questions from Lynn McLaren MLC:
Question: How much GM canola was produced last year?
Answer: 49, 000 tonnes.
Question: How much of this GM canola has been sold and to whom?
Answer: I am advised that none of this canola has been sold at this point….
A. Tom Powell, Binnu The Countryman 10-6-10
B. Andrew Messina, Mullewa The West Australian 13-4-10
C. R & M Appleyard, Northern Gully The Countryman 24-6-10
D. J&B Bagley, Mingenew The Countryman 25-5-10
E. Bill Crabtree, Morowa Farm Weekly 4-2-10
F. Brian Ellis, Bindi Bindi Farm Weekly
G. John Shadbolt, ,Nungarin The Countryman 15-4-10
H. Jason Haywood, Goomalling The Counyry Man 17-6-10
I. Mervyn Burges, Meckering The West Australian 22-5-10
J. John Snooke, Meckering The West Australian 9-4-10
K. David Fullwood, Cunderdin The Countryman 18-3-10
L. Les Thompson, Wagin thecountryman.com.au/article/2912.html
M. Chris Hockey, Gibson thecountryman.com.au/article/2805.html
N. Michael Shields, Wongan Hills
1. Bodallin
2. Wongan Hills
3. Kojonup
http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/huge-gm-canola-planting-at-bodallin/1874316.aspx?storypage=0
O. Craig Simpkin, Binnu 2ha 5ac The Countryman 1-7-10
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Friday 10 June 2011
Gene Ethics: Grain traders snub GM canola
Excerpt from a Gene Ethics media releases of 3 March and 26 May 2011:
Major grain purchaser Co-operative Bulk Handlers (CBH) has confirmed that strong demand for non-GM canola has resulted in premiums of $50/tonne over the price for GM canola (See MR attached). The co-operative's March 3 Grain Weekly says: "By far and away the biggest development this marketing season has been the increased demand for Australian non-GM sustainable canola.
European and Australian demand for GM-free grain is so strong that leading grain traders Elders-Toepfer and Glencore Grain refuse to buy any genetically manipulated (GM) canola this year. And traders that buy GM will pay up to $45/tonne less than for non-GM grain.
“This market is a bonanza for the majority of Australian grain growers who wisely stayed with non-GM canola varieties,” says Gene Ethics Director, Bob Phelps.
“Ninety five per cent of Western Australia's canola sold to Europe last year and strong demand is expected to continue, but only for non-GM. European shoppers have zero tolerance for GM canola.
Monday 6 June 2011
Is Monsanto telling untruths?
On 3 March 2011 the bio-tech multinational Monsanto Corporation stated on its own corporate blog Beyond The Rows in the post Monsanto's Commitment: Farmers and Patents:
It has never been, nor will it be Monsanto policy to exercise its patent rights where trace amounts of our patented seed or traits are present in farmer's fields as a result of inadvertent means.
In a written statement to ABC Rural, plant breeder Monsanto says It has never been, nor will it be, its policy to exercise its patent rights where trace amounts of patented traits are present in a farmer's paddock or grain as a result of inadvertent means.
It has never been, nor will it be Monsanto policy to exercise its patent rights where trace amounts of our patented seed or traits are present in farmer’s fields as a result of inadvertent means.
Monsanto confirms this policy in a letter from its legal representatives Wilmer Hale on 28 April 2011:
However, I can find no formal Monsanto policy document online which sets out this exemption for accidental contamination of non-GMO farmland or crops.
Nor can I find any current publicly available company documents which define the terms trace amounts and inadvertent means.
As accidental contamination by GMO seeds in Australia has been recorded at seventy per cent of the area of one West Australian organic farm, one has to wonder why trace amounts is so vague a phrase and what implications this may have as contamination instances spread.
It also remains a concern that while Monsanto continues to insist on patent enforcement it also insists that it is not liable for loss suffered from accidental contamination according to this legal opinion of 19 February 2011:
The language: "In no event shall Monsanto or any seller be liable for any incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages" limits and restricts the ability to sue for any damages. There is no "hold harmless" clause contained in the agreement to benefit the growers.
Monsanto's agreement shifts all liability to the growers, including contamination issues or any potential future liability.
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Monday 21 February 2011
And this is a biotech company FSANZ takes at its word......
It is almost as though FSANZ is completely blind to a corporate history of environmental damage, deceit and avoidance of responsibility that is the trademark of this multinational.
Apparently choosing to believe that biotech industries miraculously operate differently once they establish themselves in Australia.
This is posted on the Environment Agency U.K. concerning what The Guardian U.K. called in 2007 one of the most contaminated places in Britain:
Between 1965-70 Brofiscin quarry was used as a disposal site for industrial and chemical waste.
The wastes included toxic substances such as solvents, heavy metals, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs.......
We have completed our extensive enquiries to identify those we consider should be held responsible under the contaminated land laws and be held liable for the cost of remediating Brofiscin Quarry. We are at an advanced stage in our consultations with BP, Veolia and Monsanto to provide them with the opportunity to help remediate the land on a voluntary basis. We expect to make further progress on this matter in the next few months. If this approach is unsuccessful, we have the power to carry out the work needed ourselves and recover our costs. The three companies have been identified under the legislation as inheriting the liabilities of companies who were associated with depositing wastes at the quarry.
This is not the only site used by Monsanto which has problems with PCB or other toxic contamination - the company doesn't mind polluting its home country, wrecking the health of its own workers, generally running roughshod over the interest of countries in which it operates and, if the Ecologist is to be believed is not above bullying witnesses to its bad corporate behaviour.
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Sunday 16 January 2011
The GMO lobby creates a LOL
So which contributor in the BIOfortified: stronger plants, stronger science and stronger communication online community was responsible for telling the world that the humble macadamia nut (eaten by indigenous Australians for thousands of years) is a relatively new food?
franknfoode Frank N. Foode
@HerbRealm How many years have Kiwifruit and Starfruit and Macadamias been trialled on humans to ensure their safety? (relatively new foods) 13 Jan
The joke gets better when we remember that 'Starfruit' is merely the commercial branding of a fruit cultivated and eaten for hundreds of years in Asia and, that 'Kiwi Fruit' is the marketing re-brand of a conventionally created cultivar of another ancient food.
Tuesday 11 January 2011
In case you thought Monsanto only produces genetically modified seed now
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Image from Infowars Ireland
Thursday 23 December 2010
In 2007 Monsanto gets US Government to run heavy-handed interference in Europe?
If you thought that Monsanto & Co doesn’t 'own' successive U.S. governments, this excerpt from a diplomatic cable from the American Ambassador to France concerning the GMO maize variety Mon810 and forwarded to Washington may change your mind.
The highlighting is mine.
Ă‚¶2. (C) This is not just a bilateral concern. France will play a leading role in renewed European consideration of the acceptance of agricultural biotechnology and its approach toward environmental regulation more generally. France expects to lead EU member states on this issue during the Slovene presidency beginning in January and through its own Presidency in the second half of the year. Our contacts have made clear that they will seek to expand French national policy to a EU-wide level and they believe that they are in the vanguard of European public opinion in turning back GMO's. They have noted that the member states have been unwilling to support the Commission on sanctioning Austria's illegal national ban. The GOF sees the ten year review of the Commission's authorization of MON 810 as a key opportunity and a review of the EFSA process to take into account societal preferences as another (reftels).
Ă‚¶3. (C) One of the key outcomes of the "Grenelle" was the decision to suspend MON 810 cultivation in France. Just as damaging is the GOF's apparent recommitment to the "precautionary principle." Sarkozy publicly rejected a recommendation of the Attali Commission (to review France's competitiveness) to move away from this principle, which was added to the French constitution under Chirac
Ă‚¶4. (C) France's new "High Authority" on agricultural biotech is designed to roll back established science-based decision making. The recently formed authority is divided into two colleges, a scientific college and a second group including civil society and social scientists to assess the "common interest" of France. The authority's first task is to review MON 810. In the meantime, however, the draft biotech law submitted to the National Assembly and the Senate for urgent consideration, could make any biotech planting impossible in practical terms. The law would make farmers and seed companies legally liable for pollen drift and sets the stage for inordinately large cropping distances.
The publication of a registry identifying cultivation of GMOs at the parcel level may be the most significant measure given the propensity for activists to destroy GMO crops in the field.
Ă‚¶5. (C) Both the GOF and the Commission have suggested that their respective actions should not alarm us since they are only cultivation rather than import bans. We see the cultivation ban as a first step, at least by anti-GMO advocates, who will move next to banor further restrict imports. (The environment minister's top aidetold us that people have a right not to buy meat raised on biotechfeed, even though she acknowledged there was no possible scientific basis for a feed based distinction.) Further, we should not beprepared to cede on cultivation because of our considerable planting seed business in Europe and because farmers, once they have hadexperience with biotech, become its staunchest supporters.
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Friday 5 November 2010
From the Truth Is Stranger Than file: GMO Death-Tech meets Hit Squad
"A death-tech firm weds a hit squad.”
Blogger Rady Ananda
It appears that bio-tech giant Monsanto & Co. has graduated from in-house open source intelligence gathering and moved on to involve itself in the murky world of Blackwater ops.
From The Sovereign Independent, 1 November 2010:
A spokesperson for Monsanto, reached by Scahill, first denied the relationship with Blackwater, but then admitted that Monsanto had paid Total Intelligence for intelligence reoprts
“… about the activities of groups or individuals that could pose a risk to company personnel or operations around the world which were developed by monitoring local media reports and other publicly available information. The subject matter ranged from information regarding terrorist incidents in Asia or kidnappings in Central America to scanning the content of activist blogs and websites.”………
The documents obtained by Scahill show that Monsanto paid Blackwater’s subsidiary, Total Intelligence a total of $232,000 for intelligence services provided in 2008 and 2009. Aside from the brief statement provided to Scahill, Monsanto is keeping quiet on the matter, as is Blackwater and the other organizations cited in Scahill’s article. Scahill said the Canadian Military paid Blackwater over $1.6 million for training, which was provided through Blackwater’s subsidiary, the Terrorism Research Center. Blackwater violated some US export control laws, reported Yahoo News this past August, violations which included the provision of training to the Canadian Military. While the list of violations the US Department of State found Blackwater guilty of is extensive, the company was only fined $42 million. The company name ‘Blackwater’ was changed to Xe (pronounced ‘zee’) in 2009, which Source Watch called a ‘rebranding effort.’ The company is now up for sale. AFP reported Blackwater operatives were accused of killing 17 Iraqis, wounding a further 22 in what was said to be an unprovoked attack in 2007. The company was later cleared of all wrongdoing. Blackwater was ordered out of Iraq earlier this year because of that violent incident said CBS News.
GMO FOOD PRODUCTS AND PRODUCTION AIDS APPROVED FOR SALE/USE IN AUSTRALIA
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Friday 7 May 2010
Monsanto plays the smart@rse
Monday 15 March 2010
Monsanto's failures come as no surprise
A genetically modified cotton produced by Monsanto is failing to control pests in four Indian states, the company said last week.
The survival of the pink bollworm in Monsanto's Bollgard brand cotton was detected in four of the nine Indian states where the cotton is grown.
A spokesman for the Creve Coeur-based company said it is taking the matter "very seriously" and will continue to monitor the situation with the help of a team of Indian-based experts. The detection has been reported to the Indian Genetic Engineering Committee, the company said.
The cotton is engineered to resist the pink bollworm, a pest that can ruin crops. However, testing was conducted to assess resistance to Cry1Ac, the Bt protein in the crop, and insects were found to be surviving it.
The company said Friday that the resistance could be occurring because the required refuge areas were not planted by farmers and some may have used unapproved Bt cotton seed.
Recently, India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, said the country should be more cautious in adopting genetically modified crops.
* This post is part of the North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Wednesday 16 December 2009
Monsanto under the media spotlight once again
Click on image to enlarge
Sunday 29 November 2009
Monsanto is another word for elitist ethnocentrism
This is Monsanto & Co. on Twitter last week:
MonsantoCo
Even after supplying those who need it this year, the US be able to save 10% of this year's corn harvest for the future. #ThankaFarmer about 5 hours ago from Twuffer
This is what the media reported in the five days before Monsanto made that boast:
- It's estimated one-sixth of the global population, about one billion people, are malnourished and going hungry every day. And there are real fears that number will be much bigger by 2050, when the world's population is projected to pass nine billion.
- In Guatemala, over 400,000 families are in desperate need of food due to a disastrous drought and crop failure. Guatemala’s President Alvaro Colom has declared a national state of calamity due to extreme food shortages. Hardest hit are young children and pregnant women, who are vulnerable to malnutrition and need sufficient nourishment to grow and fight off disease.
- The United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) has urged for more action to be taken in southern Sudan to stop severe food shortage in parts of that region. UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson who visited in the vast region said now is the time to act. "Now is the time to act. Everybody needs to do their best to stop this humanitarian emergency, which is already affecting 1.5 million people across southern Sudan," said Johnson in a statement received here Friday.
- The number of U.S. households unable to put adequate food on the table increased sharply during the latest recession, reaching the highest level recorded since USDA began monitoring household food security in 1995. Proportionally, increases in food insecurity were greatest in groups that were historically less vulnerable to food insecurity.
I don't know what is more confronting - Monsanto's corporate elitism when it comes to American society, its insular ethnocentricity (based as it is within a global super power which is also one of the leading cereal-growing nations) or its determination to treat its audience like dumb idiots. No wonder this multinational appears to be losing market share.
More on Monsanto:Monsanto Pulls GM Corn Amid Food Safety Concerns,Scoop, 17 November 2009
Monsanto faces 'distrust' in seed battle, Delaware Online, 15 November 2009
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Tuesday 17 November 2009
The lights weren’t on, but Monsanto was at home
MADGE Australia and friends went to see Monsanto and came away with a story to tell:
Monday 2 November 2009
In 2007 Monsanto spent US$4M+ on lobbying, in 2008 it spent US$8M+, while in 2009....
Graph U.S. Agricultural sector lobbying expenditure 2009
Monsanto & Co. continues to expand its dominance of the world seed and genetically modified food additive markets with certain of its corporate expenses rising each year this century.
In 2006 this biotech multinational spent over US$3 million on lobbying governments and government agencies. By 2008 it was spending over US$8 million. In 2009 so far Monsanto & Co has spent over US$6 million on similar activities.
It is only one of 342 agricultural sector lobbyists in the United States listed by Open Secrets but is by far the biggest spender this year.
The U.S. agricultural lobby sector in 2009 is worth $25,721,913, has made over $2 million in campaign contributions for the American 2010 election cycle to date and Monsanto is in the top five donation contributors.
In February of this year Monsanto approached the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking a ruling that stearidonic (SDA) omega-3 soybean oil was generally recognised as safe.
Now it is reported that Monsanto is positioning itself to release soy-based GMO omega-3 oil on the market sometime after 2010 and according to a Monsanto media release the FDA has announced this month that genetically modified omega-3 oil is safe to use (however the FDA makes it plain that it has solely relied on Monsanto's own assessment).
Are we getting close to quod erat demonstrandum?
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.