Monsanto, FDA and the GM-crop-Desaster

Summary: Ten years after. Biotech promises come up short. The Wall Street Journal reported, "Not only has the biotech industry yielded negative financial returns for decades, it generally digs its hole deeper every year." The Associated Press says it "remains a money-losing, niche industry". Corporate and government managers have spent millions trying to convince farmers and other citizens of the benefits of genetically-modified crops. But this huge public relations effort has failed to obscure the truth: GM crops do not deliver the promised benefits; they create numerous problems, costs, and risks. Us and canada lose big-time with gmos. Thousands of American farmers who were told to trust this technology, yet now see their prices fall to historically low levels while other countries exploit US vulnerability and pick off export customers one by one. US soy sales also plummeted due to GM content. When Canada became the only major producer to adopt GM canola in 1996, it led to a disaster there as well. The premium-paying EU market, which took about one-third of Canada’s canola exports in 1994 and one-fourth in ’95, stopped all imports from Canada by 1998. The GM canola was diverted to the low-priced Chinese market. Not only did Canadian canola prices fall to a record low, Canada even lost their EU honey exports due to the GM pollen contamination.

GM crops not only close markets and plunge prices, they force governments to shell out huge sums. National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Agriculture: The US government payments to farmers are up by $3 to $5 billion annually due to GM crops.  growers have only been kept afloat by the huge jump in subsidies. Net farm incomes in Canada plummeted since the introduction of GM canola, with the last five years being the worst in Canada’s history. The average GM crop reduces yield. Herbicide tolerant crops lower yields and increase herbicide use. According to a Cornell University study, Bt farmers in China are now earning significantly less than non-Bt farmers. In Indonesia, Bt cotton was also overrun with pests and other problems and was kicked out of the country (in spite of the Monsanto’s bribes to 140 officials over 5 years to try to get their cotton approved.). In India thousands of Bt cotton farmers committed suicide - the rate in one region was one suicide every eight hours.

Contamination inevitable. Buffer zones between fields have not been competent to protect non-GM, organic, or wild plants from GMOs. A UK study showed canola cross-pollination occurring as far as 16 miles. Due to cross pollination, studies have found canola that is resistant to all three types of herbicides. But it gets worse. Canola can cross pollinate with several weedy relatives such as wild mustard. Now these pollinated weeds have also developed resistance to weed killers and become "super weeds." There is no technology to fully eradicate GM contamination from the environmental gene pool. Thus, the self-propagating genetic pollution caused by today’s GMOs could theoretically outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste.

GM free zones pop up around the world. Non-gmo tidal wave expected. It is expected that millions of health conscious shoppers will soon make brand choices based on non-GMO content, which will force the rest of the food industry into a European-style rejection of GM ingredients. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, and other democratic presidential candidates have all committed to implement what 90% of Americans have wanted for more than a decade—mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. When asked why they want GM foods labeled, most Americans say it is because they want to avoid GM them.

Industry forced their dangerous agenda. According to the New York Times, "What Monsanto wished for from Washington, Monsanto—and, by extension, the biotechnology industry—got." In fact, after the White House told the FDA to promote the biotechnology industry, the agency created a new position for Monsanto’s former attorney Michael Taylor, who then oversaw the policy for GMOs. Released in May 1992 and still in force, FDA policy states, "The agency is not aware of any information showing that foods derived by these new methods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way." On the basis of this sentence, the FDA claimed that no safety studies are necessary; biotech companies thus determine on their own if their products are harmless. Internal records were made public due to a lawsuit and the deception came to light. But it was too late. GM crops were widespread (and Michael Taylor had been duly rewarded after leaving the FDA by becoming a Monsanto vice president.)

Economic impact of those companies that have invested and used GM foods and crops. Physicians who have studied the subject are convinced that the dangers are real and are prescribing non-GMO diets to their patients

Genetically modified sugar beets. The risks of GM crops are not limited just to its DNA or the protein produced by the inserted gene. The process of creating a GM plant causes massive collateral damage in the DNA—approximately 2-4% of the DNA is different (mutated) compared to its parent. This can result in increased or new toxins, allergens, carcinogens, and anti-nutrients. Thus, in the case of sugar beets, the pulp used for animal feed, the molasses, and even the highly purified sugar, all contain levels of contamination that might harbor an unexpected byproduct of the GM process. Even small amounts of contaminants can be quite dangerous. Consider the food supplement L-tryptophan, produced in the 1980’s by a Japanese company that used genetically engineered bacteria. The genetic engineering process was almost certainly the reason why the supplement contained 5 or 6 contaminants. They were tiny—0.1% to 0.01% of the total amount of product—but their effect huge. This brand killed about 100 Americans and caused 5,000-10,000 to become sick or permanently disabled. It is important to note that the toxic tryptophan passed the US pharmaceutical standard for purity.

farmers admit that they use GM seeds because they fear Monsanto. "Thousands of US farmers have been investigated by Monsanto," for allegedly saving harvested GM seeds and replanting them in the next season—an age-old farm practice made illegal by GMO buyers’ contracts. Monsanto won at least US$15.2 million from nearly 200 lawsuits against farmers and organizations, plus earnings from hundreds of private settlements. Several farmers complained that they either did not purchase Monsanto’s seeds at all, or did not save them. They say Monsanto’s allegations are based on faulty GMO detection tests or on unwanted GM contamination in their fields. Unwilling to challenge Monsanto in the expensive court system, some farmers choose to buy the company’s seeds each year just to prevent the company from targeting them.
 

Ten years after

Now, ten years after, the facts regarding GM-crops can be seen by daylight: The US government payments to farmers are up by $3 to $5 billion annually due to GM crops.  growers have only been kept afloat by the huge jump in subsidies. Buffer zones between fields have not been competent to protect non-GM, organic, or wild plants from GMOs. Genetic pollution caused by today’s GMOs could theoretically outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste. Economic impact of those companies that have invested and used GM foods and crops is a fact. „The recent evidence confirming that GM foods are dangerous to health,[1] is inspiring more and more physicians to prescribe non-GM diets to their patients.
 
 

Biotech promises come up short

US and canada lose big-time with gmos

When Canada became the only major producer to adopt GM canola in 1996, it led to a disaster there as well. The premium-paying EU market, which took about one-third of Canada’s canola exports in 1994 and one-fourth in ’95, stopped all imports from Canada by 1998. The GM canola was diverted to the low-priced Chinese market. Not only did Canadian canola prices fall to a record low,[10] Canada even lost their EU honey exports due to the GM pollen contamination. The Canadian NFU warns, "Closing markets and falling prices threaten to overwhelm any small, short-term economic benefits that GM crops or livestock may offer."[11]

Four major GM crops comprise 99.9% of GM acreage: soy, corn, cotton, and canola. All four have varieties  engineered to survive applications of specific herbicides. For example, if you spray Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide onto natural soybean plants, they die. But Monsanto’s patented "Roundup Ready" soybeans survive. About 71% of all GM crops in the world are herbicide tolerant. The sugar beets planned for 2008 are Roundup Ready. Cotton and corn have also been engineered to produce a pesticide - called Bt-toxin - in every cell. About 18% of GM plants are Bt crops. Another 11% are engineered with both of these traits.

GM papaya is different. Genes are inserted into its DNA so the plant resists a disease called the ring-spot virus. Hawaiian farmers, politicians, and scientists succumbed to the bad-idea virus and introduced the papaya in 1997 hoping it would "save the industry." Japan, which had been consuming 60% of Hawaii’s market, [12] shut its doors to the unwanted GM variety. The papaya price immediately dropped from $1.23 per kilo to just $ 0.89, and has since fallen below 80 cents—well under production costs. The islands have lost half of their papaya farmers[13] and 28% of papaya acreage.[14] According to a 2006 article in The Honolulu Advertiser, "Hawaii papaya production sank to a more than 25-year low last year despite record demand among US consumers for the tropical fruit."[15] Non-GM papaya, however, consistently sells for more than the GM variety. Although the GM papaya is still on the market, other failures in the US— GM tomatoes and potatoes—have been removed.

GM crops not only close markets and plunge prices, they force governments to shell out huge sums. According to Charles Benbrook, PhD, former executive director of the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Agriculture, the US government payments to farmers are up by $3 to $5 billion annually due to GM crops.[16] He says growers have only been kept afloat by the huge jump in subsidies.[17] Those farmers who stick with non-GM varieties are also penalized, as market prices drop across the board. If farmers want to keep their non-GM buyers, they typically have to spend more on GMO testing, buffer zones, and segregation systems including separate storage and shipping channels. Even then, they risk contamination and lost sales. Similarly, if GM sugar beets are introduced, even food manufacturers who use non-GM sugar may be penalized. For products exported to the EU, for example, their law stipulates that sugar derived from GM beets would have to be labeled as containing genetically modified ingredients. Given the current purchasing guidelines by European importers, any US export that contains sugar would not be accepted unless the manufacturer implements a costly traceability program to verify that no GM sugar beets were used.
 

GM farmers suffer

The average GM crop reduces yield. Even a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2006 report stated that "currently available GM crops do not increase the yield potential of a hybrid variety. . . . In fact, yield may even decrease if the varieties used to carry the herbicide tolerant or insect-resistant genes are not the highest yielding cultivars." [19] Most of the Bt corn in the US is designed to kill the European corn borer. According to the US National Academy of Sciences, [20] before Bt corn was available, only 5.2% of corn acreage was sprayed to protect against the corn borer. The reason, in part, was because the yield loss associated with the pest is only about 4%—not worth the cost of the pesticides. Further, insect infestation is intermittent, not consistent in every season. A much larger number of farmers, however, now use Bt corn as an insurance policy, just in case their area gets infested during the growing season. According to the USDA, "adoption of Bt corn had a negative impact on net returns among specialized corn farms." This was likely due to the fact that "the value of protections against the European corn borer was lower than" the higher costs paid for the Bt seed. The USDA "could not find positive financial impacts in either the field-level nor the whole-farm analysis" for adoption of Bt corn and Roundup Ready soybeans. They said, "Perhaps the biggest issue raised by these results is how to explain the rapid adoption of [GM] crops when farm financial impacts appear to be mixed or even negative."[21]
 

Herbicide tolerant crops lower yields and increase herbicide use

Unpredicted problems plague gm cotton

In Andhra Pradesh, India, because Bt cotton yields were down the first year by 52% and performance was unpredictable over the next two, non-Bt farmers earned 60% more over that time.[31] There was a long list of problems associated with the GM variety, including failure to germinate, drought damage, root-rot, leaf curl virus, brittle stems, increased pests, smaller bolls, increased labor requirements per acre, and a shorter harvest season.[32] The Maharashtra State Department of Agriculture also reported "the average boll weight" was less and "the staple length of the Bt cotton" was shorter, so that Bt cotton sold for "lower prices."[33] The Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister demanded that Monsanto pay recompense for farmers losses,[34] several Bt varieties were banned by state governments, and official reports showed massive losses. Monsanto nonetheless continues to claim that its Bt cotton is performing well. They commissioned their crop evaluation studies, however, using market research agencies, not scientists. One report, for example, claimed 4 times the actual reduction in pesticide use, 12 times the actual yield, and 100 times the actual profit.[35]

Angry, indebted Indian farmers held violent street protests, burned seed outlets, and even "tied up . . . Monsanto representatives in their villages," until the police rescued them.[36] Thousands of Bt cotton farmers also committed suicide—the rate in one region was one suicide every eight hours.
 

Contamination inevitable

But pollination is just one of several ways that contamination happens. There is also seed movement by weather and insects, crop mixing during harvest, transport, and storage, and very often, human error. The contamination in North America is so great, it is difficult for farmers to secure pure non-GM seed. In Canada, a study found 32 of 33 certified non-GM canola seeds were contaminated.[38] Most of the non-GM soy, corn, and canola seeds tested in the US also contained GMOs.[39]

Contamination can be very expensive. For example, StarLink corn—unapproved for human consumption—ended up the US food supply in 2000. More than 300 packaged food products were subject to recall and the total cost of the debacle was estimated at more than $1 billion. Numerous smaller scale contamination episodes hurt or ruin businesses every month.

Even escapes of experimental GM crops from small trials can devastate an industry. An unapproved GM rice variety, last field trialed in 2001, was discovered in US rice stocks in 2006. Within two days of the announcement, US rice futures dropped $150 million and the final price tag for industry is estimated at $1.2 billion.[40] In Thailand, even news that "some GM papayas were removed from the Khon Kaen research centre" caused a loss of the European market. A papaya grower said, "Importers cancelled orders and never asked for Thai papayas again."[41] Thefts from Hawaiian papaya trials also preceded commercialization there, where the GM variety eventually caused massive contamination. In one study, 50% of the organic and wild papayas tested were genetically engineered.

Contamination also occurs year to year in the same field. About 10% of canola seeds, for example, fall to the ground and are not harvested. They can germinate in subsequent years as "volunteer" crops. A UK study showed that if a farmer plants GM canola for one year and non-GM thereafter, unless he undertakes stringent control measures, his or her harvest will continue to have more than 1% GM contamination for about 16 years.[42]

If the farmer rotates from GM canola to another crop, he has another problem. GM canola is herbicide tolerant. Killing the volunteer crops may require using more toxic herbicides. In Canada, there are three herbicide tolerant varieties—two GM and one conventional. Due to cross pollination, studies have found canola that is resistant to all three types of herbicides. But it gets worse. Canola can cross pollinate with several weedy relatives such as wild mustard. Now these pollinated weeds have also developed resistance to weed killers and become "super weeds."

There is no technology to fully eradicate GM contamination from the environmental gene pool. Thus, the self-propagating genetic pollution caused by today’s GMOs could theoretically outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste.
 

GM free zones pop up around the world

When Monsanto pushed hard to introduce GM wheat, the North American wheat industry, which had witnessed the fall of the corn, soy, and canola markets, were up in arms. More than 80 percent of US and Canadian foreign wheat buyers said they didn’t want GM wheat and might shop elsewhere if it were introduced. An Iowa State University economist projected a loss of 30-50% of the US wheat exports and a drop in prices by about a third.[43] More than 200 groups, including the US and Canadian National Farmers Unions, the Canadian Wheat Board, and the American Corn Growers Association, lobbied against Monsanto. They wanted North America to be a GM-wheat-free-zone. Monsanto withdrew its application on May 10, 2004.

When Hawaii coffee growers realized that GM coffee might destroy its premium market, it successfully lobbied for the University of Hawaii not to develop any varieties.  Leaders in the rice, potato, flax, and sugar beet industries have also protected themselves by successfully blocking GM varieties. More then 4500 jurisdictions on Europe have created GM free resolutions or laws, and countries and regions in every continent similarly have growing restrictions or complete bans.

In Iowa State University a few years ago, a memo was circulated to faculty and staff encouraging them to promote to farmers the idea of selling according to what the market wants. But there was an added point. GMOs were specifically cited as the exception! The very pro-GMO "land grant" university, which receives funding from the biotech industry, wanted their staff to promote GMOs knowing that they have been overwhelmingly rejected by consumers, retailers, and food companies since introduced in 1994.[44] "The depth of market rejection," according to the Washington D.C. based Center for Food Safety, "is arguably unparalleled by any other consumer product."[45]

Dan McGuire, Program Director of the American Corn Growers Association says, "Even in the face of all these negative market signals, it appears that some in the US are willing to promote biotechnology no matter how negative the impact is on US exports and commodity prices. That arrogant strategy is turning out to be a ‘market development in reverse’ program." ACGA’s CEO adds, "An explanation is also owed our foreign customers on why the United States isn’t leading the effort to promote and sell the type of commodities and products they want and demand."[46]
 

Non-gmo tidal wave expected

Within weeks, that ideal future crashed. On February 16, the UK parliament invited GMO researcher Arpad Pusztai to testify, forcing his former employer to lift their gag order. When Pusztai started speaking about his controversial discoveries about the inherent health dangers of GMOs, the press erupted. By week’s end, they had written 159 "column feet" of text, which, according to one columnist, "divided society into two warring blocs."[47] By April 1999, overwhelming consumer resistance to GM foods compelled Unilever to publicly commit to remove ingredients from its European brands. Within a week, nearly all major food companies followed suit.

The same corporations that removed GMOs from their European lines continue to sell them in the US, where only 1 in 4 consumers believe they have ever eaten a GM food in their lives.[48] The fact that GMOs flourish in the United States because of consumer ignorance leaves the industry extremely vulnerable. If some campaign or event were to push this issue above the national radar screen causing sufficient consumer concern, US manufacturers would respond like their European counterparts. The tipping point does not require that a majority of shoppers reject GM foods. If even a small percentage started switching brands based on GMO content, major companies would respond. After all, the products don’t gain anything from using them. Their foods aren’t fresher, tastier, or healthier.

Any sympathetic media could begin this domino effect. Similarly, a mandate from a prominent religious leader, a popular film, a food scare, or some new research finding, could force a stampede away from GM ingredients.  Already, 29 percent of Americans are strongly opposed to GM foods and believe they are unsafe.[49] But even among the 28 million Americans who regularly buy organic (and therefore non-GMO) food,[50] many do not conscientiously avoid GM ingredients in their non-organic purchases; the products are not labeled. There is a campaign underway, however, that will both educate health-conscious shoppers about GM food dangers and provide clear non-GMO choices in the natural food stores where they shop. Moreover, the natural products manufacturers, who have been bitterly complaining about GMOs for a decade, are now united in an unprecedented initiative to remove all remaining GM ingredients from food products throughout their sector. On top of this, major websites and media channels have committed support by providing regular coverage of the health risks of GM foods. It is expected that millions of health conscious shoppers will soon make brand choices based on non-GMO content, which will force the rest of the food industry into a European-style rejection of GM ingredients.

A tipping point against one GM product has already started in the US. There is a massive industry-wide rejection of dairy products made from cows injected with Monsanto’s genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. Over the last year, major dairies, supermarkets, even Starbucks restaurants, have committed to stop using the controversial drug. Articles in the New York Times, Boston Globe and Reuters describe this as "an explosion in the industry," "a tipping point," and a "trend" that does not show "any signs of abating." The transformation was triggered by organizations educating consumers about the health risks of the drug—and many of the same organizations are now focused on GM food crops.

But even if the tipping point is not reached by the consumer education, legislation put forward by the next US president may have the same effect. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, and other democratic presidential candidates have all committed to implement what 90% of Americans have wanted for more than a decade—mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. When asked why they want GM foods labeled, most Americans say it is because they want to avoid GM them.Thus, once a date for mandatory labeling is set, major food companies will almost certainly eliminate GM ingredients from their products before then, to avoid the label.
 

Industry forced their dangerous agenda

In fact, after the White House told the FDA to promote the biotechnology industry, the agency created a new position for Monsanto’s former attorney Michael Taylor, who then oversaw the policy for GMOs. Released in May 1992 and still in force, FDA policy states, "The agency is not aware of any information showing that foods derived by these new methods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way." On the basis of this sentence, the FDA claimed that no safety studies are necessary; biotech companies thus determine on their own if their products are harmless. This set the stage for the rapid deployment of the new technology. The seed industry was consolidated, millions of acres were planted, hundreds of millions were fed, consumers and nations objected, laws were passed, crops were contaminated, billions of dollars were lost—and it turns out that sentence was a lie. The FDA was fully aware that GM crops were meaningfully different. That, in fact, was the overwhelming consensus among "the technical experts in the agency." They had repeatedly warned their superiors that GM foods might create unpredictable, hard-to-detect side effects including allergies, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems. They urged the political appointees to require long-term safety studies, including human studies. The scientists’ concerns were kept secret in 1992, but seven years later, internal records were made public due to a lawsuit and the deception came to light. But it was too late. GM crops were widespread (and Michael Taylor had been duly rewarded after leaving the FDA by becoming a Monsanto vice president.)

There has been almost no long-term animal feeding studies, no human clinical trials, and no monitoring of the population to see if GM crops have had the adverse effects described by the FDA scientists. But even among the few serious safety studies that have been conducted, and the reports from farmers around the world, evidence has emerged showing that the government scientists’ concerns were justified. GM products have been linked with thousands of toxic and allergic reactions, thousands of sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ and system studied in lab animals.[52]

While this evidence of harm has major implications for the health of the nation, it also carries aneconomic impact of those companies that have invested and used GM foods and crops. Physicians who have studied the subject are convinced that the dangers are real and are prescribing non-GMO diets to their patients. John H. Boyles, MD, an ear, nose, and throat, and allergy specialist, for example, says, "I used to test for soy allergies all the time, but now that soy is genetically engineered, it is so dangerous that I tell people never to eat it—unless it says organic," (which would mean non-GMO).

There is a lot of unknowns surrounding GM sugar beets. They might become the first Roundup Ready crop to offer consistently higher yields—or not. They might be the first to reduce herbicide use—or not. They might save farmers money and increase farmer profits, or they might not. But irrespective of their agronomic performance, they will thrust the sugar industry, and all manufacturers who use sugar, into the gathering storm of resistance to GM foods as well as all its unknowns for human health and the environment. It seems clear that the time is not right to introduce GM beets.
 

GM sugar

This precautionary approach has scientific merit; the risks of GM crops are not limited just to its DNA or the protein produced by the inserted gene. The process of creating a GM plant causes massive collateral damage in the DNA—approximately 2-4% of the DNA is different (mutated) compared to its parent. This can result in increased or new toxins, allergens, carcinogens, and anti-nutrients.

Even small amounts of contaminants can be quite dangerous. Consider the food supplement L-tryptophan, produced in the 1980’s by a Japanese company that used genetically engineered bacteria. The genetic engineering process was almost certainly the reason why the supplement contained 5 or 6 contaminants. They were tiny—0.1% to 0.01% of the total amount of product—but their effect huge. This brand killed about 100 Americans and caused 5,000-10,000 to become sick or permanently disabled.[53] It is important to note that the toxic tryptophan passed the US pharmaceutical standard for purity. The deadly contaminants were part of the acceptable level of impurity.

In addition, when a panel of top US allergists evaluated StarLink, the potentially allergenic GM corn that had illegally entered the food supply, the doctors concluded that no level of contamination would be considered safe. Allergens can trigger reactions at minute levels.

Finally, there are some endocrine disrupting substances that have effects in the parts per billion or trillion range. We cannot rule out the possibility that these disruptors are produced in GM crops, especially since some of the problems associated with GM feed (e.g. sterility, infant mortality and morbidity, gender-specific reactions) may be related to endocrine disruption.

Thus, in the case of sugar beets, the pulp used for animal feed, the molasses, and even the highly purified sugar, all contain levels of contamination that might harbor an unexpected byproduct of the GM process. It is quite unlikely that consumers will accept GM sugar if they are rejecting other GM products.

Although GMOs occupy only about 1.5% of total global crop land, the percentage of US soy, corn, and cotton farmers using GM seeds is quite high. The industry says this demonstrates that their crops perform better, but this argument is simplistic and misleading.

Biotech companies bought a large portion of the seed industry worldwide. They control the vast majority of the soy, corn, cotton, and canola seeds in North America. They not only offer incentives and quotas to their dealers for selling the GM varieties, many of the high performance non-GM varieties have been removed from the market. The US-based Center for Food Safety states that "for many farmers across the country, it has become difficult if not impossible to find high quality, conventional varieties of corn, soy, and cotton seed."[54] Charles Benbrook also confirms that "limited supplies of [popular] conventional crop seeds" has contributed to more GM seed sales. A2007 Friends of the Earth report concludes that since farmers are forced to  "buy GM in order to get higher quality seeds" the high GM adoption rates do not necessarily come from farmers’ interest in GM crops.[55] While Roundup Ready soybeans do not offer higher profits to farmers, the technology can reduce farm labor and give farmers "increased flexibility in the timing of herbicide applications"[56] This convenience is another reason for the high adoption.

Roundup Ready soybean fields are usually "cleaner," meaning less weeds. Because farmers take pride in cleaner fields, this attribute turns out to be a very significant psychological motivator for GMO adoption—especially when the neighbor has cleaner GM fields. In fact, "some landlords insist on clean fields,"[57] according to Mike Duffy, an Iowa State University economist.

Duffy says that landlord pressure and advertising likely contribute to the high use of herbicide tolerant soybeans. But he points out, "The primary beneficiaries of the first generation biotechnology products are most likely the seed companies that created the products. Additionally, in the case of herbicide tolerance, the companies that supply the tolerant herbicides also benefit from the development of the biotech crops."[58]

Some farmers admit that they use GM seeds because they fear Monsanto. "Thousands of US farmers have been investigated by Monsanto,"[59] for allegedly saving harvested GM seeds and replanting them in the next season—an age-old farm practice made illegal by GMO buyers’ contracts. Monsanto won at least US$15.2 million from nearly 200 lawsuits against farmers and organizations, plus earnings from hundreds of private settlements. Several farmers complained that they either did not purchase Monsanto’s seeds at all, or did not save them. They say Monsanto’s allegations are based on faulty GMO detection tests or on unwanted GM contamination in their fields. Unwilling to challenge Monsanto in the expensive court system, some farmers choose to buy the company’s seeds each year just to prevent the company from targeting them." **)

____________________________________
*)THIELE, M. (1999): The Influence of Genetically Engineered Crops. In: The Decline Of Honeybees And Other Pollinators. Apiacta 34, No. 3, 65-68, 1999.
GERRY, D. (1988): Bee Culture 126, No. 5, pp.27-30. Cited in: THIELE, M. (1999): The Influence of Genetically Engineered Crops. In: The Decline Of Honeybees And Other Pollinators. Apiacta 34, No. 3, 65-68, 1999.
POPPY,G. (1998): Transgenic Plants and Bees. Beginning of the End or a New Opportunity? Bee World, 79 N° 4, Cardiff/UK. Cited in: THIELE, M. (1999): The Influence of Genetically Engineered Crops. In: The Decline Of Honeybees And Other Pollinators. Apiacta 34, No. 3, 65-68, 1999.
**)Jeffrey M. Smith: Spilling the Beans, January 2008

[1]  See for example, Jeffrey M. Smith, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, Yes! Books, Fairfield, IA USA 2007, www.geneticroulette.com
[2] Claire Robinson, Biotech Investment Busy Going Nowhere, ISIS Press Release, July 13, 2004 http://www.i-sis.org.uk/BIBGN.php
[3]  Alan Boyd, Biotechnology: Breeding hurdles and hype, Asia Times, June 15, 2004, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/FF15Dj01.html
[4]  David P. Hamilton, "Biotech's Dismal Bottom Line: More Than $40 Billion in Losses: As Scientists Search for Cures, They Gobble Investor Cash; A Handful Hit the Jackpot - 'The Ultimate Roulette Game'", Wall Street Journal, 20 May 2004,  www.mindfully.org/GE/2004/Biotech-$40B-Losses20may04.htm,
[5]  Leslie Parrilla, Biotechnology grant trains workers, Associated Press, August 18, 2004, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-08-18-biotech-grant_x.htm
[6]  Chee Yoke Heong, Biotech investing a high-risk gamble, Asia Times, July 31, 2004, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Asian_Economy/FG31Dk01.html
[7]  NFU (2005a) GM Crops: Not Needed on the Island, - Recommendations of the National Farmers Union to the Prince Edward Island Legislature's Standing Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and the Environment,  www.nfu.ca/briefs/2005/PEI%20GMO%20BRIEF%20TWENTY%20SEVEN%20FINAL.pdf,  viewed 20/6/07.
[8]  Hugh Warwick and Gundala Meziani, Seeds of Doubt, UK Soil Association, September 2002
[9]  "Corn Growers Challenge Logic of Promoting Biotechnology in Foreign Markets" Press Release American Corn Growers Association June 5, 2001 http://www.biotech-info.net/foreign_markets.html
[10]  See note 7.
[11]  NFU (2000) NFU Policy on GM Foods, www.nfu.ca/policy/GM_FOOD_POLICY.misc.pdf, viewed 13/8/07.
[12]  Melanie Bondera, Hawaiian papaya: market loss and contamination, Bangkok Post, April 27, 2006, http://www.biothai.org/cgi-bin/content/news/show.pl?0206
[13]  Ibid.
[14]  Greenpeace, 2006a. The Failure of GE Papaya in Hawai.
[15]  The Honolulu Advertiser, 2006. Papaya Production Taking A Tumble.
[16]  See note 8.
[17]  Charles Benbrook, "Premium Paid for Bt Corn Seed Improves Corporate Finances While Eroding Grower Profits," Benbrook Consulting Services, Sandpoint, Idaho, February 2002
[18]  NFU (2007) Submission by the National Farmers Union on The Farm Income Crisis Business Risk Management, and The "Next Generation" Agricultural Policy Framework,  April 26th, 2007  www.nfu.ca/briefs/2007/NFU_Brief_to_Commons_Ag_Committee_on_the_Farm_Income_Crisi%5B1%5D..pdf, viewed 13/8/07.
[19]  Fernandez-Cornejo, J. & Caswell. April 2006. Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States. USDA/ERS Economic Information Bulletin n. 11. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib11/eib11.pdf
[20] "Genetically Modified Pest-Protected Plants: Science and Regulation," Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, 2000. http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9795.html.
[21]  Fernandez-Cornejo, J. and McBride, W., May 2002. Adoption of Bioengineered Crops. ERS USDA Agricultural Economic Report, p.24. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer810/
[22]  See for example, Charles Benbrook, Ag BioTech InfoNet Technical Paper Number 1, July 13, 1999, and Oplinger, E.S et al., 1999. Performance of Transgenetic Soyabeans, Northern US. http://www.biotech-info.net/soybean_performance.pdf
[23]  ABIOVE, 2006a. Sustainaibility in the Legal Amazon. Presentation by Carlo Lovatelli at the Second Roundtable on Responsible Soy. Paraguay, 1 September 2006.  http://www.abiove.com.br/english/palestras/abiove_pal_sustent_amazonialegal_us.pdf
[24]  Fulton, M. and Keyowski, L. "The Producer Benefits of Herbicide Resistant Canola." AgBioForum, Vol 2 No 2, 1999, as reported in Stone,S. Matysek, A. and Dolling, A. Modelling Possible Impacts of GM Crops on Australian Trade . Productivity Commission Staff Research Paper, October 2002, at 32.
[25]  Benbrook, C. (2004). "Genetically Engineered Crops and Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Nine Years," Charles Benbrook, Technical Paper No. 7, October 2004, available at: http://www.biotechinfo.net/technicalpaper7.html.
[26]  Personal communication with Charles Benbrook, whose estimates are based on USDA figures.
[27]  A. R. Myerson, "Seeds of discontent: cotton growers say strain cuts yields," New York Times Nov. 19, 1997; K. L. Edmisten, and A.C. York, "Concerns with Roundup Ready Cotton," North Carolina Cooperative Extensive Service, 1999.http://www.biotech-info.net/Cotton_agronomic_problems.html
[28 ] See for example, Huang J. et al., 2002. "Bt Cotton Benefits, Costs and Impacts in China" in AgBioforum, 5(4); Huang J. et al., September 2003. Bt Cotton Benefits, Costs and Impacts in China. IDS, Working Paper 202; and Zhang, B-H., Wang Q-L. August 2001. "Bt Cotton in China" in Current Science, vol. 81, n.4.
[29]  Wang, S., Pinstrup-Andersen, P., 22-26 July 2006. Tarnishing Silver Bullets: Bt Technology Adoption, Bounded Rationality And The Outbreak Of Secondary Pest Infestations In China. Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting Long Beach, CA.
[30]  US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 6 January 2005a. SEC Sues Monsanto Company for Paying a Bribe. Monsanto Settles Action and Agrees to Pay a $500,000 Penalty. Monsanto also enters into Deferred Prosecution Agreement with Department of Justice. Litigation Release No. 19023. http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr19023.htm
[31]  Qayum, A. and Sakkhari, K., 2004. Did Bt Cotton Fail Andhra Pradesh Again in 2003-2004? A Season Long Study (2003-2004) of the Performance of Bt Cotton in Andhra Pradesh, India. Deccan Development Society, AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity, Permaculture Association of India.
[32]  Abdul Qayum & Kiran Sakkhari. Did Bt Cotton Save Farmers in Warangal? A season long impact study of Bt Cotton - Kharif 2002 in Warangal District of Andhra Pradesh . AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity & Deccan Development Society, Hyderabad, 2003.
[33]  Maharashtra State Department of Agriculture, 2003. Performance of Bt Cotton Cultivation in Maharashtra. Report of State Department of Agriculture. http://envfor.nic.in/divisions/csurv/btcotton/srmh.pdf
[34]  The Economic Times, 9 January 2006a. Bt Cotton Co Invites AP Government’s Ire. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1363928,curpg-1.cms
[35]  See note 32.
[36]  Ibid.
[37]  Ramsay, G., Thompson, C. & Squire, G. (2004) Quantifying landscape-scale gene flow in oilseed rape, Scottish Crop Research Institute and the UK Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), October 2004, p. 4. www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/research/pdf/epg_rg0216.pdf, viewed 16/7/07.
[38]  Friesen, L., Nelson, A. & Van Acker, R. (2003) Evidence of Contamination of Pedigreed Canola (Brassica napus) Seedlots in Western Canada with Genetically Engineered Herbicide Resistance Traits," Agronomy Journal 95, 2003, pp. 1342-1347, cited in NFU (2005b).
[39]  Mellon, M & Rissler, J. (2004) Gone to Seed: Transgenic Contaminants in the Traditional Seed Supply, Union of Concerned Scientists, cited in NFU (2005b).
[40]  Neal Blue, "Risky Business: Economic and regulatory impacts from the unintended release of genetically engineered rice varieties into the rice merchandising system of the US," Independent report commissioned by Greenpeace International, November 6, 2007 http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/bayer-rice-scandal-could-cost
[41]  GM testing takes battle to the fields Rival camps in face-off over open-air trials Kamol Sukin The Nation, 9 September 2007 http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/09/headlines/headlines_30048276.php
[42]  Squire, G.R., Begg, G.S. & Askew, M (2003) The potential for oilseed rape feral (volunteer) weeds to cause impurities in later oilseed rape crops, Final report of the DEFRA project: Consequences for Agriculture of the Introduction of Genetically Modified Crops, RG0114. Available at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/research/pdf/epg_rg0114.pdf, viewed 24/6/05
[43]  www.worc.org/pdfs/wisnersummary-05-05.pdf
[44]  For a good overview of rejection of GE crops at all levels of the food supply chain, see: "Monsanto & Genetic Engineering: Risks for Investors," Innovest Strategic Value Adisors, Jan. 2005, www.innovestgroup.com/pdfs/2005-01-01_Monsanto_GeneticEngineering.pdf
[45]  Market Rejection of Genetically Engineered Foods, Center for Food Safety, August 2006, www.centerforfoodsafety.org/pubs/Market%20rejection%20fact%20sheet%20Aug%202006.pdf
[46]  "Corn Growers Challenge Logic of Promoting Biotechnology in Foreign Markets, American Corn Growers Association, Press Release, June 5, 2001, http://www.biotech-info.net/foreign_markets.html
[47]  Ziauddin Sardar, "Loss of Innocence: Genetically Modified Food," New Statesman (UK) 129, no. 4425 (February 26, 1999): 47.
[48]  Public Sentiment About Genetically Modified Food (2006 update). The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, December 2006, http://pewagbiotech.org/polls/
[49] Public Sentiment About Genetically Modified Food (2006 update). The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, December 2006, http://pewagbiotech.org/polls/
[50] "Hot New Consumer and Retail Trends," The Natural Marketing Institute, Presented at Expo West, March 24, 2006.
[51]  Kurt Eichenwald and others, "Biotechnology Food: From the Lab to a Debacle," New York Times, January 25, 2001
[52]  Jeffrey M. Smith, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, Yes! Books, Fairfield, IA USA 2007, www.geneticroulette.com
[53]  See for example, Jeffrey M. Smith, Seeds of Deception, Chapter 4, Yes! Books, Fairfield, Iowa, 2003; and William Crist, "Toxic L-tryptophan: Shedding Light on a Mysterious Epidemic,"
http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/L-tryptophan/index.cfm
[54]  The Center for Food Safety, 2005. Monsanto vs. US farmers. http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
[55]  "who benefits from gm crops? an analysis of the global performance of gm crops (1996-2006)," Friends of the Earth International, 2007
[56]  Ibid.
[57]  Duffy, M., 2001. Who Benefits from Biotechnology? Presented at the American Seed Trade Association meeting, December 5 -7, 2001, Chicago, Illinois. http://www.mindfully.org/GE/GE3/Who-Benefits-From-Biotech.htm
[58] Ibid.
[59] See note 54.