Title: Genetically modified crops discused on Radio National, Canberra
[Bush Telegraph 19 Nov 2010] -- Compere Michael Cathcart discusses the issue of genetically modified crops. He explains that Monsanto owns a majority of the world's genetically-engineered seeds. He says GM advocates claim GM crops will yield higher yields and better food security, but GM critics are concerned about one company controlling so much of our food production. He interviews Marie-Monique Robin, author, The World According to Monsanto, who says her investigative work started with Monsanto denying the toxicity of the PCB chemicals produced at its US factory in Anniston which ended up contaminating the city, where the company was ultimately fined and forced to clean up its act. She says her book has now been published in 16 languages and yet Monsanto has still not sued her. Cathcart plays an extract from Robin's documentary on food security and an interview with Vandana Shiva, Indian environmentalist, who claims food control is the best way to control the world's population. Robin says there are still no studies on whether GMOs are harmful to the environment where the US Food and Drug Administration says that GMOs do not need to be tested. She says she has since discovered that the man behind this official FDA view was former Monsanto lawyer Michael Taylor. She explains how the total herbicide Roundup Ready works, claiming it kills all types of plants, and where Monsanto has been convicted twice for misleading advertisements wrongly claiming the product is bio-degradable. She says 10 studies show it can induce the first steps to cancer, where it is an endocrine disruptor, and a 'very, very toxic product'. She says the only reason why Monsanto works with GMOs is because 'they want to get plants in order to sell more herbicides'. She says a second category of GMOs are plants manipulated to produce a toxin which is an insecticide. Cathcart says many Austn cotton producers now use genetically modified Bt cotton which requires less pesticide. Robin says this is only a short term view, as what eventually happens, as has been shown in other countries, is that the weeds Roundup is supposed to kill become resistant. She argues that GM crops will eventually result in big farms for big producers and greater contamination - a situation that is contrary to real food security. She says that scientific studies show the yield from GM crops is less than from conventional plants.
Interviewee
Marie-Monique Robin, author, The World According to Monsanto,
Interviewee
Vandana Shiva, Indian environmentalist - excerpt
Article: WeedsNews1330 (permalink) Categories: :WeedsNews:agricultural weed, :WeedsNews:herbicide resistance, :WeedsNews:herbicides, :WeedsNews:genetics Date: 22 November 2010; 10:36:12 AM AEDT