ISAAA claim that 10% of arable land is now GM dedicated

By JLBane

Last year the amount of farmland dedicated to GMO crops escalated to roughly 10% of the planet’s agricultural surface area.

According to the the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) the EU remains largely opposed to growing GM foods, countries like Brazil have had a sizeable growth in GM use; most of which were engineered to resist disease and tolerate herbicides.

ISAAA draws some of it’s funding from the GMO industry and they claim that biotechnology is the best way towards sustainability. Now of course, they’re funded by the people that want to push their mutant seeds into the biggest possible arena so they’re bound to say that GM crops are the future of sustainability.

That connection to an industry which bastardises nature, pollutes the earth with its pesticides, poisons humans with its vile creations and extorts farmers into complicity completely invalidates any statement they make regarding food production.

Their report states that more than a billion hectares have been given over to GM crop growth since they were first introduced in 1996 and that more that 15 million farmers are now growing mutant plants.

Well what’s wrong with GM crops?

Francornstein

The world’s biggest seed/agrochemical company, Monsanto, told the New York Times that assuring the safety of food was not their job but the job of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). The FDA asked Monsanto for a report on a growth hormone and this was carried out by Monsanto employee Margaret Miller. After the report was finished Miller then went to work for the FDA and her first job was to approve the report that she had written for Monsanto. (Source; Organic Consumers Association of America)

Aside from the obvious fact that GM seeds are a man-made aberration of nature, the companies that produce them do so because they have been producing destructive pesticides and herbicides for decades and as their ‘weed and pest killers’ have become stronger, natural plants have become less resistant to them.

Monsanto were the first corporation to obtain a patent on a seed and since then have accumulated masses on different ‘modified’ plants.

The plants are capable of withstanding the otherwise damaging pesticides, but should a farmer be found to have their seeds on his land without a license (for which farmers have to pay ridiculous money) then his/her farm will face fierce legal action for patent infringement.

Franken-Monsanto-stein also produce a growth hormone for dairy cows which produces more milk than normal but has been linked to various cancers in humans and the animals injected with it.

Those dairy cows are forced to live a miserable, short-lived existence in a pen which allows them no room for movement and are bulked up so they can barely stand. They live on average four years at most whereas grazing cows will live 12-14 years.

They have also received a patent in Germany on a pig breeding process which they claim with yield more meat from animals grown using their ‘special’ technique. Protesters have lobbied government to revoke the patent as they are concerned that Monsanto will try to use it against all pig breeders and control breeding rights.

The bottom line is that patenting on ALL life forms needs to be revoked and dismissed completely. Nobody should hold ownership of a type of plant or animal; and with Monsanto also looking to clone human organs for transplantation – human life.

“Biotech crops are here to stay”

ISAAA’s founder and chairman, Clive James said, “We can recount a momentous year of progress in biotech crop adoption.”

“During 2010, the accumulated commercial biotech plantation exceeded one billion hectares – that’s an area larger than the US or China.

“And biotech crops registered double-digit growth over 2009, bringing the total global plantings to 148 million hectares. Biotech crops are here to stay.”

Despite that looking like a huge area on paper it is still only 10% of all available arable land in the world which means that James’ comment is way off the mark. He is spinning his opinion to make us believe that it’s true, but it couldn’t be any further from it.

However, critics point out that this is still just 10% of the world’s arable land area as defined by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Around half the global GM production is based in the US but third world and developing countries are catching up quickly, mainly due to misleading tactics employed by companies like Monsanto. India has seen an alarming rate in farmer suicides due to poverty after falling heavily into debt with GM seed companies.

Against GMO

Greenpeace have presented the European Commission with a petition containing more than one million signatures, demanding that the executive stop approving new GM varieties.

“Today’s European data shows that GM crops are failing in the field and on the market; farmers and consumers are not falling for biotech industry propaganda,” said Greenpeace EU agriculture policy adviser Stefanie Hundsdorfer.

“GM crops are not more productive and are less resistant to extreme climate conditions than normal crops. They do however present a serious risk for our environment.”

Please share your thoughts on the GMO industry or any other points raised in this article by leaving a comment.

Read about the s510 bill which puts organic farmers’ businesses under increasing pressure, NAWAPA’s plan to irrigate Texas with Alaskan water, and how the organic raw vegan lifestyle can help combat companies like Monsanto.

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