MADGE digest: GM free guide gives Vegemite the thumbs down…

Posted on 16 March 2011. Tags: , , , , , , ,

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This edition of the MADGE Digest talks about a bee invasion in Queensland, GM Free Food Guide for Kids, Patent Law and what it means and a round up! Read on…

1) Bees need you

The Asian bee is invading Queensland. When it appeared in the Solomon Islands it reduced the number of honey bee hives from 2000 to 5. The Asian bee can outcompete and destroy both Australian native and honey bee hives. This will endanger crop production and shrubs, flowers and trees that rely on bee pollination. The program to eradicate the Asian bee (costing $10 million) has been scrapped.

Please email Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig asking for this decision to be reversed.

This beautiful trailer of the film “Queen of the Sun” shows us how important bees are and how we are part of an intricate web of life.

If you’d like your own honey why not join this group in Melbourne who will share the honey produced by a hive on your roof?

Do nothing while still bee-ing productive!

2) MADGE adventures in: Carlton, Canada, and find out what we’ll be up to in Perth

Carlton:

Jessica Harrison and Madeleine Love from MADGE debated the motion “GM crops are good for us” with David Tribe and David Mc Mullen in The Monthly Argument in the Dan O’Connell pub in Carlton. Watch it here and let us know what you think.

Canada:

MADGE’s Fran Murrell went to Canada for the Canadian Organic Growers Conference in Toronto. She did a web interview that also featured other speakers from the conference: Bob Garthson (farmer) Lucy Sharratt (Canadian Biotechnology Action Network) and Bill Freese (Center for Food Safety)

It was an inspiring conference. Silver Donald Cameron told how Bhutan, a tiny Buddhist country in Asia, is devoted to increasing its population’s happiness. They are doing this by using four pillars: Environmental conservation, cultural promotion, sustainable and equitable development and good governance. In some ways the latter is the most important.

Another session had Dr Cecil Forsberg, the developer of Enviropig. This pig has been genetically engineered to have reduced phosphorus in its manure. Farmer Sean McGiven was also on the panel and he explained feeding a phytase supplement to pigs can have the same effect. It costs less than 25cents a hog. Therefore the genetic engineering of the pig is unnecessary. Watch him on this video.

The industrial farming of pigs is raising issues of human and animal welfare worldwide. This British documentary shows how Smithfield, a US factory farm, has moved into Poland creating pollution and illness for people and animals. The local economy has been destroyed and Smithfield remains only because of subsidies, weak regulation and political inaction.

The Canadian Organic Growers conference had many other excellent speakers including:

  • Bill Freese – from Centre for Food Safety in the US is working to stop the release of GM alfalfa
  • Michelle Brill-Edwards worked for Health Canada. She realised that some drugs were being fast tracked through the regulation process even though some had lethal side effects. She raised the alarm and her director was sacked. Then she was sacked and her director re-instated. She was inspiring in her integrity and dedication to the public interest. She received a standing ovation. Hear her explain how regulation has become a rubber stamp rather than rigorous protection for the public.
  • Susan Rubin – a dentist who became an “angry mum” over children’s food. Her blog explains how to get Better School Food.
  • Susan Smith – is creatively involved in the survival of Sunnivue Farm.
  • Michael O’Callaghan the founder of GM-free Ireland

It was incredibly exciting and invigorating to realise how many amazing people are working for a healthy, thriving and joyful food system and world.

Perth:

MADGE will be in Perth in mid-March. WA is where organic farmer, Steve Marsh, has lost certification over 70% of his farm due to contamination by his GM canola growing neighbour. This case is attracting international attention as contamination is a global issue. You can support him via this site

There are many events that we’d love to see you at including:

Tuesday 15th March 7.30-9pm Public Meeting- GM free crops and foods: the future. Williams Resource Centre, Brooking St, Williams: Speakers: Bob Phelps, (Gene Ethics), Steve Marsh – (organic farmer), Jessica Harrison (GM cropwatch) Jochen Koester via live web link (AgroTrace trader in Geneva), Shirley Collins (MADGE) and a special briefing on GM wheat.

Monday 21st March 7-9pm Farm Alert Forum, The Grove Community Centre, 1 Leake St, Peppermint Grove, Perth (350 m from Cottesloe Station). Discussion and Q and A. Panel includes: Josh Byrne, (environmental scientist), Steve Marsh (farmer), Dr George Crisp, (Doctors for the Environment), Hon Lynn MacLaren (Green), Mick Murray (Shadow Agriculture Minister), Fran Murrell (MADGE) and Julie Newman (Network of Concerned Farmers). Bob Phelps (Gene Ethics) will facilitate.

Stand Up to Monsanto! Saturday the 16th of April. 7pm tp Midnight, fly by night, Freemantle. A benefit concert for organic farmer Steve Marsh.

GM-free refreshments More info and RSVP Maggie T: 0412 836 777 E: mlilith@iprimus.com.au. Hosted by the GM-free Australia Alliance.

3) GM free food guide for kids, cloned animals, and pesticide promoting GM crops in pipeline

The Red Wiggle launched Greenpeace’s GM free guide for kids’ food.

Get your copy here.

Bakers Delight, Vegemite and Freddo Frogs are in the Red (May contain GM) section. Fortunately Kelloggs has decided to remove GM derived ingredients from their products. Companies respond to their customers, let them know what you think of GM ingredients.

Radio National’s talk back programme “Australia Talks” discussed the guide and GM crops. Greenpeace’s Laura Kelly was wonderful. There is also a lively discussion happening on the comments page. It is amazing how hard the biotech/food industry is resisting GM labelling.

MADGE Madeleine Love tweeted our food regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) on 18th Feb:

“Are there any offspring from cloned animals in Aus/NZ food supply? If so, are their products (eg milk/meat) labelled?”

Their reply shows FSANZ does not know whether we are eating the offspring of clones. FSANZ doesn’t think labels are necessary as they have decided that clone offspring were “no regulatory problem”. Cloning is a very unsuccessful technology. In New Zealand AgResearch has ended cloning as 90% of the animals did not survive the trials. “(C)hronic arthritis, pneumonia, lameness and blood poisoning among the causes of cattle, sheep and goat deaths.”

GM crops are also failures. The main GM traits are:

  • Insect resistance, where the plant produces pesticide to kill certain insects. The toxins can’t be washed off the food, they are bred into every cell;
  • Or herbicide tolerant, this means plants can be sprayed with weedkiller and the crop doesn’t die but the weeds do.

Many GM crops are designed to be sprayed with Roundup. Farmers have to continually increase the amount of Roundup used. It is causing birth defects in South America as this German TV report shows.

Repeated spraying of Roundup has made weeds immune to this poison and created superweeds. This news report from the US shows weeds that break farm machinery, meaning crops need to be hand harvested and livelihoods are destroyed.

To overcome the failure of Roundup Ready crops (glyphosate) GM crops tolerant to 2-4-D have been developed. This herbicide was an ingredient in Agent Orange, the defoliant sprayed on the jungles of Vietnam.

FSANZ currently has two applications for crops able to be sprayed with 2-4-D and not die:

  1. Dow AgroSciences Australia’s GM corn DAS-40278-9, Application no A1042: The accompanying safety assessment document (p20) explains how 5 male and 5 female mice were fed two doses of the AAD-1 protein one hour apart. They were observed for 14 days and then killed. One male mouse had signs of a stomach ulcer, one female mouse had dark patch on brain. This study does not appear to have been published or peer reviewed anywhere. Full application here: Opportunity to comment on this corn closed in February.
  2. Dow AgroSciences Australia’s GM soy DAS-68416-4, resistant to 2-4-D and glufosinate, Application no A1046: Page 27 of the report – 10 mice were given two doses of the AAD-12 protein, derived from bacteria, one hour apart. The AAD-12 protein is what the developers hope the GM soy is producing. They were observed for 14 days and then killed. A cyst was found in the kidney of one mouse. This study does not appear to have been published or peer reviewed (assuming as it says unpublished also un peer reviewed). Full details of application here. You can comment on this GM soy application until 28th March. Send submissions to: standards.management@foodstandards.gov.au.

This “solution” to Roundup (glyphosate) resistant weeds has already failed as 2-4-D resistant weeds already exist (see 4th line Synthetic Auxins).

The biotech industry continually greenwashes GM as being environmentally friendly and able to feed the world. In fact GM is a pesticide treadmill where ever more toxic chemicals are designed to be sprayed on the food we eat.

If we refuse to buy GM we can stop it being grown. Use the Greenpeace True Food Guide and contact your food suppliers over their GM policies.

4) Patent law – who owns you and will common plants be made illegal?

Patent law seems to be a dry, dusty area that can safely be ignored. In fact it is where the biotech companies gain control.

Senator Bill Heffernan instigated a Senate Inquiry into Gene Patenting in 2008. He did this because breast cancer genes BRCA 1and 2 had been patented by US company Myriad Genetics. They were attempting to enforce their patent meaning doctors wanting diagnostic tests and researchers into these genes would have to pay Myriad Genetics to do this.

The Senate Inquiry reported in November 2010.

The Report’s outcome was favourable in that the Committee “strongly rejected” the rationale which IP Australia had used to support the grant of gene patents. This was a most significant outcome.

Senators Coonan, Heffernan, Siewert and Xenophon have introduced a bill for an act to amend the Patents Act 1990.

It’s purpose is to “prevent the patenting of human genes and biological materials existing in nature, and for related purposes”. However the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) wants to redefine “invention” to make it easier to patent biological material s.18(1)(a).(Recommendation 4 page 13.) ACIP are presented as “an independent body appointed by the Australian Government to provide advice to the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and to IP Australia on matters of intellectual property policy and administration.” In fact out of this list of 12 members only Professor Brian Fitzgerald can be regarded as independent. All the others have business or other interests that involve patents.

Does it matter? The biotech firms are teaming up with the oil and nuclear industries to patent synthetic life forms. It sounds ridiculous but who would have thought breast cancer genes could be patented? ETC have done an excellent report on why companies have decided not to manufacture products but instead patent living organisms so they can sell them to us.

Meanwhile the Federal Attorney General wants to expand the list of federally prohibited plants from 5 to possibly thousands. They would include Angel’s trumpets, many cacti and wattles. The supposed reason is they can potentially be used as drugs. Once again it sounds ridiculous. Listen to the Radio National “Australia Talks” program on the subject.

If your head is spinning from all this take two minutes to watch this film about the predatory form of capitalism that is behind this kind of behaviour.

It seems patent laws may be used for companies to control life rather than develop products and that growing ordinary plants may make us criminals. It is time for ordinary people to put a stop to this:

5) Monsanto, GM alfalfa, fall-guy farmers and the waking public

Monsanto’s GM alfalfa appears to have been approved because of Monsanto’s influence over the regulators.

  • Monsanto officials and the US regulators (USDA) emailed each other edits to a list of the USDA’s questions about Monsanto’s original petition on GM alfalfa.
  • USDA regulator accepted Monsanto’s help with drafting the initial environmental assessment (EA) of the alfalfa
  • USDA regulator planned to “cut and paste” parts of Monsanto’s revised petition right into the government’s assessment
  • The regulator cited out of date studies (1990’s) on Roundup resistance in weeds

The 200,000 people that submitted letters highly critical of GM alfalfa were ignored.

Interestingly Monsanto has shifted all liability for its GM crops to the farmers that grow them.

“Monsanto’s Technology Stewardship Agreement shifts responsibility to growers for any and all losses, injury or damages resulting from the use of Monsanto seeds. There is no expiration date on the contract.”

Maybe they have done this as the damages caused by these crops could be immense. For example a farmer in Nebraska grew a test plot of GM corn “genetically modified to produce proteins containing powerful drugs for treatment of diarrhea in pigs”.

This year the farmer grew soy in the field. It was harvested and went off to the local silo. Inspectors at the test plot found GM corn growing and so a warehouse containing 500,000 bushels of soy was locked down due to contamination. This comes two months after 155 acres of corn in Iowa was burnt as pharmaceutical producing biotech plants had contaminated conventional corn crops. The public is beginning to realise that we have to act to protect our food:

Can it work?

The last couple of months have shown the power of ordinary people to defend their rights. In addition to the upheavals in the Middle East and Africa, people in the UK and US are challenging the status quo.

  • UK Uncut- twelve people in a pub outraged by corporations not paying their taxes targeted Vodaphone. Vodophone was let off 6 billion pounds of tax debt by the government which is imposing savage cuts due to lack of money. Their actions have encouraged people all over the UK to organise their own events.
  • The idea spread to the US. The Bank of America paid no tax in the 2009-10 year and so protestors closed down the Washington DC branch on 26th Feb.

Corporate greed and injustice is plainly visible, growing and undermining the basis of life. The only check on it is an active public. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke)

6) Wonderful food, farmers and future – it’s so bright you’ll have to wear shades!.

There is no need to be gloomy – so much fantastic stuff is happening:

7) Events, actions, films and ideas to ponder

Mining is rapidly eating into the rural and farming areas of Australia:

Shock jocks are trying to convince us that a price on carbon will wreck our lives. Is this more about the mining industry trying to avoid real competition with renewable energy? Get up is organising a rally outside Julia Gillard’s office in Melbourne on Saturday 12th March. Treasury Place, at 11am.

Councils:

City of Yarra’s foodgardens/foodtrees(formerly called ‘guerilla gardens’) are now recognised for their value in re-connecting local foodgrowing skills, building friendships, playing an important role in local food security and more… Guidelines for Urban Agriculture have been developed for comment. Make your views known if you live in Yarra or get your council to develop their own if you don’t.

Thanks to the work of “GM Free Nillumbik” group, Nillumbik could soon be declared a GM free zone and genetically modified food could be banned from Nillumbik council services.

Interesting films and talks:

  • The Inside Job – on how the global economy is being run for the profit of a few – in cinemas now
  • Two minute film on “How the world works“
  • The Vegetarian Myth. A very thought provoking interview by the author of the book. 36 minutes in Author, Lierre Keith says the US used to have 60 million bison on self-sustaining prairie. Now they have 40 million sick cows fed corn, wheat and soy. “Less food and the whole place has been trashed”.
  • The Majestic Plastic Bag – wonderful 4 minute mockumentary

On the home front:

  • Struggling to afford to feed your family organic GM dairy products? Green Living Australia and CheeseLinks both have beginners cheesemaking kits and courses. You can reduce your ongoing spending on dairy products like yogurt and cheese by making your own from a guaranteed GM free milk supply. This is an affordable way to feed your family and support organic dairy milk producers.
  • Jamie Oliver’s new website promoting his latest book ‘30 minute meals‘ has lots of tips and videos – a good resource for working time-poor people to manage wholesome home cooked meals each night of the week.

Happy Eating
Love
MADGE

MADGE Australia Inc
PO BOX 10,
287 Brunswick Street,
Fitzroy VIC 3065

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Rebecca is our webmaster and fellow writer who loves all things green – especially architecture and scuba diving! Protecting Australia's precious coral reefs is a passion of hers!

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