Monsanto's RoundUp is Now Banned in El Salvador

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From a press release by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources:

With 45 votes in favor, members of the FMLN, Unidos por El salvador and GANA approved the amendment of a Law on the control of pesticides, fertilizers and products for agricultural use, which allows the prohibition of 53 chemicals in El Salvador.

Related: Join the March Against Monsanto on 10/12/13: http://bit.ly/14RN9EV

Among the list of the 53 chemicals are Paraquat, Glyphosate and Endosulfan, which caused controversy among right-wing deputies. Deputy Mario Ponce, of the Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) party, opposed these substances being on the list, however, he did not have the support of other MPs.

Nery Diaz, deputy of the Frente Farabundo Martí party (FMLN) defended the opinion on the grounds that paraquat is related to an increase in renal diseases.

According to the president of the Association of Coffee Producers (ABECAFE), Carlos Borgonovo, the congressional initiative threatens the quality and quantity of the grain harvest. “At the moment there is no substitute, we would have to order in from an international laboratory,” said Borgonovo referring to the chemical endosulfan. This product is used for controlling the coffee berry borer pest.

In relation to herbicides, both Borgonovo as well as Marcelino Samayoa, director of ABECAFE agree that you cannot depend on labor dedicated to removing weeds. While these chemicals are applied twice a year, removing weeds with a machete requires twice as much effort.

For its part, the National Executive Council (COENA) asked President Mauricio Funes to study the decree banning the use of these 53 pesticides and fertilizers because they are working against the country’s agricultural sector.

“The call is for there to be a lot of research carried out and that prior to sanctioning, vetoing or monitoring them, there be observations of the impact that it will have in the medium and long term, not only in relation to the issue of food security, but also in relation to economics” said Ricardo Esmahán, COENA member.


Sources: http://en.centralamericadata.com/

 www.realfarmacy.com

Company Produces Cancer Causing Herbicide, Sells Drug to Treat Same Cancer

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According to recent research, the chemical herbicide atrazine has been shown to cause breast cancer in lab animals:

http://www.inspirationgreen.com/

"several studies found either a higher number or earlier appearance of mammary gland(breast) tumors in the female rats fed a moderate to high level of atrazine over long periods of time. These rat studies suggest that atrazine could be a possible breast cancer causing agent."(Source: Cornell University)

Atrazine is the second most used herbicide in the US. It is estimated that at least 70 percent of the US population is exposed to it on a daily basis since it's the most common chemical pollutant in drinking water.

Femara(letrizole) is popular treatment for breast cancer in women. The drug is produced by Novartis Pharmaceutical company and acts as an aromatase blocker which helps stop tumor growth in patients suffering from breast cancer. By blocking aromatase in the body, Femara is able to stop cancer growth. The herbicide atrazine is known to cause increased levels of aromatase which is one cause of breast cancer.

Here's the problem. According to the Journal Star:

"Syngenta was formed by the merger of Novartis and Astra Zeneca, while the manufacturer of the drug Femara or letrozole, a leading breast cancer medication, is Novartis Pharmaceuticals"

You read that right. The same company that produces this breast cancer causing herbicide has a subsidiary of it's company that also sells the medicine to "fix" the problems being caused by their own product. So do you consider this a conflict of interest, a genius business plan which will create customers forever, or a sinister and inhumane plot to capitalize on our health? Let us know in the comments below.

Here are some petitions to stop the use of atrazine: www.inspirationgreen.com.

5 Million Farmers Sue Monsanto for 7.7 Billion

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Launching a lawsuit against the very company that is responsible for a farmer suicide every 30 minutes, 5 million farmers are now suing Monsanto for as much as 6.2 billion euros (around 7.7 billion US dollars). The reason? As with many other cases, such as the ones that led certain farming regions to be known as the ‘suicide belt’, Monsanto has been reportedly taxing the farmers to financial shambles with ridiculous royalty charges. The farmers state that Monsanto has been unfairly gathering exorbitant profits each year on a global scale from “renewal” seed harvests, which are crops planted using seed from the previous year’s harvest.

The practice of using renewal seeds dates back to ancient times, but Monsanto seeks to collect massive royalties and put an end to the practice. Why? Because Monsanto owns the very patent to the genetically modified seed, and is charging the farmers not only for the original crops, but the later harvests as well. Eventually, the royalties compound and many farmers begin to struggle with even keeping their farm afloat. It is for this reason that India slammed Monsanto with groundbreaking ‘biopiracy’ charges in an effort to stop Monsanto from ‘patenting life’.

Jane Berwanger, a lawyer for the farmers who went on record regarding the case,
told the Associated Press:

“Monsanto gets paid when it sell the seeds. The law gives producers the right to multiply the seeds they buy and nowhere in the world is there a requirement to pay (again). Producers are in effect paying a private tax on production.”

The findings echo what thousands of farmers have experienced in particularly poor nations, where many of the farmers are unable to stand up to Monsanto. Back in 2008, the Daily Mail covered what is known as the ‘GM Genocide’, which is responsible for taking the lives of over 17,683 Indian farmers in 2009 alone. After finding that their harvests were failing and they started to enter economic turmoil, the farmers began ending their own lives — oftentimes drinking the very same insecticide that Monsanto provided them with.
As the information continues to surface on Monsanto’s crimes, further lawsuits will begin to take effect. After it was ousted in January that Monsanto was running illegal 'slave-like' working rings, more individuals became aware of just how seriously Monsanto seems to disregard their workers — so why would they care for the health of their consumers? In April, another group of farmers sued Monsanto for ‘knowingly poisoning’ workers and causing ‘devastating birth defects’.

Will endless lawsuits from millions of seriously affected individuals be the end of Monsanto?

Do your part to end the madness and join a March Against Monsanto near you on 10/12/13

Source: Raw For Beauty

Natural Society

Monsanto Pays Farmers to Spray GM Crops With RoundUp

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Proving that nothing is out of bounds in the pursuit of food hegemony, Monsanto alters the free market itself by paying customers to use their products. Farmers are paid up to $20 per acre to plant Monsanto’s RoundUp Ready GM corn, as long as they spray it with a blend of RoundUp and herbicides from other companies.

The story behind this bizarre twisting of the free market starts with Monsanto’s genetically-engineered corn that was made to survive Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide, RoundUp. Actually, the story began billions of years ago with basic evolutionary functions. As a population of life forms is attacked repeatedly, individuals will begin to evolve defense mechanisms against that mode of attack. These individuals survive (the fittest) and pass the defense mechanisms along to their progeny.

In this case the predator was Monsanto’s chemicals and the prey was agricultural weeds. Some of the target weeds, such as pigweed, developed resistance to RoundUp in a matter of years. These “superweeds” are now a major problem for an agricultural system that has become dependent on chemical poisons.

Facing this reality, Monsanto keeps its product in use by actually paying farmers to use other herbicides from other manufacturers in conjunction with its own. While this is going on, it is developing other genetically-engineered crops that can withstand even more toxic herbicides than glyphosate.

Interestingly, when Monsanto was pushing to have its GM corn seed approved for commercial sale in 1993, it stated that RoundUp is “considered to be a herbicide with low risk for weed resistance” and it was “highly unlikely” that resistant weeds would emerge. Apparently this was good enough for the USDA. Besides calling into question the validity of the USDA approval process, this calamity casts a great deal of doubt on Monsanto’s ability or truthfulness of their own research.

However, this likelihood of weed resistance was in fact known among scientists involved in agricultural issues. In 1990 the Union of Concerned Scientists published a report called “Biotechnology’s Bitter Harvest” where they explicitly warned of the development of herbicide-resistance.

This free market manipulation—Monsanto paying farmers to use its product—can only be carried out by a corporation with huge economic might and a near monopoly, in tandem with government protection in the form of patents on life.

by Justin Gardener
Source: RealFarmacy.com