Bipartisan Agriculture-- Both Parties Endangering Consumers On Behalf Of Agri-Business

Congress, particularly the graft-oriented House Agriculture Committee, has steered U.S. food policies in the interests of fat-cat donors from Agri-Business and in ways diametrically against the well-being of consumers. For decades both parties have been working furiously against their own constituents. This might be expected of Republicans-- it's part of their religion-- but conservative Blue Dogs have been ceded food policies within the Democratic Party and they're not better than Republicans. But even Democratic presidents, Obama being no exception, have turned agriculture policy over to the worst conservative elements within the party. The current Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, for example was head of the corrupt, corporately-financed DLC. So it was probably no surprise to anyone early this year when he refused to take the side of consumers over his old pals at Monsanto, one of the most dangerous companies on the face of the earth.

Last we checked in with Vilsack selling us down the road to Monsanto, we came to the conclusion that he was no different from his 3 Republican predecessors, Ann Veneman, Mike Johanns and Ed Schafer, and that biotech was in all ways triumphant in the march towards turning the human race into mutants for the sake of short term corporate profits. Now Dr. Don Huber, whose research is considered golden in this field, is imploring Americans to sign a petition to save ourselves from Monsanto's-- and their political shills'-- unrestrained greed. Here's the letter to Obama and Vilsack:

Dear President Obama and Secretary Vilsack,

I urge that you halt the sale and planting of Monsanto’s recently approved Roundup Ready® GMO alfalfa and sugar beets until independent, peer-reviewed studies can be conducted to determine whether or not these products pose a threat to plant, animal and human health.

On January 17 of this year, Dr. Don Huber, an internationally recognized plant pathologist, wrote Secretary Vilsack an urgent letter warning of a credible threat to animal and human health and our food supply. The letter warned of a link between Roundup Ready GMO crops, the use of the herbicide Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) and serious plant diseases and animal infertility and abortions.

Dr. Huber’s letter detailed the discovery of an organism previously unknown to science by a team of U.S. scientists that had been linked to alarming levels of infertility and spontaneous abortions in livestock. The organism has been found in high concentrations in Roundup Ready corn and soybean meal and distillers grain fed to these animals, resulting in infertility rates as high as 20% and spontaneous abortion rates as high as 45% in cattle herds.

Unfortunately, the administration and USDA have failed to heed this warning and properly respond, despite serious and credible concerns laid out in his letter.  Rather than proceed with caution after receiving such alarming information, the Obama administration chose to bow to pressure from vested interests in the agriculture industry and fully deregulate Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® alfalfa and sugar beets less than 3 weeks after receiving Dr. Huber’s letter.

As a result of this failure to conduct due diligence, the decision to deregulate these crops should be reversed, and the White House and the USDA should impose a moratorium on the sale and planting of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready alfalfa and sugar beet seeds until independent studies have been conducted documenting their safety.

Furthermore, the practice of allowing Monsanto and other companies to provide internal, corporate-funded studies, while interfering with and intimidating independent scientists and researchers, must end.

It is vital to the future of our democracy and the safety of American citizens that scientists and governmental agencies conduct and review independent scientific studies on the environmental, animal and human health implications of genetically modified crops and foods.

You can sign on here



UPDATE: Are Genetically Modified Foods Safe To Eat?

Tom Philpott at Grist points out that "upwards of 70 percent of corn and 90 percent of soy are genetically modified, and these two crops form the basis of the conventional U.S. diet. Nor are they GM technology's only pathway onto our plates." He points out that genetically engineered food could well cause long-term health problems. We just don't know. "[T]hey won't kill us suddenly. Whether they're killing us slowly-- contributing to long-term, chronic maladies-- remains anyone's guess."