PLANET IN PERIL

Manitoba Co-Operator Forage Genetics International will allow 20 demonstration plots in Eastern Canada. Story here.

Ross Eade - OpEdNews PinP  photo For this (UN) Agency to label an agent "probably" carcinogenic, there has to be sufficient and convincing evidence of carcinogenicity. Story here.

Manitoba C0-Operator Monsanto, maker of Roundup, wants an international health organization to retract a report linking the product’s chief ingredient to cancer. Story here.   A crop-duster on the way to a spray-field. PinP photo. (Likely payload? Roundup!)

Winnipeg Free Press The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada have approved non-browning Arctic Apples for commercial sale in Canada. Story here. Everyone bow down to the gods of bio-tech!  They have saved us  from a fate worse than death -  the browning apple! PinP photo.

Organic Consumers' Association On Friday the 13th, the USDA approved the first genetically engineered apple, despite hundreds of thousands of petitions calling for its rejection.  Story here.

Centre for Food Safety. After decades of promises from the biotech industry that genetically engineered (GE) food would feed the world, cure the sick, reduce agricultural dependence on toxic chemicals, and save countless crops from imminent collapse, USDA has just approved… Story here.

The Canadian Press WASHINGTON - A large majority of Americans support labeling of GMO foods, whether they care about eating them or not. Story here.

Song written and performed by Genevieve Charbonneau.

Common Dreams A typical "industrial-style," GMO farm  in Manitoba. PinP photo. 'The tremendous amount of money spent speaks to depth of public unease about GMOs,' says lead author. Story here.

Center for Food Safety President Obama will be meeting with the Indian  Prime Minister on January 25 and 26. In response, activist, author and physicist, Dr. Vandana Shiva has written an open letter to the President and the Prime Minister on seed freedom and food democracy. She urges the two leaders to renounce the patenting of life and to stop pursuing “harmonization” of seed patenting laws which would further extend corporate control of our seeds and food.  Click here to sign. Organic fava beans. Will they be next?  PinP photo.

Manitoba Co-Operator Many forage and forage seed importers have zero tolerance for GM crops, including alfalfa. Story here.

Two Canadian citizens’ respond to the pro-GMO propaganda of American Professor, Dr Kevin Folta, while lecturing in Winnipeg during late October 2014.  Letter to the Editor:  by-- Rose Stevens, Winnipeg , and John Balatinecz, PhD, Toronto We are two Canadians, one a hobby organic farmer (RS), the other a retired university professor (JB).  We are deeply concerned about the impacts GMO crops have on human and environmental health. In fact, that concern is what brought us to meet on the web. And if that concern makes us into “ACTIVISTS”, so be it. At least we care about people and environmental health.  The same cannot be said of the corporate transnational agri-giant cartels, the producers and promoters of GMOs, with their so-called “gifts of “modern agriculture”. You can not grow healthy foods with poison! Cartoon credit - www.seppo.net Dr Folta was quoted in the  Winnipeg Free Press,  as   saying:  “Concerns about GMOs are based on misinformation and fear

Winnipeg Free Press Agrochemicals giant Syngenta is facing a growing number of lawsuits challenging its release of a genetically modified corn seed that China had not approved for import, with losses to farmers estimated to be at least $1 billion. Story here.

Inter Press Service Jon Sarmiento, a farmer in the Cavite province in southern Manila, plants a variety of fruits and vegetables, but his main crop, rice, is under threat. He claims that approval by the Philippine government of the genetically modified ‘golden rice’ that is fortified with beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A, could ruin his livelihood. Story here.

Robyn O'Brien Last week, Dr. Thierry Vrain, a former scientist with the federal government in Canada, reached out after watching an interview I did with Dr. Ray Seidler, a former senior scientist at the EPA.  Story here.

Sustainable Pulse A disposal site for pesticide containers in Manitoba, Canada. Larry Powell PinP photo. The World’s Largest Study on GMO and Pesticide Safety has been launched by Factor GMO in London, UK. Story here. Related: CBC TV SCIENCE |  Pesticide poses DDT-like threat -  Neonicotinoid pesticides may be killing off bees and affecting our air, water and food chain.

The Associated Press  HONOLULU, Hawaii – Two leading developers of genetically-engineered corn have sued Maui County to stop a new law banning the cultivation of genetically modified organisms. Story here. Related: " Island of Maui Defies Monsanto, Passes Ban on GMO Farming "

The Western Producer Regina, SK - French scientist  Gilles-Éric Séralini  says attempts to discredit him and his research into GMOs and pesticides are negated by the fact his work continues. Story here.