Environmental for Food Justice

Moderator’s Note: We are very pleased and privileged to bring this report on the situation in Mexico prepared by two of the activists involved in the lawsuit that recently led to a temporary suspension of the approval of any new GMO corn plantings in Mexico. Adelita San Vicente Tello is the General Director of Fundación Semillas de Vida , A.C. and representative of the collective action. René Sánchez Galindo General Director of Colectivas, A.C. and legal representative of the collective action. A wall in Mexico City. Credit: Contacto Gourmet Mexico stops GM maize with collective action LEGAL ACTION REQUIRES SOCIAL MOVEMENT PRESSURE Adelita San Vicente Tello | René Sánchez Galindo | Mexico City | November 21, 2013 This news has spread all over the country and around the world. Joy has filled the heart of thousands. From the cradle of this sacred plant we, the women and men of maize, reject the introduction of GMOs in our greatest bio-cultural heritage and thus, we strike a blow to tr...

Credit: stoptpp.org Moderator’s Note: This is the first in a series of analytical reports that focus on a development in international treaty negotiations. This is the Trans-Pacific Partnership [i] or TPP, which is on Fast-Track path for approval as the framework for trade and investment among a group of Pacific Rim countries. The Trans-Pacific Partnership comprises a region accounting for approximately 40 percent of global GDP. According to the Wikileaks press release of 13 November,the current TPP negotiation member states are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam. Notably absent: China.  One of the things I noticed in reading through the so-called patents and intellectual property chapter is that the February 2011 document reflects a great deal more disagreement among the partners than has been discussed. It will be interesting to see ow and if these differences, some of which are discussed b...

Moderator’s Note: I am presenting a “Letter to Monsanto” prepared by Jeff Nguyen, a Vietnamese American. Mr. Nguyen was a young child when the defoliant chemical known as Agent Orange was sprayed all over Viet Nam during the American War (1961-71). The Air Force code name for this assault on the people, wildlife, plants, and ecosystems of Viet Nam was known as Operation Ranch Hand , an ironic and somewhat foreboding reference given the subsequent history of Monsanto’s billion-dollar domination of the agricultural herbicide market. The targets on the ground were not the only ones that suffered from the effects of the use of Agent Orange and the pilots and airmen [sic] involved in the spraying missions – which were called trail dust missions – were misinformed about the hazards of the chemical they were spraying. One of these former airmen recalls: I remember the sight and the smell of the spray.    In the early morning low angle sunlight, it appeared to have an orange hue – at...

Elias Schewel/Flickr Whose science?  AGROECOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY in THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | November 5, 2013 A lot of naïve science has been involved in pushing this technology. David Williams, cellular biologist, UCLA Quoted in Scientific American  September 2013, p. 80   Food is the cover story of the September 2013 issue of Scientific American . The issue features a fascinating “Truth About GMOs” brief that mostly reads like an apologia to Monsanto et al. (pp. 80-85), perhaps for the proliferation of problems both scientific and political economic. The briefing uses a sardonic and hyperbolic title, “Biotechnology: Are engineered foods evil?” This obviously derisive reference targets the anti-GMO m ovement’s tendency to use cutesy semiotic code words like “Frankenfood” and “Frankenfish”. More than anything this illustrates the danger of using humor while engaged in the act of conveying scientific evidence on the environmental and...