| WEEKLY WATCH number 182 (6/7/2006) | |
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from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor Dear all: Among this week's interesting news from around the world, note how the Prime Minister of India's fact-finding panel has called for government action to stop India's farmers from falling into the GM cotton trap. The linkage between the hyping of these expensive and problem-prone seeds and the wave of farmer suicides is at last being recognised even by India's political establishment. ------------------------------------------------------------ THE AMERICAS ------------------------------------------------------------ + IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT: STOP GM PLUMS Read an article by Jeffrey showing how disease-resistant GM crops may make humans (and plants) more vulnerable to viruses: + NO HONESTY ABOUT ORIGIN OF AMERICAN FOOD The US Dept of Agriculture was caught lying about how much country-of-origin labels would cost - they inflated the figures to persuade people it would be too costly. The food industry benefits, as it can sell cheap imported produce for the same high price that home-grown version would fetch, and keep the profits. Regarding GM food, says Johnson, "Polls show that demand for this kind of food is low, and a large majority wants labeling. That could spell market failure, so biotechnology companies and agribusiness giants are opposed." ------------------------------------------------------------ + THE LAUNCH OF "ASK-FARCE" ASK-FORCE is intended to expose "hidden agendas" and "confront" the critics of GM crops over their misinformation, hoaxes and "scaremonger stories". Given its supposed penchant for exposing "hidden agendas", we wonder why ASK-FORCE does not explain in its launch document that: According to Ammann, "Within PRRI, Africa Harvest, the EFB and worldwide in other organizations there are a number of well known scientists, who - according to my encouraging contacts, are willing to help to build up a group of specialists who can answer questions." So will we be getting answers from the likes of the PANTS ON FIRE award-winning chief executive of Africa Harvest, Florence Wambugu? Wambugu is notorious for her extravagant hype and spin. She told New Scientist, "In Africa GM food could almost literally weed out poverty". Wambugu claimed that a GM sweet potato project she was fronting could increase yields in Kenya "from 4 tonnes per hectare to 10 tonnes." But this apparently massive improvement was a hoax. Both FAO and official Kenyan statistics indicate that conventional sweet potato yields in Kenya are already around 10 tonnes per hectare. Wambugu was massively understating conventional yields in order to make the GM crop look good. On top of that, the results of 3 years of trials showed that non-GM sweet potatoes out-yielded the GM ones - the very opposite of what Wambugu had been telling the world. If ASK-FORCE is intended to confront GM hoaxes, it better start with its own. + UK: NFU VICE-PRESIDENT'S LINKS TO INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS EXCERPT from Vidal's article: |
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