Showing posts with label USDA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USDA. Show all posts

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Arpad Pusztai - Blowing the Whistle, He Knew the Truth About GMO's Years Ago

Hello  everyone , 

 I am back from my hiatus.  I really was  not sure if I would be back at all.   Yet here I am  with an oldie but definitely a goody.  This video was posted in 2012 with test results and  scientific findings  that  should have  made  the  difference  in the termination of GMO in the  marketplace.  Or at least a moratorium on its widespread release.  Not to mention the  cross contamination with non-gmo crops out in the fields.   This is  clear  and  concise proof that we  have been  sold out .  Not to mention being used as  guinea pigs in this race to fill Monsanto's  bank accounts .  Along with other companies like it and their  benefactors the  FDA and The  USDA.
Sooooooo,  if you were still living in that fantasy land that believes  the government is there to protect you, then please  wake up and  smell the rotting corpse of what used to be a public service oriented office.  For it is now and  has been for quite a  while an office of corporate, personal, political and  governmental gain at the expense of the  people.  It is our children and all the children who will come after who are  and will be the by product of this exercise in greed and callous disregard for human life. 
Still asleep?

Desert Rose+

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** A  heartfelt Thank you, to those of you  who waited and  those of you who joined in my absence.  Your  support is very much appreciated.  I am not sure how active I will be , but I will do my best to bring you some of the information I come across on a daily basis as well as some Guest writers when and as they arise  :)

~Be vigilant and aware , for our foes only advantage is the element of surprise~

Desert Rose

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 Patrick Timpone





Published on Oct 1, 2012
Click on the link to hear the entire interview
http://www.oneradionetwork.com/health...

World renowned scientist lost his job when he warned about GE foods


Dr Arpad Pusztai evoked world wide media attention in August 1998, when he said in British TV that he would not eat genetically engineered food because of the insufficient testing procedures they have undergone.

Pusztai is a world renowned expert on food safety, who worked at UK's leading food safety research lab, the Rowett institute. His statement obviously threatened to damage the then ongoing multimillion PR campaign of the Biotech industry to create public confidence in GE foods. A few days after his public appearance he was suspended and gagged by the research institute where he worked.

Pointed out weakness in present food regulations
Dr Pusztai's pointed out that substances in Genetically Engineered (GE) foods that have a slow acting effect would not be detected because present regulations do not require long term safety testing. The regulations prescribe an approval procedure based on the principle of substantial equivalence. In practice this procedure allows very superficially tested foods to be approved. As an illustrative example, he mentioned fresh results from his research on certain pesticidal Lectins (Pusztai is recognized as a world leading expert on Lectins). Pusztai found that rats developed immune system defects and stunted growth after a time period corresponding to 10 years of human life.

Humiliating statements displayed about Pusztai
A few days after his appearance on TV and Radio, the Rowett intstitute suspended Pusztai. It was said that the GE potatoes were not intended to be used as food. It was maintained that the results reported by Dr Pusztai were misleading because he had mixed up the results of different studies. In that context it was pointed out that he was old (68), giving the impression of a senile and confused person. It was also said that the research had not been done on GE potatoes but on a mixture of natural potatoes and Lectin. It was indicated in a humiliating way that the quality of Dr Pusztai's research was deficient. The formal reason for his suspension was that he had presented the results publicly before they had been reviewed by other scientists (peer review) as required by the Rowett Institute. At the same time as he was suspended, he was disallowed to speak with the media to defend himself (which would have revealed the misleading information from Rowett Institute).

A scientific committe was asked by the Rowett institute to review the study Pustai referred to. It said there were important deficiencies in the study.

Independent scientists confirmed the correctness of Pusztais conclusions
Pusztai then sent the research protocols to 24 independent scientists in different countries. These turned down the conclusions of the review committee and found that his research was of good quality and justified his conclusions. They found that Pusztai had not mixed up any results.

Scientists and physicians (including the undersigned), who had been in touch with Pusztai confirmed that he was perfectly clear-minded with no signs of confusion or memory defects.

"Breathtaking impertinence" by Royal society according to Lancet
Then a second review committe was appointed by the Royal Society in UK. It again concluded that Pusztai's results were inconclusive yes even flawed.

A world leading scientific journal found the judgement of the Royal Society "a gesture of breathtaking impertinence" (Lancet, Editorial, May 22, p1769).

Pusztai has pointed out a number of obvious deficencies in this review report, see also the interview below and Dr Pusztai's website, where he explains this in detail.


Harmful GE potatoes would have been approved
Recently Pusztai has also said that the lectin potatoes he had been studying were indeed intended for food although that was denied by the Rowett institute. That was the reason why he wanted to make the alarming results known. Had not Pusztai's long term study revealed the danger, the GE lectin potatoes might very well have turned up on the market, as formally they were "substantially equivalent" with the natural variety, Pusztai said. This case demonstrates the serious insufficiency of the present regulations for food safety that don't demand long term testing of GE foods, see Substantial equivalence versus scientific food safety assessment. This is the probable reason why great efforts were made to suppress the truth and to "kill" the messenger.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

CFS Warns the EPA Will Approve Agent Orange on GE Crops

The Center for Food Safety is warning the public that the EPA is set to approve the direct spraying of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) on Dow Chemical’s genetically engineered corn and soybeans. That chemical is one-half of the compound called “Agent Orange” used in Vietnam to destroy foliage; it caused cancer among Vietnam veterans. EPA will render a decision after a 30 day comment period. Dow developed the GE crops, known as “Enlist”, to withstand high doses of 2,4-D (which it also sells) after its disastrous Roundup Ready crops created glyphosate-resistant superweeds.
Crop DustingYou can sign a petition opposing this action at CFS web site called “Dow Watch”. CFS opposes this move by the EPA because they state, “wide scale use of herbicides in tandem with GE crops has led to an epidemic of herbicide resistant weeds, and the next step in the chemical arms race is Dow Chemical’s 2,4-D, a chemical linked to major health problems including cancer, Parkinson’s disease, endocrine disruption, and reproductive problems.”

Read More Here

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​EPA advances approval of powerful weed killer for Dow’s ‘Agent Orange’ GMO crops

Published time: May 02, 2014 00:56
Edited time: May 03, 2014 14:35


Reuters / Doug Wilson / USDA
Photo / Handout
Reuters / Doug Wilson / USDA Photo / Handout
The US Environmental Protection Agency has revealed a proposal for mass use of Dow Chemical’s herbicide 2,4-D on the company’s genetically-engineered corn and soybeans. The GE crops were developed to withstand several herbicides, including 2,4-D.
Dow would be allowed to sell the herbicide if the EPA approves it following a 30-day public comment period.
The 2,4-D chemical, combined with glyphosate, makes up the herbicide Enlist Duo. 2,4-D also makes up half of the toxic mix in the now infamous 'Agent Orange,' used by the United States during the Vietnam War, which is thought to have resulted in the deaths of an estimated 400,000 people and birth defects in 500,000 others.
Dow’s genetically-engineered corn and soybeans – known as Enlist – have received preliminary approval from the US Department of Agriculture. Should Enlist crops win ultimate authorization, the USDA said that would increase the annual use of 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) in the United States from 26 million pounds per year to possibly 176 million pounds.
The crops are designed to withstand high doses of glyphosate – brought to market by biotech giant Monsanto as their Roundup weed killer – and 2,4-D. Dow’s corn and soybeans thus earned the derogatory name 'Agent Orange' crops by opponents of both the highly-toxic chemical mix and the controversial use of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in large-scale agriculture.

Read More Here
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Thursday, April 3, 2014

USDA: Selling Out Organic to Protect Five Factory Farms

Posted: Updated:
ORGANIC EGGS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

When most Americans think about organic meat or eggs, they picture animals on small farms, allowed to root in the soil, feel sun on their backs, and engage in their natural behaviors. What they don't picture is tens of thousands of hens crammed into massive sheds with no access to soil and extremely limited outdoor access.
Unfortunately, the USDA stamped its seal of approval on the latter scenario by refusing to implement its own advisory board's animal welfare recommendations, which would have created a level playing field for the hundreds of small organic farms that were the basis for the standards. These recommendations would not have required "good" conditions, but they would have set a reasonable floor by requiring improvements from the five massive "organic" egg farms that provide the worst hen welfare.
The USDA's decision doesn't just violate our moral intuitions and the expectations of organic consumers; it also violates the Department's legal mandate in at least two distinct ways.
First, USDA is statutorily required "to establish national [organic guidelines that] meet a consistent standard." In 2005 and again in 2010, USDA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that animal welfare standards were applied inconsistently, in violation of the Act's legal requirement that USDA ensure "that [organic] products meet consistent, uniform standards."
By requiring improvements from the five mega-farms such that their hen welfare standards would align with that of the hundreds of smaller farms, adopting the advisory board's recommendations would create this statutorily-mandated consistency. Ignoring those recommendations places USDA in violation of its legal mandate.

Read More Here
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Authors of new report warn food donations not enough as six million threatened with worsened hunger





This Holiday Season, Charity No Match for Food Stamp Cuts


- Sarah Lazare, staff writer
(Photo: Everyday Feminism)'Tis the season to give, the saying goes.
Yet all of the charitable food donations in the United States this year combined would not make a dent in proposed cuts to food subsidy programs that threaten at least six million people with worsened hunger.
So said researchers with the Bread for the World Institute in an interview with The Guardian published Monday.
“Virtually every church, synagogue and mosque in the country is now gathering up food and distributing, and all of that work that food banks do comes to 5% of the food that needy people get,” Bread for the World president Reverend David Beckmann told The Guardian, referencing the organization's recent report Ending Hunger in America. “95% comes from school breakfasts, lunches, food stamps and WIC, so Congress can say 'We can cut this programme 5% per cent – no big deal.' But if you cut the national nutrition programmes 5%, you cancel out everything that the charitable system is doing.”
The comments come as further slashes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are considered in the House, where $39 billion in cuts over the next ten years is up for debate, and the Senate, where a $4 billion slash could be approved. This is in addition to cuts that took effect on November 1 and will amount to $5 billion by the end of the year and $11 billion by 2016. Critics charge that these slashes, which constitute a fraction of the federal budget, will make little difference to tax payers yet devastate the millions who depend on food aid for survival.
Almost half of all people who receive food stamps are children, Forbes reports.
The cuts are under consideration despite 2012 census data, analyzed by the Department of Agriculture, that shows hunger in the United States is stuck at high levels for the fifth year in a row, with 14.5 percent of all U.S. households facing food insecurity in 2012. Poor households, "households with children headed by single women or single men," and African American and Hispanic households hardest hit, according to the USDA.
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File:Helping the homeless.jpg
Helping The Homeless  Wikimedia . Org
Author Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA

File:Homeless woman.jpg
Homeless woman with dogs ,Haight Street, San Francisco, CA    Wikimedia . Org
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

ALERT! USDA Puts EBT On HOLD For November, Pending Further Notice!

DAHBOO77





Published on Oct 15, 2013

 
THIS WHOLE THING WAS A 100% TEST RUN! Congress has 2 weeks to get this mess fixed , or Chaos will unfold come the first week of November!


http://fox13now.com/2013/10/14/utah-f...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...


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ALERT: Government Freezes EBT Funds: Orders States to Withhold Transfers to Food Stamp Recipients


Author: Mac Slavo
Date: October 15th, 2013
Website: www.SHTFplan.com

welfare-stateThis weekend America witnessed a limited crash in the computer systems that manage electronic benefit transfers across the country. Within hours of the crash panicked food stamp recipients who were left with no way to feed their families rushed grocery store shelves to obtain everything they could while the system was down.
The outage lasted less than a day, but it proved what many already knew, that America had become a nation so dependent on government subsidies that any glitch in the system could lead to total pandemonium.
But if you thought that isolated incident was bad, imagine what could happen next month.
We say next month because the USDA, which oversees the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), has just issued an order to SNAP agency directors calling for their respective States to implement an emergency contingency program because of government funding issues. In a letter obtained by the Crossroads Urban Center food pantry, the USDA is directing state agencies to, “delay their November issuance files and delay transmission to State Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) vendors until further notice.”
What this means is that should Congress fail to increase the debt ceiling this week, come November there will literally be millions of people in the United States who will have exactly zero dollars transferred to their EBT cards.
What will happen to the nearly 50 million people who depend on these benefits to survive?
Think this past weekend and multiply it across the entirety of the United States of America.
In the State of Utah the immediate effect of the USDA’s contingency plan will be a freeze in benefits for 100,000 people. Richard Phillips, a homeless man who depends on the government’s monthly distributions, warned what would happen next:
It’s going to cause problems… because then you’re going to come to find out that you’re going to have people starting to steal and do what they have to do to survive.
Video Report via The Daily Sheeple:



Here is the USDA letter in full:
ebt-funds-freeze


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