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The global food crisis runs deeper than a simple supply issue. Especially in the United States, it is a major health concern.
Following is an excerpt from an AllergyKids.com article. We encourage you to read it in full. Though we’re not entirely in agreement about corn ethanol having as much to do with commodity prices as many charge, the health concerns surrounding genetically modified crops and our government’s utter lack of regulatory oversight is truly alarming.
As the world reels from food price inflation, the focus is turning to the biotech industry and its promise to genetically modify our food supply in order to increase crop yields, feed the world’s poor and stave off riots at the supermarket. What is interesting is that this responsibility, and most of the profits and liabilities associated with it, falls squarely on the shoulders of one corporation, an agrichemical corporation called Monsanto (NYSE: MON).
Monsanto began as a chemical company almost one hundred years ago. At the time, the FDA was actually called the “Bureau of Chemicals,” and quickly became the regulatory agency that oversaw the approval of Monsanto’s chemicals including DDT and Agent Orange.
Today, the regulatory approval of Monsanto’s chemicals is not only conducted by the FDA, but also by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These agecies are responsible for the oversight and regulation of chemicals in our food supply, as well as the sale and distribution of genetically modified foods, which include Monsanto’s glyphosate pesticides, phenylalanine (a chemical also known as aspartame), Monsanto’s corn and soy crops that produce their own insecticidal and pesticide-resistant toxins, and Monsanto’s recombinant bovine growth hormone (a chemical protein designed to increase the milk supply in cows that has been banned in developed countries around the world given research that appears to link rBGH” to breast, colon and prostate cancer (source: www.preventcancer.com).
As new federal policies were being put in place with the introduction of genetically engineered corn, the President nominated Linda Fisher to the #2 position at the federal agency responsible for the oversight of genetically engineered crops, the Environmental Protection Agency. Ms. Fisher brought a wealth of knowledge on genetically engineered crops to the Agency, given that she had been the head of government affairs for Monsanto whose market share included 97% of genetically engineered corn and 91% of genetically engineered soy.
Read the FULL STORY.
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1 The World According to Monsanto | Max Gladwell // Jun 18, 2008 at 9:23 am
[...] covered Monsanto in the past. The company is squarely in the sights of AllergyKids.com’s Robyn O’Brien, who is [...]
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