VIDEOS OF THE WEEK:
VANISHING OF THE BEES
We've highlighted this movie in Bytes before, but we strongly feel
this is truly a 'canary in the mine' issue.
This movie, which is nearing completion, analyzes why millions of
bees are dying around the world and how dramatically it could impact
the world's natural environment and food supply.
The producers are in need of donations to complete the film and are
currently eligible to receive matching funds from a foundation that
will double donations made by our readers.
View this breath-taking movie trailer here: http://www.vanishingbees.com
==========================================
ALERT: Genetically Engineered Sugar to Hit U.S. in 2008
Background Information:
American Crystal, a large Wyoming-based sugar company and several
other leading U.S. sugar providers have announced they will be
sourcing their sugar from genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets
beginning this year and arriving in stores in 2008.
Like GE corn and GE soy, products containing GE sugar will not be
labeled as such.
Since half of the granulated sugar in the U.S. comes from sugar
beets, a move towards biotech beets marks a dramatic alteration of the U.S. food supply.
These sugars, along with GE corn and soy, are found in many
conventional food products, so consumers will be exposed to
genetically engineered ingredients in just about every non-organic
multiple-ingredient product they purchase.
The GE sugar beet is designed to withstand strong doses of Monsanto's
controversial broad spectrum Roundup herbicide.
Studies indicate farmers planting "Roundup Ready" corn and soy spray
large amounts of the herbicide, contaminating both soil and water.
Farmers planting GE sugar beets are told they may be able to apply
the herbicide up to five times per year.
Sugar beets are grown on 1.4 million acres by 12,000 farmers in the
U.S. from Oregon to Minnesota.
Meanwhile candy companies like Hershey's are urging farmers not to
plant GE sugar beets, noting that consumer surveys suggest resistance
to the product. In addition the European Union has not approved GE
sugar beets for human consumption.
Ingredients from GE crops are not labeled in the U.S., once food
producers start using GE beet sugar in their candies, cereals,
breads, baby foods and other products, there will be no way for us to
know if we are eating GE sugar unless we buy organic foods, since GE
ingredients are banned in organic products.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7031.cfm
==========================================
MONSANTO, CARGILL, &ADM RAKE IN BILLIONS ON WORLD FOOD CRISIS
of crop seeds and germplasm, wheat, rice, soy, corn, and other grains.
While a billion people go hungry, and food riots threaten global
stability, these Biotech and Food Giants are raking in record
profits, along with Wall Street speculators, who have shifted their
greed from sub-prime mortgages to increasingly scarce natural
resources and food.
Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/
article_12088.cfm http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/
article_12039.cfm
=================================================
CONSUMER TIP &ALERT:
HAZARDOUS & UNLABELED NANOTECH PESTICIDES IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS
An important lawsuit was filed last week against the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) by the International Center for Technology
Assessment calling for 200 consumer products to be removed from the
market, because they contain dangerous nanoparticle pesticides.
The EPA is illegally allowing a wide variety of consumer products to
be infused with nanoparticle-sized silver, supposedly for its
enhanced 'germ killing' abilities.
Nano-silver is now laced into products including children's toys,
personal care products, household appliances, cleaners, clothing,
cutlery, and coated electronics.
According to George Kimbrell, staff attorney for ICTA, 'Nano-silver
is leaching into the environment, where it will have toxic effects on
fish, other aquatic species and beneficial microorganisms.'
Nanotubes, one of the wonder materials of the new age of
nanotechnology, may carry a health risk similar to that of asbestos,
a wonder material of an earlier age that turned into a scourge after
decades of use when its fibers were found to cause lung disease,
researchers said Tuesday.
This time, the warning comes long before anyone has fallen ill, and
experts say the findings call for caution, not alarm, in handling
nanotubes, which are tiny, superstrong carbon fibers.
Although nanotubes are already found in some products, like tennis
rackets, researchers say the fibers appear to pose little risk to
consumers.
Nanotubes, discovered in 1991, are essentially rolled-up sheets of
carbon that can be used to produce materials that are far lighter and
stronger than steel, for example. But scientists have also long
wondered whether the needle-shaped nanotubes might cause the same
types of disease as needle-shaped asbestos fibers.
An article published Tuesday on the Web site of the journal Nature
Nanotechnology suggests that the answer may be yes.
A team of researchers reported that injecting nanotubes into the
abdomens of mice induced lesions similar to those that appear on the
outer lining of the lungs after the inhalation of asbestos.
In the case of asbestos, the lesions eventually become mesothelioma,
a deadly cancer.
The researchers, though, portrayed their results as good news by
providing people who work with nanotubes with knowledge of how to
minimize the dangers. "In a sense, we're forewarned and forearmed now
with respect to nanotubes," said Anthony Seaton, a professor of
environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Aberdeen
in Scotland.
Learn more about nanotechnology, take action, and see a comprehensive
list of everyday products containing nanotech here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/nanotech.cfm
No comments:
Post a Comment