Green Med Info, By: Sayer Ji, 02/06/2014

An important new manuscript accepted for publication in the journal Food Chemistry disproves the widely held notion that GMO crops are ‘substantially equivalent’ to their traditional counterparts; a notion which forms the basis for national and international agencies – including the U.S. FDA, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization – declaring genetically modified foods to be safe without having performed adequate health risk assessments.

The new manuscript titled, “Compositional differences in soybeans on the market: Glyphosate accumulates in Roundup Ready GM soybeans,”[i] was submitted by a team of researchers from Norway and the United Kingdom who explored the compositional differences of 31 soybean batches from Iowa, USA, which consisted of three different types

Common Dreams, By: Vandana Shiva, 02/03/2014

Pushing for genetically modified organisms is polluting our seed and food, our science and democracy.  GMOs have been deployed to privatize knowledge and seeds through Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), which include patents and copyrights. While on the one hand this is blocking public research on plant breeding, on the other it is denying farmers the right to save seeds and to share knowledge and continue the evolution of the seed. IPRs also deny the collective, cumulative innovation of indigenous cultures and promote biopiracy.

For more on this story visit www.commondreams.org

Natural Society, By: Elizabeth Renter, 01/29/2014

Thanks to Monsanto’s genetically modified crops and creations, one pig farmer in Denmark is sounding the alarm on what he believes are deformities caused by genetically modified feed, crippling the pigs he raises. According to The Ecologist, farmer Ib Pedersen has found piglets born with spinal deformities, visible growths and abnormalities, and even conjoined twins. He blames glyphosate—the herbicide found on genetically modified crops.

A primary ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, glyphosate is a weed-killing chemical routinely sprayed on crops that have been genetically-modified to withstand it’s killer effects. Glyphosate has been found in staggering amounts in human urine and is not only found in our food, but in the water system.

By: RT.com, 01/15/2014

Reuters / Darren Hauck

The US Supreme Court upheld biotech giant Monsanto’s claims on genetically-engineered seed patents and the company’s ability to sue farmers whose fields are inadvertently contaminated with Monsanto materials. The high court left intact Monday a federal appeals court decision that threw out a 2011 lawsuit from the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association and over 80 other plaintiffs against Monsanto that sought to challenge the agrochemical company’s aggressive claims on patents of genetically-modified seeds. The suit also aimed to curb Monsanto from suing anyone whose field is contaminated by such seeds.

The group of plaintiffs, which included many individual American and Canadian family farmers, independent seed companies and agricultural organizations, were seeking preemptive protections against Monsanto’s patents. The biotech leviathan has filed over 140 lawsuits against farmers for planting the company’s genetically-engineered seeds without permission, while settling around 700 other cases without suing.