By Theodora Filis Monsanto, the multinational agricultural biotech giant, is also the world’s largest producer of genetically engineered seeds. Notorious for its aggressive and heavy-handed business tactics, and questionable ethics, Monsanto is deeply entrenched in our political system, having spent $2 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2009. The policy Justice Thomas oversaw claimed that the agency was not aware of any information showing that GMO crops were no different in any meaningful or uniform way, and therefore didn’t need testing. However, 44,000 FDA internal documents made public from a lawsuit showed that this was a complete lie. The overwhelming consensus among the FDA’s own scientists was that GMO foods were quite different and could lead to unpredictable and hard-to-detect allergens, toxins, new diseases, and nutritional problems. They suggested long-term studies but were ignored. Last week, WikiLeaks released new diplomatic cables presenting more facts
It is imperative we all pay attention to the impact of our collective and personal actions on the environment. During the next decade, our global community will be unable to deal effectively with the formidable environmental challenges posed by decades of environmental mismanagement. There are many environmental issues I write about in this blog, some will scare you, and it is my hope, these articles will give you a reason to question and search for answers.