THE GMO SCRAPBOOK: MORE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES JOINING GMO BANS

We have been following the GMO story here on this website, and the growing opposition to the whole idea of GMOs, and the big corporations backing them, at the potential hazard of the human food supply, the environment, and human health itself. And there is a pattern that has emerged, one so obvious that it hardly needs stating, but one so obvious that one must state it: it seems that one can protest GMOs, and effectively ban them, in almost every country on earth, except the USA and its English-speaking allies.

Consider the growing list of GMO banning, or partially banning countries, in Europe alone, as stated in these articles shared by Ms. M.W:

Lithuania Bans GM Crops as Biotech Industry Loses More Ground

Consider the statements at the end of this article, and the list of countries in Europe that have used recent EU regulations to "opt out" of permitting commercial GM crop production:

The Director of the Agricultural Production and Food Department at Lithuania’s Ministry of Agriculture, Rimantas Krasuckis, simply stated that GM crops are “not proven”.

On Monday, Northern Ireland also joined the massive wave of EU countries that have decided to ban the cultivation of GM crops under new EU regulations that were passed earlier in 2015.

Northern Ireland and Lithuania have followed France, who announced their decision last week, and also Greece and Latvia in asking for an opt-out from growing GM crops. Germany and Scotland have also made it clear that they will follow the same path.

German Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt informed German states in August of his intention to use a new EU law, passed in March, to ban the use of GM crops. This followed the Scottish Government’s announcement earlier in the same month that they will take similar action to protect Scotland’s clean, green status.

The German announcement also came as Professor Carlo Leifert, Professor of Ecological Agriculture at Newcastle University, said that he strongly believes the Scottish Government ban on GM crops is right and that “there are likely to be significant commercial benefits from Scotland being clearly recognized as a GM-free region”. (Emphasis added)

So note something here, in addition to the following countries in Europe now being GM-free:

1. Scotland;
2. Greece;
3. Latvia;
4. France;
5. Germany;
6. Lithuania

apparently in Europe it is also permissible for government bureaucrats to state the obvious, but what has become a "taboo" subject in the United States and its English-speaking allies (like Australia, Canada, etc), where to point out the growing scientific doubt and skepticism over GMOs and the industry's claims to have "tested" their products adequately, is to be labeled a Luddite or conspiracy theorist. Or worse. In Hawaii's Maui county, one cannot even vote to remove the stuff, because IG Farbensanto will take it to courts where a judge who has interesting connections to the GMO cartel will hear the case and dismiss the vote. Sort of like the 2000 decision by the Supremes to hand a contested election to yet another poisonous crop.  Note also in this article that Europe's two largest economies have joined the ban, and that commercial reasons are not being touted for it, a statement which recalls the University of Iowa study that I blogged about many months ago, wherein long term studies showed the commercial non-viability of GMO production over the long term.

Now consider this second article, also shared by Ms. M.W;
Austria and Italy Celebrate Bans on GM Crops with EU Opt-Out

So you can add Austria and, more importantly, Italy, the third of Europe four major economic and military powers, to the GMO ban list. And what is intriguing here is this statement:

Meanwhile, the Italian Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, Maurizio Martina, alongside Environment Minister,  Gian Luca Galletti and Minister of Health Beatrice Lorenzin announced that they are preparing 8 letters (one for each GM maize variety) that will be received by the EU before October 3 with Italy’s demand for an opt-out from growing GM crops. (Emphasis added)

One can only surmise here what those eight letters might contain, but I strong suspect that the Italians, like every other major agricultural producer in Europe, have been doing some quiet little studies of their own, and have detected "problems" with the "infallble science" of IG Farbensanto, Syncrudda, and other GMO-promoting corporations.

And since Northern Ireland and Hungary and Russia have also banned the products, that list in Europe is now growing quite long.

The point here isn't that science or technology is bad, nor even that genetically altered crops are ipso facto bad. The point all along has been that the claims of adequate scientific  intergenerational testing have been false, or dubious. And in this emerging story, it has been - not surprisingly - Russia that has questions the whole thing. And this raises the other point I've been attempting to make here in blogging about the GMO issue if one ponders the growing list of GMO banning countries, GMOs have become a geopolitical issue, and one that has huge implications for American foreign and domestic policy.

It is remarkable that it is only in the USA, Canada, and Australia, where the madness of mercantilist policies and "science" continues. If American agriculture is to continue being a major player in world economics and if America is to continue to have a respected voice in international affairs, it might want to rethink its whole domestic policy and attitude toward GMO-promoting companies, for as today's "tidbit" shows, Russian protests against GMOs are also seen as an international geopolitical issue, and GMOs have come to symbolize, for some Russians, American imperialism, decadence, and disregard for the fundamentals of human health and the environment.

See you on the flip side...