Frankenfood
By Catherine Haug, December 10, 2016 (Image, right, from Organic Consumers Association (6) used with permission)
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and Genetically Engineered (GE) foods are very common in today’s processed food supply and have even invaded the produce section. States have tried to halt it by passing laws requiring labelling of such foods, but last July, those efforts were invalidated by a sham GMO-labelling law passed by Congress and signed by our President. This law did not specifically require text stating the product contains GMO/GE ingredients, but rather allows printing of an 800-number or QR codes for more information. (See my article Pres. Obama signed the Dark Act (faulty GMO-labeling law) for more).
In October 2016, countries around the world participated in the International Monsanto Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. This “Tribunal was a show of international solidarity for a regenerative food and agriculture system — the antithesis of Monsanto’s toxic, degenerative model.” (1) The tribunal cannot impose penalties, nor is it a mock-trial, but rather a citizens tribunal, which “have a long history of bringing justice to issues where governments etagere act corruptly or fail to act.” (1) This tribunal was based on the “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” adopted by the United Nations in 2011. It was “an international court of lawyers and judges who assessed the potential criminal liability of Monsanto for damages inflicted on human health and the environment. [The tribunal’s] final verdicts can serve as foundation for future legal cases against not only Monsanto, but also Bayer, Syngenta, Dow and others.” (1)
Ronnie Cummins, International Director of the OCA and a member of the Regeneration International (5) steering committee. wrote: “Ultimately the People’s Assembly agreed that we need to not only get rid of Monsanto, but the entire degenerative system of food, farming and land use that is driving global warming, catastrophic droughts and floods, soil erosion, desertification, water shortages, mass biodiversity loss, rural poverty and war, and deteriorating public health. (4)
For more about the tribunal see references 2 – 5.
References
- Organic Matters, Fall 2016 article by the Organic Consumers Association: International Monsanto Tribunal
- organicconsumers.org/campaigns/millions-against-monsanto/international-monsanto-tribunal
- organicconsumers.org/press/historic-international-monsanto-tribunal-begins-hague
- sott.net/article/331639-A-letter-from-the-International-Monsanto-Tribunal-at-the-Hague
- Regeneration International (regenerationinternational.org) and links to their articles on the Monsanto Tribunal: regenerationinternational.org/?s=monsanto+tribunal
- OCA’s Frankenfoods image: organicconsumers.org/images/bytes/frankenfood-250.jpg
