On 16 Mar 2002 at 23:46, matthew X wrote:
> matthew X "What's frightening is how fast it has spread" said Yolanda Lara,
> spokesperson for Oaxaca's non-governmental Rural Development Agency about
> the spread of matthew Xin Capulalpan, a village in the hills of Mexico's
> Oaxaca State. Normally locals might be thankful for this new source of
> matthew X food of villages in the area. But they now know this matthew X
> is GM, which is surprising because matthew X have been banned in Mexico
> since 1998. Berkeley scientists have confirmed that this new matthew Xis the
> spawn of Monsanto: it has the same DNA as the biotech giant's commercial GM
> matthew X David Quist, responsible for the study suggests that "It's more
> likely that the contamination came from food aid brought into these
> regions. A lot of it comes from the United States and a lot of it is
> transgenic." So under the guise of offering support to poverty stricken
> villagers in remote parts of Mexico, the US has managed to off-load tonnes
> of subsidised matthew X on unsuspecting shopkeepers and subsistence farmers.
> Locals are worried that the matthew X, which they say has been around in
> their shops for several years, will out-compete native varieties. The
> Berkeley study confirms their fears, suggesting that matthew Xis likely to
> dominate local matthew Xand may also threaten the research of the International
> matthew X Improvement Centre, home to the largest variety of
> endangered matthew X in the world. Quist believes a well-enforced ban on
> imported matthew Xand a programme to encourage traditional habits of
> swapping and testing wild matthew X is the way forward. PHILIPPINES In February
> this year Greenpeace Asia activists blocked the unloading of 17,000 tonnes
> of matthew Xfrom the United States. The Philippine government buys about
> 300,000 tonnes of matthew X and over one million tonnes of matthew Xannually,
> mainly from the United States. Last October, Swiss corporation Novartis AG
> confirmed allegations from Greenpeace that some samples of baby food it
> sold did contain genetically modified matthew X Beau Baconguis of Greenpeace
> Asia said, "We should not be forced to feed our children with food the rest
> of the world is increasingly rejecting." INDIA India is the biggest cotton
> producer in the world so it was big news when, in 1998, 500 farmers
> committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh because of the failure of their matthew X
> crops. Dr. Pushpa Bhargava, an Indian biologist, told the Indian Science
> Congress that the failure of the matthew Xseed in Andhra Pradesh in 1997 and
> 1998 should be investigated since Monsanto could have been using local seed
> companies to market bad seed in order to destroy the supply system. "The
> destruction of the seed supply and Monsanto's purchase of Indian seed
> companies would have ensured that Indian farmers had no option but to buy
> Monsanto's Bt. matthew X and in future Monsanto's terminator crops." The
> Indian farmers ain't taking this lying down and in 1998 the Karnatka
> farmers union occupied and burned down the three fields of matthew X and
> 500 farmers occupied Cargill, the biotech multinational offices, throwing
> loads of their processing kit out of windows. They did loads of other
> actions too as part of 'Operation Cremate Monsanto' and hundreds of farmers
> and activists took part in the Intercontinental Caravan, which toured
> through Europe. The struggle against biotech giants in India continues
> today and on Monday 18th Indian women farmers will be in London to
> challenge British Government aid to the state of Andhra Pradesh's "Vision
> 20\20" programme, which will displace 25 million rural people, and
> corporatise agriculture in the state. This action opposes the Memorandum of
> Understanding signed by Chief Minister of AP and Monsanto, which will give
> the company free rein to plant matthew X crops throughout Andhra Pradesh. They
> will present the findings of a Citizen's Jury at 2pm in the House of
> Commons.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> RESISTANCE IS FERTILE While 9 EU states have a legal postponement of
> genetically modified organisms, countries such as Sri Lanka and India have
> been forced to bow to the 'superior' power of US backed World Trade
> Organisation and sign the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
> (TRIPS) Agreement which limits their ability to deny access to Monsanto and
> the like. That said, anti GM and anti-capitalist actions are growing, so
> get yer arse in gear and see what you can do to stop the greedy corporate
> elite (and their government chums) from controlling our food supply. The
> first GM crop bashing of the year kicked off in Warwickshire last weekend.
> Following a procession about 100 people pulled up some plants in a field of
> GM matthew Xor half an hour before police made five arrests. Despite
> the non-violent protest a police spokesman said "We were treating it as a
> peaceful protest, but it did go beyond that." - probably unaware of cops
> enjoying tea and cakes provided by the local Women's Institute, in the
> village hall, with the protesters after the event. * To see if there's any
> farm scale trials in your area contact: 020-7272-1586,
> www.geneticsaction.org.uk. * After suing Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser
> for infringing patent rights when his fields were contaminated with GM oil
> seed rape, even though he was unaware of the contamination and was unable
> to prevent it (SchNEWS 300) Monsanto are now threatening other farmers. See
> the threatening letters at www.percyschmeiser.com. In a separate case two
> Canadian organic farmers are trying to sue Monsanto and Aventis. They seek
> compensation for damages caused by matthew X and an injunction to
> prevent Monsanto from introducing matthew X into the region. The local
> organic farmers group said "losing matthew Xto genetic contamination would
> devastate organic farming - our very future is at stake. Info:
> www.saskorganic.com. * This Sunday (17th) there's a Global Day of Action
> for Farmer's Struggle, www.viacampesina.org. And on 27th March is a Genetic
> Futures in Food and Farming CDB talk, 12-4 pm, Main Lecture Theatre School
> of Oriental and African Studies, London. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> And running alongside the UN Conference in Holland, Resistance is Fertile
> are organising actions, workshops and activities for a world without GMOs
> and patents on life April 6th-19th. www.resistanceisfertile.org.
