Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Special Report: Are regulators dropping the ball on biocrops?

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Special Report: Are regulators dropping the ball on biocrops?

from Reuters news service. Finally, a major news service that is reporting on widespread concerns from independent sources regarding the safety of genetically modified food. However, I doubt very much that many news outlets will pick this up in their coverage.

It appears to me, and many others, that reliance of the anemic oversight of the official regulatory agencies (FDA and USDA) is comparable to the oversight, or lack thereof, provided by similar agencies over the banking and finance corporations that has led to the economic collapse.

A common complaint is that the U.S. government conducts no independent testing of these biotech crops before they are approved, and does little to track their consequences after.

The developers of these crop technologies, including Monsanto and its chief rival DuPont, tightly curtail independent scientists from conducting their own studies. Because the companies patent their genetic alterations, outsiders are barred from testing the biotech seeds without company approvals.

Then the article cites some independent research that has revealed evidence to suggest serious problems caused by the consumption of GMO products.