Clandestine GMOs

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Targol
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Registration: 04/05/06, 16:49
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Clandestine GMOs




by Targol » 01/03/07, 16:43

They are farmers in the south-west of France and will grow GMO corn in 2007. To meet them, we had to promise to keep the names of their villages hidden, to hide their surnames, and even to change their first names. You never know ... At a time when there are only two or three farmers left per commune, a few clues are enough to be spotted by the GMO mowers. "We are scared, summarizes a farmer from Tarn-et-Garonne, who cultivated genetically modified corn in 2006 and made it known. I not only had plots mown, but my life became very difficult. My direct sales store's sales have halved. "


In the countryside, leaflets were circulated. "GMO danger, lie and manipulation, warned these texts. Asbestos, all-nuclear, pesticides, incinerators and now GMOs, that's enough!" In the agricultural world, everyone has understood the lesson. In 2007, the pro-GMOs, the number of which we do not yet know, will live in hiding.

Bertrand, in his fifties, is settled near Pau. He's so angry with the Reapers that he's struggling to keep still in his chair. For him, to oppose GMOs is to go "against progress". On the plot where he sowed his first GMO corn last year, his father planted the first hybrid variety imported from the United States in the 1950s. The president of the general council and the village priest made the trip. “He was a pioneer,” says Bertrand. “By switching from native corn to hybrid, yields doubled and farms prospered.”

However, today, the only variety of GMOs authorized in France, Bt corn, which seed cooperatives and the General Association of Corn Producers (AGPM) promote, is of considerable appeal to farmers. from the Southwest. In recent years, under the effect of drought, two insect pests have proliferated. Sesame attacks the corn stalk from the bottom, the corn borer from the top, but the result is the same: yields suffer. The loss can reach 30%. Bt corn is genetically modified to produce a bacterium that kills these insects. The line authorized for cultivation in France since 1998, the MON 810, was developed by the firm Monsanto.

Only his cooperative knows that Bertrand cultivates Bt. The farmer reads out his "production contract". All the rules are there. "We bend to the specifications, we do not do things anyhow," he explains. Twelve rows of conventional maize are planted at the edge of the field, to prevent the risk of pollen spreading.

Another farm, between Pau and Bayonne. Stéphane, the son, and Jacques, the father, offer an aperitif. Bruno, a neighbor, came. A plate of crisps is placed on the table. “They come from Spain, so they're full of GMOs, that's for sure!” Laughs Stéphane. More seriously, he asks: "Why in Spain, half an hour's drive from here, do they do as much as they want, and we wouldn't have the right?" Spain is the destination for Bt corn grown in France, which is used to feed farm animals.

Jacques shows the farm. Pesticides are kept locked in the "phyto room". On a shelf are stored cans of products used against insects. "Bt corn makes it possible to remove one or two insecticide treatments, explains the farmer. On plots that are not subject to these attacks, we do not do it. We are not going to buy more expensive seeds for the sake of to make GMOs. It allows us to ensure the maximum yield, and the health of the plant is better. "

A few neighboring farmers came to ask questions last year in October. There had been a storm. In the fields, all the conventional corn, weakened by insects, was lying. GMOs remained quite straight. Will these neighbors launch this year? It all depends on the publicity that will be given to them. "If we have to declare the plots in town hall, it will slow people down, because there will inevitably be some who will make faces," recognizes Bruno. All wish to declare these crops to the prefecture or the Ministry of Agriculture confidentially.

This clandestinity, according to them, it is the fault of a single man, José Bové, this "anarchist", "irresponsible", "not even a farmer", who "harasses people who work", and "poisons the public "with the help of the media," which makes our rain and our good weather ", they explode. To say that he is running for the presidential election, when "he should be in prison"! It is "because of him" that people are "suspicious". And they are, indeed. Farmers who sell their produce direct, many in an area that encourages quality production, know this.

"People come to me to have natural products on their plates, they are against GMOs on principle", says Jean, a farmer from the Landes who sells confits, pâtés and foie gras. Are there any in his village? "I don't know. Those who make it don't talk about it, lest it fall on their heads," he replies. Besides being a "big commercial mistake", GMOs are "the best way to make the neighborhood look bad", begins an organic farmer. "The subject is a bit taboo, recognizes Jean, a large farmer in the Landes. In my family, they all wonder, it's normal given the noise there is. But I do not understand this phobia of GMOs. Were there any deaths? "

Fabrice's baby was born three months ago. This corn and kiwi farmer "asked himself questions, as a father." But "everything is marked out", he assures us. Separation distances from neighboring fields, "refuge areas" which will prevent insects from developing resistance. "Maize is a hybrid plant, so there is no risk of dissemination of the resistance gene, which is not the case for rapeseed, which poses many more problems," adds the farmer. Fabrice is not in favor of GMOs en bloc. "For me, this variety is a tool like any other. I don't see things from an ideological point of view, although I am in favor of technical progress as long as the risks are assessed and controlled." In the case of Bt corn, Fabrice is "reassured" by the explanations given by his cooperative, because "the protein (insecticide) is destroyed in the stomach of mammals".

Ultimate argument of all these farmers: Bt corn has been authorized by the authorities, after expertise. "We must trust scientists", they plead in unison. Only Fabrice, the youngest, understands that, after "the contaminated blood and the mad cow, people live with this fear".


source: the Monde.fr

I really like these 2 extracts:
one of the interviewed farmers wrote:But I don't understand this phobia of GMOs. Have there been any deaths?

In other words, we continue to do anything as long as there are no deaths ??? : Evil:
Asbestos, for example, took about 15 years to kill. Do we really have to wait for the first deaths (or deformities or the like) before applying the precautionary principle?

others (near the end) wrote:Trust the scientists

What scientists ????
  • Those, Montsanto employees, who carried out the marketing studies and concluded that the varieties patented by their employer were completely harmless
  • Or the independent scientists presented in the C + documentary and who, by testing the same corn, concluded that its consumption by rats had caused damage to the kidneys and testicles !!!

It is really in tune with the times to hide behind your incompetence and ignorance to do anything !!! : Evil:
And if a scientist told them that it is good to drink petroleum, they would do it ???
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"Anyone who believes that exponential growth can continue indefinitely in a finite world is a fool, or an economist." KEBoulding
little sparrow
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Registration: 30/09/06, 21:23
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by little sparrow » 04/03/07, 11:14

Bonjour,

For a moratorium on GMOs:

http://www.moratoireogm.fr/spip.php?article1

http://www.moratoireogm.fr/spip.php?article2

:!: = urgent !!


cordially :?
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