Save our Seeds

Non-GMO Project Verified has become the fastest growing food eco-label in North America, as sales of certified products hit $1bn in 2011, according to findings unveiled at Organic Monitor’s Sustainable Foods Summit in San Francisco last month. The $1bn figure is from SPINS, a market research and consulting firm for the Natural Products Industry. However, it does not include foods sold at Whole Foods or Walmart, so is likely to underestimate the total sales figure by a wide margin – especially considering that Whole Foods’ 365 private label range is Non-GMO certified.

"Monsanto's GM maize trials have been going on for several seasons now in various locations around the country. It took a rare scientist in one monitoring team to point out the fact that planting of the herbicide-tolerant GM maize took place without permission from competent authorities! What is more damning is that there is no evidence of any discussion or action by the regulators on this finding. This clearly demonstrates that the regulators are unconcerned about biosafety violations or contamination and are protecting and supporting offenders like Monsanto", said Kavitha Kuruganti, Member, Coalition for a GM-Free India.

Biotech companies should be allowed to grow genetically modified crops in some EU countries if they agree to avoid sales into the countries that want to ban them, a draft compromise proposal drawn up by Danish EU diplomats shows. The compromise is designed to break a deadlock in talks among member states on draft EU rules to allow them to decide individually whether or not to ban GM cultivation - a proposal by the European Commission in 2010 that has made little headway so far.

French food companies can label products as ”GMO Free” to indicate they contain no or trace amounts of genetically modified crops, the government said. Rules will take effect July 1 for producers that want to label foods as biotechnology-free after ministers signed a decree yesterday, according to a joint e-mailed statement from four ministries today. Existing regulations require labels to indicate the presence of genetically modified organisms, according to the statement.

After 13 years of negotiations, Japan has approved its first shipment of genetically-modified Rainbow papayas from Hawaii. ”The fact that the Japanese have tested it to the nth degree and evaluated its food and environmental safety proves it’s a good product,” said Rod Yonemura, consultant to the 160-member Hawaii Papaya Industry Association based in Hilo, capital of Hawaii’s Big Island. The Dec. 5 shipment consisted of 1,248 5-pound cases for sale and 32 cases for sampling at Coastco Japan, Yonemura said.

U.S. biotech firm Monsanto said on Tuesday it does not plan to sell its genetically modified maize MON810 in France this year, nor after, even though the country’s highest court overturned a 3-year ban in November. “Monsanto considers that favorable conditions for the sale of the MON810 in France in 2012 and beyond are not in place,” the company said in a statement, adding that it had told the French authorities about its intentions.

Golden Rice, a prestigious agrobiotech industry project, may soon be placed on the markets after more than ten years of development. But it is still highly questionable if this rice really can help defeat vitamin A deficiency. This has been shown by a new Testbiotech report prepared for the consumer organisation foodwatch. The rice is called ’Golden’ because of the yellow colour of its kernels. It is supposed to demonstrate that genetically engineered plants can substantially help fight hunger and malnutrition – so far without success.

The French government said on Friday it would uphold its ban on a strain of genetically modified maize developed by U.S. biotech firm Monsanto in 2012, even though France’s highest court overturned the moratorium last year. The ecology and agriculture ministers said in a statement they would maintain the ban on MON810, an insect-resistant strain of maize which is sold in several European countries, after meeting with farming groups.

Spanish researchers have confirmed that the weedkiller glyphosate applied to GM crops can leach into groundwater. EU Member States are due to meet with the Commission this week to discuss approving two more controversial GM crops designed to use more of the chemical routinely.

A weed resistant to a widely used chemical to protect crops has spread for the first time to Western Canada, the country’s grain and canola belt. Kochia weed turned up in three fields in Southern Alberta last August, despite the use of glyphosate, and Canadian government scientists have now confirmed that it is resistant to the farm chemical, seed company Monsanto Canada said on Wednesday. [...] The southern Alberta case is unique because it does not appear to have developed in a field where farmers regularly grew Roundup Ready crops