Bans on some GM foods starting to happen!

[Yowbarb]

...

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ruled in 2009 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had approved Monsanto's genetically modified sugar beets without adequate environmental study.

Sugar beets account for over half of the nation's sugar supply. But conventional sugar beet seeds remain widely available and environmentalists filing suit said the judge's decision should not significantly affect sugar production.

White's decision on Friday to impose the ban did not apply to crops already planted or harvested. It stems from a lawsuit brought by environmentalists over Monsanto sugar beets engineered to be resistant to the weed-killer Roundup.

Roundup is also manufactured by Monsanto and was sold to farmers together with the genetically altered sugar beet seeds.

"It's a victory for farmers, for the environment and for the public," said George Kimbrell, a senior staff attorney for the Center for Food Safety, plaintiffs in the case.

Environmentalists have argued that the "Roundup Ready" crops have increased the use of herbicides and herbicide- resistant weeds.

Monsanto has claimed in court papers that revoking the government's approval of its genetically modified seed could cost the company and its customers some $2 billion in 2011 and 2012.

Agriculture Department spokesperson Caleb Weaver said the USDA was reviewing the judge's order "to determine appropriate next steps."

FULL IMPLICATIONS UNKNOWN

A Monsanto representative referred reporters to Duane Grant, an Idaho sugar beet farmer and chairman of the Snake River Sugar cooperative.

"Before planting next spring's 2011 crop, clearly we are going to have to understand all of the implications of the judge's ruling, and what might be open to us," Grant said.

He said that since White's decision did not apply to sugar beets already planted or harvested, "really there is no immediate impact on sugar availability or cost to the consumer."

Sugar beets make up a little over half of the U.S. sugar crop, and 95 percent of sugar beets come from Roundup ready seed, Grant said.

The Center for Food Safety has countered that farmers can easily go back to using conventional sugar beet seeds, which were widely used as recently as two years ago.

Most U.S. sugar beets are planted in March, April and May, he said.

The government has valued the sugar beet crop, which is largely grown in 11 states, the bulk of them in the Midwest, at $1.335 billion for 2007-2008.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a separate federal judge's ruling revoking the USDA's approval of Monsanto's genetically modified alfalfa until a full environmental review was completed.

(Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Tom Doggett in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney)
 
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre67d082-us-usa-court-sugarbeets/ 

[1969quartz0]

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I hope we can stop the rest of their modified toxic waste they call food.

[Linda]

I hope this continues to be a process going forward. Thanks Barb

Linda

[noproblemo2]

Makes me happy that I am growing as much of our own food that I can to include our postatoes.

[Yowbarb]

I hope this continues to be a process going forward. Thanks Barb

Linda

Linda I hope so I am thinking our new Federal court will be forward looking. My former son in law irom Engliand told me they wont allow this GM junk in the European Union coujtries... hope that is still true. He said the EU looks down on the USA in some ways for being backwards and destructive on the issue of GM foods.
Late one night I was in the mood to google and go back and back and back. I found out that Japanese scientists had traced back a dangerous and sometimes fatal Killer T Cell body reaction, traced it back to guess what - genetically modified foods. I was fascinated. This was about 2005. What I hadn't know until then: Some of our foods ar sliced genetically with things like rat cells and bacteria cells. The ones that have bacteria for sure some people just cannot handle it... probably one cause of increased allergies and asthma. gives me the heebie jeebies. So I am VERY glad when some Judge hands their hat back to the big food giants. And shows them the door.

[Linda]

Thanks for that info Barb, seems other countries are wise to this but until we stop allowing big corp to run the FDA we can't clean things up. I am hoping this is a step forward in that direction. The frightening thing is GMO soy and corn are in a huge percentage of foods so they do the damage behind the scenes so to speak. Most do not realize these frankenfoods are in everything packaged and processed, thus the rise in illness.

Linda

[Lori]

The idea is to lower the standard here in the US to third world status.  There are so many people who are struggling to loose weight here.  We exercise more then any other nation in the world. And yet we are one of the most obese nations in the world.  When I was in Saudi Arabia while pregnant with Daniel. I actually lost weight.  My pregnancy actually was easier then my first one.  They have specific dietary laws that seemed to work for me. 

One of my favorite meals was a large flat bread baked in brick ovens, and pule a bean like spread.  It was actually much like refried beans and some Arabic seasons.  The ovens were open air and usually smelled heavenly.   The cost actually for each meal was about .75.   

France even looks down on workouts.    I kind of like that. 

[Yowbarb]

Lori, so true! When people are consuming natural foods
A lot of people can you can even eat more than plenty, and not be fat.
Back in the day, when I was doing that exclusively I ate all I wanted of natural whole grains, certain whole beans cooked from scratch, some goat dairy products such as powdered goat milk, whole goat milk, aged yogurt, nuts, carob powder soy, maple etc, lots of green daily and root vegetables. apples etc. Occasionally I would have scallops because my man was bringing them home. Some perk from his job or a co worker.
Millet and rice etc were my staples... later found a bit too much carbs for me but was slim anyway...
Thanks, Yowbarb

[Lori]

Fatir (Flat Bread) is made with toasted barley flour, not widely available in the United States. I would love to find some.  I may do a search and see if I can find it.

[Yowbarb]

Fatir (Flat Bread) is made with toasted barley flour, not widely available in the United States. I would love to find some.  I may do a search and see if I can find it.

I used to purchase something like that called Chapati bread. It is an Indian form of natural unyeasted bread.
It's probably not as good as what you got made fresh over ther, but it is good,
All The Best,
Yowbarb    BTW we have a newTopic Survival Recipes you can post it there...

Indian Chapati Bread

[Linda]

I will have to ask my friend if she makes the Fatir, she's Lebanese and cooks a lot of their ethnic foods. Sounds like something I would like. When we go to the ethnic store they sell a lot of breads, I will have to try some, I also love the huge bins of mixed nuts and seeds with seasonings. YUM

Linda

[Lori]

Your making me drool... I love nuts of any kind.  I cant get into seeds that much.  Sesame seeds just don't go for me.  I do like roasted sunflower seeds.

[Linda]

Most of the seeds are pumpkin and sunflower, its a great mix, they even have a hot mix, my husband likes that. The problem with that store is it makes you hungry so you over buy!  Of course I am sure that is their intention.

Linda

[Yowbarb]

Some excerpts from this article. Some of the legal issues in the US are outlined below.
I am sure there must be more court battles going on .... Yowbarb
...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food   Wikipedia:  Genetically Modified Food

Genetically modified foods (GM foods or GMO foods) are foods derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques. These techniques are much more precise[1] than mutagenesis (mutation breeding) where an organism is exposed to radiation or chemicals to create a non-specific but stable change. Other techniques by which humans modify food organisms include selective breeding; plant breeding, and animal breeding, and somaclonal variation.

GM foods were first put on the market in 1996. Typically, genetically modified foods are transgenic plant products: soybean, corn, canola, rice, and cotton seed oil. Animal products have also been developed, although as of July 2010 none are currently on the market.[2] In 2006 a pig was controversially[3][4] engineered to produce omega-3 fatty acids through the expression of a roundworm gene.[5] Researchers have also developed a genetically-modified breed of pigs that are able to absorb plant phosphorus more efficiently, and as a consequence the phosphorus content of their manure is reduced by as much as 60%.[6]

Critics have objected to GM foods on several grounds, including safety issues,[7] ecological concerns, and economic concerns raised by the fact these organisms are subject to intellectual property law.

Legal issues in the US

Alfalfa

In 2005, after completing a 28-page Environmental Assessment (EA)[37] the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) granted Roundup Ready Alfalfa (RRA) nonregulated status.[38] In 2006, the Center for Food Safety (and others) challenged this deregulation in the California Northern District Court[39] The District Court ruled that the USDA's EA did not address two issues concerning RRA's effect on the environment [40] and in 2007, required the USDA to complete a much more extensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Until the EIS was completed, they banned further planting of RRA.[41] The USDA proposed a partial deregulation of RRA but this was also rejected by the District Court.[39] Planting of RRA was halted. Monsanto (and others) appealed in 2010 to the US Supreme Court. In June 2010, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the District Court that the USDA was required to complete an EIS before deregulating RRA. However the Supreme Court overturned the District Court decision to ban planting RRA nationwide as there was no evidence of irreparable injury. They ruled that the USDA could partially deregulate RRA before an EIS was completed.[39] The USDA chose not to allow partial deregulation as the EIS was almost complete. Their 2,300 page EIS was published in December 2010.[42] It concluded that RRA would not affect the environment. After a comment period the USDA deregulated RRA in January 2011 and planting resumed.[43] A new lawsuit by the Center for Food Safety (and others) to stop further development of Roundup Ready alfalfa was filed against USDA in March 2011.[44]

Sugar beets

Between 2009 and 2011, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California considered the case involving the planting of genetically modified sugar beets.[45] This case involves Monsanto's breed of pesticide-resistant sugar beets.[46] Earlier in 2010, Judge Jeffrey S. White allowed the planting of GM sugar beets to continue, but he also warned that this may be blocked in the future while an environmental review was taking place. On 13 August 2010, Judge White ordered a halt to the planting of the genetically modified sugar beets in the US. He indicated that "the Agriculture Department had not adequately assessed the environmental consequences before approving them for commercial cultivation." The decision was the result of a lawsuit organised by the Center for Food Safety, a US non-governmental organization that is a critic of biotech crops.[47] On the 25th February 2011, a federal appeals court for the Northern district of California in San Francisco overturned a previous ruling by Judge Jeffrey S. White to destroy juvenile GM sugar beets, ruling in favor of Monsanto, the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and four seed companies. The court concluded that " The Plaintiffs have failed to show a likelihood of irreparable injury. Biology, geography, field experience, and permit restrictions make irreparable injury unlikely." [48] In February 2011, The USDA allowed commercial planting of GM sugar beet under closely controlled conditions.[49][50]

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