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What’s In Your Food Could Be Killing You

Posted by Michelle Moquin on October 5th, 2013

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Good morning!

It’s been awhile since I blogged about what we are actually putting in our bellies when we eat. It’s getting harder and harder to make sure that what we eat is actually good for us and not doing us or the environment harm.

And then I was directed to this article, which I am forwarding along to you because it is about your health and the health of the environment. And the killer that is out there,  more like “in there,” attacking our bodies, and the soil, and crops that we ingest to sustain ourselves, is an herbicide called Glyphosate.

And if you aren’t hiding your head in the sand when it comes to your health, then I have no doubt that you won’t be surprised when I tell you that the real perpetrator in this is not the herbicide, as toxic as it is, but the company who produces this deadly substance and sprays it on practically EVERYTHING that grows, is Monsanto.

If you want to read exactly what happens to the plants and our environment, and then what happens to our health, read on. Warning: It is not a pretty story. In fact it is frightening. But if you care about your health and the environment, then I suggest you read and do something to protect you and your family.

50% of Rats Given this Died – Why is it On Your Dinner Plate?

By Dr. Mercola
The first report was recently issued on ambient levels of glyphosate and its major degradation product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in air and rain. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the U.S.

Weekly air particle and rain samples were collected during two growing seasons in agricultural areas in Mississippi and Iowa. Rain was also collected in Indiana. The frequency of glyphosate detection ranged from 60 to 100 percent in both air and rain.

According to the report, as linked on the website Green Med Info:

“The frequency of detection and median and maximum concentrations of glyphosate in air were similar or greater to those of the other high-use herbicides observed in the Mississippi River basin, whereas its concentration in rain was greater than the other herbicides.”

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

I’ve often said that chemical exposure in our environment is a pervasive threat, and the report of the herbicide glyphosate being detected in 60 to100 percent of air and rain samples is a perfect illustration of this sad truth.

Evidence now clearly shows that glyphosate is devastating crops, animal and human health around the world, even when the exposure is restricted to residues leftover in the soil. Clearly, its presence in air and rain water can only add to its destructive force.

Glyphosate—The World’s Most Popular Herbicide…

Genetically engineered crops have vastly increased the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s nonselective broad-spectrum herbicide Roundup, and this product alone is now wreaking unimaginable havoc in our environment. According to Jeffrey Smith with the Institute for Responsible Technology, by 2004 farmers used an estimated 86 percent more herbicides on GM soy fields compared to non-GM fields.

So-called “Roundup Ready” soybean, cotton and corn crops became exceedingly popular because it allows farmers to spray Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide directly onto their fields without harming the crops. Ordinarily, if you were to spray Roundup, or any other glyphosate-based herbicide, onto a plant, it would rapidly die.

Since the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stopped updating its pesticide use database in 2008, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to estimate how much glyphosate is actually used in the US, but the following 2006-2007 market usage estimates were reported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this year:

  • Agricultural market used 180 to 185 million pounds of glyphosate

  • Home and garden market: 5 to 8 million pounds

  • Industry, commerce and government: 13 to 15 million pounds

Ambient Levels of Glyphosate in Air and Rain

The results of the first report on the ambient levels of glyphosate and AMPA in air and rain water were published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in March. The samples were collected during two growing seasons in Mississippi and Iowa.  Glyphosate was detected in 60 to 100 percent of all air and rain samples. The following concentration ranges of glyphosate were found:

  • Air: 0.01 to 9.1 ng/m

  • Rain: 0.1 to 2.5 µg/L

According to the authors:

“It is not known what percentage of the applied glyphosate is introduced into the air, but it was estimated that up to 0.7 percent of application is removed from the air in rainfall. Glyphosate is efficiently removed from the air; it is estimated that an average of 97 percent of the glyphosate in the air is removed by a weekly rainfall ≥ 30 mm.”

The Environmental Dangers of Glyphosate

A couple of years ago, a French court found Monsanto guilty of falsely advertising its herbicide as “biodegradable,” “environmentally friendly” and claiming it “left the soil clean.” The truth is that Roundup is anything BUT environmentally friendly. Monsanto’s own tests showed that only two percent of the herbicide broke down after 28 days, which means it readily persists in the environment!

Glyphosate is the most commonly reported cause of pesticide illness among landscape maintenance workers in California, and researchers have now linked it to Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), a serious plant disease, in many fields around the world. Numerous studies have also shown that glyphosate is contributing not only to the huge increase in SDS, but also to the outbreak of some 40 different plant and crop diseases! It weakens plants and promotes disease in a number of ways, including:

  • Acting as a chelator of vital nutrients, depriving plants of the nutrients necessary for healthy plant function

  • Destroying beneficial soil organisms that suppress disease-causing organisms and help plants absorb nutrients

  • Interfering with photosynthesis, reducing water use efficiency, shortening root systems and causing plants to release sugars, which changes soil pH

  • Stunting and weakening plant growth

The herbicide doesn’t destroy plants directly; instead, it creates a unique “perfect storm” of conditions that activates disease-causing organisms in the soil, while at the same time wiping out plant defenses against those diseases. So the glyphosate not only weakens plants, it actually changes the makeup of the soil and boosts the number of disease-causing organisms, which is becoming a deadly recipe for crops around the globe… A report from 1998 by the Environmental Monitoring & Pest Management Department of Pesticide Regulation on the environmental fate of glyphosate states that:

“Aerial drift of the herbicide will cause injury to nontarget plants… Minute quantities of mist, drip, drift or splash of glyphosate onto nontarget vegetation can cause severe damage or destruction to the plants or other areas on which treatment was not intended.”

So, what exactly is being done to vegetation everywhere, now that both air and rain is clearly contaminated with glyphosate?

Potential Health Hazards of Glyphosate

Usually, whatever toxins lurk in the environment has a tendency to find its way into animals’ bellies and onto your dinner plate, and this holds true for glyphosate as well. Some of the fungi promoted by glyphosate produce dangerous toxins that can end up in the food supply. Some of these have been linked to human toxicosis in Eastern Europe, esophageal cancer in southern Africa and parts of China, joint diseases in Asia and southern Africa, and a blood disorder in Russia.

Additionally:

  • Glyphosate is suspected of causing genetic damage, infertility and cancer.

  • It is also acutely toxic to fish and birds and can kill beneficial insects and soil organisms that maintain ecological balance.

  • Laboratory studies have identified adverse effects of glyphosate-containing products in all standard categories of toxicological testing. In one animal study, rats given 1,000 mg/kg of glyphosate resulted in a 50 percent mortality rate, and skeletal alterations were observed in over 57 percent of fetuses!

  • The surfactant ingredient in Roundup is more acutely toxic than glyphosate itself, and the combination of the two is even more toxic.

A recent report from Earth Open Source has also revealed that Roundup herbicide not only causes birth defects, but that industry regulators have known this for years and did nothing about it. After reviewing industry studies and regulatory documents used to approve Roundup, they noted:

  • Industry (including Monsanto) has known since the 1980s that glyphosate causes malformations in experimental animals at high doses

  • Industry has known since 1993 that these effects could also occur at lower and mid doses

  • The German government has known since at least 1998 that glyphosate causes malformations

The EU Commission’s expert scientific review panel knew in 1999 — and the EU Commission has known since 2002 – that glyphosate causes malformations

What Do We Know about AMPA?

Aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) is a byproduct of the degradation of glyphosate, and no one seems to know what the full environmental- and health impacts might be from this synthetic metabolite. However, according to a 2008 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, AMPA is phytotoxic to plant species, although it’s less active than glyphosate. And the British Pesticide Properties DataBase (PPDB) lists it as being moderately toxic to fish, aquatic invertebrates and algae, and cites “probable liver and kidney toxicant” as a known human health issue.

Aside from those few nuggets, toxicology and safety data is glaringly absent.

This could spell trouble, depending on what the truth is about the health impact of this metabolite, as a previous report by the US Geological Survey, issued in 2007, found that AMPA was detected more frequently than glyphosate, and occurred at similar or higher concentrations than the parent compound.

Genetically Modified Crops May Contain Toxic Roundup Residues

It’s widely known that genetically modified (GM) Roundup Ready crops contain Roundup residues, and a 2009 study demonstrated just how toxic these residues may be to your health…  Even when researchers tested formulations of Roundup that were highly diluted (up to 100,000 times or more) on human cells, the cells died within 24 hours!

They also found damage to cell membranes and DNA, along with an inhibition of cell respiration. Further, the researchers discovered that the mixture of components used as Roundup adjuvants actually amplified the action of the glyphosate. The researchers wrote:

“This work clearly confirms that the adjuvants in Roundup formulations are not inert. Moreover, the proprietary mixtures available on the market could cause cell damage and even death around residual levels to be expected, especially in food and feed derived from Roundup formulation-treated crops.”

Although Roundup isn’t used exclusively on genetically modified (GM) crops, these crops are some of the most prevalent in the US diet. So to drastically reduce your exposure, avoiding GM foods would be an obvious starting point.

How Do You Know if You’re Eating GM Foods?

According to the latest US Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics, about 88 percent of all corn,  90 percent of all canola, and 94 percent all soy grown in the United States is genetically modified in one way or another (not all are the Roundup Ready variety), which means that virtually every processed food you encounter at your local supermarket that does not bear the “USDA Organic” label will contain one or more GM components.

Therefore, if you want to avoid GM foods (which have a variety of inherent health dangers over and above the hazards of Roundup residues), you’ll want to, first and foremost, avoid most processed foods, unless it’s labeled USDA 100% Organic.  You can also avoid GM foods that are not found in processed foods, if you know what to look for. There are currently eight genetically modified food crops on the market:

Soy Sugar from sugar beets
Corn Hawaiian papaya
Cottonseed (used in vegetable cooking oils) Some varieties of zucchini
Canola (canola oil) Crookneck squash

More Tips on How to Decrease Your Exposure to Glyphosate

The potential health ramifications of these world-wide experiments with our food supply, using genetic engineering and vast amounts of toxic chemicals, are frightening to say the least. If you care about the health and future of your family, I strongly urge you to refuse to participate in this destructive trend.

In your own home, you can:

  1. Avoid using glyphosate-containing weed killers on your lawn and garden, and
  2. Buy organic foods to avoid both genetically modified crops and agricultural chemicals like glyphosate

*******

Readers: I realize that for many of you buying organic is not easy or affordable. And it certainly takes effort to grow your own food. I know that many of you have very busy lives and the easy way out is to buy prepared or processed foods. Although, cooking fresh vegetables and salads takes more time, it is usually less expensive, and better for you, than purchasing a lot of packaged foods that has so much bad stuff in their ingredients.

I am no expert nor am I giving advice on what to do, but I do encourage you to spend some time with your family to figure out ways to eat better and live healthier. I encourage you to read more labels and try to eat less but better quality foods. If you can just make a few small changes and then take on more as you can, at least you can begin to do something better and healthier for yourselves and your loved ones. After all, your body is the only one you’ve got.

Given with love

Peace Out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

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michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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19 Responses to “What’s In Your Food Could Be Killing You”

  1. Connie Says:

    The world is just being poisoned one GMO at a time.

  2. LeTa0 Says:

    ago Ozvoxhumana
    You’re assuming a foreign level of familiarity with US domestic politics that isn’t justified.

    All we on foreign shores see is “America has lost the plot”.

    This is unfortunate for those many, many intelligent rational Americans who are as appalled by this nonsense as I am.
    Reply Fave
    ===========================
    LeTa0

    I answered this but as usual the huff ‘moderators” decided to “moderate” it out. I believe they use the moderating system to shape the blog personalities of the posters. By leaving out certain responses they get to project a certain intellectual profile of the poster.

    Either that or they are just incompetent and can’t meet the demand of all the posts they want to moderate so they just chuck a few.
    Cancel

  3. Robert,RT Says:

    This is an interesting development. Obama wants to tame this outfit that was started by one of the other 43 and continued as a school of sadistic assassins, murders, kidnappers, rapists and terrorist.

    The white men in power do not want this to end. http://www.soaw.org/about-the-soawhinsec/what-is-the-soawhinsec

  4. Maricel Says:

    Michelle, this was a very timely article, Palm oil cultivation is destroying vaste swathes of forest and other land, in Indonesia and beyond.

  5. Lilly Says:

    If monsanto is so proud of its GMOs why are they trying so hard to hide them from the public?

  6. Norman Says:

    igh fructose corn syrup is derived from this same gmo source (corn), is it a wonder why recent studies has shown it slows brain activity? Or since its been taken out of most food sources obesecity rates in our children is the same yet diabetes rates have gone down? We will win this!

  7. Laura Says:

    In Canada we eat Monsanto,,, no other alternative we have.
    My friends and I have intestinal problems + others…
    We are ready to dead – congratulation Monsanto.

  8. Robert,RT Says:

    Thanks Michelle, this should be seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFhJg1QHv5s

  9. Andy Says:

    California has a chance to help save the future of our children, vote YES on PROP 37, support the basic human right to know what is in the food.

  10. Reed Says:

    I’ve already seen commercials (here in cali) that are saying to vote NO on prop 37 because the labeling of gmo’s on certain products is deceptive…
    I think thats a monsanto sponsored commercial…

  11. Dani Says:

    Reverse Recall- We don’t want GMO’s! A nationwide effort beginning this weekend, October 5th. ‘Shopping’ in our own homes, kitchen cabinets and refrigerators, gathering GMO/biotech ‘food’ products and returning them to stores we purchased them from, for false or misleading advertising and potential health risks.

  12. Wendy Says:

    We have plenty of qualified scientist to do this work in our universities. How come it takes new drugs 10 years to get to market because safety has to be verified, but they can just do whatever they want to our food and just say, “yeah, FDA, it’s safe, trust us”.

    What they’ve done is not meant to target humans, but we have a biom of our own which evolved along with the natural world. I believe the possibility that we could do harm to ourselves is very real.

  13. Peter Says:

    Hafa adai

    By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Defense & Aerospace Week — NASA’s TRMM satellite data revealed heavy rainfall and banding of thunderstorms around the southern quadrant of System 98W in the northwestern Pacific near Guam and the Marianas Islands. Those are two signs that the low pressure area may be consolidating into a tropical depression.

  14. Health Info Says:

    Stop Chronic Back Pain Without Surgery

    It hurts just to read the latest statistics on back pain. Every year, Americans spend an estimated $86 billion on back pain treatments, including pain pills, injections and surgery. And although about 800,000 surgical procedures are performed each year for back pain, in about 75% of those cases, the surgery doesn’t help.

    That’s why David Hanscom, MD, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, does something that few surgeons would dream of—he talks most of his patients out of having surgery. Instead, he recommends a new six-step approach to treating chronic back pain that he finds far more effective than surgery for most people.

    AN OLD PROBLEM
    In this current environment of health-care reform, expensive yet ineffectual spine surgeries are a hot topic—but even decades ago, questions were being asked about whether too many were being performed.

    For example, back in 1989, Iowa Orthopaedic Journal published “Are We Performing Too Much Spinal Surgery?”…and the 2001 American Academy of Pain Medicine annual meeting presented the session “Failed Back Syndrome: The Disturbing Statistics.” New research continues to raise questions about the associated dangers, including a recent Stanford University study that linked spinal fusion surgery with a higher risk for stroke.

    Dr. Hanscom acknowledged that overzealous surgeons and hospitals looking to maximize profits play a role in how many spine surgeries are performed. However, he said, it’s also important to realize that many surgeons are loath to turn away desperate patients who are begging for help. “These patients can’t work, they can’t sleep, they’re miserable—so they’re willing to try anything, even if there’s no guarantee that surgery will get rid of their pain,” he said.

    WHY SURGERY USUALLY WON’T HELP
    The main reason why spine surgery so often doesn’t work, Dr. Hanscom said, is that an operation can relieve back pain only if there is a structural abnormality, such as a ruptured disk or pinched nerve.

    But the vast majority of chronic, severe back problems don’t fall into that category. Instead, the back pain is nonspecific, rooted in inflammation in the body’s soft tissues (ligaments, tendons, fascia, muscles). “These types of problems cannot be seen on imaging tests—and if you can’t see it, the best surgeon in the world won’t be able to fix it,” said Dr. Hanscom.

    So when the problem is a soft-tissue issue, whether or not the patient undergoes surgery, his pain is likely to go on and on. Understandably, this leads to a lot of frustration (because nothing is helping) and fatigue (because pain is exhausting). A vicious cycle is created—pain leads to frustration and fatigue, and frustration and fatigue exacerbate pain.

    The longer the pain continues, the worse the situation gets. “Long-lasting pain creates neurologic pathways that outlast the root cause,” Dr. Hanscom explained. “Once these pain pathways are formed and remembered, the cycle is established and the pain becomes chronic. So even after the soft-tissue problems are gone, the pain often isn’t. The only way to fix this type of chronic pain is to tackle the central nervous system’s response to pain.”

    TAKING CONTROL
    Dr. Hanscom knows firsthand whereof he speaks. His book Back In Control: A Spine Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain describes his own battle with chronic pain—from tennis elbow, migraine headaches, burning feet syndrome and more—and the surprising strategy that he used to overcome it.

    Based on his personal and professional experience, he has developed a program—called Defined, Organized, Comprehensive Care (DOCC)—that he uses in treating his own patients and in training other surgeons.

    Its premise is that pain is a perception…and that understanding it gives you greater power to gain control over it. “Freedom from pain is not only possible, with the right tools it is probable,” he said.

    Basically, the DOCC approach works by calming down the nervous system and allowing it to heal while also laying down new neurological pathways so the nervous system isn’t trapped in the endless loop of pain signals.

    Dr. Hanscom explained, “It’s not that you simply learn to live with the pain. Instead, your brain stops responding to the pain—so you literally do not feel it.” The DOCC program involves six basic steps…

    Sleep.
    Getting at least eight hours of sleep per night is a cornerstone of the program. “If sleep issues aren’t addressed, nothing else will work,” Dr. Hanscom said. For people who have trouble sleeping due to their pain, prescription sleep medications are an option.

    Stress management.
    Chronic stress creates a cascade of biological events that exacerbate inflammation and sleeplessness, which in turn perpetuate chronic pain. Managing stress requires a two-pronged approach—making time for activities that build up your energy reserves (exercise, hobbies, socializing, spending time alone)…and learning to deal more effectively with aspects of your life that drain your energy (things that make you anxious, angry or unhappy).

    Pain medication.
    If you (or your doctor) have been leery of using pain medication for fear of its potential side effects, it is worth reconsidering this issue. Taking pain medication to achieve short-term relief while you work to resolve your chronic pain problem can help you halt that vicious cycle through which pain begets more pain, Dr. Hanscom said.

    Physical therapy.
    Rehabilitation of soft tissues soothes inflammation and facilitates true healing.

    Goal setting.
    Creating a detailed picture of what you are trying to achieve and devising a plan to work toward that goal helps you decrease anxiety, frustration and depression. This, in turn, calms the central nervous system and eases physical pain.

    Retraining the brain.
    The DOCC program moves people from being reactive to being creative in their lives. Meditation, visualization and creative play are among the primary tools Dr. Hanscom recommends. Particularly helpful is writing, he said.

    Example:
    Write down a situation that bothers you (for instance, “My spouse is always late and it stresses me out”). Then, on paper, examine your thought processes about this situation (such as, “When she’s late, I imagine that she’s been in a terrible accident…or that she just doesn’t care enough about me to be on time”).

    Next, look for errors in your thinking (“It’s highly unlikely that she’s had an accident…and she shows me in many ways every day that she loves me”). Finally, write about more rational ways in which to view the situation (“She’s just not good at budgeting her time. I’ll ask her to meet me 15 minutes earlier than necessary so that, by the time she arrives, we’ll be right on schedule”).

    Even though the problem or problems you write about might not seem to be related to your back pain, the writing exercises essentially help reprogram your nervous system to undo the old pain pathways, allowing your brain to lay down new, positive, pain-free neural pathways.

    Helpful:
    Click here http://www.swedish.org/Services/Pain-and-Headache-Services/Pain-Management-Guide#axzz2OHpMWJuR for a free download of an 82-page booklet called STOMP (Structuring Your Own Management of Pain), which Dr. Hanscom coauthored. It describes in more detail many of the concepts and pain-relieving strategies discussed above—so that you can take control of your pain instead of having it control you.

    Source: David Hanscom, MD, board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon, Swedish Medical Center, Seattle. He is the author of Back In Control: A Spine Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain (Vertus). DrDavidHanscom.com

  15. Francis Says:

    I really can’t understand why these people are willing to poison the planet for more money. Don’t they know that their own family members and friends will be eating this shit too?

  16. Anna of Guam Says:

    Why are we continuing to trash Guam?
    ============================

    During this past weekend, nearly 1,000 volunteers joined together to participate in Guam’s annual Costal Cleanup effort.

    The effort was also joined by the members of the Micronesian Divers Association Treasure Hunt group, who took to the waters of Apra Harbor and brought back trash that people had thoughtlessly thrown into our oceans.

    The coastal cleanup event has taken place for the past 19 years here in Guam, and during that time, literally hundreds of tons of trash has been collected, both on and around Guam.

    During this year’s efforts alone, I would guess that somewhere close to 20 to 30 tons of trash were collected from our jungles, beaches and reefs.

    It would seem that given we have spent this much time and effort each year, for 19 straight years, we would be putting a dent in the amount of trash that we see around our island roads, beaches and reefs. That is obviously not the case, given the vast amounts and types of trash that are collected each and every year.

    Violators galore
    Unfortunately, it is not hard to figure out why we have to continually run these cleanup efforts each year. It is because people who know better choose to continue to dump their trash and junk around the island in our jungles and along our beaches, with impunity.

    In short, no one in law enforcement either has the time or inclination to ticket and arrest these flagrant violators, or for some reason they continue their blight unseen.

    So, without ticketing there is little to no opportunity for prosecution of or penalties for these trash dumpers, and they obviously don’t care about the overall good of our island community.

    It certainly isn’t that laws against this doesn’t exist or that there is a lack of ticket books. My guess is that, in the vast majority of cases, it revolves around people turning and looking the other way when these people dispose of their trash in other than a legal fashion.

    In short, they either don’t pay for or have trash collection at their homes or they refuse to take their trash to the dump. For this group of people, it is less expensive and easier — at least in their minds — to simply throw their trash into the jungle or drop it by the beach in the hopes that either the jungle will overgrow and hide their dirty deed or the ocean will simply wash it away.

    Kills reef, sea life
    Sadly, when it comes to the beaches and the ocean, all it does it wash it out and beneath the surface, where the vast majority of the community can’t see it anymore.

    The main problem with this approach is that it kills our reefs and sea life and, in so doing, begins a destructive cycle of death that is extremely difficult to reverse in a lifetime.

    In our jungles, it is not like they are throwing away biodegradable products, either. Most of what is tossed into our jungles by these people is glass, plastic, aluminum or other non-biodegradable products. Thus, while it may be covered up by jungle growth in a short period of time, it will be there for tens to hundreds of years.

    If your home was either the ocean or the jungle, you most certainly would not want to have someone swinging by your house to dump their trash in your living room, bedroom or kitchen.

    Think about it for a moment. How long would you stand by and allow one of your neighbors or some complete stranger to stop by your home and deposit their trash there?

    My guess is you be taking down their license number and calling the police to track them down and arrest them for illegal dumping, not to mention trespassing and destruction of private property.

    Well, since we are all stake-holders in the overall health of our island community, it is our duty and responsibility to report anyone and everyone we catch illegally dumping their trash and waste products around Guam, whether they’re aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters or complete strangers.

    Only we can clean up Guam and keep it that way, and it is certainly time we did so. Because if we don’t care, who will?

    Esta.

    Lee P. Webber is a former president and publisher of the Pacific Daily News, and has been a resident of Guam since 1968.

  17. Wendy Says:

    Oh, I believe there is tremendous potential for biotech to help feed the world. I just also believe we have a responsibility to make sure we aren’t killing anyone in the process. I was totally pro GMO when I though they were gonna enrich the nutrient content of crops around the world.

    But they made it pesticide resistant! Now we have supper pests, and extra pesticide on our food. And our food makes it’s own poison.

  18. Peaches Says:

    Wendy, GM crops are designed to benefit one or more categories in agriculture:farmers, markets,and/or consumers.Nutrient-boosted GM crops(golden rice)benefits the consumers but poses no benefit to farmers looking for higher yields,nor the markets who are looking for products with consistent characteristics(golden rice may be light-sensitive).

    This is unfavorable for biotech companies to invest money.Pesticide-resistant crops provide to farmers high yields and give markets consistent healthy crops=money.

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