Dear OCA members & associates,

The month of May has come with the rains….may the rains be a blessing (and not a curse!) and with it all good things….

• Our consistent and determined efforts to continue educating the public on WHY they should consume agro-ecological and organically grown foods, free from toxic pesticides, received a major boost recently: None other than the world authority in health and related matters, WHO: click here for  more http://ecowatch.com/2015/04/06/monsanto-who-glyphosate/
• WHO has now confirmed that, in addition to all the other harmful effects of Glyphosate(Roundup pesticide/herbicide) from harming the soil, to harming plants and animals, there is sufficient scientific evidence to re-classify GLPHOSATE as a probable carcinogen, that is a CANCER causing to human as well.  Click here for more… http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(15)70134-8/fulltext
• As early as 2012, when the Seralini study was published in the Food and Chemical Toxicology journal (drawing the world’s attention to the harm from GMOs and RoundUp ready patented seeds) and retracted due to biotech pressure to hide the truth-  and later, after an apology from the publishers,  it was republished in 2014, in the Environmental Sciences Europe journal…click here for http://www.cornucopia.org/2014/06/seralini-study-toxic-effects-gmos-glyphosate-republished/
• We have consistently tried to warn and educate YOU, our members(and the general public) on the harmful effects of consuming chemical laden/pesticide grown foods:
• And here some key information about pesticide use that you may wish to know providing evidence that, centrally to what biotech lobyyist are misforming the public, with the advent of GMOs, there is INCREASED USE of pesticides, not less as they claim!
• Statistics compiled by Chuck Benbrook, a research professor at Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. Benbrook discovered that:
  • Overall, GE technology drove up herbicide use by 527 million pounds (about 11 percent) between 1996 (when Roundup Ready crops were initially released) and 2011
  • Herbicide use dropped by about two percent between 1996 and 1999, but shortly thereafter, as weeds began developing resistance against the chemical, application rates skyrocketed
  • Rapidly increasing weed resistance is driving up the volume of herbicide needed by about 25 percent annually. The recent approvals of 2,4-D and dicamba resistant GE crops may drive it up by another 50 percent, according to research published inEnvironmental Sciences Europe
  • In 2002, glyphosate use on Roundup Ready soybeans rose by 21 percent. Overall, American farmers increased their use of glyphosate by 19 million pounds that year
  • By 2011, farmers growing Roundup Ready crops (corn, soy, and cotton) used 24 percent more Roundup than farmers planting non-GE versions of the same crop, because by that time, glyphosate-resistance had become the norm. Farmers also began resorting to older, more toxic herbicides like 2,4-D.
  • Significantly, contrary to what the biotech lobbyist are telling the public, that these pesticides/herbicides are safe, evidence is mounting that they are HARMFUL and may be a key contributor to the increasing CHRONIC DISEASES….worldwide.

• As noted by Dr. Joseph E. Pizzorno,founding president of naturopathic Bastyr University and former advisor to President Clinton on complementary and alternative medicines, "toxins in the modern food supply are now a major contributor to, and in some cases the cause of, virtually all chronic diseases." David Bellinger, a professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, estimates Americans have lost a total of 16.9 million IQ points due to exposure to organophosphate pesticides.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has now acknowledged that glyphosate is a human carcinogen, and compelling research shows thatbeesandbutterflies—critical food crop pollinators—are disappearing at alarming rates because of the toxic pesticides associated with these GMO monocultures. Glyphosate has also been found to be highly toxic to the soil surrounding a plant's roots (the rhizosphere), woodland plants, amphibians, fish, aquatic environments, and mammals causing reproductive problems and disrupting the endocrine system.

• Here is one more paper to show increased pesticide use with genetically engineered crops:

Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the U.S. -- the first sixteen years

Charles M Benbrook

• Correspondence: Charles M BenbrookThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Author Affiliations

Environmental Sciences Europe2012,24:24 doi:10.1186/2190-4715-24-24

Published: 28 September 2012

Abstract

Background

Genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant and insect-resistant crops have been remarkable commercial successes in the United States. Few independent studies have calculated their impacts on pesticide use per hectare or overall pesticide use, or taken into account the impact of rapidly spreading glyphosate-resistant weeds. A model was developed to quantify by crop and year the impacts of six major transgenic pest-management traits on pesticide use in the U.S. over the 16-year period, 1996–2011: herbicide-resistant corn, soybeans, and cotton;Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)corn targeting the European corn borer;Btcorn for corn rootworms; andBtcotton for Lepidopteron insects.

Results

Herbicide-resistant crop technology has led to a 239 million kilogram (527 million pound) increase in herbicide use in the United States between 1996 and 2011, whileBtcrops have reduced insecticide applications by 56 million kilograms (123 million pounds). Overall, pesticide use increased by an estimated 183 million kgs (404 million pounds), or about 7%.

Conclusions

Contrary to often-repeated claims that today’s genetically-engineered crops have, and are reducing pesticide use, the spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds in herbicide-resistant weed management systems has brought about substantial increases in the number and volume of herbicides applied. If new genetically engineered forms of corn and soybeans tolerant of 2,4-D are approved, the volume of 2,4-D sprayed could drive herbicide usage upward by another approximate 50%. The magnitude of increases in herbicide use on herbicide-resistant hectares has dwarfed the reduction in insecticide use onBtcrops over the past 16 years, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Keywords:

Herbicide-resistant crops; Herbicide-tolerant soybeans; Glyphosate; 2,4-D;Btcrops; Genetically engineered corn; Roundup Ready crops; Biotechnology and pesticide use; Glyphosate resistant weeds.