Sec.Vilsack sticks with GMO's-feed the world-Myth

[Guest guest]

From Dr. Janette Sherman:

 

 

Obama's Agricultural Sec Vilsack Mistakenly Pitched

" GMOs-Feed-The-World " to an Audience of Experts

 

Vilsack Mistakenly Pitched " GMOs-Feed-The-World " to an Audience of Experts

 

_http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/vilsack-mistakenly-pitche_b_319

998.html_

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/vilsack-mistakenly-pitche_b_319998.\

html)

 

 

_Jeffrey Smith_ (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith)

 

 

Author and founder of the Institute for Responsible Technology

Posted: October 13, 2009 11:22 PM

 

_Vilsack Mistakenly Pitched " GMOs-Feed-The-World " to an Audience of

Experts--Oops_

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/vilsack-mistakenly-pitche_b_319998.\

html)

 

 

WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?

 

 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was getting lots of appreciative

applause and head nods from the packed hall at the Community Food Security

Coalition conference today, held in Des Moines, Iowa. He described the USDA's

plans to improve school nutrition, support local food systems, and work with

the Justice Department to review the impact of corporate agribusiness on

small farmers. But then, with time for only one more question, I was handed the

microphone.

 

" Mr. Secretary, may I ask a tough question on GMOs? "

 

He said yes.

 

" The American Academy of Environmental Medicine this year said that

genetically modified foods, _according to animal studies_

(http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showArticle/?objectID=2989) , are

causally linked to

accelerated aging, dysfunctional immune regulation, organ damage,

gastrointestinal distress, and immune system damage. _A study came out by the

Union

of Concerned Scientists_

(http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/failure-\

to-yield.html) confirming what we all know,

that genetically modified crops, on average, reduce yield. _A USDA report _

(http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib11/eib11.pdf) from 2006 showed that

farmers don't actually increase income from GMOs, but many actually lose

income. And for the last several years, the United States has been forced to

spend _$3-$5 billion per year_

(http://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=6lQJZLPalqo= & tabid=390\

) to prop up the prices of the GM

crops no one wants.

 

 

 

" When you were appointed Secretary of Agriculture, many of our mutual

friends--I live in Iowa and was proud to have you as our governor--assured me

that you have an open mind and are very reasonable and forward thinking. And

so I was very excited that you had taken this position as Secretary of

Agriculture. And I'm wondering, have you ever heard this information? Where do

you get your information about GMOs? And are you willing to take a

delegation in D.C. to give you this hard evidence about how GMOs have actually

failed us, that they've been put onto the market long before the science is

ready, and it's time to put it back into the laboratory until they've done

their homework. "

 

 

 

The room erupted into the loudest applause of the morning.

 

Secretary Vilsack knew at once what kind of crowd he was dealing with. Or

so I thought.

 

He said he was willing to visit with folks, to read studies, to learn as

much as he possible can. He pointed out that there are lots of studies, not

necessarily consistent, even conflicting. He said he was in the process of

working on a set of regulations and had brought proponents and opponents

together to search for common ground. And he was looking to create a

regulatory system with sufficient assurances and protections.

 

At this point in his answer, Secretary Vilsack, who has a history of

favoring GMOs--and even appears to be more pro-GMO than his Bush administration

predecessors--was trying to sound even handed. Then he made a tragic

mistake.

 

After a slight pause, he added in a warm tone, " I will tell you that the

world is very concerned about the ever-increasing population of the globe

and the capacity to be able to feed all of those people. "

 

Moans, groans, hisses, even boos. Not rowdy, mind you. But clearly

agitated.

 

You see, the people in the room were among the top experts at ACTUALLY

feeding the world. They included numerous PhDs who had spent their careers

looking deeply into the issue. Among those present were several of the authors

of the authoritative _IAASTD report_ (http://www.agassessment.org/) . The

International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology

for Development, is the most comprehensive evaluation of world agriculture

ever. It was a three-year collaborative effort with 900 participants and 110

countries, and was co-sponsored by all the majors, e.g. the World Bank,

FAO, UNESCO, WHO. The behemoth effort evaluated the last 50 years of

agriculture, and prescribed the methods that were now needed to meet the

development and sustainability goals of reducing hunger and poverty, improving

nutrition, health and rural livelihoods, and facilitating social and

environmental sustainability.

 

And GMOs was not one of those needed methods! It was clear to the experts

that the current generation of GMOs did not live up to the hype

continuously broadcast by biotech companies and their promotional East Coast

wing--the

federal government.

 

In fact, the night before Vilsack addressed the conference, the same

audience heard a keynote by Hans Herren, the co-chairman of the IAASTD report,

during which he reiterated that biotechnology was not up to the task. And

this morning, Hans Herren was in the room when Vilsack tried to play the

feed-the-world card. Bad move.

 

Vilsack responded to the crowd's rejection by saying, " And well you all

can disagree with this, but I am just telling you this. As I travel the

world, I am just telling you what people are telling me. They are very

concerned

about this. "

 

Thus, he distanced himself from the contentious, and fallacious, argument.

He was just reporting what others had told him.

 

And that may in fact be his problem with understanding the serious health

and environmental dangers of GMOs in general, if he is simply, as he says,

repeating what others--Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont--have told him over and

over again.

 

It's true that I have mutual friends of Tom Vilsack who like and respect

him and believe him to be reasonable and thoughtful. I have seen this

myself, but not on the GMO issue.

 

Perhaps the reaction of the experts this morning will help to jar him out

of his GMOs-feed-the-world mindset. Unfortunately, he is now deeply

immersed in the second of this week's food conferences here in Des Moines, the

World Food Prize. It features the major GMO promoters from around the world,

including Bill Gates (who gives tens of millions to GMO development in

Africa), and top executives of DuPont and Syngenta. Expect to hear constant

chatter about how GMOs are the solution to world hunger which, unfortunately,

may undue any of the restructuring that this mornings run in with reality

may have awakened.

 

In the meantime, if there are Q & A sessions at meetings where Secretary

Vilsack is speaking or attending, I'll do my best to get to a mic.

 

International bestselling author and filmmaker Jeffrey M. Smith is the

executive director of the _Institute for Responsible Technology_

(http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/Home/index.cfm) . His first book,

_Seeds of

Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the

Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating_

(http://www.chelseagreen.com/index/bookstore/item/seeds_of_deception/) , is the

world's bestselling and #1

rated book on GMOs. His second, _Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks

of Genetically Engineered Foods_

(http://www.chelseagreen.com/index/bookstore/item/genetic_roulette/) , documents

65 health risks of the GM foods

Americans eat everyday. Both are distributed by _Chelsea Green Publishing_

(http://www.chelseagreen.com/) .