The European Union has approved imports of Monsanto’s genetically modified soy bean (MON 89788 ) for the next 10 years.

The imports will be used for food and animal feed rather than for growing. Monsanto’s GM soy is resistant to certain herbicides, which means that farmers can spray the herbicides over their crop and it will kill everything apart from the soy. The herbicides cause severe health problems for people living near the soy plantations in Latin America, resulting in them having to leave their homes in many cases.

Around 90% of the world’s soy bean production is fed to animals. An increasing amount of the crop is now genetically modified. We have no idea how safe it is eat these crops; although we do know they result in adverse health affects in animals.

An interview with Dr Michael Antoniou, a reader in medical and molecular genetics at King’s College London, revealed that feeding animals GM crops such as potatoes, soy and maize resulted in intestinal lesions, liver cell changes, premature death in the young and problems with the kidneys and blood system.

The International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture have just released their ‘Manifesto on Climate Change and the Future of Food Security‘.

In the report, the impacts of growing animal feeds on the environment are explained:-

“Export-oriented countries such as Argentina and Brazil export millions of tons of GM soybean cultivated under monocultures to Europe to feed intensively reared and highly subsidized animals. This contributes to soil erosion and social desertification of the countryside and allows the maintenance of a highly unhealthy and energy-inefficient meat-based diet”.

The report also covers the combined impact of animal feeds and agrofuels on the Amazon:-

“In Brazil, vast swathes of the Amazon forest have already been cleared for soybean cultivation for cattlefeed. Encouraging soybean biodiesel would bring further devastation to the Amazon… Also, as farmers in the U.S. have switched from planting soy to planting corn, Brazil is trying to make up this difference in soy production and it is doing this by clearing more of the Amazon”.

And livestock’s impact on climate change:-

“Industrial agriculture contributes directly to climate change through emissions of the major greenhouse gases - Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O)… Methane and nitrous oxide are particularly powerful contributors to climate change as the global warming potential of methane is 21 times, and of nitrous oxide 310 times, that of CO2. Since 1970 the emission of these greenhouse gases has increased by 40 percent and 50 percent respectively… In particular ruminants produce methane via enteric fermentation which increases when cattle are fed intensive feed. At 32 percent this is the second largest source of emissions [from agriculture]“.

The report goes on to explain how diets are changing and what this means for our health:-

“The nutritional transition based on meat, dairy and fats increase the incidence of food related diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and strokes. As the South adopts more western-style diets, such diseases are on the rise”.

This report, and the many others which have highlighted the impact of the modern meat and dairy industry - from deforestation, climate change, food security and health - makes it abundantly clear that our chances of creating a healthy and sustainable future are minimal so long as this industry continues.

Contributors to the report included many pro-vegetarian experts such as world-renowned scientist and environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva; Frances Moore Lappe, author of Diet for a Small Planet; Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy, Institute of Health Science and government advisor and Caroline Lucas of the Green Party.

Barry O’Neil, president of the World Organisation for Animal Health said recently that livestock farmers need access to genetically modified crops if they are to keep up with the demands for meat.

He spoke at a meeting in London last week and acknowledged that the increased demand for food from a world population expected to rise by 50% by 2020 was of serious concern to farmers.  Already a third of crops are grown for animal feed, so there needs to be a new solution.

“I think we are entering a new phase, dominated by environmental issues, climate change and rising demand. By 2050 we will need twice as much food, produced from less land and with less water and more pressures around environmental sustainability. These are real challenges we need to get our heads around, and I think we need GM crops to help us” he said.

Jim McLaren, president of National Farmers Union Scotland, is also pressing for more GM foods. He believes that one of the most significant ways of stabilising and reducing feed costs is the relaxation of EU strict rules on the import of GM crops - mainly soya and maize, from the US.

Whilst many consumers oppose GM crops, few realise they are already eating animals fed on GM feeds anyway, since almost all soy grown in Argentina and the US has been modified, and the same is rapidly becoming so in Brazil. The soy is imported to feed chickens, cattle, and pigs prior to slaughter. Currently there is no mandatory requirement for shops to label meat produced from GM-fed animals.

Around 60% of the maize and 30% of the soya used in animal feed by dairy and pig farmers is GM. This means that most of the non-organic milk, dairy products and pork being sold in the UK is from GM-fed animals. (33)

Giant biotech multinationals and livestock farmers are using the rise in demand for food as an excuse to push GM. Let’s all make more efficient use of the world’s food by eating it ourselves instead of to animals: go vegan.

300 women activists invaded the Sao Paulo offices of Monsanto today.

The invasion was a protest to the Brazilian government’s decision last month to give clearance for two varieties of GMO corn for commercial use.

La Via Campesina, an organisation that fights for the rights of peasants and small farmer organizations, said “the authorization of these varieties shows once more that the government favors agribusiness and big foreign companies, abandoning land reform and family farming.”

GM soy has been legal in Brazil for some time, most of which is fed to animals in the West. No doubt the GM corn will be used in the same way. However, studies have shown that animals actively avoid eating GM crops. When they have eaten it they have suffered stomach lesions, diseased livers and kidneys, intestinal damage and many have died from toxic reactions. So far, we have no idea what happens when someone eats the meat of an animal fed GM crops.

The list of negative impacts of the GM industry is endless. Health risks are not just associated with eating GM crops - working with the crops or simply living nearby also affects health. Nearly 100 people living close to a GM corn field in the Philippines suffered from headaches, dizziness, extreme stomach pain, vomiting, chest pains and fever. People working with GM cotton have suffered allergies and skin erruptions.

Friends of the Earth International released a report last month titled ‘Who benefits from GM crops‘. The report reveals that GM crops have caused an increase in pesticide use and still have made no impact on poverty and hunger in developing countries.

“The biotech industry is telling Africans that we need GM crops to tackle the food needs of our population. But how can we believe such statements when the majority of GM crops are used to feed the animals of rich countries, produce industrial products like agrofuels, and overall don’t yield more than conventional crops?”, said Nnimmo Bassey of Friends of the Earth Nigeria.

Considering the vast majority of GM crops are fed to animals, the meat industry has to take some responsibility for fuelling the development of GM. If there weren’t all the animals to feed, would there still be the need to grow crops so intensively? If there weren’t all the animals to feed, couldn’t we then concentrate on getting the food to people who need it?