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the journal Weed Science reports that a noxious weed has already developed resistance to 2,4-D in Nebraska. Waterhemp has become a major weed problem in U.S. Midwest agriculture, already having established resistance to five other herbicide groups before 2,4-D.
2,4-D (2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) is a broadleaf herbicide that has been used since the 1940’s, with the notorious history of being an
ingredient
in Agent Orange during Vietnam. It’s no surprise that the chemical was discovered as part of an effort during World War II to develop chemical weapons.
Biotech firms are working feverishly to get their genetically modified 2,4-D-resistant corn, soybeans, and cotton authorized for commercial sale in the U.S, with some varieties already being considered for “nonregulated status” by the USDA. Use of these GM crops would of
course boost the use of 2,4-D, since the herbicide would be used in mass quantities on the resistant crops. This means big profits for corporations such as Dow and Monsanto that control the herbicide and seed economy. Dow is slated to have the first 2,4-D-resistant crop ready for market, and is also a big maker of 2,4-D products.
With glyphosate superweeds taking over fields, the plan is to move on to other herbicides that are more toxic. When Dow’s 2,4-D resistant crops are approved for use, we can look forward to millions of pounds of 2,4-D being applied across the land in addition to glyphosate. And as weeds develop resistance to 2,4-D we can rest assured that the biotech companies are working on the next genetically-modified answer.
Read more at http://www.realfarmacy.com/dichlorophenoxyacetic-acid/#ZvjmJ1GlWIGmLtGR.99
“It appears there is a direct correlation between GMOs and autism.” --Arden Anderson, MD, PhD, MPH
Physician Jennifer Armstrong admits, “Twenty years ago, I didn’t even know what the word autism meant. It was rare.” But then something shifted. Whether it was the food, medicine, environment, or some combination, by 2008, an astounding 1 in 54 boys suffered from autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the US [1]. What is it that is damaging the health and well-being of so many of our children? Don Huber, PhD, professor emeritus from Purdue University, has an idea.
In October 2011, Dr. Huber gave a talk in Germany about the physiological, neurological, and behavioral symptoms of pigs, cows, and rats fed genetically modified (GM) feed. After his lecture, a physician and autism specialist approached him and said, “The symptoms you describe are exactly what we are finding in our autistic children.”
The animals in those studies were fed the same GM soy and corn eaten by children and adults in the US. Both crops are outfitted with bacterial genes that allow them to survive being sprayed with herbicide, which kills plants. As a result, higher residues of toxic weed killer end up inside our food. In addition, some GM corn varieties have an even more unsettling characteristic: their inserted genes produce an insect-killing poison called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin in every cell—and in every bite. Although the biotech seed companies like Monsanto claim that their genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are harmless, that’s not what the independent scientists are finding.
This is so interesting...
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Agitated, antisocial animals
When Dr. Huber visited an ongoing research project utilizing rats, he said those animals fed non-GMO feed were “as passive as can be. You can take them out. You can put them on your lap. Treat them almost like a pet cat.” Not so with the rats eating genetically engineered food: “You can hardly catch the rats that have received the GMO feed for a month and a half to two months,” he said. “They go off by themselves. They’re irritated. Crawl up the cage. . . . [They] don’t get along with each other.”
Farmers are reporting the same thing with pigs raised on GMO corn. According to Dr. Huber, a farmer told him that “his pigs just seem to be always irritated. They can’t get along with the other pigs.” Veterinarian Don Skow described similar odd behavior in the pigs of his client. “They would get cannibalistic. They would consume each other—ear biting and tail biting.” And when put in nurseries after weaning, he says, some “would get a condition like Alzheimer’s. They would lose the ability to know where the feed was. A lot of them would die.” Although many of these odd behaviors had been dismissed as normal stress responses for confined animals, when farmers switched to non-GMO feed and the problems went away, the real cause became obvious.
Similar antisocial patterns that Huber described were observed by a Dutch college student more than a decade ago when comparing mice fed GMO or non-GMO soy and corn. He wrote, “The mice fed on GM food seemed less active while in their cages. The differences in activity between the two cages grew as the experiment progressed.” The differences were most striking when he moved the mice to weigh them: “The mice from the GM cage were noticeably more distressed by the occurrence than the other mice. Many were running round and round the basket, scrabbling desperately in the sawdust, and even frantically jumping up the sides, something I’d never seen before. They were clearly more nervous. . . . For me this was the most disconcerting evidence that GM food is not quite normal.”[2]
Dr. Irina Ermakova, PhD, a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, reported to the European Congress of Psychiatry in March 2006 that male rats fed GM soy exhibited anxiety and aggression, while those fed non-GMO soy did not [3]. Ermakova reported the same behavior in GM soy-fed female rats and their offspring in her study published in Ecosinform. The animals “attacked and bit each other and the worker."[4]
(Far more shocking, however, was that more than 50% of the offspring from the GMO-fed group died within three weeks when compared with a 10% death rate among the group fed natural soy. The GM group also had high rates of infertility and had smaller members.
Numerous professionals believe that Bt toxin produced in corn is already accelerating many diseases in the US. Arden Andersen, DO, PhD, MPH, believes Bt toxin is specifically implicated in the development of autism.
Compromised flora
In addition to structural deformities in the digestive tract of autistic kids, many also point to intestinal flora that’s gone wild. The bacteria living inside us play an important role in digestion, immunity, detoxification, and even the production of nutrients. In fact, the number of these bacterial cells in our digestive system is about 10 times the number of cells in our entire body. There’s an emerging health field dedicated to restoring the proper balance of intestinal microorganisms.
By Jeffrey M. SmithInternational bestselling author and filmmaker Jeffrey M. Smith is the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology
www.ResponsibleTechnology.org and a leading spokesperson on the health dangers of GMOs. His books include Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette, and his films include Hidden Dangers in Kids’ Meals, Your Milk on Drugs—Just Say No!, and a new documentary due out in early summer 2012. For a list of thousands of products that have been verified as non-GMO, go to
www.NonGMOShoppingGuide.com, or download the
iPhone app ShopNoGMO.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THIS WEB PAGE....
