I don't want to get into yet another battle of truths or untruths, but before we start pulling numbers and random facts out of the air, I'd like to point out that while I am no fan of some things Monsanto has done over the years, I personally worked quite hard for some time to help farmers get the best out of their GM crops (soybean, corn, cotton, and Canola), and I don't appreciate being referred to as the anti-christ for that association.
If you're going to mention the thousands of Indian farmers who have supposedly committed suicide, please cite a reference. If you're going to talk about the bad things that GMO or Roundup has done, come out and speak truths or don't speak at all. Glyphosate has been proven to be quite harmless. Most of all, please keep in mind that you are saying things about your fellow brethren.
dmp
Hi DMP,
Thanks for throwing a different voice into this conversation. I was the original poster of this thread, and as usual... one has no idea where a thread will go when it starts. But most often, there is truth to learn and facts revealed. Albeit, not all of the truths and facts are pretty or positive.. as in this case.
As for your reference(s) request, there are literally hundreds out there. Citing them goes beyond the original scope of this thread, but since you asked I will cite a few. Also, when I posted the 10,000 number, I PURPOSEFULLY left out a zero. Thanks for asking for reference, as now I can share more of the truth.
There is NO "Supposedly" about the suicides. It is FACTUAL data at this point, sadly. And far as being deemed "quite harmless," there are other measures of "harm" that is not measured by a laboratory. Nor does the USDA get everything right. Never mind corporate lobbyist who are paid to swing decisions and garner influence.
The actual number is over 100,000 farmers who have suicided, most of them by drinking the very pesticides that they went into debt to buy to protect the GMO crops that cost them almost twice as much as non GMO crops.
Also the farmers who buy the GMO crops, HERE IN THE USA AND ABROAD are expected to pay for the GMO crops every year, and it is illegal for them to use their own seed. Monsanto has their own detective division who spies on farmers here in the US, and a legal division whose job it is to strong arm, sue and bring legal issues to the stated farmers. If you or ANYONE has never watched FOOD INC., that would be an indisputable eye opener in this topic of conversation. It is not a "stand all" testimony by any means, but it sheds enough light and truth to make one need to sit down and take a breath of air.
Below are 4 points referenced from the UN itself
:idea: More than 100,000 Indian farmers have taken their lives since 1997.
:idea:86.5 percent of farmers who took their own lives were financially indebted
:idea:Their average debt was about $835.
:idea:On average, there has been one farmer’s suicide every 32 minutes since 2002.
The UN reference:
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd16/PF/presentations/farmers_relief.pdf
For more requested references.. here is the google search citing over 30,000 hits.
The topic search was...
100,000 indian farmers commit suicide
http://www.google.com/search?q=100%2C000+india+farmers+commit+suicide&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&client=firefox-a&rlz=1R1GGGL_en#hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=IoH&rlz=1R1GGGL_en&&sa=X&ei=Q0KSTLDTEsSblgea8smiCg&ved=0CCAQBSgA&q=100,000+indian+farmers+commit+suicide&spell=1&fp=91401a08be548634
Another Quote about India:
Since GM seeds are patented by Monsanto, their repeated use each year requires constant licensing fees that keep farmers impoverished. One bad yield due to drought or other reasons, plunges farmers so deep into debt that they resort to suicide. One study estimates that 150,000 farmers have killed themselves in the past ten years.”
For something more at home in the USA...
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...used-an-estimated-150000-farmer-suicides.aspx
"Meanwhile, in the U.S., District Judge Jeffrey White, a federal judge in California, has banned the planting of genetically modified Roundup Ready sugar beets created by Monsanto. The beets are engineered to withstand Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer.
White said he was
“troubled by maintaining the status quo that consists of 95 percent of sugar beets being genetically engineered while [the USDA] conducts the environmental review that should have occurred before the sugar beets were deregulated.”
The ban does not affect crops already planted and harvested for sugar.
The St. Louis Business Journal reports:
“Environmental groups ... filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in January 2008 to challenge the deregulation of Roundup Ready sugar beets by the USDA ... Opponents say the beets promote superweeds, weeds that cannot easily be killed because they have developed a tolerance to weed killer. They also raise concerns about the contamination of conventional and organic crops.”
As Ryan stated above, good people do work for bad corporations. I will also add the advancement of science is not always used for good, and that the proprietors and originators of the knowledge at times have very little control over how it is used. Which includes, politics and corporate greed.
I wish not to enter a flame war with you, but I nor anyone else in the above refer to you as the "anti christ for association." I also did not infer anything about a fellow Brethren, I stated factual data and a personal opinion about a corporation and agricultural genetic modifying science. An opinion that is mirrored by thousands of others.
I personally apologize to you specifically if my comment offended you, but please understand that I do not apologize for knowing and sharing truth.
.
