“Glitch” Responsible For Massive Payments Outage In The…

Source: GizaDeathStar.com
Dr. Joseph P. Farrell Ph.D.
May 6, 2017

If you’ve been watching the meltdowns on the internet lately, and specifically with respect to financial clearing, you’ll have noted an increase in the outages of payments systems. Recall that during the “power outage” that was caused by those pesky “metallic balloons” in San Francisco, Los Angeles-San Diego, and New York, was accompanied by payments outages in Ontario, specifically in Canada’s largest grocery chain, Loblaws. Well, on May 1st, during a banking holiday weekend, Lloyds’ and National Westminster (NatWest) banks in the United Kingdom were hit with similar problems, according to this story shared by Ms.B.Z.:

Payday banking meltdown as Lloyds, Halifax, RBS and NatWest customers are hit by online glitch that stops them accessing their accounts – and even makes payments ‘vanish’

Note the problem according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail:

Customers of Lloyds Bank, Halifax, RBS and NatWest were up in arms after an online glitch saw many lose access to their accounts and payments disappear.

The glitch, which affected the banks’ online service, occurred on what is payday for most of the British workforce.

All the banks said the issue had been resolved, with ‘missing’ transfers to reappear in customers’ accounts by the end of today.

Note that what is being described as a “glitch” (which somehow affected Lloyds, NatWest, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Halifax banks all simultaneously), also was responsible for the complete disappearance of monies in electronic transfers and transactions:

One user told the NatWest Twitter help feed: ‘Your app’s not working …… neither is your online banking. Just transferred money bet [sic] my accounts and it has disappeared!’

Another added: ‘Me too, £650 has not been transferred and has gone missing!!’

As one angry commentator put it in the comments section below the article: “What is a glitch?”

Indeed, the term “glitch” is used when no one has a good explanation, or at least, an explanation they care to share.

So, in the absence of an explanation that is covered by the word “glitch”, permit me to run amok with my high octane speculation of the day, for I cannot help but think that when two of Great Britain’s largest banks get hit with a “glitch” that causes electronic transfer payments to completely disappear, that something more than a “glitch” is involved. As I indicated when I blogged about the strange financial clearing problems in Ontario during the “power outage” that was caused by a “glitch” called “metallic balloons,” it appears that someone, somewhere, is doing not only a lot of reconnoitering of the internet, but that they are also sending messages about the complete lack of integrity and security of digital systems.

In short, these do not strike me as “glitches” at all; they strike me as deliberately contrived events; someone is gathering an extraordinary amount of intelligence on financial transaction systems, their security, and doing exactly the sort of exploratory “strikes” that one would do in order to ascertain how to “hack the internet” and bring it all down in one fell swoop. After all, this time the banks were able to recover the transactions and credit their customers’ accounts. Next time it might not work out so tidily.

See you on the flip side…

Read More At: GizaDeathStar.com
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About Dr. Joseph P. Farrell

Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and “strange stuff”. His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into “alternative history and science”.

Moms Speak Out About Genetically Modified Foods [GMOs]

Source: InstituteForResponsibleTechnology
November 23, 2016

No mother ever knowingly risks her child’s health. Hear what these mothers have to say about their experience with genetically modified foods.

Breaking: Bayer buys Monsanto: the Empire strikes back

Source: NoMoreFakeNews.com
Jon Rappoport
September 16, 2016

This is the largest corporate cash buyout in history.

Mega-giant Bayer put $66 billion on the table, and mega-giant Monsanto said yes.

Think GMOs, crop seeds, pesticides, medical drugs.

Keep in mind that one of the consultants on the European side of this deal is the Rothschild Group.

But that’s not all. Dow and DuPont are planning to merge. Recently, another biotech giant, Syngenta, was swallowed up by the state-owned ChemChina. And this just in: two major Canadian fertilizer manufacturers, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc. and Agrium Inc. are merging.

Consolidation, monopoly. The Empire strikes back.

The global rebellion against GMOs and pesticides, particularly Monsanto’s Roundup, is one of the reasons for these deals. But lurking in the background is another factor, exemplified by the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty.

If the TPP passes, corporate tribunals will take over the adjudication of disputes in which a nation rejects importing toxic pesticides, medical drugs, or GMOs. These tribunals will decide whether that nation is permitted to refuse importation.

Of course, the tribunals will favor mega-corporate interests. But now, with the mergers involving Bayer, Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, Syngenta, and ChemChina, the devastating clout of the tribunals will be that much more powerful.

The ability to shove toxic products down the throats of populations will elevate.

This is the corporate face of Globalism.

This is a giant step in the direction of controlling the world’s food supply.

Continue Reading At: JonRappoport.wordpress.com
________________________________________________________________

Jon Rappoport

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29^th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here.

The GMO Scrapbook: It’s Official: I.G. Farbensanto Back In…

Source: GizaDeathStar.com
Dr. Joseph P. Farrell
September 19, 2016

This is a story to put a scowl on your face, for the “deal” I blogged about a few weeks ago about the “merger” of Mon(ster)santo and the big German chemical firm of Bayer, which along with Hoechst and BASF was a component company to the old IG Farben cartel. Well, to be truthful, it wasn’t so old, for as I pointed out in The Nazi INternational the cartel was only finally completely liquidated in 2003. As we know, the component companies live on, and one of them, Bayer, is up to its old tricks, targeting the notorious American GMO Mons(ster)santo for a merger. Well, that deal is now inked, and we’re watching the birth of a new creature: Monster-IG Farbensanto. So many people noticed this story that it would be impossible to thank them all, but here’s the stories:

Bayer Buys Monsanto

http://spitfirelist.com/news/bayer-buys-monsanto/embed/?wmode=transparent#?secret=6CFT8RqAXl

Now, as the previous article notes, the legal firm assisting with this largest cash buyout in history – yes, Bayer had that much money on hand – was Sullivan and Cromwell.

There’s also this little tidbit(shared by Ms. C.M.):

YES Monsanto did buy the blackwater mercenary group

Ok, so now Bayer, a founding corporate member of the old IG Farben cartel, has bought Mon(ster)santo, which in turn had bought the Blackwater mercenary group, and which helped the USA drop tons of Agent Orange on Vietnam – and oh, by the way, for those of you who haven’t read Hidden Finance, Rogue Networks, and Secret Sorcery, the Carl Duisberg Society helped sponsor Mohammad Atta to Germany. Who’s Carl Duisberg? He was the former head of Bayer during and after World War One who helped found the IG Farben cartel. And… one more thing, let’s not forget under all these new “free trade” agreements, it will be virtually impossible for anyone to sue a company for just about anything, and virtually impossible for anyone to write anything without violating their twisted understanding of copyright.

Bayer, Mon(ster)santo, Blackwater mercenaries.

What could possibly go wrong?

There’s a pattern here that disturbs (well, actually, several patterns), not the least of which is Bayer’s position not only as a major pharmaceutical firm, but also as a major agribusiness company, now acquiring yet another notorious company, with notorious methods for dealing with farmers, and which owns a notorious mercenary “security” firm. This is a corporate move to consolidate control of medicine, pharmaceuticals, and agribusiness in one big happy Reich… er, one big happy cartel. Then we have the 1942 IG Farben-sponsored plan for a postwar European federation which…

Continue Reading at: GizaDeathStar.com
______________________________________________________________

Joseph P. Farrell

Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and “strange stuff”. His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into “alternative history and science”.

Bayer raises bid to purchase Monsanto to over $65 BILLION

Source: NaturalNews.com
Vicki Batts
September 13, 2016

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG seems to know no limits in its quest to acquire the world’s most notorious agricultural company. The drug manufacturer has recently pushed its offer for procuring Monsanto up to a whopping $65 billion.

Bayer has confirmed that the two corporations are currently engaged in “advanced negotiations,” though it seems less like negotiating and more like Monsanto trying to take Bayer for everything they have. The original offer from Bayer averaged out to $122 per share, or $62 billion. Their new $65 billion offer averages out to about $127.50 per share. Bayer would also assume Monsanto’s $9 billion in debt, which pushes their offer up by an additional 2 percent. However, Monsanto is apparently seeking a jaw-dropping $130 per share, at least according to Bloomberg.

The attempted wooing of Monsanto is just one of many consolidations that have occurred lately in the agricultural industry. Bloomberg reports, “China National Chemical Corp. agreed in February to acquire Syngenta AG, while DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co. plan to merge and then carve out a new crop-science unit.” These kinds of deals in the crop and seed industry threaten to leave just a few oversized global giants in the Big Ag industrial complex.

If Bayer and Monsanto were to merge, they would create what would be one of the world’s largest agricultural suppliers. Monsanto is presently the world’s largest seed manufacturer, and Bayer currently offers their own “crop-protection” products (if you can really call them that). Between the two, they will make for a nearly-untouchable conglomerate. Monsanto has announced that it is considering Bayer’s offer, but the company is not the GMO giant’s only suitor; several other companies are seeking to acquire Monsanto as well.

In spite of their tremendous offer, Monsanto reportedly feels that their company is somehow being undervalued, but is still “open” to negotiation. Clearly, Monsanto is blind to the growing aversion to its name and products.

While the apparent ego of the company is worrisome, there are many more things to be concerned about, especially if this deal were to come to fruition. If two massive companies tied to the agricultural industry join forces, it could spell disaster for farmers and food prices. Their consolidation would lead to fewer choices for farmers, and you know what happens when there is a monopoly: prices skyrocket. With farmer bargaining power limited, it’s natural to expect seed prices to increase. And that means that the price of produce in supermarkets will increase along with them.

Robert Lawrence, a professor from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the founding director of the Center for a Liveable Future, told Market Watch, “The consolidation and driving out of smaller competitors, and controlling the marketplace and raising prices of seeds and pesticides for farmers worldwide is going to be a real shock to the food system.”

The merger could also mean fewer options for consumers, and may even effect the availability of organic crops and crops grown with fewer pesticides. Given the size of the two companies, the potential for them to further reduce farmers’ options is very real.

You would think that with the growing demand for organic, pesticide-free produce, Bayer would not be so interested in Monsanto; after all, that name has become something of a dirty word.

However, Bayer reportedly took Monsanto’s poor image into account, but made their offer to acquire the company anyway. This isn’t surprising though; anytime two large companies such as these merge together, the net result will always be more power. Even if people don’t like them, the increase in market share will still inevitably yield more economic power. And with economic power comes political power. As if Monsanto doesn’t already have their claws deep enough into our political system, merging with Bayer would surely grant them invincibility.

The most frightening thing about this acquisition is its potential to make Monsanto a stronger force in the agricultural industry, and consequently, further reduce the availability of non-GMO foods.

Read More At: NaturalNews.com

Sources:

USAToday.com

Bloomberg.com

MarketWatch.com

Monsanto whistleblower awarded $22 million after exposing ‘shady deals’

Source: NaturalNews.com
Samantha Debbie
September 7, 2016

The Securities and Exchange Commission has paid out the second largest settlement in U.S. history to a former Monsanto executive who blew the whistle on the biotech giant’s shady business dealings involving Roundup, a widely used herbicide containing glyphosate which was labeled a probable human carcinogen by the World Health Organization last spring.

The whistleblower’s identity is being kept secret, according to reports, presumably to protect the individual from the potential backlash of powerful industry groups.

The former Monsanto executive, who exposed “accounting improprieties” involving Roundup, has been awarded more than $22 million, according to CNBC.

“The award of $22,437,800 was tied to an $80 million settlement between the SEC and Monsanto in February, according to the lawyer, Stuart Meissner in New York, in a statement.”

Federal government accuses Monsanto of fudging sales numbers for weed killer

The SEC has accused Monsanto of lying about its earnings for Roundup. The allegations specifically involve a corporate rebate program designed to increase sales of the product.

The agency said that the seed giant “lacked sufficient internal controls to account for millions of dollars in rebates that it offered to retailers and distributors. It ultimately booked a sizeable amount of revenue, but then failed to recognize the costs of the rebate programs on its books.”

Monsanto reportedly “materially” distorted its consolidated earnings over a three-year period. The company is said to have “neither admitted nor denied” the allegations, while stating in the fiscal year 2015 that it was fully prepared to pay the resulting penalties.

“Company employees are in unique positions behind-the-scenes to unravel complex or deeply buried wrongdoing. Without this whistleblower’s courage, information, and assistance, it would have been extremely difficult for law enforcement to discover this securities fraud on its own,” said Jane Norberg, acting chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.

SEC’s whistleblower program issues $107 million in five years

The agency was given the power to award whistleblowers under the Dodd Frank financial reform law, signed by President Obama in 2010 to prevent institutions from becoming “too big to fail.”

The program has so far awarded more than $107 million to 33 whistleblowers since its implementation in 2011. The largest award was issued in 2014, totaling $30 million.

Monsanto, of course, is no stranger to the legal system. The company is facing more resistance from the government over its plans to merge with John Deere, which manufactures farming, construction and forestry equipment.

Justice Department sues to block Monsanto, John Deere deal

Headquartered in Moline, Illinois, John Deere revealed its plans to acquire Monsanto’s Precision Planting back in November.

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to block the deal, arguing that if it goes through, it will give John Deere “a stranglehold on the market for high-speed precision-planting devices,” USA Today reports.

The two companies together sell 86 percent of all equipment in the precision-planting sector.

“If this deal were allowed to proceed, Deere would dominate the market for high-speed precision-planting systems and be able to raise prices and slow innovation at the expense of American farmers who rely on these systems,” said Renata Hesse, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice’s antitrust division.

John Deere and Monsanto claim that the merger is necessary to protect farmers, and will fight the lawsuit.

Monsanto is also considering an offer by the chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer. The German-based company offered $64 billion to purchase its agribusiness rival, Monsanto.

Read More At: NaturalNews.com

Sources:

Investopedia.com

USAToday.com

CNBC.com

RT.com

What Would Happen If…The Individual Decided To Breakaway?

TheBreakaway
Zy Marquiez
August 21, 2016

[Note: All Underlines Are Hyperlinked For Those Seeking Additional Information]

What would happen if everyone stopped funding crooked corporations that throw the population under the bus tomorrow?

What would happen if people took responsibility for their health, rather than hand off that responsibility to the Medical establishment?

What would happen if individuals begun vetting all the information from every single source, rather than take everything at face value?

What would happen if individuals quit supporting corrupt politicians?

What would happen if we quit eating unsafe genetically modified foods, that have never been proven to be safe?  Why do you think they want to keep you from knowing what foods are GMOs?  If genetically modified foods were safe, why aren’t they labeled?  Ever ruminate on that?

What would happen if we just quit giving the system our consent [silence is consent], for every illegal, inhumane and brutal action carried out on the populace?

What would happen if people quit drinking fluoridated water that causes neurological issues and countless others, that just happens to make it easier for people to be controlled, which was why the Russians and Nazis used it?  [For More Info Click Here]

What would happen if people asked what toxic substances were in their food, besides genetically modified foods?

What would happen if people knew that when a label says it’s natural, it’s anything but? [If you want something that is real you need to look for Organic/Non-GMO labels on food packages, not “natural”]

What would happen if people quit running for the cure and people began searching for the cause?  Better yet, what would happen if people took a look at Dr. Burzynski’s work?  [Watch His Documentary Here]   Or have you seen the documentary on Forbidden Cures?   [You Can Watch It Here]

What would happen if individuals knew preventable medical mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the United States?  Would they still trust the medical system?  [That doesn’t count the many more [1.5 Million a year, every year, at last estimate] that end up getting run over by Big Medica who don’t get killed by these mistakes.]

What would happen if people knew that key vaccine studies to prove vaccines are safe are funded almost entirely by Big Pharma?  That’s called conflict of interest.

What would happen if people knew the CDC covers up vaccine issues, as one of their very own scientists admitted, but which the mainstream media won’t touch?

What would happen if people knew there’s a vaccination reaction system that has paid out billions even though vaccinations are claimed to be ‘safe’?

What would happen if we quit allowing ourselves to be divided and began standing together?

What would happen if people quit taking excuses for answers from those at the top, and began finding – or better yet, creating! – solutions themselves?

What would happen if individuals decided a better world starts with them?

The point of asking those questions is to show that we, whether we like it or not, are the largest component of the system.

If we merely begun acting on everything that is in our best interest, truly our best interest and not in the interest of the corrupt corporations/politicians then everything would begin to change.

Examples of what happens when individuals begin acting in their best interest follow:

Americans Now Spending BILLIONS On Natural Health Remedies Including Superfoods & Homeopathy, While Denouncing Big Pharma’s Failed Medicine

Monsanto’s Profits Drop 25% AGAIN, As Farmers, Individuals Go Organic

As Demand Skyrockets, Thousands Of US Farms Are Going Organic

This New Neighborhood Will Grow Its Own Food, Power Itself & Handle It’s Own Waste

Environmental Group Establishes Training Centers To Educate Farmers About Organic Growing Techniques

Costco Working To Increase The Organic Food Supply In America By Investing In Farm-To-Market Principles On A Massive Scale

Victory!  Judge Closes Industry Loophole, Barring Pesticides From Compost Used In Organic Food Production

Chef Buys Organic Permaculture Farm To Grow His Own Living Pantry

Demand For Organics Shows *No Sign Of Slowing* After Double Digit Growth

How ‘Farmacy Practice, Or Using Food As Medicine, Can Change The World
Farmers Can Receive Grants To Move To Organic Farming

Please note, those are merely a handful of the stories available, and that’s only the change taking place regarding people wanting real food. 

What would happen if…individuals realized they are the solutions to their very problems, and the time to act is now?

What If the Consensus on Small-Scale Toolmaking and Agriculture Is Wrong?

The idea that food is globally incredibly cheap right now doesn’t compute in the mainstream narrative.

Source: OfTwoMinds.com
Charles Hugh Smith
July 14, 2016

In the consensus view, agriculture is only profitable on a mega-farm corporate scale, and tool-making has been offshored because it’s unprofitable to manufacture stuff in the U.S. But what if both of these “obvious” consensus opinions are flat-out wrong? What if small-scale farming and toolmaking are both potentially profitable?

Perhaps we should be asking: what if the highest future profits will belong to small-scale agriculture and manufacturing, not Wall Street or Silicon Valley? This idea is so far out of the mainstream that it is widely considered “impossible:” nothing could be more profitable than politically sacrosanct “too big to fail” Wall Street banks or quasi-monopoly tech giants.

As for agriculture–nothing could be more profitable than large-scale corporate production, all watched over by machines of loving grace (as per Richard Brautigan and Adam Curtis).

All of these presumed “truths” may be melting into air if small-scale machine tools and software technologies enable highly efficient and productive small-scale agriculture:

Drew Sample and I discuss these nascent but potentially revolutionary trends in a new podcast, Small Scale Farming, Small Scale Manufacturing (1:08 hrs).

Critics will quickly point out that large-scale production of grains such as corn and wheat and crops such as soy beans cannot be profitably grown in small plots. While that’s currently a financial reality, that does not imply it’s a permanent truth: large-scale agriculture consumes vast quantities of fossil fuels (currently cheap, but maybe not cheap forever) and huge quantities of minerals such as potash that are non-renewable.

Should essential non-renewables skyrocket in price, large-scale agriculture becomes a lot more costly to operate.

There’s also the question of sustainability. Typical large-scale practices such as tilling cause soil loss that cannot be “fixed” with conventional methods. Then there’s the decline of water tables as aquifers are drained by conventional agricultural practices.

In typical Wall Street fashion, the perspective on what’s sustainable currently extends about one quarter (three months). Few observers ask what will be sustainable in 20 years.

Continue Reading At: OfTwoMinds.com

Legislation In Alaska Requiring Labeling Of GMO Salmon Will Now Be Reversed By The Senate’s Fake Labeling Bill

Source: NaturalNews.com
Wes Maxwell
July 15, 2016

In light of the Senate’s recently passed GMO fake-labeling bill, giving food manufacturers voluntary responsibility to label their products’ GMOs, Alaskans received an additional blunder.

Republican Senator, Lisa Murkoswki, took to the Senate floor on July 7 to discuss her concerns with the Senate’s recent approval allowing food companies to manufacture and sell genetically engineered salmon in the state of Alaska without providing clear, transparent GMO labeling.

Prior to the recent approval of the Monsanto-backed GMO fake labeling bill, Alaskan law required labels on all products containing genetically engineered salmon. As laid out in the Biotechnology Labeling Solutions Act, the new legislation “would allow the Agriculture Department to determine which foods qualify as genetically modified and let companies choose the method of disclosing genetically modified organism (GMO) ingredients to consumers.”

This marks the first time in history that the FDA signed off on allowing the production and sale of a genetically engineered species designed specifically for human consumption.

Alaskans calling genetically engineered salmon “Frankenfish”

To make this GE salmon, scientists are taking DNA from an ocean pout, a type of eel, and combining that with DNA from a Chinook salmon to produce what many Alaskans are calling a “Frankenfish.”

While the FDA has reassured concerned Alaskans that the voluntary labeling stipulations of the recently passed bill will be enough to ease their worries, Alaskans are not convinced.

Alaskan Senator, Lisa Murkowski, voiced her concerns to the Senate last week over the approval of voluntary labeling stipulations for this genetically engineered salmon. “My opposition here is to anything that would mistakenly allow genetically engineered salmon into anyone’s home and have it mislabeled as salmon,” Murkowski said.

Senator Lisa Murkowski takes to the Senate to voice Alaska’s disapproval of GE salmon

Alaskan citizens have voiced their disapproval as well, as over 1.5 million of Alaska’s population wrote the FDA detailing their unified opposition to the bill. Additionally, numerous Alaskan grocery stores, including Safeway, Kroger, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Target, have announced they will refuse to sell genetically engineered salmon without mandatory labeling requirements.

Not only does this pose huge health concerns for Alaskans, as they will not know whether the salmon they buy at the grocery store is true, wild Atlantic salmon or if it is some genetically engineered “Frankenfish,” it also poses an enormous threat to Alaska’s seafood industry.

Providing more than 63,000 jobs and contributing over $4.6 billion to the state economy, Alaskan fisheries play a critical role in the maintenance of the state’s overall livelihood. Under the stipulations of the FDA’s approval for aqua bounty technology last November, these genetically engineered salmon eggs will be produced in Canada, and then shipped off to Panama to be raised in pens, providing no benefit to the American economy, let alone the Alaskan economy.

Senator Murkowski spoke of the grave dangers this poses to the Alaskan economy, claiming GE salmon “has the potential to wreak havoc, to do harm to our natural stocks … [and] poses a serious threat to the livelihood of our fisherman.”

As a result, Senator Murkowski is pushing for the approval of an amendment to the recently passed non-GMO labeling bill requiring the FDA to create a new market name for GE salmon, but has been met with strong opposition.

“We will not accept that ge salmon, or this Frankenfish, be sold to us without clear labeling,” Murkowski told the Senate last week.

As Alaskans remain united in their opposition to the sale of unlabeled GE salmon, Senator Murkowski is doing everything she can to be make sure the voice of her people is being heard. Wild Alaskan salmon provides a myriad of tremendous health benefits, providing a natural source of lean protein, Omega 3’s, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and niacin. It would be a shame to see a nutrient depleted, genetically modified “Frankenfish” be sold alongside true Alaskan salmon as one in the same.

Read More At: NaturalNews.com

Totally Hijacked By Big Food: Organic Trading Association Turns Against Genetically Modified Food Labeling

Source: NaturalNews.com
Ethan A. Huff
July 15, 2016

A number of farmer and consumer advocacy groups are breaking ties with the influential Organic Trade Association (OTA), after it was discovered that the membership-based organization, which represents the entire organic industry in both Canada and the United States, sold out to Big Agribusiness by extending its support to the Stabenow-Roberts Bill, which many are now referring to as the Monsanto “DARK” Act 2.0.

The farmer-owned Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) was one of the first groups to jump ship from OTA, citing the organization’s “duplicity towards organic farmers and consumers,” with its support for legislation that preempts existing state laws like those of Vermont and Connecticut that mandate proper labeling for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). OSGATA is outraged that OTA would betray its members by throwing its support behind efforts to un-label GMOs in order to pander to the likes of Monsanto.

OTA announced on June 27 that, based on the current situation surrounding the GMO labeling saga, it was more important for the trade group to prioritize the reinforcement of standards for organic foods and
the organic label in general, than to try to fight the Stabenow-Roberts Bill, which a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assessment found will end up exempting most or all GMOs from having to be labeled.

According to OTA, this compromise of a bill was inevitable, “with or without us,” and OTA’s primary mission is to protect the integrity of the organic label, not to hash out a labeling standard for GMO food. But groups like OSGATA aren’t convinced, especially since OTA had the option to reject the Stabenow-Roberts Bill, but didn’t.

“It’s important for the world to understand that it was the Organic Trade Association that killed our state GMO labeling laws by backing Monsanto’s Stabenow-Roberts bill,” Maine organic seed farmer and longtime OSGATA president, Jim Gerritsen, said in a statement.

“It’s clear that Organic Trade Association has come under the control of a small group of lobbyists controlled by giant-food corporations that also own organic brands. … The Organic Trade Association can no longer be trusted, and it’s clear that organic farmers can no longer condone this dubious trade association’s troubling behavior.”

OTA’s support for GMO un-labeling highlights rift between ‘organic elite’ and ‘authentic organic’

Part of the problem with the organic industry today is that a lot of major food corporations, many of which peddle conventional foods loaded with unlabeled GMOs, have hopped on the growing organic train in an attempt to court healthy shoppers over to the dark side. Everyone knows that the organic food sector is growing by leaps and bounds year after year, and Big Food can see the writing on the wall: If a food company wants to stay in business, it has to cater to consumers who want clean food free of GMOs and other poisons.

But, as these companies have adopted the organic label and weaseled their way into positions of power at organizations like OTA, organic standards have taken a hit, as have efforts to mandate GMO labeling laws that benefit the People rather than corporations. Carey Gillam, a journalist and research director at the non-profit U.S. Right to Know group, says a rift is growing in which the “organic elite” – Big Food corporations peddling their own organic lines – are now at odds with the smaller “authentic organic” businesses and groups that started the organic food industry in the first place.

A national GMO labeling scheme is what both groups say they want. But, when push comes to shove, the big guys are more interested in passing toothless legislation like the Stabenow-Roberts Bill that won’t do a thing to make true GMO labeling any more of a reality than it currently is, with no labeling laws on the books at all.

The good news is that GMOs aren’t even a concern if you grow your own food at home, and the backyard Vertical Garden Tower helps make that possible.

Read More At: NaturalNews.com