Tuesday, November 3, 2015

THE GMO SCRAPBOOK: THE REVOLT SPREADS TO KENYA

THE GMO SCRAPBOOK: THE REVOLT SPREADS TO KENYA The GMO revolt is spreading to Kenya, according to the follow short article from Global Research shared with us by Mr. L.B.:
Kenyan Farmers Suing Government to Uphold GM Crop Ban
You'll notice that the Keyan government has already in place a ban on GMO crops, a ban that apparently was put in place to protect that nation's many small farmers. What is intriguing here is that the "same ole same ole" with respect to GMOs, their safety, and government policy appears to be taking place in Kenya as in other countries, particularly in the West, where the power and influence of GMO corporations over government policy has been wielded to promote their power and profits, public concerns be damned:
The Kenyan Small Scale Farmers Forum argues that the safety of GM crops is undetermined and the reversal of the GM ban impedes upon public rights, imposing safety and economic risks on small farmers.
For months, activists have been irate over Deputy President William Ruto’s full-steam-ahead attitude to reverse a former GM ban. Supposedly relying on a task force to inform him before making the decision, Ruto is said to have ignored public opinion, and also failed to disclose the results of the task force’s inquiry into GM seed safety before forging ahead to lift the ban.
(Emphasis added)
In other words, the familiar tactics are all there: "we have a scientific study from a task force, which we're not disclosing to the public, but it says GMOs are entirely safe to the human population and to the environment, so we're going to do it anyway, regardless of what you, the public, thinks."
Which raises the whole GMO issue once again so clearly and explicitly: if GMos are as safe as their corporate defenders and bought-and-paid for scientists maintain, then why is real public discussion or debate not allowed? Self-evident truths are, after all, self-evident, whether you're a farmer or consumer in Iowa City or Nairobi. If GMOs are as safe and beneficial, why need companies manipulate governments and close down debate, and, in some cases, haul farmers or even whole counties into court to overturn democratic processes? Who was on the Kenyan task force? Do they have connections to GMO corporations? Never mind that, you're not allowed to know.
And to raise the questions in this fashion, is to answer them. So how does this play in the emerging GMO geopolitics? Russia, which has banned GMOs completely in the length and breadth of that huge country, has also, you'll recall, decided to sponsor studies of the long term health and environmental impacts of GMOs. They need to start publishing... and soon, before Africa's fields are overwhelmed by IG Farbensanto, Syncrudda, et al.

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