06/December/21

 

A global coalition of food justice advocates have urged the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to sever ties with CropLife International, a trade association representing agrochemical corporations. In a letter addressed to FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and attached to a petition signed by more than 187,300 people from 107 countries, nearly a dozen groups wrote that "CropLife's sole purpose is to advocate for use of its members' products." Common Dreams

 

 

In India, a PVP (plant variety protection) certificate granted to PepsiCo India Holding (PIH) on a potato variety has been revoked on multiple grounds. This means that Pepsico’s Intellectual Property Right (IPR) granted on the potato variety in a PVP certificate in February 2016 will be taken back. The application to revoke the certificate was filed by activist Kavitha Kuruganti of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture. She said, “This judgement sets a precedent for all seed and food and beverages corporations and other registrants to not only uphold, but also more importantly, not to transgress the legally granted farmers’ seed rights and freedoms in India." DownToEarth

 

 

The Campaign to STOP Genetically Engineered Trees is asking members of the public from every country to have their say in the public consultation process of the Forest Stewardship Council regarding their proposal to weaken their ban against genetically engineered trees. The campaign has a new sign-on letter which individuals and groups can join. GMWatch

 

 

Extinction Rebellion (XR) protesters have gathered at Syngenta in Huddersfield to challenge the production of a "lethal weedkiller" in the town which they say is killing bees and wildlife. XR Huddersfield activists have descended onto the gates of the manufacturing centre to protest the manufacturing of the weedkiller paraquat. Yorkshire Live

 

 

A Q&A has been published with author Bartow J. Elmore on the history of Monsanto and the dangers of genetically engineering the food supply. Elmore says of gene editing, "I hear a lot of overpromising and irrational exuberance". Elmore is the author of a new book, Seed Money: Monsanto’s Past and Our Food Future. In the course of his research for the book, he saw an internal Monsanto document where the company’s executives were debating what to do about PCBs, toxic compounds that were some of Monsanto’s most profitable products. In that document, they wrote, “Sell the hell out of them as long as we possibly can.” Elmore was also struck by the treatment of workers at their facility in Nitro, West Virginia, that produced the Agent Orange that was used in Vietnam. In one case, a worker’s face was being peeled off layer upon layer due to reactions to a chemical. Bloomberg Opinion