posted on July 23, 2002 04:12:02 AM new
After having a run-in with the EPA and their misinformation I was happy to see this was brought up again. Glad the Washington Post printed it.
Somewhere I have the research that was done & why it was faulty in depth.
If I have time I will post a snipped version. We are getting ready for a wedding and guests so I am in and out of threads for relaxation.
StarLink and Allergic Responses
(Posted: 22-Jul-02)
The Washington Post | July 21, 2002,
Dear Editor:
Nicols Fox's review of Kathleen Hart's Eating in the Dark:
America's Experiment With Genetically Engineered Foods (Book
World, June 16) asserts that "Allergic responses to StarLink have
been well documented . . ." In fact, due to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's failure to follow the recommendations of its
own scientific advisory panel, nobody knows whether StarLink is an
allergen or not.
Here's what we do know: In July 2001, nationally recognized
allergy experts on the advisory panel concluded that StarLink was
a likely allergen and strongly urged that testing be done with the
corn, especially for children and other groups at greater risk
from allergic reactions. Hundreds of people had reported illnesses
they believed were related to the consumption of StarLink tainted
corn products. One individual, a Florida opthalmologist, presented
video documentation of rashes, welts and elevated blood pressure
he experienced after consuming Starlink corn. A month later we met
with EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and urged her to
pursue the allergists' recommendations. To our amazement, she
declined to give the matter any more attention, effectively
sweeping it under the rug.
Although planting of Starlink corn has been banned, it is still
showing up in the food supply. On June 10, a citizens' group in
Bolivia announced it had discovered U.S. food aid contaminated by
StarLink. Clearly, determining the allergenicity of this corn
remains vitally important.
LARRY BOHLEN
Director, Health and Environment Programs
Friends of the Earth
=========
Adding the title should be "In God & The EPA, USDA, FDA We Trust!"
[ edited by aposter on Jul 23, 2002 04:13 AM ]
I found it interesting that the herbicide these crops are engineered to be resistant to is Roundup. MotherJones article on Roundup and Roundup ready seeds. You have the right to an informed opinion -Harlan Ellison
We used to subscribe to Mother Jones. It was a good magazine about twenty years ago and I still read some of their articles. I wish I could afford to get some of the mags I used to read like it.
Seeing fields that have been sprayed with Round Up is not a pretty sight. Everything is dead around them.
I can't understand why people who read the warnings when spraying the stuff on their lawns don't complain when it is sprayed all over a food stable like corn.
This is the second summer I haven't eaten corn on the cob. The organic farmers around me can't grow it because of transgenic corn contamination.
posted on July 23, 2002 05:53:05 AM new
aposter, it had caught my eye when some scientists found contaminated corn growing 30 miles away from the nearest gm corn in Mexico. Since I garden with heirlooms, and use organic methods, and eat my produce, that made me nervous. From what I know about gardening and growing plants, there is no way to stop the spread of the altered genes into non gmo crops.
I would miss gorgeous tasty tomatoes like I cut up yesterday. And no corn on the cob is, well .
There was a poster here a while back that was very interested in food issues. He/she always had very informative links.
Enjoy the wedding. You have the right to an informed opinion -Harlan Ellison
posted on July 23, 2002 06:59:37 PM new
Save your seed and if need be bag the ears or grow it inside.
Within twenty years they will be growing truck farm stuff inside commercially because the weather will be too chaotic to grow outside and they can do three crops a year inside. Cheap solar films and other technology will make it profitable.
You heard it hear first.
If we move to a condo with a basement I am putting hydroponic tomatoes and a few other things in on shelves.
.
