Is Europe More Civilized Than US?

Gotta love this quote from Monsanto: “We’re going to sell the GM seeds only where they enjoy broad farmer support, broad political support and a functioning regulatory system,” corporate spokesman Thomas Helscher told Reuters. “As far as we’re convinced this only applies to a few countries in Europe today, primarily Spain and Portugal.”

If we had a "functioning regulatory system" here in the USA, Monsanto would not be allowed to secretly insert their poisons into our food chain. They couldn't patent seeds given to us by Nature.  Hundreds of poor farmers in Third World countries would not have committed suicide after Monsanto's non-reproducing seeds had bankrupted them and made them lose their farms. American farmers would not have been persecuted for having the misfortune of being downwind of a Monsanto crop, having been colonized by them, and then being accused of stealing the Frankenfood, and taken to court for their own produce having been corrupted.

In Europe, it seems that Monsanto has given up their war to take over the food supply.  Great news - I hope! (Fingers crossed that they're not plotting some other fiendish method of poisoning us the EU's pleasant valleys.)

I have a wonderful memory of seeing on the BBC news in the UK in 1998, a group of Green protesters uprooting a field of Monsanto Frankenplants, while the British Bobbies looked on.

According to the CARE petition site,

"Just as in the United States, millions of European citizens have spoken out against Monsanto’s unchecked control of agriculture through the use of patented, genetically-modified seeds and plants.

A recent poll in Europe found that 60% of respondents considered “Frankencrops” a threat to public health. In 2007, the United States launched a planned retaliation against European countries for refusing to take GMOs into their food chains. In 2009 Monsanto sued Germany because it banned these products, reported FarmtoConsumer.org in late 2012.

Unlike U.S. leaders, those in Germany and elsewhere were not impressed by Monsanto’s well-known intimidation tactics. By January 2013, eight European nations had publicly banned the cultivation of genetically modified crops. Earlier this month, these and other European countries joined the massive March Against Monsanto, a global event that saw millions take to the streets in protest."

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/monsanto-surrenders-ends-all-gmo-lobbying-in-europe.html#ixzz2VB1W9aub
  

Back in the USA, two weeks ago, the New York Daily News reported, "Senate Republicans denied an attempt on Thursday to overturn the so-called “Monsanto Protection Act,” a measure recently signed into law that circumvents judicial authority concerning the planting and development of genetically modified seeds deemed to be unhealthy for human consumption.

An amendment to overturn the provision was put forth by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), but thanks to GOP opposition, it did not receive the unanimous consent required to be considered."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/senate-dems-fail-overturn-monsanto-protection-act-article-1.1353287#ixzz2VAzMTA9H"

And Greenpeace has a Petition for you  - they say,

"Monsanto’s unapproved genetically engineered (GE) “Roundup Ready” wheat was found growing in a random Oregon field last week.
The farmer doesn’t know how it got there. Neither does anyone else since Monsanto ended field testing this type of wheat eight years ago. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently investigating the extent of the contamination. But this story isn’t surprising.

GE crops can’t be controlled. The fact is that contamination happens all the time while companies like Monsanto experiment with nature and our food supply. Putting an end to field testing is the only way to stop it.

Tell the USDA that the only way to prevent contamination is to put an immediate ban on field testing GE crops." [Petition here]