Thursday, March 24, 2005

Butterflies, bees and secrets

As the British government released the largest study to date on the effects of genetically modified crops on insects and other wildlife, the U. S. government was keeping secrets about contamination of corn seed in the United States with an unapproved biotech variety over the last four years. The British study showed harmful effects that stemmed from the herbicides used with genetically modified rapeseed (canola). Both bee and butterfly populations were considerably reduced as their usual food supply withered under the herbicides.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture was forced to admit that it had kept information from the public about the seed contamination after the scientific journal Nature broke the story. The accidental contamination once again proves that there is really no effective way to segregate genetically modified crops from those that are not. It also shows that the promoters of GM foods are not interested in transparency. I wonder why, if their crops are so good for us, they don't want us to know anything about them?

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