Wikileaks recently revealed that the US was and is pressuring the Vatican and all of Europe to use GMO grain.
There are many articles providing more information on this - one from the Guardian UK and another from the Daily Mail UK are linked below but essentially it would seem that the US is trying to bully Europe into accepting genetically modified crops. For more in depth information simply Google “Craig Stapleton” (former US ambassador to France and in the ’90’s, co-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team with the then future US president George W. Bush - quelle surprise!), “Wikileaks”, “Monsanto” and “GMO”.
It would seem that initially the Vatican was opposed to this but after some serious lobbying by those in the US, the Vatican is now “broadly supportive” of these crops.
In an article in “The Heritage Farm Companion” (a membership publication of Seed Savers Exchange), the question “Why the big push?” is asked to which the response is as follows,
“Both the U.S. grain dealers and biotech seed companies are desperate to expand export markets, since the markets at home in the United States can’t absorb much more GMO grain. But the European Union has severe restrictions on the importation and production of GMO crops. Unlike the United States, the EU also requires labelling of food products containing biotech ingredients.
““Currently, up to 40 percent of U.S. corn is genetically engineered as is 80 percent of soybeans,” according to the Center for Food Safety (www.centerforfoodsafety.org). “It has been estimated that upwards of 60 percent of processed foods on the supermarket shelves - from soda to soup, crackers to condiments - contain genetically engineered ingredients.”
“Really makes you hungry, doesn’t it?”
On that note, I shall soon head out to weed my non genetically modified vegetable patch containing plants that I can let “go to seed” for saving to use again next year unlike those in some developing countries that are being forced to use seed that has been genetcially modified to only have one life cycle so that there will never be the danger that these people might become self sufficient and therefore a potential threat which brings me back to the quote from my friend yesterday and I simply have to wonder where and when those in serious positions to “make someone’s life better” went so far wrong because if we follow my friends logic, if they continue down this path then “they have no need to be here”!!
On a lighter note - today, I shall be finishing the de-wallpapering (as pictured above) started when our chums left last weekend - it’s been slow going as the sun came out and so I got distracted by weeding in my bikini (hiding from the more serious farmers who wouldn’t dream of weeding in a bikini. Given that most of our farming neighbours are men in their 70’s and 80’s may explain why they’d be opposed to wearing a bikini!) but as I hear the roll of thunder in the distance this morning I figure today’s the day to get it finished before I get distracted by more sunshine! We’re also thinking that Friday may be a quiet day for us as Thursday is Bastille Day and so we’ll be meeting up with friends in a nearby town for a picnic on the banks of the river to watch the Bastille day fireworks and listen to live music in celebration of the storming of the Bastille on 14th July 1789 (yes I did have to look that up!).
Will post weed free veggie patch pics once the wallpapering is done and I can get back out there to finish the job!
Happy week ahead...and happy birthday Sparkly Tiara! :) x
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