09/April/21

 

For thousands of years of human agriculture, the intrinsic nature of a seed — the capacity to reproduce itself — prevented it from being easily commodified. Grown and resown by farmers, seeds were freely exchanged and shared. All that changed in the 1990s when laws were introduced to protect new GM crops. Today, four corporations — Bayer, Corteva, ChemChina and Limagrain — control more than 50% of the world's seeds. These staggering monopolies dominate the global food supply. Now seed laws criminalizing farmers for using diverse crops that stand a better chance of adapting to climate change are threatening food security. Seed sovereignty activists want to reclaim the right to plant. DW

 

 

Bayer is launching a new genetically modified soybean in the United States, striking back against rival Corteva Inc in a bid to retain its dominant position supplying seeds to the $40 billion US soy industry. Bayer’s new XtendFlex soybeans and Corteva’s Enlist E3 soy tolerate three chemical herbicides. Reuters

 

 

Canadians could soon be buying GM foods and plants sold with minimal government oversight, recently released federal guidance suggests. Health Canada has released draft guidance, or documents the government will use to guide its application of laws and regulations for GM plants and foods. Under the new guidance, which is now open for public consultation, only plants that show changes in five potentially harmful traits — like toxicity or nutritional composition — will undergo food safety assessments by Health Canada. The remainder — including some GMOs developed using new gene-editing technologies — will be exempt. [GMW: In Canada? Take action here.] National Observer