| | 20/May/21
| | Glyphosate herbicide exposure linked to preterm births Exposure to Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides is significantly associated with preterm births, according to a new University of Michigan study. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, found that the presence of the chemical glyphosate in women's urine in late pregnancy was linked to an increased risk for premature birth. "Since most people are exposed to some level of glyphosate and may not even know it, if our results reflect true associations, then the public health implications could be enormous," said senior author John Meeker, professor of environmental health sciences at the U-M School of Public Health. GMWatch Damning research findings on glyphosate residues from research on no-till farming High levels of the weedkiller chemical glyphosate and its toxic breakdown product AMPA have been found in topsoil samples from no-till fields in Brazil, in a study by an international team of scientists from Brazil, Portugal and the UK. The findings explode claims that GMO farming with herbicides is sustainable and promotes healthy soils. GMWatch Global food giants sourced soy linked to illegal Amazon deforestation Three of the world’s biggest food corporations have bought soy from companies whose supply chains have been linked to deforestation and fires in the Brazilian Amazon, an investigation has revealed. Bunge, Cofco and Cargill – which supply soy globally for livestock feed – have bought soy from Fiagril Ltda, a Chinese-owned company, and from multinational firm Aliança Agrícola do Cerrado. Both firms have sourced soy from a farmer sanctioned and fined for large swathes of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. [GMW: Almost all of this soy will be GM.] Unearthed; comment by GMWatch Farmers be wary of gene editing In a letter to the editor of the Canadian farming publication The Western Producer, a barley farmer warns that consumers are not enthusiastic about buying gene-edited foods and that the gene editing drive is really all about patents and higher profits for seed companies. He writes, "Once you remove the emotive language about science, what you have is a simple attempt at the regulatory theft of a public resource by a very well-resourced private industry." The Western Producer We should all be worried about the United Nations Food Systems Summit Later this year, the United Nations is set to hold a historic Food Systems Summit, recognizing the need for urgent action to disrupt business-as-usual practices in the food system. But far from serving as a meaningful avenue for much-needed change, the summit is shaping up to facilitate increased corporate capture of the food system. So much so, that peasant and indigenous-led organizations and civil society groups are organizing an independent counter-summit in order to have their voices heard. A Growing Culture DONATE TO GMWATCH __________________________________________________________ Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
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