Interview With Barbara Loe Fisher President Of The National Vaccine Information Center

WWGF News host Kathleen Hallal interviews Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), a non-profit charity she co-founded with parents of DPT vaccine injured children in 1982. For the past three decades, she has led a national, grassroots movement and public information campaign to institute vaccine safety reforms and informed consent protections in the public health system. NOTE: The above video is the complete 1 hour 7 minute session.

Time Code ListNOTE: The time code numbers below link to the highlight on the YouTube Page. The time code list is also on the YouTube page in comments. 

1:05 Barbara's background 
1:40 Came from a medical family
1:50 Never asked questions about vaccines, 23 doses of 7 vaccines
2:14 The 4th DPT Shot 
2:42 I walked into my sons room...
3:02 I called out his name...
3:08 How old was he?
3:44 It never occurred to me that he was unconscious 
3:54 My mother called me
4:06 You have to go wake him up
4:43 I didn't know what I know now...
5:26 He woke up the next day - he was very quite. We kind of forgot about it
6:02 My son is constantly sick...
6:16 I took him to the doctor...
6:42 Take him home and love him...
7:05 Eventually, he was diagnosed with minimal brain damage, multiple learning disabilities, ADD, dyslexia...  
7:43 My son today is 37 years old 
8:21 I see so many children who are much more severely damaged


8:28 The reason I continue to do this work...I've been doing this work for 33 years and we have seen this explosion of chronic disease and disability among our children
9:20 We can't leave off the research table...
9:50 The price tag our country is paying for these chronically ill individuals is astonishing
10:15 For 30 years, NVIC has been calling for the good science to be done
10:30 It is unfortunate that the government and the medical community is writing off the children who regress after vaccination as just coincidences, that there is not cause and effect...this is totally unacceptable, the mothers of this country have to quit our jobs and become full time care givers of our children...it is up to us to urge  these companies and the government to do better science.

Notes: Oral History of CLAIR PATTERSON

So I was studying that stuff. And Harrison said—he really

was a brilliant guy politically—”Oh, heck, the oil companies

should be interested in this.” “Why?” “Well, because if

Patterson is looking at these sediments, the isotopic composition

of the lead is a tracer that helps identify the stage, or the

age, to characterize the time or the type of sediment that you

have.” So he convinced the oil companies that they should

finance my research because it would assist them in identifying

oil deposits. You know, when you drill a core, you’re looking at

bands in a rock. And if you measure the lead isotopes in there,

it can give you more information than you had before. It could

help characterize the type of sediment, so it could help you

locate and identify oil deposits and reservoirs here and there.

So they started. It was a national consortium of oil companies

that had this big research fund where they doled it out to help

What's behind cluster of birth defects? (CNN-Video)

What's behind cluster of birth defects?:

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen investigates an alarming cluster of babies born with birth defects in rural Washington state.

 Contact Mandy Stahre at the Environmental Public Health Call and Mail Mandy Stahre at the Washington State Department of Health
P.O. Box 47820 Olympia,
Washington 98504-7820
360-236-3000

• Elizabeth Cohen, CNN senior medical correspondent: Yakima Valley, Washington, a horrible medical mystery has unfolded — An alarming rate of birth defects. Sara Barron, a nurse in the region and was the first to report cases of anencephaly, babies born with much of their brain and skull missing.
• Barron: “I was just stunned. 3 in a couple month period of time, that’s unheard of, and they’re such tragic, terrible outcomes.”
• Cohen: Barron’s shocking discovery prompted an investigation by the state health department, which showed that in 3 counties, in a 3 year period, there were 23 cases of anencephaly, a rate 4 times the national average. [...]
• Mandy Stahre, Washington State Health Department epidemiologist: “We have not found an answer, and that’s the very frustrating part because this is such a devastating diagnosis for a woman to have.” [...]
• Cohen: The state hasn’t spoken to any of the families who had the babies with birth defects. Not a single one. [...] that outrages Andrea Jackman [...]
• Andrea Jackman, baby born with spina bifida: “Nobody’s asked me anything. [...] What are you researching if you haven’t physically called the families to find out? What are you researching? [...] If it just happened to one person it could be random, but the fact that there’s so many different people that it’s happened to, there’s gotta be something that you can pinpoint that caused this.” [...]
• Stahre: “We’re still trying to find what may be causing these. Were still investigating this. We’re not ruling anything out at this point [...] We’re considering just about everything at this point. [...] I don’t think [pregnant women should be worried].”
• Cohen: But nurse Sara Barron isn’t so sure.
• Barron: “I think it’s very scary. I think there’s absolutely something going on that needs to be investigated more thoroughly.”

CNN, Mar. 1, 2014: In her 30-year career as a nurse, Sara Barron had seen only two babies with anencephaly [...] in 2012, while working at a hospital in rural Washington state, she saw two cases in two months. [...] a birth defect that’s always fatal. [...] Was [the dad] exposed to any toxic chemicals? [...] Department of Health plans to report how many babies were born with neural tube defects in 2013. [...] “We’re still investigating this,” [Stahre] says. “This is nowhere near finished.”

Tri-City Herald, Feb. 27, 2014: A genetic counselor in Yakima said she’s reported ["8 or 9"] additional cases of anencephaly and spina bifida since January 2013.

See also: "Worrisome" spike in deadly birth defects around leaking U.S. nuclear site -- Officials claim "it could be a complete coincidence" -- No news reports mention it's by the most contaminated area in Western Hemisphere #Hanford

I am SO upset right now I can hardly believe... - Connie Marie Gashler

Gardner Ted Gashler with his corn (2010)

I am SO upset right now I can hardly believe it!!!!!!!!!!!! - Connie Marie Gashler:

My father, who is 73 and has his phd in agri-business, loves gardening. His little patio garden at my folks condo is his pride and joy. He looks forward to planting all his amazing heirloom seeds each year, and reaping an unbelievably fabulous bounty from the tiny plot. (he knows agriculture/horticulture like no one else... he's like "the garden whisperer") ...well... the other day a dude with a clipboard came by their condo... he was a representative of the City Council there in Centerville, UT. 

He asked my dad about his garden, and my dad proudly told him about what he does for it, and about all his fantastic heirloom seeds that he has preserved since the 70's and before. He is especially proud of his corn, that he has specially selected, and fine tuned each year... he has saved seeds from the sweetest and juiciest ears and dried them with care, until they grow absolute corn-perfection. He told the man all about his wonderful corn, and then the man moved on. 

Well.. yesterday my dad got a letter from the Centerville city council saying that he has to RIP OUT all his corn because it is not MONSANTO seed!!!!!!!! 

The letter detailed for him how the City of Centerville only allows Monsanto's "serendipity corn" seed to be planting within city borders. !!!!!!! 

So Monsanto obviously must be funneling $$ to this Podunk city so they can actually keep a thug on PAYROLL to go around and harass old people and normal citizens. 

In this world of drought and famine they are going to make folks destroy crops..... How disgusting... Monsanto's filthy tentacles reach everywhere it seems... my dad (photo) has been an outspoken opponent of the company since he worked with farmers in former soviet countries in the 90's... he even testified before congress once about the illegal practices, and damage the company was doing to the planet. 

He was threatened by them then, and he toned it down after that... but here they are again... trying to show a little old man in his 70's that THEY are boss..... what can be done??????? we are all thinking we want to write to the slc tribune, and to the Centerville papers.... ( Kristina Whitley Gashler , would you write one too???? you have strong literary skills) ... this is just so very very wrong.... please post any other ideas here of what we can do.... — with Kristina Whitley Gashler.

I am SO upset right now I can hardly believe it (Part 2)

Comments:

• Laura Baker Yes, Serendipity corn is patented by Syngenta, not Monsanto, and it is also not actually one of their GMO varieties. However, having said that, I still think this is atrocious. Whether GMO or not, Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow and Bayer are all robbing us of our food security while creating their monopolies and I wouldn't give them a dollar of my business, that would be feeding the beasts and helping fund their takeover. What we need are more people like your father, who have that knowledge and expertise, and maybe a community garden can grow his variety! Heirloom veggies are very important to biodiversity and food security. Your father is a valuable member of society and I hope more people see that soon!

  2 minutes ago · Like
• 

  Connie Marie Gashler from what I understand, there are 2 varieties of serendipity that they have on the market, one is ge and one is not. but there is no way really, to know which is which....

GMO tomato helps fight heart disease - The Grower

University of California, Los Angeles, researchers have used genetic engineering to develop a tomato containing amino acids that mimic the actions of good cholesterol when consumed.

An early study found that mice fed these freeze-dried tomatoes had less inflammation and plaque build-up in their arteries, according to a news release.

After the tomatoes are eaten, the amino acid group—known as an apoA-1 peptide—was active in the small intestine but not in the blood.

This suggested to researchers that focusing on the small intestine may be a new strategy to prevent atherosclerosis, which causes plaque build-up in arteries and can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
The peptide would be considered a drug if given as an injection or in a pill form. But when included as part of a plant, fruit or vegetable, it is no different than the same organism that hasn't been transformed.

 Read More
GMO tomato helps fight heart disease - The Grower

WWGFN Sponsor - Baobab Foods

“The Weekly Women‘s GMO Free News effort is important work for consumers concerned about GMOs,” explains Stephan Broburg, general manager of Baobab Foods in Bellevue Wash.

“As a natural foods importer, Baobab Foods is committed to the movement to bring the nutritional power of plants such as baobab to people whom value health, the environment and ethical business."

"We will assist WWGFN in the effort to educate consumers nationwide regarding the impacts GMOs have on the health and well-being of our communities in multiple ways, including through the links on our landing page and the QR codes on our retail packaging.”

Baobab is the true king of superfruits. What exactly makes Baobest™ brand baobab so great? Watch Video

More antioxidants than any other superfruit, even acai, blueberries and pomegranate.
Exceptional fiber – more than half is ultra-healthful soluble fiber.
A raw, whole food.
Organic.
Ethically and sustainably harvested.
The planet’s highest plant source of calcium.
More iron, potassium, magnesium and Vitamin C than most other popular super foods.
Tastes great and is fun to eat.



Baobab Foods will be at Expo West Booth 5174.

Weekly Womens GMO Free News

Weekly Womens GMO Free News
A weekly Google Hangout for women who want to know what is in their food

Co-Hosts 

Leslie Stoddard (Idaho) 

YouTube Channel

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"I'm very excited to be part of Weekly Women GMO Free News and Information Hangout in conjunction with other passionate female activists across the nation!

In the fall of 2009 I heard the term GMO for the first time and my life has never been the same. Out of anger, frustration, and because I felt betrayed, I co-founded GMO Free Idaho and started to educate those who are not aware that our food supply has been genetically altered with foreign DNA by corporations who are notorious for having a totally lack of respect for humanity and our planet.

As I travel down this road, I have come to meet many other activists and passionate consumers who have the same goals in sight....to see GM foods pushed off our grocery store shelves, and the corporations responsible for poising our planet and potentially the human population, put to justice.

GMO Free News and Information is going to be an excellent resource and a great place for all of us to learn and grow! It's exciting to watch the women I will be working with create positive changes in their own communities. This is an opportunity for us to come together and share our experiences, ideas, interviews, and calls to action to further assist in the changes we are all seeking."

"Genetically modified foods have never been human safety tested. As a person who has suffered from food allergies and digestive disease, I cannot help but wonder if GM foods are responsible. That's why I believe consumers have the right to know when they are eating GM foods. The corporations that create GM seed need to honor consumers by providing transparency about their practices and when our food contains their modified ingredients."

"The issues surrounding GMOs are vast. Cross contamination is by far one of the most disturbing aspects of genetic modification. 50% of heritage corn varieties in Mexico have become contaminated with Monsanto's GMO traits and this corporation is not being held responsible for what I call bioterrorism. Nor are enough consumers standing up and saying we will NOT tolerate the reduction of the biodiversity of our food supply. This is partly because most consumers are not aware of GMOs and partly because the consumers who are aware do not understand the consequences of such contamination.

In short, if we do not stop GMO production.....cross contamination, we will be dependent on only a few varieties of seed, provided by only a handful of multi-national corporations. In my opinion, GMOs are the biggest threat to the survival of humanity and our planet.

The only way to create change is by using our purchasing dollars as a vote. It it critical that we make this current paradigm obsolete by purchasing organic, local, grass-fed, and non-GMO foods."
 

Zen Honeycutt (CA) 

Video Interview

Blog

Facebook 

Bio:

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The Dalai Lama said :Western Women will change the world". That time is now. Women all across America are coming together, speaking out and causing change through grassroots movements, legislation, ballot initiatives and reaching out to their neighbors and friends to share with them about Genetically Modified foods and their health risks. 

Every human needs food and the way it is raised and grown effects every one of us. In the United States, what we allow or don't allow impacts the rest of the world. 

I am honored every, day to meet other women who care enough share about GMOs and change the world." -Zen Honeycutt Mom of 3 and Moms Across America founder

Laurie Olson (WA)

Facebook

Video:

Bio:

Photo:

Learning about Genetically Modified Food is very isolating, especially if you are the only one you know who has ever heard of it.  In March of 2010, I was fortunate enough to have two friends who helped me along in those first weeks.   

I got on the web, found answers, more people and groups who connected me to information and solutions.  What I found out is that our government is pushing Genetically Engineered Seeds on other countries in our name.  They say that we have been eating them for years and while that is true, we need to take a good hard look at what it has done to the people in our country.   

No matter what happens in the political arena we need to remember that we vote three times a day and we need to think about that every time we go to the grocery store. 

Laurie Olson: Wife, Mom to 3, Volunteer with WA State Tipping Point Network, GMO Free USA and Label It WA.

Andrea Frostad (WA) 

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Hippocrates stated, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

I know firsthand how food is our medicine and can heal.  Food is our way to vibrant health, and it is my duty to protect my health, the health of my family, and the food that will provide that.
   
I believe that the world’s living systems have evolved over millennia into highly organized systems. It is a simplistic and arrogant view to think that we can tinker with the system at this stage of our knowledge and not face serious consequences.

I have never felt as connected to a cause as I have since I began campaigning on the issue of genetically engineered food. Millions of people around the globe are joining together in shedding light on the agenda of the bio-industry. How has labeling, our right to know, come to be perceived as a threat to our economic and political sanctity?  I think Godwin Ojo from Africa states it best: "Hunger has become a political tool for manipulating people and nations, a situation which has devastating impacts on the poor..."  Why are Mexican peasant farmers on hunger strike protesting the threat of 6 million acres of GM corn being grown on their soil, and what does this have to do with labeling?  Apparently everything!  Join us as we discuss the many layers of this issue.

Women have an instinct and a power to follow it.  We are a force to be reckoned with.

I am a mother of three growing boys and a lover of food.

Rachel Linden (AZ)
Video Interview

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PPT 

Press Release: (February 19)

Headline:

GMO Free News and Information Weekly Women Google Hangouts Show To Focus On Washington Food Label Initiative I-522

Sub Headline

GMOs, Enslavement & Poverty Seeds of Freedom

I've always said, even if you don't believe GMO seeds are unhealthy, there are many political reasons to reject the seeds. It's a blueprint for slavery. It turns food into a weapon of mass poverty. The story of seed has become one of loss, control, dependence and debt. It's been written by those who want to make vast profit from our food system, no matter what the true cost. It's time to change the story.

The story of seed has become one of loss, control, dependence and debt. It's been written by those who want to make vast profit from our food system, no matter what the true cost. It's time to change the story. Narrated by Jeremy Irons.

Seeds of Freedom charts the story of seed from its roots at the heart of traditional, diversity rich farming systems across the world, to being transformed into a powerful commodity, used to monopolise the global food system.The film highlights the extent to which the industrial agricultural system, and genetically modified (GM) seeds in particular, has impacted on the enormous agro -biodiversity evolved by farmers and communities around the world, since the beginning of agriculture.

Seeds of Freedom seeks to challenge the mantra that large-scale, industrial agriculture is the only means by which we can feed the world, promoted by the pro-GM lobby. In tracking the story of seed it becomes clear how corporate agenda has driven the take over of seed in order to make vast profit and control of the food global system.

Through interviews with leading international experts such as Dr Vandana Shiva and Henk Hobbelink, and through the voices of a number of African farmers, the film highlights how the loss of indigenous seed goes hand in hand with loss of biodiversity and related knowledge; the loss of cultural traditions and practices; the loss of livelihoods; and the loss of food sovereignty. The pressure is growing to replace the diverse, nutritional, locally adapted and resilient seed crops which have been bred by small-scale farmers for millenia, by monocultures of GM seed.

Alongside speakers from indigenous farming communities, the film features global experts and activists Dr Vandana Shiva of Navdanya, Henk Hobbelink of GRAIN, Zac Goldsmith MP (UK Conservative party), Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace International, Gathuru Mburu of the African Biodiversity Network, Liz Hosken of The Gaia Foundation and Caroline Lucas MP (UK Green party).

This film is co-produced by The Gaia Foundation and the African Biodiversity Network. In collaboration with GRAIN, Navdanya International and MELCA Ethiopia .

Please support the original filmmakers by donating or purchasing the DVD here: http://seedsoffreedom.info.

Genetically Modified Crops Implicated in Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder

Genetically Modified Crops Implicated in Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder

As the disappearance of honeybees continues, researchers are trying desperately to discover the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). General concensus at this point is that there is more than once cause and the latest culprit may be genetically modified crops. This is one area of research being neglected as mainstream scientists insist GM crops are safe.

For the last 100 years, beekeepers have experienced colony losses from bacteria, (foulbrood), mites (varroa and tracheal) and other pathogens. These problems are dealt with by using antibiotics, miticides and and other methods of pest management. Losses are slow and expected and beekeepers know how to limit the destruction. This new mass die-off is different in that it is virtually instantaneous with no warning of the impending collapse.

John McDonald, a bee keeper in Pennsyvania with a background in biology, speculated that genetically modified crops could play a role in CCD. Although the government constantly reassures us that these genetic manipulations are safe for both humans and the environment, his hope is that looking more closely at these issues might raise questions about those assumptions.

GMOs | PT Food Co-Op Blog Posts

GMOs | PT Food Co-Op

Sample Blog Posts:

September 16th, 2012 by foodcoop

In our upcoming newsletter, Food Co-op Commons, we have invited you to take a quick quiz to check your knowledge about genetically modified foods. Here is the pdf of the quiz and if you want to know the answers, here is a pdf copy of the quiz with the answers attached. Good luck, and for more info on GMOs, check out our kiosk in the store!
 

Non-GMO Project Shelf Labels Are Here!

August 5th, 2012 by foodcoop

You asked for it, and we’ve done it. Using the Non-GMO Project’s verification certification list of products, we’ve labeled our shelves with signage that shows you which products are certified by the Non-GMO Project. Learn how to avoid genetically modified foods by looking for this certification seal on our shelves, and on various product labels. We also have shopping guides available in the store to help you avoid GMO products. You can also read GMO Myth’s and Truths on the Non-GMO Project website.

Concerned about GMO’s? Download our pdf.

 

Mom Apologizes to Kids about GMOs | Moms Across America

Mom Apologizes to Kids about GMOs | Moms Across America

Dear Boys,

You may not understand all of this now, at  10, 7 and 4, but someday you will.

Someday, you will know that I fed you genetically modified food for 9 and a half years,
and you will wonder why.

You will wonder how someone could do that to their children.
You may wonder why I didn’t know. 
You may wonder why I wasn’t more vigilant to find out.
You may wonder why I didn’t take
you to the doctors more often or sooner and find out why
you had so many allergies.
You may wonder why
you felt so tired, distracted and felt out of control cranky,  why
you  had to go to school with a rash around your mouth and feel embarrassed for weeks.
You may wonder why
you thought something  was wrong with you.
You may wonder why I just gave up and basically said
”You have allergies and that’s the way it is. Deal with it.”

You may think that my lack of action around your allergies and interest in what  we were eating was some sort of sign that I didn’t love you.

I am sorry.
I am so so so sorry that I did not wonder more myself.

My Story | GMO Free Girl

My Story | GMO Free Girl

I Love Food!

And I love knowing that I am serving my family the best possible food I can. And that means knowing what I’m buying – knowing what’s really inside the box of crackers my kids want.  I’ve become an expert at reading labels, which is not always easy with 3 kids in tow, but I’ve been doing it now for 3 years and it wasn’t always by choice.

When my son was 11 months old, he was diagnosed with a severe dairy allergy.  Not the lactose, but the proteins in the dairy – casein and whey.  I had never known that those two ingredients were actually from cows milk until our allergist told us we had to not only avoid them, but to stay away from any foods that stated “produced in a plant that processes milk ingredients.”  I thought food as I knew it was over.

Everything seemed to have dairy in it all of the sudden.  Goldfish crackers (even the pretzel ones!), packaged lunch meats, cereal bars, pretzels, frozen waffles, tortillas.  Even the bread we were eating had dairy in it!  We literally had to change the way we ate, and quickly, because my sons life depended on it.  The first thing I did was go out and get some new cookbooks.

I don’t know about you, but I need to see pictures of what I’m cooking before I cook it.  If it doesn’t look good, why bother.  So I picked up The Kind Diet.  I had no idea it was a vegan cookbook, I just really liked the pictures and everything in it looked fresh, healthy, and the recipes that had dairy used nut milks.  And since I was only eating fish anyway, and now I had to give up dairy, why not just be vegan.  I’ve always had a soft heart for cute baby animals and after reading about some of the horrible ways the animals were treated and then slaughtered, I was in. Vegan it was…and vegan it still is.

The Priceless Story Behind the Cost Of GMOS | Moms Across America

The Priceless Story Behind the Cost Of GMOS | Moms Across America

A Conversation with Tara Cook Littman Part One
Tara-Cook Littman, Mom of three and one of the leaders of a coalition of 37 states for ballot initiatives and legislature to label GMOs, is on the phone with me from Connecticut, my home state, and we have an immediate connection. The first thing she says is that her “favorite part about all this, is connecting with people from all over the United States” and I know I have found a kindred soul. She goes on to tell me about how she was just in Washington D.C. marching with hundreds of other farmers and supporters from Food Democracy Now and other groups, from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, D.C etc…and the relationships and the connections she made with these committed people just meant the world to her. She described with loving warmth, how she, at 37, “Demonstrated, ate, slept and talked, for three days, with a 20 and 50 year old women from different states and backgrounds. They talked about things they never talk about and laughed til they cried and became the best of friends. She said,”We asked each other, “How is it that we have not known each other for the past twenty years???? Connecting with people about this restores my faith in humanity.”

This is the priceless story behind the cost of GMOs. This is something that Monsanto and major food organizations cannot pay for with more advertising to buy away from us. No amount of money in the world can alter a human connection and bond of like minded people. Even from cross country, the trust and connections we create in moments is worth more than billions. Money literally cannot buy love.

My Seven Year Itch | Inspired Bites

My Seven Year Itch | Inspired Bites

by Robyn O'Brien  

It is seven years ago today that my life changed over a plate of scrambled eggs.

As my daughter’s face swelled shut, I didn’t want to witness what I saw that morning, to do the work that had to be done, to find the courage that would be needed.

In all candor, seven years ago, as all of this was hitting, there was a deep yearning to somehow go back to the simplicity that we had known before that breakfast.
But that would never happen.

I couldn’t unlearn what I went on to learn or forget what I had seen.

And as I watched her struggle to breathe that morning, my life forever changed.

What I unearthed that day – that the number of children with the peanut allergy had doubled from 1997-2002, that food allergies had become so pervasive in preschool children – was the beginning of a much greater story.

As I learned about food allergies, I learned more than I could have imagined.

Today, too many Americans have allergies or asthma.   Autism now affects 1 in 54 boys in our country, while in other countries, its lack of prevalence means that the numbers aren’t even tabulated.  And while the United States only represents 5% of the world’s population, 90% of the world’s ADHD prescriptions are written for our children. But it’s not just the children who are struggling under these conditions,  41% of us are expected to get cancer in our lifetimes, while 1 in 2 minority children are expected to be insulin dependent by the time they reach adulthood.   The Centers for Disease Control now reports that cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15.

Our children have earned the title “Generation Rx” and “Generation XL” due to their escalating rates of obesity and these other conditions...

David Versus Monsanto (The Globalist Slow Kill Bio weapons Division).

Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto: Imagine that a storm blows across your garden and that now, genetically-manipulated seeds are in your crops. A multi-national corporation pay you a visit, demand that you surrender your crops - and then sue you for $200 000 for the illegal use of patented, GM seeds. In this definitive David and Goliath battle, one farmer stands up against a massive multinational, and their right to claim ownership to a living organism.

Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto: The Story of a Canadian Farmer's Fight to Defend the Rights of Farmers and the Future of Seeds

Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto: The Story of a Canadian Farmer's Fight to Defend the Rights of Farmers and the Future of Seeds



PERCY SCHMEISER: It started in 1998, when Monsanto laid what they call a patent infringement lawsuit against my wife and myself, and they charged us that we were growing their genetic altered, or GMO, canola, as we call it in Canada. And that was the beginning of it. And as GMOs were introduced in North America in 1996, so this was two years after the introduction.

AMY GOODMAN: Explain what a GMO is.

PERCY SCHMEISER: Genetic modified organisms. And what that really means is that they took a gene from another life form, put it into canola, which made it resistant to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.

AMY GOODMAN: And explain what canola is.

PERCY SCHMEISER: Canola is — well, here — in most parts of the world, we call it rapeseed. But canola is an oil-based crop, and primarily it is used for making cooking oil. And the meal from it, after it’s pressed, is good animal feed, both for cattle and for pigs.

AMY GOODMAN: And explain how it ended up on your property.

PERCY SCHMEISER: My neighbor had grown it in 1997, and the following year it had true cross-pollination. But at that time, we believe it was primarily the contamination came from seeds blown in the wind, transportation by the farmer to the market, to his field, and from his field to his granaries.