The deaths of massive numbers of bees, a worldwide threat to food production, has been linked to genetically modified seeds, many of them produced by the DuPont Pioneer unit of DuPont, the largest U.S. producer of hybrid seeds for agriculture.
Some sources say a third of the world’s food production is under threat because of the disappearance of bees “in alarming numbers.” A third of commercial beehives, more than a million colonies yearly, are vanishing, according to a Reuters report.
The neoncotinoids group of pesticides is a nerve poison that disorients insects and appears to damage the homing instinct of bees. Bee communities fly off, never to return.
Monsanto has modified corn with Bt Protein which causes the stomachs of insects to rupture when it is consumed.
PR Society of America, headed by Mickey Nall of Ogilvy PR, this year gave its highest honor, the “Best of the Anvils,” to DuPont and Ogilvy PR for DuPont’s “Food Security” program. It won out over 846 other Anvil entries.
DuPont says it is concerned about the ability of the planet to feed nine billion people by 2050 but the decimation of the bee population could vastly shrink food production.
The DuPont Pioneer unit was “Pioneer Hi-Bred” until a name change was made last year.
Warnings about GMO Proliferate
Warnings about the effects of GMOs on food products and those who consume them have proliferated on the web.
Whole Foods, saying it supports the “Non-GMO Project,” says it sells nearly 4,800 products from 250 brands that are Non-GMO Project verified.
It has set a 2018 deadline for all its products in the U.S. and Canada to state whether they contain GMOs.
Elephant Journal says that chronic illnesses have jumped since GMOs were introduced in 1996. It quotes the International Journal of Biological Sciences as saying that rats that ate GMO corn had organ failure.
Elephant Journal has a “Never Buy” list of 138 foods that includes brands such as Aunt Jemima, Best Foods, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Cadbury/Schweppes, Coca-Cola, Del Monte, Frito-Lay, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Lean Cuisine, Nabisco, Nestle, Oreos, Pepperidge Farm, Pillsbury, Procter & Gamble, Skippy, Toblerone, Tropicana and V8.
Another site commenting on the disappearance of bees and GMOs is naturalnews.com.
The two biggest U.S. producers of GMOs, Monsanto and DuPont, recently settled lawsuits that they had launched against each other and are cooperating on marketing.
GMOs are a big issue in Europe where Bayer has sued the European Commission to stop its ban on “bee-killing pesticides.”
The focus is on neonicotinoid which is soaked into seeds, spreading through the plant, and killing insects who consume them. A petition is being circulated to block efforts of Bayer and Syngenta to overturn the ban.