In March, Hungary introduced a new regulation that states seeds must be checked for GMO before they are introduced to the market. However, some GMO seeds made it to the farmers without their being aware of it.
As a result, almost 1,000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds have been destroyed throughout Hungary. The deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar said that the GMO maize has been ploughed under, and pollen has not spread from the maize.
The United States, meanwhile, is beginning to see the consequences of widely planted GMOs. In the mid-’90s, Monsanto introduced seeds genetically engineered to withstand its Roundup brand of herbicide. Today, these “Roundup Ready” crops are planted all across the U.S. — 94 percent of soybeans and more than 70 percent of corn and cotton contain the Roundup-resistant gene.
But when the land is dosed with a single herbicide for years on end, the ecosystems adapt. Roundup-defying “superweeds” are getting out of control. And the problem is only accelerating, because the resistant weeds are driving out their non-resistant counterparts.
According to Mother Jones:
“These weeds adapt faster and more vigorously than their weed cousins, choking fields and clogging irrigation ditches so badly water can’t pass through.
Dr. Mercola‘s Comments:
The news that Hungary recently destroyed nearly 1,000 acres of corn crops because they were found to be mistakenly grown with genetically modified (GM) seeds should be a major wake-up call to anyone in the United States and elsewhere who believes GM (genetically modified) crops are harmless. The discovery that the farmland was planted with GM seeds came when the season was already underway, so the harvest has been completely lost for this year.
What would prompt the Hungarian government to take such a drastic step?
Perhaps it is the fact that GM crops simply cannot be contained, and inevitably will contaminate the environment with GM DNA. Or it could be that they do not want superweeds, triggered by the overuse of Roundup herbicide on GM Roundup Ready crops, overtaking their farmland the way they are now doing in the United States. Then again, it could be the unknown threats to human health — and the fact that new research shows toxins from GM crops are now appearing in human blood — that made them think twice.
Either way, they are clearly well educated about the dangers of GM foods … which is a lesson the U.S. government still needs to learn.
- Following Hungary’s lead in the fight against GMOs in our food (greenlinglocal.wordpress.com)
- Watch Out! (lewrockwell.com)
- Monsanto’s Roundup Ready Crops Linked to Illness, Obesity (talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)
- Activist Post: GMO Crops Continually Banned Around the World in Display of Health Freedom (2012indyinfo.com)
- Organ damage linked to GMOs (gogreennation.org)
- GMO Crops Continually Banned Around the World in Display of Health Freedom. (thetruthiswhere.wordpress.com)
- Where the GMOs Grow (gogreennation.org)