Mexico proceeds with plan to replace 16mn tonnes of GM corn with homegrown variety
Deputy minister describes GM corn and glyphosate, which is also being banned, as ‘undesirable and unnecessary’
The federal government will go ahead with its plan to stop importing genetically modified (GM) corn and replace it with homegrown maize, according to Deputy Agriculture Minister Víctor Suárez.
Suárez: Sustainable “agro-ecological” practices must take priority.
The official also told the news agencyReuters that the government is sticking to its plan to ban glyphosate, a controversial herbicide.
The government announced by executive order on the final day of 2020 that it aims to replace approximately 16 million tonnes of yellow corn imports – most of which comes from the United States and almost all of which is GM corn – with new, local production by 2024, the final year of the current administration’s six-year term.
The imports account for more than a third of Mexican demand for corn and are mostly used as livestock fodder.
Replacing the imports by 2024 with homegrown corn would require an almost 60% increase over current domestic production levels.
ARCHIV – Protesters from 14.09.2016 +++(c) dpa – Bildfunk+++
Suárez, an agronomist, a long-term ally of President López Obrador, and a key architect of the executive order, told Reuters that GMcorn and glyphosate, the active ingredient in the Monsanto herbicide Roundup, are too dangerous to be permitted long term in Mexico.
He said that Mexican agricultural production and sustainable “agro-ecological” practices must take priority.
“We are moving in this direction, and this must be clear: no one should think that they can bet that this decree will not be implemented,” Suárez said.
The deputy minister cited studies that have linked glyphosate to cancer and found that it is harmful to bees and other pollinators. He also claimed that GM corn contaminates native strains of the grain that have long been cultivated in Mexico.
Vegan Protein Box and Oatly Oat Milk Launch at Starbucks
Customers asked, and Starbucks listened! This month, Starbucks debuted its very first vegan protein box. Available at most locations nationwide, the Chickpea Bites & Avocado Protein Box is packed with chickpea nuggets, snap peas, mini carrots, dried cranberries and nuts, and an avocado spread.
It’s a vegan fast-food takeover! As more quick-service restaurants see the earning potential of vegan-friendly options (McDonald’s is going in BIG with Beyond Meat), VegNews is keeping you updated on the latest fast-food fare with trusty guides and breaking news for the next time you’re in a crunch. Say goodbye to French fries-only orders … it’s time to chow down.
I had this sent to me on world water day (22/3); but it was late and I did not have time to post; so here it is now:
Regards Mark
Message:
Dear Mark,
“Water has material benefits– children can bathe in it, for example. But for us Siekopai, water is significant beyond its material use. Water embodies another world entirely; it has a spiritual identity.” – Siekopai Leader Justino Piaguaje
Today, on World Water Day, we’re excited to share a video in which Siekopai leader and water protector Justino Piaguaje explains the importance of water for his people.
In this video, Justino tells us that for the Siekopai, as well as for other Indigenous peoples, water has a spiritual significance that goes far beyond its material value. This spiritual connection is part of the reason why Indigenous peoples from Standing Rock to the Amazon are risking their lives to defend Earth’s most precious resource.
And yet, while Indigenous peoples have been fighting to protect our planet for centuries, only a fraction of the less than two percent of all global philanthropy that is directed to stopping climate change is invested in them! Amazon Frontlines launched the Frontlines Challenge alongside our Indigenous partners to help change this. By becoming a monthly sustainer of the Frontlines Challenge today, you can help us mobilize critical and urgent resourcesto Indigenous peoples on the frontlines throughout the year.
Justino explains that in order to truly understand the importance of the natural world we must learn to see it with different eyes. Let’s support Justino and all the Indigenous water protectors showing us a pathway towards greater respect and balance with our planet.
For our water and all the añapëkë (water dwellers),
Chantelle, Nico, Sophie, Alex, Ylenia, Jerónimo and the rest of the Amazon Frontlines team
The last blast – Biggest shake-up in 500 years for game shooting as ban looms on ‘toxic’ ammunition.
The pellets inside shotgun cartridges are toxic for animals, nature activists say
Lead ammunition has been used to shoot birds in the UK since the 1500s
Shooting organisations say the ban could take eight years to come into force
It’s the biggest shake up for the British hunters in over 500 years as the British government now considers a ban on the use of lead shot.
Lead pellets are inside of the cartridges used in shotguns. They are toxic and can be fatal if they are eaten by other birds, animals and all wildlife.
Under consultation is the phasing out of lead ammunition across all environments in England, Scotland and Wales. But shooting organisations are also saying that the ban could take up to 8 years before it comes into force. It is expected that some in the shooting fraternity are not happy and have become quite reactionary.
Tim Bonner of the Countryside Alliance; the main pro hunt organisation in the UK, has declared that the phase out can be done on their time scale, or it will be imposed on them. He also accepted that there are now alternatives to lead shot.
The UK government has requested an official review of the evidence; followed by a public consultation to aim at a proposed ban on the ammunition.
Environment Minister Rebecca Pow has stated that addressing the impacts of lead ammunition will mark a significant step forward in helping to protect wildlife, people and the environment.
Officials pointed to research by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust which shows that between 50,000 and 100,000 wildfowl die each year after ingesting lead from spent pellets which they mistake for food. Mr Bonner stated that such estimates were ‘a bit on the high side’; but then as a shooter and huntsman, he would.
The EU is expected to ban imports of game shot with lead – a major concern because around 60 per cent of British game is exported to Europe. Fears have been expressed by manufacturers as to whether they will be able to meet demand for new types of ammunition.
Last year several leading cartridge makers said that they thought that developing ‘high performance ammunition’ without lead in a short time frame, ‘without significant support’ from the Government, would be impossible.
Jonathan Young, editor of countryside sports magazine The Field, has voiced his doubts about the ability of steel pellets to kill game ‘efficiently and cleanly’.
But Dr Julia Newth of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust said: ‘Conservationists, shooting organisations and game meat retailers have recognised the toxic risks from lead ammunition.’
Don’t you also ask yourself what makes it so difficult to forego EU sponsorship?
Why can’t the EU member states simply finance their Council Presidency, i.e. government activity, themselves?
Apparently, they can. Germany proved this last year and, following criticism from food watch, has not been sponsored by any company.
Yet Portugal appears to see sponsorship as an opportunity to promote Portuguese brands to a wider and influential audience.
In this case, it is Sumol + Compal, a beverage company that sells sugar giants such as PepsiCo and Lipton or the chip brand Lays.
The other company is Navigator Paper, a paper products company that environmental organizations have linked to monoculture plantations and forest fires in Portugal and land grabbing in Mozambique.
And all of this while the member states in the Council of the European Union decide on important future issues for our continent – from climate protection to agriculture and health policy.
According to the Portuguese Foreign Minister, these sponsorship contracts would not lead to any influence on the relevant policy. We think: It should never be the case – and also not be given the impression – that a company has an influence on the political agenda of the EU!
If one of the most important political institutions in Europe is sponsored by companies, that is simply unacceptable.
Nigeria: Undercover investigation by UK television shows that wet markets operate as normal; and that this is another Covid pandemic waiting to happen. Disturbing footage, as are all wet markets that involve live animals.
ITV News (UK) has secretly filmed in Oluwo Fish Market, a wet market just outside Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
‘It’s going to happen again’: Fears wet markets could lead to another deadly disease
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Lucy Watson
Oluwo Fish Market teems with life. It is a wet market just outside Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
ITV News secretly filmed there – a place awash with animals – alive and dead. Scientists believe wet markets are a breeding ground for disease, a high risk environment, from where the next pandemic could emerge.
The very concept of a “wet market” means the presence of blood and bodily fluids.
It is a marketplace selling fresh meat and fish, as opposed to a “dry market” that sells durable products.
Video obtained by both ITV News and the charity WildAtLife shows live crocodiles having their scales removed, pangolins being kicked and abused and dogs boiled alive.
Chinedu Mogbu has rescued many animals from the wet market.Credit: ITV News
Multiple primates were seen imprisoned in cages, the heads of others were for sale. It was difficult to watch when a baby baboon, trapped inside a birdcage, reached out to the camera grasping for freedom, as a decapitated monkey was sold next to him.
One woman reached into a brown sack and pulled out a pangolin. This species is the most trafficked animal in the world. We could buy it there for less than ten pounds.
The pangolin is a species that has been linked to the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Their scales are of high value in Asia for medicines.
The abuse of animals and the health risks for humans at this market were plain to see. It’s what the conservation group WildAtLife want to expose. Chinedu Mogbu works for them, and has rescued umpteen exotic species from there in recent months.
He said: “Nigeria doesn’t have strong laws to protect its wildlife.
There are fears another zoonotic illness could develop at a wet market.Credit: ITV News
“Anyone can go into the forest, take a pangolin and sell it on the street. The law enforcers are not even aware of the importance or the laws that protect these animals.”
We did notice the presence of Asian buyers at this African market.
Any illicit, international trade would undoubtedly increase the risk of spreading disease around the globe, but Nigerian officials say they are doing enough to prevent that.
Joseph Attah from the Customs Service refused to answer more than one question on the matter though.
This was all he would say: “We have been making a lot of seizures about that, we have been seizing them and we will continue to seize them anytime we see them.”
We know, that despite our allegations, the wet market in Epe continues to thrive. Scientists are concerned that such places pose an unnecessary and high risk.
“Every single animal at a wet market is likely to have an infection,” Malcolm Bennett from the University of Nottingham told me. He is Professor of Zoonotic and Emerging Diseases.
“That general concept of bringing lots of animals and people together, and doing lots of things to them in the same place is a high risk thing to do. It’s not just a biodiversity of animals, it’s a biodiversity of disease. Some of which will spread to us.“
He said unflinchingly, “It is going to happen again.”
There is a high security lab at the university where they are analysing the affects of COVID-19 on cells.
Bringing together animals and people that don’t usually mix increases the risk of new infections, so wet markets are ideal places for cross species transmission and disease amplification.
Other viruses we know of that started out as zoonotic diseases are SARS, MERS, Ebola, even HIV.
Stopping the development of such viruses is impossible, instead we need to mitigate the risks.
In many peoples’ eyes what happens at some wet markets is unhygienic, tortuous and brutal, but in African and Asian nations it isn’t simply a case of shutting them down. There are more issues at play. They have a critical role in social interaction and for different cultures. The Deputy Director of the National Zoo, Aminu Muhammad Beli, explained.
“We cannot close the wet markets because there are certain animals that have cultural attributes to certain tribal groups. We have to devise a way of sustaining the industry,” he said.
His words are perhaps difficult to stomach when you see carcasses lying in the hot sun and live animals being butchered. Regulation and surveillance must increase though, else harmful pathogens will breed.
We just can’t predict where or how destructive they will be.
Regards Mark
Comment – I watched the investigation on UK news yesterday (16/3) – and was informed that some of the UK team rescued some of the animals and released them back into the wild where they belong. Well done ITN.
This is a global abuse – not confined to just a few nations.
WAV Comment – So this is ‘propaganda’ (according to the NFI, is it ?
For decades, the fishing industry has globally plundered the seas and oceans, not just catching, but depleting the worlds oceans of its fish stocks; getting away with it all. Now someone has come along and has been brave enough to expose it all; for what it is, the lid has been removed from the fishing industry, and they don’t like it.
Please have a look at the following and decide for yourself – reality or propaganda ?
Regards Mark
BREAKING: Leaked Documents From Fishing Industry Expose Plan To Attack Seaspiracy Netflix Release
Seaspiracy seeks to uncover ‘alarming global corruption’ – and is already facing backlash from the fishing industry before it’s reached screens, the leaked document revealed
A US seafood industry body is launching a campaign in response to the discoveries it labels ‘vegan propaganda’ showcased in the upcoming documentary, Seaspiracy – despite the fact the film is yet to be released.
It was revealed in a leaked document sent to Plant Based News.
Protecting the seafood industry
The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is a trade group that represents the US seafood industry, and actively encourages people to eat marine life. Moreover, it claims to be committed to ‘sustainable’ fishing and ‘responsible aquaculture’.
In addition, the NFI says it works to ensure both the media and consumers ‘have the facts about seafood’.
The letter brands the documentary, soon to be screened on Netflix, a ‘dishonest attack’. This is in anticipation of its discoveries and claims it ‘disingenuously’ targets the fishing industry – despite not viewing it.
Seaspiracy branded a ‘dishonest attack’
NFI said: “But hijacking a lifestyle while disingenuously targeting an industry that provides billions of healthy meals and employs 1.7 million Americans is an unacceptable and dishonest attack.”
As a result, the organization is planning retaliation in order to protect the industry, the leaked private document confirms. The media strategy will ‘combat inaccuracies’ and ‘highlight Netflix’s lack of oversight when it comes to the presentation of facts’, it continues.
As a result, it is ‘reaching out’ to restaurant and retail customers in the seafood sector to arm them with ‘friendly talking points’ once the film debuts on March 24.
Letter to Netflix
It goes on to state that the NFI expects Seaspiracy to be an ‘unabashedly vegan activist production’ similar to that of hit Cowspiracy and What The Health?, as Kip Andersen produced all three.
Additionally, the NFI reached out to Netflix, accusing it of promoting ‘propaganda over facts’.
In a letter, it told the streaming service that both Cowspiracy and What The Health? contained a ‘litany of hyperbole’ over fears Seaspiracy will be similar.
The letter voiced grievances to Netflix’s Co-CEO, claiming the documentary is ‘masquerading’ as facts about seafood.
It reads: “The producers of this film are vegan activists… Veganism is a fine choice for some – but my heavens, they do miss out on the complete array of seafood options like enormous King Crab, buttery Maine lobster, succulent Iceland cod, and omega-rich Alaska salmon.”
In a separate press release, the NFI claims it called on Netflix to create a ‘propaganda’ tab on its website for ‘films based on exaggeration, fabrications and conspiracy theories’.
Plant Based News approached the NFI to comment. “We consider the film vegan propaganda and we’d like Netflix to start a whole new tab for just this type of content,” the organization said in response.
The NFI claims seafood industry workers’ welfare is ‘vital’.
It added: “Mistreatment of workers at any place in the seafood value chain should be exposed. And regulators, policymakers and law enforcement should engage where needed right away.”
This is despite the Seaspiracy documentary trailer showing snippets of a different picture. One clip includes the quote: ‘When the ships are in the ocean, they can throw you overboard’.
Yet the NFI continued to label Seaspiracy as propaganda.
“A documentary is designed to accurately and objectively document facts. That’s not the goal of this film. The producers set out to make a movie that promotes veganism.
“There’s nothing wrong with that at all, but audiences should know these filmmakers have an agenda. And that is to convince viewers not to eat animal protein,” the NFI added.
Defending animal agriculture
The NFI alerted the Animal Agriculture Alliance (AAA), an organization that claims to connect a range of figures in the industry, including farmers, and encouraging its members to eat meat.
On its website, it accuses animal rights advocates of ‘misleading consumers’ – in response to undercover footage obtained from farms.
AAA agreed to ‘push back publicly against Seaspiracy‘, the leaked document states.
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE – Click on the link below:
Seaspiracy trailer
Seaspiracy seeks to uncover ‘alarming global corruption’ and its trailer has already garnered hundreds of thousands of views on social media.
Eight iconic fashion brands including Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood are urging UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ban fur sales.
Fur farming was banned in Britain in 2003. But, since then, Britain has imported more than £800 million worth of fur from countries such as Finland, China, and Poland.
Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood
Designers Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Katharine Hamnett, ERDEM, Shrimps, Christopher Raeburn, and Helen Moore are backing Humane Society International’s #FurFreeBritain campaign.
The brands have signed a letter addressing Johnson. It states banning fur sales would ‘enhance the UK’s growing reputation as a global hub for innovation in ethical fashion’.
Moreover, it reads: “Our fur-free policies are informed by the beliefs and expectations of the majority of UK consumers, who reject animal fur on ethical grounds.
“We’re proud to support the growing fur-free movement… We know that the majority of British consumers want fashion items without fur.”
‘British consumers reject fur’
Claire Bass is the executive director of Humane Society International/UK. In a statement sent to PBN, she said: “By proudly flying the flag for fur-free fashion… These iconic British fashion designers have their fingers on the pulse.
“They refuse to put cruelty on the catwalk. Because, they know there is nothing glamorous about mentally deprived foxes, anally electrocuted raccoon dogs, COVID-19 infected mink and wild trapped coyotes shot in the head.
Bass then added: “The vast majority of British consumers reject fur. And, as the revolting cruelty of fur is exposed, a global decline in demand for fur fashion has sent this industry into a downward spiral.
“Killing animals for fashion does not reflect brand Britain. Even her Majesty the Queen has stopped buying new fur. It’s time for our government to consign the fur trade to the history books where it belongs and ban the sale of fur.”
‘Long-standing no fur policy’
Luxury department store Selfridges has also backed the initiative and signed the letter to Johnson.
Moreover, Daniella Vega is the director of sustainability at Selfridge. She added: “We’re proud of our long-standing no fur policy which has been in place for more than fifteen years.
“Our customers care about animal welfare and we are committed to providing ethical and sustainable products.
Vega then concluded: “There are many alternative materials for brands and designers to use. The future is fur-free and we support a ban on the sale of fur in the UK.”
Suárez: Sustainable “agro-ecological” practices must take priority.
World Animals Voice 