HAVING TROUBLE WITH DISEASES IN YOUR PIGS?

June 6, 2013 By Joseph P. Farrell

If you’re having all sorts of trouble with diseases showing up in your farm animals, pigs for example, you might want to consult with a farmer in Denmark who has a novel solution: quit feeding them GMO crops and foods:
Danish Farmer Reverses Illnesses in pigs by reverting to a GM-free diet
Let’s read that list of problems being caused by the “extensively tested and entirely safe” GMOs once more time:

“Published in the farming magazine Effektivt Landbrug on 13 April 2012 [1], the farmer Ib Borup Perderson describes how his pigs suffered from symptoms including chronic diarrhoea, birth defects, reproductive problems, reduced appetite, bloating, stomach ulcers, weaker and smaller piglets, and reduced litter sizes. This was not just a problem for the animals themselves but also the profitability of the farm, with fewer healthy animals, mounting costs of medicines and added labour costs.
“After researching the health hazards of GM foods and associated herbicides, Pederson decided to stop feeding his 450 sows with GM soybean, replacing them with fishmeal and non-GM soybean instead. He began to notice health benefits after two days of a GM-free diet. The farmer’s account has since been published in an English dossier compiled by scientist Brian John of GM-free Cymru (Wales), with collaboration from Pederson, published online by GM Watch [2].” 

It gets worse:

 ”Residents of heavy agrochemical-use zones in Argentina have seen startling increases in birth defects, adult and human cancer rates as well as other illnesses (see [6] Argentina’s Roundup Human Tragedy, SiS 48, [7] Pesticide Illnesses and GM Soybeans, SiS 53). Argentinian tobacco farmers have recently filed a lawsuit against Monsanto for birth defects suffered by their children following claims by the corporation that the chemical was safe to use [8]“

There’s an interesting linkage in this article, for it appears the glyphosphates cause decline in mineral absoprtion in animals consuming GMOs with them, leading to subsequent birth defects:

“Professor Emeritus Don Huber of Perdue (sic) University, a senior scientist of USDA (US Department of Agriculture) has been studying crop health for over 20 years, and warned how reduced mineral content of glyphosate-tolerant crops lead to nutritional deficiencies in livestock that in turn cause reproductive problems (see [10] USDA Scientist Reveals All, SiS 53). Reduced mineral content in crops results from glyphosate’s metal chelating properties, rendering essential minerals unavailable. Nutrient deficiency effects are independent of direct glyphosate toxicity that causes endocrine disruption, birth defects and cancers among other illnesses.  The identification of a novel pathogen in glyphosate-treated crops, reproductive organs of livestock as well as aborted foetal tissue may also be a contributing factor (see [11]Emergency! Pathogen New to Science Found in Roundup Ready GM Crops?,SiS50).”

The real news however, is that at least in Denmark the government is still responsive to such stories, for as the article indicates, new studies are going forward to test the effects of GMOs on farm livestock. One can imagine the response, had Mr. Pederson lived in America: he would have been lampooned, harassed, and excoriated, if he was paid attention to at all. More likely, with bought and paid for “science” and “government agencies” staffed by a revolving door between “agribusiness” and government, he simply would have been ignored.

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