Our Protective Agencies Vision
Clouded by Bonds with Industry 

Paul Goettlich / Submitted to the South Bend Tribune 7sep97

Don't take this personally, it's only business.

Author note: This was written in response to an editorial about E coli. contaminating so many different foods lately, and that irradiation could solve the problem. Because I refused to remove the words Monsanto, rBGH, Roundup, and Roundup Ready, which are all property of Monsanto, the South Bend Tribune would not print it. A later unofficial explanation was that they wished to avoid litigation by Monsanto. Update 15oct2005: Well, look where censorship has gotten us. The government has been totally co-opted by industry. The present liar we call president has free reign with the people's money and lives, and is draining the last bit of life out of this nation.

Focusing on E. Coli seems to be the rage these days. This is not to make light of E. Coli, but the trust Americans place in the federal government's ability to assure the safety of our food is misguided. Because of interagency feuds, political appointees to key positions, political contributions, and the gutting of operating budgets, the EPA, FDA and Agriculture Department are not the protective agencies they seem. Their vision is clouded by ties to industries that look only to profit for guidance.

We're constantly fed the line that many risks must be taken in order to supply the world's growing population with food. The frightened public is captivated and told about the wonders science can bring. But the wonders of the past are our problems now. More focus should be given to low-tech solutions such as controlling the world's population or the speed at which chickens go past the inspectors in the processing plant. But industry would not profit from this logical approach. They need coming populations to fuel their expansion. It is high time that industry realized that economic expansion ad infinitum is impossible.[1] Instead of working within constraints dictated by nature we entertain ourselves with technological "solutions" to symptoms incorrectly labeled as problems, thus building a house of cards with lies and deceptions.

One such deception is rBGH (Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone). Cows don't need it and human health doesn't need it. The FDA has even stated that humans gain nothing from rBGH. But the FDA was working with industry when it warned grocery stores not to label milk as free of the hormone[2]. Monsanto, the maker of rBGH, itself sued two milk processors that labeled milk as free of the hormone[3]. There is a ban on commercial use of rBGH in Europe at least until the year 2000. For three years Monsanto blocked attempts by British researchers to publish important findings regarding increased mastitis in cows. Monsanto also threatened to sue the Chicago Board of Education unless it reversed its decision to pursue rBGH-free milk and dairy products for participants in the school lunch program.[4] In 1994, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation program Fifth Estate televised a one-hour documentary reporting that Monsanto had tried to bribe Health Canada (Canada's version of the FDA), offering to pay as much as two million dollars under the condition that Monsanto receive approval to market rBGH in Canada without being required to submit data from any further studies or trials.[5]

Small farmers have reported that rBGH does not increase production as expected[6], while large scale factory farms working on slim profit margins have benefited from rBGH. U.S. dairy farmers already produce an overabundance of milk, which is subsidized at the expense of taxpayers. Even a small increase in the milk surplus causes a big decline in family dairy farmers' incomes. Milk production was up sharply in states where rBGH sales were highest in 1994, depressing milk prices nationally. Small, decentralized farms are better for the land, water, animals and communities than large factory farms dependent on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and land-damaging farm techniques.

rBGH increases the need for antibiotic treatment because of increased mastitis and udder infections.[7] Dr. Samuel S. Epstein at the University of Illinois in Chicago says, "...with the active complicity of the FDA, the entire nation is currently being subjected to an experiment involving large-scale adulteration of an age-old dietary staple by a poorly characterized and unlabeled biotechnology product." New strains of bacteria, parasites and fungi are turning up in hospitals thanks to medicine's over-reliance on antibiotics.[8] In the news recently was a Michigan man infected with an especially tough strain of bacteria, mutated microbes that drugs cannot kill.

Milk from rBGH also contains increased levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) that occurs naturally in both cows and in humans. It's not broken down by pasteurization and likely to be biologically active in humans. Through deception and constant manipulation of our government and legal system this product remains in use.

Another deception by industry is the herbicide Roundup and Roundup Ready soy beans. With EPA permission, soy beans that are genetically engineered to be resistant to Roundup are being mixed into the US soy bean stock . There has been a dramatic increase in the usage of this herbicide. Because no labeling is required, there is no way to know if one is getting the genetically engineered variety of soy bean. It is used in about 60% of all processed foods and oils. Effectively reaching the entire population, the new soybean contains genes from an agrobacterium which is resistant to Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Unnatural genes in a plant may lead to unexpected effects.[9]

An internal EPA memorandum has accused the EPA of conducting a "fraudulent" criminal investigation of Monsanto. The 30-page memo, from William Sanjour, an EPA employee, to his supervisor, describes a two-year-long criminal investigation of Monsanto by EPA's Office of Criminal Investigation (OCI), saying the investigation was opened on August 20, 1990 and formally closed on August 7, 1992. "However, the investigation itself and the basis for closing the investigation were fraudulent."[10]

There is a high potential for Glyphosate becoming the next liability in our water supply. Through the EPA, FDA, Department of Agriculture and state agricultural universities funded by grants from the manufacturers of pesticides, farmers and the public historically have been told many things that have led to the large scale pollution of our drinking water. Atrazine, and many other agri-chemicals are found readily in the drinking water in many areas of Indiana at levels well above the maximum limits set by the EPA. This kind of behavior by the agencies that are supposed to be guarding our health is definitely unacceptable.

Sources:

[1] "The Dilemma of Modern Humans and Nature", Hans-Christoph Binswanger, in "Ecological Economics" edited by M. Faber, R. Manstetten, J. Proops, pub. by Edward Elgas, London, pp.48-74.

[2] Keith Schneider, "FDA Warns the Dairy Industry Not to label Milk Hormone-Free," NEW YORK TIMES February 8, 1994, pg.A1. http://www.monitor.net/rachel/r381.html

[3] Keith Schneider, "Lines Drawn in a War Over a Milk Hormone," NEW YORK TIMES March 9, 1994, pg. A12. http://www.monitor.net/rachel/r381.html

[4] Bio/Technology/Diversity Week, Produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy July 26, 1994 Volume 3, Number 17 - Chicago Board of Education reversed its decision to pursue rBGH-free milk and dairy products for participants in the school lunch program. School Board President Sharon Grant allegedly told a meeting on June 15 that Monsanto threatened to sue the board for its passage of an rBGH-free resolution. The board's attorney advised the members to reverse their position on rBGH milk. http://www.envirolink.org/pubs/IATP/biodiv/vol3no17.html

[5] In November 1994, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) program Fifth Estate televised a one-hour documentary reporting that Monsanto had tried to bribe Health Canada (Canada's version of the FDA), offering to pay as much as two million dollars under the condition that Monsanto receive approval to market rBGH in Canada without being required to submit data from any further studies or trials. According to journalists who worked on the documentary, Monsanto tried to kill the show, arguing through its lawyers that CBC had maliciously rigged interviews. But CBC stuck to its guns and ran the program. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1527/text4.html  Pure Food Campaign site

[6] Down on the Farm: The Real BGH Story: Animal Health Problems, Financial Troubles. Mark A. Kastel, Director of Governmental Affairs of the Wisconsin Farmers Union. The current data Kastel extracted from the FDA updates earlier FDA reports and adds to the many stories that have been personally called in to the Farmers Union BGH Hotline (800-272-5531). http://www.neravt.com/bgh.html

[7] Judith C. Juskevich and C. Greg Guyer, "Bovine Growth Hormone: Human Food Safety Evaluation." SCIENCE Vol. 249 (1990), pp. 875-884.

[8] Maggie Fox, Health Correspondent WASHINGTON, Aug 22, 1997 (Reuters) - Frightening new strains of bacteria, parasites and even fungi are turning up in hospitals thanks to medicine's over-reliance on antibiotics, doctors said on Friday. http://www.netlink.de/gen/Zeitung/970822.htm

[9] Caroline Cox, "Glyphosate, Part 1: Toxicology", Journal of Pesticide Reform, Volume 15, Number 3, Fall 1995. Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, Eugene, OR. http://www.efn.org/~ncap/glyphosate1.pdf  at WWW site http://www.efn.org/~ncap/

[10] Peter Montague, "EPA Investigates Monsanto", Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly #400, Environmental Research Foundation, February 29, 1996, P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403 - in article William Sanjour, EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, "Memorandum: The Monsanto Investigation" to David Bussard, Director, EPA Characterization and Assessment Branch, dated July 20, 1994. Available for $5.00 from Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040; phone (703) 237-2249. http://www.monitor.net/rachel/r400.html  at WWW site http://www.monitor.net/rachel/