Trump's toxic food policy: as grotesque as Obama's |
(To read about Jon's mega-collection, Exit From The Matrix, click here.)
|
Trump's toxic agriculture policy will be as grotesque as Obama's
In articles about Trump, I have praised the man for certain
things he's done and is doing. But that isn't a reason for closing my
eyes and accepting his programs whole heartedly.
By Jon Rappoport
This is what I predicted in recent articles. Unless some
miracle turnaround occurs, Trump's pick for Secretary of Agriculture,
Sonny Perdue, will be a catastrophe. Lights out. Bang.
Katherine Paul, the associate director of the Organic Consumers Association, has the story:
"Trump heaped predictable praise on Sonny Perdue, promising
that the former governor of Georgia will 'deliver big results for all
Americans who earn their living off the land'."
"The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), that
multi-billion-dollar lobbying group that represents Monsanto, Dow,
Dupont, Coca-Cola, General Mills (you get the picture) rushed to praise
Perdue's nomination. In a statement, GMA's president said her group
'looks forward to working with [Perdue] on issues key to keeping
America's food the safest and most affordable food supply in the history
of the world'. Coming from the GMA, leader of the charge to keep
labels off GMO foods, we know that 'safest and most affordable food' is
code for 'industrial chemical GMO food'."
"And by now, we also all know that Perdue, who was named 2009
Governor of the Year by the Biotechnology Innovation
Organization, counts both Monsanto and Coca-Cola among his many
corporate campaign donors."
"A former fertilizer salesman, Perdue at one
time owned Houston Fertilizer and Grain which, after its acquisition of
Milner Milling Co., morphed into AGrowStar, a grain business with
operations across Georgia and South Carolina. His supporters cite his
business operations as proof that he's qualified to lead the USDA. They
fail to mention the role chemical fertilizers play in water
pollution and global warming [I reject that latter connection], much
less the cost to farmers of relying on synthetic inputs..."
"Perdue has no qualms about taking government handouts. Environmental
Working Group (EWG) reports that between 1995 and 2014, he cashed in on
$278,679 in taxpayer-funded subsidies for his various businesses. Will
he be open to overhauling the current system which doles out $25
billion/year in subsidies (paid out mostly to large producers, not small
farmers) for commodity crops, like wheat, GMO corn, GMO cotton and GMO
soy?"
"At a 2003 meeting organized by his wife (then first lady of
Georgia) and sponsored by Coca-Cola and Chick-fil-A, Perdue praised the
soda giant for its 'its continued effort to grow its business presence
and invest in Georgia, as the Company prepares to open a $100 million
plus expansion to its Atlanta production facilities'."
"Before his nomination, Perdue served on Trump's ag advisory
committee whose talking points, as reported on November 15, by Politico,
'offer a roadmap on how President-Elect Donald Trump's agriculture
secretary could shape agricultural policies, including the sweeping
promise to "defend American agriculture against its critics,"'. Of
course, what the committee means by 'American' agriculture is industrial
factory farm and GMO commodity agriculture. And we all know who the
committee sees as its critics---that would be us and a host of other
groups that advocate for healthy food and a clean environment."
"...in 2009, Perdue signed a bill that blocked local
communities in Georgia from regulating animal cruelty, worker safety and
pollution related to factory farms. That's hardly 'looking out' for the
little guy."
---No need to read between the lines. Perdue will be Big Ag's man in Washington.
But just in case you think he'll reverse all the wonderful
farm policies promoted by Obama, read on. Obama was nothing less than
Monsanto's man in the Oval Office. Here is my piece, from 2013:
After his victory in the 2008 election, Obama filled key
posts with Monsanto people, in federal agencies that wield tremendous
force in food issues, the USDA and the FDA:
At the USDA, as the director of the National Institute of
Food and Agriculture, Roger Beachy, former director of the Monsanto
Danforth Center.
As deputy commissioner of the FDA, the new food-safety-issues
czar, the infamous Michael Taylor, former vice-president for public
policy for Monsanto. Taylor had been instrumental in getting approval
for Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone.
As commissioner of the USDA, Iowa governor, Tom Vilsack.
Vilsack had set up a national group, the Governors' Biotechnology
Partnership, and had been given a Governor of the Year Award by the
Biotechnology Industry Organization, whose members include Monsanto.
As the new Agriculture Trade Representative, who would push GMOs for export, Islam Siddiqui, a former Monsanto lobbyist.
As the new counsel for the USDA, Ramona Romero, who had been corporate counsel for another biotech giant, DuPont.
As the new head of the USAID, Rajiv Shah, who had previously
worked in key positions for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a
major funder of GMO agriculture research.
We should also remember that Obama's secretary of state,
Hillary Clinton, once worked for the Rose law firm. That firm was
counsel to Monsanto.
Obama nominated Elena Kagan to the US Supreme Court. Kagan,
as federal solicitor general, had previously argued for Monsanto in the
Monsanto v. Geertson seed case before the Supreme Court.
The deck was stacked. Obama hadn't simply made honest
mistakes. Obama hadn't just failed to exercise proper oversight in
selecting appointees. He was staking out territory on behalf of Monsanto
and other GMO corporate giants.
And now let us look at what key Obama appointees have wrought
for their true bosses. Let's see what GMO crops have walked through the
open door of the Obama presidency.
Monsanto GMO alfalfa.
Monsanto GMO sugar beets.
Monsanto GMO Bt soybean.
Coming soon: Monsanto's GMO sweet corn.
Syngenta GMO corn for ethanol.
Syngenta GMO stacked corn.
Pioneer GMO soybean.
Syngenta GMO Bt cotton.
Bayer GMO cotton.
ATryn, an anti-clotting agent from the milk of transgenic goats.
A GMO papaya strain.
And soon, genetically engineered salmon and apples.
This is an extraordinary parade.
Obama was, all along, a stealth operative on behalf of
Monsanto, biotech, GMOs, and corporate control of the future of
agriculture.
He didn't make that many key political appointments and allow
that many new GMO crops to enter the food chain through a lack of
oversight.
Nor is it coincidental that two of the Obama's biggest
supporters, Bill Gates and George Soros, purchased 900,000 and 500,000
shares of Monsanto, respectively, in 2010.
Obama, while on the campaign trail in 2008, was promising transparency in government, was claiming that every person has the right to know what's in his food (GMO labeling).
But clearly, that was all cover and fluff. He was lying through his
teeth and he knew it. He hasn't changed. He's been a covert agent since
the beginning.
Imposter. Charlatan. These words fit Obama. He doesn't care
that GMO food is taking over the country and the world. He wants it to
happen. He's always wanted it to happen.
Obama, Monsanto, DuPont, and Dow, among others, are prepared
to do whatever is necessary to make GMO food and their attendant
pesticides dominate America and, through exports, the world.
---Whether Trump has his eyes open or closed, he's walking
down the same path. His meetings with small farmers, and his pledge to
protect clean water and air, were so much fluff.
Theoretically, he has time to reverse course, but don't bet
on it, don't hold your breath---unless you're living in an area downwind
from a corporate factory farm, where the air is full of gently wafting
toxic pesticides and GMOs.
|
|
Use this link to order Jon's Matrix Collections.
|
|
Jon Rappoport
The
author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM
THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US
Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a
consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the
expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he
has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles
on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin
Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and
Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics,
health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world.
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment