Written by Charles Mish "...In his work, Vlieger draws not only on his own experience, but also on the experience of fellow farmers. He tells the story of a farmer in West Central Iowa featured in the Farm Bureau Spokesman. The farmer reported problems with pseudo-pregnancies in his hog herd. When the story was circulated, a number of farmers called the farmer featured in the newspaper, each telling him they were having the same problem. As it turned out, the farmers determined they were all feeding their hogs BT (GM) corn. When they switched back to feeding their hogs natural corn, the pseudo-pregnancies ended. The university investigators could not make a connection between the GM corn and the pigs’ problems. “Anecdotal information,” they said. “Inconclusive.” But when the BT corn was gone from the diet, so was the problem, Vlieger said. As for other livestock, farmers were reporting digestive problems and other conception problems directly connected to feeding GM grain. The evidence strongly implicated the GM corn and soy in the feed, he said. In June of this year, with Dr. Judy Carmen of Australia as the lead scientist, Vlieger co-authored DELETE and published the world’s first double-blind, independent study of hogs fed GM grain and non-GM grain for their life span as a meat animal. The study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Organic Systems. Specifically designed and carried out in a real-world on-farm setting with all of the necessary protocols and controls, the study showed two statistically significant findings. First, the weight of the uteri of the GM-fed females was 25% heavier than the average weight of the non-GM fed females. The GM-fed pigs were 2.6 times more likely to have severe inflammation in the stomach. The males were 4 times more likely to have the severe inflammation, the females 2.2 times more likely. The study drew international attention, and supported the work of other scientists he is in frequent contact with, such as Arpad Pusztai (UK 1999), Gilles Seralini (France 2012) and others. All have conducted independent long-term animal studies showing alarming adverse effects—e.g., organ damage, tumors, reproductive problems. Almost unbelievably, Vlieger said, in our country the FDA did not require even one long-term animal study. The biotech industry’s testing was voluntary and no study longer than 90 days was ever submitted. When you get past 90 days, that’s when the problems begin, he said...."
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 01:21:52 +0000