[Pollinator] CBC Report on Failure of GM Insect-Resistant Crops

[Kimberley Fellows]

*CBC Report on Failure of GM Insect-Resistant Crops:*

Genetically engineered insect resistant (Bt) crops are  failing as insects
become resistant - just as predicted. There was actually never any dispute
that this would happen, it was just a matter of time...and now is the time.

You can listen to the discussion of this problem on CBC's The Current:
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2013/05/29/gm-resistant-rootworms-and-the-future-of-farming/

*Synopsis
*A decade ago, corn farmers thought they had rootworms beat. Companies such
as Monsanto <http://www.monsanto.ca/Pages/default.aspx> and others rolled
out genetically modified cornseed, known as BT. It contains a toxin that
kills the rootworms as they fed. But apparently, the rootworms have done a
lot of evolving in the past ten years.

In recent months, there have been more cases of resistant rootworms ... in
Indiana, Illinois and across the U.S. Midwest. And now insecticide sales
are surging, as farmers look for ways to protect their investments with
tools that GM corn seeds were supposed to make obsolete.

*Joseph Spencer<http://www.inhs.illinois.edu/staff/index.php?action=list&user_name=spencer1>-
Corn entomologist, Illinois Natural History Survey
*
Corn growers' associations in Canada say they haven't seen any signs of
GM-resistant rootworms here. But they're watching closely.

And some observers say that when it comes to corn production in the U.S.
midwest, we now have the worst of both worlds ... with GM seeds that aren't
effective and no longer offer the economic or environmental benefits that
come with cutting the need for insecticide use.

*Jay Feldman - Executive Director, Beyond Pesticides*

We also spoke to Jay Feldman is the Executive Director of Beyond
Pesticides<http://www.beyondpesticides.org/>,
a not-for-profit group that advocates moving away from the use of
pesticides in farming. Jay Feldman was in Washington, D.C.

*We requested an interview with a spokesperson from Monsanto, the company
that developed the BT corn seed. No one returned our calls.*

This segment was produced by *The Current's* Gord Westmacott.

Best regards,
KiM*
--
*

*K i m b e r l e y   M.   F e l l o w s**
*Pollination Outreach Coordinator*
*Seeds of Diversity <http://www.seeds.ca/en.php> ~ Pollination
Canada<http://www.seeds.ca/proj/poll/>
Semences du Patrimoine <http://www.seeds.ca/fr.php> ~ Pollinisation Canada
<http://www.pollinisationcanada.ca/>303-40 King Street South
Waterloo ON N2J 1N8 Canada

Heard about Bee Friendly Farming or
Gardening<http://www.fooddowntheroad.ca/content/introducing-bee-friendly-farming>
?

"Spot Your Flower <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3pIuy69UE8>" *
* Yes, you're right ... the film uses the word 'proboscis' incorrectly, for
a moth's proboscis refers to their feeding tube, and would be more
accurately described as a tongue. In contrast, proboscis usually refers to
a nose in the vertebrate world (animals with a backbone). A majority
of pollinators
inadvertently spread flower pollen simply as they feed on pollen and nectar for
their own nutritional needs. Do not be confused -- in this film clip
featuring this particular orchid pollination, it is still plant pollen that
is involved in pollination -- you can learn more about this wondrous,
unusual strategy in Michael Pollan's musings Love and
Lies<http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2009/09/orchids/pollan-text>
.
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