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Showing posts from May, 2018

Deep Seeds at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues | April 2018

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Protecting our maíz civilizations: autonomy, reparations, and restorative justice Text of Strategy Brief  |   Protecting Maize Biocultural Diversity  |   17th Session UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)   La Morenita-La Mujer Grande, Xilonen, Santa Xilonen La Madre del Maiz Moderator's Note: We are pleased to share this strategy brief prepared for the  17th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)  in April 2018. The brief was the collaborative work product of dozens of meetings and gatherings over the past 5 years involving indigenous corn farmers, seed savers, and landrace progenitors. The Acequia Institute,  Asociación Andes,  Alianza Milpa, and allied indigenous maize farmers were involved in the preparation and presentation of the brief. There are three major strategic recommendations: (1) a UN fund for biosafety protection and in situ/in vivo conservation of maize landr...

Exclusive Update - Monsanto in Mexico | Corporate impunity and the beekeeper struggle against transgenic soybeans

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Muuk 'Kaab Beekeeper Coop member. GMO soybean cultivation, sales continue in Campeche despite court rulings CORPORATE IMPUNITY IN THE RULE OF LAW Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | May 15, 2018 ‘ We don’t plant GMO seeds; we only sell them.’ –  Monsanto discussing court suspension of  transgenic soybeans The pivotal court ruling on the suspension of the planting of transgenic soybean in the southeastern Mexican state of Campeche was announced in July 2014; see the blog post of July 24, 2014 . The ruling was based on consideration of scientific evidence demonstrating to the court’s satisfaction that GMO soybean plantings pose threats to Mexican honey production in the states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán. The ruling endorsed the plaintiffs’ argument that these threats have not been subject to scientific risk study or assessment by the agencies granting commercial permits to biotechnology corporations and the agribusiness operations they serve. Nor had the authorities follow...