Index of speakers

 

Dr Rene Van Acker, Professor, Associate Dean External Relations OAC, University of Guelph, Canada

 

Jane Akre, investigative reporter

 

Britt Bailey, Center For Ethics and Toxics, talks about

 

Larry Bain, Chef, San Francisco

 

David Baker, president, Community Against Pollution, Anniston, Alabama

 

Hanny Van Beek, farmer and chair, Dutch Arable Farming Union

 

Prof Robert Bellé, National Centre for Scientific Research, Pierre and Marie Curie Institute, France

  • talks about his findings that Roundup causes the type of cell division that leads to cancer – at doses well below those normally used – and how the findings were suppressed to protect the development of GMOs.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 15:26

 

Dr Charles M Benbrook, Former Director, Board of Agriculture, National Academy of Science

  • talks about the takeover of the seed industry by giant chemical companies.
    The Future of Food. Time on video, 8:33

 

Dr Philip Bereano, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington

  • talks to Dr Joseph Mercola about GMOs and his work with the AGRA Watch Project, which has as its objectives to monitor the Gates Foundation's participation in the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and challenge its emphasis on high-tech industrial agriculture, including GMOs.
    Dr Joseph Mercola interviews Dr Philip Bereano on GMOs.

 

Dr Pushpa M Bhargava, founder director, Center for Cellular & Molecular Biology

 

Mahesh Bhatt, filmmaker and social activist

 

Brent Blackwelder, Friends of the Earth

 

Terry Boehm, Vice-President, National Farmers’ Union, Canada

 

Melanie Bondera, GMO-Free Hawaii

  • talks of how GM papaya farmers in Hawaii have gone out of business
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 05:46

 

Jose Bove, Farmer Leader, France

 

Beth Burroughs, Executive Director, Edmonds Institute, talks about

 

Richard Burroughs, veterinarian at the US FDA in charge of reviewing Monsanto’s data on its GM bovine growth hormone Posilac

  • talks about how agency officials “suppressed and manipulated” data – and how he was fired for blowing the whistle.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 34:05

 

George H. Bush, then vice president of the United States, later president

  • tells Monsanto men that with regard to GMOs, his government is “in the dereg[ulation] business”.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 27:11

 

Dr Elena Alvarez Buylla, National Ecology Institute of Mexico

 

Dr Neil J Carman, Clean Air Program Director, Lone Star Chapter of Sierra Club

  • tells us that consumers have the power to change things, as they vote on a daily basis through their buying choices.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 5, 01.03

 

Dr David Carpenter, MD, professor, Environmental Health and Toxicology Division, School of Public Health, University at Albany

 

Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Friends of the Earth, UK

 

Dr Ignacio Chapela, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkley

 

Dr Shiv Chopra, former scientist at Health Canada, talks about

  • how regulators came under pressure from Monsanto to approve GM bovine growth hormone in spite of doubts about its safety.
    Fox News Kills Monsanto Story. Time on video 40:20 and 41:00
  • the pressures he has faced to pass questionable drugs, such as Monsanto’s Bovine Growth Hormone.
    Fox News Kills Monsanto Story

 

Aziz Choudry, organizer, GATT Watchdog

  • thinks that the privatisation of life for private profit that is being pursued by biotechnology companies is a radical economical, political and social agenda that runs counter to most right-thinking people.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 4, 05:37
  • tells us that it is important to resist the introduction of GM Bt trees if we want a future for people on this planet.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 5, 00:35

 

Dr Eric Cleveland, UHH College of Agriculture

  • talks of the long-term health risks of eating GMOs.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 06:15

 

Ken Cook, president, Environmental Working Group

 

Claire Hope Cummings, journalist, environmental lawyer, and author

  • talks about how we are facing the "perfect storm" of environmental problems
    Claire Hope Cummings Speaks Out. Time on part 1: 04:45
  • says that compared to indigenous traditions and holistic agricultural systems such as permaculture, GM technology is a limited way of looking at the world and its food needs
    Claire Hope Cummings Speaks Out. Time on part 1: 05:50
  • warns that because most of the world's agricultural seeds are now owned by just a few companies, they can control what we eat, how we eat and how our food is grown
    Claire Hope Cummings Speaks Out. Time on part 2: 00:09
  • says that most farming has become a giant chemical industry which creates green deserts dowsed in chemicals
    Claire Hope Cummings Speaks Out. Time on part 2: 01:35
  • talks about the political and historical backstory to the present malaise in agriculture
    Claire Hope Cummings Speaks Out. Time on part 2: 02:30
  • points out that we have industrial agriculture, and hence industrial food in our stores, as a result of a mechanistic, materialistic and limited view of life
    Claire Hope Cummings Speaks Out. Time on part 3: 00:31
  • on how GM was the first technology that severed our relationship with living beings
    Claire Hope Cummings Speaks Out. Time on part 3: 02:30
  • on her hopes and fears for the future of food and the environment
    Claire Hope Cummings Speaks Out. Time on part 3: 00:19
  • on how ancient cultures reinforce the relationship between man and nature and how our present culture destroys that relationship
    Claire Hope Cummings Speaks Out. Time on part 3: 02:33

 

Tanya Datta, reporter/journalist

 

Dr Patrick Dixon

 

Steven Druker, lawyer and director, Alliance for Biointegrity

 

Dr Samuel Epstein, head of the Cancer Prevention Coalition

 

Nancy Evans, Communications Consultant, The Breast Cancer Fund

 

Dr Stanley Ewen, former co-researcher with Arpad Pusztai on the GM potato study

 

Grazia Francescato, President, Italian Green Party (Rome)

 

Roberto Franco, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Paraguay

 

Deborah Koons Garcia

 

Dan Glickman, former US secretary of agriculture talks about

 

Aldo Gonzales, president of an indigenous people’s organization, Mexico

 

Diane Joy Goodman, Farm Box, Products Consulting

 

Mamadou Goita, Civil Society Activist, Mali

 

Prof Richard Gray, agricultural economist, University of Saskatchewan

  • warns that the problem of segregating GM and non-GM wheat could lead many countries to reject all Canadian wheat, because of possible contamination.
    The Dangers of Genetically Modified Wheat. Time on video, 03:39

 

John Hagelin, PhD, Physicist, 2000 US Presidential Candidate

 

Michael Hansen, senior scientist at the Consumers Union of the United States

 

Peter Hardin, Editor and Publisher of the Milkweed

  • on how dramatic physiological changes in cows, receiving GM bovine growth hormone, were revealed in studies submitted to the FDA by Monsanto.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 40:25

 

Simon Harris, Organic Consumers Association

 

Brad Hash, Native Forest Network board member, talks about

  • how insecticidal Bt toxin is genetically engineered into trees, making the entire tree toxic to all insect life
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 1, 09:17
  • how Bt toxin is exuded from GM tree and corn roots, transforming soil bacteria so that they become pesticide factories and polluting soil and water.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 03:02
  • how trees are being genetically engineered for resistance to Roundup, allowing fruit trees to be sprayed with enormous quantities of the herbicide. Roundup has been scientifically proven to have toxic and lethal effects on wildlife/ecosystems and has been linked to ill health in humans.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 08:24
  • evidence that glyphosate (Roundup) does not biodegrade quickly but can remain active in soils for over a year.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 1:09
  • how trees are being genetically engineered to have low lignin, the substance that gives strength to trees.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 02:08
  • the problems inherent in the industry ‘solution’ to the problem of GM contamination of native forests – Terminator technology.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 5:30

 

Margaret Haydon, Health Canada scientist

  • testifies to a Senate Commission that Monsanto tried to bribe Health Canada officials to approve its GM bovine growth hormone in spite of safety concerns.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 40:25

 

Karen Heisler, US Environmental Protection Agency, Agricultural Initiative Program, talks about

 

Eric Hoffman, Friends of the Earth

 

John Hoffman, vice president of the American Soybean Association (part-funded by Monsanto)

 

Cathy Holtslander, Saskatchewan Organic Directorate, Canada

 

Rick Howard, Professor of Biology, Purdue University, Indiana, USA

 

Dr Don Huber, coordinator of the Emergent Diseases and Pathogens committee of the American Phytopathological Society

 

Makiko Irisawa, Environmental Activist

  • talks about her discovery that important information had been removed from animal studies on GM foods when translated into Japanese.
    The Genetic Conspiracy. Time on Part 1, 04:21

 

Dr Brian John, GM-Free Cymru

  • tells us that the European Commission (EC) is pandering to the commercial aspirations of the biotech corporations while putting the health of European citizens at risk from genetically modified (GM) products that have never been adequately assessed
    Dr Brian John petitions the European Parliament about GMOs. Time on video 4:39

 

Takar Kate, Indian agronomist

  • talks about Monsanto’s virtual monopoly of the cotton seed market in India, leading to massive price hikes and farmer bankruptcies and suicides.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 1:18:00

 

Prof. Masaharu Kawata, molecular biologist, University of Nagoya

  • talks about serious flaws in the safety studies for Monsanto’s GM soya that led to its approval by Japanese regulators.
    The Genetic Conspiracy. Time on part 1, 0

 

Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director, Center for Food Safety,

 

Rajesh Krishnan, Greenpeace, India

 

Dennis Kucinich, US Democratic Party Congressman

 

Renate Künast, Former German Minister for Consumer Protection

  • says that the entire production process of GMOs, from the science, to the licensing, to sales and distribution, is a scandal.
    The Genetic Conspiracy. Time on part 3, 00:12

 

Kavitha Kuruganti, member secretary, Coalition for GM-free India

 

Toivi Lahti, organic farmer, Hawaii

  • explains how the seeds in his organically grown papaya fruit tested positive for GM contamination and how this ruined his entire crop.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 00:26

 

Marc Lappé, Center for Ethics and Toxics, speaks about

 

Dr Peggie Lemaux, University of California, Berkeley

 

Marc Loiselle, Canadian organic farmer

 

Patty Lovera, Food & Water Watch

 

Miguel Lovera, head of SENAVE, Paraguay's food and agricultural service

 

James Maryanski, former head of the biotechnology department of the US FDA, talks about

 

Richard Matteis, Executive Vice President, California Seed Association, California Grain & Seed Association

 

Jonathan Matthews, director of GM Watch

  • talks about how Monsanto’s PR firm, Bivings, ran a dirty tricks campaign to discredit researchers’ findings of GM contamination of Mexican maize.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 1:35:50

 

Jason McKenny, Purisima Greens Farm

 

Martina McGloughlin, Director, Biotechnology Program, University of California, Davis, talks about

 

Joe McGonigle, Vice President, Aqua Bounty Farms

 

Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director, Center for Food Safety

 

Anuradha Mittal, First Institute for Food and Development Policy, talks about

 

Dr L Mohan, director, Dept of Animal Husbandry, AP, India

  • tells us the reason he advises farmers to avoid Bt cotton.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 3, 00:30

 

Pat Mooney, executive director, ETC Group

 

George Monbiot, journalist, broadcaster and writer

 

Monica Moore, Pesticide Action Network

  • explains how pest resistance evolves through use of Bt trees.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 00.00

 

Ralph Nader, Green Pary Activist

  • says that we don't need large corporations who have no loyalty to any community or allegence to any country converting the genetic resources of the world into monopoly patents. 
    Genetically Modified Food – Panacea Or Poison. Time on video 39:12

 

Surendra Nath Naik, Minister of Agriculture, Orissa, India

  • warns about the negative health effects from the use of farm chemicals on crops and how this can only become worse with the introduction of GM crops.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 4, 01:47

 

Dr. Ricardo Navarro, president of Friends of the Earth El Salvador (CESTA)

 

Nell Newman, Newman’s Own Organics

 

Getulio de Oliveira, Leader of Guarani Kaiowa people, El Dorado, Brazil

 

Tomas Palau, Sociologist, Instituto Base IS, Paraguay

  • talks about the displacement of indigenous people in Paraguay brought about by GM soya production, as well as health and environmental problems caused by chemicals used in growing the plants.
    Killing Fields: The True Cost of Cheap Meat. Time on video, 03:52

 

Dr Lorrin Pang, MD, MPH, Maui District Health Officer (speaking as a private citizen)

  • talks of why GM is NOT the same as traditional plant breeding.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 06:38

 

Mike Papantonio, attorney

 

Moe Parr, seed cleaning contractor, Indiana, USA

 

Raj Patel, economist and author

 

Keith Pavo, organic farmer, Saskatchewan

 

Jeff Pera, Live Power Community Farm

 

Ann Peterman, co-director, Global Justice Ecology Project

  • describes the threat posed by GM trees to native forests and biodiversity.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 1, 07:30
  • says Cornell University is genetically engineering apple trees containing Bt toxin and the fruits are not labelled in the US.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 04:39
  • describes the GM tree plantation of the future: devoid of insects, other plant life, nuts, seeds, and fruits, and wildlife; fast-growing and invasive to non-GM forests; and creating deserts.
  • A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 07:56

 

Mike Phillips, Executive Director for Food and Agriculture, Biotechnology Industry Organization

 

Ian Pryme, PhD, University of Bergen

  • talks about how Monsanto used a flawed study to establish the principle of substantial equivalence.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 1:04:50

 

Dr Arpad Pusztai, former scientist at the Rowett Institute, Scotland

  • talks about his research on GM potatoes and the subsequent political fallout that led to his losing his job and being gagged.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 50:45
  • discusses his research on the effects of feeding GMO potatoes to rats. He was sacked for telling the truth about his results to the general public. Effects of feeding GMO potatoes on rats

 

Dan Quayle, former vice president of the United States

 

Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, India

 

H.H. Yogrishi Swami Ramdev, founder, Bharat Swabhiman Trust

 

Jairam Ramesh, Environment Minister, India

 

Mullakkar Ratnakaram, Minister of Agriculture, Kerala, India

  • is resisting attempts to turn parts of his state into experimental labs for GM crops.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 4, 04:37
  • says that the Kerela government is trying to make organic farming one of its main policies.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 5, 00:26

 

H.H. Sri Sri Ravishankar, founder, Art of Living

 

Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group, Mexico

 

Jeremiah Ridenour, CEO, Wildwood Natural Foods, talks about

  • the dangers to human health and the environment posed by the toxin produced by Terminator genes in GM trees
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 06:00

 

Jeremy Rifkin, author and president, Foundation for Economic Trends

  • talks about the deception involved in the doctrine of substantial equivalence – and how Monsanto attorney Michael Taylor went to work for the US FDA and oversaw the government’s new GM policy.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 26:01 and 30:11

 

Aruna Rodrigues, social activist

 

Peter Rosset, Co-Director, Food First, Institute for Food and Development Policy

 

Troy Roush, US farmer

  • talks about how Monsanto’s gene police sued him for allegedly replanting their patented soybeans.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 1:09:50

 

Kiran Sakhari, Indian agronomist

  • talks about how transgenic Bt cotton grown in the Warangal district of India was ravaged by disease.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 1:15:50

 

William Sanjour, former toxic waste expert with the US Environmental Protection Agency

  • talks about the flawed Monsanto studies on the effects of Agent Orange on Vietnamese people and US Vietnam veterans.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 1:01:35

 

Prof Dwi Andreas Santosa, Molecular Geneticist, Indonisia

  • Suggested an environmental impact assessment that was open to the public, before Bt Cotton it introduced in Indonesian, but the Indonesian government was deaf to his suggestion. He states that Bt Cotton has a very low biosafety rating in Indonesia.
    A Disaster in Search of Success - Bt Cotton in Global South. Time on video 32:05

 

Percy Schmeiser, Canadian Family Farmer

 

Prof. Gilles-Eric Séralini, president of CRIIGEN research group, France, talks about

 

Robert Shapiro, former CEO of Monsanto

 

Devinder Sharma, food policy analyst talks about

 

Dr Mira Shiva, medical doctor and public health activist

 

Dr Vandana Shiva, Indian farmer, activist, and founder of the farm NGO Navdanya,

 

Rajkumar Singh, farmer, Mehtawali, Bathinda, Punjab, India, talks about

  • his experiences of growing Bt cotton over a 3-year period.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 2, 04:53
  • the allergic reactions of farm workers to Bt cotton.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 2, 02:36

 

Hartej Singh, farmer, Punjab, India

  • explains why he switched from growing GM crops to organic.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 4, 05:57

 

Yudhvir Singh, coordinator and member secretary, Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movement, India

  • criticises the massive propaganda for Bt cotton over the last 5 years.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 3, 03:12
  • thinks the Indian government is ignoring farmers and actively promoting biotech seed companies.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 5, 02:45

 

Jeffrey Smith, author, talks about

 

Gerson Smoger, lawyer representing Vietnam veterans

 

Steven Sprinkle, Certified Organic Farmer

 

James Steel, investigative journalist

 

Martin Stephan, Rainforest Action Network

  • points out that there are many alternatives to tree pulp for making paper, meaning there is no need to genetically engineer weak trees for paper manufacture.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 04:08
  • asks why GM-contaminated trees become the property of the biotech company that owns the patent on the contaminating gene.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 4, 04:26
  • shows how consumer pressure on companies that use wood products can deprive growers of GM Bt trees of a market.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 5, 01:40

 

Dr David Suzuki, geneticist

  • narrates a film about the threat posed by GM trees.
    A Silent Forest
  • describes how Bt crops can cause allergies in humans.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 04:00
  • talks about how GM papayas in Hawaii fell victim to blackspot fungus, forcing farmers to spray fungicides every 10 days.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 2, 05:19
  • talks about the ill health effects of Roundup revealed in epidemiological studies, as well as the negative environmental impacts.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 00:20
  • talks about how trees, at the behest of the paper industry, are being genetically engineered to have low lignin, the substance that gives strength to the tree. This weakens it and makes it susceptible to insect attack, leading to more pesticide use, and weather damage.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 01:27
  • talks about the threat to native forests posed by GM pollen and by the industry ‘solution’ to this problem – Terminator technology.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 04:48
  • asks why, if most of the current ideas within the field of biotechnology are inevitably going to turn out wrong and perhaps dangerously so, are we in such a rush to apply these ideas?
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 4, 08:56
  • gives ways in which you can help stop GM trees from entering your community.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 5, 02:49

 

Venkat Swamy, farmer, Medipally, AP, India

  • talks about the death of his cattle after they grazed on Bt cotton.
    So Shall You Reap. Time on part 3, 07:10

 

Laura Tarantino, Food and Drugs Administration

 

Michael Taylor, former Monsanto attorney who oversaw the FDA’s biotech policy was drafted (some say he wrote it)

  • talks about his role in setting up GMO regulation and why he thinks the current system needs reform.
    The World According to Monsanto. Time on video 30:11 and 46.17

 

Dr Christoph Then, Greenpeace

 

Kishore Tiwari, farm activist

  • explains that the Indian government has abandoned farmers who get into trouble because of Bt cotton crop failure
    Monsanto Indian Farmer Suicide. Time on video, 04:21

 

Brian Tokar, Institute for Social Ecology and Author

  • warns that we should not release the massive GM experiment on farmers and consumers throughout the world in the absence of the most basic knowledge about its effects.
    Monsanto will own all seed. Time on video, 03:07
  • explains how the biotech industry misrepresents genetic science.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 1, 04:18
  • points out the absurdity of making paper out of trees when there are many better materials – so there is no need to genetically engineer trees to make them weaker.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 03:30
  • talks of a geneticist’s view that Terminator technology, because it is never 100% effective, could spread sterility throughout ecosystems and food crops, with catastrophic consequences.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 07:13
  • talks of the 100-150 test plots of GM trees throughout the US.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 3, 09:44
  • warns that the livelihood of indigenous people who depend on forests will be devastated by the introduction of GM trees.
    A Silent Forest. Time on Part 4, 08:08

 

Prof Terje Traavik, Institute of Gene Ecology, Norway

 

Dr Colin Tudge, biologist and writer talks about

  • how the increasingly competitive nature of agribusiness, allied with a focus on short-term profit over sustainability, has proved a disaster for the land and the rural economy.
  • how unpredictable weather caused by climate change, will mean that biodiversity is more essential than ever. Introducing GMOs will dangerously narrow the genetic base available to us. 
    Colin Tudge: Feeding People is Easy unless we use GM seeds

 

Petrona Villasboa, a mother from Paraguay

 

Steve Wilson, investigative reporter

 



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