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The
fact is, it may not be long
before someone actually
discovers pharmaceutical
drugs in their cereal.
Shrouded
in secrecy, biotech companies
are genetically engineering
crops to produce pharmaceutical
drugs in numerous undisclosed
test plots around the country.
And
yet, the possible health
and environmental risks
of these pharm crops remain
very poorly understood.
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Even
so, pharm crops soon may be approved
for commercial use and grown on
a widespread basis.
So
far, there have been no peer reviewed
scientific studies published on
the safety of pharm crops. No
one can say for sure what will
happen if pharm crops intermingle
with our food supply.
Among
the many potential environmental
hazards, nobody knows what impact
pharm crops will have on birds
and animals that consume them
in open fields.
Contamination
of the food supply would appear
to be inevitable if pharm crops
are grown commerically.
Scientists
and ecologists have established
that corn pollen can drift for
miles. If the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
allows these crops to be commercially
planted, it is practically inevitable
that pharmaceutical drugs will
end up in the human food supply.
The
USDA has earned a reputation for
being quite lax in its oversight
of genetically engineered crops.
But what the agency is proposing
for pharm crops is unbelievable.
The
USDA has issued proposed rules
that would allow corn engineered
to contain pharmaceutical drugs
to be grown as little as one mile
away from regular corn grown for
human consumption.
Even
grocery industry trade organizations
have told the USDA and the biotech
industry that they do not want
pharmaceutical drugs to be grown
in ANY food crops.
The
Information
section of this web site contains
reports, articles and links that
will educate you about the issue
of PharmCrops.
The
Action
section on this web sites provides
the means for you to send letters
and e-mails to your members of
Congress and the Secretary of
Agriculture over this important
issue.
For
more information on all aspects
of the issues surrounding genetically
engineered foods, please visit
The Campaign to Label Genetically
Engineered Foods's main web site
at: www.thecampaign.org
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