06/28/2016 / By Vicki Batts
Health and food freedom enthusiasts around the globe have celebrated the victory over genetically modified corn achieved in Poland. Poland banned the use of Monsanto’s MON810 corn. MON810 corn is a GMO line of corn designed to produce its own insecticide within each and every kernel. Poland officially banned the use of this charming product after thousands of protesters took to the streets and made their demands.
These protests were a direct response to the fact that the use of MON810 and the chemicals used alongside it were at least partially responsibly for the onset of colony collapse disorder (CCD). CCD is a worldwide phenomenon which leads to entire colonies of honeybees disappearing or dying. You can imagine the kind of devastation that would cause.
Reports indicate that Poland’s ban of MON810 made them the first country to publicly acknowledge that the use of this genetically modified crop was related to CCD. The Polish agriculture minister Marek Sawicki explained that pollen from the MON810 crops appeared to be contributing to the loss of Poland’s already-devastated honeybee population, and to the honeybee crisis around the world.
Poland’s ban on this Bt crop also affirms countless reports detailing the links between GM crops and bee deaths. For example, independent research conducted by a Pennsylvania bee farmer named John McDonald found that bees who foraged near Bt crops suffered severely detrimental effects. Bees who were exposed to Bt crop pollen did not gain sufficient amounts of weight and failed to produce honey during times when they should have been doing just that.
Poland is not the only European country that has expressed concern over the use of GM crops in the last few years. Not too long ago, nine European countries — Great Britain, Belgium, France, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland and Slovakia — banded together to stop the efforts of the Danish EU to allow for the expansion of GM crop cultivation. In 2015, Poland became the fourteenth European country to ban GM crops entirely. Some of the other countries that have officially banned GM crop cultivation include Germany, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Croatia, Latvia, Slovenia, Serbia, Lithuania and Austria.
Many countries continue to boycott the use of GMO crops, specifically Monsanto’s GM corn, for fear of what its long-term effects on the environment and human health may be.
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