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Protecting Ourselves from GMOs: Jeffrey Smith on PYP 501

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Jeffrey Smith has spent the past 25 years warning us of the dangers of rampant, profit-driven genetic engineering.

As the founder of the Institute for Responsible Technology and author of Seeds of Deception, as well as producer of the documentary Don't Let the Gene Out of the Bottle, Smith has galvanized much public opinion to question the safety of the GMOs in our food supply, and has been at the forefront of the movement to label GMOs so consumers can decide for themselves whether to consume them.

In our conversation, we focused on glyphosate, one of the active ingredients in the Bayer/Monsanto pesticide RoundUp. Smith shared the predatory business and legal tactics the company uses to force farmers to buy its RoundUp Ready seeds, and highlighted some of the known harms of the chemical.

According to Smith, the release of genetically modified microbes poses a real and dire threat to the entire gene pool of planet earth. He shared an example of a ecological disaster narrowly averted when a student of soil scientist Dr Elaine Ingram discovered that a genetically modified bacteria about to released into the soil turned plant matter into puddles of alcoholic goop.

We talked about the myth of “active ingredients,” and the hubris of technologists who believe that genetic modification will yield predictable, wholly positive results.

Smith cautioned against consuming Impossible Foods faux meats, as they are products of synthetic biology – essentially turning microbes into factories to produce what he terms “Food-shaped objects to be avoided.”

Smith also pointed out the revolving door between Monsanto and the US government regulators charged with our safety, and the conflicts of interest and political machinations it's produced.

For example: Monsanto lobbying Michael Taylor was named by President Obama in 2009 to be senior adviser to the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner on food safety.

For example: ex-Monsanto lawyer and current Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas refusing to recuse himself from cases in which Monsanto is a defendant.

And in 2019 a document came to light showing that Monsanto had compiled dossiers on its opponents, including politicians, journalists and scientists, as part of smear campaigns designed to cast doubt on any criticism of the company or its products.

Smith noted with horror that anyone with a couple of hundred bucks and an internet connection can now buy a gene splicing kit and run their own potentially world-ending experiments, a situation he likened to handing a bomb detonator to a teenager.

Listen, watch, learn — and be very frightened, my friends.

Links

Institute for Responsible Technology

Seeds of Deception, by Jeffrey Smith

Jeffrey Smith on The Doctors TV

ProtectNatureNow.com

Dr Howie Jacobson

This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).

My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.

Here are three gigs that I do:

1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation

I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high  performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.

At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.

My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.

2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance

I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.

We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.

The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.

3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams

I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.

So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.

You CAN Change Other People!

Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.

What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.

Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.

 

Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.

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