Are the studies by independent 3rd party research facilities?
Yea. Examples:
"Infestation of Transgenic Powdery Mildew-Resistant Wheat by Naturally Occurring Insect Herbivores under Different Environmental Conditions," 2011. Research supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
"Sero-biochemical Studies in Sheep Fed with Bt Cotton Plants," 2010. Authored by researchers from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary Science, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.
"Microarray analyses reveal that plant mutagenesis may induce more transcriptomic changes than transgene insertion," 2008. Authored by researchers from the Instituto Nacional de Sade Dr. Ricardo Jorge.
"Transgenesis has less impact on the transcriptome of wheat grain than conventional breeding," 2006. Authored by researchers from the UK's Rothamsted Research.
"Prima facie evidence that a phytocystatin for transgenic plant resistance to nematodes is not a toxic risk in the human diet," 2004. Authored by researchers from the Centre for Plant Sciences, University of Leeds.
"Evaluation of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) corn on mouse testicular development by dual parameter flow cytometry," 2004. Authored by researchers from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at South Dakota State University.
"Genetically modified feeds in animal nutrition. 1st communication: Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn in poultry, pig and ruminant nutrition," 2001. Authored by researchers from the Institute of Animal Nutrition, Federal Agricultural Research Centre Braunschweig.
...and all of these support the safety of GMOs in one way or another, and all by 3rd party research facilities. In other words, it's being done by normal, everyday scientists.
Retracted by the publishers under pressure from the GMO companies?
Nope. Retracted because it's bad science. I'd like to see evidence that the publishers retracted those mangled papers because of pressure from "GMO companies."
Glyphosate based products are becoming increasingly scrutinized as being behind some pernicious effects on the overall ecology. Would you drink it?
See here in response to your question:
Is glyphosate toxic to humans? - Biology Fortified Inc.
Same comment as above.
Uh, the paper has bad science. Unless you'd like to respond to the criticisms of the paper, you can't really hand-wave them away.
IF these products are so gosh-darn safe, then why is there any resistance to GMO labeling of products -- shouldn't they be PROUD of their usage?
Plenty of reasons why mandatory labeling of GMOs is not such a great idea. See here:
Page not found – AgBioForum
The studies that show GMO foods have less nutrient value in them are also a concern -- if there is no benefit to the dietary value then what good are they? and if they produce food of lower nutritional value then why should anyone bother with them. If the purpose is not to produce better food then why do we need them?
"Modern Biotechnology as an Integral Supplement to Conventional Plant Breeding: The Prospects and Challenges," 2006:
"The successful deployment of transgenic approaches to combat insect pests and diseases of important crops like rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a remarkable accomplishment. Biofortification of crops constitutes another exciting development in tackling global hunger and malnutrition. Golden Rice, genetically enriched with vitamin A and iron, has, for example, the real potential of saving millions of lives. Yet another exciting application of transgenic technology is in the production of edible vaccines against deadly diseases. How these novel approaches to gene transfer can effectively supplement the conventional breeding programs is described. The current resistance to acceptance of this novel technology should be assessed and overcome so that its full potential in crop improvement can be realized."
"GMOs: building the future on the basis of past experience," 2006:
"It must be emphasized that Roundup Ready soybean is just one example of how biotechnology can bring in significant advances for society, not only through increased productivity, but also with beneficial environmental impact, thereby allowing more rational use of agricultural pesticides for improvement of the soil conditions. The adoption of agricultural practices with higher yield will also allow better distribution of income among small farmers. New species of genetically modified plants will soon be available and society should be capable of making decisions in an objective and well-informed manner, through collegiate bodies that are qualified in all aspects of biosafety and environmental impact."
The soil left behind was poor in nutrients. The soil was not healthy. You have to look at the whole picture.
So you're criticizing the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers -- not GMOs? Let's look at the whole picture. Much of agriculture is built on the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers -- whether or not GMOs are being planted. So you're bringing in a bit of a tangent here.
So we have multiple sources saying that better results are obtained through non-GMO crops.
Because RealFarmacy.com is this great news source, right? Here:
LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You
The correlation of intestinal digestive problems and diseases and food allergies and GMO foods done by taking people with problems off GMO products and observing improvements.
Peer-reviewed papers, please.
Especially in one case in S. Africa where farm workers ate GMO corn and had numerous health problems, were taken off the GMO corn and fed non-GMO corn, and the problems went away, then were taken off the non-GMO corn and fed GMO corn, and the problems re-occurred, and then were again taken off the GMO corn to non-GMO corn and again improved. The only variable is whether the corn is (toxic loaded) GMO or non-GMO.
Where's the peer-reviewed source for this?
Animals given a choice will eat non-GMO seeds/corn/etc over GMO versions sitting side by side.
Let's see the peer-reviewed evidence for this claim.
If farmers need to use hazmat suits to tend their crops, how does it become magically safe to consume once it hits the market shelf?
Farmers don't need to use hazmat suits to grow GMO crops.