Genetically Modified Food

[Rokenn]

Originally posted by Reeka: Zimbabwe and Tanzania have turned down tons of GM food products offered by the US, using the ratinal that it is better that the people starve to death than risk being possibly made ill by GM foods.

My understanding of why Zimbabwe and Tanzania have turned down GM foods has more to do with losing the future ability to export to the EU and little to do with safety.

[wellard]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: A word on GM foods and labelling. So, due to the GMO lobbying, if Ben and Jerry's want to put "contains no rBGH" on its label, it also has to put "the FDA has determined GMO foods are not bad, etc, etc" on its label. This is wrong and offends the free market. It also offends my right to choose what I put in my body, regardless of whether it is a "nutrition" decision or some other decision. As a vegetarian, I don't like not know whether my tomatoes contain fish genes or not. And, using fish genes in tomatoes is a common thing. Can you ban "Tastes Better" on a label? Or "sugar free" or "reduced fat"? This is the result of a very strong lobbying effort by GMO producers. The situation is now simply one where a few captured government agencies (e.g. USDA, USFDA, and State Dept.) and the GMO mega-corps (e.g. Cargill, Monsanto, ADM) have colluded to create a government-sponsored oligopoly. If you want to see where farm subsidies really go, look here.

You have the right to free speech unless a big buisness says you can't [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] America the land where market forces rule unless the consumers might not want to buy our products and therefore we use our might to restrict information to nullify market forces.

[Moiraine]

Originally posted by MagiK: (...) With GM foods there is a problem with cross polination, but without modified foods and farming technique we wouldn't have 6 billion people alive right now. I think it is unconscionable that people are starving while tons of GM food sit untouched. All just my opinion on what I have seen in the press.

MagiK, aside from the health concerns mentioned in other posts here, there is another concern about GM that you may have overlooked : the patents on GM seeds owned by the GM biotech companies. There is a strong concern that GM plants, instead of freeing the poor countries, may shackle them to the biotech (US) big companies ...

Read the article below - they explain much better than I could.

"(Article quote) Economic concerns

Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process, and of course agri-biotech companies wish to ensure a profitable return on their investment. Many new plant genetic engineering technologies and GM plants have been patented, and patent infringement is a big concern of agribusiness. Yet consumer advocates are worried that patenting these new plant varieties will raise the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will not be able to afford seeds for GM crops, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the poor. It is hoped that in a humanitarian gesture, more companies and non-profits will follow the lead of the Rockefeller Foundation and offer their products at reduced cost to impoverished nations.

Patent enforcement may also be difficult, as the contention of the farmers that they involuntarily grew Monsanto-engineered strains when their crops were cross-pollinated shows. One way to combat possible patent infringement is to introduce a "suicide gene" into GM plants. These plants would be viable for only one growing season and would produce sterile seeds that do not germinate. Farmers would need to buy a fresh supply of seeds each year. However, this would be financially disastrous for farmers in third world countries who cannot afford to buy seed each year and traditionally set aside a portion of their harvest to plant in the next growing season. In an open letter to the public, Monsanto has pledged to abandon all research using this suicide gene technology."

Full article.

[WillowIX]

Originally posted by MagiK: Reeka, Im A OK with GM foods, I am also quite happy to allow irradiation to be used to sterilize and preserve food as well. Most of the objections are "what If" scenarios with no real scientific backing. Hysteria, and Hype are the weapons used against both which of course I detest. As you say, we have been eating them for decades and our expected life span has steadily increased, not decreased. With GM foods there is a problem with cross polination, but without modified foods and farming technique we wouldn't have 6 billion people alive right now. I think it is unconscionable that people are starving while tons of GM food sit untouched. All just my opinion on what I have seen in the press.

I too am for GM food as long as you stick a label on it. That procedure would even help some unemployed to get som money in their pockets. But the main argument against GM food is not human helath. Rather it is the unknown effects on nature. Of course Gm food could cause mutations in humans, in theory at least. But AFAIK no such case has been reported.

But I can't agree that GM food is the solution to world hunger. First we could try and remove all subsidies to our farmers in the western country and let the poorer countries develop their own agriculture. But that's a whole other story. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Timber Loftis]

Recent news:

Food Biotech companies growing in Canada -- at steady pace. End of 2001, there were 46 firms in the biotech industry reporting earnings of C$581 million, up 80% from 1997. By contrast, there were 197 firms in the human health field, and 31 firms in the environmnetal sector.

Brazil implements an interim regualtion that allows commercialization of Gm soybean until 1/31/04. Commercial biotech crops have been banned in Brazil since 6/02, but enforcement was always lax.

Australia's gene tech regulator has ruled GM canole poses no health or env'l risks and has approved it. Autsrailia's main farming body, the National Farmers Federation, has come off the fence and declared support for GM. Aussie lobbyists oposed to GM canola refuse to give up the fight, even though the cut-off date for public comment has passed.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Ag issued a decree in March '03 imposing biotech labeling requirements on all bioengineered animal feed, planting seeds, fruits, vegetables, and other Ag products.

Finally, while I don't have an article in front of me, I do know that Monsanto's overly-broad patents for GM corn and soy, which some say took advantage of the US PTO's lack of knowledge back then and essentially amount to patents on doing any GM modification to corn or soy in any way, are being challenged internationally, and the patents may become invalid in many countries.

Source: Various recent issues of Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News

[Spelca]

Even if they were able to prevent cross pollination and the food was marked, what about restaurants and schools? Would they then mark the food as well? And hospitals? I don't think they would. So it would be impossible for those who wouldn't want to eat that kind of food not to eat it... So that would mean I would stop going to restaurants and then there would be problems with school food, etc. I wouldn't even want my dog to eat that food...
Btw, this whole thing of putting fish genes in tomatoes, and mosquito genes in some other vegetable is just scary... [img]graemlins/uhoh1.gif[/img]

[Timber Loftis]

Spelca, BT corn and soy is the majority of corn & soy produced in the US. "BT" refers to bacillius thurengencia (spelling wrong but I don't wanna look it up), a soil bacteria.

[Sir Kenyth]

We have been genetically modifying food for centuries. Do you honestly think all non GM crops and livestock are in their natural "wild" state? It just takes longer to do it the old fashioned way. Mating specimens with desirable mutations is the way of farming. Do you think these plants and animals would be the way they are without human intervention? Environmental risks are minimal. Crops and animals have been modified for our benefit, not theirs. Crop plants put entirely too much of their energy into ovary and seed production to survive in the wild without our tender care. Domestic animals can't cut it in the wild either. With our tender care though, we produce a greater quantity of highly nutritious food in a smaller area.

As far as the horomones in beef and milk go. If these horomones were injected directly into the body they would have an impact, but they're not. They are destroyed by the digestive process just like the rest of the food. After the stomach and intestines, the next stop is the liver. The liver is especially adept at breaking down horomones. The point is, none survive the process. Oral anabolic steroids have to be chemically modified to survive the liver. This is very hard on the liver and produces toxic by-products. That's why oral anabolics are so hard on the liver. Anyway, back to the topic at hand!

The last I heard on the discovery channel, the maturing process in adolescents is affected by food consumption in general. Large quantities of high energy food can stimulate early growth and maturity. Girls seem particularly susceptible to this. Fatty foods seem to have a strong link to growth spurts and puberty. Horomones are all based on cholesterol and cholesterol levels rise when fatty food is eaten. Perhaps this is a contributing factor. I personally think that the rapid growth and early development are a natural reaction of the body to an abundance of food and energy to fuel it. Food is the #1 anabolic stimulant you know! You can't grow without it, and the more you have of it, the more you grow!

[wellard]

[quote]Originally posted by WillowIX:

Originally posted by MagiK: [qb] But I can't agree that GM food is the solution to world hunger. First we could try and remove all subsidies to our farmers in the western country and let the poorer countries develop their own agriculture. But that's a whole other story. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Yeah Willow [img]graemlins/starhappy.gif[/img]

Lets take our message to the world and start a revelution [img]graemlins/jumpclap.gif[/img]


The whole point and desire for GM domination is money, plain and simple. And if there is a way to make agriculture as profitable as oil who is going to pay the cost *even if mother nature survives* why the consumer! and the poor as always will be hit the most.

[dafan]

Originally posted by Reeka: The US produces tons of GM foods. They are banned in Europe (won't take the imports). Thus, the European farmers have no competition. Zimbabwe and Tanzania have turned down tons of GM food products offered by the US, using the ratinal that it is better that the people starve to death than risk being possibly made ill by GM foods. In the ten years or so that GM foods have been consumed in the US, no ill effects have been attributed to the GM foods. So, what's your opinion? BTW, if I have any of my facts wrong, PLEASE correct me. Thanks! *hugs*

why not GM food..the diffrence is not that big from ordinary... and btw we do have GM food in Europe..though most people don't know...