vote no to gmo

[SeaToSky]

Don't believe a thing Greenpiece (of shit) is saying.

Nowadays, the whole environmental protest movement and evil multi-national organizations like Greenpiece (of shit) are driven by ignorance and distrust of science and technology, and left-wing political agendas. For the individuals who jump on the bandwagon, they're mostly doing it for the feeling of moral and intellectual superiority when they lecture and critize others.

 

[Very Veronica]

mea culpa on my catchy title

The thread is about our right to know with mandatory labelling.

But glad to kickstart the broader discussion! GMO's are much different 'animals' than anything traditional farming could have created as these organisms could never happen in nature not to mention the quiet speed these crops are taking over. Mess with nature & bad things happen..superbugs, bse, loss of biodiversity, etc. Also, GMO producers have the added bonus of potentially controlling our food supply. Cool! Not! Terminal seed technology (GE crops that produce sterile seeds) indeed.

Oh and call me a left wing hippie if it makes you feel better, i'm actually quite right.

CBC radio interviewed this artist yesterday who dared question GMO: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-simmons/terrorizing-the-artists-i_b_52261.html

 

[Justin4Fun]

We've been genetically altering plants and animals ever since agriculture began thousands of years ago. Up until recently it was done by selecting breeding and seed stock with unusual, but desirable, characteristics. That was relatively slow. Now it can be done much more quickly in a lab. Is that bad? Well, any technology can be used for both ethical and unethical purposes. If we threw out technoloby on that basis we'd still be hunter-gatherers. That would probably have been better for the planet, but few of us would choose that lifestyle, even if we could.

This is a great post - everyone here no doubt knows that the original tomato plants are poisonous right? but through genetic alteration (cross seeding, etc.), they are now edible. Also, there is a difference between genetic alteration and feeding hormones to animals - that's a good subject to discuss, but it's a different discussion.

 

[Oliver Clozov]

for now

The thread is about our right to know with mandatory labelling.

But glad to kickstart the broader discussion! GMO's are much different 'animals' than anything traditional farming could have created as these organisms could never happen in nature not to mention the quiet speed these crops are taking over. Mess with nature & bad things happen..superbugs, bse, loss of biodiversity, etc. Also, GMO producers have the added bonus of potentially controlling our food supply. Cool! Not! Terminal seed technology (GE crops that produce sterile seeds) indeed.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-simmons/terrorizing-the-artists-i_b_52261.html

Thanks for beginning this discussion Veronica. I admire Biodiversity and the natural beauty of the world we are in.With the right to know comes a responsibility to know as well.


While the first benefits were focussed on production more direct benefits will be coming for the end consumer.

Golden Rice has the potential to benefit populations who have a deficiency of Vitamin A in their diet. How about a potential for vaccines to be produced within a food?

We do need to continue to ask questions on things.

What are the known risks to human health of GMO foods?
Who controls the food supply right now and would it be different with no GMO?
How does the world handle an ever increasing human population with the increase demand for food and other resources?


What is so bad about a science that looks at how organisms are made up. Makes changes within that organism to produce something which would have a desirable quality.

Seems to me a more sane approach then doing nothing.

 

[furball8]

to GMO or not GMO

GMOs are neither good nor bad, with proper long term research for safety and product labelling for the nervous consumers out there I see no reason not to use them. The huge problem is who do we want to control these crops and by default our food supply? Thanks to years of government neglect, indifference and out right hatred of all things publicly funded, Canada's agriculture research and development is being left to Monsanto, Cargill etc. Their responsibility is to the bottom line and the shareholder, not the producer, the consumer or any thing else that resembles the public good. Add to that the detirioration of our food inspection system and I would say that GMOs are the LEAST of our problems.

 

[CODe333]

This thread touches my life in a very personal and a very cerebral way.

The science behind GMO and the business controlling GMO are clearly linked in obvious ways but probably should be looked at separately when examining the personal and social features of this issue.

The science behind GMO seems to me to be valuable and will no doubt produce knowledge that is truly useful and helpful to human populations. One of my daughters did her university degree in genetics and has looked in detail at the complex relationship between science and business, especailly as it relates to genetic manipulation of food (she currently works in finance). Interesting and educational discussions at our house, let me tell ya! Her perspective has challenged me to see the complexity of the issue and appreciate the diversity of perspectives surrounding it. Still, commerce can corrupt the scientific pursuit and it is in the interest of the general population to make sure the pursuit of profit doesn't erode the public interest. Profit often is sought at the expense of safety. Science takes time and resources, business requires profts now and places pressure for quick results. Every citizen has the right IMHO to know exactly what they are eating and be able to make informed decisions based on truthful labelling, etc. Laws in this area are needed and overdue.

This is where the story gets personal. Both my daughter and I have had to deal with physical disorders in our lives caused by our genes reacting oddly with the environment. You wouldn't know it to look at either of us but we have struggled to live normal lives. I almost lost my eyesight due to immune system attacks and am currently on very strong drugs to keep my immune system from eating my lungs. My daughter's issues were even more severe (yet she finished her science degree with honours and now has a challenging career - splendid and brilliant young lady that she is!). Today we both avoid polluted and genetically modified foods because they're too risky for us. Labelling and the like are essential to our daily lives. I am about to undertake a radical (and very expensive) 16 week therapy that will rebuild my immune system and allow me to once again have a life (I'm so looking forward to doing martial arts again, and traveling). I eat only organic foods and it makes an enormous positive difference to my quality of life. For those interested I highly recommend two studies on organic produce published by the Organic Center (http://www.organic-center.org). The two titles are:

"Still no free lunch : nutrient levels in U.S. food supply eroded by pursuit of high yields" by Halweil, Brian.

"New evidence confirms the nutritional superiority of plant-based organic foods" by Charles Benbrook, Xin Zhao, Jaime Yanez, Neal Davies and Preston Andrews.

Both titles are available through the Organic Center website and may also be available at your local library (possibly through ILL). Those interested will greatly benefit from having a read.

Sorry if my email is preachy but this issue is important to me. I hope it's important enough for everyone here to consider how it impacts their lives, because it does whether you know it or not. And health, after all, allows the pursuit of life's fun stuff - like sex!

Thanks, VV for getting this discussion going!

CODe333