Genetically modified food

What is your source here?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...2.3&emsg=NCSR&noj=1&ei=-61lUI67IIHn0QGxp4CIDw

Here's a quick google search, plenty of stuff to read. GM wheat is fairly new to the world diet, historically speaking. Isn't it curious that gluten intolerance is on the rise all of a sudden? It just wasn't an issue a decade ago. GM wheat has more gluten, among other "improvements". It used to be a 4 foot tall plant, now wheat is about 2 feet tall with a larger seed head. And they are not shipping it to feed the hungry, those people are still starving.

There are a lot of issues out there, but this one...Unless I live off the land, I am forced to be their guinea pigs. That upsets me to no end. I have no idea what foods they are messing with because they don't have to disclose anything. If that isn't upsetting, I don't know what is. All I want to do is to raise awareness. A lot of people just don't know what they are doing to their food. I find it hard to be apathetic on this issue.
 
Ya the food supply is pretty critical, and like many things, we don't know "what they're doing" all the time all that well. There are some options - buy organic, but local (100 mile diet), grow your own food (not possible for everybody).

But GMO for feeding the poor? Feeding the world? Forget it. Even if Monsanto turned into a charity, there will always be poor starving people.

Gotta take the good with the bad. There are some great scientific interventions in foods, not all of them Monsanto's.
 
This is one of many links from a credible organization with a long history.These are scientists with no agenda or shareholders to answer to.

http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agri..._engineering/monsanto-fails-at-improving.html

"Don't worry people Monsanto knows what's best for you. Just keep on buying our products and making us billions of dollars. Our former employees are now part of your government and have your best interests at heart. We love you...". F that.
 
Well after Dec 21st, we won't have to worry about. LOL!
 

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Pffft. There is no (reliable) evidence anywhere of any kind that GMOs are in any way harmful. It's all just Internet rumor. Is that redundant?

What's next - vaccines cause retardation? Smoke detectors are government spying devices?

What we know, we don't believe and what we don't know, we believe.


Right,and smoking ciragettes along with using asbestos in building materials wasn't unhealthy....till it was.

The corporations who made these things had to be forced into putting warning labels on their products.Their own internal memos disclosed the fact that they KNEW their products were hazadrous,and in some cases deadly.

These facts were disclosed in many Federal,and state Supreme courts over the last 30 years.These weren't internet rumors.

If in FACT,there is no harm in consuming GMO,why not label the food for just what it is,and let the comsumer decide,and not the corporation,just who eats their food.

I for one want to know what I'm eating,and that decision is up to ME,rumor or not.Label the friggin food,period

Steve B
 
I'm glad we can have a quasi-political discussion here that's level headed and reasonable without getting too worked up with rhetoric and nonsensical claims. Go us.

To the topic at hand. It does upset me that a few powerful individuals are taking advantage of mankind's oldest industry. Agriculture is too important for our survival as a species to be corrupted by big business. That story about Monsanto suing the neighboring farmer because of cross pollination makes me not want to live on this plant anymore. Seriously, grow up.

However, I'd like to point out that we've been eating genetically modified plants and animals for decades via selective breeding. Seedless fruit is the most obvious example. But chickens are bred to lay bigger eggs and grow bigger; strawberry are bred to grow bigger; roses are bred to have specific color patterns, size, and for the strength of their small; lobsters.. tomatoes.. crab.. garlic.... Lord knows what we've done with the cow population... What Monsanto and other guys have started doing is just a more sophisticated version of that. Same result, different technique.

I'm choosing not to be afraid of GM food. Billions of people have eaten/ingested way worse and were possibly more successful and lived happier, fuller lives than I will. I just don't want to worry about it. Anyone who lived through the 60s-70s can probably attest that that time was pretty much a world wide chemistry experiment on the majority of the population, haha. Our bodies are more resilient then we think they are sometimes.

Maybe I'm the "ignorant is bliss" route on this issue, but food is food. Whether you go out to eat at Olive Garden or Taco Bell, you are eating food from an unknown source all the time. Rather than being fearful of it, I'll just embrace it and taste.

"Do you know what they do to those Chickens?!?!?
No, but its delicious."

-Jim Gaffigan.
 
...we've (collectively) been modifying all our food through selection for decades

Decades?! Try millennia! Since humans began farming some 10 000 years ago we’ve been modifying crops.

... I'm hearing bad bad stories...I also read stories...I heard stories...I heard a story...

Yes, but “stories” aren’t solid evidence. They’re not studies. They’re not peer-reviewed. They’re just hearsay. Don’t fall for the baseless scare tactics.

Pffft. There is no (reliable) evidence anywhere of any kind that GMOs are in any way harmful.

+1 to that.

I'm buying more organic now that I can afford it. My guess is that it's higher quality food

“Organic” just means the farmers aren’t using pesticides. The quality of the produce is therefore lower, because there’s more critters hiding on your e.g. lettuce leaves. It’s a great idea to reduce pesticides, but wash that organic produce well!

...genetically modified...eat up bro, get your fill.

Lemmings.

I’d say there’s a pretty good argument saying that people blindly mistrusting GMO are more lemming-like.

I don't know enough to form an opinion

Good on ya!

There is so much bullshit to sort through, so many agendas, influence from special interest groups and reactionary responses ranging from panic all the way to apathy. It's really hard to separate the truth from the hysteria

Right.

I don't inherently trust businesses to police themselves. That would be naive.

+1 again.

I'm just saying that I trust evidence and science over rumours and paranoia.

And another one worth repeating. I was getting worried for a moment over the plethora of one-sided unsupported opinions.
 
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Yeah, I will fully admit that I was purely speaking purely in terms of GM crops being harmful or not, and the lack of presented evidence. I was not taking into account the sort of "real world" issues that you're mentioning. As with most things, this becomes an extremely complicated issue once it moves into real world scenarios, so I didn't even want to get into that side of things (since I have nowhere near enough knowledge about it to discuss it).

The real world issues are valid. While GMOs may not be harmful to eat, what are they doing to help the hungry eat? Is it a good idea to let so few corporations control world food supply? Could they interfere with natural pollination? There's not a lot of money in feeding starving people, but there is more money to be made in feeding well-fed people, so that's what the corporations focus on.

The problems are starvation are social and political, not technological. I think we had the technology to wipe out hunger 100 years ago.
 
A new medical study examined the long-term effects of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide and Roundup-resistant GMO corn and has found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts of Roundup, developed mammary tumors and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males and seven months for females, Linda reported. She spoke with Stacy Malkan, a GMO specialist who is working for the passage of Proposition 37 in California, which would make it mandatory to label genetically engineered fish, crops and foods, and to clearly separate them in supermarkets and grocery stores from foods that are not genetically engineered. More.

source
 
The number of people unaware of Thalidomide and its general acceptance in the 1950's amazes me.

Being cautious is wise...

Being accepting by default is foolish.
 
...

Arent people living longer, healthier ? And we all know that we are what we eat.

....
 
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I see more sickly old people than healthy old people it seems. There are more prescriptions written than ever. Yes we are living longer, but in a healthier state? Not sure. Doesn't look like it from where I'm sitting. I'm running into some very smart people who are taking their health into their own hands. Myself I'm convinced that prescription drugs and the FDA are not good for my health. The internet is a goldmine of info for those who seek it out. I am running into so many people who are cutting gluten from their diet, all with good results, amazing even. For instance, one of my electrical customers, she has that disease where it looks like the pigment in the skin is missing in blotches. Well she cut gluten out completely and her pigment is starting to return. Anyone who has gastrointestinal issues...cut gluten from your diet and tell me you don't feel better. What you put in your mouth has the biggest effect on your health more than anything else.

I only bring this up because it affects everyone and I think it's really important. I feel we are being slowly poisoned. I don't want that for me and mine, not one bit.
 
I see more sickly old people than healthy old people it seems. There are more prescriptions written than ever. Yes we are living longer, but in a healthier state? Not sure. Doesn't look like it from where I'm sitting. I'm running into some very smart people who are taking their health into their own hands. Myself I'm convinced that prescription drugs and the FDA are not good for my health. The internet is a goldmine of info for those who seek it out. I am running into so many people who are cutting gluten from their diet, all with good results, amazing even. For instance, one of my electrical customers, she has that disease where it looks like the pigment in the skin is missing in blotches. Well she cut gluten out completely and her pigment is starting to retu.rn. Anyone who has gastrointestinal issues...cut gluten from your diet and tell me you don't feel better. What you put in your mouth has the biggest effect on your health more than anything else.

I only bring this up because it affects everyone and I think it's really important. I feel we are being slowly poisoned. I don't want that for me and mine, not one bit.

Larry, I think we are sicklier because we are living longer. Life expectancy of the planet has more than doubled in the last century. Western civiliazation ( including Japan & Australia ) has the highest country wise statistics with an 80+ average. It therefore seems wealth = living longer.( sorry, musicians ). This theory pretty much pans out if you look at the statistics, country wise.

The flip side of course is the pharmacutical & food business lobbies find a way to play research & legal games with agencies likee thFDA, and eventually get away with stuff sometimes.

...
 
The internet is a goldmine of info for those who seek it out.

.

The internet unfortunately is also a haven for some very mis-guided and malicious people who spew false information for their own agenda.
They prey and remain alive upon gullible people.
 
The number of people unaware of Thalidomide and its general acceptance in the 1950's amazes me.

Being cautious is wise...

Being accepting by default is foolish.

Yes, I remember the story about this stuff. It was a pill to calm the morning sicknes that a woman gets from a pregnancy, if I'm not mistaken. Kids were being born malformed and genetically altered, like flippers instead of arms, etc.
 
Agreed, the internet is a double edge sword, but there is good info there too. One has to utilize one's intelligence to sort the genetically modified wheat from the chaff. I think it's in peoples best interest to learn as much as possible on this issue, after all, there's a strong chance that you are consuming these "designer" foods.
I don't trust mankind to get something like this right the first time. I don't trust multi-national corporations to do right by my health. All they want is my money. If I don't know what I'm eating, then I'm to blame too.

I've cut wheat out, but that's just the tip of the genetically modified iceburg lettuce.
 
Agreed, the internet is a double edge sword, but there is good info there too. One has to utilize one's intelligence to sort the genetically modified wheat from the chaff.

True. People poopoo web info far too much - it's a treasure trove.

The hard part is prioritising the info. Each subject matter expert promotes the importance of their subject, usually overstating both positives and negatives. So I take the adjectives with a grain of (sea) salt and focus on the nouns and verbs.
 
A new medical study examined the long-term effects of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide and Roundup-resistant GMO corn and has found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts of Roundup, developed mammary tumors and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males and seven months for females, Linda reported. She spoke with Stacy Malkan, a GMO specialist who is working for the passage of Proposition 37 in California, which would make it mandatory to label genetically engineered fish, crops and foods, and to clearly separate them in supermarkets and grocery stores from foods that are not genetically engineered. More.

source

I did read this study...and the study released shortly afterward discrediting most of the facts presented. In fact I believe some of the people involved are being investigated for mis-leading and manipulation of data.
I'll see if I can find the link.
 
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