Monsanto or How concerned are you about Genetically modified food?

[blankslate]

Here is an interview with Jeffrey Smith who wrote the book "Genetic Roulette." It's about GMOs that people consume as food.

it's in two parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS72J9bDvPM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D3TUk-XX1o&feature=relmfu

This is very concerning to me and it's making it in my mind definitely worth the cost to spend extra money for organic foods.

 

[Ryan]

To be honest - if they could make carrots taste like chicken, I'd eat that shit everyday.

 

[PokerGuy]

I'm not convinced that genetically modified is horrible, but I'm certainly concerned enough about it (the lack of long term testing, unknown consequences, and the abuse of the patent system) that I spend a little extra on organic and unmodified foods.

 

[Texashiker]

I think companies like monsanto are playing with fire.

On one hand monsanto might make a highly productive plant.

On the other hand, who knows what the plant will evolve into.

 

[Ventanni]

I don't think humans have much to worry about in regards to genetically modified foods as long as they're not smothered in pesticides. What I'm more concerned about is the fact that, when you have a field full of genetically modified corn that's designed to resist herbicide, the plants around it, like the weeds you're trying to kill, take on some of that genetic material. All you're left with in the end is a weed that's more resistant to herbicide.

And what good does that do us?

 

[QuantumPion]

Whatever harm there is to GM food, if any, is monumentally outweighed by increased food output. We're talking about maybe a few thousand extra cancers here and there vs. starvation for billions.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Well if you're Monsanto you get to dodge any responsibility and charge more for a new and improved weed killer. Free market, economic growth, yadda yadda yadda.

 

[bfdd]

To be honest - if they could make carrots taste like chicken, I'd eat that shit everyday.

I actually like the taste of carrots more than chicken... then again I am a red meat guy. I'm ok with GMO, I just think more testing needs to be done. Genetically modifying things has been done by humans forevar and to say 'well we did it safely before' can't exactly be proven. We've created all sorts of life that didn't exist without our intervention and that has led to other things just disappearing. Who knows what "damage" has been done and in all honesty, it really doesn't fucking matter.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm concerned and fortunately we live in a climate where its easy to feed everyone. I see it as useful for people who are less fortunate.

 

[Throckmorton]

When you eat food, you aren't incorporating the DNA with your own. Your digestive tract is extracting nutrients.

Are you concerned that eating cows will turn you into a cow? Heck, do you know how different broccoli DNA is from human DNA? It might as well be alien. OH NOES

 

[Ryan]

When you eat food, you aren't incorporating the DNA with your own. Your digestive tract is extracting nutrients.

Are you concerned that eating cows will turn you into a cow? Heck, do you know how different broccoli DNA is from human DNA? It might as well be alien. OH NOES

But see - I don't think that the title of this thread really has to do with the question at hand.

From what I gather - this is not necessarily about genetically modified food. It's about food that's been modified to be resistant to modern pesticides and fungicides, thus allowing these plants to be heavily treat with toxins that would normally kill them. The problem is that these plants will often continue to carry these toxins in their tissues, ending up in the food supply.

 

[nanette1985]

I'm not thrilled by GMO but what really bothers me is when they don't tell me what is in my food. Give me the information I need to decide exactly what I want to feed my family.

 

[Infohawk]

We need to tread carefully with GMOs. It should be treated as a black or white issue although it would be nice if our population was manageable enough that we didn't have to mess with our food to feed everyone.

When you eat food, you aren't incorporating the DNA with your own. Your digestive tract is extracting nutrients.

Are you concerned that eating cows will turn you into a cow? Heck, do you know how different broccoli DNA is from human DNA? It might as well be alien. OH NOES

Where are you getting this straw man from?

 

[Doppel]

Whatever harm there is to GM food, if any, is monumentally outweighed by increased food output. We're talking about maybe a few thousand extra cancers here and there vs. starvation for billions.

Elsewhere, sure. But not in the West, where there is no risk of starvation, GMO or not.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Whatever harm there is to GM food, if any, is monumentally outweighed by increased food output. We're talking about maybe a few thousand extra cancers here and there vs. starvation for billions.

Bullshit. Monsanto cornered the market to make more money not provide more or better food. We can feed the world with non genetically altered food but, the poor poor corporations won't make nearly as much money.

 

[Throckmorton]

But see - I don't think that the title of this thread really has to do with the question at hand.

From what I gather - this is not necessarily about genetically modified food. It's about food that's been modified to be resistant to modern pesticides and fungicides, thus allowing these plants to be heavily treat with toxins that would normally kill them. The problem is that these plants will often continue to carry these toxins in their tissues, ending up in the food supply.

And yet, people are always crying about BT crops, even though they're harmless to humans and reduce the need for pesticides.

 

[Throckmorton]

Bullshit. Monsanto cornered the market to make more money not provide more or better food. We can feed the world with non genetically altered food but, the poor poor corporations won't make nearly as much money.

So you're saying farmers pay more for seeds that don't yield more? Why? Because they enjoy giving money to Monsanto?

Boy, farmers sure must be stupid.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

So you're saying farmers pay more for seeds that don't yield more? Why? Because they enjoy giving money to Monsanto?

Boy, farmers sure must be stupid.

They don't have any choice and btw, most farms are owned by corporations.

 

[Zivic]

Elsewhere, sure. But not in the West, where there is no risk of starvation, GMO or not.

as consumers are looking at things with limited exposure...
you all need to realize, that GMO allows the use of less pesticides, better appearing, better tasting, better yielding crops. GMO helps drought resistance, disease resistance, insect resistance.

before just about anyone buys anything (produce wise) you visually have to fall in love with it. This means you want your food to look as good as it tastes.... sometimes the visual response is more important than the taste. the consumer is as much at fault here as monsanto.

This goes hand in hand with chemicals used on the crops... and don't get me started on the organic BS.

in short, GMO is important to the industry and without it, we would have a hard time producing what we need, let alone what we "want".

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

as consumers are looking at things with limited exposure...
you all need to realize, that GMO allows the use of less pesticides, better appearing, better tasting, better yielding crops. GMO helps drought resistance, disease resistance, insect resistance.

before just about anyone buys anything (produce wise) you visually have to fall in love with it. This means you want your food to look as good as it tastes.... sometimes the visual response is more important than the taste. the consumer is as much at fault here as monsanto.

This goes hand in hand with chemicals used on the crops... and don't get me started on the organic BS.

in short, GMO is important to the industry and without it, we would have a hard time producing what we need, let alone what we "want".

"Better tasting" is a bald faced lie unless, you like being trained to eat green fruit and unripe vegetables?

 

[Throckmorton]

They don't have any choice and btw, most farms are owned by corporations.

Why don't they have a choice? And why would a factory farm spend money on Monsanto seeds if they don't make financial sense?

 

[Zivic]

They don't have any choice and btw, most farms are owned by corporations.

and most are highly subsidized by tax payers as well...

then again, there are many farms that don't get subsidies nor owned by corp. Those farmers don't just sit in a tractor all day, get very little, if any, sleep at night, and work themselves harder than 99% of the rest of the world could even imagine

 

[Zivic]

"Better tasting" is a bald faced lie unless, you like being trained to eat green fruit and unripe vegetables?

prove to me it is a lie....

I grow fresh produce for a living. been doing so for nearly 20 yrs. seen a lot of varieties come and go for various reasons. in the resent yrs the varieties that we grow are both better looking and better tasting.

 

[Circlenaut]

I work for a plant tissue culture company and love how my boss framed this issue. To paraphrase him "Farmers in the U.S. used to grow a bounty of crops with great pesticides. Consumers would just need to wash it off. Now we're hurting our farmers by banning the use of these pesticides because of environmental or health reasons yet we import these same crops from nations that use the same banned pesticides we used to. The only way american farmers can compete now is to put these chemicals INSIDE crops via genetic engineering. Obviously we are no longer able to wash those off..."

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

prove to me it is a lie....

I grow fresh produce for a living. been doing so for nearly 20 yrs. seen a lot of varieties come and go for various reasons. in the resent yrs the varieties that we grow are both better looking and better tasting.

As a Chef with 30 years experience feeding people all over the country, I can't say unequivocally produce has taken a nose dive in quality over those 30 years. There have been a few exceptions but, those growers have all been using 'heirloom' varieties and selling locally.