The GMO wars heat up
So what happens as all the cheap GMO food is forced out in favor of the 50% less efficient "organic" produce that costs 2x as much at the store?
You want to pay for organic - that's the market. Me - I just want cheap food on the table.
You want to pay for organic - that's the market. Me - I just want cheap food on the table.
GMO or not, I don't see a problem with just labeling it.
The problem itself isn't GMO. The problem is we've lost trust in our gov't agencies that were supposed to tell us what is, and isn't ok to eat. This is what happens when crony capitalism takes over.
What would Ayn Rand say?
If you can't trust the gov't, then Label it?
If they won't let you label it, then GMO is probably bad, so we should ban it and not eat it.
No, the issue is being drummed up because of all the "naturalist" wackos who want to ban GMO simply because they don't like it - not because there is any proof of any harm.
I say let the market determine the course. Those who want "organic" food are welcome to pay for it. Those who don't care can pay the lower costs for the GMO stuff. What I object to is governmental interference based on a minority opinion that is directly contradicted by 20+ years of science.
That gets to my point, "Trust".
You will trust the gov't in regards to GMO, but not Climate Change??
Do you know who's on those gov't boards that are saying GMO is safe?? Monsanto.
It's Crony Capitalism. I have no faith in our gov't or regulatory agencies.
The fox is ensuring the farmer that the chicken coop is secure.
"because they don't like it" falls short. There are a plethora of reason to be cautious with GMO. The biggest is that most of the great claims of GMO, are proving not to be true.
If it were just a baseless concern, I might agree with you. But, facts are coming out that raise questions.
Should the CDC release a new strain of Rhino Virus without fully understanding the ramifications? That's what we're doing when we plant open pollenating corn - releasing a virus that is free to spread it's seed as it pleases. It's very arrogant of us to think we understand gene splicing so well as to release a modification out of lab with no means of recalling it should we find a problem with it. GMO has only been around since 1992'ish. Hardly enough time to study the potential long term health risk, especially on the human guinea-pig population. Ever wonder about the rising food allergies we're experiencing, or cancer increases?
Here's the other Galt debate. the way the law stands now, if a GMO crop pollinates the non-GMO field, the farmer of the non-GMO field, owes Monsanto damages if the farmer plants that seed for next years crop. Whether he knew GMO contaminated it or not. This isn't a label issue, but it's a big issue.
Who infringed on who?
Just because "they don't like it", implies there are zero concerns with GMO other than it's "unconventional". There are a host of concerns.
For now, Just Label it, so I can vote with my wallet is good enough for me.
"Hardly enough time to study the potential long term health risk, especially on the human guinea-pig population. Ever wonder about the rising food allergies we're experiencing, or cancer increases?"
If you can prove causation, you have the foundation for a lawsuit that will set you up for life. And it isn't the government I am trusting. If you knew the way that the FDA works, you would know that prior to any new drug (or GMO food) coming on the market, the company/manufacturer has to do ten years worth of studies proving that the product is safe for proscribed use. They can't even talk about them until after that, let alone market them. So it isn't the government doing the testing, but the companies themselves. Is there the potential for malfeasance? Absolutely.
That being said, I challenge you to find a single case of even food poisoning linked back to GMO foods. That despite the fact that these have been used in commercial food products for more than 30 years. And I have personal experience with it for more than 30 years, as does my entire family. The fact that my personal observations match up to the clinical studies and are not opposed by research findings to the contrary speaks volumes to me. You, of course, are allowed to draw your own conclusions about the matter.
"Just because "they don't like it", implies there are zero concerns with GMO other than it's "unconventional". There are a host of concerns."
I have a concern that the earth's orbit is going to destabilize and send us crashing into the sun. Is there any evidence to back up my "concern"?
Let's be reasonable. A paranoia is an unreasonable concern - like my fear of orbital destabilization. A real concern, on the other hand, has a factual foundation. Cite a factual foundation, and you have a concern. Fail to do so, and you are entertaining a paranoia.
Contrast that to global warming, and the concerns there are legion and include gross scientific malfeasance, data tampering, imperfect modeling, political agenda, and more - not to mention the complexity of trying to monitor and predict an entire planetary ecosystem! I'd say the two were hardly analogous on any front.
"Here's the other Galt debate. the way the law stands now, if a GMO crop pollinates the non-GMO field, the farmer of the non-GMO field, owes Monsanto damages if the farmer plants that seed for next years crop. Whether he knew GMO contaminated it or not. This isn't a label issue, but it's a big issue.
Who infringed on who?"
Aside from this being a complete red herring, that's actually a contract law dispute (rather than a criminal provision overseen by law enforcement). If I were the judge I'd rule it an unenforceable provision of the contract. IMO, you can't force a third party to conform to a contract they didn't agree to. I also think it's the height of hubris to believe you can control any self-reproducing species and punish a farmer for failing to do so!
While I find no justified failings in the safety of GMO, I will readily admit that I find the purveyors such as Monsanto and their business practices to be highly questionable by nearly any set of morals. That is quite separate, however, from product safety.
That’s like trying to prove cigarette smoking absolutely causes cancer, or worse, that second hand smoke does.
Foundation for a lawsuit? If I experience death, while eating GMO corn, I should stop eating it and seek medical assistance immediately, and then get a lawyer.
I know how the FDA, and USDA work, They rely on BigAg, and Big Pharma to present cherry picked data to them to show “no-harm”, or not a significant harm.
The members of those boards also come from the industry. Look how many items have been pulled back from the market after considerable debate with the FDA (take BPA for one, they thought it was safe until they were finally convinced by public pressure that it wasn’t).
The FDA use to conduct their own testing but everyone complained it took too long to get new drugs to market, so we have the system we use today, we went from “prove it won’t harm anyone”, to “prove WE harmed you”.
What good is the FDA if they are not actually doing independent testing (the sole useful purpose for a gov’t bureaucracy) .
I’m not concerned about food poisoning. I’m concerned about Frankenstein’s monster being set loose on the world to reproduce without any safe guards.
Such that, when/if we do find a major problem, there is no way to recall it, the DNA is out there and has infected all heirloom varieties.
The first GMO was 1972, and first commercial use 1976. You didn’t see wide spread use of GMO until 1996 with the modifications that are the basis of most concerns.
GMO Kern (to pick one) is not requiring less fertilizer, pesticides, or herbicides as promised, and praised. It’s actually using more herbicides, and is creating superweeds.
The Pest resistant design of the GMO is creating super bugs. These scenarios are setting us up for a potential crop failure because there is no biodiversity of these important crops.
Not sure how it’s a red herring. People have been dragged to court by Monsanto, and the courts have sided with Monsanto. Those that did not take it to court agreed to Monsanto’s terms so they wouldn’t lose everything they had.
GMO has not lived up to its claims and presents an unnecessary risk to the food supply.
As to the Frankenstein's monster thing, you are welcome to your opinion, but with as many growing cycles as these products have behind them, don't you think that if anything was going to pop up, it would have by now? How many generations are going to have to pass without incident before you consider the hypothesis tested? My mom was using the GMO food starches in our everyday meals back in the 80's and continues to use them to this day, so to me, that amount of personal use and length of time speaks volumes.
And I would challenge you to back up your assertion that GMO requires the same amount of chemicals for cultivation, because I know that claim is bogus. I used to work for a company that hauled sugar beets and 90%+ of the farmers we worked directly with used GMO seed because they only had to spray once (with Roundup) to keep the weeds down yet they were getting about 20% more crop per acre using the GMO seed than otherwise. Most were also using less water. These are the same drought-resistant strains that they are trying to get introduced in Africa because they will grow on 50% less water. Guess who is opposing this? The UN.
Am I saying that every farmer must use GMO? Absolutely not. Then I would be just as bad as the government nit-wits in the article.
As to the GMO crops leading to superbugs, you're going to have to present research to back that up, because the research I've read says it is because of the pesticides - not the GMO plants. Just like the flu vaccines.
You're welcome to your opinion on the matter. However, if you want to persuade me that your concerns have merit, you're going to have to provide me with evidence, not just accusations, innuendo, and what-if scenarios. You have a hypothesis, now test it and show the results. The scientific method doesn't fail if applied properly.
(And yes, I know the earth's orbit is destabilizing. But it is literally going to take millions of years for it to be a concern. I used it as an example precisely for that reason. Could GMO plants mutate in a million years? Just like anything else.)
Is the moon moving away from the earth because of man made global warming, or is it may be the cause for Global warming?? Hmmm.