True. They even sabotage or threaten to sabotage GM projects. It's totally ridiculous, as any human food has been genetically modified since the agricultural revolution. Humans don't eat anything else.
Letter I Wrote Recently To My Local Member Of Parliment.
- Thread starter Eukaryote
- Start date
True. They even sabotage or threaten to sabotage GM projects. It's totally ridiculous, as any human food has been genetically modified since the agricultural revolution. Humans don't eat anything else.
crabapple
I am watching
We dont need GMO we only need to stop wasting. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/21/us-food-waste-idUSBRE87K0WR20120821
If all the food that was produced was eaten, there would be no food crisis
If all the food that was produced was eaten, there would be no food crisis
ParkCungHee
Deity
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Right, well I got some potato chips right here I don't feel like eating, why don't you eat them?
crabapple
I am watching
didnt know that the US produced so little food, that 50% of the food equals a few potato chips
ParkCungHee
Deity
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Oh, I see. The food can only be moved as a lump sum.
No wonder it's going to waste.
No wonder it's going to waste.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
I said "who", not "Pray thee, sir knighte, mine Googlebox hast malfunctioned most sore; wouldst thou perhaps see thine goodly way to searching "gmo sabotage" for a pure and imperilled maiden?". You can tell, because the first on is quite a lot shorter than the second one.
Earth First
Congressional candidate Andy Caffrey (in 1987)
Take the Flour Back
60 People in France (same link, dozens of people in spain, Indian farmers and others)
Seriously, there is a bit of it going on and does impact GM research.
Murky
Deity
I don't have a problem with GMO crops in general. That's like having a problem with drugs in general. Some are useful and needed to help people get fed. For GMOs, there should be required testing against a diverse group of people. We should make sure that there aren't significant adverse reactions to consuming it before it's mass produced for public consumption. There should also be laws preventing patents on genetic strains. Once a super beneficial strain has passed every test it should be available to be grown and the farmers should have to right to save some seed for replanting. Use subsides and grants for research but make it so that it's not going to screw the farmers over if they don't go along with the corporation's money making scam.
The thing is there are other issues (the sorts of things like resistance I was talking about here that are not covered here, and are hard to accurately assess. I do not have an answer and agree with the statement "Some are useful and needed to help people get fed".
Eukaryote
Deity
I'd love to redistribute food from the world's richest to the world's poorest people. The question is how to do it, how to make it efficient, and how to make it politically acceptable. Give me any petition supporting an economically feasible way to allow the world's poorest people to have more access to food and I will sign it, even if it's radical.
That being said, this is not an "either/or" question. It's perfectly possible to both improve agricultural technology and promote action that redistributes food towards the poor.
The most important objection to GMOs is that they allow corporate America to gain control over the food supply. Plant and seed patents, as used by Monsanto, are terrible.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
And they're "the left", are they?
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Hey OP, did you get a response?
I'm not as much interested in discussing the content of your letter, but am more curious in the response, if one will come, the idea of engaging your government like you have in order to try to drive change, how effective such a thing might be, etc.
I'm not as much interested in discussing the content of your letter, but am more curious in the response, if one will come, the idea of engaging your government like you have in order to try to drive change, how effective such a thing might be, etc.
This, basically. I understand that the rogue genome fear is pretty overstated, so, yeah, this.
Eukaryote
Deity
True, but this is more a problem with patents than with biotechnology. Also, nobody forces farmers to buy GM seeds. You can plant whatever seed you want on your own farm.
No, but I only delivered the letter about a week ago.
hobbsyoyo
Deity
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Your last two sentences, while technically true, are a bit off the mark IMO. It's hard to compete in that market when everyone else is using crops that require less water, less fertilizer, less pesticides, tolerate adverse conditions better or have bigger yields than yours. So they may not have a realistic choice but to use them.
I'm not completely on the 'Monsanto' is evil bandwagon but the point BirdJaguar raised is very persuasive.
I also think* the overriding fear with GM seeds isn't evil Monsanto but rather all the GM seeds are evil fears.
*based on the sum total of the admittedly small number of discussions I've had or articles I've read/listened to on the subject
classical_hero
In whom I trust
If you farm next to a plot of land that does use GMOs then you have to worry about contamination and the problem that causes. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/13336126/farmer-sues-neighbour-for-gm-contamination/
http://www.gmcontaminationregister.org/http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/02/24/2499950.htm
Eukaryote
Deity
Respectable rebuttal.
