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Genetically modified foods (Monsanto / Seminis)

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moonyham

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Feb 15, 2007
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As for comments about how the USA has quality food and what not.. err.. one word: monsanto. I dont consume any genetically modified foods, in NZ they have to be labelled as such, and we have strict laws on everything you can think of related to farming agriculture.
 
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moonyham said:
As for comments about how the USA has quality food and what not.. err.. one word: monsanto.
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Or, as they are known in New Zealand, Seminis. Monsanto controls about 20% of the global seed market - Genetically Modified foods are everywhere. While it's true they do a lot of business in the US, given that we have a population of over 300 million, that doesn't mean everything here is Monsanto - the United States is one of the most agriculturally productive countries in the world, so we have plenty of options to choose from.
 
MrGrunge said:
Or, as they are known in New Zealand, Seminis. Monsanto controls about 20% of the global seed market - Genetically Modified foods are everywhere. While it's true they do a lot of business in the US, given that we have a population of over 300 million, that doesn't mean everything here is Monsanto - the United States is one of the most agriculturally productive countries in the world, so we have plenty of options to choose from.
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They control 20% of global, yes, maybe, but how much of the US do they control?(which is what i was talking about)

They control a majority(or very large percentage) of the crops in the US and are expanding constantly, wiping out and suing organic growers, and generally dominating the US with GM crops. You CANNOT say the same for NZ. Monsanto doesnt 'control' much here, they offer a product which a small amount of farmers use, but the minority. And, in saying that, its an option here.. we dont have monsanto suing ordinary farmers here because they cross contaminated someone ELSES property. Huge difference, bro.
 
^I wouldn't argue with you that it's very fucked up, I live in Nebraska, right in Monsanto country! Most people in America couldn't really care less about the quality of their food, who produces it, where it comes from....

but there's a very solid percentage of the population that does care about what they eat, and there's plenty of people catering to the people who do care about their food...you can easily obtain very high quality food just about anywhere on the west coast...there's still garbage everywhere too....And yes, you actually may have to make a slight effort and pay a bit more to find quality! but if you buy what's in season and whats on sale, you can do pretty well on a budget... The general public is really lacking in knowledge about these things anyway....thats why its so easy for people to be taken advantage of by these corporations....

The point was, don't make generalizations about culturally diverse, geographically enormous places like the United States....There's too many people and too many places for anyone to really grasp the big picture....

Then again, there's a mcdonalds and subway on every corner!
 
thanks for those links addi-p :)

there were alot of people bummed out that monsantos acquired seminis because they had some really good varieties of vegetable seeds. That said though, most of my favorite seed houses are dropping those varieties as replacements can be found. It's more of a politcal statement to drop them.

I'd add that your average joe isn't going to even be able to acquire GMO seed for his or her home garden. F1's are not gmos, they are just conventionally cross pollinated from say 2 different carrots or tomatoes. The next generation of seeds don't come "true" to type.

Open pollinated seeds comes true year to year unless you get contamination from nearby crops. The nearby crop may be one you planted or one your neighbor planted.

And that's where the pisser happens. Let's say you want to save your own seed... That has been done for thousands of years right? Now your neighboring farmer is growing a gmo corn. The pollen can drift toward your corn and contaminate it. Now your corn seed has some gene in it that you didn't want or more importantly (in monsantos eyes) pay for. They can sue you because "their" gene is in your corn. That is one of my big issues with huge agro companys like monsantos.

Then there is the whole food you buy at the grocery store issue.
 
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While I find the business practices of Monsanto questionable, the GMO crops themselves are a great thing. They enable us, to well, feed ourselves at a price, labor, and land use level that is not like an agrarian society. They're not anything nefarious. The.science is well developed, and the same basic concept applied to bacteria is how we get recombinant human insulin and other recombinant hormones and protein medicines.
 
I live in a really remote, sparsely populated place, and it's difficult or impossible to buy foods that haven't been screwed with somehow. I can order some things online if they don't require refrigeration, dry goods and such, but for meats/dairy we HAVE to get it ourselves. We fish and hunt, and buy fresh eggs and live chickens from a neighbor (can't wait to start raising my own!) get goat milk and cheese from another neighbor, gather lots of plants and mushrooms....it takes a long time, but it's the ONLY way to get quality food here. And I resent the hell outta that.
 
BlueHues said:
I think they're defnintely doing some strange shit that goes against nature!

check this out:
http://www.thereader.com/index.php/site/comments/would_you_eat_insecticide/
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How can they go against nature? Are they somehow transgressing the laws of physics? No? Then it's working within the "rules" of of nature.

Would I eat insecticide? Sure! If it's Bt toxin, since it's not in any way toxic to humans. I wouldn't eat Thallium or an organophosphate, but you're not comparing the same things. Would you eat anti-viral drugs if you diddn't have an Rx for them?...oh wait! if you eat meat, you already are, since interferons are proteins produced by the immune system of animals. Just like the Bt toxin is a gene that gets expressed as a protein by the corn, and is not harmful to humans. It is thus irrelevant.
 
If these genetically modified foods are okay for human consumption, then why did the GMO labeling proposition get beat in the last election here in California? What is it that the GMO companies are afraid of?

Note: the anti-labeling campaign was run/financed by Monsanto and other food conglomerates. The pro-labeling side was run by Stonybrook Farms primarily (and others but was not well funded).

The analysis was that it failed because the anti-labeling's campaign helped scare people about higher food costs because of an extra few printed words (total BS imo). But it failed nonetheless due in part to the current economic situation.
 
Could it be they financed the campaign because silly, irrational people would not buy food labelled as GMO, despite it's lack of harm? Therefore people would not buy it, they'd lose money, and for no good reason.
 
There are also other companys that produce gmo's. Dow and BASF. I recently read that basf was the largest gmo producer in germany. The german wouldn't buy the seeds nor enough produce to make it worth their while to produce them there anymore. Yeah, supply and demand. Monsantos has really put most of their effort into crop seed that will stand up to being sprayed with "roundup" a weed killer that they make... I'd rather not have it on my food, thanks. I grow my own veggies for the most part. I grow them in a way I feel comfortable with. They taste good and I get a warm, fuzzy feeling for doing it.
 
rangrz said:
Could it be they financed the campaign because silly, irrational people would not buy food labelled as GMO, despite it's lack of harm? Therefore people would not buy it, they'd lose money, and for no good reason.
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Yeah, Mosanto does a lot of good for the world! Go corporate corn products! It beneftits us all!
 
NSFW:
Rat-Tumor-Monsanto-GMO-Cancer-Study-3-Wide.jpg


http://www.examiner.com/article/gen...ls-rats-2-3-times-more-often-and-more-quickly

http://www.naturalnews.com/037249_gmo_study_cancer_tumors_organ_damage.html


I know that this study is up for debate but why even take a chance? The 2 foods I avoid most in life are corn and soy products. Something about GMO doesnt sit well with me. And of course Monsantos business practices are among the worst of any corporation in the world.
 
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BlueHues said:
Yeah, Mosanto does a lot of good for the world! Go corporate corn products! It beneftits us all!
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I'm sure they're motivated by profit. Never the less, that gene inserted does not code for anything toxic to humans stands.
 
If the food in question is proven to be no more dangerous than the foods that are sprayed with all kinds of pest control sprays then I would have no problem consuming them!
 
It only takes a little digging to find how harmful Monsanto and GMO products are, especially for children.
 
nickels said:
It only takes a little digging to find how harmful Monsanto and GMO products are, especially for children.
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Really? I've searched the peer review scientific literature and can't find any studies which concluded that GMO crops are harmful to human health.Plenty of studies however concluded the opposite.
 
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