Genetically Modified Food For You?

[the_g_nee]

Crops which have been Genetically Modified to resist insects kill not just the "target insect" (such as the borer or weevil) but beneficial insects (such as the Monarch butterfly). They also threaten the habitats of other animals, such as birds.
Crops which have been Genetically Modified to resist herbicides encourage the use of larger quantities of herbicide, with the effect that both weeds and beneficial plants are killed indiscriminately. These herbicides are harmful to both the environment and to humans.
Crops which have been Genetically Modified to contain their own insecticide, such as Bt, cause insects to become resistant to the insecticide.
Genetically Modified plants may crossbreed with wild species to produce "superweeds", which cannot be eliminated using standard herbicides.
Genetically Modified plants contaminate conventionally grown and organic plants and honey.
The use of Genetically Modified seed encourages dependence by the farmers on a single seed supplier and may involve the purchase of both the seed and herbicide from one supplier. The farmer is then at the mercy of the seed company who may vary prices of both seed and herbicide at will.
Toxic compounds such as glyphosphate (RoundUp) and Bromoxynil are used on Genetically Modified crops. The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of Bromoxynil despite acknowledging "...serious concerns about developmental risks to infants and children."
The nature of genetic modification and long term effects are not well understood as these products have not been properly tested before being released into the environment. For example, in the USA, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the use of all currently approved Genetically Modified crops based on data supplied by the manufacturers.
Genetic material inserted into plants can transfer to animals and humans in the intestinal wall

:shocked:

I found the above at this site : http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/

I think that the use of GM food is totally wrong, there should be no place for GM food at all. For the simple reason that we do not know about the long term effects. I for one ALWAYS check on the labels of food I buy to see if there are any GM modified ingredients (though often I wonder if I am eating GM food and just not being told about it).

The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of Bromoxynil despite acknowledging "...serious concerns about developmental risks to infants and children."

GM food is one advance in science we can all do without. The ONLY positive thought I have on GM food is where food is made hardier so that it will grow in more hostile environments - like those in the 3rd world. But like mentioned above, what happens when a new superbug evolves that merrily eats all these GM crops? Antibiotics, insecticides, GM food and the like is not the answer, its polluting the ecosystem and is just stacking up the lists of problems for our future generations.

Your thoughts please!

:D

[the_JinX]

good post..


I personaly think the scariest part is microbes and other nasty organisms can get the modified DNA and take it in (proven fact (lost the url though)) ..
That way the microbes can create defence against medicines and stuff.
Increasing the need for medicine and herbicites/pesticides..

[jcdux]

I also strongly oppose GM crops, one of the benefits of living in the UK is that consumers over here are not easily fobbed off with empty promises that GM won't have any dangers. We burn their fields, we demand labels on foodstuffs saying if it contains any GM ingredients and we don't give two shits what the GM manufacturers try and have us believe, we don't want GM, never did and given a choice never would.

J.

[tH3#cL3aN3r]

My 2 cents. :o
As far as I know genetically modified foodstuff cause's superweeds :mad: , which is a bad point, but on a high note it could help in harsh climate's & humankind's conquest of space :D , but i say give them a chance, let them play with genetically modified foodstuff a bit more.

But strict control should be maintained on a high level.
Anyway a lot of people are eating more & more organic foodstuff so genetically modified foodstuff won't control the market.

So I agree with GM food, for now.

I call for a poll. :cool:

[ac1dsp3ctrum]

If you drug something for too long it will build up an imminuty against the drug..... If we keep geneticalli modifying our food against bugs, sooner or later the bugs wont die... They will get stronger... And when those bugs mate, there will be another generation of 'drug-resistant bugs'.

[proactive]

Personally I have no doubts eating GM food. I believe the control routines are good enough in my country. But the market is not going to control itself, so there has to be some kind of limit to what producers are allowed to do.

I think it's great that scientists work on this, because as I see it, GM food is perhaps one of the ways to stop starvation and lack of food in the 3rd world. We should all remember that science should not only be used for profit, but also to the best for human kind. And I think a lot of people seem to have forgot that.

Good post btw!

[jcdux]

Originally posted by proactive

I think it's great that scientists work on this, because as I see it, GM food is perhaps one of the ways to stop starvation and lack of food in the 3rd world. We should all remember that science should not only be used for profit, but also to the best for human kind. And I think a lot of people seem to have forgot that.


We've already seen GM crops being used in the 3rd world, I remember a story about a GM'd crop that was sold to poor farmers, their usual practice was to buy seeds then replant each year from the same crop, with GM'd seeds, they found that they needed to buy new seed each year (at additional cost) as the 'enhanced' crop was modified not to reproduce.

GM doesn't equal food for all, it equals profit to GM manufacturers at any cost.

[the_JinX]

I used to think lightly about this kinda thing too, but i read some stuf in EOS (a dutch semi-sientific magazine) that realy freaked me out..

I'm sorry to have to say this proactive.
but control routines are never good enough...

You seen it on the net... viri and such are nastier and faster then ways to deal with them..

And how do you keep genes from going out... would the farmer screen all ants wandering thrue their patch for strange DNA???

i don't think so..

all this GM stuff is giving me the creaps...

[Pooh-Bear]

jcdux: Well isn´t it kinda positive that the crop can´t reproduce? Don´t get me wrong here, I´m thinking from the point of view that it won´t mix with other plants.

Examples of GM mixing with local plants follows:
Denmark, a food plant was engineered to be immune towards a specific pesticide that was causing problems for the farmers. This plant could reproduce and it didn´t take long before the weed surrounding the fields had incorporated the defence against the pesticide and could start spreading again.
The publicly most spread one is the Novartis GM corn in Mexico. Pollen from the GM corn is as we are speaking spreading among the wild corn in central Mexico.

Why is this bad you ask?
Well if you know about dogs or gardening you get a clue. Some races of dogs have been breed so hard that they have problems breathing trough their noses or half the puppies have to be put down because of bones don´t grow like they should. Plants that produce so many flowers that the flower stems can´t bear the weight and so on.

Now we can do these "breedings" that took decades (or even a century) in less than one decade.
With the old way it took a bloody long time and we still made misstakes. No we can make them again but faster and with bigger impact.

[jcdux]

no I'm sorry but I disagree, we in the UK have already seen GM crops germinating with non-GM crops, the example of non-reproducing plants wasn't to highlight how safe these modifications are, it's aimed to highlight that that the GM producers want to make a fast buck with no thought for future problems.

We don't fully understand the dangers of GM crops, but that doesn't stop the manufacturers claiming that they're safe.

J.

[Pooh-Bear]

Didn´t know that they could spread if they were non-reproductive but ok, good to know.
You don´t happen to have any articles from the UK btw? About the only articles I can find nowadays are about Mexico. Would be nice to have examples a little closer to home. :)

[jcdux]

here are a few links with info on GM (mainly UK info)

Friends of the Earth (http://www.foe.co.uk/pubsinfo/infoteam/pressrel/2002/20020131170839.html)

gm-info.org.uk (http://www.gm-info.org.uk/gm-info/index.html)

Gene Watch (http://www.genewatch.org/UKtrials.htm)

Biotech info (http://www.global-reality.com/biotech/)

And to quote...


"For its part, Monsanto has admitted that no one knows - or can know - what will happen when genetically modified organisms are put directly into the human food chain and are released into the natural environment, as is the case with genetically modified crops."

Robert Shapiro, CEO, Monsanto

That should give you some info
:)

J.

[Negative]

Here's more on Monsanto ;)

Greenpeace (http://www.greenpeace.org/~geneng/highlights/gmo/Monsanto_DNA_MP.htm)

[hot_ice]

I think food should be left alone, humans have got this far without genetically modifying food and we are doing fine. Why change a good thing? If you start making food 'better' by modifying it, it won't be natural. What nature produces, I believe, is the best and should be left how it is.

Greg

[Pooh-Bear]

Well actualy everyone is not doing so fine hot_ice. There is alot of starvation and it keeps getting worse and worse. The earth´s overal population is booming..
The company that can come up with something that gives a bigger crop is gonna get rich no matter what else happens.
When your hungry you just want to eat

[the_g_nee]

Countries like those in Europe + the US have got massive 'mountains' of food. Huge stocks sitting in warehouses doing nothing. Maybe these stocks of food need to be more freely given out to those in need rather than just left there. Stocks like these are used at times of crisis, when disaster strikes one country or another, like recently in Afghanistan, I saw a news bulletin with people off loading a truck with bags of grain marked with USA (now THATS a big dose of irony and humanitarianism for you). The thing is though, it is big business which is behind GM foods, they want to make a buck, so 'here you go poor 3rd world country, this is a hardy crop, we will just add to your debt you owe us westerners'. Rather than just educate and help in other ways - like digging wells.

[hot_ice]

Yes, that's true, there are a lot of people starving in the world, but tell me, if a company starts genetically engineering their food to produce larger crops and better products, they ain't gonna give it away for free to the starving people. They run a business and they'll want money. People in third-world countries can't really pay for large amounts of food.

I wish they would give it away, hopefully they will, but I just can't see it happening.

Greg

EDIT: Sorry the_g_nee, didn't see your post there. I was replying to Pooh- Bear's last post.

[Pooh-Bear]

True they don´t have alot of money but they will be forced to come up with something to get it. I don´t know one parent that will sit by idly while their children starve if they can do something about it.
Revolution and shit will come from it or..dumping the prices for their natural resources comes to mind :mad:

[jcdux]

I saw this on news.bbc.co.uk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1809000/1809581.stm)

It's got a bit of humour (chips) but the scary thing was the patents bit...

And five biotechnology companies - Avenis, Dow, DuPont, Mitsui, Monsanto and Syngenta - between them own 69% of the patents granted on rice, wheat, maize, soya and sorghum. These staple crops account for almost three-quarters of the world's food supply.


1.4 billion people depend on saved seed
Companies are also buying up local seed markets in the developing world; they control 70% of the global pesticide market; 30% of the global seed market; and 98% of patented GM crops.

Under some of the licensing agreements, farmers using patented seeds are not allowed to save, exchange or replant them and must purchase new seeds every year or face prosecution.

GMO on the wind

In North America, dozens of farmers are being prosecuted for growing patented seeds. Among those facing legal action is a Canadian farmer, Percy Schmeiser.


Monsanto set up an "illegal planting" tip-off line

The biotechnology giant Monsanto successfully sued him for illegally growing its patented genetically-modified canola (rape seed) crop.

But Mr Schmeiser is appealing against the decision, saying that he never planted it, never wanted it and suspects GM pollen blew on to his land.

[gold eagle]

a good thread. I think we need to be careful with gm anything not just food. While there is many possible benefits, there are more possible downsides. With proper testing and disclosure it may help people grow food where yields were low or nonexistant.

Do I trust companies public papers on these goods? No - what is needed is third party verification of all laboratory claims.

[jcdux]

but the really scary thing is that the GM companies are coercing the governments to allow them to plant and therefore cross pollenate without any real controls, by the time we know the full truth about GM, it may be too late (ie: 'natural' crops will have been eradicated by the GM variety).

Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

:(

J.

[CyberSpyder]

;) genetically modified crops can be beneficial but if we misuse them then they could be very bad. :)

[jcdux]

genetically modified crops can be beneficial but if we misuse them then they could be very bad.

The problem is that we don't yet know the implications of GM crops so we can't say that they are beneficial!

:(

J.