Print

Nice videos of any duration

5 (25%)

Nice videos of short duration

2 (10%)

Decent write ups

3 (15%)

All of the above

10 (50%)

Total Members Voted: 18

[nobody]

Corn - a product of 1000 years of breeding and genetic selection of mutations. The current Maize plant we know now started out as Teosinte, an almost unusable plant. ALL corn is genetically modified. The only thing about it all that really changed is when Monsanto introduced a Bacillus thuringiensis gene into their standard crop. Personally i think it was a great piece of work and we need this type of work to be done, I do not agree with the implementation of their findings though. It is just another example of good science being abused by corporate powers.

The main problem with gmo´s, especially corn, is what it is being used for. Most currently think that it is being used as a direct food source for humans, and that is not correct. At this time the majority of grains in the US (the largest producer by far), mostly corn, is used for ethanol production or livestock feed. The livestock feed is exported to almost every country. So it does not matter if your country has laws against gmo´s or not, because all the laws are about human consumption not general consumption. The driving force behind the industry is mainly concerned about producing cheap grains that are used to fatten up livestock, and there is no law about gmo in that area. So weather or not if you live in a place that bans gmo´s, or has labeling laws, you still consume gmo´s in your meat and dairy products.

Oh, and there is one gmo masterpiece that i could not live without, the orange, specifically the Sunkist orange.

1 Like Sunshine likes this.

[New Wisdom]

You can call selective breeding genetically modifying technically, but it shouldn't be grouped in with these modifications like the "round up ready" plants. And these cancer causing genes that are found in these plants.  Just look at what monsanto is doing to this country and it's farmers. It's all very screwed up in my opinion and I wouldn't group in selective breeding with the lab genetically modified plants at all. I'm talking about the plants that they design the dna themselves and then patent and screw over any farmer that ends up with one in his stock.

One of the biggest issues in my opinion though is what they do with the plants afterwards. How they reconstruct the corn and soy and make all this junk food with. It's causing a lot of disease and suffering and shouldn't be allowed. The point you bring up about the livestock eating the GMO plants. It's very sad. It's almost unavoidable and it is detrimental to our health i believe whole heartedly.

2 Likes PermieGing and fairdinkumseeds like this.

[fairdinkumseeds]

"Most currently think that it is being used as a direct food source for humans, and that is not correct. At this time the majority of grains in the US (the largest producer by far), mostly corn, is used for ethanol production or livestock feed."

I have to disagree on that bit.
It is used as a direct food source for humans, its just that there is also a lot more use as animal food in feedlots.

Takes a lot of GM corn/soy to make a steak(7:1 from memory?), so livestock and fuel production does use a hell of A lot more than humans directly.
But that doesn't change the fact it still takes quite a bit to make your breakfast cereal, coffee whitener, bread, chips etc etc etc.
Approx 60% of all grocery items in the USA and about 30% in OZ are made from GMO products....

On a side note.
Monsanto are also famous for production of another famous orange that was raved about in its day.
Agent orange......

That product alone doesn't give me a lot of faith in their corporate responsibility, or in the governments that endorse and sponsor them.

[Sunshine]

Holy shit. 60%?!
Do you have a source of that.

I mean, I believe you, but I'd like to see the source of that with my own eyes. That's crazy high.

I looked it up. Its actually 7-10:1 Grain to meat. I thought it was actually higher than that...

[fairdinkumseeds]

Its totally cool you have doubts of my figures.
It is the internet after all.
Hahahaha.

Im not 110% certain to be honest, but way back in the beginning of our Facebook page there was a bit of a heated debate about GM and someone posted a link.
Cant find the source but its a pretty commonly quoted....(not that that means a lot, but when I look at the ingredients of most stuff and the grain data it looks about right to me?)

Unfortunately we will probably never know for sure as the figures are a bit less advertised these days.


http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/news/522.usa_2010_more_genetically_modified_crops_once_again.html
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/9-investigates-70-percent-processed-foods-have-gen/nYcpK/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/margie-kelly/genetically-modified-food_b_2039455.html

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/02/adoption_genetically_modified_crops
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_crops

GM food products on sale in Australia and New Zealand – either as a whole food or as an ingredient in a processed food – must have their GM status identified if introduced genetic material or protein is present in the final food. However, there are exceptions.

- Foods where GM ingredients are highly refined, such as cooking oils, margarine, sugars, starches, chocolate, baked goods. Many processed foods fall into this category.

-Foods made at bakeries, restaurants and takeaways.

-Foods from animals that are fed GM feed.

[nobody]

I should have worded that a bit better, only a very small proportion is used for direct human consumption.

Approx 20% of the total us harvest is used for seed, ethanol or human consumption, and only a percentage of that is used for food products. The numbers vary year by year as they are subject to industry and environmental changes. The U.S. Corn Council states that for the 12/13 season 34 million metric tons of corn was used for human consumption, seed and other non ethanol products while 219 million metric tons were used for ethanol, livestock feed and residual products.

This was taken from epa.gov:

According to the National Corn Growers Association, about eighty percent of all corn grown in the U.S. is consumed by domestic and overseas livestock, poultry, and fish production. The National Corn Growers Association also reports that each American consumes 25 pounds of corn annually. The crop is fed as ground grain, silage, high-moisture, and high-oil corn. About 12% of the U.S. corn crop ends up in foods that are either consumed directly (e.g. corn chips) or indirectly (e.g. high fructose corn syrup). Corn has a wide array of industrial uses including ethanol, a popular oxygenate in cleaner burning auto fuels.  In addition many household products contain corn,  including paints, candles, fireworks, drywall, sandpaper, dyes, crayons, shoe polish, antibiotics, and adhesives.

While it might seem that we use a huge amount of these grains in our everyday eating habits, it is vastly less than the amounts used in everything else. My point being, we can try all we want to enact labeling and safe food laws but it makes no difference because all the proposals only cover what we directly consume with no thought to indirect consumption. About the only way around it is to produce all of your own food and never eat corn. It does not matter what the label says all corn seed produced in the us has been tainted by cross pollination.

We only eat 25 pounds (approx 11kilos) annually and the average 500 pound (approx 225kilo) cow would consume 3500 pounds (1590kilo) annually. The actual numbers behind the 7-10:1 ratio is staggering.

[PermieGing]

Just imagine when terminater genes of GMOs cross pollinate with the rest of the species.

  irresponsible.

1 Like fairdinkumseeds likes this.

[Seed Collector]

I believe ALL GMOs are potentially dangerous.

I have watched multiple documentaries on Monsanto and GMOs. 2 of the best were The World According to Monsanto (older) and Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives (newer; better). There was also a fantastic segment on the topic on The Melissa Harris Perry Show in April 2013 about GMOs and had multiple expert scientists on there, a big name tv chef, and a different person who worked for Monsanto. 

I recorded it and have a multiple dvds of Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives, and that segment of The Melissa Harris Perry Show of April 2013. [anybody wants a copy, PM me].

Also, Clarence Thomas (on the US supreme court for life) used to work for Monsanto, as did a revolving door of lobbyists/government personnel.

Senator Bernie Sanders wants to repeal the "Monsanto Protection Act"...

2 Likes New Wisdom and TBM like this.

[New Wisdom]

I really don't see how the point about how much corn is used for human consumption has anything to do with whether GMO's are bad for you or not.  Anyways, in america a HUGE portion of the foods eaten are all GMO. Whether or not the corn is directly consumed very much. 

[TBM]

I feel like eventually the people in the US will wake up and realize that GMO's aren't any good and ban them like in many other countries, but then enforcing that may be difficult at first because as it's already been discussed the GMO genes are being cross pollinated with the surrounding area so it would be like a game of cat and mouse trying to eliminate all the GMO from everywhere. Not to mention the farmers who have grown dependent on Monsanto's 'Round Up Ready' GMOs would have to basically do a complete detox of their entire farm to try to get rid of all that poison they've sprayed, I'm not even sure how that would even be done....

2 Likes New Wisdom and fairdinkumseeds like this.

[PermieGing]

Well, to get a bit back on topic (not that i mind the current topic), expect a bunch of informative videos about food foresting and permaculture to be otw!!

 

5 Likes Mandrake, New Wisdom, TBM, Sunshine and fairdinkumseeds like this.