GMO foods.

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by The Castellan, Oct 6, 2012.

  1. The Castellan

    The Castellan Commodore Commodore

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    I never believed in the use or approval of GMO foods. I go by this one saying, Never Fuck with Mother Nature, she's a bitch goddess when you mess with her! I feel our foods should be left as nature intended, and I don't care what folks like Bill Gates or George Bush Sr. say about them being so great, plus most studies are by companies or agencies that profit from GMO's being made (of COURSE they are going to say their stuff is safe). Now before any of you give me any silly tin foil hat jokes, or silly pictures with cheesy captions for some childish LOL factor moment (I get enough of that each time a paranormal topic appears on this site :rolleyes:), let me say this.

    Many countries have made it where law states all foods made with GMO ingredients must be labeled. Some countries even BANNED GMO foods. And a vast majority of the American public wants labeling laws so any GMO made foods will tell us they are GMO. Yet the FDA still refuses to do anything....they are either unable to do it, or most likely, unwilling to do it. FDA feels more like a police force for the drug companies and other industries like GMO food makers. I find it sad that America, as usual, is bringing up the rear when it comes to doing what's right.:borg:

    And regardless of weather any of you think GMO's are safe or not safe, or Mon Santo being as evil as our politicians are, I am sure we can at least agree on this: Force the FDA to make the labeling laws that the majority of the American public wants, so that way we know what it is on the store shelves, and what we are feeding our selves and our loved ones.....I am sure that is in the least bit fair. I personally don't see why Monsanto and the other big companies should have all the say so, especially since they are getting the boot prints of the other countries on their behinds.:cool:

    And here's some videos:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7DqaJ3QgHU
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HYNBY5IKAQ
     
  2. Kestra

    Kestra Admiral Premium Member

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    I have a hard time taking anything seriously when it starts with "leave it as nature intended" because something being natural doesn't automatically equal safer or better. I'm allergic to a ton of fruits and vegetables and if they could genetically engineer strawberries or cantaloupes so that I could eat them again, I'd be very happy!

    I wouldn't mind having more easily visible information about where my produce is coming from. But I tend to buy local now and it's not as large of a concern for me personally anymore.
     
  3. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    You do realise that we have been altering things for centuries. Cross-breeding plants to create new varities of say fruits? Isn't that a form of Genetic alteration?

    A crop could in theory be altered so it needs less water to grow, or be made resistant to a particular blight.

    Which could in theory mean higher crop yields, less crop loss due to disease etc..

    That isn't to say all ideas for GM are good, it just that some might have uses.

    And remember humans are part of nature as well, and nature has given us our intelligence over the course of our evolution.

    As for labelling that is of course a different issue, and yes perhaps they should be labelled as such. but just to be safe like a great many foods carry a warning today, that it may contain nuts. Shouldn't all food carry the warning it may contain GM food.

    After all you never can be 100% certain somewhere along the production line it has never come into contact with it.
     
  4. M'Sharak

    M'Sharak Definitely Herbert. Maybe. Moderator

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    Millennia, in fact.

    I'd venture to guess that many (if not most) of the "naturally grown" foods consumed by the OP are hybrids, products of generation upon generation of cross-breeding and selection for desired/desirable traits and qualities. That banana Kirk Cameron likes to talk about, for example - it did not exist 100 years ago and would never have existed at all except for an extensive and deliberate cross-breeding program aimed at producing it.
     
  5. The Castellan

    The Castellan Commodore Commodore

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    Hybrids are a lot different than what folks like Mon Santo do to make foods that have their own repelents and increase crop outcome (though it's a lie since many farmer in south america and india have committed suicide due to facts that the GMO's produce worse crop outcomes and they can't pay off their loans....or folks like Mon Santo taking away lands of farmers when they find out their seeds somehow made it to their farms without buying them, most of which happens by accident....also folks handling GMO cotton have to wear protective gloves because they are getting nasty skin rashes and all that). Hybrids are just cross breeding......GMO's are being changed on a much larger level.

    Kestra....just ask your farmers if their crops are GMO.....I live in a rural community and the farmers personally told me they HAVE to buy GMO corn and soy seeds and so on, they are NOT allowed to buy non-GMO seeds. I avoid corn and soy at all costs, now. Oh, and if they did make berries and other stuff that you'd be not allergic too.....I'd be weary.....since we as race as not so smart as we think we are, we mostly go for the short term goal or short term project and not take into account of what can happen further down the road.....and that's when future generations suffer for the older generation's mistake/stupidity/greed. Plus the fact so many countries are in fact banning GMO's, I think America and Canada needs to be be that list as well, I'd personally ban GMO's and tell Mon Santo to go look for another job if it were up to me. I say just plant the seeds nature made, put the work into making them grow, harvest and enjoy.....I don't want something that some pimpy faced nerd/businessman in a lab coat created in a lab in my body, nor do I want them in the bodies of my friends and family.
     
  6. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    Better just throw out anything from a drug store then.:rolleyes:

    While I don't like some of the practices of big companies using GMO's to create monopolies, I don't have a problem with GMO tech in and of itself and feel there is a bit of hysteria against GMO products, condemning many without cause.

    GMO technology is a tool. It's not inherently a bad thing.

    You know what I worry about more? Luddites banning something based on fear of the new.
     
  7. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Wow. You must think Luther Burbank was history's greatest monster!
    As for what you're discussing, it's more political and economical than it is nutritional. You have a problem with groups like Monsanto, I do as well, but GMO foods themselves are not inherently harmful.

    Also, Luther Burbank made a bigger and better potato known as the Idaho potato. For that alone, I shall forever love Luther Burbank.
     
  8. The Castellan

    The Castellan Commodore Commodore

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    I don't go to drug stores. When I am sick, I head to my herb garden, or use wholesome food, you'll be amazed just how good nature can be if you give it a chance. And given that a bunch of countries banned GMO food, I don't think it's fear over something new, it's not wanting to eat food that can possible fuck one up. And seeing those rats bloated with tumors, amongst other things like sterility and what not, its more of common sense than paranoia regarding those countries banning GMO's.....including that nearly 100% of Americans wanting the FDA to make a law that has foods made with GMO's to clearly state it on the labels.....why is the FDA going, "Nope!" on this....majority rules, serve and protect the public......that sorta thing should be be what the FDA should do....follow our orders. Same goes with any government agency, we tell them something to do, and they go, "yes sir...." in a timid, mousy voice and then go crawl off and do as they are told, like the bitches they are supposed to be.

    Also, I don't see why buying/selling unpasteurized milk has to be like buying cocaine. I literally have to meet up with the dairy farmer by some lonely dirt road and buy it there. We should be allowed to have it if we want....there's paranoia and hysteria right there with this "pasteurized only!" nonsense. When I drink that 'milk' in the stores, I get such terrible stomach aches and all that....and when I have the real, raw milk....I feel fine, in fact, I feel great...., no stomach aches, no constipation, nothing. Plus it tastes much better. Call me a picky bitch if I want what I eat to be as natural as natural can be.


    I'm against making foods that can potentially wreck a person's health, I mean would you feed something to your kids that made those lab rats get bloated with tumors and all that, I know I would not. Also, speaking of politics, I find it interesting Obama got one of the big names of Mon Santo on the FDA. So much for left wing types hating corporations, eh?

    And I prefer sweet potatoes, anyhow. ;)
     
  9. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It depends. What caused the lab rats to get tumors? Was it the methodology or was it the food item? We found that saccharine could cause cancer in lab rats, but only if you gave them obscene amounts, far more than what a human being could possibly consume, and even then, it was discovered that what was actually killing the rats wasn't even possible in a human being. As a result, saccharin has since been labeled a "safe" food.

    Just because a food has been genetically modified, doesn't make it harmful. "All natural" has become a buzzword that is practically useless as a description for healthy foods. Do you know how much junk goes into some "all natural" and "organic" foods?

    Human beings have been tinkering with the human diet, and the human food supply, for thousands of years. It has lead to healthier bodies, longer lives, and better growth and development. While mistakes do get made, I would say that on the whole, what we've done with the food supply is amazing. Thanks to genetic modification, and new farming techniques, we can now feed billions of people, something that couldn't have been done before. Think about that.

    I love a good sweet potato.
     
  10. M'Sharak

    M'Sharak Definitely Herbert. Maybe. Moderator

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    And there you has it: he prefers sweet potatoes over proper spuds. Ain't no talkin' with someone what thinks that way. Not nohow.



    Is that like Mon Calimari?
     
  11. YellowSubmarine

    YellowSubmarine Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Stop playing God and go back to the caves. Ban progress, we don't want your science and technology witchcraft no more. The train to Abaddon needs to stop now.
     
  12. The Castellan

    The Castellan Commodore Commodore

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    Progress does not equal to stuff that can mess you up.

    Going out into space is progress, giving the gays their rights is progress, making foods that can mess ya up is not progress.

    It's amazing how folks seem to have to make this notion of you HAVE to be 100% behind everything, otherwise you're looked upon as a some anti progress quack.
     
  13. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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  14. The Castellan

    The Castellan Commodore Commodore

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    Ahh, here we go with putting words in one's mouth, a popular online game, it seems.

    What I am saying is that we should be allowed to buy or sell raw milk. It should not be where authorities crack down on dairy farmers, which has been done, because some people merely wanted raw, unpasteurized milk, me being one of them. We should be allowed that option. Hell, I eat raw eats all the time, and I have yet to keel over from that. I think we should have freedom to get the foods we want, as well as their being alternative medicines smiled upon as well. I just don't want it where we have one, and only one, option with stuff like this.

    Not wanting GMO foods does not make one an anti progress Amish person, same as criticizing government does not make one a person who's going to blow up buildings; or talking about actual aliens does not make someone a lunatic. Sorry if I'm not of the mold that accepts everything as fine, safe, and dandy, just because someone in a position of authority (and wealth) said so. I know all this independent, alternative thinking is not cool, er, sorry....not kewl, but I'm not one for wanting junk like MSG, aspartame, hydrogenated oils, nitrates, high fructose corn syrup and other stuff in my food, same for goes for GMO's.....and as I said, wanting the FDA to make it so that all foods with GMO ingredients are clearly labeled, like they do in other countries, should not be so damned impossible....and call me crazy if I think the government should be our bitches who follow our orders for a change, and not vice versa.

    I'll probably one day move overseas, since at least in some ways, the governments of those other countries still seem to care somewhat more about the people than America seems to.....I mean if you can't get the FDA to do what a majority of the American pubic wants, what's left?

    So far, I have yet to see anything that labels me a Luddite.
     
  15. YellowSubmarine

    YellowSubmarine Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Getting ICBMs to bomb the shit out of your neighbours is not progress, corrupt state senators voting the right way by accident is not progress, securing food for places with adverse climate is progress. Spin is all there is.
     
  16. The Castellan

    The Castellan Commodore Commodore

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    I'm sure those farmers committing suicide because the GMO's ruined their lives would agree with you. Plus with folks like Bush Sr. wanting to deregulate, like in that one video I posted, I don't see progress being planned, nor made. Double it when ya got Omaba not putting one of Mon Santo's top guys in the FDA.....meaning we'll never get that labeling law.

    I say let's stop spinning the wheel, and start having those in government know their place in life as our bitches once again. The people want something done, the government should listen....a corporation wants something, the government should say fuck off.....I'm sorry, but corporations and businesses do not have rights like living, breathing humans, despite what politicians say.
     
  17. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    I'm not worried about genetically modified food. Irradiated food will kill us first.

    We're doomed! DOOMED! [​IMG]
     
  18. The Castellan

    The Castellan Commodore Commodore

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    Hence why I only buy my food from the outer most walls of the stores. But, yes, irradiated food sucks ass just as much as GMO's.
     
  19. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    There is not a lot of difference between creating a hybrid and genetical altering a planet via genetic modification.

    Both are changing the DNA (genes) of a plant to create a desiered result. A better flower, fruit etc..

    It just up until fairly recently we had to go about doing it via creating hybrids rather than modifing the DNA code at a DNA level.
     
  20. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    I don't think the more serious controversies have really anything to do with the foods themselves. While the status of GMO food and its legitimacy or value is indeed a lively debate in its own right, I think it's drawing attention away from the real issue here, which is one of trust. Very few people promote the view that genetically modified food is inherently wrong and dangerous, and - conversely -very few people believe that all efforts to promote it are honest or lacking in suspect agendas. The issue here is the motivation of the individuals and organizations involved. Can we trust that those creating and promoting modified foods are truly concerned with aiding people or ensuring the products are safe? Do they carefully consider all the long term consequences or do they just push for their products to be accepted and their policies adopted because they seek money and power at the expense of other concerns? Are corners cut? Are the little people forced to fall into line regardless of their own beliefs and wishes? Are people and organizations involved in GMO crops promoting them around the world because it helps struggling nations, or because it makes them rich and powerful, or do they wish a near-monopoly on food supplies as a means of control? Indeed, are any of these necessarily mutually exclusive? Even if a particular consequence is not the purpose, motive or desire, is it too much of a risk? Alternatively, will we be letting people die needlessly if we delay introducing these foods?

    GMO foods aren't the problem. The problem is the web of political, financial, ideological and personal agendas that come into play, the difficulty in trusting the players (or some of them), the concerns both valid and paranoid about the power these people/organizations have and the ease with which great damage could be done by the careless, neglectful or malicious.

    The science and technology is neutral, as it always is.
     
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2012