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GMO's. Would you eat em? Do you like em?


Ken L

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The media debate about genetically modified organisms seems to have gone off the boil of late so with no media scaremongering to fan the flames of irrationality, would you knowingly eat GM plants and animals and what if any concerns do you have about the technology?

 

It's late now so I'll fill in my own thoughts tomorrow.

Species caught in 2020: Barbel. European Eel. Bleak. Perch. Pike.

Species caught in 2019: Pike. Bream. Tench. Chub. Common Carp. European Eel. Barbel. Bleak. Dace.

Species caught in 2018: Perch. Bream. Rainbow Trout. Brown Trout. Chub. Roach. Carp. European Eel.

Species caught in 2017: Siamese carp. Striped catfish. Rohu. Mekong catfish. Amazon red tail catfish. Arapaima. Black Minnow Shark. Perch. Chub. Brown Trout. Pike. Bream. Roach. Rudd. Bleak. Common Carp.

Species caught in 2016: Siamese carp. Jullien's golden carp. Striped catfish. Mekong catfish. Amazon red tail catfish. Arapaima. Alligator gar. Rohu. Black Minnow Shark. Roach, Bream, Perch, Ballan Wrasse. Rudd. Common Carp. Pike. Zander. Chub. Bleak.

Species caught in 2015: Brown Trout. Roach. Bream. Terrapin. Eel. Barbel. Pike. Chub.

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No problems here.

The problem isn't what people don't know, it's what they know that just ain't so.
Vaut mieux ne rien dire et passer pour un con que de parler et prouver que t'en est un!
Mi, ch’fais toudis à m’mote

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We have been eating GM for several thousand years but your referring to gene splicing rather than the more natural way.

Dangerous field whilst the food is fairly safe it has awful effects ,i have read there are no "natural" corn (south american) sources any more as the whole lot has been "infected" with the monsanto strain

You cant "not " eat GM the entire import of soya world wide is tainted with it ,you eat anything containing soya theres a high chance its GM modified soya.

Thank monsanta again for fricking up things

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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Chesters1,

 

Isn't there a "Seed Bank" somewhere with eleventeen billion seeds. One of which is corn? I somehow think I read it is in the UK???

 

Phone

It's in Norway. I don't know if they have any "wild" corn seed in there or not, but I do know that there are many heritage strains of sweet corn, popping corn and just for Chesters soy bean seed on the market. Edited by corydoras

The problem isn't what people don't know, it's what they know that just ain't so.
Vaut mieux ne rien dire et passer pour un con que de parler et prouver que t'en est un!
Mi, ch’fais toudis à m’mote

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OK, I said I'd post my concerns. I don't have a problem with eating GMO's per se but I do think that if you are modifying a food plant to produce a novel compound by (for instance) bringing in a gene sequence from a non-food species to produce compounds that will act as an insect pest repellent or similar then those plants should be subject to rigorous safety checks before being allowed out of the lab and into the food chain. Gene sequences don't always act in simplistic linier ways and although you might be coding to produce compound A, the modified chemical pathways might very well alter the formation of compounds B & C with unintentional effects. This is I suppose the safety argument. I know a lot of safety research has now been done but the fact is that it was done years after the commercial growing of these plants started.

 

Then there's the environmental argument. If you make your food plants resistant to a herbicide so that that herbicide can be used for weed control without killing the food crop then you not only risk having herbicides in your food but you also vastly increase the amount of herbicides entering the environment. I fail to see how this is a good thing.

 

Finally, there's the ethical argument. This isn't really about GMO's but about the way that they are marketed as seeds and the impact that this has on vulnerable communities. Selling seeds to farmers is fine but selling seeds to farmers who traditionally retain seeds from this seasons crop to regrow next season is unethical when the seeds produced this way are non-viable - forcing the farmers to buy more company seed.

Species caught in 2020: Barbel. European Eel. Bleak. Perch. Pike.

Species caught in 2019: Pike. Bream. Tench. Chub. Common Carp. European Eel. Barbel. Bleak. Dace.

Species caught in 2018: Perch. Bream. Rainbow Trout. Brown Trout. Chub. Roach. Carp. European Eel.

Species caught in 2017: Siamese carp. Striped catfish. Rohu. Mekong catfish. Amazon red tail catfish. Arapaima. Black Minnow Shark. Perch. Chub. Brown Trout. Pike. Bream. Roach. Rudd. Bleak. Common Carp.

Species caught in 2016: Siamese carp. Jullien's golden carp. Striped catfish. Mekong catfish. Amazon red tail catfish. Arapaima. Alligator gar. Rohu. Black Minnow Shark. Roach, Bream, Perch, Ballan Wrasse. Rudd. Common Carp. Pike. Zander. Chub. Bleak.

Species caught in 2015: Brown Trout. Roach. Bream. Terrapin. Eel. Barbel. Pike. Chub.

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Finally, there's the ethical argument. This isn't really about GMO's but about the way that they are marketed as seeds and the impact that this has on vulnerable communities. Selling seeds to farmers is fine but selling seeds to farmers who traditionally retain seeds from this seasons crop to regrow next season is unethical when the seeds produced this way are non-viable - forcing the farmers to buy more company seed.

This is just an anecdote, but here it is for what it's worth. I have a couple of rellies who have been to various third world countries volunteering with organisations trying to improve agricultural practices. One of the big problems they faced, especially in African countries was getting the farmer to keep his BEST grains as seed. The farmers invariably wanted to keep the smallest, most stunted grains for seed, one of my rellies called it ~"selection for starvation".

 

There is a reason that farmers buy fresh seed every year in most western countries GMO or not.

Edited by corydoras

The problem isn't what people don't know, it's what they know that just ain't so.
Vaut mieux ne rien dire et passer pour un con que de parler et prouver que t'en est un!
Mi, ch’fais toudis à m’mote

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One of the big problems they faced, especially in African countries was getting the farmer to keep his BEST grains as seed. The farmers invariably wanted to keep the smallest, most stunted grains for seed, one of my rellies called it ~"selection for strarvation".

One of my uncles emigrated to Nigeria in the 1950s, he was a printer and whilst there he was in charge of the printing of all their money.

 

It was a fairly privileged lifestyle and as is usual in these situations the Brits clumped together, and so he got to meet socially with a group of people sent over by the British government to show Nigerian farmers how to double their crops by correct use of fertilisers (and probably other methods too).

 

The Nigerian farmers thought that doubling their crop was a wonderful idea and promptly began cultivating only half the area that they had before - less work same crop, that's how they think - but no extra food of course.

 

On to the GM question, I have no problems at all with consuming the stuff - my objection to it is that it's impossible to guarantee that it won't cross pollinate or cross fertilise with other unintended species - once the genie is out of the bottle it can't be put back.

 

We don't need more food, we need less people.

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One of my uncles emigrated to Nigeria in the 1950s, he was a printer and whilst there he was in charge of the printing of all their money.

 

It was a fairly privileged lifestyle and as is usual in these situations the Brits clumped together, and so he got to meet socially with a group of people sent over by the British government to show Nigerian farmers how to double their crops by correct use of fertilisers (and probably other methods too).

 

The Nigerian farmers thought that doubling their crop was a wonderful idea and promptly began cultivating only half the area that they had before - less work same crop, that's how they think - but no extra food of course.

 

On to the GM question, I have no problems at all with consuming the stuff - my objection to it is that it's impossible to guarantee that it won't cross pollinate or cross fertilise with other unintended species - once the genie is out of the bottle it can't be put back.

 

We don't need more food, we need less people.

Relating to the last line unfortunately we let the less beneficial "seed" breed and then look after it rather than letting nature run its course

 

Cory most of the different types of corm pre date modern gene slicing

I wonder if its got worse or monsanta has flexed its huge power to shut up any bad findings?

/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/02/health/genetic-modification-taints-corn-in-mexico.html

 

Monsants is clever if their patented genes get in every source of seed then they own the royalties on that gene and the buyer pays the price of using that gene

 

Luckily (in america anyway) you cannot copyright human genes, unfortunately you can though if you modify it ,so theres a future risk big pharma will "accidentally" own bits of you should the gene get passed on somehow "accidentally" ofcours!This means ofcourse they own the rights to who does what with it ,permission to breed ,permission to crap? Payment to big pharma to do both?

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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