75% of SA Maize GM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mjdtexan]

If I recall they didnt even ask us iffin we want GM and to make matters worse, I think that they dont even have to put it on the label. If I remember the news correctly they (the GM grower type groups) fought that whole label issue tooth and nail.

(I need to revisit that label claim for accuracy-unless one of you remembers how that went).

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

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Very sad but true.

 

[rainplace]

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I remember that also.

I still don't know what I think about GM crops. I do know that I don't like the fact that the public wasn't given a chance to become informed in order to make an opinion before we got to where we are today.

 

[mjdtexan]

I will be real honest and say that while GM food sounds scary, I really dont know what it is. Is it just hybrids? Heck nature has been doing that for years. Are they actually modifying (sp?) the food to have different genes? If so, what does that mean really? I just dunno

I do think the public should have the choice to eat it or not and that it should be on the label.

 

[CoopCrazy]

They are adding Fish Genes to some and genes from other plants and animals as well.. I read an article I think in the Journal of Science that one type of corn has Fish DNA in it.. My thing at the time was if it has fish genes in it does it mean its not actually a vegetable.. Vegetarians BEWARE

 

[Bantimna]

Also, we will never know the complete setup of a chromosone or the neucleus. Please check out the future of food website.
Another good one: http://www.seedsavers.org/

 

[mjdtexan]

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I like the doggy in your avatar.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I'm a scientist currently studying this very subject and I can tell you that GM organisms are not as scary as people make them out to be.

The important thing to remember is that the DNA code is unviersal in nearly all organisms on the planet earth. We have four base pairs which are read in a certain order to produce different kinds of protein. All DNA is, is simply a map or directions for your body. Incorporating a genetic code from a fish does not make that plant any more related to fish than you are to your dog. It's a lot easier for scientists to grow organisms capable of producing certain proteins when they already have a template, which is all GMO does. It takes a template for production of a protein and introduces that template into another organism. So while that plant or organism can now produce a protein that fish produce, it doesn't mean the plant will mutate, or grow fins or start swimming or anything. And vegetarians have nothing to worry about because they are not eating fish or meat or anything of the sort when they eat corn.

This same modification may one day save lives by offering cures for countless diseases. I think a lot of the worry we are seeing now comes from GMOs being such a new concept for people. There's also a lot of mis information out there.

Don't get me wrong, I think Monsanto is a scary company, but not because of the GMOs they are producing. They are scary because seeds solds by the company are cheap and farmers are being encouraged to use them, which means non-modified seeds will rise in price.

 

[redhen]

edited to add..never mind..i figured it out.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
Well, it is actually far worse than that. Monsanto sues farmers who are raising crops containing their patented genes, so even if someone is trying to raise a non-GMO plant, the cross-pollination pollutes their crops with this stuff, which means they are essentially breaking the law by using those seeds. You have to prove your crop does not contain the forbidden gene.

Soon you will be hard put to raise anything that is not a Monsanto GMO if you want to grow corn or soybeans, which makes it very difficult to farm organically. Now they are trying to introduce GMO alfalfa, and if that follows the same pattern, you won't be able to even raise organic grass fed beef if you supplement their diet with alfalfa. It will be increasingly difficult for those of us who want to opt out of the system to do so.

And we really don't know the health side effects of GMO products. The jury is definitely still out. There is no proof yet that they are harmful, but we just don't know.