Do you feed corn?

[Livinzoo]

Monsanto corn linked to organ failure in their own studies. FDA takes their word that it is safe.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/19/monsanto-gm-corn-causing_n_425195.html

 

[chicken+quail=luv]

Eep! Hopefully it's safe!

 

[bibliophile birds]

safe or not, Monsanto seems to be completely above recrimination by anyone. i mean, no one can police them- this article clearly shows how lacking the FDA is in actually do it's job. (to be fair, the FDA couldn't do it's job even if it wanted to because they aren't allowed to) Monsanto will continue to flood the market with GMOs that have little testing done and expect consumers to deal with the problems.

the ONLY way to check Monsanto's power is to boycott their products.

 

[RocketDad]

Here is the original study report, for those of us who want more scientific rigor than Huffington Post provides. I'll read it and comment later.

I'm agnostic about the whole GMO thing. I'm not willing to discount that the corn may produce metabolic artifacts, but I'm not going to lump all "GMO" produce under the same banner, either.

My first question, how much RoundUp did the corn plants receive, and how long between spraying and harvest? Second question, what was the total fed amount per body weight of the rats?

 

[Organics North]

I agree with the last two posts

I vote that we make January the official Corn and Soy awareness month!!

Yes me, the family and the chickens still consume some corn and soy. Corn and Soy seem like no big deal until you try to escape them.. That is when it actually gets kinda scary. Imagine how hard it would be to have your entire diet include nothing that has corn or soy in it or that ate corn or soy....Wow...tough..

ON

 

[chookchick]

You question should not be--do you feed corn? the question is Do you EAT corn? and the answer for all of us is a resounding YES! Corn product go into almost 100 percent of the processed food we eat--think high fructose corn syrup, corn gluten meal, etc...very interesting, I've been highly suspicious about Roundup Ready stuff already, off to read some more....

 

[kathyinmo]

Well, what other choices are there? How can I feed my chickens without corn or soy, and still have sufficient protein? Would I have to mix it myself, or are there products available?

 

[chookchick]

Quote:
I think a lot of the confusion people have about the GMO products, is that their concern resides in the actual genetic makeup of the plant, and a feeling that the genes might somehow "migrate" into them. That does not seem to be the crux of the problem with them, and not metabolic artifacts either. With the RR products, it seems to be the increased amount of Roundup (10 times normal usage!) that is put on the actual plant (not just weeds). And the most toxic effects may come from "inert" additives. Here's some info on that...

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=79003758&blogId=506190892

With the Bt producing corn--I have to think that ingesting a plant that is producing an insecticide cannot be a good thing for us. We are ingesting a bacterium which we would not normally eat.

My understanding of Roundup is that it would become part of chemical processes within the plant and become tied up into the plant that way--not sure what happens with "resistant" plants, but I doubt that it is quickly washed out. I don't think there are any regulations as far as application timing and harvest--can anyone speak to this? Okay I checked, doesn't seem to be regs, but the recommendation by Monsanto is not after 7 days to harvest.

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
Appears to not be many choices..

Shocking...or maybe not when you look at the lack of choice in human food!)

Have you read the ongoing discussion about corn alternatives on this thread?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=288118

Chookchick, thanks for the explanation..
ON

 

[Warthog]

Wherever possible I will always leve GM products alone, what is scary is that they can and will end up on our shelves without the lables showing that they are GM.

My simple and quick answer on this subject is "interfer with nature and nature will always bite back".

I don't never have and never will use any herbicide or pesticide on my land.

JMHO.