GMO's and Factory Farming...

[PaulaSB12]

Imagine you have two farmers, farmer a grows monsanto crop farmer b doesn't. Some of a's seeds get on to b's land (blown on or deposited by bird) farmer b will be sued by monsanto. Sounds daft but its happened many times.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805
Farmers who buy Monsanto’s patented Roundup Ready seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seed produced after each harvest for re-planting, or to sell the seed to other farmers. This means that farmers must buy new seed every year. Those increased sales, coupled with ballooning sales of its Roundup weed killer, have been a bonanza for Monsanto.

This radical departure from age-old practice has created turmoil in farm country. Some farmers don’t fully understand that they aren’t supposed to save Monsanto’s seeds for next year’s planting. Others do, but ignore the stipulation rather than throw away a perfectly usable product. Still others say that they don’t use Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds, but seeds have been blown into their fields by wind or deposited by birds. It’s certainly easy for G.M. seeds to get mixed in with traditional varieties when seeds are cleaned by commercial dealers for re-planting. The seeds look identical; only a laboratory analysis can show the difference. Even if a farmer doesn’t buy G.M. seeds and doesn’t want them on his land, it’s a safe bet he’ll get a visit from Monsanto’s seed police if crops grown from G.M. seeds are discovered in his fields.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.ph...vid:_Monsanto's_Legal_Battles_against_Farmers
"Monsanto did not directly try to explain how the Roundup Ready seed got there. "Whether Mr. Schmeiser knew of the matter or not matters not at all", said Roger Hughes, a Monsanto attorney quoted by the Western Producer, a Canadian agriculture magazine.... 'It was a very frightening thing, because they said it doesn't matter how it gets into a farmer's field; it's their property," Schmeiser said, in an interview with Agweek. "If it gets in by wind or cross-pollination, that doesn't matter'" [26]. "The legal basis for Monsanto's successful claim for patent infringement was the courts' recognition that they could maintain patent protection in the patented gene even when it had passed by cross-fertilization into Schmeiser's canola crop"
http://localfoodbloomington.blogspot.com/2009/05/monsanto-fights-farmers.html
etc. http://www.greendove.net/localfood.htm
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monsanto Fights Farmers

(I have been known to say a thing or two about seeds, about what is being done to farmers, food, and what it means to us and all life. Yes, I want farmers and gardeners and people who love seed and soil, and who work to sustain healthy food possibilities for all of us to have control of seed, health of the food produced consume, and the water we need to sustain it all. I am in support of all who wish to strengthen our already tenuous seed sources. We are hanging genetically on a few threads, and mutating what is left doesn't sound like a good idea to me. So, again, I say, we must be aware of what is happening with our basic resources.)

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By Linn Cohen-Cole

People say if farmers don’t want problems from Monsanto, just don’t buy their GMO seeds.
Not so simple. Where are farmers supposed to get normal seed these days? How are they supposed to avoid contamination of their fields from GM-crops? How are they supposed to stop Monsanto detectives from trespassing or Monsanto from using helicopters to fly over spying on them?
Monsanto contaminates the fields, trespasses onto the land taking samples and if they find any GMO plants growing there (or say they have), they then sue, saying they own the crop. It’s a way to make money since farmers can’t fight back and court and they settle because they have no choice.
And they have done and are doing a bucket load of things to keep farmers and everyone else from having any access at all to buying, collecting, and saving of NORMAL seeds.
1. They’ve bought up the seed companies across the Midwest.
2. They’ve written Monsanto seed laws and gotten legislators to put them through, that make cleaning, collecting and storing of seeds so onerous in terms of fees and paperwork and testing and tracking every variety and being subject to fines, that having normal seed becomes almost impossible (an NAIS approach to wiping out normal seeds). Does your state have such a seed law? Before they existed, farmers just collected the seeds and put them in sacks in the shed and used them the next year, sharing whatever they wished with friends and neighbors, selling some if they wanted. That’s been killed.
In Illinois, which has such a seed law, Madigan, the Speaker of the House, his staff is Monsanto lobbyists.
3. Monsanto is pushing anti-democracy laws (Vilsack’s brainchild, actually) that remove community’ control over their own counties so farmers and citizens can’t block the planting of GMO crops even if they can contaminate other crops. So if you don’t want a GM-crop that grows industrial chemicals or drugs or a rice growing with human DNA in it, in your area and mixing with your crops, tough luck.
Check the map of just where the Monsanto/Vilsack laws are and see if your state is still a democracy or is Monsanto’s. A farmer in Illinois told me he heard that Bush had pushed through some regulation that made this true in every state. People need to check on that.
4. For sure there are Monsanto regulations buried in the FDA right now that make a farmer’s seed cleaning equipment illegal (another way to leave nothing but GM-seeds) because it’s now considered a “source of seed contamination.” Farmer can still seed clean but the equipment now has to be certified and a farmer said it would require a million to a million and half dollar building and equipment … for EACH line of seed. Seed storage facilities are also listed (another million?) and harvesting and transport equipment. And manure. Something that can contaminate seed. Notice that chemical fertilizers and pesticides are not mentioned.
You could eat manure and be okay (a little grossed out but okay). Try that with pesticides and fertilizers. Indian farmers have. Their top choice for how to commit suicide to escape the debt they have been left in is to drink Monsanto pesticides.
5. Monsanto is picking off seed cleaners across the Midwest. In Pilot Grove, Missouri, in Indiana (Maurice Parr), and now in southern Illinois (Steve Hixon). And they are using US marshals and state troopers and county police to show up in three cars to serve the poor farmers who had used Hixon as their seed cleaner, telling them that he or their neighbors turned them in, so across that 6 county areas, no one talking to neighbors and people are living in fear and those farming communities are falling apart from the suspicion Monsanto sowed. Hixon’s office got broken into and he thinks someone put a GPS tracking device on his equipment and that’s how Monsanto found between 200-400 customers in very scattered and remote areas, and threatened them all and destroyed his business within 2 days.
So, after demanding that seed cleaners somehow be able to tell one seed from another (or be sued to kingdom come) or corrupting legislatures to put in laws about labeling of seeds that are so onerous no one can cope with them, what is Monsanto’s attitude about labeling their own stuff? You guessed it - they’re out there pushing laws against ANY labeling of their own GM-food and animals and of any exports to other countries. Why?
We know and they know why.
As Norman Braksick, the president of Asgrow Seed Co. (now owned by Monsanto) predicted in the Kansas City Star (3/7/94) seven years ago, “If you put a label on a genetically engineered food, you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.”
And they’ve sued dairy farmers for telling the truth about their milk being rBGH-free, though rBGH is associated with an increased risk of breast, colon and prostate cancers.
I just heard that some seed dealers urge farmers to buy the seed under the seed dealer’s name, telling the farmers it helps the dealer get a discount on seed to buy a lot under their own name. Then Monsanto sues the poor farmer for buying their seed without a contract and extorts huge sums from them.
Here’s a youtube video that is worth your time. Vandana Shiva is one of the leading anti-Monsanto people in the world. In this video, she says (and this video is old), Monsanto had sued 1500 farmers whose fields had simply been contaminated by GM-crops. Listen to all the ways Monsanto goes after farmers.
Do you know the story of Gandhi in India and how the British had salt laws that taxed salt? The British claimed it as theirs. Gandhi had what was called a Salt Satyagraha, in which people were asked to break the laws and march to the sea and collect the salt without paying the British. A kind of Boston tea party, I guess.
Thousands of people marched 240 miles to the ocean where the British were waiting. As people moved forward to collect the salt, the British soldiers clubbed them but the people kept coming. The non-violent protest exposed the British behavior, which was so revolting to the world that it helped end British control in India.
Vandana Shiva has started a Seed Satyagraha - nonviolent non-cooperation around seed laws - has gotten millions of farmers to sign a pledge to break those laws.
American farmers and cattlemen might appreciate what Gandhi fought for and what Shiva is bringing back and how much it is about what we are all so angry about - loss of basic freedoms. [The highlighting is mine.]
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This may be a version of above

Monsanto's Many Attempts to Destroy All Seeds but Their Own

Some say that if farmers don’t want problems from Monsanto, they simply shouldn’t buy Monsanto’s GMO seeds. But it isn’t quite that simple. Monsanto contaminates the fields, trespasses onto the land taking samples, and then sues, saying they own the crop.

Meanwhile, Monsanto is taking many other steps to keep farmers and everyone else from having any access at all to buying, collecting, and saving of normal seeds:
1. They’ve bought up the seed companies across the Midwest.

2. They’ve written Monsanto seed laws and gotten legislators to put them through, that make cleaning, collecting and storing of seeds so onerous in terms of fees and paperwork that having normal seed becomes almost impossible.

3. Monsanto is pushing laws that ensure farmers and citizens can’t block the planting of GMO crops even if they can contaminate other crops.

4. There are Monsanto regulations buried in the FDA rules that make a farmer’s seed cleaning equipment illegal because it’s now considered a “source of seed contamination.”

Monsanto has sued more than 1,500 farmers whose fields had simply been contaminated by GM crops.

Sources:

Surviving the Middle Class Crash February 5, 2009


Dr. Mercola's Comments:

There is a reason why I believe Monsanto to be one of the most evil companies on the planet, and this is in large part due to its activities relating to controlling food production through controlling the seeds to produce it.

For nearly all of its history the United States Patent and Trademark Office refused to grant patents on seeds, viewing them as life-forms with too many variables to be patented. But in 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for seed patents in a five-to-four decision, laying the groundwork for a handful of corporations to begin taking control of the world’s food supply.

Since the 1980s, Monsanto has become the world leader in genetic modification of seeds and has won at least 674 biotechnology patents, more than any other company.

This is not surprising, considering they invest over $2 million a day on research and development!

But Monsanto is not only patenting their own GMO seeds. They have also succeeded in slapping patents on a huge number of crop seeds, patenting life forms for the first time -- again without a vote of the people or Congress. By doing this, Monsanto becomes sole owner of the very seeds necessary to support the world’s food supply … an incredibly powerful position that no for-profit company should ever hold.

How do they defend this blatant attempt to control the food supply? They write on MonsantoToday.com:
“Patent protection allows companies to see a return on their investment which enables further investment in R-and-D and product development. This profit-investment cycle drives product innovation that is responsive to farmer needs.”

Farmers’ needs?

Farmers who buy Monsanto’s GM seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seeds or sell them to other farmers. The result? Farmers must buy new seeds every year, and they must buy them from Monsanto.

Meanwhile, these same farmers who Monsanto is claiming to help are being aggressively targeted and pursued for outrageous patent infringements on these same seeds.

The “Seed Police”

Monsanto employs an arsenal of private investigators and agents who secretly videotape farmers, snatch crop samples from their land and even fly helicopters overhead to spy -- all to catch farmers saving or sharing seeds.

As of 2005 Monsanto had 75 employees and a $10-million budget solely to investigate and prosecute farmers for patent infringement.

And until recently, Monsanto has even been known to sue farmers for GM crops growing on their land that got there via cross-contamination. In other words, a neighboring farm’s GM seeds blew over onto their land, and Monsanto slaps them with a lawsuit.

I realize this seems incredible, but it is true.

Have You Heard of Terminator Seeds?

Creating and promoting GM crops is, in my opinion, a major threat to public health. Patenting those same seeds takes it to an even higher level of evil. But there is another reason why I don’t believe for one second that Monsanto has the virtuous intentions they claim: terminator seeds.

Monsanto is considering using what’s known as terminator technology on a wide-scale basis. These are seeds that have been genetically modified to “self-destruct.” In other words, the seeds (and the forthcoming crops) are sterile, which means farmers must buy them again each year.

This solves their problem of needing “seed police,” but they are obviously looking the other way when it comes to the implications that terminator seeds could have on the world’s food supply: the traits from genetically engineered crops can get passed on to other crops, and often do.

Once the terminator seeds are released into a region, the trait of seed sterility could be passed to other non-genetically-engineered crops, making most or all of the seeds in the region sterile.

Not only would this mean that every farm in the world could come to rely on Monsanto for their seed supply, but if the GM traits spread it could destroy agriculture as we now know it.

How Can You Get Through to Monsanto?

First, I urge you to get informed on the issue by watching The Future of Food. This in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind genetically modified foods is one of the best documentaries I have ever viewed. It will help you understand the very real threat that ALL future generations face as a result of genetic engineering.

Next, hit Monsanto where it counts … their bottom line. By boycotting all GM foods and instead supporting organic (and local) farmers who do not use Monsanto’s GM seeds, you are using your wallet to make your opinions known.

This means abstaining from virtually all processed food products (most are loaded with GM ingredients) and sticking to fresh, locally grown, organic foodstuffs instead.

The True Food Shopping Guide is a great tool for helping you determine which brands and products contain GMO ingredients. It lists 20 different food categories that include everything from baby food to chocolate.

I’ve also compiled an excellent list of resources where you can still find pure, GM-free foods, and I encourage you to refer to it often and also share it with your friends and family.

 

[Organics North]

For the record... I am apposed to genetically modifying life in the laboratory.... I feel our species is too short sighted to see the potential long term effects of our new found ability to play God.

I feel it is arrogant on our part to feel we can mess with these things. What if by doing so we are putting our foods and ourselves on a path to extinction?.. Heck the highly specialized design of many dinosaurs seemed like a great idea..

As far as the "we must feed the the world" line.... IMO it is flawed thinking... Our species is no different than RATS... The more feed you provide the more rats you get... Additionally surely Americans do not need any more corn, soy, beef and pork in their diets! We are already plenty fat..

I am concerned that the US, Canada and Australia are about the only 3 countries allowing GMO's without any restrictions.

As far as "factory" farming. I think the French have it right.. High quality foods brought to market fresh and locally. Not low quality highly processed foods shipped around the world..

Again.... I for one will vote with my pocket book!!!! I will support and promote the methods "I" feel are better.

ON

 

[mandelyn]

The French do have it right, where else is chicken protected by law with how it is grown, where it is grown, and what it must taste like? Nothing is as prized as the Bresse chicken. A far cry from Tyson and their mass produced, bland tasting chicken. Hear about the Tyson growers who had to sell at a loss to protect Tyson's cheap pricing? Good quality meat shouldn't need pumped full of poison, such is the case with Butterball turkeys. What is it, some 62 chemicals for flavor and preservatives injected into those birds during processing?

A Canadian breeder was able to get a bird close to the Bresse chicken, and it is sold through a California company for some $69 per bird. Called the "American Blue Foot". Sadly bird flu had been found near the Canadian breeder and his entire flock of breeder birds was euthanized. But a previous shipment to California had been made, and they were able to start again.

The point is, there is good food, high quality expensive food, and generic boring food fed to the masses. You can go cheap and go big, or stay small and sell for a lot. Like with the trend towards buying local and organic. Or just plain organic. $3 for two garlic cloves, that are "dirty" and small. A turn off to many when you can get large, white, pretty garlic, for a much better price.

Many people find the transition to healthy, organic, naturally raised food to be daunting and disappointing. Lot's more prep time, cook time, and higher cost. When you can go to Wal-Mart and get cheaper, prettier food. Or a whole meal for $3 ready to throw in the microwave and be done with it.

GMOs have a place perhaps. But, you can't trust corporations in their use of it, or the draw of money and big profits. It's common knowledge that the best way to make a lot of money is to do it quickly, in case something goes wrong. Like a new drug. Market it as the best thing ever. Spend very little time with human testing. Let the real testing happen after it's release. Get it on the market, mass produce it, give the doctors incentives for prescribing it. 5 years down the line, realize that there are serious and deadly side effects, more than what is generally acceptable, and pull it from the market before you get sued. Now, you did the "right" thing by pulling it from the market. Besides, you already made a ton of money off it. Insert next "miracle medicine".

Big pharmaceutical companies are not the only ones who do this. Look at all the stuff that has been added to food since the 50's that has since been pulled off the market. We're not done with it yet. There is always going to be something out there that's bad and has not been pulled out of the market yet. The more we learn about chemicals and their benefits, the more altered things we produce, the more bad things we also find, later on down the road. With this positive attitude and outlook, everything is great until something goes wrong. Go ahead and eat it, go ahead and take the pills. You will either be just fine like they say, or a poster child for what went wrong. Your choice.

History shows that great ideas in science and product development always has something somewhere that's no good. And we now have more science than ever.

We're not any safer than we were 100 years ago with what is marketed as beneficial. We just have more government intervention and watch dogs, who don't know any more than anyone else, since they're given the positive results and glowing reports straight from the company that made it.

If something kills you within a week, it's poison. If it takes 10 years to do it, and only kills one in a thousand... well that's acceptable. There are acceptable levels of poisoning. Acceptable levels of death and side effects. Just like there are acceptable levels of rat poop, mercury, lead, ect. It's perfectly fine, as long as not that many people die from it.

So eat what you want, it's fine until we find out otherwise. I prefer to eat what I know is good. I prefer to structure my diet based on what's beneficial and naturally contains the vitamins I need, to reduce my instance of illness, reduce the potential for having to take a drug. There are benefits to drugs. That's been proven. Take them when you need them.

But diet alone can fix a lot of what's wrong with you. A good, healthy, natural diet.

I'll eat things that have been cross pollinated. Nature alteration, happens in nature. But nothing that has been altered with a virus, or bacteria, or rearranging the DNA by scientific force. Too bad the label doesn't say HOW it was altered, just if it was or wasn't, in some cases. Usually the label doesn't say anything about it.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Monsanto, the leader of the current push for genetically modified seed, patents life - the plants - and harass farmers, who had no knowledge that their seed was on their land. http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/perry-schmeiser-vs-monsanto
The movie "the future of food was based almost completely the wrong doings of the Monsanto corporation.

I would be willing to bet that you and half the others that put down and run down Monsanto buy and use Monsanto products.
Here are some everyday products that Monsanto has there hand in.
* Artificial sweetener saccharin
* Monsanto is one of the Coca-Cola Company main suppliers of caffeine and vanillin
* Monsanto established its presence in Europe by entering into a partnership with Graesser's Chemical Works vanillin, salicylic acid, aspirin and later rubber.
* Monsanto is a leading manufacturer of plastics, including polystyrene, and synthetic fibers
* Artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet)
* Monsanto was the first company to start mass production of (visible) Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and there primary markets then were electronic calculators, digital watches, and digital clocks.
* Monsanto has been the corporate sponsor of many attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

If you have a grass seed mix that has Creeping Bentgrass in it you are growing a GMO grass. (Creeping Bentgrass is a GMO grass)

Now I am not pushing Monsanto nor am I pushing GMO but I am just stating some information.

Chris

 

[vfem]

Quote:
Monsanto, the leader of the current push for genetically modified seed, patents life - the plants - and harass farmers, who had no knowledge that their seed was on their land. http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/perry-schmeiser-vs-monsanto
The movie "the future of food was based almost completely the wrong doings of the Monsanto corporation.

I would be willing to bet that you and half the others that put down and run down Monsanto buy and use Monsanto products.
Here are some everyday products that Monsanto has there hand in.
* Artificial sweetener saccharin
* Monsanto is one of the Coca-Cola Company main suppliers of caffeine and vanillin
* Monsanto established its presence in Europe by entering into a partnership with Graesser's Chemical Works vanillin, salicylic acid, aspirin and later rubber.
* Monsanto is a leading manufacturer of plastics, including polystyrene, and synthetic fibers
* Artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet)
* Monsanto was the first company to start mass production of (visible) Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and there primary markets then were electronic calculators, digital watches, and digital clocks.
* Monsanto has been the corporate sponsor of many attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

If you have a grass seed mix that has Creeping Bentgrass in it you are growing a GMO grass. (Creeping Bentgrass is a GMO grass)

Now I am not pushing Monsanto nor am I pushing GMO but I am just stating some information.

Chris

Monsanto has some type of ownership or connection to more then 90% of the seeds that go through MOST catalog providing seed companies and nurseries right now. You can track most seeds from who you buy from, where they ship from to some company monsanto has a stake in. They don't want their NAME on everything, but they really do effect quite a bit of the current agricultural way of life from home owners to big ag... from the US to Asia.

There was an article done in the late 90's with that data. So just imagine how far they reach now?

Now, by saying that information, I don't want it to presumed you are buying from ex. "Gurney's" and you bought organic seed and now you think its GMO seed. Not all seeds produced and distributed will be GMo just because Monsanto gets a piece of the profit. Like any company, they want a piece of the sale... you are still getting organic. The point is, more often then not, your money has gone to Monsanto unknowingly.

If that bothers you I still suggest buying organic heirloom seeds, and then taking the time to save your seed each year. Find what works for your area and stick with it.

 

[seedcorn]

What this and other threads shout is that the American public has no idea about Ag. There are so many misconceptions.

Want our Ag patterned after France? Hope you get it as the average American will pay 30+% of his income to food instead of 10% or less. You do realize they import food as their inefficienies don't allow them to grow enough?

 

[dmiravalle]

Ok, this is a sore subject for me.

First off, I have an issue with lack of labeling in our food products.

I have an issue with the fact that animals have to be given antibiotics, steriods, special vitamins, etc. in order to sustain them to butcher time.

I have an issue with a company destroying farmers lifes because of something (like cross pollination) beyond their control.

I have a serious issue with the pork industry. (Will only eat our own pork)

Food Inc., is an eye opening movie for someone to get their feet wet about these issues, but there is so much more to research.

I believe will cripple an intelligent group of people (most americans) because we leave them in the dark. It is a sad statement when cheeseburgers are cheaper than vegetables.

"organic farming" was just how people did it over a hundred years ago. It is natural. My family has hereditary autoimmune disorders of varying issues, and food is a huge part in how we have to stay healthy.

But I think EVERYONE should take the time to educate themselves...

As for feeding the world, many races and cultures survived long before us and knew how, we have taken away that ability and said here, to solve you problem, we are going to grow GMO food to help you survive.

All I can say is give a man a fish vs teaching them to fish.....

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
I would be willing to bet that you and half the others that put down and run down Monsanto buy and use Monsanto products.
Here are some everyday products that Monsanto has there hand in.
* Artificial sweetener saccharin
* Monsanto is one of the Coca-Cola Company main suppliers of caffeine and vanillin
* Monsanto established its presence in Europe by entering into a partnership with Graesser's Chemical Works vanillin, salicylic acid, aspirin and later rubber.
* Monsanto is a leading manufacturer of plastics, including polystyrene, and synthetic fibers
* Artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet)
* Monsanto was the first company to start mass production of (visible) Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and there primary markets then were electronic calculators, digital watches, and digital clocks.
* Monsanto has been the corporate sponsor of many attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

If you have a grass seed mix that has Creeping Bentgrass in it you are growing a GMO grass. (Creeping Bentgrass is a GMO grass)

Now I am not pushing Monsanto nor am I pushing GMO but I am just stating some information.

Chris

Monsanto has some type of ownership or connection to more then 90% of the seeds that go through MOST catalog providing seed companies and nurseries right now. You can track most seeds from who you buy from, where they ship from to some company monsanto has a stake in. They don't want their NAME on everything, but they really do effect quite a bit of the current agricultural way of life from home owners to big ag... from the US to Asia.

There was an article done in the late 90's with that data. So just imagine how far they reach now?

Now, by saying that information, I don't want it to presumed you are buying from ex. "Gurney's" and you bought organic seed and now you think its GMO seed. Not all seeds produced and distributed will be GMo just because Monsanto gets a piece of the profit. Like any company, they want a piece of the sale... you are still getting organic. The point is, more often then not, your money has gone to Monsanto unknowingly.

If that bothers you I still suggest buying organic heirloom seeds, and then taking the time to save your seed each year. Find what works for your area and stick with it.

I am not against Monsanto or GMO. I have 2 16x40 greenhouses that have Monsanto Greenhouse Plastic on them I am sure that the Plastic Pots, trays and cell packs I use are a Monsanto type product. I order 99% of my seed from Stokes Seeds now if they are "Monsanto" or not I dont know but I don't think they are. Stokes does there own research and development.

Chris

 

[Ohne-Fehler]

Quote:
I generally have to disagree with this statement; I don’t think humans and rats are on the same playing field at all. Yes our exponential growth rates can simulate that of rats taking advantage of a new ecosystem but eventually their population will crash and reach an equilibrium ours has yet to do this. I believe, and yes this is a very broad subject with multiple arguments, that the reason behind this is that we are a very complex “animal” with higher reasoning capabilities. The growth rates in humans are more complex than a new food source; we are a much longer lived species. While the world’s population is still growing you can look at specific countries and find equilibriums or population decline. The US has experienced a reduced growth rate only child families are becoming the norm (recent article in Time magazine). Japan is experiencing a population decline. If you look at most post industrialized countries you will find low growth rates, and higher growth rates in the so called “third world.” As women’s liberation and literacy increases population generally decreases, women have careers not a multitude of children. Studies have found that as a countries women’s literacy rates increase, annual birth rated decrease. Yet another issue to be address in the problems of our world. I will agree that Americans are already fat enough but thats an issue of diet, perhaps people should stop relying so heavily on the commodities (wheat, soy, corn) and pick up a head of lettuce!

I love how Monsanto is painted as this big corporate evil! Don’t get me wrong growing up on an organic cattle dairy I watched my mom throw the Monsanto sales representative off our farm when he tried to get us to buy rBST, Monsanto has it morally questionable practices. However it’s a corporation, its job is to make money and show investors/ stock holders a profit and it does this very well. It is simply the business model and it’s doing what it should do according to the model (yet another layer). I am not advocating Monsanto here, rather just saying that Monsanto is doing its job!

I am assuming that many of these cases that are being discussed are not American Agriculture? I know I read someone’s post about India. Here is the thing American Agriculture really is unlike agriculture any where else. We have a heavily mechanized and commercialized industry here in the states. While there is a movement away from that agribusiness model back to a smaller diversified sustainable enterprise model the large conventional farms are still here. You really can’t apply our agricultural system to another country in most cases (there are a few like us) they simply don’t have the large tracts of land or the resources to afford the equipment necessary. The US has this image that everyone should be like us and USDA has programs that work with developing countries to improve their agricultural practices. Perhaps a better option than trying to “modernize” the “third world” so that they have agricultural exports, when a single piece of our equipment could feed their country for a week or more, is to help them return to a more traditional form of agriculture (crops, species, practices) where management practices that fit their environment are improved upon.

Regarding the law suits by Monsanto for patent violations, what states was this in? It seems to me that in Oregon at least the farmer that had ended up with the patented gene in his crop or the seeds on his property could also sue on common law (trespass, nuisance, etc). There have been very successful court cases in this state using common law. Although Oregon does have very different land use laws so perhaps that has something to do with it.

Also how many GMO are open pollinated? From what I have seen most GMO and hybridized plant species are not open pollinated, or the traits are not highly heritable.

This is perhaps the least coherent post I have ever written, being all over the place but here is my thought. The issue of feeding the world is much more complicated than GMO or no GMO. GMO is just one part of it and I am sure we could do it with out them; it would just require better management. I can see both sides of this, I choose not to eat them or grow them. The most political thing we can do each day is eat and every dollar we spend is a vote on how we want our food produced. So put your money behind what you believe in!

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
That show was so full of misinformation and lies it wasn't even funny.

Chris