List of GMO-free Foods & allergies and genetically modified food
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grainlady_ks
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Major Grocer to Label Foods With Gene-Modified Content
Comments (48)Henry, I'm not questioning your credentials or your family's credentials. I'm questioning your circle-running of Google search articles for things you want to prove...and how you use some of them. While you seem to have a mind for science, your application of certain paper's topics to what you're trying to prove can be lacking. The "discussion" about the economics of large acreage farming and farmer choice burnt me out. I'm not getting into any more of that stuff...it's a never-ending circle. I understand nature is complex... I spend my personal and professional life studying it. I know large scale cropping systems, specialized hybridizing (CMS/etc), plant breeding, genetics, and the economics of cropping system especially...I also know soil science (another degree I hold), but I don't get to apply it that much in my profession. Just because I know about "science" things...it doesn't make me an expert or knowledgeable about nuclear reactions in power plants or making new elements from atomic super collider reactions. The field of science is just too broad in scope. Hell, even close fields aren't the best of neighbors. Ecologists and Horticulturalists share some similar/same terms, but the final definition is going to be different depending on which one you ask. I'm not out there trying to have a discussion/argument on the best way to raise hostas...because other than micropropagating them, I know jack about them. Expects have to specialize at some point. I know what I'm an expert at and where I'm lacking. You gotta draw that line, especially when you're diving into material you don't fully grasp. I chose a profession which puts me on the ground floor of the industry, and on the cutting edge of the technology (both GMO and non-GMO). This industry goes on without me...it happens independent of me...farmers don't care if I exist. What's going on out there doesn't care what I think. What's going on out there is what I'm exposed to on a daily/weekly basis, though. No one's wishes can make the reality of the decisions made on the ground different. It's happening whether people want to believe it or not. I've been in fields in almost 20 states, I've seen/gathered/crunched-numbers of pest data, I've used the pesticides/herbicides, I've grown the plants in greenhouse and field environments, I've talked so many farmers in so many different climates... Sorry, I can't give you their phone number and I'm not going to play Google search tag (because it never ends). If you choose to dismiss the things I say, fine. Wishes and hopes don't change what's going down on the ground floor of this particular field (or many fields). This post was edited by nc-crn on Wed, Mar 13, 13 at 20:30...See MoreWhy We Need Mandatory GMO Food Labels
Comments (11)The consumer must educate themselves. Obviously there exists widely varying opinions and deep emotions on the subject of GM foods as well as sources of information on the subject. Let there be a broad, bright source of light whose source is rooted in science rather than emotion and opinion shining out across the world. What precious little research on GMOs in food I've seen in refereed journals doesn't make a good case for consuming GMOs but I haven't seen nearly enough to conclude that they are a threat to my diet. Much more work needs to be done for me to make a rational, knowledge based decision. In the meantime, this country needs to get it's feces congregated and institute COOL, Country of Origin Labeling at the very least, if we can't get that done there is no hope for trying to get GM labeling. The thought of eating produce from China is both sickening and a tad frightening considering their environmental laws and regs.....See MoreMore food news: GMO
Comments (22)Oh, and I should add for anyone not familiar with the issue, that the genetic modifications are not usually done to improve taste or nutrition, but rather to make the plants contain a natural pesticide (Bt) or make them resistant to herbicide. Besides possible allergy indications, planting large swaths of plants that contain Bt toxins (a natural and biodegradable pesticide) will only shorten the time span that this tool will be available to organic famers, as the mass use of herbicide and pesticides shortens the time that it takes pests to evolve resistance to it. Mass use of herbicide and pesticide goes against the principles of integrated pest management; IPM was created with the science of ecology behind it, not to fly in the face of it. But it's fussy and cuts into mass profits. Oh, and speaking of the fact that nature passes DNA around, there is nothing to stop WEEDS from picking up the resistance-to-herbicide gene, making the whole thing moot, but that's fine with Monsanto, they'll come up with some other product you have to buy to solve the problem they help create. They've got a great little scam going on there. This was my favorite quote from that article Barnmom linked to: Whole Foods and UNFI are maximizing their profits by selling quasi-natural products at premium organic prices. Organic consumers are increasingly left without certified organic choices while genuine organic farmers and ranchers continue to lose market share to "natural" imposters. It's no wonder that less than 1% of American farmland is certified organic, while well-intentioned but misled consumers have boosted organic and "natural" purchases to $80 billion annually-approximately 12% of all grocery store sales. I've known this for a long time. Only go to WF and other such markets for specialty items. I try to buy my produce and staples from producers I can keep a closer eye on. I'll bet half the time the organic label gets put on a product by a bribe. Access to high quality food is not an automatic in this world. Never was, never will be. What's a consumer to do? Caveat emptor! Know your shopping cart contents! With the Internet and a little information literacy, it's not hard to find out about the products you buy. It's also not hard to find folks desperately trying to make a living doing it the right way. But they usually communicate with their customers on a more individual basis, not through mass markets. Oh, and there are a whole lot of reasons farmers don't certify their products as organic, there's a whole lot of bureaucratic baloney you have to go through and some believe the whole process was designed to squeeze out small producers....See MoreWhole Foods To Label GMO Foods
Comments (33)Thanks for the link Annie, I checked it out, and as of the date of that article, Seminis did sell to Territorial and Johnny's as well as Fedco. It could be that a couple of the brassicas I just bought from Fedco, as well as the Lollo Rosa lettuce from Burpee could have come from Seminis. I will have to call the companies and check. A short snippet from the article Annie posted: " Taking spinach into his own hands: Nash Huber doesnâÂÂt want to get stuck depending on a hybrid that might get dropped by a mega-company owner on a whim. He also doesnâÂÂt want to lose any of the vigor, disease resistance, etc. that hybrid has provided. So Nash is working on dehybridizing �" breeding an open-pollinated spinach that is well adapted to his needs. (pictured: Huber, left; Matthew Dillon, right) Posted February 22, 2005: The news of MonsantoâÂÂs agreement to purchase Seminis has received little attention from the media other than the financial pages and a few seed industry and anti-globalization web sites. But then again, why should it? How many consumers �" of food or seed �" have even heard of Seminis? And yet, as Seminis spinmeister Gary Koppenjan said, âÂÂIf you've had a salad, you've had a Seminis product." It is estimated that Seminis controls 40 percent of the U.S. vegetable seed market and 20 percent of the world market�"supplying the genetics for 55 percent of the lettuce on U.S. supermarket shelves, 75 percent of the tomatoes, and 85 percent of the peppers, with strong holdings in beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, broccoli, cabbage, spinach and peas. The companyâÂÂs biggest revenue source comes from tomato and peppers seeds, followed by cucumbers and beans. In large part, these numbers reflect usage of Seminis varieties within large industrial production geared towards supermarkets, but Seminis seeds are also widely used by regional conventional and organic farmers as well as market and home gardeners. JohnnyâÂÂs, Territorial, Fedco, NicholâÂÂs, Rupp, Osborne, Snow, and Stokes are among the dozens of commercial and garden seed catalogs that carry the more than 3,500 varieties that comprise Seminisâ offerings. This includes dozens of All-American Selections and an increasing number of varieties licensed to third parties for certified organic seed production. The brand-name companies under Seminis (such as Petoseed) have developed, released, produced and distributed varieties common to the market farmer and even home gardener. These include Big Beef, Sweet Baby Girl and Early Girl Tomatoes; Simpsons Elite and Red Sails Lettuces; Red Knight and King Arthur Peppers; Gold Rush and Blackjack Zucchinis; Stars & Stripes Melon; and Bush Delicata and Early Butternut squashes (see sidebar for other popular varieties)." So home gardeners DO have to check their seed, these are very popular varieties though the article is NOT saying that these......See Morestrawchicago z5
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