I don't know how many people here follow the agricultural industry, but the controversy surrounding monsanto (world's #1 producer of genetically modified seeds) is that their food is heavily genetically modified and information about the dangers of GMO are hidden from the middle class. http://www.redding.com/news/what-is-all-the-fuss-about-monsanto-and-saying-no- Do you fellas think healthy eating is a socio economic thing? Will the majority of America be able to afford to eat healthy in this lifetime? Will lobbyists take up the GMO marketing ploys and expose them, or will they never have the financial backing? I'm surprised guys like warren buffet and bill gates haven't taken up this cause.
Neal Tyson Degrasse says fears over GMO's are over done. Everything we eat has been selectively bred over 1000 years so that it doesn't resemble the original plant, or animal. Gene manipulation isn't too different. Plus the human digestive system uses what it uses and passes the rest, it doesn't bother me too much.
It's perfectly possible to dislike Monsanto but understand that the fear of GMOs is bull****. Here's a clue: do you think a corncob today looks anything like a corncob 150 years ago, something which is a snap of a finger on an evolutionary timescale?
Keep in mind- if gmo's were stopped tomorrow, i would not have a job or company. But I am very interested in the debate that we do not adjust to certain mutations and diseases like cancer prove our body does not just poop out what it doesn't need.
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I do think healthy eating is a socio economic thing. A bottle of soda is cheaper than a bottle of orange juice or Apple juice. A bag of chips is cheaper than a pound of fruit. We see the effects now in obesity rates, imagine what another hundred years of this will show.
I don't think GMO is inherently bad. What is bad is that they are genetically engineered to resist Round-up which allows them to spray all our food liberally with the stuff.
Not bananas, or apples. Some peaches. Also tomatoes are about 99 cents right now. Mango. Ranier cherries are gonna run you but isn't a bag of chips about 4-5 bucks? I can get two pounds of cherries for 7 bucks at Costco, so that is even cheaper. And those suckers are great.
The thing about GMO is that theoretically any toxin can be introduced to the plant's genome, even those with potential harm to humans. That's the really scary thing, because I don't believe for a second that the optimum health of the consumers is valued over profit margins. Also, the guidelines and safety checks that are supposed to scrutinize are working FOR companies like Monsanto.
A central problem in recent times is that to compensate for broken systems, we have been relying upon science that has not had time to properly settle. If you ask most scientists about the environmental effects of GMO, most people will shrug and say it's inconclusive, or that the research is being done now. Yet, as global health problems such as cancer skyrocket, we are seeing the effects of what inconclusive variability can deliver. In reality, we grow enough food to feed everybody around the world---it is the inefficient way that food is distributed, wasted, and consumed on a sub-optimal meat-heavy diet that causes problems. It forces science into the unenviable position of having to push everything just a little bit faster to compensate for a runaway model of consumption that threatens to keel over every decade or so. I don't have a glaring problem with GMOs. I have a problem with how they're being used to patch over systematic issues in how resources are distributed, and being pushed way too fast as a result. I have a problem with their distribution model: ran by a rapacious corporation that will always think profit first, and research second.
this is the main concern that's often overlooked. it's not the selective process that's been used toward bananas or corn, it's the addition of strands to the DNA that effectively changes the entire makeup. There hasn't been enough research to determine the effects. soy, and corn, specifically have been altered and we're now the lab rats. PLUS **** monsanto for suing farmers who receive altered seed unwanted through pollination. you're assuming people can afford the membership dues, they don't accept food stamps.
This... The problem is the strains that promote an environmentally reckless and unsustainable form of mass agricultural production. Not only the round-up bayud, but the negative effects on everything is pretty much discounted as a cost towards cheap mass produced food. It's really not...
Monsanto is about as nasty of a company as they come. They have the deaths of many on their hands. As for GMO. Ok, people need to understand that GMO is a broad thing. First of all, breeding is not the same as making a GMO. GMO literally means interesting new DNA into cells. Now so far that isn't resulting in anything harmful to humans yet. But it could potentially. There are many toxic chemicals and a modification that produces something could happen down the road. That's one thing. The other is that the company making the GMO has intellectual property rights on the DNA sequences. That could be an issue if the DNA spreads and essentially becomes part of the fruit. No one knows the consequences of that. There are also the environmental factors as someone has mentioned. I think genetically modified foods is fine, but it is playing with fire a bit. Not just regarding human health but the impact it could have on an ecosystem could be substantial if proper care is not taken.
The issue I have with GMO's is when Monsanto patents genes, and sues farmers on adjacent land because their plants were cross pollinated. There are some powerful people out there angling to take legal control of all food and clean drinking water, and act as a toll collector for basic human necessities. I'll gladly eat GMO's, as long as some corporate hack doesn't think he claim intellectual property rights on my poop. .
not really - 1lb of doritos is $2.98 at Walmart, while 1lb of bananas is 44 cents. 1lb of strawberries is $1.58 and 1lb of the expensive kind of apples is $1.75 Water from the tap is much much cheaper than a bottle of soda. I can buy concentrated frozen Orange juice or apple juice for almost the same price as a 2 liter of coke. The problem is people don't want to cook anymore, and they are no longer willing to eat leftovers. You can make a stew for about $10-12 and a family of four can eat on it for 2 days. (thats $6 a meal for 4 people) I grew up dirt poor and we NEVER had things like chips or sodas at the house..and we almost NEVER ate fast food. It was a very special occasion when we went to a restaurant.
