Posted on 05/03/2005 12:25:12 PM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
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Mr. Taverne argues compellingly that the conflict over gene-spliced crops is the most important battle of all between the forces of reason and unreason, both because of the consequences should the forces of darkness prevail, and also because their arguments are so perverse and so consistently and completely wrong.
In fact, agricultural practices have been "unnatural" for 10,000 years, and with the exception of wild berries and wild mushrooms, virtually all the grains, fruits and vegetables in our diets are genetically modified. Many of our foods (including potatoes, tomatoes, oats, rice and corn) come from plants created by "wide cross" hybridizations that transcend "natural breeding boundaries." Gene-splicing is no more than an extension, or refinement, of less precise, less predictable, older techniques, and gene-spliced plants, now grown in at least 18 countries, have for a decade been cultivated worldwide on more than 100 million acres annually.
They are ubiquitous in North American diets: More than 80 percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves -- soft drinks, preserves, mayonnaise, salad dressings -- contain ingredients from gene-spliced plants, and Americans have consumed more than a trillion servings of these foods. From the dirt to the dinner plate, not a single ecosystem has been disrupted, or a person injured, by any gene-spliced product -- a record that is superior to that of conventional foods.
As Mr. Taverne observes, the objection to gene-spliced foods is purely ideological, bordering on the religious. During a House of Lords Select Committee hearing in 1999, Lord Melchett, then director of Greenpeace, was asked "Your opposition to the release of [gene-spliced plants], that is an absolute and definite opposition? It is not one that is dependent on further scientific research?" He replied: "It is a permanent and definite and complete opposition."
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(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I've been waiting for this book for several months. Glad to see it's out.
Those who do not want genetically altered food should have a choice; unsubsidized. Let them pay and deal with all the consequences, including the cost.
Let us who wish to enjoy the benefits of irradiated foods, and let the idiots choose whatever they want.
Ordered from Amazon and on its way...
Ping
"Those who do not want genetically altered food should have a choice; unsubsidized. Let them pay and deal with all the consequences, including the cost."
Well said!
This is a little OT, but in the same arena: We produce cage-free eggs for sale. I can't BELIEVE the interrogation I get from people about how they're produced! The hens AREN'T in CAGES, they DON'T get fed CHEMICALS of any kind, they eat grains and kitchen scraps, stale bread from the bakery, grass, BUGS, grit, sand, pebbles and a whole host of other "organic" things. They get lots of fresh water, sunshine and hugs every day. They have a warm, dry, well-lit safe place to live.
"Oh, I could NEVER eat THOSE eggs. You're not CERTIFIED Organic!" (Yep. And I never will be. The less Government interference the better, IMHO.)
Cripes. Fine. Don't buy them! There are others lined up around the block that don't have their heads up the @sses about good old farm-fresh eggs.
I swear, the Enviro-Wackos and the Eco-Warriors and the Food/Thought Police are really gaining ground with their constant campaign of propaganda. It's insanity! These are the exact SAME foods my farming ancestors ate and lived to ripe old ages.
And don't even get me started on "heirloom" tomatoes, LOL!
Some people just don't know what they're missing in life. :)
Thanks, CC! It's going in my library queue right now. :)
BTTT!!!!!!
Leftists are nothing if not consistent.
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