Yes, farmers were so much better off before they had access to all those pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and so on.
Right.
Posted on 02/13/2012 10:30:41 AM PST by Twotone
Hungary has taken a bold stand against biotech giant Monsanto and genetic modification by destroying 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, according to Hungary deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar. Unlike many European Union countries, Hungary is a nation where genetically modified (GM) seeds are banned. In a similar stance against GM ingredients, Peru has also passed a 10 year ban on GM foods.
(Excerpt) Read more at trueactivist.com ...
Those Bastards! Norman Borlaug did the same thing. It was called the "Green Revolution." In the process, the bastard and his GM foods saved anywhere from hundreds of millions to billions of people - a large percentage of them children - from starving to death. Damn him and his genetically engineered farm foods!
but their only real goal is to engineer hybrids the seeds of which will not germinate.
From what I understand, commercially planted corn is not open pollinated. If so, farmers won’t save the kernels from their current crop to plant in the future. Farmers, at least the ones I know, have paperwork and receipts regarding the seed for every crop planted. These anti-Monsanto threads always bring charges of Monsanto suing all sorts of small farmers into bankruptcy simply because their crops unintentionally cross polinated with a patented hybrid. I've yet to see a case of this actually happening, but we hear about it all the time.
The net effect is that we can no longer grow our own seed stock, we have to go back and buy more germinatable seeds from them.
What seed are you talking about? It's been a long time since serious farmers kept the best seeds from their crops to use as seed in the future. The reason is that seed companies produce different varieties of corn seed for farmers to buy and use as their seed stock that is far superior to the seed they used to save. These hybrid seeds, produced by evil companies like Monsanto, have resulted in a significant increase in yields. And yes, you can't save seed from this corn to be used later. Even so, serious farmers haven't kept corn seed for as long as I've been alive....which is long before all this nonsense about GMO seeds and Monsanto ruling the world ever became popular.
The same thing is now happening with soybeans. You can make the claim that we'd all be better off without these hybrid seeds, but the fact that farmers are rushing to use them tells us you're wrong. The fact that Monsanto is so successful with selling their products tells you the people who really matter know what's in their best interest. They'll continue using the seeds that allow them to generate the yields that make farming a profitable business. That fact will, no doubt, sadden Luddites everywhere.
Actually, most genetic modifications are made with the purpose of making the plant more resistant to drought, mold and/or pests, which leads to LESS use of pesticides, not more. This is especially important in Europe, where they restrict the use of pesticides and even fertilizers much more than we do in the U.S.
The survival of seed diversity and availability may depend on the actions of these European countries.
Boulder Residents, County Officials Say “No” to GMOs
see the chart on this website.
Scroll about 1/2 down and you’ll see the chart. When it opens in a new window
http://media.mercola.com/ImageServer/public/2012/january/study1-big.jpg,
put the cursor over the chart and you’ll see that you have a magnifying glass.
The chart lists those gov. representatives who hold positions in Monsanto and in the government.
Yes, farmers were so much better off before they had access to all those pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and so on.
Right.
question... are these seeds sterile???
Luddite idiots.
This from the farmer perspective. Hybrid corn has been around for 60 to 70 years. The seeds will germinate and grow but are not very productive. Corn is now ‘stacked’ with 3 or 4 traits such as, Roundup Resistant, and resistance for cutworms or rootworms. Soybeans in use in the USA are almost all RR and the produce cannot be replanted because of the patent on the seed. Some do and get away with it and some get caught and sued. It is nice to spray Roundup only and rid the fields of weeds, and you can see the difference in corn without built in pest resistance and corn that is in yield and quality. I do not have problems using the products but am leery sometimes of where it all might lead. Some studies show resistance by weeds to roundup, so like always in history, all is not in control, just managed. As far as consumption of GMos I do not know.
“Yes, farmers were so much better off before they had access to all those pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and so on.”
The point is not about the use of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides or even fertilizers in general. There are legitimate users for them without GM seeds. So that’s not the issue.
But, GM modified crops are tied to - designed to work with - specific pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and/or fertilizers, and the patent owner of the GM seend is usually the manufacturer of the specific pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and/or fertilizers the GM seed was designed for.
That business and agro-industrial financial model, tying the farmer’s use of a certain seed to the need for the farmer to also be using specific additional agro-industrial products - not a real-world food shortage, is what GM seeds are all about.
The world has food surpluses, with food distribution issues, issues of disruption of local food production, issues of massive taxpayer subsidized food production, issues of domestic crop protectionism and other food issues, but not a world food shortage issue for which GM seeds are the solution.
For example - wheat.
A wheat stalk that grows in nature had better drop its seeds.
A wheat stalk that grows under human cultivation had better hold onto its seeds.
Thus domesticated wheat has lost the ability to propagate “naturally”.
OMG! Anti-technological mysticism says that the loss of the ability to procreate “naturally” means bigbadawful humans are messing with nature again in bad ways!
There is a reason Bulldogs are delivered by C-section.
Bulldogs have “lost” the ability to propagate naturally.
What was the reason again that Monsanto had to go to the Supreme Court of the United States to redefine patents for food stuffs? (BTW Love Mansanto’s displays at Disneyland)
GM food is not about the world growing enough food, it is ALL about making crops that create financial incentives for the use of other agricultural products - pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and fertilizers, by producing genes that make crops that work better with those things or that incorporate elements of those things into the genes themselves.
You are spot on.
Blow it out your irrelevant, pointlessly indignant flapper. The entire world has been fed for thousands of years by naturally occurring seed-crops. Pretending that we need Monsanto or ADM to "engineer" our current or future food supply is anathema to self-sufficient people everywhere.
It is, however, telling that you are so troubled by the concept of self-sufficiency. You sheep-scented twatty.
thx...
So you admit that using a Round Up resistant seed is a good thing to do when using Round Up as an herbicide?
GM modified crops are tied to - designed to work with - specific pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and/or fertilizers, and the patent owner of the GM seed is usually the manufacturer of the specific pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and/or fertilizers the GM seed was designed for.
You realize, don't you, that there's a lot of genetic engineering going on out there that has nothing to do with any specific pesticide, herbicide, fungicide or fertilizer a particular company may also manufacture?
That business and agro-industrial financial model, tying the farmer’s use of a certain seed to the need for the farmer to also be using specific additional agro-industrial products...
What agro-industrial financial model was it that used antimicrobial peptides from insect physiology to create a near immunity to late blight in potatoes? What other product were the researchers of this solution merchandising? What else is the company that commercialized this process selling? We use knocking out genes to make plants more resistant to fungal infections. I've yet to see any ties to specific fungicides used by this technology. But even if there are, so what? The end result is greater yields, lower food costs and more profitable farmers.
GM crops are now being used to benefit consumers rather than just producers. Companies like DuPont and Monsanto are bioengineering crops specifically for nutrition purposes. They will be commercializing soybeans that are high in oleic acid and that eliminate trans fats. These varieties would also include high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Imagine a stable oil that doesn't require hydrogenation and is high in omega-3's. How will Monsanto and DuPont tie this breakthrough technology with specific pesticides, herbicides and fungicides? They won't.
The world has food surpluses, with food distribution issues, issues of disruption of local food production, issues of massive taxpayer subsidized food production, issues of domestic crop protectionism and other food issues, but not a world food shortage issue for which GM seeds are the solution/
If the world has food surpluses, why do commodity prices continue to spike? The fact is, as China and India move hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, they will want greater variety in food choices that will result in huge demands on our production capabilities. Most of the earth's human food supply comes from just 15 crop species and 8 livestock species. GM technology will absolutely be required to meet that demand. The Luddites of the EU can't see this, and unfortunately, many Americans are blind too.
Thanks to an American hero named Norman Borlaug, food for the most part is plentiful in the world today. Borlaug saved a billion people from starving because his genetic engineering created disease resistant plants that produced exponential increases in yields. He had to deal with the same challenges we face today with distribution problems, corrupt and tyrannical governments, protectionism and scientific illiterates. He wrote extensively about those problems and I'd argue that he faced greater challenges in that area than we do today.
GM is a far cry from being only about food shortages. Anyone who believes that hasn't kept up with technology over the past 40 years.
Pinging the Agenda 21 list (and some of the participants of this thread) for a controversial Monsanto thread.
There are those who are concerned about manipulations of the food supply and agribusiness. Others are concerned about modern day “Luddites” trying to block the progress and development of technology.
Whenifhow has some very interesting links at post 44. The second one in particular shows the intersection of people who hold positions at Monsanto AND the government.
Ohhh...That was so bad it’s great!
Apparently our wonderful FDA put a raw milk Amish dairy farmer out of business.
What the hell gives them the right???? Or a better question...how do we stop them?
I heard the author interviewed. The recent destruction of Dams across America and the clean energy source they provided is part of this.
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