Wa state sued to reveal opponents of GMO initiative

[zeestephen]

Thanks.

Unfortunately, no car.

Safeway and QFC are an easy walk, but both are unionized.

[djf]

Wally World carries food.
And I think they deliver... not sure about that.

[Baynative]

I was told that this initiative began with an out of state group. If true, that is curious to me. My suspicions would be that they picked WA because of the liberal control they can muster here and because the marijuana initiative went through easily and was quickly refined and followed through by Olympia.

[RetiredNavy]

I’d be very interested in getting your reference to BT genes jumping into the host DNA. I have run a search and find nothing but references that indicate that these Transpositional Elements (TEs) are nothing but natural processes that typically enhance the plant’s resistance to damaging organisms in the environment. While interesting, I see nothing in peer reviewed literature that would cause me to fear this natural process. So far I have found nothing that indicates that this process is a danger to human health, nor that it “Jumps” to, or changes human DNA.

I also am confused about your references to corporations needing “licenses” in order to do more than operate at a specific location (business license from a city/state, or a professional license from a state). Even when these licenses are required, they do not typically relate to what the corporation produces. When their activities are restricted (food safety, etc.) this is typically done through regulations (city, state, federal) when a community/social need is identified.

I agree that those that have health problems and allergies need to know what they need to stay away from, and I also believe that the free market is fully capable of taking care of this need, through market pressure.

I am also confused as to why you think a corporation should be held responsible for someone’s allergic reaction to one of their products. When did personal responsibility become a bad thing in this country? Why would you eat something if you have a known food allergy, and you don’t know what is in what you are eating? I do agree that it makes sense for a food company to label their products, for the reasons you stated, but these things were being done long before the FDA was even a glimmer in some bureaucrats eye.

Genetic engineering has been going on for since the first life appeared on this planet, primarily by natural processes. As stated previously, GMO seeds have been produced since the 1930’s and yields have increased 5 fold, this is not a debatable position, it is a provable fact. That these increased yields decrease food costs is also not a debatable position, it to is a provable fact.

Again, not tryig to be combative, but what I am hearing is a demand for increased government intervention, more regulation, more cost, increased reliance on government, abrogation of personal responsibility, demonization of “corporations” (as if such a thing could exist without people), and an admission that the common man is incapable of making decisions for himself.

There are many corporations (Whole Foods, and others like them) that have a great business catering to people that want to live “holistically” and demand non GMO, “Organic”, “free range”, and other such. There is no one forcing them to do so, but they have identified a market segment and cater to it, very successfully. Why is this not the path we should take, “let the market decide”, rather than hanging even more government regulations around our necks?

Why would these companies wish anonymity? For the exact reason that you took such glee in exposing them, because the current progressive meme is to engage in organized destruction of those they disagree with. These folks are not stupid, but operating legally, by the law of the land, should not result in the destruction of your livelihood.

I have done extensive research on GMO food and research that has been done on it. I found a lot of prose from people that have a financial stake in demonizing it, and a lot of actual research, peer reviewed, that contradicts the horror stories that are flooding the conversation every day.

Personally I put more faith in studies that use the scientific method than in those that “engineer” their studies to produce a desired result (feeding mice more than 200 times a normal lifetime exposure within a couple of days would be an example, and what was actually done in one study). Hell, I can negatively affect the same mouse with force feeding him too much Dihydrogen Oxide, and we need that to survive more than a couple of days.

I guess what it comes down to is that I am increasingly suspicious of folks that want to force me to do something “for my own good”, particularly when they are government bureaucrats (couldn’t get a real job?). I will probably always oppose efforts, like this bill, to impose more and more control over our lives, on the assumption that we are too stupid to think for ourselves. No thank you very much.

I found this website with a list of peer reviewed papers on GMO food safety:

http://www.agbioworld.org/biotech-info/articles/biotech-art/peer-reviewed-pubs.html

A list of a scientific article reference database I have access to (through a college I attended) lead to many of these same papers.

After reading these papers, and others, I just do not have the same fear that the world is ending that you seem to have.

Thanks for the discussion.

[djf]

Update:

Statewide poll numbers show:

Support 45%
Opposed 38%
Undecided 16%