Article reprinted with the permission of Dr. Marc Van Montagu
If you’re a liberal you have to find a way to generate panic so you can use that panic to get money and/or political power. Global warming was already staked out. Peak oil is about over. Overpopulation is not sufficiently panic inducing. The war on women doesn’t have any moneymaking potential. So, it’s on to made up stuff. Genetically modified plants are a perfect vehicle.
I encountered an anti-GMO troll at a recent meeting who started off his line of argumentative questioning with, "Lifespans are declining and we are seeing all kinds of new diseases and the U.S. is doing worse health-wise than the other developed countries, and many scientists think it is because of GMOs." That's the level of the rhetoric.
This fellow, however, had picked the wrong meeting for this kind of thing, because everyone in the room knew that every one of his premises was flatly false. If we had had stocks and a fool's cap, he'd probably still be chained up for display. But this kind of thing gets traction in the current media environment.
I am very conservative, and do not consider myself in any category to be a liberal. I am too conservative to consider myself as a supporter of the GOP.
I do not eat GM foods if I can possibly avoid them. It has nothing to do with being a science skeptic, climate or otherwise. My desire is to eat only natural, healthy, preferably organically raised food, and including natural raised or wild-caught meats. The Genetic Modification of food makes it more difficult for the endocrine system to handle the food, and in many foods, the genetic mutation is designed to enable the food to survive harsh pesticides which pollute the product. I do not want the pesticide residue in my body. I am a six year colon cancer survivor, and pure natural organic unprocessed food with minimal chemicals and synthetics, and preservatives, can help me live in a healthy way. Also, my wife had a form of breast cancer that thrives in an estrogen positive state, which hormone is also influenced by diet. Processed Soy, which is pervasive and incorporated extensively into the American processed foods, is also generally derived from GM soy, and is a source of food that hyper elevates typical estrogen levels in the body.
These GM apologists do not tell the whole story. Our bodies are designed to have natural nutrition from the earth. It is simply not safe to mess with the genetics of the food supply and act like there will be no health consequences for people who eat genetically modified food.
An argument seeking societal approval for GMO foods based on climate change is highly suspect.
GMO is the total takeover and control of what we eat. GMO seeds cannot be reused forcing repurchase year after year. In case of nuclear war or total destruction there would be no organic seeds to plant.
Cancer rates are exploding all over the world. What might be causing this? How about they look into GMO foods.
I am a full time. capitalist but have a hard time letting a few businesses taking control of my food supply.
I too think that when man tinkers with nature nothing good will become of it and when a few businesses control the food, they control the world.
I avoid genetically modified food as much as possible. I don’t consume anything with artificial sweetener either. I avoid medication and supplements. It’s a matter of choice. I’m not a fan of big government or big Agra or big pharma. This is not a liberal’s view. With healthcare access about to be rationed, my health is my wealth.
I love these GMO threads - it’s the one topic where Democratic Underground and Free Republic posts sound essentially the same. I wonder why FR has held up against the scam of Climate Change, but not GMO food scares.
Second, I still don't see what the problem is in labeling what we buy so we can know what we're buying.
Third, this sentence reads like the old cigarette commercials from the 1950's:
In fact, people have consumed billions of meals containing GM foods in the 17 years since they were first commercialized, and not one problem has been documented.
That sure bears a remarkable resemblance to this:
"In a coast-to-coast test of hundreds of people who smoked only Camels for thirty days, noted throat specialists reported not one single case of throat irritation due to smoking Camels!"
Would you rather eat grain from crops that are not GM but sprayed with pesticides or GM crops that do not require spraying?
/johnny
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People bitch about chemical pesticides but then bitch louder when genetically modified plants are designed to resist pests and do not need so many chemicals. Their irrational fear is that the words “genetically modified” means plants that will alter their own personal DNA somehow.
I find it astounding that people who have never felt the pangs of hunger should decide that making less food available is acceptable.
The Green Revolution, Golden rice, GM foods, anything that feeds more people is a evil plot but only in the minds of those with full bellies.
bm
So, are the kind, caring and tolerant enviroRATs accusing George Washington Carver of being an evil murdering bastard?
General Motors is in the food industry now?