Modified plants in themselves are not bothersome to me. What is a huge issue is these plants are modified to withstand large amounts of strong pesticides. Please, if you eat modified foods, make them organic. Many cancer rates have risen in the last 50 years, we don’t need more chemicals in our food supply and we certainly don’t need them in the ground water poisoning watersheds that feed all life forms.
GMO has a specific meaning, and does not include traditionally bred plants or animals. The argument that ‘all crops are genetically modified’ is not helpful.
All of the food crops that we eat are genetically modified, whether by selective breeding over generations or by direct manipulation of genes. It’s not how quickly genes were altered that matters, but the intended effect. We are probably ingesting Roundup for the first time, because now there are crops that can survive its use.
On a somewhat related topic, I drink milk with bovine growth hormone without hesitation. It’s a protein hormone, which means that it isn’t going to get into the bloodstream until after it has been digested. When kids (or others, for more nefarious purposes) use growth hormone for biological effect, they inject it.
GMO’s don’t necessarily use more herbicide. In fact they frequently use less, because they can use more effective ones.
I live in an agricultural state. GMO foods in and of themselves aren’t better or worse for your health. A farmer can grow GMO strawberries to the exacting standards of organic strawberries. However, they cannot be considered organic because “organic” marketing forbids the use of GMO foods. Which also means that a strawberry isn’t better for you just because it’s labeled as organic.
Which leads me to … thanks to blockchain, we will be able to trace our individual foods back to the farm and know exactly what chemicals and other processing they may (or may not) have encountered on their journey from farm to table.
Agree with @raneck , environmental/political ramifications of GMO foods are more concerning than toxicity of the food. Transgenic crop plants expressing BT toxin have led to increase in BT resistant insect pests. Same with Roundup, glyphosate resistance has been documented for many species of weed.
Even more concerning are plans to eliminate entire species using ‘gene drive’ technology. Mosquitoes that transmit malaria are in the line of fire for this technology. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lab-tests-gene-drive-wiped-out-population-mosquitoes
GMOs also lead to monoculture products. One mutated critter can wipe out entire crops since their diversity and hence resilience will be greatly impaired.
@katliamom Organic is always non GMO. That may be what you’re saying, but I wasn’t sure so wanted to clarify that if one is concerned about GMOs, organic is the way to go.
GMO-phobics remind me of anti-vaxxers.
^^The are often the same people. Both vigorously reject any medical/scientific research that is contrary to their emotional beliefs. And both distrust technical knowledge and expertise, putting more trust in their own “gut feel” about the topic.
@Scipio And fear of “Big Corporations” making money. Some say that vaccines are a ploy by Big Pharma to make more profits. With GMO’s it is Monsanto.
^^Yes, and with FDA and/or Dept. of Agriculture acting as Big Business’s co-conspirators.
I think it is rather unfair to put people who elect to avoid GMO in the same camp as anti-vaxxers.
GMO foods can be beneficial depending on the situation but also has the potential for destruction.
There has been enough scientific evidence to support stronger or if you want to call it more “effective” pesticides can be used on modified plants. More effective (stronger, don’t fool yourself) pesticide is not good for the environment or for wildlife. Pests do become resistant with exposure over time very much the same as germs which become resistant to antibiotics. Overuse is never a good thing.
I trust science but I do not trust big business. Pharma companies seeded, watered and nurtured the opioid crisis and companies like Monsanto have worked hard to have a monopoly in regards to GMO foods and pesticides. To the point where they will sue a farmer for not using their seeds. I was not surprised when Bayer bought Monsanto, lawsuits and all.
For full disclosure, I believe in science. I grew up on a farm. Big Pharma companies are a large part of my clientele. My kids are vaccinated. I eat organic.
Lots of GMO development has nothing to do with pesticides. GMO techniques are used to make plants resistant to diseases, to improve the nutritional value, reduce soil erosion, Increase yield, and expand the environments where a plant can be grown. GMO isn’t all about big companies or pesticides. I’m not happy about how some large companies are using them, but I roll my eyes at people who have a knee jerk reaction that all GMO research and uses are bad, and that they are some kind of frankenfood. That is equivalent to anti-vaxxers, in my opinion, and is very damaging to scientific research that could help provide food security for literally billions of people. I’m going to side with Norman Borlaug, who had little patience for people standing in the way of and minimizing the importance of GMO of research and crop deployment.
“To the point where they will sue a farmer for not using their seeds. I was not surprised when Bayer bought Monsanto, lawsuits and all.”
This is a complete crock. Read the SCOTUS opinion. Bowman was a thief of intellectual property, not a poor organic farmer being squeezed out of existence by Monsanto.
Smart ass he was, Mr. Bowman decided to outsmart Monsanto. What the casebriefs don’t tell you is the full story (which the SCOTUS opinion does, quite nicely).
Bowman knew that in grain elevators, “regular” grain will usually have some GMO mixed it. Not wanting to pay the license fees to Monsanto, he devised a scheme of getting his hands on GMO soybeans: he purchased seeds from the nearby elevator, but he did not just “save seeds” after he planted that grain. He sprayed the seedlings with roundup to make sure only the roundup-resistant (GMO) plants survived and THEN collected their seeds. Clever, huh? So, organic farmer he was not, and the SCOTUS could see right through it. Moral of the story: if you want to drum up your cause, pick the right plaintiff. The one who would look completely wronged if the court rules against him.
Look at p. 4 of the opinion:
Twinkies are probably ok.
GMO twinkies? Yikes.
Would y’all eat this?
- A ground beef-like food product comprising:
a) 0.1%-5% by weight of a heme-containing protein comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 80% sequence identity to the polypeptide set forth in SEQ ID NO:4;
b) a compound selected from glucose, ribose, fructose, lactose, xylose, arabinose, glucose-6-phosphate, maltose, and galactose, and mixtures of two or more thereof;
c) at least 10 mM of a compound selected from cysteine, cystine, selenocysteine, thiamine, methionine, and mixtures of two or more thereof; and
d) 10% or more by weight of one or more plant proteins,
wherein the ground beef-like food product contains no animal products, and
wherein cooking the ground beef-like food product results in the production of at least two volatile compounds which have a beef-associated aroma.
^^^^. The Impossible Burger, V2? Tried a bite, just out of curiosity, I’ll stay with the real thing.
I actually tried an Impossible Burger (slider actually) this week, sans bread, since I don’t eat bread. I thought it was delicious although I don’t eat hamburgers either. Would I eat one even on a semi-regular basis? No, but I was curious about all the hubbub.
Those ingredients look horotious.