<p>What I am about to post will be unbelievable because it is unbelievable. It was mentioned to me by a very credible, very smart lobbyist friend who has clients in the food manufacturing industry.
What was said is that big food manufacturing and growing companies have injected corn seeds with pesticides in order to make them resilient to pests. Thus, they have actually changed the DNA of most corn. Even worse, since the insects are not getting accustomed to this type of pesticide, the companies want to inject into the seed a variant of “Agent Orange.” Accordingly, he recommend that we don’t eat any corn products or at the least try to eat only organically grown corn.</p>
<p>What do you mean by ‘injected corn seeds with pesticides’ exactly?</p>
<p>BTW, the overwhelming majority of the U.S. corn crop is used for livestock feed or fuel ethanol.</p>
<p>As someone who is growing delicious sweet corn in my back yard, I feel pretty safe. I am more worried about Monsanto GMO foods to be honest.</p>
<p>It’s called GMOs or Genetically Modified Organisms. People have been doing this since the beginning of time with cross breeding. Its essentially forced evolution. Granted, splicing DNA is circumventing the natural breeding process, but is functionally identical.</p>
<p>There are some concerns that we accidentally make a supercrop that monopolizes global production, but I think evolution has already made everything fairly competitive. </p>
<p>This is the same vein of hysterics that got DDT banned for no real reason. I promise you something else will get you way before slightly different corn will. </p>
<p>If you want to be scared about something, I would recommend the waning efficacy of antibiotics due to their massive overuse, but again, its not really worth worrying about.</p>
<p>A quick summary - [GM</a> Corn Is High in Toxins and Nutritionally Inferior](<a href=“http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/04/30/monsanto-gmo-corn.aspx]GM”>Archived Article Notice)</p>
<p>Humans have been changing the DNA of corn for the last 10,000 years.</p>
<p><em>squints eyes</em> Monsanto. >:[ </p>
<p>GMOs are nothing new. There has always been the fight against pests and their growing tolerance. </p>
<p>And to stay away for corn entirely would be nearly impossible. Corn is in everything! Sodas, batteries, ketchup, diapers, etc, etc, etc. </p>
<p>If you’re truly worried about your food supply, you should turn toward you local growers.any of them are happy to tell you how they treat and harvest they’re crop and what brand of seed they use.</p>
<p>I am highly skeptical of any facts and figures put out there by Dr. Mercola. His interests are in marketing his own line of “health” products.</p>
<p>Lobbyists can be trusted - yeah… It is unbelievable what happens when scientifically incompetent people start describing genetic engineering.</p>
<p>The ONE and ONLY good reason to remove all corn from your diet is… CARBS.</p>
<p>Ah yes, the old “friend of a friend as told to me by an anonymous poster without any scientific basis” source.</p>
<p>I’ll refrain from panicking thank you.</p>
<p>“What was said is that big food manufacturing and growing companies have injected corn seeds with pesticides in order to make them resilient to pests. Thus, they have actually changed the DNA of most corn. Even worse, since the insects are not getting accustomed to this type of pesticide, the companies want to inject into the seed a variant of “Agent Orange.””</p>
<p>If this is a verbatim report of what this lobbyist told you, his command of the science is too weak for him to be lobbying against whatever practice it is that he is objecting to. Ask him what he meant. Is he reporting on trends in genetic modification, or is he reporting on trends in chemical pre-treating of the seeds? </p>
<p>I also suspect that his comprehension of the enormous variety of plants that fall under the general name of corn is pretty weak as well. Is he reporting on trends in corn grain production for animal feed, corn syrup, and other corn by-products, is he reporting on trends in sweetcorn production (the kind most people eat), or is he reporting on trends in production of the types of corn that are used to make grits, hominy, corn tortillas, corn chips, masa harina, etc.? Is he reporting on corn grown primarily for silage?</p>
<p>I AM panicked. There is no food in the world that we can eat without ending DEATH. Enjoy life when you can.</p>
<p>Plants can receive a bacterial gene (called Bt) (by genetic engineering) that produces a toxin that kills certain leaf-eating caterpillars. However the toxin is only produced in the leaf (it is not ‘expressed’ in seed tissue) and anyway it is not toxic to mammals.</p>
<p>The ‘injection’ may refer to insertion of the gene in the plant breeding process. Are they going to ‘inject’ Agent Orange? Hmmm, no.</p>
<p>"I AM panicked. There is no food in the world that we can eat without ending DEATH. Enjoy life when you can. "</p>
<p>I know I won’t be around long enough, but I see no reason why they will not find a way to get around death sometime in a not too distant future.</p>
<p>Are you talking about Bacillus thuringiensis? If so, this is a naturally occurring bacteria that is found in soils. It is toxic to insects, and only during the larval stage of the lifecycle. It is considered a “green” insect control agent; much safer than the usual petrochemical derivatives that make up most of our pesticide cornucopia. </p>
<p>I read a breathless press release somewhere that Walmart was getting ready to sell such “toxic corn” to unsuspecting consumers. When I saw “toxic” I thought they were going to sell corn infused with permethrin or piperonyl butoxide or even naphthalene. When they said it was Bt I just rolled my eyes.</p>
<p>Appreciate seeing the responses. My sister drives me nuts with this stuff. She has her kids and herself on a soy-free, milk-free, legume free diet. All allergies diagnosed by…her…not a dr. They consume huge quantities of bacon, chocolate, and peanut butter.
</p>
<p>I don’t think modified crops are the end of our existence. I agree with the cross-breeding and evoluation statements upthread. I’m also fond of Round-up beans & corn. Really helps keep down the huge ragweed, etc. on my farm perimeter and <em>that</em> does help with my sinus allergies.</p>
<p>HMMMM, looks to be some truth to the OP.</p>
<p>[90</a> Percent of Corn Seeds Are Coated With Bayer’s Bee-Decimating Pesticide | Mother Jones](<a href=“http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/05/catching-my-reading-ahead-pesticide-industry-confab]90”>90 Percent of Corn Seeds Are Coated With Bayer’s Bee-Decimating Pesticide – Mother Jones)</p>
<p>‘Sorghum explains bioengineered corn’-would make a good headline.</p>
<p>The argument in several posts that bioengineered crops are simply breeding speeded up is false though. Agricultural breeding would never be able to introduce a gene from one species into a different species, as is the case with crops engineered to contain genes from bacteria.</p>
<p>The worst unintended consequence of bioengineered crops is the rapid spread of herbicide resistant weeds. Farmers planted crops engineered to resist a popular herbicide (Round-up), and now natural selection has resulted in weeds that are resistant to Round up. The result is that one of the safer herbicides will be rendered useless.</p>
<p>“quantities of bacon, chocolate, and peanut butter”
-Does she raise her own pigs, coco beans, peanuts?
BTW, it anybody is here with the migrane, good luck consuming chocolate and peanut butter. Chocolate and peanuts are my favorite foods, but I do not grow them, so I am fully aware that i am getting all kind of “gooddies” from the chemicals and other substances that are used growing these products. Now, pig is all different story, I would not touch the stuff, hate it and the parasites you can get from it could kill. However, the safest is to live in a woods, collect berries and killl your own deer (who happened not to feed on any human fields). I think that we all should start doing that, forget civilization, it is not good for a human race, we should go back to living 35 years. Dying young might insure no cancer, how about that? Yes, here is cure for all, die young!!!</p>
<p>Miami, you may be onto something there, but I’m not ready to try it just as yet. ;)</p>