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Originally Posted by onlyoneplanet Quote: |
Originally Posted by Jefferson This kick about genetically modified foods is 90% hype.
Y'all are aware, aren't you, that you've been eating genetically altered food for decades? All modern farmers raise "hybrid" corn and beans - which is ALWAYS genetically altered. Certain traits are bred into, and out of, livestock. That means it is genetically altered meat. And do you know that EVERY apple you buy is genetically altered? That's right, they are ALL hybrids!
We're NOT talking about spraying harmful chemicals into stuff - although that's done by some food companies who are using the chemicals as preservatives.
People would do well to honestly look at what is actually harmful and what is not. This GA Food hype in Europe was basically a political ploy - and a lot of gullible people bought into it. | Selective breeding isn't what I'm concerned about. If by "genetically modified", you mean farmers are simply planting crops containing favorable traits, without anyone tampering with them in a laboratory, then I'd hardly consider it genetic engineering by, say, Monsanto's standards.
What I do know is that I won't eat anything that doesn't have a "certified organic" stamp on it. Farming is incredibly important, and I don't want to see the industry taken over by fatcats without any environmental conscience. Nature is perfection, and for all she's provided us, she deserves a little more appreciation than a simple Earth Day. On a grand scale, I think the only real contribution man has made to this world is suicide.
And another thing I know is that it's pretty fucked up to force third world farmers into complete dependency on these crops with the self-terminating gene. |
That's simply not what's going on.
Do you folks know what Hybrids are? Virtually EVERY crop that has been planted by EVERY farmer in developed countries has been a HYBRID for over 50 years. Even every apple you eat is a hybrid - unless is is from root-stock "crab apple" roots.
Virtually ALL livestock is Hybrid stock. One breed is artificially and intentionally crossed with another. In addition, almost all farmers do selective breeding.
And guess what? Though that makes these crops and this livestock Genetically Modified, it does NOT make these crops, or this livestock, bad or harmful! In fact, selective breeding and hybrid stock is why beef and pork have only a percentage of the fat they used to have. It's why chicken is more tender.
I can also assure you that most of the people who are all scared about "chemicals" and "bio-engineered" crops and meat are simply wrong. I'll refer you to the "Alar Myth".
So you're all free to pay 3x more money for "certified organic" produce and meat if you wish. But the majority of the time, you're just paying more money for the same product. I am close enough to agriculture to know exactly how this works - and, in fact, many of the people in my family are farmers. I can give you a 100% guarantee that, though they are not organic, you will NEVER find ANYTHING in the beef they sell that is NOT in organic beef. It's just not there.
But the last, and most significant, thing that puzzles me is this: Most people who are "earth friendly" and "organic" are also people who are determined to try to live the longest. If you truly believed in the environment, and that human beings are destroying it,
wouldn't you try to die young? Wouldn't you WANT to die as young as possible, having had NO children, in order to be as minimally intrusive to the environment as possible? You should NOT be taking ANY kind of medication for ANYTHING - preventative or otherwise. It's just self-contradictory. Just a thought...