Say No To GMO Before It's Too Late

Choice
eat GMO, or starve...even if you think your being careful, chances are your taking it in through secondary means (food fed to animals that then to you.

Saying no to GMO based off of a single manufacturer is like saying no to water because you've heard that water in Mexico isn't safe.

It's silly and irresponsible to deny GMO's can be beneficial. What about corns that don't have pesticide, but are made to thrive in harsh conditions? How about Tomatoes that repel fungus which decimates crops? How about GMO beef or salmon that grow faster and require less food?

Monsanto is one of the companies that have a terrible reputation based of their desire to monetize everything they do, but in the end anyone does this to get a better yield. In some cases, those changes are harmful, but I really call upon everyone to do some research before you put down ALL GMO based on Monsanto's work.

reply to post by Kali74

Heres a reply to a letter from a letter i sent to my senator,

Dear Mr. D:
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for the Genetically Modified Food Right to Know Act. I agree that food safety laws should be able to respond to the possible consequences of genetically engineered foods, particularly those that contain antibiotic-resistant genes, viral promoters and foreign proteins never before consumed by humans.

Agriculture is being transformed by rapid advances in technology, and techniques to enhance the genetic makeup of agricultural plants and animals are constantly evolving. Producers are interested in the application of new technologies to improve productivity, consistency, and quality; to introduce new food, fiber, and medical products; and to protect the environment.

The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council produced a report assessing the food safety risks of consuming genetically engineered food. The report concluded that unexpected and unintended compositional changes arise with all forms of plant and animal genetic modification, but found that, so far, no genetically engineering related adverse human health effects have been documented. However, the report's authors cited "sizeable gaps" in the ability to identify compositional changes caused by all forms of genetic modification—whether genetically engineered or conventional—and their relevance for human health, and they recommended new approaches for assessing the safety of new foods both before and after they enter the market.

The U.S. food supply is among the safest in the world due to the hard work of government regulatory agencies and the precautions taken by the food industry. Our country’s track record of success does not mean, however, that now is a time to rest on our laurels. We must be vigilant in addressing food safety issues as they come, and I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to protect consumers from potentially harmful agricultural products.

As you know, the Genetically Modified Food Right to Know Act, H.R. 6636, was introduced to the House of Representatives in the 110th Congress. This bill would require food producers to label products that contain genetically modified organic material. Additionally, the bill would require the government to test food products at various points in the production and delivery process to determine if a food is in fact properly labeled.

Although this bill has not yet been introduced to the current Congress, I will closely monitor this legislation when it is.

Again, thank you for contacting me about this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can ever be of assistance to you on this or any other matter.


Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

reply to post by jenlt


Yes, Jenlt...that is true. I have a picture of those white rats. The offspring of the rat fed a GMO diet is stunted severely and died very shortly thereafter of much disease...the picture speaks volumes.

A Bullsh**** automated response to justify selling out his constituents.

Originally posted by guitarist
reply to post by Kali74

 

Heres a reply to a letter from a letter i sent to my senator,

Dear Mr. D:
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for the Genetically Modified Food Right to Know Act. I agree that food safety laws should be able to respond to the possible consequences of genetically engineered foods, particularly those that contain antibiotic-resistant genes, viral promoters and foreign proteins never before consumed by humans.

Agriculture is being transformed by rapid advances in technology, and techniques to enhance the genetic makeup of agricultural plants and animals are constantly evolving. Producers are interested in the application of new technologies to improve productivity, consistency, and quality; to introduce new food, fiber, and medical products; and to protect the environment.

The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council produced a report assessing the food safety risks of consuming genetically engineered food. The report concluded that unexpected and unintended compositional changes arise with all forms of plant and animal genetic modification, but found that, so far, no genetically engineering related adverse human health effects have been documented. However, the report's authors cited "sizeable gaps" in the ability to identify compositional changes caused by all forms of genetic modification—whether genetically engineered or conventional—and their relevance for human health, and they recommended new approaches for assessing the safety of new foods both before and after they enter the market.

The U.S. food supply is among the safest in the world due to the hard work of government regulatory agencies and the precautions taken by the food industry. Our country’s track record of success does not mean, however, that now is a time to rest on our laurels. We must be vigilant in addressing food safety issues as they come, and I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to protect consumers from potentially harmful agricultural products.

As you know, the Genetically Modified Food Right to Know Act, H.R. 6636, was introduced to the House of Representatives in the 110th Congress. This bill would require food producers to label products that contain genetically modified organic material. Additionally, the bill would require the government to test food products at various points in the production and delivery process to determine if a food is in fact properly labeled.

Although this bill has not yet been introduced to the current Congress, I will closely monitor this legislation when it is.

Again, thank you for contacting me about this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can ever be of assistance to you on this or any other matter.


Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

I am and have been aware of GMO's and the steps one can take to move towards a healthier planet and life however; reading some of this thread disturbed me. I understand everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that is great however that should never involve putting down anothers. When a person is speaking about the health of things they care about or even starving people (and animals), care should be taken on both sides.

That being said, if we can modify a tomato to survive frost by injecting it with flounder dna or adding vitamin a to rice for countries that are lacking such nutrients why can't this company find a way to create more crops without changing the crops structure. Why not build more greenhouses with such funding or crossbreed plants like how it used to be until the proper product is developed?

This company has been around for a long time why are people so hungry in so many countries if they are achieving what they say they are set out to do.

Not knowing what goes on your plate is playing an unfair hand in the game of life. Our bodies are not designed to play a guessing game while it is trying to digest our meal no wonder people are sluggish, tired, depressed, infertile, suffering from just about an a-z of symptoms with no true diagnosis except a guess at fibromyalgia.
The long term side effects of consuming these food will not be reviewed for years this making our kids the guinea pigs. What was wrong with our food to begin with? There are areas that need food to grow in droughts but instead we grow tons of food in a country that has tons of food and then throw it all in the trash for advertisements or because we made too much.

I am not comfortable with a company that would take something natural, make it unnatural, and then lay claim to it serving my dinners. My family has dramatically changed our diets and purchase organic when we can and hit the farmers markets every chance we can. We even plant our own home garden using organic seeds. We do harvest the seeds but save them in our "incase" shelter so that we can be return customers helping build our local community up. We know that everything is supply and demand so we have to demand it and help others learn why they should too.

I can not help but wonder if this "terminator seed" has something to do with the bees and if the sick bees has something to do with the sick bats.

reply to post by UdderlyInsane


You have a lot of great points, I was wondering too if there might be a connection between GMO and the bees dying off.

reply to post by jenlt


Completely diseased lol...rats are just like humans thats why they use them to test things, you actually think there tryin to do this to the whole world i just busted a gut

reply to post by guitarist


Upchuck Schumer is one of the most corrupt, dishonest, disgusting, putrid, villanous parasites currently infesting the Congress. I am so glad he is no longer my Senator.

I just wanted to update the thread with some documentaries I've watched recently.

“Poison on the Platter”, is an eye-opening film, made by Mahesh Bhatt and Ajay Kanchan, illustrating how all of our lives are gonna be (adversely) affected by genetically modified foods. It is no more a farmer’s issue alone, it’s a matter of the consumers’ right to food safety. You and I wouldn’t even be able to separate/choose a normal Brinjal from/over a GM one, if Bt Brinjal - a GM crop produced by the mighty agri-MNC Monsanto - is let through by our corrupt regulatory body. Let’s put up strong resistance, demanding a ban on GM food/crops for 5 years, until they are proven safe for human consumption by independent, long-term studies.

Poison on the Platter

Among scientists, the scientific community is deeply divided as to whether these foods are safe or not, so the burden of proof is on industry. And so far, the corporations have failed to demonstrate the safety of these foods on humans through a single study. In the last thirty years global demand for food has doubled. In a race to feed the planet, scientists have discovered how to manipulate DNA, the blueprint of life, and produce what they claim are stronger, more disease-resistant crops. However, fears that Genetically Modified Food may not be safe for humans or the environment has sparked violent protest. Are we participating in a dangerous global nutritional experiment? This informative film helps the viewer decide if the production of genetically modified food is a panacea for world hunger or a global poison.

Genetically Modified Food: Panacea or Poison

Stay aware and stay mad.

I came across this site today, Food Democracy Now thanks to a newsletter I subscribed to at Organic Consumers Association. Those looking to take action but not knowing where to start may find some answers on either of these two sites.

Dr. Don Huber was Professor Emeritus of plant pathology at Purdue University for 35 years.

On January 17, internationally recognized plant pathologist Dr. Don Huber, wrote a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack warning of the discovery of a new pathogen and a possible link between Roundup Ready® (GMO) corn and soybeans and severe reproductive problems in livestock as well as widespread crop failure.

The science is out there proving that this stuff is not safe. At the very least no more GMO seeds should be planted until further testing is done. I know that it is hard to argue against the big bio-tech companies claims that these seeds will feed the hungry all over the world but, really think about that...when has any multi-billion corporation ever looked out for the little guy? There is proof that GMO crops do not yield more harvest than non-GMO nor are they more resitant to climate extremes, all through out this thread. So where is the win these companies are promising?

History shows us that too often we accept what we are told only to find out too late we accepted lies. In this situation too late could equal only the elite surviving.

When I learned about GMO food, I was concerned that there is little to no way of knowing what is GMO and what is wholesome, natural food.
After much research, I found this guide to brands that do NOT use GMO food. It also names brands which may use GMO products.
I suspect that it says "MAY use GMO" to keep from being sued by the large food conglomerates that seem to be using GMO products.
This guide has been helpful to me in making my now "informed" grocery selections.
Link for the pdf guide here:
shoppers guide

I have also learned that not all "organic" food is non GM!
Grower's are getting around this by taking GM seeds and growing them in "organic" conditions.
These GM foods are then labled "organically grown"!!
It seems that this has compelled some in the organic foods world to implement a PLU code to help us consumers identify truly organic, natural produce:

How to tell GE food by PLU code (produce/fruit ONLY at this time)
Examine produce stickers on the fruits and vegetables you buy.
The PLU code for
-- conventionally grown fruit consists of 4 numbers
-- organically grown fruit has 5 numbers prefaced by the number 9
-- GM fruit has 5 numbers prefaced by the number 8.

Source

Also,when making milk purchases, make sure the label clearly says that it is free of the synthetic hormone "rGBH". If that is not on the label, chances are VERY good that the cows that produced the milk were being given this synthetic hormone. (estrogen)

Unfortunately, I have yet to see any packaged or processed foods with any sort of labeling to warn the concerned consumer.

I hope this helps others to make more informed food choices...we are what we eat, after all.

Peace

reply to post by Elostone


Thanks very much, I've downloaded that pdf. Now to keep our choice in what we eat permanent.