The hype to use genetically modified seeds is incredible. And yet there are a lot of questions about their safety and the actual benefits. Listen to Dr. Mercola's interview of Jeffrey Smith below. I've posted part one of the six-part interview. Most corn and soy products in the U.S. come from GMO seed to resist application of Round Up pesticide. And it's genetically altering the bacteria in the digestive system. Scary stuff. But what it's doing to Indian farmers is unconscionable!
The GM genocide: Thousands of Indian farmers are committing suicide after using genetically modified crops
Monsanto execs have a revolving door arrangement with FDA. More corruption. Check out each segment on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hErvV5YEHkE From time to time, these videos disappear, but if you continue to google " world according to mon santo video" you can find it through other sources.
ReplyDeleteLong, but very worth watching.
Also watch the new video, "Food, Inc." to see how badly food is processed in the US, and how our own farmers are being threatened and sued into poverty by Monsanto.
ReplyDeleteLet me get this straight ... the claim is that because farmers bought into something that didn't pan out they committed suicide and it is the fault of the people who sold them something that didn't work.
ReplyDeleteI sympathize having more than once bought something that didn't work as advertised. But I didn't kill myself. In the case of agricultural innovation there is something called a test plot to evaluate the claims. Prudence dictates that that be done.
This sounds like a scam to justify more government regulation and intervention. I don't trust government to do anything right. I trust them even less than corporations that at least go out of business if they scam their customers on average.
This smells like nonsense.
I don't know, Ray. There is a long track record of first world pharmaceutical (and other)companies dumping on the third world. Nestle convinced third world women that breastfeeding wasn't as good for their babies as bottle-feeding. They killed a lot of babies because of the lack of clean water, etc. In Peru women were targeted with "vaccines" that were laced with contraceptives. The third world is often used as unknowing guinea pigs. I think this soundsl like Monsanto going in for the hard sell just like Nestle did.
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree with that Mary. What I disagree with is the notion that the buyer is without culpability. The baby milk thing was an unforeseen consequence caused by first world/third world mutual stupidity and failure to follow directions I would bet. (boil the water??)
ReplyDeleteThe poor me victimhood strategy when things go bad just doesn't wash with me. It's too much like an excuse to avoid your own responsibility. (rhetorical you)
The problem is transcultural. When you cross cultural lines and peddle things that sound like magic it's easy to take the course when things don't work out that the magicians were evil. Where is the responsibility of the consumer to test the claims made and to follow the directions?
How can Monsanto be innocent when, among other things, their execs want legislation (or lack of it), transfer over to powerful positions in the FDA, succeed in setting policy to benefit Monsanto, and return to the company to work?
ReplyDeleteHow can Monsanto be innocent when they sue farmers out of business, because they do not choose Monsanto round-up ready soybeans (GMO), or ruin the guys whose livelihood for decades was to harvest seeds for farms for next year's crop?
If you don't watch any other video, you really should watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIQaumgRD3Q&feature=related
ReplyDeleteWhich Marxist dictator stated, "when you control the food, you control the people"?
Besides controlling the selling of seeds and farming of the crops, have you read labels to find anything that does not contain soy?
Ray, this discussion reminds me of one I had with an acquaintance who said he kept his children in public schools so they could fight the corruption there. I was astounded and said, "It's not a fair fight." The same is true with these international corporations who, as far as I can see, are snake oil salesmen. Those who deliberately set out to exploit the little guys are not without guilt.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, can you give some references for your information about Monsanto and the FDA and the lawsuits against farmers?
It all makes me one to plant a huge garden using old fashioned seeds -- if you can find them.
Mary says:"Ray, this discussion reminds me of one I had with an acquaintance who said he kept his children in public schools so they could fight the corruption there. I was astounded and said, "It's not a fair fight." The same is true with these international corporations who, as far as I can see, are snake oil salesmen. Those who deliberately set out to exploit the little guys are not without guilt."
ReplyDelete1) first comment is certainly correct. To fight the insidious propaganda that is taught in the schools you have to confront it intellectually and forcefully and children are not going to be able to do that.
2) large and international are not synonymous with evil and "snake oil salesman" is frankly a emotionally loaded term of opprobrium. They are selling something certainly. To call it "snake oil" is to make an a priori judgment that it is no effective. That is something that the user can ascertain and frankly effectiveness depends on what you are trying to achieve. I did some internet research and the claims I saw were mostly about saving money by not having to deal with weeds and not increased yields. You have to measure something against what it is supposed to do. You can also look for other things that it was not supposed to do, but data trumps emotionalism.
3) "set out to deliberately exploit the little guy" -- this is another a priori judgment. Why is using a product that is supposed to reduce agricultural labor and use of fossil fuels (tractors for tilling the ground etc.) any kind of exploitation. You're swallowing the emotional claims of others without evaluation.
4) the drill is: you use these seeds because they are herbicide tolerant so you don't have to expends large amounts of labor tilling your fields to turn under the weeds and stuff and the application of the herbicide keeps the weeds from growing back during the growing season simplifying a lot of other stuff. It appears that that works.
5) If the primary claim is true then there are some advantages the question is do they outweigh the disadvantages. First you have to know what the disadvantages really are. A whole bunch of yelling and screaming by people who have no data and whose minds are made up in the absence of data tells me at least that they are reacting to some a priori propaganda like "big international corporations are evil" ... that's a fallacious meme as far as I'm concerned. I see nothing behind it but prejudice.
My usual posture in these things is SHOW ME THE DATA and leave the emotions to yourself. (rhetorical you) ... BTW I keep saying that because nowadays you can't seem to use a rhetorical you without someone taking offense.
Cheers, Ray
There was much research/footnotes done for the "worl d acording to Monsan to" video. And additional midwestern farmers were on camera for "Food, Inc." I highly recommend that people watch them and wake up. Lots more is available on the information highway. A good resource is http://www.westonaprice.org/ Weston Price Foundation. Not only has our family started our own garden, but have enjoyed drinking raw milk and raw milk products for a couple of years. It was an answer to prayers for a member of our family whose dr. insisted he take phosomax (which causes jawbone death, among other side effects). Google Boniva dangers sometime and read the comments. Read "Real Food" by Nina Planck, available at the library. You won't want to eat the "food-like substances" with which bigAg fills our grocer's shelves. I am not a fan of Greenpeace, but I sure do want the truth from our Gov't and the business it allows to monopolize the food industry.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.polyfacefarms.com/ Polyface Farm in the Shendandoahs raises healthy meats. http://hartkeisonline.com/ blogs about raw milk and real food. BTW, not only are we concerned about eating nutritional food (what a concept!) but are just learning alternative medicine (which has a place along with allopathic medicine), especially when the US implements socialized medicine. We may often end up treating ourselves and it's good to be prepared!
ReplyDeleteTo put things in a little perspective Monsanto while large is about 35 times smaller than Walmart as measured in total revenue.
ReplyDelete2009 Walmart 405.607 Billion Revenue
2009 Monsanto 11.579 Billion Revenue
There are clearly significant issues about gene manipulation and the fact that the genes migrate. One issue is the hubris that they really know enough about gene behavior to directly modify the genome in predictable and useful ways. The idea of patenting lifeforms that breed independently is not going to fly long term. It's uncontrollable. It also strikes me as unconscionable.
That being said the idea that Monsanto is responsible for people killing themselves because they had a crop failure is crazy. It is also crazy to pretend Monsanto has the kind of power being projected.
A lot of paranoia in the coverage as well as statements that don't work for me at least:
1) Farmers made to pay too much for seed (4x more than competing seed) Question: What forces them?
2) Can't sell their cotton because prices are too low. Question: Why are prices too low if there isn't enough cotton because it doesn't work?
The video had a mish mash of claims ... I looked at episodes 1 through 4 and 8 through 10. It seems to me that if there was much substance to it that national governments would step in. So color me skeptical.
There are a group of studies about genetically modified foods and there impact done by government sources (link below). According to what I've read so far, there haven't been any human studies so no one really knows the long-term impact of people consuming GM foods.
ReplyDeleteMonstanto, of course, says there is no problem (which is what I'm talking about when I call them snake-oil salesmen - that and some charges that they have manipulated data). Monsanto seems to me to be acting like the big-pharmaceutical firs that claimed the early pill had no side effects. Meanwhile, it was killing and injuring women.
You want data? -- for a number of government studies here's the link.
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/GMODangers/RecentGovernmentStudies/index.cfm
I admit I haven't done enough research on this, but the discussion has aroused my interest.
"Trucksnthistles" can be deleted; I used her computer and re-entered with the next comment. I am "Anonymous". BTW, you may also be interested in the FoxNewsReporters vs. Monsanto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axU9ngbTxKw&feature=related
ReplyDelete