GMO Questions

[Astronut25]

Over the past moth, there has a lot of anti-GMO activities in my locale mostly arising due to the county trying to outlaw it, against the ruling of the state & Federal Government (http://www.co.jackson.or.us/Files/JACK%2015-1%20Full%20Ordinance.pdf and http://www.co.josephine.or.us/files/17-58ballottitlewebsite.pdf).

The problem I'm having is that the only reasons against GMO I can find are purely superstitious in nature. Also, I am only aware of how the people in my area feel about it. I'd like to know what people around the world think (and please give some support to your opinion), as well as other countries' laws on the subject.

Just in case you don't know GMO=Genetically Modified Organism

[Aghanim]

Actually there are some legitimate reasons against GMO, which are:

Cross pollination with nature and Mosanto copyright stuff that I do not understand well. But the plant itself isn't that dangerous, and cross-breeding is genetic engineering, to some extent

[Accelerando]

indeed, monsanto patented GMO can cripple esp. in developing countries because the plants are engineered not to produce offspring. so the farmers can't grow crops unless they buy more seeds from monsanto.

[Astronut25]

indeed, monsanto patented GMO can cripple esp. in developing countries because the plants are engineered not to produce offspring. so the farmers can't grow crops unless they buy more seeds from monsanto.

Wouldn't that nullify the cross pollinating problem? Since the crops are sterile, they cannot pollinate others. (first link paragraph 635.02 sentence c)

Also, why would you buy GMO crops if you want to use your produce to seed the next season. Wouldn't you just get the non-GMO instead? maybe the products should be required to be labelled as sterile or not.

[razark]

indeed, monsanto patented GMO can cripple esp. in developing countries because the plants are engineered not to produce offspring. so the farmers can't grow crops unless they buy more seeds from monsanto.

To my understanding, the courts ruled that Monsanto couldn't use the modification that prevented seed reuse. Monsanto's response was to put some clause in the contract that even though the seed was viable, the farmers purchasing from them wouldn't reuse harvested seeds. The cross-pollination issue is because the genetically copyrighted (or is it patented?) material is found in crops that are growing in the fields of nearby farms that didn't pay Monsanto. Obviously, those farmers are stealing Monsanto's IP.

[Accelerando]

ah, truth. can pollinate, fertile, but have to return the seeds to monsanto. my durp

[Creature]

There's definitely much superstition and irrational fear about GMOs. However like razark said, the major opposition is because of Monsanto's aggressive and outright evil approach to patents and lawsuits.

Disclaimer: all following is based on my memory and very random and possibly biased sources. This is however what the opposition says at least here so take is as such.

I've understood that they have a habit of actually demanding 3rd world farmers to pay up if the wind carries Monsanto products from neighbouring fields. Also in the past they've covered up some serious environmental issues with certain pesticides. They've also some time ago tried to aquire some kind of patent about pig breeding in I think 160 countries that would've forced basically every pig farmer to pay a lisence fee to them.

As for the effects of GMO on health, the jury is still out and probably will be forever seeing as we can't even figure out if eating normal animal fat is good or bad for you in the end (low-carb vs low-fat diets).

One major issue also is that using GMO crops can increase the pest resistance and also increase the yield of the fields. And this really is an issue, because even old fashioned plants draw up nutrients from the ground faster than they replenish (hence fertilizers) and the more you increase the yield, the more fertilizer you need and those have some serious environmental impacts.

Pest resistance is on the other hand even greater issue. Because it's effectively directing the evolution of weeds and pests in a very rapid pace. First you ensure that the field is unhabitable to effectively all other life than your GMO-shielded crop. Then comes along a weed or insect population that's naturally not affected, which means they have a huge patch of living space with no natural enemies. So you need a next round of modifying to combat the new threat. But nature probably has an endless supply of enemies to provide so it's a battle you can never really win.

[Kryten]

indeed, monsanto patented GMO can cripple esp. in developing countries because the plants are engineered not to produce offspring. so the farmers can't grow crops unless they buy more seeds from monsanto.

That's the terminator system-it's cropped up continually in anti-GMO arguments since it was first proposed, but it was never actually used in a commercial product due to public outcry.

I've understood that they have a habit of actually demanding 3rd world farmers to pay up if the wind carries Monsanto products from neighbouring fields.

That was a single case against a guy in Canada, Percy Schmeiser. He had a canola farm downwind from one growing glyphosphate-resistant canola, and sprayed his field with large doses of glyphosphate to deliberately select for resistant plants. Over 90% of his plants had the resistance when he was arrested.

ah, truth. can pollinate, fertile, but have to return the seeds to monsanto. my durp

That's standard M.O. for most seed providers, it's not directly related to GMO.

[pslytely psycho]

Ah Monsanto, the company that brought us....

· Saccharin

· Agent Orange

· DDT

· Aspartame

· Bovine Growth Hormone

Such good guys.....They make the RIAA look like angels...after all. the wind didn't blow illegal downloads onto your computer. (not that I endorse these thieves either, but at least they are looking for a deliberate act, not an act of nature) Monsanto ought to be suing God instead. (they would probably win)

As this quote points out....

" Farms unfortunate enough to be downwind of Monsanto have been sued because of cross-pollination with Monsanto plants from neighbouring farms. Because these farmers did not purchase seeds from Monsanto, they were “stealing†the benefits of this genetic engineering, and thus, successfully sued until they lost their businesses to the greedy company.

Farmers have incurred millions of dollars in judgements, sometimes even being required to pay for Monsanto’s investigation of their crops and Monsanto’s legal expenses. According to the Center for Food Safety, the odds are stacked against the farmers. “Monsanto has an annual budget of $10 million dollars and a staff of 75 devoted solely to investigating and prosecuting farmers.â€Â

quote from Monsanto, the real Cyberdyne

http://daisyluther.blogspot.com/2012/04/monsanto-real-cyberdyne.html

Edited April 18, 2014 by pslytely psycho

[Kryten]

Such good guys.....They make the RIAA look like angels...after all. the wind didn't blow illegal downloads onto your computer. (not that I endorse these thieves either, but at least they are looking for a deliberate act, not an act of nature) Monsanto ought to be suing God instead. (they would probably win)

From the actual court judgement;

[43] At the University of Saskatchewan in the fall of 1997, four seeds of each sample were planted and two, three or four of the seeds germinated from each sample. When these reached the two or three leaf stage they were sprayed with Roundup herbicide. More than three weeks later all plants from five of these samples had survived the spraying. One of the samples from the border of field 5, from which only one seed germinated, did not contain any plant tolerant to Roundup. Mr. Mitchell believes this demonstrated that Roundup Ready canola was growing on Mr. Schmeiser's fields.

So at least 12/13 plants were resistant. Sounds totally accidental.

[karolus10]

Main problem with GMO is money, companies that develop and sell seeds of "super plants" don't like the idea that farmers will be able to buy seeds once and then farm new plants over and over again... think about it like agriculture version of DRM.