Dodging the Negative Reaction To GE Crops

BINC writes "Wired has an article up today entitled 'Selective Breeding Gets Modern.'" From the article: "Genetically modified food has gotten a chilly reception from consumers, especially in Europe and Asia. Just last week, Japan suspended imports of American long-grain rice after authorities discovered that a genetically modified variety had accidentally mixed with conventional rice. To skirt such problems altogether, biotech companies are creating superior plants using genetics technology that is advanced but which falls short of grafting genes from one organism into another."

Comments

Re:Someone remind me...

[debilo]

GE foods available for purchace are never harmful to humans.

What a bold an unfounded statement.

They are tested extensivly before release.

So are drugs, and yet we have huge scandals every few years because someone made a mistake.

So, while GE foods could pose health risks (both to humans and the enviroment), they usually don't.

They usually don't? How do you know? How long has GE food been around, and to what extent has it been produced? We don't have enough empirical data as of yet to come to the conclusion that they are "never harmful to humans".

Corporations owning our entire food supply?

[ikekrull]

GE crops are patented and trademarked. You can't independently grow these foods, prices are completely insulated from traditional agricultural pricing mechanisms and the danger of these corporations dumping vast amounts of GE crops at a loss only to make it up by raising prices and exploiting the monopoly they just gained later on is obvious, and very real.

Not to mention the terrible weakness and loss of variety that will result from basing entire food chains only on the single strain that provides the biggest profits for the corporation who holds the patent on the crop.

Basically, it comes down to an issue of trust. And no, i don't trust Monsanto to act ethically, fairly or honestly, and I have no trust in the governments that supposedly provide the checks and balances on these companies either.

GE food would probably be fine under the following conditions:

No patents on genetic sequences.

No forced sterilisation of seeds.

If these GE foods really are that good, why can't they compete on their merits with other foodstuffs instead of having all these additional 'GRM' - genetic rights management mechanisms added.

Thats my big beef with GE foods, its got nothing to do with productivity or efficiency. People have been growing their own food for thousands of years - widespread GE foods would essentially criminalize that activity.

Re:Someone remind me...

[rts008]

Not all of the opposition to GM crops stems from "...asshole science-fearing luddites."
How about all of the farmers getting sued for infringement by Monsanto because Monsanto's GM crops contaminated the farmer's own crops?

Start here:
(http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls =org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=GM+crops +%2B+infringement+lawsuits&btnG=Google+Search)

or here's this:
" The real possibility of interbreeding is dramatized by the defense of farmers against lawsuits filed by Monsanto, the agribusiness company most involved in research and development of genetically modified crops. The company has filed patent infringement lawsuits against some farmers. Monsanto claims that the farmers obtained Monsanto-licensed genetically modified seeds from an unknown source and did not pay royalties to Monsanto. The farmers claim that their unmodified crops were cross-pollinated from someone else's genetically modified crops planted a field or two away.

Percy Schmeiser has been farming in Saskatchewan, Canada, for 53 years. He has served in the Canadian Parliament and been a mayor. Instead of retiring, he has spent the last several years fighting Monsanto after having been sued for patent infringement. Schmeiser grew canola plants on his farm, over the years developing his own seed that was resistant to diseases common in western Canada.

Property rights

In 1998, he was sued by Monsanto, charging that Schmeiser had infringed on their patent by growing genetically altered canola--Monsanto's Roundup Ready--without paying their technology fee. Schmeiser claimed he had never purchased seed from Monsanto. The suit went to trial in June 2000 in the Federal Court of Canada. The judge ruled that it didn't matter how Monsanto's genetically altered canola got onto Schmeiser's land, that any conventional plant that cross-pollinates with the genetically modified plants becomes Monsanto's property, that patent infringement had taken place and that Schmeiser must pay his 1998 profits from his canola crop to Monsanto." This is from here: (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/i s_30_38/ai_87353922)

So maybe you want to change that last declaration a little, unless you are truly that stupid...if so, nevermind- you're as closed minded as your "asshole science-fearing luddites", and a troll not worth having a discussin with.