GMO rice - would you eat it?

[Layla]

Not sure if there was a topic on genetically modified rice & other food, couldn't find it so I started one!

Great video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsxFZ0rUCoM

Apparently the GMO rice (& its weed killer that it's resistant to!) are being discussed by the EU though the herbicide is to be banned from EU in 2017!

http://en.greenplanet.net/food/904-transge...e-approved.html

Why are they even discussing this??

It's also alarming that GMO food can be used as food for animals!!

In our little town, if they don't say they want GMO-free food for cows, the farmers just get the one with GMO!!

This is really worrying!!

Apparently there has been (illegal) GMO rice in China in 2005 already: http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cf...31219/story.htm

There was GMO rice in USA too: http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaTopNews...-30351820071106 & in Phillipines: http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/en/news/k...r-rice-gmo-free & even in Europe as food for animals!! http://oryza.com/Global-Rice/Genetically-M...e/EU-China.html & http://www.euractiv.com/en/health/eu-striv.../article-157769

So.. will it really come to this, that only food one grows oneself is semi-safe?

& how can I cultivate rice??! /sigh/

[Layla]

Oh, & here is the Greenpeace petition to sign - I've already signed it!

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/ca...ds-off-our-rice

They are asking "all governments around the world to protect consumers and farmers, their crops and fields by rejecting Bayer’s GM rice, and to stop GM rice field trials"!!

[mountainhiker]

Oh, & here is the Greenpeace petition to sign - I've already signed it!

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/ca...ds-off-our-rice

They are asking "all governments around the world to protect consumers and farmers, their crops and fields by rejecting Bayer’s GM rice, and to stop GM rice field trials"!!

"banned from EU in 2017" so, it will be used for the next 8 years, by then they will have made their money and have another product on the shelf for several years, worthless slap on the wrist.

[Layla]

Yes, stupidity, what is your name?

Oh, your name is MONEY!!

And - Bayer?!! (Or EU regulations?! Let's hope not!!)

[mountainhiker]

Yes, stupidity, what is your name?

Oh, your name is MONEY!!

And - Bayer?!! (Or EU regulations?! Let's hope not!!)

I suspect form past experience, the EU regulations will be more fluff than anything solid, (money)....

[Layla]

If it looks anything like our Slovenian government...?!! yes, indeed..

They just signed a law about 'co-existence' of GMO & non-GMO plants... (How can they even co-exist? sigh..)

There is some 'protection' in it (about farmers getting 'compensation' if their crops get polluted with GMO), I do wonder how long & how good this protection would be in practice..?!! - as far as I know it was quite the opposite worldwide - farmers had to pay to have the privilege to be polluted with GMO stuff?!!

[Simon]

No I wouldn't want to eat it. But these days it's hard to know if the rice is GMO free or not.

What I find the most revolting with GMO food is not that it's genetically modified and all the downsides that brings. No instead I find it worrying that this is a way for huge corporations like Monsanto to take over the "seeds of life". If the GMO crops spreads in nature corporations like Monsanto can claim owner rights to the seeds and plants and charge money, confiscate and sue the farmers etc. In the end consumers, nature and producers will all suffer.

[Simon]

It seems you wont be able to eat fruits anymore either, at least not from the Dole Fresh Vegetables company:

"Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. and Monsanto Co. have entered into an agreement to develop new products that will "enhance consumer vegetable choices," according to the companies. The five-year agreement will focus on broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and spinach. Any new products developed through the agreement will be commercialized by Dole in North America.

Plant breeding techniques will be used to improve the nutrition, flavor, color, texture, taste and aroma of the vegetables. Monsanto's role in the collaboration will be to improve the development of new and beneficial vegetable characteristics. Their efforts will be guided by Dole's knowledge of consumer needs and marketing.

"Dole prides itself on innovation and bringing consumers high quality, nutritious and great-tasting products," said Roger Billingsley, senior vice-president of research and development for Dole Fresh Vegetables. "We are looking forward to collaborating closely with Monsanto to do just that." "

Source

[only_green_no_gray]

It seems you wont be able to eat fruits anymore either, at least not from the Dole Fresh Vegetables company:

"Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. and Monsanto Co. have entered into an agreement to develop new products that will "enhance consumer vegetable choices," according to the companies. The five-year agreement will focus on broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and spinach. Any new products developed through the agreement will be commercialized by Dole in North America.

Plant breeding techniques will be used to improve the nutrition, flavor, color, texture, taste and aroma of the vegetables. Monsanto's role in the collaboration will be to improve the development of new and beneficial vegetable characteristics. Their efforts will be guided by Dole's knowledge of consumer needs and marketing.

"Dole prides itself on innovation and bringing consumers high quality, nutritious and great-tasting products," said Roger Billingsley, senior vice-president of research and development for Dole Fresh Vegetables. "We are looking forward to collaborating closely with Monsanto to do just that." "

Source

They would taste better if they were completely natural

[Simon]

They would taste better if they were completely natural

Yes I completely agree with you. Organic fruits, vegetables and food in general tastes much better than the "ordinary" food. :cute:

[Simon]

GM food safe? Chickens fed GM corn refuse to eat it. "[R]ats fed on GM potatoes suffered from a weakened immune system and stunted growth of their internal organs..." Yet we humans eat this?

[Esperahol]

I understand some of the concerns to a point, but I have to wonder if most people who are complaining would actually know the difference if no one told them. I mean if I made a meal of GM foods and didn't tell you would you really know the difference? It's like when people say they know their wines or how they only like one specific brand, but when put to the test they can't really say which is which. I'm not saying you guy are wrong or trying to be disagreeable, I'm just trying to play Devil's Advocate for a minute. Well, that and I can't see GM as a purely evil thing anymore then I can see insulin as a bad thing. I mean the same techniques used to make GM foods are generally used to mass-produce insulin and work-out how genes in the human body work. And some GM foods have been very helpful and reducing world hunger thanks to things like Golden Rice which is specifically enriched.

[Isabellas2007]

I would rather not eat any GMO foods. That is why I try to get from farmers markets or grow my own stuff. However, with all the different seeds available from the companies it is nearly impossible to get the non-GMO foods even in the seed form. This is why I decided to buy nothing but organic non-modified foods.

[sillylucy]

I don't want to eat any GMO foods. I don't know why more people are not outraged by this and still buy and eat GMO foods. I can see if I was living in a country where food was limited, but not here in America.

[Sweetpea]

I don't want to eat any GMO foods. I don't know why more people are not outraged by this and still buy and eat GMO foods. I can see if I was living in a country where food was limited, but not here in America.

Because in many areas organics are very cost prohibitive for most. I would love to cut GMO's from my house but we wouldnt have enough to eat if I did. I could take on a second job to pay for it but then I would never see my family. While I feel horriblr about the situation it is expensive to eat as it is where I live and organics can be 2-3x the overpriced conventional produce.

[greenman]

There is a lot of controversy surrounding GM0 food. The defenders claim it is safe for human consumption and those against GMO claim it is dangerous to health. A study in China showed ingested miRNA (plays a role in various diseases) survives digestion and disrupts cell function.

Personally, i wouldn't eat GMO.

[Esperahol]

A study in China showed ingested miRNA (plays a role in various diseases) survives digestion and disrupts cell function.

Personally, i wouldn't eat GMO.

miRNA can play a role in various diseases, but only because it is a natural part of the human organism and any part that malfunctions leads to altered processes. Further miRNA are short, easily destroyed bits of coding which in the presents of the heat and pH of a normal body can not last long enough to do anything. This is even more obvious considering that like most issues regarding RNA and it's kin there has to be a lead or tag to direct the combination/usage of the sample with the other areas of the cell/body. In other words there really isn't a way for a random bit of highly sensitive genetic material to spontaneously attach it's self to the parts of a random cell and raise Cain, Abel, and Seth, especially if this miRNA is coming from a plant. There are in fact differences between plants and people as shocking as that might seem.