Genetically modified crops' days may be numbered

Do we really want to stop GM?

If the answer is yes (I hope it is) then we need to find ways of determining what is and what isn't a GM product. In the US this isn't going to be easy but it is doable. It's somewhat easier in other countries at present but I believe that will soon change under the new proposed trade agreements penned by Codex Alimentarius and being pushed by the WTO and WHO.

It would take some research and leg work. Too much in fact for any one person but if everyone interested started looking into where products you buy come from, how they are manufacture and by whom and shared their findings we'd be half way home.

Perhaps a good place to start would be here:-
http://todayyesterdayandtomorrow.wordpress.com/category/eating-can-kill-you/shop...

They have more info on the home page:-
http://todayyesterdayandtomorrow.wordpress.com/

If you know of other sites please post em.

The only way we will get rid of GM food is if we stop buying it!

More info on Codex Alimentarius here:-
http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/index.php?page_id=157

I will be so happy when GMO's are DOA.

But my statement would still hold true. What is the terror of a plant whose structure has been modified rather than what we eat?

Finally, csmonut has touched on the real issue. If someone could get posted the United Nations projections on world hunger and its relationship to present levels of agricultural output, you will see the same thing---more, more, more, people and product. The UN is always concerned...particularly when unknown climate change is factored.

If you were to walk through a cornfield of 40 years ago and then one today, you would notice four subtle differences today 1) The corn is grown more tightly 2) The ears of corn are higher off the ground to reduce predation from "smaller ground animals i.e.pheasants, groundhogs, geese" 3) The ears of corn are larger 4) Many corn plants have two ears per stalk.

I believe all of the above changes occurred without genetic modification other than intelligent cross-breeding

I don't know why each stalk cannot have two or even three ears on it--it might have to do with "ear weight" collapsing the stalk prior to harvest. A GM experiment would be attempted here. If one could have a corn plant with a stronger stalk which could support three ears of corn prior to harvest---you get the picture, I hope.

All of the above increases yield for a hungry world...

I guess what I am trying to say is intelligent cross breeding without GM has given terrific results.

The insecticide / pesticide / fertilizer issues--Man, be careful here...GM is experimenting into these territories. For example, what attracts a corn borer to the plant in the first place? If the corn plant could have a "natural" repellent genetically engineered into its genome, or a natural "poison" to kill the grub, but not people, which would allow less pesticide usage--isn't this a good thing?

These are the types of GM experimentation which are going on as well...Technology will always be a double sword, but in my heart I might lean toward better pesticide research than to eat a GM food or at least a GM which has modified what we eat rather than the plant structure itself.

As usual, a neutral answer...sorry!

I realize that to feed the billions of people now on this earth, and the billions more to come, there will have to be more efficient use of water, and more efficient use of crops.
Genetic modification does not sound like the answer.
Besides, they still use massive amounts of persticides, so what's the point of GM?

Thank you JanforGore for your activism and information. Corn is growing under my bird feeders from fallen seed; but I bet it is GM seed so I guess I will pull it. I was so looking forward to some free bird seed as it is quite expensive and I go through a lot of it. No telling what it is doing to the birds. Monsanto should be shut down. St Louis (home to Monsanto) is full of "Pro-Life" Catholics. That is where Pope John Paul II visited in Jan. 1999. To bad the "pro-life" Catholics won't stand up for life in all it's forms.

Unfortunately, their weedkilling poisons have already done their damage to our environment. Darkhorsejim I agree with you.... look at what we do here and do the opposite.That seems to be how you stay healthy. The FDA has to be one of the most corrupted agencies in this country... alongside the EPA and all the rest of them. The multinationals have been allowed to infiltrate our food, our milk, our water, our air, and it was all done without our consent.

People in America when they are made known of GM foods on the whole do not wish to purchase them. We need a farmer revolution in this country that refuses to sign Monsanto's deceiving contract thus binding them for life to their fake food, seeds, and poisons. Farmers now who stand up however, are intimidated, have their organic crops polluted by transgenic pollination, or are bought out. There is nothing these companies won't do to make a profit. If the people then use the power they have with their voices in great numbers, perhaps we can turn back what is happening.... although, these foods have already been on the market for over a decade, and so many are still in the dark about it.

Demanding wholesome natural food the way nature intended is our right, so I do hope to see a backlash in America as we are seeing in Europe and also in Africa. The only way transgenics will get to Africa on the whole is by playing up a food shortage, and that is exactly what the World Bank is doing in order to collude with these companies to make a profit.They don't care on whit about starving people. If they did they would be getting real food to them NOW, not making backdoor political deals.

Maybe I am wrong but to me if they control the crops thru transgenics then what to stop them from further control thru other means. Sort of like Soylent Green. Food in little pills, eliminate the need to do large shopping, less cabinets needed etc. I might be paranoid but anytime big business gets involved I have to think why. Its not enough they are buying up the family farms they want total control. we have to stop buying the products, it may cost more for natural but in the long run our earth and health will do better.

Finally, genetically modified or engineered crops are getting the 10-foot pole treatment. Let's hope that it becomes a trend, a movement & a revelation-or revolution, whatever it takes, that topples Monsanto once & for all. The rest of the world just has to look at us & do the opposite to see how to benefit their society.

"Parallel Development" by Yajanua

"You people," she says, " believe that your civilization has developed for thousands of years, that you can look back to ancient cultures in Asia and the Middle East and trace this development through Europe and into the United States. You say you've made great progress and this is true in many ways. You also look at us, the Shuar and other indigenous people, and you say that we haven't developed, that we've been static, that our lives are 'primitive'. But it simply isn't true. We've always developed. We've cultivated forest plants, learned new ways to fish and hunt; our shamans are constantly understanding new things about healing, journeying, and using herbal remedies. We've developed too -- but the difference is in how it happened. Our way has always! taken into account all other live forms and the lives of our children's children. For us the word 'progress' does not apply if it threatens other species or could possibly harm future generations. How could that be progress? So we've developed in parallel to you -- only we've done it very, very differently." (Spirit of the Shuar by John Perkins)

How can we be so full of ourselves?

Life is about learning perspective, and I honor that. I plan on keeping humility and sincerity as my top goals in life.

Honoring Planet Earth as bet I can.

No GM food in my house... I think. It's hard to be sure.

If nobody buys them....there wont be a need to grow them

Monsanto needs to be brought down.
the US needs also to fight GM plants and animals
from being produced.

Long live the EU and their ethical concerns.....

....crossing plants and self pollinating has been a part of farming for around ten thousand years.....indigenous people across the now called Americas had trade routes and traded seeds from the most hardy plants.....and they even adapted plants to grow in different climate zones....the Incas and Mayans were brilliant at this and many more things....no one has ever come close to the Incas...it mentions Spain....the Catholic church.....and the Indigenous people......try to imagine for a second what this world would be like if no group of people had ever tried to force their God on any other group...and had instead tried to learn from all those that were different from themselves.....Heaven...I guess.....an over populated Heaven....Golden Ruler...Johnnie Hargrave...

And once again, Europe has more wisdom and caring about matters that effect humanity. It gives me hope that there are many people in this world who truly care about our environment, the health and safety of people and biodiversity. I now look for foods imported from countries where I know GM maize and soy is not being grown and used in food. There is a much better chance of not having it in breads, crackers, etc. than buying the processed foods that are made here. As long as GM corn and soy is added to at least 80% of the food here I will do what I can to boycott it. And using a 'food shortage' as an excuse to push GM crops is a true deception. We have plenty of food in the world... we just need the mechanisms to get it to people without the rich controlling its distribution to push up tariffs and put farmers in debt. Conventional, traditional, natural food is the way to go for our planet. I say, thank you people of Europe!