Now's Your Chance to Stop Monsanto's FrankenSugar

This is powerful stuff. "The danger about them is that there were no - NONE independent tests done on them before the FDA approved them. All they went by were 'tests' supposedly done by Monsanto themselves, and even though subsequent testing has shown differences in how they react with the environment and other species, they were passed under the 'substantial equivalence' principle to keep them from being labelled precisely because they are different, and Monsanto even knows that once people know these organisms are in their food they will not buy or eat them, and with good reason!" It reminds me of how they trusted BP when BP said they, themselves, had tested the safety of the deep-water wells and had plans in place to solve any problems--just took their word for it. It's all so out of control.

It also reminds me of the documentary "Tapped" about the bottled water industry. There is practically no oversight of the industry, and when asked, the top people don't even know what is in the plastic they use for the bottles. We must be vigilant; if not for ourselves, for our children. The people in charge are asleep at the wheel.

I can't wait to show this lecture to my husband. The more research we do on this subject, the more amazed we are at the irresponsibility. Wish everyone could see this and really listen, with an open mind. I'm so glad you provide us with this information, Jan. I, for one, am edified.

Thank you for passing it on.

Well, it's the least I can do. You're doing all the leg work. :)

Lol... yes, let's liken labor intensive farming to slavery, while meanwhile we grow steadily more obese and cancerous!

It boggles the mind, doesn't it?

Let's see, we have : agroecology, sustainable agriculture, biodynamics, integrated pest management... all used on a large scale with good yields, less use of pesticides and methods to reduce pests. All with a substanital decrease or non use of poisons and toxins which promotes healthier ecosystems throughout, healthier food, healthier soil, cleaner water and healthier people and other species along with preserving biodiversity. Oh yeah though, give me that RoundUp to douse my apples...Some people truly need to expand ther horizons.

Absolutely. I work in a machine shop that is out in the strawberry fields outside Santa Maria CA. When they spray their chemicals, whether it is fertilizer or to control weeds or bugs, I don't know, but they clear the fields of illegal aliens, the driver of the tractor has a hazmat suit on, and they keep them out of the field for a day. But there we are, inside a shop that is 30 feet from the field, when they spray, a couple of the crew usually get sick the next day, a couple more seem to have severe allergies, and the rest of us just gripe about it. I guess we are an experiment in chemical exposure (like working in a machine shop isn't exposure enough!), and we'll see what happens in 20 years, right?

Well, one of the ways to reduce pests without spraying, is to genetically alter the plants to be toxic to the bugs. Or make them taste bad.

The great majority of the fields around where I work are leased by Giant Foods (Green Giant). Lots of nitrate infiltration into the ground water, nothing but illegal aliens working those fields, but very high profits. The American Dream.

Yes, I've seen them with hazmet suits on... and they expect us to eat that food. It is insanity.

So tell us corndog how does it feel to be a guinea pig ??

Why them chemacals are as safe as water just ask the folks that make it. I bet you couldn't get them near a feild that was just sprayed with that crap.

Sure. Call it job creation.

By the way, I work at one of these labor-intensive farms you're talking about, and it's a great time.

Like any job, that's what retirement is for! At least I'll be healthy at 50, strong as an ox. No high blood pressure, no heart disease, no obesity. Sounds pretty good to me.

lol, on the contrary, actually. the farmers i work for are 55 and look better than a lot of 25 year olds these days.

just think about what you would look like if every day when you went to work, you were exercising. we forget in our lazy society that exercise is actually good for your body!

Well, I can't say I've been there, cause I haven't, I'm just not old enough to see how it will beat me up. But I can say that the farmers I've seen are healthier than they would be if they worked office jobs. By the way, I'm not voting down your comments, so would you lay off mine?

Well in this case it was the wording of the article so I kept it. If you look at my other posts and videos on GMOS here however, I never refer to them as that. So on that I agree to a point, but then other people do react and identify to it as well.

Well you may well be right, but I'm not willing to just sit here doing nothing.

What about those of us that don't drink Beer?

the milk is on me :D

and Kookies?

I don't drink sissy fruit drinks. I drink Milk, water or fruit juice that I make myself with My fruit juicer.Oh an tea I do like a nice cup of hot or cold tea.

I like me an my wife likes me sometimes I don't really give a rats ass if you do or don't. Oh yea I'm not a Hippy. I am I

yes magical cookies... plus everything will be organic :D

OK. Fine. I'll say it. bailey doesn't drink. You want to say he's a sissy because he doesn't escape life's problems by drinking and taking Vicodin like you do? Please. You're so sad. Quit the personal attacks; they just show us how weak you are.
Alright. Now I'm mad I responded to you. Fine. You got me. It won't happen again.

The organic farmer I know doesn't have much of a problem with bugs or weeds. Exception to the rule? He has a PHd in History I believe. Who can say?

Where is this terrible fear of the past coming from? It seems to be a culture-bound syndrome in our society, like koro, the Chinese fear of one's penis shrinking. Don't worry, time travel is not yet possible!

No one here is threatening to take away your meds. They're just, like you are, concerned about their futures. They want to live in a world where they don't have to fear for their health and survival. Their motivation and yours is the same.

Well I do like my carrot juice but we pull the weeds and I use a nontoxic soap on the bugs.

Now thats my kind of party ;-}

Appreciated, agreed, and will definitely take your advice. Believe me though, I have practiced great restraint of late. ;-).

I think you have done real good dealing with us YoYo's Just remember breath deep and count to ten. Besides life is to short to worry about YoYo's

Thank you. And I also added a bit more about labelling foods with GMOs in them as well.

Are you aware that the Obama administration has at least 2 Monsanto execs running around? Little scary, I'd say. And you want to do just what to try and influence these political scum suckers?

I'm well aware of the Monsanto cronies Obama has in this administration, just like the last one. I've been covering this for years. We want labels and accountability from them and to keep this dangerous irresponsible technology out of our food.

We have to try. What we buy speaks for us. What you say is right; our government is in the pockets of big business. Still, we can't just give up. The squeaky wheel gets the oil, right? :)

Thanks 4 clip...sent it to several friends,hopefully they'd do the same...

So what? So what if you're an annoying idiot and the consequences are beyond your capacity to think. Do some reading for once instead of letting your grudges and your johnson determine everything you mindlessly type here.

"Personaly I think more food on less acres is a good thing."
Your ignorance shows through.
Do some real research before you make statements such as that. And I mean real research, not just a few articles written by the very same companies that produce GM foods.

Talk to the farmers in India about the benefits of Monsanto and GMO's and the reduced crop yields and the death gene that means no seeds for next year. Give me that old time capitalist/free market religion brother. Will capitalism fix every problem it causes??? Ask the people in Bhopal, India.

A) Yes, I screwed my comment up. Happy? I know that Roundup is a herbicide. It was 1 AM or so (EDT). I don't even know.

B) I still don't agree with using manufactured products that require more manufactured products that are harmful to the environment (read your own article on Glyphosate) along with seeds that we have no idea what could go wrong with. Especially when 2 out of 3 of those products encourage a monopoly on the US agricultural market (Monsanto), especially when most/many consumers are not familiar at all with how what they are buying is connected to the corporation. And Roundup use is expected to be coupled with heavy amounts of fertilizer. That's the only way that plants can survive on the soil contaminated by it.

C) That's why there's selective breeding and greenhouses. It takes time for all the traits to breed through. Mendel squares and similar formulas help with that. It's all quite scientific. And the best seeds are used, yes, and judged based on their traits along with those of the parent plant. It's very different from purposefully making extreme modifications to a plant, barely testing it, and using the entire US agricultural system as a test lab. Along with encouraging use of chemicals that we also don't know the effects of. (There was quite a bit about that in your Glysophate article.)

C) Oh, and I don't see starvation in European countries for lack of these products.

Wider world view? For someone with a wider world view you seem to have a very elitist attitude. Going around calling everyone a hippie makes you look like a conceited asshole... just saying... if you want to have a wider world view, you should consider being less divisive. We're all just people looking for answers, and labeling people just makes you look dumb... which tends to weight your arguments in a way that doesn't help you.

With that in mind... pesticides are unnecessary and entirely avoidable if proper farming practices are used. I honestly think you're arguing a point that's moot... for a system that is based around the use of pesticides (built-in or sprayed on) can never be sustainable. Insects are already becoming resistant to the pesticides we use, we means we spray more, which means more toxic groundwater. And for the number of detrimental pests on a plant there are probably more than that amount in beneficial species, and those ones die too when a plant is covered in round-up. GMOs have been about profit, and nothing more. Further... if we support smaller, polyculture farms that serve locally, as opposed to shipping all over the country, then we can knock out the problems of pesticide AND fuel use in one fell swoop.

So if you want to talk about efficiency then that's really what you should be focused on. The system we use is 100% unsustainable... and it can't work long term. We're seeing it fail now. And that's not just hippie shit. It would be a shame of you to write this all off as nothing more than hippie bullshit. There is an efficient way to produce food, and the system we have is built around profit, not efficiency. The whole system needs to change.

I am sympathetic to your point that having a domestic sugar industry may be more environmentally and ethically sound than continuing to import from poor countries. A similar argument exists for hydrofracking for natural gas in the area where I live. Anti-fracking activists don't want our environment to be degraded, yet while alternative energy progress stalls at the governmental level, we continue to wreak havoc on those abroad.

We shouldn't have to choose between two evils, though- cannot we have a sustainable domestic sweetener (such as honey or agave), or a clean energy future (wind, water, solar)?

I'm not sure you can compare clean energy or domestic honey production to a mythological creature. Real people are doing these things right now. Have a little hope!

I'm also not sure you can say that hippies want to "drag us back" and make us live like the Amish. The Amish are very much dependent on fossil fuels. I don't see any of them erecting wind farms or practicing IPM. That's pretty new technology there.

Just as a counterpoint, this article really isn't about growing your own food. It's just about asking for higher safety standards on a technological product. Same as seatbelts. Same as pharmaceutical research. The point many people are trying to make is: just because it's new and shiny doesn't mean it's not dangerous. Take thalidomide babies: I bet a lot of people wish they'd done an impact study before all those women gave birth to deformed children... don't you?

I buy local and go for organic as much as possible. Don't buy at Walmart and I don't drink milk. Gave up the booze, disturbed my aim. Everything on the farm is petro chemical these days. Fertilizer, feed, pesticides, transportation, treatment, storage, and on and on all to produce crappy food.

Still not shedding any light on the third world experience with the jack-booted Monsato types, which was my pitch to you in the first place. Add a question about uncontrolled messing with Mother Nature. Had a thought that it might get kinda dicey if the old Mosanto death gene goes sideways and contaminates all the crops, like ice-nine (see "Cats Cradle").

hm, i guess we're mostly in agreement there. i do think government should subsidize clean energy and let the technology take off.

but i guess the only difference is that simple lifestyle sounds kind of nice to me. i like the satisfaction of hard work. it's like a day-long bike ride, only with visible results afterwards. i love plants, and i love food.

i bet i would miss a lot of modern comforts. for example: i would miss the internet for about a year. but i bet i would be closer to my family and friends if this device weren't in the way. i always feel like a zombie when i'm staring at screens.

i really don't take any other issue with what you're saying though. so why do we fight?

Yeah- I'm not sure what I think about that whole free market thing, since in my lifetime I've only seen corporations hold onto fossil fuels past the point of utility. But you may be right. That's not my area of expertise.

That sucks that your immune system's wack... wonder what happened there. BTW I didn't know real people even used hand sanitizer.

But basically you're trying to tell me that I'm too idealistic and not realistic enough. Thanks for the tip! :D At least living this way makes me feel like I'm doing good, working toward a future I'd be proud to live in. That's what activism's about.

Bottom line is, to quote you, "The best way to live under such restrictions would be an amish way. Do your own food growing because fuel and refrigeration will be too costly for long distance transport of foods. Massive agriculture will be gone because without fuel and chemicals it just wont pay, unless we go back to slavery which I don't think will happen.

So the world changes. Instead of large urban areas supported by technologicaly advanced agriculture people have to grow their own food."

That is the change I'd like to see in the world.

That and buying local if possible.

I hope the mods see your harrassing behavior towards Jan and put an end to it.

We have a farmers market but they don't sell much in the way of food products So I guess it's not much of a farmers market. But thats what they call it.

Yes, you have to really be careful about some of them as well. Growing your own of course is the best way if you can do it. For those of us who can't however, labels should be the least we have.

Becareful not to get run over while in the middle of the road.

I don't believe that's the intent of this particular product...

I mean what I say an I say what I mean if you want to take it as B.S. thats fine. I'm easy to get along with. How ever i have seen folks get the boot for less than that. You seem to be good at stiring the pot an would really hate to see ya get booted for doing so. Ok?

No Jan is a good person that is trying to fight the good fight even I myself can see that . Just because She has a large vocabulary is no reason to pick on Her. She has sent me to the Dictionary more than once just so I would know if I was being put down or not. I was and I was glad of it. I'm many things but I'm not above learning. Sure She can be moody but what woman isn't?

bailey, you crack me up! OK. "All women are moody" crack aside: I think it's admirable you are trying to reason with unreasonable people. But I think experience on Current has taught us that there are certain people here that aren't here to be reasonable or consider new angles on issues. Some people are here for name-calling and starting fights, period. I know sometimes it's hard to ignore these types, but ignoring them is the only thing that takes their "power" away.