Mike Luckovich for May 31, 2013

Wht not leave the organic farmers alone?

“So growing bigger, more bountiful, bug resistant food to feed the world offends some individuals? Then don’t eat it.”Call your congressmen and the FDA and tell them to enact GMO labeling on the packaging.

We’re not talking about a manufactured product you can simply not use. SEEDS blow around. Given time, any genetically modified seed can be anywhere in the world. I don’t feel we need a blanket condemnation of genetically modified foods (after all, we’ve done it for millennia — it’s called breeding), but we do need to make rein in Monsanto from its current “Get out of jail free” card and make it live up to the consequences of its actions. That is, by the way, how the free market is supposed to work.

Thanks to the corporatized government, Monsanto can infect a field with their weeds and then sue the farmer for having their weeds in his field.

no i do not feel lucky

The biggest issue with Monsanto that I remember when I lived in Pennsylvania was that the cross pollination was used by them as an excuse to shut down the farmers that were trying to be organic. They reserved the right to inspect surrounding farmers’ crops, and if any of their genetic markers were found in the corn (carried over by bees) they would sue the farmer for patent infringement and theft of intellectual property. The alternative option was to become a Monsanto farm, which meant a percentage of the profits now went to Monsanto, cutting down on what the farmer could earn. They are a very aggressive company that uses legal loopholes to create an unfair monopoly that is shutting down US farmers.

As is so typical of the right wing in this country, they distill every thought down to “what’s in it for me?” and then profess their ignorance by taking the wrong side of the argument. GMO’s threaten the entire world and all human life. Sorry that Monsanto’s “bottom line” might be endangered, but I vote for humankind over profit.

@RadishThank you for the explanation of John Kerry’s delayed visit with Vladimir Putin. My God, if Putin’s concerned about bee colony collapse and neonicotinoids, the U.S. should be terrified. What will it take to stop using that type of fertilizer?

Also in today’s paper: Japan, a major purchaser of US wheat, has stopped buying our wheat because a shipment arrived that was genetically modified, which is against their standards.

They traced the source to a farm in the Pacific Northwest, which had not planted those seeds, but they grew there anyway. They had used Roundup, a Monsanto product, to eradicate the crop, but (and I know the science/evolution-deniers will cringe) the plants have developed a resistance to all herbicides. We also now have pests that are resistant to the “pest-resistant” crops.

“It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”

“You cannot eat money.”

“Singlespeed” and others commenting against Monsanto still UNDERSTATE the problems created by some of these GM products. Foodstuffs that manufacture their own insecticide (chrysanthimums (sp) have done this for millennia) ARE a danger to non-engineered fields, and humans, and insects that pollinate other crops. Roughly 90% of our food crops are dependent upon bees and insects for pollination. We’re killing off those insects. Monsanto produces a crop resistant to its own herbicide, which is in the same realm as using antibiotics to breed stronger bacteria to kill us as they’re resistant to those drugs.

Yes, that cornucopia IS a lethal weapon. (but the American public IS the “empty chair” of intellect.)

Ah, yes, Monsanto; those same wonderful folks who gave us Agent Orange.

Remember when it comes to Congress money talks and Male Bovine Excrements walks. what do we expect from Congress? they have to be re-elected every two years or so and that costs alot of money.

Lots of noise produced about the harm and even poison produced by GM food. But, can anyone provide scientific evidence that GM foods kill people, or even remotely harms them. We do know, however, GM foods undergo extensive testing before being released for public consumption or plant breeding. We also know they increase yields that are indirectly responsible for fewer people starving. Also true that plant modification has been going on for millennia. Copies of some of the earlier cultivars are being stored for possible later use in plant breeding. You can not assume the scientists have not thought about some of the potential long-term problems.

GMO crops reliably produce smaller yields than ‘natural’ crops.

GMO crops require more water than ‘natural’ crops.GMO crops require chemical fertilizer.

GMO crops are being drenched with up to ten times and more insecticides and herbicides than ‘naturall’ crops.

How much Roundup do you think you should eat per day? Do you really think that Bt toxins are doing your gut any good?

Monsantos word isn’t good enough. If they had good, sound, studies showing the safety (for us and for the environment) of their products, they’d publish them and broadcast them worldwide on a daily basis.

Why aren’t they doing that? Are they just too cheap to do the research? Not good enough.

The fact is, they don’t know, they don’t want us to know anything about their products, because they know the research hasn’t been done showing it’s safety, and they’d rather just not be bothered.

So you go right ahead and indulge. You are welcome to my share, too, because I won’t touch it. And yes, I want it labeled. If it’s so great, why isn’t Monsanto demanding labeling, so people could go straight to it?

They know people don’t want it, for the most part. So they are slipping it to us under the table.

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink ;-)

All that too. Thanks.

That was basic breeding practise, but yes, it really seems the wheat we are eating these days is much less digestible.

I’m trying to work out how a less digestible food should be the standard, but I guess profit is more desireable than health.

www.thelapine.ca/monsanto-cucumbers-cause-genital-baldness-immediately-banned-nova-scotia