Hello, I don't know if this has been asked before but I wanted to know what are your thoughts on GMOs? Do you think they are good, bad, don't care? Are there any misconceptions about this food or should we avoid them?
I've read some articles that say they are bad and some that say they are harmless. I will be grateful if you could provide a source link
The problems I have with GMOs relate to economics and intellectual property. I don't believe a seed or a species of plant should be anyone's intellectual property. Not just philosophically, but also because it hurts farmers and it's just another thing widening the gap between the wealthiest and the poor.
As for health.. According to wiki, which I usually find pretty reliable:
there is broad scientific consensus that food on the market derived from such crops poses no greater risk than conventional food
They provide eight sources for that statement, which I have not followed, but they also elaborate on it in the text of the article, mentioning organizations such as American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Medical Association, National Academies of the Sciences, Royal Society of Medicine and the European Commission. Of course there could be unforseen risks, but personally I'm perfectly comfortable eating GMOs as far as health concerns go.
The problems I have with GMOs relate to economics and intellectual property. I don't believe a seed or a species of plant should be anyone's intellectual property. Not just philosophically, but also because it hurts farmers and it's just another thing widening the gap between the wealthiest and the poor.
Yeah that's what worries me. Here where I live the goverment just approved a law that can send people to jail from 4 to 10 years if they found that person was planting GMOs in their garden. Also they can send farmers to prision if they don't plant GMOs. This allows companies like Monsanto to take over our agriculture system. They said they approved this law because of the free trade agreement we have with the US. So it's generating a lot of conflict between people and the goverment, even though they said they were going to recheck this law. Nothing has been done.
I don't pay attention to what organizations have to say. They are funded and chaired by big business honchos. It's not that anyone is specifically out to get us. It's just that business and profits come first.
It's hard to get real facts from reading journalistic articles and such. There are way too many biased and slanted opinions on both sides of the fence. There's also too much incomplete data being touted as cut and dried fact.
We need GMOs to bioengineer crops to feed starving people in parts of the world where it's impossible to grow food, in part thanks to a climate ruined by over-industrialized countries like the US. A vicious cycle. Rich people whine about stuff like GMOs and free range meat while the third world cries out for a survivable strain of rice or corn.
However, given that most of the crops in the US go to feeding livestock, going vegan and buying organic is one way to do your part to avoid supporting a shadowy conglomerate like Monsanto. But in general, some scientists are attempting to do good and important things with GMOs.
You're impartial, I like that. We could feed everyone in the world if we could limit the amount of meat they consume but because that's not happening I think GMOs are good if they are going to feed poor people.... I just wish they could stop forcing us to plant them.
I don't pay attention to what organizations have to say. They are funded and chaired by big business honchos. It's not that anyone is specifically out to get us. It's just that business and profits come first.
It's hard to get real facts from reading journalistic articles and such. There are way too many biased and slanted opinions on both sides of the fence. There's also too much incomplete data being touted as cut and dried fact.
If you want to make a truly informed opinion, read the research data firsthand, not what someone tells you the data says, then read the professional peer reviews from both sides. This allows you to see where there are flaws and holes in the research methods and interpretations.
Two people might read the same data and come up with two entirely different opinions on acceptable risks, but at least it's well formed on concrete facts.
As far as I'm concerned, there's enough evidence of risks to keep me from eating GMOs. I know others that feel certain benefits outweigh the risks. But the risks are definitely there despite what some people tell you. It's just up to you to decide if you want to take that risk.
I don't pay attention to what organizations have to say. They are funded and chaired by big business honchos. It's not that anyone is specifically out to get us. It's just that business and profits come first.
If you look at the positions of scientific organizations and the conclusions of government funded commissions on global warming, they virtually all conclude that it's happening and that it's being caused by co2 emissions, despite these conclusions being against the interests of the fossil fuels industry. Seven of the ten biggest companies in the world (by revenue) are oil and gas companies. So I don't believe that these scientific and medical organizations are reaching conclusions designed to benefit businesses, especially when there is a broad consensus. Issues such as pollution and tobacco have shown this not to be the case.
It's hard to get real facts from reading journalistic articles and such. There are way too many biased and slanted opinions on both sides of the fence. There's also too much incomplete data being touted as cut and dried fact.
If you want to make a truly informed opinion, read the research data firsthand, not what someone tells you the data says, then read the professional peer reviews from both sides. This allows you to see where there are flaws and holes in the research methods and interpretations.
I agree, the best way to reach an informed opinion would be to study the research firsthand. It also helps to have some basic knowledge of statistics and research methods. However, a lot of people aren't going to have the willingness to put in that much time/effort. It would be impractical to do this for every potential health issue. For me, it's enough that reputable scientific and medical organizations across different countries have looked at the data and found no compelling evidence of harm. But I respect those who are willing to delve into the science and actually read the relevant studies. I also respect the views of those who don't wish to consume GMOs. I have no problem with things being labelled so people can decide for themselves.
What do pro GMO people think of ingesting pesticides? GMO soy and corn were found to have extremely high levels of the pesticides they were created to resist. What do you think that does to our bodies and our health?
Also, what about the environmental concerns of pesticides massively killing off the honey bee population. Guess how many crops aren't going to be pollinated when we no longer have the bees.
We need GMOs to bioengineer crops to feed starving people in parts of the world where it's impossible to grow food, in part thanks to a climate ruined by over-industrialized countries like the US. A vicious cycle. Rich people whine about stuff like GMOs and free range meat while the third world cries out for a survivable strain of rice or corn.
However, given that most of the crops in the US go to feeding livestock, going vegan and buying organic is one way to do your part to avoid supporting a shadowy conglomerate like Monsanto. But in general, some scientists are attempting to do good and important things with GMOs.
Wait, what? Did you understand what the bill says?
How are they "playing it safe" if they make it illegal to ban GMOs, even if they are proven to be dangerous in the future?
For what reason would you want to make something unbannable no matter how bad it gets?
This bill is literally to just protect GMOs no matter what, to make the corporate interests more profits, even after news of their dangers leak out. Period.
If big corp/industries can influence The United States of America like this, what makes you think some scientific papers stand a chance to be incorruptible? I can't make it any more simple than that. Nothing is incorruptible, don't be naive.
But I'm done talking about GMOs, eat them if you want.. Support them if you want. Don't care at this point anymore.
But just blindly believing something because some people say so is foolish.
And eating GMOs is an unwise decision.
Wait, what? Did you understand what the bill says?
How are they "playing it safe" if they make it illegal to ban GMOs, even if they are proven to be dangerous in the future?
For what reason would you want to make something unbannable no matter how bad it gets?
This bill is literally to just protect GMOs no matter what, to make the corporate interests more profits, even after news of their dangers leak out. Period.
By "playing it safe" I meant protecting their financial interests in the case that any health issues actually do turn out to be associated with GMOs.
If big corp/industries can influence The United States of America like this, what makes you think some scientific papers stand a chance to be incorruptible? I can't make it any more simple than that. Nothing is incorruptible, don't be naive.
I think I've already explained my reasoning on this. I'm not saying scientific consensus is absolutely 100% incorruptible, I'm saying I consider it unlikely.
But just blindly believing something because some people say so is foolish.
If by "some people" you mean general scientific consensus then I do form many of my beliefs this way. You can call it "blind", but pretty much all our beliefs about the world other than those we can directly confirm for ourselves are because "some people say so".
Interesting thing I was reading recently. Turns out "most" of the issues with GMOs may actually not be that they are modified, but what we do to them (can do to them) because they are. Things like spraying them with roundup because they will survive it and the weeds (until recently) would not. Working theory is it's the glycophosphate in the foods, not the foods themselves that is the issue. Recent studies have looked at this in wheat. Rather than being sensitive to gluten, it's entirely possible that it's the roundup causing all the problems.
Non issue for me. GMO or poison sprays, I'm not eating them.
I agree with this to a certain extent. However, today's wheat has a lot more gluten than the original einkorn and emmer wheats did. While today's wheat might not technically be GMO, it was bred to have bigger berries that could feed more people. The top became so heavy that the stalk couldn't hold the weight and would fall over. Then they had to keep breeding it until they created a dwarf wheat that could stand under the weight. This wheat is less nutritious than einkorn and emmer while causing more and more problems for people.
So, it seems that intentionally cross-breeding plants, even without labratory genetic modification can be a problem, too. My general opinion is that nature knows best and we should leave well enough alone.
Frankly, human beings are not smart enough to mess with things they barely understand.
Sure, we see some nice short term benefits and write studies on said observations.. have people in lab coats write papers on the miracles of GMOs. But our knowledge of the human body is extremely limited. How do we know the effects they will have on us?
Most of our medical operations involve just cutting out things that don't work. Most of our drugs "fix"(or mask) one problem while bringing other nasty side effects.
The people pushing GMOs do not have the best intentions for the environment or mankind in mind. No matter what they keep claiming. The only thing they care about is profits. This makes them untrustworthy, and it is foolish to support or consume GMOs imo.
I have told people before my background in college. My area of research was Big Business Food Industry and Big Business Agriculture. What people don't seem to realize is that we have been genetically modifying food for centuries now.
A wild carrot is not the same as your grocery store carrot. Or how about those potatoes?
We have been modifying the properties of plants since before scientist were doing it. The only reason people have a problem with GMOs is because science is scary and not absolute. We have been trained as humans to fear science. I understand science isn't exact, I understand science isn't always right, nor is it always wrong.
I think most people understand (to some degree) that plants have been bred for certain traits since the beginning of agriculture. Maybe fewer understand that these original plants were WAY more nutritious than today's bigger, sweeter varieties.
But, there's a difference (in my mind) between cross breeding and gene splicing.
You're right, there is a general distrust of "science" based on all the history. (Cigarettes are perfectly safe. Etc) That doesn't make "science" inherently wrong, but it does raise a level of caution in a lot of folks.
I think most people understand (to some degree) that plants have been bred for certain traits since the beginning of agriculture. Maybe fewer understand that these original plants were WAY more nutritious than today's bigger, sweeter varieties.
But, there's a difference (in my mind) between cross breeding and gene splicing.
You're right, there is a general distrust of "science" based on all the history. (Cigarettes are perfectly safe. Etc) That doesn't make "science" inherently wrong, but it does raise a level of caution in a lot of folks.
It doesn't matter. We're condition as children, through cartoons, through movies, and throughout our lives to see scientist as bad. Either directly or indirectly. It's always the scare of science gone wrong.
Let be smart, it is all speculations. Good or bad. GMO could be awesome or every poisonous. But we will not know that anytime soon, time will show. People need to consume this food for long period and then see if there are some consequences. So if you are eating GMO you are nothing more than a lab rat.
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