Quote: Originally posted by Amos  | Wow, guys, way to jump to conclusions here and label me as anti-GMO when I clearly said nothing of the sort. As DraconicAcid pointed
out, yes, I suppose what I am far more against is the general practice of industrial agriculture and the concept that what we put into our bodies was
given no second thought by the people that produced it other than the profit margin they can skim off it.
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We didn't label you as anti-GMO, we just pointed out how the statements you made in your post displayed a complete lack of understanding of the
subject, and unwillingness to do the basic research required to provide evidence for your argument.
Your point about businesses motivated by profit leading toward less healthy GMO's would have a shred of legitimacy if not for the fact that the bulk
of the GMO's being researched and developed are done by academic institutions on government funded grants. Coles/Tesco etc. aren't exactly famous for
sponsoring scientific research projects.
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Factory-farmed fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, etc. do not taste nearly as good as the stuff you can grow at home or find at a farmer's market.
Supermarket tomatoes will never touch a good heirloom variety. I have no clue why anyone would every ask for sources on this; what do you think all of
the country's best restaurants are shifting towards, and where have your taste buds been your whole life? My source is that I have a functioning
tongue. Chemosynthesis says that if todays mass-produced, brightly-colored produce actually didn't taste as good as that from old
strains grown on small farms, it wouldn't sell. Of course it sells! It's cheaper, more easily distributed to large grocers, and more importantly, the
majority of the population has seldom ever tasted really good food.
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Case in point.
Farmers markets are swapmeets where commercial farmers sell their day to day produce. The same farmers that generate the bulk of their income
supplying produce to retail outlets.
Do you honestly believe that they can make an adequate living from the money they earn from their 2 day per week stalls?
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As for whether or not agricultural products today are less nutritious than they were decades ago, I was mainly quoting a National Geographic article
that I had read a little while ago. I can hear all the scoffs and jeering already. But as it turns out, they aren't the only ones that say this:
http://news.utexas.edu/2004/12/01/nr_chemistry
That article references this study, which follows the decline of nutrients in vegetables and some fruits since 1950, using findings by the USDA(a third party that has no
direct role in this research and would have no reason to fudge the facts). If anyone wants to poke holes in this research, I'm all ears; I would
actually love to change my mind and believe that we haven't all been put at a disadvantage when compared to past generations.
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Yep, you've managed to find quite a well written article on how standard farming practices that have nothing to do with genetic engineering have
resulted in lower quality food. Uhh... Thanks?
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My third point, which stated that practices like genetic modification give vastly wealthy corporations even more ability to crush competition from
smaller farms and businesses, was not said as a way of attacking the practice of genetic engineering. It was more my way of saying "this is great
technology, but it's not being put to good use for the betterment of mankind". The more comfortable agricultural giants become in their ability to
eliminate competition, the less they have to worry about what they're feeding us. If you fall on the right(as opposed to left) side of the aisle
economically, you probably think otherwise.
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Again, a point that even basic research would have revealed to be untrue.
A lot of the GMO's that have passed the required regulations and are ready for large scale production are available to all registered farmers through
the national seedbanks. There are government run conferences every 6 months intended to provide as much information as possible on any new strains
and their applications. My family is heavily involved in the sugar cane industry and I've been to a couple of them myself.
Edit: I'm looking through the BBcode of this post and I can't find where the hell the unpaired quote tag is that's screwing up this post 
[Edited on 23-4-2015 by Mesa] |
You also start off with a massive
straw man. In fact I think you're deliberately trolling.