The Australians don't want GE food, the companies don't grow GE food in Australia. That's supply and demand 101. Besides, I can't see much profit being made if the stuff's getting banned throughout the country.
i'm pretty amazed that they decided to withdraw gm wheat all over the planet. i did hear that they're pushing ahead with gm corn in europe though.
Not really, nimh. What Monsanto is doing is stopping research on Roundup Ready wheat but continuing with the approval process and will put the product on the shelf until "market acceptance." (I say we make sure that never happens.) 85 percent of soybeans and 50 percent of corn in the US is also Roundup ready.
Southern Africa is one of the world¡¦s poorest regions. Millions of people there are often forced to eat wild leaves and animal food to avoid starvation. In light of this, you might expect that countries in this region would be willing to accept food donations from other countries. But unfortunately for the starving Africans, it¡¦s not this simple. In 2002 Zambian President Mwanawasa refused a free shipment of thousands of tons of US corn and maize, despite being told that his country would run out of food in fourteen days. Why did he refuse to accept the free food? Because it contained some genetically modified crops and was, in his opinion, ¡¥poison¡¦. What the President of Zambia didn¡¦t say is that millions of Americans, Chinese, and others around the world have been eating this ¡¥poison¡¦ for years, with no ill effects. There is a great deal of debate about the safety of GM foods. Most scientists think GM foods are generally safe, while protesters (mainly in Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand) are saying that the spread of GM foods could bring the end of life on earth. GM foods are food crops that have been genetically modified. By putting different genes into crops such as corn, wheat, and soy, scientists have made new strains of the crops. These new crops have many important advantages. They yield more food per unit of land. They can be resistant to insects, and let farmers use fewer toxic pesticides. They can survive better in droughts and yield more nutritious food. All of these advantages make GM foods one of the best weapons in the fight against world hunger. Yet many of these crops are being kept out of poor countries because of the concerns of anti-GM protesters in rich countries. The protesters, backed by groups such as Greenpeace, are concerned about the safety of GM foods. They worry that scientists don¡¦t fully understand the possible effects of releasing new plant strains into the environment. They worry about the effects on humans who consume GM products. These worries come from the protesters¡¦ belief that people should not be changing the genetics of plants. But for as long as people have been eating we have been changing the genetics of plants. The process of creating new GM foods is simply a faster, and more accurate, method of doing what farmers have been doing for centuries: selective breeding. By selecting the best plants and breeding them together, farmers have ¡¥created¡¦ most of the food that we eat today. Today in the United States, some 60 percent of processed foods (like soft drinks, candy bars and potato chips) contain some GM ingredients. Most of the corn exported by the US is mixed, with as much as 30 percent coming from GM corn. Many European countries refuse to import US corn because it contains GM ingredients. These European countries are wealthy enough to have a choice. They can afford to grow, or import, non-GM foods to feed their people. Most countries in Africa do not have this luxury of choice. In fact, many European countries have pressured African countries, like Zambia, into refusing shipments of GM food aid. For example in 2002 some European countries warned Zambia that if they accepted the US food, then they would no longer buy Zambian exports. The result of this pressure was that Europeans were free to continue to choose what they eat, while millions in Africa eat nothing at all.
I believe that Roundup Ready (RR) seed is different than Golden Rice. GM, well investigated, for added nutrition is reasonable, and perhaps the only valid use of the technology, aside from drought resistance. I'd still prefer seed crossing, not gene crossing. What RR does is continue to tighten Monsanto's grip on farmers. Farmers use Roundup herbacide and want to treat the land at the same time as spring wheat (a small part of the overall wheat growing in the US) and for that convenience will use RR seed. Winter wheat growers will not use the seeds because they use Roundup to kill off "volunteer" plants. Many winter wheat fileds also are used to grow sunflowers and the quicker the field is "cleaned" the faster the sunflowers can be drilled in. I'll find my article and post it later. your friendly cyberneighborhood reporter
This thread is awsome and very informational thank you for all that you've said here. I am always interested to know how other countries are fairing with the lack of food that they have. I am saddened by the lack of concern we as americans have for our fellow man. This thread helps me keep the faith.
Could anyone tell me why the GMO attention is focused in Monsanto? There are other big companies involved such as Beyer and DuPont.I avoid canola oil and soy beans as much as possible.Niether are fit for human consumption.Canola is an industrial oil that is good for making bio-diesel.It is almost impossible to buy bread without soy being added to it these days. Australia would like to keep its GMO free status as we do a great deal of trade with Japan.What the aforementioned companies have no idea of is that the Japanese are very picky aboiut their food.
GMO can't save the food completely. The Pests, and herbs start to resist against all that stuff, and make everything worser. Don't forget who the ones were, who made the poor people sitting up shit creek withouth a paddle??? The bigger nations, and the regimes, who are they? Especially THE US! SO I DON'T CARE ABOUT FUCKIN GMO!
I am somewhat confused here.If you would be kind enough to set me straight:I have been crossing various strains of marijuana for almost 20 years.I have come up with my own strain that I am happy with.Am I guilty of genetic manilulation as well? What is the difference? Ya'll have me very curious.Peace
GMO is when the genetic code of say, tomatoes has the anti viral traits of say, fish added. It's a lab monster to many eyes. what you are doing is simple selective BREEDING. carry on, please!
