The fuss over Genetically Modified food

Discussion in 'Adrian Wong' started by Adrian Wong, May 29, 2010.

  1. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I was referred to a page in the Mercola.com website, where Dr. Joseph Mercola criticized a journalist over his opinions on genetically modified (GM) food :

    I don't presume to be any kind of "expert" on GM food, but after going through the page and doing a little research on the good doctor, I felt I had to write back to my friend. This is what I wrote to him :

     
  2. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    I think there's a strong "fad" with "natural" and "organic" foods here. Personally, I think it is food elitism (I'm a firm believer that food should be honest and for all). It is the ultimate form of selfishness. I'm all for pesticide free veggies and free range animals (I actually prefer free range meat - due to different texture) but these wackos are on another level. I'm surprised they don't make a cow over the Vitamin D milk that's sold in the grocery stores here (I buy it because it has the highest fat % hahaha).

    But I am with you on the pill part. Unless if I have a deficiancy, I will question anyone who says I "have" to take em... :hand:
     
  3. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    IMHO, the jury is still out on genetically modified foods. Theoretically, it's similar to what we have been doing for centuries - breeding good genes in and breeding bad ones out. It's just that direct manipulation with the genes allows for better precision and much, much faster results.

    Perhaps later they will discover that it's bad, like transfat. But it's possible that we are all worried over nothing. Without research, we will never know. Pointless to argue until the facts are in.

    But one thing is for sure, without agricultural developments like this, famine would still be a problem in most countries. Creating disease-resistant and/or pesticide resistant crops and animals is key to feeding the world affordably.

    If we can afford to eat better, yes, by all means, go ahead. Heck, I'm a firm proponent of buying organically-produced eggs, for example. They have lower cholesterol and have higher levels of omega 3+6 oils and selenium.

    But I wouldn't want to deprive the world of affordable food just because I can afford to eat the harder-to-produce and therefore much-more-expensive organic produce. That would be selfish. :hand:
     
  4. Jeremy

    Jeremy Black Sheep

    Old chaps, take a step back and watch Food Inc and tell me, should we be concerned with GM crops right about now or are there more important things that we should be focussing on?
     
  5. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Food Inc? Oh, you mean the movie? Haven't watched it yet but will go watch it and get back to you.
     
  6. Ishtim

    Ishtim Super Moderator

    I like the term "Organic"... :haha:

    Those who have been educated know that ALL vegetables are "organic".

    PLEASE show me a vegetable that is "inorganic". :nuts:
     
  7. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    LOL!!! That's true! :haha: :haha:

    BTW, it's funny how they always label vegetable oil as cholesterol-free. Well, plants have no cholesterol! It's like labelling an electric car - a petrol-free vehicle. :D
     
  8. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Well, it's because they are 'organically' grown, meaning no pesticids are used.
     
  9. The GMO foods scare is irrational, in my opinion. After researching the issue, I found that most of the scare tactics used by the anti-GMO crowd are based on speculation and logical fallacies. We'd insist upon double-blind studies for most things like pharmaceuticals, but the media pops out new stories daily about the "dangers" of GMO crops based on nothing but anecdotal and subjective evidence. It has yet to be proven that GMO foods are actually harmful or dangerous to anyone, beyond the range of "natural" foods.

    The theory of natural mutations offers a roughly analogous example as gene manipulation of GMO foods. Nature supposedly has no particular "intelligence", and is a mindless process. Therefore, whatever "helps" a species or "harms" a species is a matter of random chance. When a species ends up with a positive mutation and is helped, it has a tendency to survive.

    But the nature of those mutations is unlimited. It is possible for a natural plant or animal to develop the very same genes that scientists change in GMO plants or animals. Frankly, the safety of food crops is determined by testing them. Somebody ate the first safe mushroom and someone else ate the first fatal mushrooms. Even nature contains plenty of genetic mutations that create deadly combinations to mankind.

    But the number of genetic changes that MUST be occurring naturally all the time around us must be numbered in the multiple QUADRILLIONS or better, as we have insects, plants, and bacteria miles deep on our planet. Yet, amazingly enough, not a single mutation has occurred that has spread and wiped out all life. If the "goal" of life is the survival of the fittest, it doesn't seem to have created any one "fittest" species.

    So, GMO foods will contain many man-made mutations. Yet these are no more than a tiny manipulation among billions in the average plant or animal. The chances that we'll create the one laboratory gene-spliced "mutation" that will kill us all or spread to other plants like a virus or be so unhealthy that it poisons us or whatever is so infinitesimal as to be non-existent.

    People are often afraid of what they do not know or understand. GMO is just science working with nature to perform intelligent "mutations". Even if one goes awry, it's highly unlikely to do more than cause an allergy in some people.

    I've studied this subject in-depth for awhile. I'd be happy to answer any objections to GMO foods that anyone would care to ask...


    JohnBoyTheGreat
     
  10. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I totally agree with that.
     
  11. ariyamusafir

    ariyamusafir Newbie

    BRAVO and well said.... This... I have to agree.....
     
  12. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Glad you approve. :)
     

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