pbs special on gmo potatoes from monsanto

I would kill to have a potato crop. If it took a GMO tater to do it, I'd try it.

I dislike the concept of GMO crops... But (isn't there always a 'but') when you try year after year to bring any kind of crop in, and it fails miserably, after doing everything possible, without growing them inside the house, swimming in pesticides, to keep the bugs and other tater killing whatevers at bay, what else are you to do??? Bang your head against a brick wall over and over???

I'd try a crop... Boils down to taters or no taters... taters beat no taters 99 times out of a hundred...

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

They were not putting different potatoes gene in, it was a gene that killed this worm...but McDonald's restaurant got enough complaints they pulled it and so Monsanto quit that particular one, but they said it had somehow made those worms stronger and resistant to the pesticide

They said an organic potato farmer solved the problem by growing a whole big variety of potatoes together instead of one specific type like dissertation. He said he makes more than they do by growing organic

Where did I ever claim otherwise?

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Flaming Xtian
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
Mahatma Gandhi


Libertarindependent

No, it's not the same end result at all.

Cross-pollinating is like mating a Dachshund to a German Shepherd. Normally they can't do it themselves, so you help them along. But they are both dogs and maybe you would get a weird looking dog, but it would still bark and be a dog.

Genetic Modification is like mating a frog with a dog. No matter how many times you put them together, or even if you artificially inseminate, it'll never happen because the chromosomes will never line up. So instead, scientists go into the DNA and take out a tiny piece of it, the strand they want, and insert it into the cell of the target species. When it matures, it becomes a dog that can live long term in the water.

Now this change is hardwired into the gonads--ovaries and testes--so the cross can carry on. Then it goes around and spreads to other regular dogs, and no telling what kinds of cross you get. Then if those dogs have an environmental advantage, they start breeding better, and become the dominant species. And then....well, who knows? Maybe there's an unknown weakness that eventually kills off all dogs. Or maybe they just take over dogdom.

This example is extreme, of course, but the comparison is good, even for crops.

PCP

Ok I had to laugh

The Bt bacteria can be inserted into different parts of different plants to kill off insects. It is a naturally occuring bacteria, and it can often be inserted to only occur in the roots, or only in the stems, etc on plants.

I'm not aware that it ever, ever appeared in any McDonald's fries, nor in any other mass produced potatoes? I think we'd hear if it had been released, after some research & certification by the USA and other global governments....

Currently, your potatoes are drenched in Bt and other insecticides as they are mass produced and served at McDonalds.

If it was said any other way, it was not reported accurately.

The organic potato grower is making more _money_ by charging extra for the organic label. However, he is producing _less_ potatoes per acre because some of his potatoes are being ruined by the bugs, while other types of potatoes are less desirable by the bugs. He is offering up a sacraficial row of potatoes to protect his harvestable row of potatoes. I'm all for that if it's what people want & can afford, but understand this makes potatoes cost more, and it makes far less potatoes available for the world to eat. It does not _solve_ the problem at all!

As such, it has some real, serious, effects on people all around the globe if you should _require_ all potatoes to be grown this way.

In short, people would starve.

Either we control bugs with sprays, or we control them with GMO, or we produce less food.

Your choices also have negative effects. I think you should consider that.

Doesn't mean you have to change what you eat, but you should consider both sides of an issue when you try to affect potato production across the country. That is where the 'intelligent discussion' of the issue that was mentioned early in this thread comes in - you seem to only be listening to one side of it and only hearing the parts you want to hear. That is human nature, I understand - do the same thing myself on some issues.

With organic production, costs go up, supply goes down. Esp a finicky crop like potatoes. There is no free lunch, or "oh, if only we did things this way, all would be perfect in the world...." GMO doesn't bring us a perfect world either, but it does offer us more choices. Something to consider.

Again - a good subject to bring up, and I'm glad folks in the USA have the oppertunity to choose which way they want their food, and the wealth to choose the expensive way. Just, if you look at the issue, look at _all_ of the issue, and the harm your choices can bring to others as well.

--->Paul

You have a good view of looking at the whole issue Nevada, and not just one side, or blindly from one side. There are potential problems with gmo crops, there are problems with not using them - you have a good grasp on things.

The problem with identifying gmo throught the feed/food production setup is that we co-mingle grains and vegetables from all farms into trucks, semies, bins, and barges to bring that grain especially, but veggies too, to people who want to buy them.

How do we set up a complete sepereate way of handling gmo soybeans and regulare soybeans from each other, to be able to label them?

It costs a lot of money and takes a lot of machinery to do so.

Who pays for all that extra cost?

(I know the off the cuff answer some will say, but - look at the issue, look at what is important to whom?)

--->Paul

Not only potatoes,,the problem I have with it is they cannot keep it confined to a certain product, place, or thing.According to these documentaries,pollen from the GMO crops are crossing over to crops that are not GMO.

That in itself may not become a problem nobody knows.The thing is,those crops outside, that now carry Monsanto's patented gene,now makes Monsanto part owner of those crops,enough in fact the non GMO farmers are now in indebted to Monsanto for their use of Monsanto's gene.

I don't know if its true or not,but thats what the documentaries say.We all know pollen is not confined outside an enclosed area.I know farmers who have paid stiff penalties for using or selling their Roundup Ready soybeans.Which they signed an agreement not to.They(farmers) broke that agreement.

Can they also make farmers who wanted no part of Monsanto or their GMO products,to have to pay Monsanto for using their product?It would seem to me that Monsanto should be held liable for introducing their product to the farmers crops unknowingly and unwantingly by the farmer.What they are doing is bassackwards than what should be happening.My 2 cents of course.

check them out for yourself.(free view) I have not watched them all,only this first link.....
http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/...ee-full-video/


http://www.hulu.com/search?query=monsanto&st=1&fs=

A comment here was made in regards to GMO foods and food allergies. I for one think this is something that is more of an issue than anyone is willing to admit. I'd like to have someone explain to me the reason why in the past few decades food allergies have risen significantly across the board. We are finding more and more folks allergic to various types of foods, not just the previously typical peanuts and gluten, but to corn, potatoes, tomatoes and other foods. The only reason that I in my un-scientific mind can come up with is that the proteins in the GMO foods don't quite match up with the digestive proteins in our bodies. As we tinker with our foods we are making something that does not fit together in our bodies and thus is getting rejected (allergic response).

Yes I personally know some folks who are allergic to various foods, mostly some of the highly GMO types.

As for Monsato? I think it's criminal what they are doing. Charging a neighboring farmer to pay royalties on their crops just because the next guy over planted their GMO crop and there was a little cross pollenation. Yes, the farmer should be suing Monsato for 'ruining' his crops instead.

The other part of GMO is then you can patent the plant, whereas mother natures you can't. It's a control and greed issue. Why do you think they are working so hard to dimminish an/or shut down the heirloom seeds and such.

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"I love a good debate but detest an argument, and get frustrated at those who can't tell the difference."

I am sorry but this is not correct. For example, the university here developes new varieties of wheat through hybridization (not GMO), they require that I am a certified dealer to sell their varieties of wheat seed. It is protected. A farmer cannot sell protected varieties of wheat without this certification. Not just the university, private companies do this too.

Also, I have never seen or heard of any attempt by anyone to "dimminish and/or shut down the heirloom seeds". The only "dimminish" is from growers who want more production than they can get with heirloom varieties. If for whatever reason you prefer to grow heirlooms, knock yourself out.

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* I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one. .*-

Sometimes it doesn't matter how safe a product really is, if there are enough vocal people, the product is gone.
Recently a small group in FL prosted Lowes for runing commercials in a reality show about Muslim families near Detroit. Lowes didn't want to ruffle feathers, didn't want negative publisity, so they dropped their ads. McDonald may believe GMO potatoes are safe, but if some folks don't understant the safety, then McDonalds doesn't want to do anything that might lose customers.

The reality is that the proven safe GMO Potatoes are objected to by some people, but most accept "old school" multiple sprays with insecticides without question.

Monsanto is a business. They do the safety research so they don't market a product that could backfire and cost them money. If they develop a product and a group of vocol folks make a big stink about it, they may simply not want to fight for it if there might be more cost to promote than it is worth.

sad that some good products won't see the light of day because of people that simply won't take the time to understand what it really is.

No one that hates Monsanto will ever see the truth. No one changes their mind.

No it was in the leaf of the plant, and yes! It was in McDonald's fries and being mass produced on a huge farm in Idaho. McDonald's was using those potatoes but hadn't really made it public knowledge. Someone did some digging and started complaining and McDonald's pulled there order for those potatoes BC they did not want negative publicity...it showed an article in a newspaper about them pulling it, and Monsanto quit producing that particular gmo...it was on the show, that's all I'm saying. They said it wasn't widely known, McDonald's had kept it hushed, and that there was no rule that said they have to label things that are gmo

I'm not sure how old the show was. It was on one of the PBS stations we get with the digital converter box

All ready have one called organic. It costs extra to get anything done. To even ship cattle in a truck requires that it is steam cleaned top to bottom and I would have to pay the charge (and make sure I had the signed paperwork after) to get it done if I wanted to ship my cattle.
Our local mill just had a new set of rules handed down regarding mixing. I got out before I had to pay extra for any of that.
Problem is, if you are a conventional producer but paying the organic premium I don't think it would be too profitable......

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Deja Moo; The feeling I've heard this bull before.

PBS= Your tax dollars at work, not exactly sure who gets the benefit.

Yeah I know, there are so many shows on but they are spun how they want...I do like antique roadshow and cooking

It looks like the show is pretty new, even though Pollan's book is older--they're showing them this week in our area. See here for the schedule: http://www.pbs.org/thebotanyofdesire...t-schedule.php

If this one's slanted any direction, it's probably going to be in the direction of "sustainable" food, however that's really defined--one of the sponsors is "the Columbia Foundation, which supports the transition to sustainable communities."

And PBS is "your tax dollars at work" bringing whatever programs local people want to see, and give money to watch . . . that's why one of my local PBS stations still plays Lawrence Welk every Saturday, ugh. I wish I still had one where the local desire was to see the new Dr. Who shows . . .

I saw alone in the wilderness part 2of last week, that was good

The potoatoes were grown in 1999 - 12 years ago. Don't know when the show was made. Pretty old news, tho I didn't know they had worked with potatoes back then. It was actually a very small area that had gmo potatoes.

Peer pressure, much like what has gotten Lowes in trouble of late, is what worked on McDonalds back then. Has little to do with science?

Europe is currently very close to releasing a potato for industrial use that is gmo. It makes a better, purer starch for industrial use.

Wikipeadia has a nice chart of what is currently gmo in the USA and other countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food

The really odd, scary research is going on in China in all this gmo stuff.....

--->Paul

What's going on in china?

Just label the end products & we can all choose.

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Cindy in PA