fields
monsanto's

The cat may already be out of the bag...as many farmers who don't use GM crops have been finding them in their own crops.

It's also been suggested that GM foods are what is causing Colony Collapse Disorder.

so you're saying I should get a machete and some gasoline?

it only takes a spark...
to set the prairie on fire

"The cat may already be out of the bag...as many farmers who don't use GM crops have been finding them in their own crops." ...*and* getting sued by Monsanto for having GM crops that are patented by Monsanto... even though they didn't want them or originally plant them.

You gotta love how bird droppings can give Monsanto the finger...

Or maybe it's the insects cross pollinating whoare giving Monsanto the finger... Or both!

I don't see it as giving them the finger...it only helps Monsanto.

If GM crops overwhelm heirloom plants, farmers will be stuck purchasing seeds from Monsanto (they have a gene that only allows them to produce for one season). And Monsanto will have us by the balls.

Already hundreds of farmers from India have chosen to kill themselves for failed GM crops.

GM crops are an abomination.

"The Cry proteins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis are considered to be highly specific insecticidal proteins. Judged to be safe for humans and farm animals due to their insect-oriented selective toxicity, the proteins have been utilized as a biological pesticide and introduced into genetically modified plants. However, some critical fundamental characters of the Cry proteins remain unclear, and the direct effects of activated Cry proteins on mammalian cells have not yet been fully confirmed. Therefore, in this study we employed primary cultured bovine hapatocytes as a model system to determine if Cry1Ab, a Cry protein, affects mammalian cells. There were no significant changes in the secretion of albumin or the morphology of the Cry1Ab-treated cells. The LDH release showed a tendency to increase after the administration of Cry1Ab, but not significantly. Taking these results on bovine hepatocytes into consideration, Cry1Ab has little acute toxicity on mammalian cells. (author abst.)"

http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200307/000020030703A0173297.php

You'll get what you're given and be thankful for it!

@Darwyn: "It's also been suggested that GM foods are what is causing Colony Collapse Disorder."

Wikipedia: Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear.

If this is caused by GM crops, that could be scary. Could be... if... and depending on other factors. This could be a good storyline for an apocalypse film. What would happen if there were no bees?

Bee movie, starring Seinfeld.

@ spyman "What would happen if there were no bees? "

Well einstein once said if bees were to ever disappear humans would follow them, in about four years.

If he said it, which I highly doubt.
http://www.snopes.com/quotes/einstein/bees.asp

well regardless its true. Just about everything we eat depends on bee's pollinatiion.

A third.

Actually, 80% of a third, to be more precise.

yes sic, a lot of what we eat depends on bees, approximatively 60% of the food supply. (i'm not just picking that figure out of thin air, but i've no way to back up the claim)

How and ever, you are given two choices. The techno-solution to all our problems, ie we find cheaper better ways to produce food to supply rising demands, hopefully adding protein to some strain of rice to improve nutrition among the ~2.5 billion asians who already eat rice (without increasing demand for meat)

OR you take the retro-grad approach, fear anything which is new and could cause any sort of damage ever to anyone, ban handguns, private transport, herbal medicines, experimental new drugs, cosmetics, and every other chemical which *MIGHT* cause a human/mammalian cell to mutate and thus become cancerous.

Because this is seen to preserve the status quo, or conserve what we have today, i refer to it as the conservative approach, ignoring the fact that some americans seem to think they own that word.

OR you find alternative number 3. Teach people to do their own risk assessments, incorporate public debate over scientific issues into larger issues of decision making (where the science isn't being debated, public policy is being debated, and we merely try to understand the science) Demand that scientists make their understanding more publically accessible and expect that the public will make an effort if they want to appreciate and take part in such a debate (because communication is always a two-way thing)

You approach the legal question of property/intellectual property rights over life and copyright/patent protection of the same in a sensible manner. You don't simply follow the old ways of doing things and you don't group all behaviour of corporations under the same umbrella as all possible damage created by any science ever.

(For example, it is entirely possible that Soviet scientists, operating in a communisnt tyranny, were able to develop nuclear weapons which could have wiped out the majority of human life on this planet, and it is equally possible that a US corporation could have acquired the same technology. The fact that both can do damage is true regardless of whether the US legal system and the USSR legal system allow, lets say, the state to sue for damages on behalf of the people or not)

Also regarding the colony collapse disorder. I believe it is far more widespread than GMOs - though i don't know how widely spread GMOs are. I also believe there are several possible causes which have been implicated, include a mite and stresses on the system and pesticides.

The fact is there are a lot of complicated factors which have a massive impact on our environment and we've been acting like it will all be fine for far too long. We only ever act when it directly impacts human health on a large scale, like reducing smog by introducing smokeless coals. Primarily because of the pollution and respiratory illnesses it was causing, but look at the history of opposition to this change.

So. Those 60% is that by mass, volume, species or what?

@orathiac

I dont know either, but I know at least 80% of all corn in the US is GMO
plus all the farmers who dont grow GMO that just happen to find them growing in their fields.

The Italian papers June 20 report that the E Coli was introduced into the food chain, according to Spanish media. And that there was a criminal motive.
Il Matino now counts 40 fatalities and some 3K-plus diseased. Blanch your sprouts!
Vegans, be alert. We don't have enuf competent subs as it is, in these here Dip. games. Any players over 50. heat thesalamislices or Fughettaboutit.