GMO Studies

This doesn’t address your question but check out this quote from Monsanto RE: RoundUp Resistant Weeds (ie. it’s the farmers problem, not Monsanto’s). I do see resistance as a problem.

Growers must be aware of and proactively manage for glyphosate-resistant weeds in planning their weed control program. When a weed is known to be resistant to glyphosate, then a resistant population of that weed is by definition no longer controlled with labeled rates of glyphosate. Roundup agricultural herbicide warranties will not cover the failure to control glyphosate-resistant weed populations.

I am in no way a monsanto supporter. However, you can not blame them for resistance of their product. Farmers should know that if you dont change the product, the systemic attack route, and class of chemical you are bound to build a resistance. Thats like blaming auto manufacturers for accidents. People need to understand that they had a choice. Again this may make me seem pro monsanto however I am far from that. I believe they do have there place in the agriculture world but they need to have the reins pulled in every once and awhile. Im not sure all the facts but did anyone here about monsanto getting sued in france, at least thats where I think it was? If my memory serves me right they lost big time.

Near horse- Here in NJ you have to obtain a pesticide applicators license. Anyone with an once of common sense would no that resistance is a possibility. Im not trying to start a fight or anything but to me these farmers you speak of are taking the cheap lazy route. Im not saying you cant use round up; however, it shouldnt be used year after year. There are plenty of other herbacides that you can alternate into a proper chemical management plan. I have my license and have sat through the training and recertification process. Every step of the way it is stressed to alternate chemicals. I understand that they were told by the companies to use there products. My point is just that they should have known better and even though it would probably cost more every few years it is worth it to properly control these things with chemical application. Just cause its “Round up Ready” corn, beans, and beets (they may even have cotton by now) does not mean other things can not be used. Just my two cents. I think the idea was a terrible idea to ever happen; however, it was a cheap option and therefore econimically very sucessful.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/13/active-ingredient-glyphosate-in-roundup-herbicides-found-in-peoples-urine.aspx?e_cid=20120313_DNL_art_1&CFID=11337127&CFTOKEN=742098545b5e3f5c-43C79CC8-5056-A323-7FD0F59EB5A14870&jsessionid=8430fd27003a0371f0b054624314213dd693

This is an interesting article with some sources to follow up on,

Kevin

Youre right George, some groups are taking this seriously and reacting, we need to do the same.

and http://www.blacklistednews.com/France_Bans_GM_Corn_Amid_Mass_US_Protests_against_Monsanto/18505/0/38/38/Y/M.html?CFID=11459714&CFTOKEN=ea97022678cd9848-994FAB98-5056-A323-7F28565167E024F6&jsessionid=84302d74d5fdcfb3ad9b748335e5369726e1

@gwpoky 33479 wrote:

The example I stated on a Facebook discussion I have been involved with was this: If I have a dog that runs loose and ends up breeding my neighbors dog(s), my neighbors are going to be upset and demand that I either kennel my dog or destroy it. In my opinion Monsanto ect. needs to Kennel there dog. Any thoughts?

I am not sure what the laws on this area, but I suspect that laws would be against dogs roaming (whether they breed or not). I do see your point, but dogs are easy to fence in and pollen and bees are not. I think a more more similar example dealing with plants would be this: Say I plant a field of pumpkins wanting to save seed. My next door neighbor decides to plant some zucchini (my pumpkins are of a type that hybridizes with his zucchini). So, my pumpkin seeds are going to be (or at least might be) a partial mix of straight pumpkin and pumpkin/zucchini hybrids. Not what I want… Do I have the right to tell him not to grow zucchini? I think not. Do I have the right to sue him if I have some hybrids? Again, this is silly. Now, does he have the right to sue me if I have some hybrids? This also seems silly, but it is essentially what monsanto is doing. I thisnk this is a strange situation, but can kinda understand the logic behind it IF we (as a county/world) agree that patenting living, replicating things is legitimate. How else can someone protect a patent on a replicating thing? Wouldn’t everyone that wants a RR crop simply say that thier RR seeds that they borrowed from thier neighbor or grew themselves was an “accident”? I think this is when the fight ought to be fought. I do think there is some moral high ground on this topic and some documentable “sillyness” on the issue of patenting replicating organisms. Plus, I think the general public would find this idea very distastful. I think agri-buisness very cleverly changed the subject here with round-up ready crops. Now everyone wants to talk about if they this particular gene is “good” or “bad” and scientific studies can be done on the environmental impact on both sides. Either way, monsanto wins. If we (as a nation/world) decides that this particular gene/seed is “bad” they are on to a new gene/seed without missing much of a step. It we (as a nation/world) decide that the gene/seed is “ok” than they have thier patent and they will only have more in the future. Heck, even if the whole world decides that geneticly engineered crops are “bad”, they can still go back to patenting regular seed and find some way to track interbreeding. I have no doubts these tests for cross pollinations could be easily implemented. I believe that if you want to kill this concept and pattern on a meaningful scale, I think the best way is to cut off the ability to patent replicating organisms in the first place. Why is there no national dialog on this??? Breathtaking… I think what we have here is a company not only controlling the seed supply but also CONTROLLING THE DIALOG.