Why Monsanto Not Proud Of Their GMO's?

[billybob]

So, why would a company like Monsanto not want to brand their own products as GMO' and not tout the benefits of their efforts in the field of world health, hunger.

There must be a problem somewhere. It does not add up somehow. You spend all that money on research and do nothing about advertising?

It is a good thing...right?

[mungkiman]

Greed and evil are usually kept behind closed doors.

[billybob]

That is what am wondering. Did they not foresee a day when plans of mice and men go awry as they oft-times do?

[tigerwoodKhorns]

So, why would a company like Monsanto not want to brand their own products as GMO' and not tout the benefits of their efforts in the field of world health, hunger.

There must be a problem somewhere. It does not add up somehow. You spend all that money on research and do nothing about advertising?

It is a good thing...right?

They tried that. It is difficult to say, "from the makers of DDT, and PCB's, which we told you were safe, now comes your food..." They have effectively quashed all major reporting in the USA through legal muscle (it does nto matter if you are right, can you afford the litigation to prove you are right if you go against them).

GMOs should be a good thing, but it is a very imprecise science. In spite of our arrogance, we do not have effective advanced technology yet. Monsanto has had laws passed that effectively do not require testing of their products. They just release them and see what happens.

You should look at this like a business deal or marriage. You need to trust the other side, because you are putting their products in your body. Monsanto has continually put dangerous products out and told us they were safe. They have sidestepped safety laws and forced legislation to exempt their products from testing. They have bribed government officials to get approvals. They are patenting natually occuring substances in food. They muscled farmers out of business who dare not use their product, taking samples of the farmers crops that were contaminated by Monsanto GMO seeds, then sued them for patent infringement. They have claimed that they are solving world hunger, and their biggest product is seeds that die every year so you need to keep buying more from them. The list goes on and on. Do you think that they have magically changed and you shoudl now trust them and eat their products?

In Europe they tried the same thing, but the people pushed back and refused to accept GMOs. Label them as a bunch of liberal cry babies. They do not know what is good for them, only Monsanto knows what is good for them, right?

Well except for this:

Pregnant Women And Babies At Great Risk

Among the population, biologist David Schubert of the Salk Institute warns that "children are the most likely to be adversely effected by toxins and other dietary problems" related to GM foods. He says without adequate studies, the children become "the experimental animals."

The experience of actual GM-fed experimental animals is scary. When GM soy was fed to female rats, most of their babies died within three weeks—compared to a 10% death rate among the control group fed natural soy. The GM-fed babies were also smaller, and later had problems getting pregnant.

When male rats were fed GM soy, their testicles actually changed color—from the normal pink to dark blue. Mice fed GM soy had altered young sperm. Even the embryos of GM fed parent mice had significant changes in their DNA. Mice fed GM corn in an Austrian government study had fewer babies, which were also smaller than normal.

Reproductive problems also plague livestock. Investigations in the state of Haryana, India revealed that most buffalo that ate GM cottonseed had complications such as premature deliveries, abortions, infertility, and prolapsed uteruses. Many calves died. In the US, about two dozen farmers reported thousands of pigs became sterile after consuming certain GM corn varieties. Some had false pregnancies; others gave birth to bags of water. Cows and bulls also became infertile when fed the same corn.

In the US population, the incidence of low birth weight babies, infertility, and infant mortality are all escalating.

Food Designed To Produce Toxin

GM corn and cotton are engineered to produce their own built-in pesticide in every cell. When bugs bite the plant, the poison splits open their stomach and kills them. Biotech companies claim that the pesticide, called Bt—produced from soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis—has a history of safe use, since organic farmers and others use Bt bacteria spray for natural insect control. Genetic engineers insert Bt genes into corn and cotton, so the plants do the killing.

The Bt-toxin produced in GM plants, however, is thousands of times more concentrated than natural Bt spray, is designed to be more toxic, has properties of an allergen, and unlike the spray, cannot be washed off the plant.

Moreover, studies confirm that even the less toxic natural bacterial spray is harmful. When dispersed by plane to kill gypsy moths in the Pacific Northwest, about 500 people reported allergy or flu-like symptoms. Some had to go to the emergency room.

The exact same symptoms are now being reported by farm workers throughout India, from handling Bt cotton. In 2008, based on medical records, the Sunday India reported, "Victims of itching have increased massively this year…related to BT cotton farming."

Gmos Provoke Immune Reactions

AAEM states, "Multiple animal studies show significant immune dysregulation," including increase in cytokines, which are "associated with asthma, allergy, and inflammation"—all on the rise in the US.

According to GM food safety expert Dr. Arpad Pusztai, changes in the immune status of GM animals are "a consistent feature of all the studies."Even Monsanto's own research showed significant immune system changes in rats fed Bt corn. A November 2008 by the Italian government also found that mice have an immune reaction to Bt corn.

GM soy and corn each contain two new proteins with allergenic properties, GM soy has up to seven times more trypsin inhibitor—a known soy allergen, and skin *** tests show some people react to GM, but not to non-GM soy. Soon after GM soy was introduced to the UK, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50%. Perhaps the US epidemic of food allergies and asthma is a casualty of genetic manipulation.

Animals Dying In Large Numbers

In India, animals graze on cotton plants after harvest. But when shepherds let sheep graze on Bt cotton plants, thousands died. Post mortems showed severe irritation and black patches in both intestines and liver (as well as enlarged bile ducts). Investigators said preliminary evidence "strongly suggests that the sheep mortality was due to a toxin.…most probably Bt-toxin."In a small follow-up feeding study by the Deccan Development Society, all sheep fed Bt cotton plants died within 30 days; those that grazed on natural cotton plants remained healthy.

In a small village in Andhra Pradesh, buffalo grazed on cotton plants for eight years without incident. On January 3^rd, 2008, the buffalo grazed on Bt cotton plants for the first time. All 13 were sick the next day; all died within 3 days.

Bt corn was also implicated in the deaths of cows in Germany, and horses, water buffaloes, and chickens in The Philippines.

In lab studies, twice the number of chickens fed Liberty Link corn died; 7 of 20 rats fed a GM tomato developed bleeding stomachs; another 7 of 40 died within two weeks. Monsanto's own study showed evidence of poisoning in major organs of rats fed Bt corn, according to top French toxicologist G. E. Seralini.

Worst Finding Of All—GMOs Remain Inside Of Us

The only published human feeding study revealed what may be the most dangerous problem from GM foods. The gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of bacteria living inside our intestines and continues to function. This means that long after we stop eating GMOs, we may still have potentially harmful GM proteins produced continuously inside of us. Put more plainly, eating a corn chip produced from Bt corn might transform our intestinal bacteria into living pesticide factories, possibly for the rest of our lives.

When evidence of gene transfer is reported at medical conferences around the US, doctors often respond by citing the huge increase of gastrointestinal problems among their patients over the last decade. GM foods might be colonizing the gut flora of North Americans.

Warnings By Government Scientists Ignored And Denied

Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had warned about all these problems even in the early 1990s. According to documents released from a lawsuit, the scientific consensus at the agency was that GM foods were inherently dangerous, and might create hard-to-detect allergies, poisons, gene transfer to gut bacteria, new diseases, and nutritional problems. They urged their superiors to require rigorous long-term tests. But the White House had ordered the agency to promote biotechnology and the FDA responded by recruiting Michael Taylor, Monsanto's former attorney, to head up the formation of GMO policy. That policy, which is in effect today, denies knowledge of scientists' concerns and declares that no safety studies on GMOs are required. It is up to Monsanto and the other biotech companies to determine if their foods are safe. Mr. Taylor later became Monsanto's vice president.

[billybob]

Well dang, with a trackrecord like that, guess they aren't so proud. Something weird about a company wanting to monopolize seeds, and thinking they can actually do it. A bit arrogant.

[ZAKO]

The FDA has allways been corrupt,,So What,,,, FDA does not test food products,,Thats not there job,, THats why so many ADDs on TV haev disclaimers..

[ZAKO]

The supreme court just ruled NO DNA patents..on HUMANS

[billybob]

The FDA has allways been corrupt,,So What,,,, FDA does not test food products,,Thats not there job,, THats why so many ADDs on TV haev disclaimers..

So, what good are they?

[CECAA850]

Well dang, with a trackrecord like that, guess they aren't so proud. Something weird about a company wanting to monopolize seeds, and thinking they can actually do it. A bit arrogant.

Thinking they can? They've already done it.

[ZAKO]

Yup,,,99% of the wheat.

[billybob]

Guess that is why the article I saw on homepage last weekend about stopping eating wheat. Guess we will have to import our wheat from EU.

[CECAA850]

Yup,,,99% of the wheat.

A lot of the rice in Asia also.

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Guess that is why the article I saw on homepage last weekend about stopping eating wheat. Guess we will have to import our wheat from EU.

There are many foreign countries that are not accepting our crop exports because of the GMOs. Not really very good for our economy.

I am trying to find organic soy sauce. it is actually very difficult. Need some whole grain organic calrose rice too.

I do have organic wheat. We make home made wheat tortillas. Just flour, water, a pinch of salt and baking powder. Really good stuff.

[ZAKO]

Can I feed it to my Hogs ????

[Ski Bum]

TigerwoodKhorns, fyi, Jeffrey M. Smith is not a scientist (although he happily misrepresents himself as such when on TV) and a poor source for data that has survived any sort of rigorous review. Ditto the AAEM, who are against flouridation of drinking water fer chrissakes. Posting info from them is counterproductive to your cause, as it comes across as rather alarmist, anti-science BS.

And this is a freakin audio forum, not the Huffington Post. I gotta put on another record...

[Marvel]

fyi, Jeffrey M. Smith is not a scientist (although he happily misrepresents himself as such when on TV)

I didn't see anything here quoting J.M. Smith...

Bruce

[Ski Bum]

A large chunk of twk's post is copy and pasted verbatim from Smith's site right here: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/health-risks. Huge chunks of it are total nonsense. Check out his wiki page too.

He's certainly entrepreneurial with his alarmist advocacy, I'll give him that.

Some more fun reading on Smith: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2012/10/19/malpractice-on-dr-oz-pop-health-expert-hosts-anti-gm-food-rant-scientists-push-back/

[tigerwoodKhorns]

TigerwoodKhorns, fyi, Jeffrey M. Smith is not a scientist (although he happily misrepresents himself as such when on TV) and a poor source for data that has survived any sort of rigorous review. Ditto the AAEM, who are against flouridation of drinking water fer chrissakes. Posting info from them is counterproductive to your cause, as it comes across as rather alarmist, anti-science BS. And this is a freakin audio forum, not the Huffington Post. I gotta put on another record...

Not really a cause. Except for one member who wants to post idiotic comments, I like the discussion. I also really wish that GMO food were labeled because it would be really nice for me to be able to make a decision on my own, meaning that I would have the same freedom as in most of the developed world, rather that my "rights" here. Even if I am wrong, I'd like to be able to make my own decision.

GMO can be made safely, but we are not there yet. We could be very close, but we have a very wreckless company leading the cause with technology that can be very helpful if carefully implemented, or dangerous. I do not think that they want to hurt anyone, but I do believe that they do not care if anyone gets hurt, as long as they can keep their bottom line and if people get hurt, they certainly do not care and they will push everything as quickly as possible with no real oversight. Forget the issues with GMOs, a monopoly over our food supply should be alarming enough.

Smith's site has a nice list of potential issues with GMO that are cited, so it is easy to grab to answer a post. I had to leave out the cites because the forum will not let it be posted. I do not follow his work.

But everything goes back to credibility. I have worked with "experts" that will say anything for a buck. There are plenty of them out there. So who is more likely to have an agenda that will be in your best interest? Monsanto who claims that they are solving with world hunger problem with their suicide seeds (that are designed to die each year), and has a long history of screwing everybody, or an activist who is citing to information that is not readily availble in the US press? Who is the better steward of out planet? Even if he is nuts, I will take his advice over Monsanto any day.

I will give you a more local example. You are in Colorado. We have all heard of the claimed dangers of hydraullic frac'ing. Movies like Gasland and Split Estate. We know that there is an agenda, so maybe the people are not experiencing any of the claimed problems in the films, which are mostly groundwater contamination and concentrated chemical air pollution. So I look at the other side of the coin. I have personal experience with the oil and gas industry. The way that they act is, giving them the benefit of the doubt, disgusting. Everything must be skewed in their direction. They literally insist on things from you that they flat out refuse to do when asked to make it mutual, then claim that you are being difficult because you do not roll over on everything and let them have everything that they want, no matter if it hurts you or not. So by this experience, I have a good idea as to how they operate their business. Again, it goes back to stewardship. My experience is that they want everything and are not willing to give anything, not matter what the consequences to you. So I have a hard time believing that these scorched earth tactics are limited to their contracts. It gives the films more credibility, even if they are not entirely accurate (they may be, I do not know).

[billybob]

Oranic soy sauce is an essential to gourmet/chef preparations/cookin. A source is a good thing. Nevada is not a poor state. Maybe in water but, they have a mayor(lady?) that espouses h2O conservation. Sorry OT Water they say is essential to life.

JMo

[Ski Bum]

Please don't confuse me with a Monsanto defender. I'm just a defender of empirical, peer reviewed science, and Mr. Maharishi cult is pretty far from it.

The fracking issue is a fun brawl to witness. Unfortunately the oil and gas cartels will most likely eventually win, per the Golden Rule (he who has the gold makes the rules), but the nimbys have some clout, allied by common cause with the moderate and lefty environmentalists. My town just passed an anti-fracking ballot issue against some hard campaigning from many angles.

Another example close to my heart, we just lost a battle against the Severely Stupid in Colorado recently. Our legislature and Gov. Howdy Doody have decided to license naturopaths. Need woo? We got it. May not cure you, but it will enrich a charlatan. After your disproven-modality false-hope health "treatment", you can unwind with some nice, high potency legalized pot.

So Colorado is devolving into a fracked up quack wonderland of stoned redneck hippies.