Protect Your Maters From GMO's

[seedcorn]

We don't need non GMO research. Mother nature provided us with non GMO crops.

You are kidding correct? All the lines you are currently using have been bred/refined by someone. In the past, universities were financed by the government to breed new lines--& still do in some crops. In some crops (corn/soybeans) private companies have done a superior job of breeding those crops. They are protected from theft which use to be very common in AG. If it is bred (altho now universities protect their lines as well for income to support more research) by public tax money, it use to be fair game for any tax payer.

Do you realize what native corn looked like? Nothing like we grow today.

So yes, "we" need lots of non-GMO research if you wish to improve lines. So who wants to pony up the money? Contact any land grant university, start with a donation. The "organic" movement sure hasn't.

 

[thistlebloom]

I really don't want to get into this... but here goes.
Every one of us is capable of breeding our own lines of vegetables. Thats essentially what we do when we save our own seed. We select the healthiest best producing plant to save from and next year plant the results. Lots and lots of varieties have been refined and developed in this manner. You don't have to be a geneticist or work for a university or big seed company to do it. We can ALL do it. We can all do it THIS year.
An excellent book that I am reading right now that is about this very subject is "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties" by Carol Deppe. It's available on Amazon and it is totally fascinating.
However, breeding vegetables in this manner is not the same as genetic engineering and the two should NEVER be confused.
And Seedcorn, I believe your wrong about organic farmers/gardeners not doing research or developing new varieties, it's happening, but not on such a well known name brand basis as the mega corporations. It's going on all over the country in small acreages, and even backyards as people volunteer to grow new varieties in trials.
Carol Deppe (the author I cited) has an appendix in her book with sources for germplasm for anybody who is interested in pursuing this further. And as she points out, many amateur plant breeders are doing just that.

 

[seedcorn]

Yes, I know people that are hobby plant breeders. They also protect their lines from cross pollination.

I'd love to know the first land grant or private company that the organic movement supports with $$$$. I could very easily be wrong, so tell me who and where.

I'm also aware of how "breeders" want traits they don't have so they "access" a commercial line that has that trait and miraclously, it shows up in their "line". Amazing, it's a miracle. IF you believe this, I have an organic bridge to sell you, it's a great deal, trust me....

 

[freemotion]

Ever read an article in Mother Earth News? My big concern about modern veggies is the nutritional profile is VERY different from the older versions of the same type of plant. You can eat a very "good" diet with lots of veggies and still be very deficient in important nutrients.

As for GMOs, there is indication of multiple organ system damage in rats fed on a diet of only 30% GMO grains.

In a Dec 2010 issue of Newsweek that I saw in a Dr's office an article pointed out the 68% of adults are now overweight or obese. And there is indication that it is not just a lack of exercise too many snacks, because city rats are now obese as are most house pets (fed a diet primarily of GMO grains, corn in particular.) Rats are not spending more time in front of the computer or stopping at McD's more often. They are still scurrying around in the alleys, but are eating GMO's now, leftover from the human's diets.

Interestingly, the article never mentioned GMO's as a possibility. I'm sure advertising would've been pulled. That is why the mainstream media doesn't report this stuff.

 

[seedcorn]

Use to subscribe to MEN until I decided that the articles were of little value, just one person's opinion.

You do realize that lab rats are bred to be genetically similiar w/80% cancer rate under "normal" conditions? They do that so if the rate of cancer in the study doesn't go up significantly, what ever is being studied is safe. What does that mean? A 10% increase is of little significance. They have different strains that they will then use to see if the thing being studied affect more normal strains.

Most people in America are over-weight, stop the presses! Most people eat very few corn products. Popcorns, sweet corn & most food products are non-GMO. Pets are pampered, I have a yard full of dogs, cats that are overweight because they eat, sleep and CRAP.

I've never heard that the nutrional value of vegetables we grow today vs. the 60's (before GMO's) are significantly different. I do know that some vegetables have lines that have been selected for better nutrient nutrion for humans.

Current dent varieties of corn are substantially better in nutrion than the old flint types.