Artificial Foods and Corporate Crops Seed

7/29/2019 Artificial Foods and Corporate Crops Seed

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/artificial-foods-and-corporate-crops-seed 1/10

ficial Foods and Corporate Crops: Can We Escape the 'Frankensta... http://www.alternet.org/environment/83301/?page=entir

10 5/5/2008 8:00PM

Home Archive Columnists Video Blogs Discuss About Search Donate Advertise

Get AlterNet in your mailbox!

Go

Advertisement

Reserve the Premium AdSpot!

Advertisement

Reserve the Silver AdSpot!

Advertisement

E-mail address

ZIP/Postal code

Earth Friendly Mother's Day

Organic, Fair Trade, and VeganChocolate – Natural and Organic

Spa - Organic Gourmet Gifts – FreeGift Wrap and Message. Use

discount code ALTERNET for a 20%discount on your entire order.

Read more...

Liberal Headlines

Read More

Moving day!!

In case you're wondering ---

Open Thread

CD2 Convention today -- Sarvi shoultake it

Remember what media reporting walike?

Equal pay? Screw it!

Today’s special election

Michael Goldfarb’s Very RevealingAmerican Idol Analysis

Deschutes Hits Stumptown!

Gwinnett Democrats Fill Slate for BOand BOE Races

Share and save this post:

Also in Environment

Why We Need to Rise upAgainst Industrial Agriculture(Again)Will Allen

A Dirty Trucking Industry IsTrying to Clean Up Its ActKate Sheppard

We Must Imagine a Life

Without OilMark Hertsgaard

Real Solutions to the ClimateCrisisGuy Dauncey

Why Michael Pollan and AliceWaters Should Quit Celebrating

Food-Price HikesTom Philpott

More stories by Claire HopeCummings

Environment RSS Feed

Main AlterNet RSS Feed

Get AlterNet inyour mailbox!

Go

Advertisement

Taking a technological approach to agriculture has put the future of

the world's food supply in jeopardy.

Tools

EMAIL

PRINT

59 COMMENTS

Artificial Foods and Corporate Crops: Can WeEscape the 'Frankenstate'?By Claire Hope Cummings, Beacon Press. Posted May 2, 2008.

The following excerpt is reprinted from Uncertain Peril: Genetic

Engineering and the Future of Seeds by Claire Hope Cummings.

Copyright © 2008 by Claire Hope Cummings. By permission of

Beacon Press.

On a frozen island near the North Pole, a huge hole has been blasted

out of the side of an Arctic mountain, and a tunnel has been drilled

deep into the rock. When the facility under construction here is

completed, it will be lined with one-meter-thick concrete, fitted with

two high-security blast-proof airlock doors, and built to withstand

nuclear war, global warming, terrorism, and the collapse of the

earth's energy supplies.

It's known as the "Doomsday Vault," and in it will be stored milli ons

of seeds and mankind's hope for the future of the world's food

supply. The idea is that in the event of massive ecological

destruction, those seeds could be used to reconstruct the planet's

agricultural systems. Exactly who might remain to begin replanting

the earth after such a catastrophe is only one of the questions this

astounding project raises. The more immediate question is, are

seeds in peril?

The answer is yes, especially the seeds that provide us with food,

fiber, and fuel. Both the diversity and the integrity of seeds are

threatened, in the wild and on our farms. They are being put at risk

by agricultural technologies, patents and corporate ownership, and

the overall degradation of the environment. The plight of seeds is

one of the most important environmental stories of our time. Until

now, however, this critical issue has not received the attention it

deserves.

Seeds are as critical to our survival as air, water, and soil. And yet

despite the everyday miracles that they perform, we tend to take

them for granted. Seeds sustain the beauty and vitality of the earth.Seeds are essential to the regenerative capacity of the planet. We

will need their natural resilience and adaptability even more as

temperatures rise.

Biologically, each seed has a unique way of fulfilling its promise.

Taken together, the world's seeds maintain the plant systems that

keep the planet breathing. Every breath we take has been exhaled

by a plant which turned it into oxygen for us. Seeds

have always been our silent partners in maintaining

life on earth.

People and plants coevolved through the ages, and

that relationship has been mutually beneficial. Seed

plants dependably meet our needs, producing the

corn and rice we eat, the flax and cotton we weave,

and the oak and pine we use for shelter. Eightypercent of the people in the world still rely on plants

as their primary source of medicine. The remains of

long-dead plants provide all of us with our fossil

fuels. As metaphors, seeds are a rich source of

inspiration in art, li terature, and religion. We cannot

E-mail address

ZIP/Postal code




10 5/5/2008 8:00PM

Be 1 of up to 6 ads in thisstrip!

Advertisement

Advertisement

Is this video worth $25,000?

Can you travel like a king on ashoestring? Do you know how to

go on just a little dough?

Could you have a hoot on a minuteamount of loot?

44 chances to flip out! and oneginormous chance to win 25

thou- thou- THOU-sandsmackeroos!

Read More

afford to lose any more of this generosity, this

beauty, this abundance.

We find ourselves at a dramatic turning point for l ife

on earth. Population and consumption are rapidly

expanding. Industrial food production is exhausting

the planet's basic biological support systems,

making them even more vulnerable to the effects of

global warming. The natural world is experiencing

catastrophic losses of biodiversity, fresh water, and

fertile soil. All of these trends are threatening seeds

and forcing us to take a careful look at how we wi llfeed ourselves in the future. It comes down to this:

Whoever controls the future of seeds controls the

future of life on earth.

Is industrial agriculture, with its focus on chemical

and genetic technologies, the best choice for ensuring a healthy

future? Genetic engineering is a commercial technology controlled by

private corporations, who use it to dominate agricultural production

from seed to stomach and to profit from every bite. Given the

enormous environmental stress the planet is under right now and

increasing demands on our natural resources from all forms of human

activity, can this one technology provide for our food and

environmental security? The answer is, unequivocally, no.

There are five solid reasons that genetic engineering is not right for

agriculture. One: It's bad science. It was developed on the basis of flawed assumptions which have since been discredited by the

scientific community.

Two: It's bad biology. It was deployed without regard for its potential

for genetic contamination and its risks to human health.

Three: It's bad social poli cy. It puts control over seeds and the

fundamentals of our food and farms into the hands of a few

corporations who have their own, not our, best interests in mind.

Four: It's bad economics. After billi ons of dollars and thirty years,

only a few products have been commercialized, and they offer

nothing new. No one asked for genetically modified organisms

(GMOs), and given a choice, consumers would reject them.

Five: It's bad farming. GMOs don't address the real issues plaguingagriculture; they're designed to substitute for or increase the use of

proprietary weed and pest control chemicals. Patented and genetically

altered seeds perpetuate the very worst problems of the industrial

food system, and they are undermining the autonomy of the farmers

who use them.

According to the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the organization that is

building the Doomsday Vault, there are more than 50,000 edible

plants in the world. About 150 of them have been commercialized,

and only 40 of those are cultivated regularly. Only three of them --

rice, corn, and wheat -- provide most of humanity with i ts mainstay

foods. Three others -- soy, cotton, and canola -- get more than their

fair share of attention because of their industrial uses.

Other plants are important sources of sustenance for many people in

the world, especially potatoes, cassava, and taro, as well as barleyand sorghum. That's the short list of plants that we rely on for our

basic needs, and all of them, as well as tobacco, sugar, coffee,

sunflowers, and most fruits and vegetables, have been patented or

genetically modified. Seeds are the common heritage of all humanity,

and yet they are being stolen right from underneath our noses. If

someone came into your kitchen and took all the food off the shelves

and out of the refrigerator, you'd notice. If someone came onto your

farm and stole the seeds you were about to plant, you'd notice. But

the theft of the world's genetic heritage has not been so overt. It's

been done by changing the biological and legal character of plants, so

that while the food and seeds remain where they were, ownership of

them has shifted.

While all this has been going on, there have been plenty of welcome

countertrends. A dynamic new food and farming movement is rising

up all over the world, bringing local food and farming back to life and

restoring agriculture to its ecological roots. This is where the hope

lies. I t can be found in the natural world, in the promise of the seed,

and in the hands of the farmers and the native planters who tend the

earth with the wealth of nature in mind.




10 5/5/2008 8:00PM

Support AlterNetDo you value the information

you're getting from AlterNet?

Please show your support with atax-deductible donation.

FeedbackTell us how we're doing.

Search:

Go

AlterNet Your turn

Environment »

Organic farmers, chefs, urban and rural youth, artists, and activists

are all working in their own ways, and sometimes together, to change

the way we produce and consume food. New sustainable strategies

and green technologies are being created. There are many proven

ways to produce food and energy that protect both human health and

the life of our soi l and water while providing for our prosperity. These

new agrarians are restoring respect for the skills of the human hand

and the ingenuity of the natural world. They're putting the culture

back into agriculture.

The story of agriculture is often told as the story of humans'

domination of nature. Now a new story is being told. The new storyof agriculture combines the guidance of the old creation myths with

the insights of science. We are learning the language of generosity

from nature and of tolerance from our experiences in returning to

local economies. As we go about searching for ways to return

meaning and morality to our lives, and possibly, dare I hope, to the

political system, the decisions we make now, and the wisdom that we

choose to guide us, wil l make all the difference. What's at stake is

nothing less than the nature of the future.

The Doomsday Vault is only one way of preparing for an uncertain

future. Someday we may be glad it was built. My hope is that we will

create a future for ourselves in which it wil l never be needed. Right

now we can let others decide our fate and continue living in a

fundamentalist "Frankenstate" where the corporate gene giants feed

us artificial food and drugs produced with their genetically modified

patented plants and lull us into complacency with their choice of

electronic conveniences and entertainment. Or we can summon the

courage to resist the worst of all that and begin restoring ourselves to

our rightful places, as members of both human and biological

communities and caretakers of our commonwealth.

We are facing a planetary emergency, as Al Gore says, but our

"collective nervous system" still has trouble recognizing the threats to

our survival. As an environmental journalist, I see this all the time. I

often feel it myself. I wrote this book because I love seeds and

because I have found that telling the stories of the people and places

behind these issues can help us face them and the complex

challenges they present.

Industry spends millions telling its story and defending its products,

and it stands poised to convert our upcoming ecological crisis into a

commercial opportunity. I'm not offering a prescription for the future,

just an invitation to consider our options carefully. The answers we

need will come when we begin the conversation that starts with

telling and l istening to each other's stories.

I have brought all my life experiences, as a mother, a farmer, an

environmental lawyer, an advocate for traditional native land rights,

and a journalist, to weave together a meaningful context for the

subject of genetic engineering and the future of seeds. All of my work

has been guided by one central value: respect for the integrity of the

natural world. This is what I have learned: if we can, even for a

moment, pause and stop looking at the world through the lens of

technology, then suddenly the beauty and wonder of nature reappear.

Then we remember who we are and where we are, and the healing

begins.

See more stories tagged with: food, genetic engineering, gmos, seeds

Claire Hope Cummings is an environmental journalist specializing in

stories about the environmental, health, and political implications of

how we eat. She was an environmental lawyer for 20 years, including

four years with the United States Department of Agriculture, then

practiced environmental and cultural preservation public interest law.

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from Environment!

Sign up now »

Story Tools: EMAIL PRINT 59 COMMENTS

Advertisement

E-mail address

ZIP/Postal c




10 5/5/2008 8:00PM

[Report this comment]


Comments Turn comments off sitewide Give us feedback »

Tools: [Post a new comment] [Login] [Signup] View: ThreadedThreaded

Problems with the article Posted by: AsteroidMiner on May 2, 2008 1:27 AM

Current rating: 2 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]

Of Claire Hope Cummings' reasons that genetic engineering is notright for agriculture, only two of them are actually solid. Theyare:Part of #2: Insufficient care is taken to avoid including allergensin foods that previously did not contain allergens.and#3: It puts control over seeds and the fundamentals of our foodand farms into the hands of a few corporations who have theirown, not our, best interests in mind.

#5 is a corol lary to #3, not a separate issue.

The important problem is the corporations and rabid capitalism.Religious belief in an economic theory, whether capitalist orcommunist, is insanity. "The Market" is a human construct, not agod, but many Americans worship the market as a god.

Capitalism needs to be leavened with an appropriate amount of socialism in the forms of government control and restraint oncorporate control. The corporations' authority should be reducedto no more than the authority of an individual farmer. Farmershave been loosing lawsuits to corporations when it was thecorporations fault that corporate pollen drifted into the farmersfield.

The first problem with the Doomsday Vault is that corporatepower may doom the Doomsday Vault. After all, the DoomsdayVault is a threat to corporate authority. The second problem isthat over millennia, H2S or other poison gasses could seep in andkill the seeds. The Doomsday Vault should be moved to themoon or Mars.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» And yet you believe that nuclear power can operate outside the corporate problems youmention. Posted by: Beck

» Nuclear fuel recycling requires a GOGO plant GovOwnedGovOperated Posted by: AsteroidMiner

» What country/state do you live in? Posted by: GrantBurkeVT

» containment buildings Posted by: AsteroidMiner

» You didn't answer my question. What state/country do you live in? Posted by:

GrantBurkeVT

» Why terrorists can't rob radioactive materials from nuclear reactors Posted by:

AsteroidMiner

» Pretty much contradicts itself. Posted by: GrantBurkeVT

» 14.7 million tons of CO2/year/1000Megawatts Posted by: AsteroidMiner

» Coal releases sulfur not radioactive waste. Posted by: GrantBurkeVT

» RE: AsteroidMiner,how does this concern the topic? Posted by: nightgaunt

» Ask Beck Posted by: AsteroidMiner

» RE: Nuclear fuel recycling requires a GOGO plant GovOwnedGovOperated Posted by:

bornxeyed

» Problems with your vision of the future Posted by: bornxeyed

It is a quandry for sure. Posted by: flyingfish on May 2, 2008 3:45 AM


The question, I suppose, is how long are people going to accept, or be interested in purchasing andconsuming an increasingly inferior product.When that inferiority starts to encompass potential negative health effects and disruption of ecosystems inthe case of GMOs you really wonder.

It's like wine, people wouldn't accept wine if a new method for growing grapes in parking lots wasdeveloped if it meantsacrificing unique taste and smell aspects of wine.

Sure, some(usually being paid by Monsanto, ADM, and the like) say gmo poses no risk and it works toalleviate problems of food availability.

But, just because a capability to modify foods has been developed doesn't mean it is the solution,especially when most food problems are in a sense artificial problems created by bad policies.

Then introduce the fact that gmo introduction is more bad policy, these are for profit corporationswhy would they want and excess amount of food product, that would make prices go down right.It seems they are more interested in "proprietary" seeds that don't produce seeds so farmers have to buyfrom them year after year.




10 5/5/2008 8:00PM




I'll stick with wine and food that makes itself.


MMMMMMMMM chopped liver. Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line on May 2, 2008 4:02 AM


One of the better organizations to support is seed savers. they are a fairly good sized seed bank in Iowaand have a pretty large membership of people interested in seed diversity. I don't know what the answeris to how to avoid the Monsanto lawsuit machine,but a solution is to find out what varieties they sell anddo not use them from any source.Fedco seeds in Maine and Johnnys are good sources for small scalegrowers.. No GMO. There are a lot of seed companies that have a no GMO policy..It is quite a conundrum

to be sure.


» I am a member of Seed Savers Posted by: kellysgarden

d. hawes the agronomist Posted by: madhawes on May 2, 2008 4:55 AM


I have questions more than comments. Does the author expand on her "five solid reasons that geneticengineering is not right for agriculture? One: bad science? Why? Two: bad biology - I would say theremight be a minor problem here, which could be solved with a longer testing period and food labeling.Three: It is not social policy, but certainly she is correct it doesn't have our "best interests in mind." Four:I disagree, the consumers (farmers) find they do offer something new. Five: What are "the real issuesplaguing agriculture"?

The author appears to write with an emotional bias - anti-chemical industry. That certainly is not all badbut, I wonder if her book has balance.


» It is BAD: Genetic Manipulation is Wrong. Posted by: williameon

» All organisms are mutants. Evolution can't happen without them Posted by: AsteroidMiner

» Genetic engineering is LESS organized than natural mutation Posted by: kellysgarden

» RE: Genetic engineering ignores the natural world. Posted by: nightgaunt

Franken Foods are POISON! following The Corpirate Trail of Tears! Posted by: williameon on May 2, 2008 5:19 AM





10 5/5/2008 8:00PM



Leave The Apple Alone!

Putting all of your eggs in oneCorpirate BasketIs good for them andBad for you.Depleted Soils.Nutrition less Foods.Franken Crap - Corn syrup and hydrogenated oil equals =Heart attacks, Obesity and Clogged arteries for everyone!Mess with Mother Nature and suffer the consequences.Millions of years to get it right and these

BOZOs think they can change it in a instant.We are suffering because of it.The Genetic Crap Shoot has opened aPandora's Box of Destruction and for what?A few extra Dollars.What have they done?The Corpirates are messing withThe Grand Design.Creation Itself!The Apple in Adam and Eve's garden represented:Genetic Manipulation.All the Creator asks?Please leave the Apple alone.Is that too much?The Corpirates destroy everything they touch.GREED is EVIL. Selfishness is GREED.Selfishness is Evil.Their bottom is more important then your life?

Squeeze that nickel till it cries.We are the collateral damage in thisShrub/Chainey Corpirate Nightmare.Your health and well being is at stake.It is of l ittle concern to them!They have health care and EMS on call.All you get is lip service andThe Occasional Finger!Pile the bodies high into the Sky.Let them fry!The sooner you figure that out,The better.STAND BACK 500 FEET!Dead Eye DICK Chainey would love toSuck you intoThe Black HoleCalled his Heart!

Prepare!Survive and Prosper.


First things first. Posted by: maxpayne on May 2, 2008 5:54 AM


As the rising costs of oi l keep making their way into corporatized food, more people wi ll have to join thefight to TEAR DOWN the policies stifling the growth of going local. Second, our ancestors didn't usepetroleum based products or for that matter cancer causing radioactive crap to grow and maintain theirfoods. They harnessed the power of the sun. Finally, we need to repeal the mislabelled "Freedom to FarmAct of 1996", courtesy of Bill Clinton, his party, and the GOP, which killed small local farmers in the firstplace.

So let's sum it up. Balance global with local AND stop using the current crop of fertilizers and pesticidesbeing manufactured from petroleum, repeal the policies currently RIGGED to favor Big Agri, and there.Problem solved. Now who's ready to join the club and be a winner?


» maxpayne is radioactive. So were all of his ancestors Posted by: AsteroidMiner

» The only motherfucker who is radioactive is AsteroidASSHOLE. Posted by: maxpayne

» RE: The only motherfucker who is radioactive is AsteroidASSHOLE. Posted by: Richard House

» now I get it, your name refers to being a masochist.... Posted by: bornxeyed

» Some people are so DESPERATE to sell their nuclear bs, they'll stoop this low. Posted by:

GrantBurkeVT

» AMEN max ! Posted by: GrantBurkeVT

» RE: AMEN max !AsteroidMiner still off topic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posted by: nightgaunt

Good article Claire Posted by: grn1 on May 2, 2008 8:00 AM

Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]

I love seeds also, even if that emotion offends some. There is nothing in our li fes so magical and giving.Unless of course some slave trader owning petrochemical companies thinks it's profitable to do so. Youknow the ones that promised thirty years ago to eradicate hunger. Yes thirty years ago, when aconsortium on genetic engineering of science, government, and informed citizenry came to the conclusionthat E.coli (common transgene), our usually harmless colonic tenants might accidentally becomepathogenic with epidemic results. Such fears led to unprecedented discussions by hundreds of scientist.Their fears at this point are now a prediction.





10 5/5/2008 8:00PM





Genetic engineering is GOOD if done for good reasons Posted by: AsteroidMiner on May 2, 2008 8:14 AM


For example, a gene for making vitamin A was added to rice,preventing blindness in many people. Science is not the problem.Greed is the problem.


» RE: Genetic engineering is GOOD if done for good reasons Posted by: kellysgarden

» RE: Genetic engineering is GOOD if done for good reasons Posted by: nightgaunt

» Genetic engineering is immorality done for money Posted by: bornxeyed

Unfair Posted by: g50 on May 2, 2008 8:33 AM


It is unfair to completely trash the green revolution. Yes, organic and local has a place as well. But so dothe techniques that are empirically less susceptible to crop failure. The whole point of the geneticengineering is not to supplement the chemicals. The point is that the chemical pesticides guarantee thatthe crops won't be wiped out by pest or disease, so the farmer has a guaranteed and highly reliable cropand consumers of food have a reliable supply. The green revolution should not be so carelessly dismissed- if we get a generation of organic advocates who don't understand that balance means acknowledging thebenefits as well as the drawbacks of the green revolution, we will not realize any more broadlymeaningful balance between human use of natural resources and the importance of ecodiversity.


» There's Green Revolution but it's being infiltrated with Green WASHING. Posted by:

GrantBurkeVT

» RE: There's Green Revolution but it's being infiltrated with Green WASHING. Posted by: g50

» Untrue! Posted by: bornxeyed

Paradise doesn't include *terminator seeds* & FrankenFood... Posted by: BlueBerry PickN on May 2, 2008 8:49 AM


THE CORPORATION: [17/23] Unsettling Accounts - BGH coverup...

Its not food, sustainability or consumers...its PROFIT, whether you LIKE it or NOT...

...but I have to wonder? do you think MEAT executives feed ORGANIC to their families? ... or likeBigTobacco, do they hand out their product to friends, family?

Vandana Shiva:The Suicide Economy Of Corporate Globalisation -

The Suicide Economy Of Corporate Globalisation

Stone, Biotechnology & Suicide in India

on Farmer Suicides, the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal, Wal-Mart in India & More

Joni Mitchell:"...took all the trees,They took all the treesPut em in a tree museum

And they charged the People A dollar-and-a-half just to see 'em...Hey farmer! farmer!Put away that DDT, now Give me spots on my applesBut leave me the birds n' the beesPlease!Don't it always seem to go? That you don't know what you've got

'til its goneThey paved Paradise..."

Down on the Farm: The Real BGH Story Animal Health Problems, F inancial Troubles - MARKKASTEL / Rural Vermont 1995, A Project of the Rural Education Action Project

~~~Spread Love...

BlueBerry Pick'ncan be found @ThisCanadian com~~~"We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid.~~~"Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced ""do no harm"


greed Posted by: cwilsondrum on May 2, 2008 9:19 AM


time for monsanto,adm,con agra,etc. to go out of business. they are about greed and nothing else. doyou really think any of them are interested in your family's health? or providing an abundance of food?




10 5/5/2008 8:00PM



ending hunger? the only thing that all of that would do is end their profit!!! think it's going to happen?


» RE: greed Posted by: willymack

» RE: Greed & imbalance Posted by: nightgaunt

Our Total Existence is under threat Posted by: topview on May 2, 2008 11:22 AM


We are slowly destroying the environment we evolved from and are changing the balance of Nature as wechange the seed and kill off what Nature has given us to survive on.The Ocean provides everything we need to continue our existence on this planet.

We are polluting every Natural substance we were given to co-exist in this world and the consequenceswill be dramatic for the future of the human, and in fact all living things.

The Seas contain the most treasured substance on this planet and it is the bases of all food source. It isMarine Phytoplankton and has sustained all creatures from the smallest to the largest for centuries. It isbeing threatened by our pollution of the waters of this world. If the Marine Phytoplankton is destroyed.there will be no l ife left on this planet.Nasa Has said, Plankton is the source of 90% of the oxygen webreath and is the bases of all the food source of almost all live. Every thing in the Sea depends onPlankton to feed every living thing in the sea.

We depend on the plankton to feed everything we harvest from the sea. We have to protect ourenvironment to protect the sea so it doesn't collapse and destroy our main source of oxygen and the mostnutrient rich source of the food chain.

Every drop of rain comes from the sea and filters the air then drops to earth and ends up back in the seaeventually, taking with it all the pollution and chemicals from the earth.That is why we have to protect theSea.

We are in luck right now as this source has been made available for mankind to have this whole food forour use and to restore our health back to the way nature intended.Read about in on my blog. The substance is called FrequenSea and will give you what you require tomaintain optimum health.http://www.my-healthy.info/4u

Watch the video.


Author needs to think things through a little more Posted by: kungfoofighterx on May 2, 2008 11:52 AM


First the seed vault thing has nothing to do with Ag, survival, or any such thing. Its more like a giantwork of art lamenting our frail and uncertain existence.Second humans dont need seeds, we can forage fine on those 50,000 edible plants and the animals thateat them.Cities need seeds. Internet wielding bloggers need them since without them we wouldnt have time to

make "progress"Third.Genetic engineering is amazing science brought about through amazing biology. The amount of work andtheory it has taken to create GMOs is a testament to the excellent hypothesis testing which has takenplace. It is a product of exceptional science. Without proper use of the scientific method it would not bepossible to generate a GMO. Biology is applying the scientific method to study living things. The biologyrequired to create a GMO is profound and yielded a large number of Noble prizes. True agriculture hasalways been bad biology from day one. Even GMOs. Cut forests down and plant monocultures. Divertwater. Harvest huge amounts of stuff and distribute it. Has a big impact on biology and society. HoweverI must say the good biologists have been studying these issues otherwise you wouldnt even know it wasan issue. There is little precedent in human history to study the effects of agriculture on ecologicalsystems. That is a recent thing.Bad farming? What is the point of farming? To grow food and sell i t. Its great to protect your investmentand take of your soil. Grow a shit ton of food, dont destroy your soil, and sell it at maximum profit. Youknow a lively hood.Now doing that with the lowest possible input and in the most sustainable manner is going to take GMOs,a lot more biology, and a lot more education. GM crops can take far less input than conventional crops.This is why some GM crops are created. Lowers inputs for farmers.

Bad society? Got a 401K or roth IRA, mutual funds, stocks, a bank account? Its based on profit. Farmerscan grow what ever the hell they want to. Chemical componies like Dow, Dupont, and Monsanto canbreed whatever they hell they want to. Its all driven by profit. This has nothing to do with GMOs.Bad economics? In what system? Its a profit driven system with all the players trying to maximize profit.Your a farmer youve gotten the subsidies? Change the laws. This has nothing to do with GMOs. Farmersarent stupid they are going to grow what they can sell.

Seed savers. Love to plant their seeds and trade with other seed savers. This has nothing to do withGMOs.

I got two words for this authorFoundation SeedsMake and sell your own stuff if you hate GMOs so much.

Growers can always band together and hire beeders to help there cause.

GM seeds are going to save agriculture because they can make low input sustainable agriculture possiblewith decent yields.

The author is confusing corporations with a technology.Technologies are neutral. How they are used gives them moral value. Genetic enigneering is a publictechnology anyone can use. No one owns it.Corporations add value with their traits and breedings.




10 5/5/2008 8:00PM






Be an entrepreneur start you own seed company and breed the things you think are great science,biology, farming, social and economic traits. See if your ideas can translate into the real world. Take yourlife experiences, as a mother, a farmer, an environmental lawyer, an advocate for traditional native landrights and see if they are enough feed the cities of the world.

You have no idea what you are bashing here. If you dont like corporations then write about that. Dontbash technologies that can feed the cities in a world where the raw materials required to grow plants arebecoming ever more scarce.Take a minute and read about the life of Alfred Noble.


» with GM yields actually go down Posted by: kellysgarden

» RE: Author needs to think things through a little more Posted by: bornxeyed

Have you heard of the patent office? The corporations own it. Posted by: nightgaunt on May 2, 2008 12:23 PM


The GMO seeds can't be saved because the corporations like MONSANTO own them and won't allow it.Sure you can gene splice but you must start from scratch.Propriatary means they own it. No sharing andtechnology isn't nuetral because the humans who create it aren't.

You stated yourself that there are 50,000 under used edible plants in sore need of being utilized. Whoneeds GMO when we have that? MONSANTO would if they could patent the DNA genomes but can't andtherefor are of no use to them. Remember, MONSANTO's bottom line isn't feeding people or preservingthe integrity of the biosphere---it is making a profit for their share holders.

Without strict controls,there are none,GMO plants and animals can spread altered genes to other species.Something previously not known.{The plants,not the animals}

GMO's are an unnecessary technology in use right now. Creating GMO's is like bringing animals and plantsfrom other ecosystems only on a new scale. Gene splicing isn't like Mendelian crossbreeding. How wouldyou get human genes into a tomato if not by insertion.We need to stop working against nature and work with it or else.


Agribusiness Kills Posted by: Purple Girl on May 2, 2008 2:22 PM


Start with the over use of lands, overpopulated livestocks contained in small areas, mass production, lackof real skilled or knowledgeable help, low cost for higher profits, mass distribution and so many otherfactors several volumes could be written and you have all the reasons Mass agriculture has been killingUS for decades. this is NOT the Free market, it is Corporationism.Teh fact that a samller producer must gaurantee his product to assure sales elimiates many problems wenow see with our food supply. I would prefer to purchase my fresh food from a local farmer- That not onlyputs a face on my food safety & quality- but also provides more assurances that the Animals are beingproperly cared for.

anyone who thinks someone who spends their life in livestock is cold hearted- ahs never worked in livestock. It is long hours, Hard work in often the most severe conditions and always requires Committmentand Dedication- it you don't ahve that - you have not products because people will see it, and gosomewhere else. Mass production requires no such 'heart' nor any ability to SEE what your next meal hasbee subjected too.Bring Down Agribusiness, return the Stolen Family Farms! And take these items off the Stock & futuresmarkets and let US feed the World! NO farmer is doing this type of work to get Rich fast- it's a labor of Love, Priceless!


GM seeds bring famine upon 3rd world countries Posted by: kellysgarden on May 2, 2008 6:28 PM


I just read an article by Chossudovsky and thought I'd put in one part of his article. It's worth reading:

"Acting on behalf of a handful of biotech conglomerates, GMO seeds have been imposed on farmers, oftenin the context of "food aid programs". In Ethiopia, for instance, kits of GMO seeds were handed out to

impoverished farmers with a view to rehabilitating agricultural production in the wake of a major drought. The GMO seeds were planted, yielding a harvest. But then the farmer came to realize that the GMOseeds could not be replanted without paying royalties to Monsanto, Arch Daniel Midland et al. Then, thefarmers discovered that the seeds would harvest only if they used the farm inputs including the fertilizer,insecticide and herbicide, produced and distributed by the biotech agribusiness companies. Entire peasanteconomies were locked into the grip of the agribusiness conglomerates. The reproduction of seeds at thevillage level in local nurseries has been disrupted by the use of genetically modified seeds. Theagricultural cycle, which enables farmers to store their organic seeds and plant them to reap the nextharvest has been broken. This destructive pattern – invariably resulting in famine – is replicated incountry after country leading to the Worldwide demise of the peasant economy."


Beautiful Posted by: westomoon on May 2, 2008 9:09 PM


What a beautiful piece of writing, and a beautiful evocation of a real truth.

If you don't have access to a plot of ground, I've discovered you can grow a lot of vegetables in a coupleof planters, especially if you skip tomatoes and include cut-and-come-again crops, like greens and celery.


Imagine Plants Posted by: terryhallinan on May 2, 2008 10:12 PM







that resist cold, heat, drought, salt, poor nutrition, disease, predators, even death itself.

Imagine what that could mean: elimination of fertilizers, chemicals, poisons, less land and labor used foragriculture, greater bounty and fresher, more wholesome vegetables.

There are such plants.

Why aren't they on the market?

Corporate interests on the right, fearmongering luddhites on the left, regulators in the middle and hungrypeople with starving infants on the side.

Anybody interested can google "Factor 5a" or better, "elf5a", to learn more.

Science must always fight an uphill battle against superstition and ignorance.

Best, Terry


Gads, more creationist thinking? Posted by: ABetterFuture on May 2, 2008 10:43 PM


Technology isn't our enemy.

Bad policy, instituted by bad people...is.

Drop the frankenmumbojumbo, and maybe more people will take you more seriously than thecreationmumbojumbo crowd.

'Til then, you're 100% equivocal: faith based ideologues.[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Gads, more creationist thinking? Posted by: terryhallinan

» EGads, more superficial thinking! Posted by: bornxeyed

» RE: Gads, more superficial thinking! Posted by: terryhallinan

» Gads, more jingoism from the technocrats Posted by: bornxeyed

The World According to Monsanto Posted by: macdon1 on May 3, 2008 2:56 PM


Please watch this video and pass it on to all your friends.

http://100777.com/node/1805


Home Top Stories Columnists Video Blogs Discuss RSS/XML About Search Donate Contact Us Advertise

Reproduction of material from any AlterNet pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.© 2008 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

Documents

Artificial Foods and Corporate Crops Seed