Page 2 of 8 FirstFirst 1234 ... LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 75

Thread: Can we talk about GM crops?

  1. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Lindau Germany
    Posts
    705
    Blog Entries
    5

    Default

    Doris would you please declare something, a wee interest maybe? Because you clearly have none in debate.
    Your request that i stop contributing is risable, but I'll ignore it, as it as no merit.

    And for clarity:
    Best thing to do is probably sell your bees of and buy shares in Bayer.
    Joke.
    I use my beekeeping profits to buy shares in the archer daniel midland company.
    no joke.

  2. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Lindau Germany
    Posts
    705
    Blog Entries
    5

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    Yes I would like to declare an interest.
    I am interested in general beekeeping and rearing native queens.

    We had better stop contributions on this thread from all those in favour of GM like Calum and those who actively campaign against GM crops in the interest of balance.
    Should be a good lively thread. looking forward to the silence.
    Hi
    didn't say I was for GM, I do think that the ideas of it have merit, although I have reservations too.
    GM has been going on for hundreds of years through plant selection and cross breeding.
    Direkt from the lab to the field has to be viewed and reviewed in a completely different way. Whether the current methods are adequate is a debate I am very open to.
    We need to find a realistic solution to feeding the worlds population and GM and Pesticides are better than just destroying more of the worlds wild areas (rainforest/african plains////) to plant more hectares. Dont love the idea of the direction things are taking but right now it seems to be the only realistic way of minimising world hunger today.

  3. #13
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    5,122
    Blog Entries
    94

    Default

    I think any crops or animals which contain segments of viral DNA should be banned, especially two legged ones.

  4. #14
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Lindau Germany
    Posts
    705
    Blog Entries
    5

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    I think any crops or animals which contain segments of viral DNA should be banned, especially two legged ones.
    pigeons or gm chickens? Are those the ones that give you moobs?
    Last edited by Calum; 30-05-2012 at 11:42 AM.

  5. #15
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    5,122
    Blog Entries
    94

    Default

    Might be the apple wine in my case. Too much ethanol can be detrimental to a svelte figure.

    As Kate Moss says, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.

  6. #16

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Calum View Post
    Hi
    ....
    GM has been going on for hundreds of years through plant selection and cross breeding.
    .... Dont love the idea of the direction things are taking but right now it seems to be the only realistic way of minimising world hunger today.
    I don't agree that GM is that similar to plant breeding - i.e. that we can say it has been going on for hundreds of years.
    In the past, breeders would get genes which were ALREADY there to be expressed/suppressed. Now, we can introduce genetic stuff from a completly different organism. It isn't like a speeded-up version of breeding in order to select for various characteristics, it's introducing new genetic material that was never there naturally.
    I'm not comfortable with the idea, nor with the idea that we can use slightly-risky, slightly-unknown stuff to enable us to continue to live beyond our means. Look at statistics on how much food is thrown away (globally) and otherwise wasted; really that should be addressed before we get more tools (GM, pesticides) to allow more intensive farming methods. But that just isn't going to happen - prices might rise but we'll continue to waste things whilst the worlds poorest have next to nothing.
    Saying "we-need-it-becuase-we-need-more food" puts off the inevitable -at some point even with GM and pesticides we'll still reach a point where population exceeds resources, we're just delaying that point. BUT.... personally I'd much rather global food shortages happened in 200 years rather than in 50years....!
    Am definitely, very firmly but shamefacedly, on the fence.

  7. #17
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Belfast, N. Ireland
    Posts
    5,122
    Blog Entries
    94

    Default

    I am also on the fence. I think the technology is amazing but I don't like the monopoly of the technology by a very small number of multinational companies.

    beanne, bits of viral DNA get incorporated into the genome of other organisms naturally as well. There is speculation that the honeybee has a chunk of Israeli Acute Paralysis virus (IAPV) DNA incorporated in its genome and it wasn't Monsanto who put it there!

    That well known creature the human being has 9% of its DNA of virus origin.

    And thankfully Monsanto was not around to stir the primeval soup. A missed opportunity to corner the market.

  8. #18

    Default

    Jon, I didn't know that... it makes you think viruses are really the ones in control. Actually, I think I read something about a theory that viruses are responsible for controlling lots of hormone responses and brain chemistry in humans, so maybe they really are......

  9. #19
    Banned Stromnessbees's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Orkney
    Posts
    456
    Blog Entries
    1

    Exclamation contradictions

    Quote Originally Posted by Calum View Post
    Hi
    didn't say I was for GM, I do think that the ideas of it have merit, although I have reservations too.
    GM has been going on for hundreds of years through plant selection and cross breeding.
    Direkt from the lab to the field has to be viewed and reviewed in a completely different way. Whether the current methods are adequate is a debate I am very open to.
    We need to find a realistic solution to feeding the worlds population and GM and Pesticides are better than just destroying more of the worlds wild areas (rainforest/african plains////) to plant more hectares. Dont love the idea of the direction things are taking but right now it seems to be the only realistic way of minimising world hunger today.
    Calum, when I said that you are now shareholder in a company that uses GM and neonics I did refer to your ADM shares:

    Fuel

    ...
    Today, biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel are the only alternative transportation fuels available to consumers, and ADM is a leading producer of both.

    http://www.adm.com/en-US/products/fu...s/default.aspx


    So how can you on one hand declare that you have reservations with regards to GM, and on the other hand buy shares in one of the leading producers of biofuels?

    The sad truth is that biofuels are grown on areas that would otherwise be used for food production. Those areas are now missing from food production and therefore directly contributing to world hunger!


    Now that you know what you really have bought into, are you prepared to sell your shares in favour of something more supportive of feeding the world and less destructive to the bees and our ecosystems?
    Last edited by Stromnessbees; 31-05-2012 at 12:10 PM.

  10. #20
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Lindau Germany
    Posts
    705
    Blog Entries
    5

    Default

    No Doris I'm not. The demand for ethanol has been synthetically generated by government subsidy. Not ADM. Ban the governments and the EU.
    You are not very well informed on the issues it appaears.

    Please everyone be carefull, I've heard Sacha Baron Cohen has been online working as an agent provocateur to gather material for his coming film Borat the beekeeper. He must be outed!

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •