BajaNomad

KCET: Mexico officially bans GMO corn/corn products

Ken Cooke - 10-27-2013 at 12:40 PM

source: http://www.kcet.org/living/food/prop-37/mexico-bans-gmo-corn...

PROP 37
Mexico Suspends GMO Corn, We Recommend Two Corn Tortilla Brands

by Javier Cabral
on October 22, 2013 1:56 PM

Mexico has officially banned GMO corn. A judge there placed an indefinite ban on genetically engineered corn last week, citing "risk of imminent harm to the environment." This means that pro-GMO companies like Monsanto and DuPont/Pioneer are no longer allowed to plant or sell their corn within the country's borders. And Mexico has over 20,000 varieties of corn that are grown and eaten through out the country -- we're talking huge amounts of corn.

continued: http://www.kcet.org/living/food/prop-37/mexico-bans-gmo-corn...

Corn fusing

bajaguy - 10-27-2013 at 02:47 PM

With over 20,000 varieties of corn, you would think that they could grow some fit for human consumption.......same with tomatoes :?: :?:

DENNIS - 10-27-2013 at 03:37 PM

What's wrong with tortillas that glow in the dark and cure cancer in the digestive tract?

Ateo - 10-27-2013 at 04:34 PM

This is a cut n paste job from a column I was reading where someone asked if GMO's were harmful:


No, food is not necessarily toxic because it has been modified.

In fact, in many cases food is better for you after it has been modified. Case in point: Golden Rice. Golden rice is a food that has been genetically altered so that it contains beta-carotene and other carotenoids in the endosperm (the edible part of the grain). In other words the rice has been modified to produce vitamin A when normally it would not. This addition helps to saves lives in countries that are struggling daily with malnutrition. Golden rice can help fight vitamin deficiency, plain and simple. It does not produce a toxin. It produces a vitamin.

I bring this example up first to illustrate a simple point:

We need to feed more people every day. We are not doing a good enough job of it. People are starving. Right. Now.

The people who complain the loudest about genetically modified foods are usually the people who are from wealthy countries where starvation is not high on their list of problems. The problem of malnutrition falls somewhere below, what shoes should they wear and do they need to get the car washed. These are the same people who pay extra for an organic labeled tomato when they might want to be more concerned with how far a tomato travels to get on their plate and the support of local farmers. In other words the people crying fowl and “ZOMG TOXINS!” probably havent taken the time to look into the issues at all.

We have been modifying plants for thousands of year. Fact. Broccoli used to be cabbage. No really. Look it up. We modified it.

Bananas are sexless clones than can not exist without us humans messing with them.

Those are just a few examples of common foods I like to highlight that we, as a specie have been genetically modifying for many, many years. Most everything in our modern garden has been modified by the farmer over the years to produce larger yields or bigger, healthier plants. The only difference is that now we can be more precise in the changes and add in ways the plants grow, such as what nutrients the plant requires to grow, what vitamins the plant itself produces, how large it is and how long it gives fruit etc. We can also make quicker changes. Modifications that would have taken years, can, in theory happen in a lab, overnight. These are all important qualities that can help farmers grow studier plants with higher yields in order to feed an ever growing population.

Is this a perfect science? No.

We are still learning the good and the bad of rapid modifications. That’s what science does. It slowly builds upon it’s current knowledge. But to automatically cry TOXIN when you hear GMO is an ignorant knee jerk reaction to a technology that has the potential to feed billions of people and improve the quality of life for many who are in desperate need of nutrition.

Next time your friends start complaining of toxins, share with them this list of poisonous plants that are as natural as can be.

And then share with them the appeal to nature fallacy: Cyanide and poison ivy are all natural too.

Hope this was helpful!

Here are links to previous posts by me on this topic. There is also a bit of info on how corporations and kickbacks might be harming the GMO corn industry in first link below.


http://skepchick.org/2012/07/ask-surly-amy-genetically-modif...

Hook - 10-27-2013 at 05:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajaguy
With over 20,000 varieties of corn, you would think that they could grow some fit for human consumption.......same with tomatoes :?: :?:


Couldnt agree more.

We are fortunate to have a guy farming a few thousand acres of Olatha and Peaches and Cream corn. It's most all headed for export to the US, beginning in December. But he is a partner in a sportfishing operation in town and he sells it out of his office when it's coming in. 50 pesos for 13 ears. As good as any corn I have had.

For tomatoes, you just gotta grow your own if you want flavor.

[Edited on 10-28-2013 by Hook]

Mexitron - 10-27-2013 at 06:08 PM

Good points Ateo. But Mexico is likely being wise in not wanting to cross-contaminate all their heritage varieties. Brave new world we're entering with the ability to genetically manipulate species with DNA not normally associated with their genome (ateo--your example of cabbages is manipulation of a plant's existing genome---same with dog breeds----those genes already exist). I wonder what we'll be like in a couple hundred years---more bionic or more genetically manipulated or both. I do wish they would come up with some memory chips for my brain sooner than later:bounce:

But thats REAL organic, methane too..

EdZeranski - 10-27-2013 at 06:25 PM

Quote:
PROP 37 Mexico Suspends GMO Corn, We Recommend Two Corn Tortilla Brands

by Javier Cabral
on October 22, 2013 1:56 PM


Geeze Looo Weeeze! Lets see? No hybrid/genetically changed corn buts it OK for that raw sewage flow out front. I guess that's REAL organic..a brown wrinkle neck lumpfish spawn...poor swimmers, great floaters. How did all the world get by eating nasty old wheat with...shudder shudder...glutin all those tens of thousands of years?? Musta ben some tough MFs!! :lol:


EdZ
Coloia Zaragossa

Monsanto

captkw - 10-27-2013 at 06:40 PM

Soon, the way things are going with mansanto filing patents on their seeds and also keeping farmers from keeping their own seeds.. I have read that in the near future a private farmer/person would be breaking the law for planting seeds (their own)`...that's what I have been read...I don't know myself..But if your looking for good read on corn and cattle get or look up "Mad cowboy" really good book IMO.......K&T

[Edited on 10-28-2013 by captkw]

watizname - 10-28-2013 at 08:48 AM

Right on Ateo. Thanks for the article. Most people don't realize we have been manipulating our foods for a long time. All the grafting, cross pollinating ,cross breeding, that has gone on thru the years is just the slow way of doing things. Like the article says, it's not a perfect science, but unless we try, we're doomed to failure. :coolup:

Ateo - 10-28-2013 at 08:56 AM

Yep. Overpopulation is the elephant in the room.
Quote:
Originally posted by lencho
Quote:
Originally posted by Ateo
We need to feed more people every day. We are not doing a good enough job of it. People are starving. Right. Now.
A principal reason people are starving. Right. Now. Is because they reproduce beyond the capacity of their environment to sustain them.

Most species tend to attempt that, and are forcefully regulated via environmental constraints.

We, being a superior species, insist on regulating the environment rather than our presence within it; personally I think we have things a little backwards...