ProGMO

Advocating for Genetically Modified foods to better sustain our planet, and our future generations.

[progmo]

I'm glad I get to write two posts today about advocates within a country coming out in support of GMO and biotechnology within a country's agriculture. This one from a prominent geneticist in the Philippines. These are the stories that make me happy to be running Pro GMO.

[progmo]

It's refreshing to find out that even some organic food producers oppose the GMO labeling laws. Of course be wary of following this image to it's source, The Cornucopia Institute, their original article on it is filled with fear mongering and attacks on these companies, all supported with pretty much no evidence of anything.

[progmo]

I'm always glad to find articles like this where agricultural experts, governments, or scientists are finally stepping out into the light and urging for a more widespread acceptance of GMO technology within local agricultures.

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I would like to see the response from the Swedish government to this vandalism. I don't know if we will end up seeing one though.

[progmo]

Genetically modified crops should be part of Africa'€™s food future

Africa is one of the major hotbeds in the raging anti-GM war. They are also a country that has a large population of people who could benefit from the GM technology. I hope we can see more widespread GM acceptance within the country. Monsanto and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation are working hard to bring free, license-free, plants to farmers here. The hand filled with food is outreached, but it is up to the public within Africa to accept the offer.

[progmo]

I don't know if I could consider a catholic ecology site as a great place to find information on the science of GM, but it is good to see even the religious people, who often may use the appeal to nature logical fallacy when arguing against GM, are starting to see that GM technology is a boon to the starving people around the world.

[progmo]

A conversation on genetically engineered apples

I had heard of this apple before. Won't brown. There are many reasons this is not only cool, but beneficial to the consumers.

People of course are wary of this, but as pointed out in this podcast, purchased sliced apples at places like McDonalds are actually sliced and then treated to prevent the browning. Instead Neal and his team have simply turned off the gene that produces the enzyme that browns the apple. That is all. Can't wait to see these in my local grocery store. I will totally have to slice one and let it sit, and be all giddy like a real nerd.

[progmo]

China Pushes Genetically Modified Food

China has been making great strides recently to bring public approval of GM crops to the masses that could use it within the country. I had recently posted about taste test campaigns being brought around, to help promote GM and dispel the fear and myth around them.

[progmo]

Anti-GMO Activists Lie About Attack on Rice Crop (and About So Many Other Things)

I may have mentioned the attack on the golden rice crops in the Philippines before, but this article sheds a much more detailed light on the truth behind the attack. If you aren't interested in a rant you may want to check the source link now, otherwise you can read on. It's going to get opinionated.

The one thing that truly pisses me off about this story is just seeing the Greenpeace workers in the rice bed. They are wearing checkered shorts, nice clothes. They look like a bunch of city kids. Hell, they look like me if I decided to go stomping out into a rice field. A bunch of kids, who probably aren't hurting for money at all. Obviously, if they have the free time to be stomping about in fields, they don't have a whole lot of financial worries going on at the moment. 

However the people that the crop, the one they are destroying, is really for are those who have nothing. The poorest children in the country. The individuals suffering from a common vitamin A deficiency within their country. Every plant that Greenpeace killed was food taken right out of the mouth of a starving child. Every killed plant was a coin toss as to whether a child was going to have to grow up blind. At this point Greenpeace has become nothing more than a domestic terrorist organization within the country, and in a lot of places they exist, or at least it would be if the individuals themselves were something other than city kids that had never stepped on a field in their lives. (Heck yeah I tagged this post with terrorism, exactly what it equates to.)

Alright, rant over for now. 

[agricpolicy]

Honest Scarecrow

[progmo]

I just had to post this. I had seen this commercial before, and there is quite a bit of truth to the odd advertisement spin to this piece. Thanks FunnyOrDie for a great video. Not necessarily pro-GMO, but still good.

[progmo]

This is the sort of journalistic "twisting" that irks me about the GM debate. I will leave the full criticism up to the source link.  Part way through it makes mention of the recent "No consensus on the safety of GMO" article that has been circulating around. I was originally going to post my own take on the misleading statements and lack of credible signators, but I really don't want even a chance of spreading misinformation to people who may not know the true context in which I would have posted it.

[progmo]

Jumping of genes didn’t start with GE crops, scientists say

I hope it is widely known that crops have been conventionally bred for a LONG time before they became what we can pick up in a grocery store today. These plants were bred specifically for humans to have certain traits. Of course genes from these plants have spread, as is want to happen in a pollination environment. (We could try mass plant birth control, but that just seems silly.) This article does a great job of explaining why the cross pollination argument against GM isn't really what it seems to be.

[progmo]

I love this story. This is the positive advocacy for GM foods that I hope someday I myself may inspire. These taste test events have happened in over 20 cities and are working to dispel the fear around these new GM foods. They are also an integral part in getting the true benefits of GM out to the public, who may often only hear about it through media that often vilifies the technology.

[progmo]

Seed companies hoping to end Mexico's GMO suspension

I was actually handed the inverse to this article earlier in the day. I read through it because trying your best to listen to criticism to your own point is what can help you evaluate a stance on a subject. The thing that bugs me about the inverse article to this one is that activists hear about a ban and simply say "Yay, it is banned. We have a victory." They often gloss over details about why it was banned, how it was banned, and what the impact is on the farmers, growers, and consumers within a given country. I personally hope the ban will be quickly removed as it doesn't seem to have a very strong basis for the ruling. Any thoughts?

[progmo]

Leading Activist Apologizes For Starting Anti-GMO Movement | Hawaii Reporter

I can't take credit for the original find of this article but I found it a great read. Mark Lynas was one of GM's biggest opponents to being a big supporter of the GM technology. What was his big turning point on the issue? I'll let you read to find out (or check Wikipedia for the short version if you are too impatient.)

[progmo]

A new method against genetically modified salmon: Get retailers to refuse to sell it

Activists against GMO are good at becoming the loudest talkers in the argument over GM foods. They often drown out any science or argument for GMO and are great at spreading fear on the subject of GM foods. I myself am a consumer, I buy fish. I say please Target, bring these to my local store.  Why would I want to buy such a fish? A few reasons. They have been highly tested and are no more "unsafe" than any wild variety of fish. They also can help to reduce the over-fishing of the wild populations of salmon. Unfortunately activists are taking a new approach to their battle against this well tested and soon-to-be approved fish, by trying to undercut it's availability and market. Of course the don't speak for everybody, but unfortunately, they do speak the loudest. What are your thoughts on the GM salmon?

[progmo]

What'€™s That Smell? Exotic Scents Made From Re-engineered Yeast

Of course there will always be nay-sayers to such ideas as a GM yeast that can spit out vanilla flavoring, but if you also can use the same thing to spit out a Malaria medicine, is it just as dangerous? Granted this seems like it still needs some perfecting and some time to prove itself, it does seem to target some problems of natural flavoring and medicines based off of plants. It can help regulate wild swings in prices and availability of the plants these derive from, and can help protect some plants and trees overly harvested for fragrances and other vanity uses. A very cool technology to keep our eyes on, if for advances in medicine alone.