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internetworkers - Re: [internetworkers] Genetically modified foods - (was fahrenheit911, at a theater near you!)

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  • From: Ian Meyer <ianmeyer AT mac.com>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] Genetically modified foods - (was fahrenheit911, at a theater near you!)
  • Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 09:57:50 -0400


On Jun 23, 2004, at 9:28 AM, Jeremy Portzer wrote:

On Tue, 2004-06-22 at 18:11, Ian Meyer wrote:
my mom was briefly seeing a farmer for a short while recently, he owns
and farms a large area down towards fayetteville, and he uses roundup
ready corn. not to avoid using pesticides, but so he can kill the weeds
and not harm the corn


It doesn't have anything to do with pesticides. The reason
roundup-ready corn is helpful to the environment is a several step
process:
1) Round-up ready corn/soybeans are resistant to Roundup
2) Therefore, Roundup can be sprayed on the fields to kill all the
weeds
3) Roundup is only toxic to weeds/plants when sprayed on their leaves
on a dry day. If it runs off into streams/rivers, it is completely
inert against all plants and animals.
4) The use of roundup REPLACES other herbicides that were previously
used to control weeds. These older herbicides were much more damaging
to ecosystems downstream from the fields.


aha

Do you understand now? I realize it's not simple.

>:o

But I agree that the issue of the genes spreading to neighboring farms,
etc, is something that must be controlled. Will the roundup-resistant
gene spread to weeds? Will weeds develop their own roundup resistance
through natural selection? I don't have a perfect answer to the
promblem. My original post was really trying to understand why people
have such a negative gut reaction, rather than just considering the
benefits and drawbacks and arguing it sensibly.

--Jeremy


im still weary of it, mostly because its being pursued in a manner that is open to abuse, i mean, look at the guy that got sued by monsanto because they found a patented gene in the corn on his farm, he claims the seed blew over form a neighbor's farm...

granted in that case there are unknown variables such as how much corn on his farm had the gene, but...

~ian





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