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Bananas are the most exported fresh fruit in the world and 99 per cent of them are Cavendish. Most are grown on commercial plantations in places like Ecuador, Costa Rica and the Philippines.
The Cavendish wasn’t always the best of the bunch. In the early 1900s, fruit producers preferred the Gros Michel — a larger and by many accounts tastier banana. But a fungus dubbed Panama Disease, also known as Fusarium wilt, invaded plantations and destroyed Gros Michel crops.
It was considered one of the most damaging diseases in the world, wiping out more than 40,000 hectares of bananas in Central and South America in fewer than 50 years
I read a book about this a couple of years ago. I was dumbfounded to learn that every banana that we eat is a clone (I think that was the word the author used) of each other. Hence, these Cavendish bananas will all, sooner or later, be wiped out, since there is no possibility that any of them will have evolved defenses against the fungus.
You don't know squat about agriculture. I live in Nebraska (huge US farming state), I grew up on a farm, and I'm part owner in my family's farming business now. The crops are genetically modified to be resistant to Roundup--an herbicide. Herbicides are chemicals that kill weeds. Crops genetically modified to be roundup resistant mean that the farmers can spray the crop for weeds vs. cultivating for them (running a kind of plow behind a tractor to hoe the weeds by machine) because the soybeans are resistant to the herbicide. One of the big (huge) problems is that now the weeds are becoming resistant to Roundup too, plus they're finding that it's more toxic to humans and the environment than was first believed. . Roundup does not protect your food crops "from mold and pestilence."
Don't preach to me about farming and just one product (Roundup!-----did I say a damned thing about Roundup?). I am speaking of science. You sound like a one-crop farmer (probably corn). Genetic engineering can change any genetic trait of a crop. Some genetic traits will confer resistance to unforseen biological threats in the future. And genetic engineering will be the only speedy response to unforeseen circumstances (except for smaller farms of heirloom products).
And let me throw you a little hint about farming. It is huge industrial style farms such as what you grew up on that has fed us for the last few decades (thank you). But it will be genetic diversity, not homogeneity, that will feed us in the future. That is why you should not denigrate genetic engineering.
Last edited by irishvanguard; 05-19-2012 at 07:57 PM..
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
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It comes down to this: the label "organic" indicates certain standards, though they are different from state to state, federal, and even international (for example there are lots of Mexican organics, but who knows what that means).
The label "natural" has NO meaning or standards. Kool Aid could legally be labelled All Natural.
Its not nice to say your product is this when it in fact is that!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mb1547
Oh for heavens sake--then eat all the crap you want and shut up. Just don't try to sell products (at a SIGNIFICANTLY higher price) by marketing them as being natural and organic, and then put things in the box that aren't natural or organic. It's a consumer protection and truth in advertising issue--not a fight over whether genetically modified crops are good for you. The company lied so they could tap into the natural/organics market and sell at a higher price. they completely misrepresented the product to the public. This is exactly why consumer protection laws are needed.
"Natural," as far as food products are concerned, is a very broad and loose term.
The claim that they are "7 whole grains on a mission", when they are actually 6 whole grains and one fruit: barley, buckwheat, hard red wheat, brown rice, oats, rye, triticale.
Buckwheat is a fruit and a member of the rhubarb family.
Bummer to hear! Their Vanilla Wheat is fabulous! The wheat squares, when put beside some other top brands of Wheat squares make the other brands look like wheat flour was flattened and woven into cute little biscuits while Kashi's looks closer to having come from the field unprocessed.
What happened? Did kashi do like some of the once-top brands of dog food and sell-out to a conglomerate and now it's not what it was meant to be?
Bummer to hear! Their Vanilla Wheat is fabulous! The wheat squares, when put beside some other top brands of Wheat squares make the other brands look like wheat flour was flattened and woven into cute little biscuits while Kashi's looks closer to having come from the field unprocessed.
What happened? Did kashi do like some of the once-top brands of dog food and sell-out to a conglomerate and now it's not what it was meant to be?
Salt is natural. Eat a box of it and it will kill you.
P.S. Ban susnshine. It causes cancer.
I always wonder why Ameicans don't own more wolves. After all, their mutt is probably some ind of genetically created freak dog. What? It makes the dog better? Tamer, smarter, more loving. Bah! Gimme a wolf that would eat my kids in 2 seconds. That's KEEPING IT REAL.
We are talking about something we are eating. Changing the genetics of a food product is not natural, and that's what the controversy is about.
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