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My two cents on Federal Law - It is all about the money. They are not going after WA, CO or OR because they are making money off of it.
Monsanto... has lined plenty of powerful pockets. SO... in my opinion, they reason federal takes over.. is because they would be losing money. Not maybe the actual federal gov, but the power players who have agenda's. Which goes to show how corrupt it really is, and ultimately it is all about money. It is NOT about what is best for people. It is about who is at the top of the food chain, and who has the most money and power wins.
While anyone else who claims its wrong, or harmful, or whatever else is said... are conspiracy theorist... reading propaganda...
As I have said, and others have said. There have been plenty of things is the past.. with "testing" that were proven to be safe. Only YEARS later to find out.... ooopppsie that causes X. So it doesn't mean **** that there are "studies" that prove GMO's are safe. I am well aware that there are people out there that fund these things, and even go as far as to pay off people to say things are "good" so they can make more money.
Trusting blindly is only for fools. Our world is not surrounded with white picket fences. When I eat foods with GMO's, MSG, or any other additive.. that is not natural... I don't feel good. When I eat clean, I feel much better. It doesn't take millions or trillions of dollars for me to realize that some products do not make me feel good, while others which are "organic" or "gmo free" do. Is it a fact, that I feel better when I eat clean, yes.. it is fact. Is it a fact that I feel more sluggish when I don't, yes.. that is a fact. Maybe not everyone feels the way I do, because we are not all the same. Just like we don't all share the same opinions. However, I do not need to be a biologist to know that my body does not respond well to foreign and unnatural products. I think it would be an anomaly if I was the only one who felt that way, but I highly doubt that is the case.
There is (or was) a website called SkinDeep.com which let people look at the product they purchase, (such as tooth paste, shampoo, chapstick.. so on) and see the toxin levels. So you could take something like Burt's Bee's which claims to be natural and better for you, and learn that is is a #4 (still toxic). If people seem to think that labeling is such difficult and unfair or will cost so much money. Then create a website.... which list all foods, and all the producers have to do is comply with said website and have their product listed. Then consumers can "choose" to know. But, ultimately it isn't really about the cost they claim it will burden them with. It is that they have something to hide. Or so it seems...
Law changes happen on county levels first. Also on state levels. Often being tolerated by federal law for a while, then sporadically enforced (or suppressed like this law by judge Kurren), eventually changed on a national/federal level.
Look at the marijuana usage and gay marriage legislation as ongoing, developing process. Also not every outdated law in a state is being challenged, enforced or even repelled as there's no political coinage in them for congress. It's all good, it's all democracy.
The pressure of counties and states asking for labeling of GMO products is increasing and the getting more and ever more costly for the corporations. They dread to battle initiatives and see market share slipping because consumer changes are visible (switch to organic). Shareholders get impatient and the lobbied politicians are worried about their confused voters.
But by now (in the corporate view) the people should have been happily munching away on cheaper to produce (GMO) food. Yet the protests getting louder, more frequent, and more expensive.
The rebuffing of voters in three counties of Hawaii will have a massive effect towards our politicians. Our tourism is endangered because of who wants to come to Maui to see GMO? Longterm the GMO seed industry will leave Hawaii. Be it by national changes or by pressure from the Hawaiian population.
But the protests, blogs, initiatives, personal debates all raise awareness. And this awareness of GMO in foods is turning people automatically against them. Unless you are on the corporate GMO payroll or, literally, hate your own guts.
OpenD, the papaya sold to Japan is all non-GMO papaya. Do yourself a favor and call the Dept of Ag in Honolulu for the quantities of SunUp and Rainbow varieties they shipped to Japan. Don't rely on written-for-pay Herald Tribune articles.
Cultivar: Flavor and Color Characteristics:
Solo Rainbow* Flesh is golden-yellow;
Solo Kapoho Flesh is deep-yellow to pale orange; peach–melon flavor
Solo Sunrise Also called "strawberry" papaya, flesh is red-orange; very sweet
Solo SunUp* Flesh is red
Solo Golden Flesh is red; soft, sweet pulp
Maradol Flesh color varies from salmon pink to red; very sweet
Tainung Flesh is bright salmon color; very high sugar content; melon-like flavor
*GMO crop.
Source: Hawaii Papaya Industry Association (2012);
I have a question for both OpenD and WhtViper1. What if eventually the majority of the people in a state vote to have GMO foods labeled as such? Should the Federal government be able to strike it down?
The Supreme Court can, it has, and it will.
This is pretty easy to check out for yourself. Just think of recent laws, enacted by public referendum, which have been struck down on US Constitutional grounds.
For me the first thing that comes to mind is gay marriage. Even when a ban in certain states was made part of the state constitution, it was struck down as a violation of people's rights under the US Constitution.
The matter of mandatory GM labeling was already decided in Federal Court in 1995, when it was declared a violation of the US Constitution.
Despite that, there are professional agitators and fundraisers and organizers who have made nice livings for themselves out of keeping the dispute alive. How come nobody ever questions THEIR motives?
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So then, if people really want GMO foods labeled, they need to take it to a Federal level and call their representatives in congress.
Even if Federal Law were enacted to compel GMOs to be labeled, it would be subject to the same Constitutional review as the Vermont labeling bill was in 1995, and likely would be subject to the same fate. It strikes me that it would be a far better use of people's time and money to promote the voluntary use of a "GMO free" label if that is their leaning on the subject. Like the "gluten free" labels now appearing in the most improbable places, it could be a value add for the food producers who use it, and about the time that the "gluten free" fad dies down and moves on to something else as the real science sinks in (i.e., 90% of those buying "gluten free" foods are found to have no sensitivity to gluten) perhaps the anti-GMO hysteria will have died down too.
The rebuffing of voters in three counties of Hawaii will have a massive effect towards our politicians. Our tourism is endangered because of who wants to come to Maui to see GMO? Longterm the GMO seed industry will leave Hawaii. Be it by national changes or by pressure from the Hawaiian population.
I can't buy the tourism angle - even with the world economy not firing on all cylinders, Hawaii experienced record tourism in 2012, then again in 2013, then again in 2014.....the only thing that will keep tourism in check is the fact more hotels aren't being built. The average tourist - most of which are on Oahu/Waikiki aren't exactly exposed to local fruits/vegetables...
For the sake of argument, let us pretend the GMO industry leaves Hawaii - guess what, I highly doubt a non-GMO farm will take its place - you know what will? Houses and buildings - I doubt people prefer that.
If farmers could make money without GMO they wouldn't use them.
Sorry, OpenD...after i read your fist line about Monsanto leading the way in not to sue the farmers i stopped reading.
All this tells me is that you don't have much regard for the truth. It is a fact, easily checked, that Monsanto made a pledge that farmers whose crops had been accidentally pollinated by GMO varieties would not be held for patent infringement, and they posted it on their website years ago.
It's also a fact, also easily checked, that in June, 2013 a Federal Appeals Court ruling made this pledge legally binding on Monsanto. It was all over the papers and internet.
Let me say I am definitely no fan of Monsanto, and I think they are an evil company, but I will not support false accusations against them. And I am also clear that GMO technology is just a tool, which can serve good or evil intentions. GMO is not a synonym for Monsanto, though many people make that mistake. There are hundreds of other organizations developing GMOs for a wide variety of purposes, such as feeding a hungry world, fighting cancer, preventing malaria and Dengue fever, reducing childhood blindness and death, detecting toxics and explosives, and many other worthwhile enterprises. Passing any kind of general anti-GMO laws throws the baby out with the bathwater.
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Let's talk about the University X study....who is financing that study? follow the money and you will see that all of this stinks!
That's another cynical, anti-science argument, with no proof behind it. But science doesn't work that way. Properly designed, peer reviewed and academically published research doesn't arrive at predetermined conclusions. Notice I said "properly designed, peer reviewed and academically published research." In point of fact, I never hear opponents of GMOs commenting on the broad scope of anti-GMO research which has been debunked as misleading, false, or fraudulent... not properly designed, not peer reviewed, not academically published, even based on faked records... yet it is still very successfully used to sell books, promote websites, and solicit donations. Just like the parallel anti-vaccine movement, there are people who have become wealthy pandering to people's illogical and irrational anti-science fears.
How come nobody ever comes to grips with the anti-GMO crusade being so foundationally based on on quackery and fakery? Really, read what Mark Lynas has to say about all that, as one of the founders of the movement who has now finally come to his senses.
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Maybe the GMO are safe, maybe they are not...but don't you think there should be at least one impartial goverment study about this? How are we going to get an impartial study from this goverment of lobbyists?
There have already been over 2,000 studies published over the last 20+ years from all manner of different sources concluding that GMOs are safe. How many more would satisfy you?
Traditionally Universities have provided the most impartial studies. The UC Davis report was derived from data that is publicly accessible. 21 years worth. It very conclusively shows that there is no difference between livestock fed GMO foods and non-GMO foods. No difference in mortality. No difference in productivity. No difference in health. No difference.
Not a "small difference." Not an "understandable" difference. Simply, no difference.
When you "stop reading," you feed the beast of ignorance and misinformation. As great men have said, the truth will set you free. That's the master I serve, the search for truth.
OpenD, the papaya sold to Japan is all non-GMO papaya. Do yourself a favor and call the Dept of Ag in Honolulu for the quantities of SunUp and Rainbow varieties they shipped to Japan. Don't rely on written-for-pay Herald Tribune articles.
I'm happy to look at whatever evidence you wish to produce, but don't expect me to do your research for you.
Meanwhile, this February 2014 report from the University of Florida on worldwide papaya production states that 18% of the Hawaiian papaya acreage is devoted to non-GMO varieties, while 82% is devoted to GMO varieties. Obviously there is more demand for GMO papayas than you seem to think.
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Kapoho and Sunrise are not genetically modified (GM) cultivars, while Rainbow and SunUp are GM cultivars. The vast majority of papayas grown in Hawaii are of the GM-type. In terms of acreage distribution, GM cultivars, such as Rainbow (77%) and SunUp and other non-disclosed varieties (5%), account for 82 percent of the total. Non-GM cultivars, such as Kapoho (9 %) and Sunrise (9 %), account for just 18 percent of the total area (USDA/NASS 2009). The shift to GM papaya cultivars was the result of the introduction of the PRSV disease into the main growing areas during the 1970s. In the 1990s, this disease threatened to wipe out Hawaii's papaya industry completely. The GM papaya cultivars played a significant role in saving the Hawaiian papaya industry from devastation by the PRSV disease.
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Hawaii leads the US papaya export market, contributing on average more than 95 percent of the US papaya exports. Most of the Hawaiian exports are of the GM Rainbow and non-GM Kapoho and Sunrise cultivars. The United States exports fresh papaya mainly to Canada, Japan, and Hong Kong, respectively. Between 2009 and 2011, Canada, as the largest buyer of US papayas, had an export share of 73.7 percent, followed by Japan (11.43%), Hong Kong (5.16%), and other countries (9.67%) (USDA/FAS 2012).
If you don't like GMO papayas, I recommend you not eat them. Personally I find them delicious, and less expensive than organic, and I'm glad the GMO varieties have allowed the small papaya farmers to stay in business.
Watch it all.
Many doctors, Ph.Ds, botanists, etc and so on...of course, I am sure OpenD will be here directly to say each and every one has been discredited in some way, shape or form and that Monsanto is on the side of the angels...
Watch it all.
Many doctors, Ph.Ds, botanists, etc and so on...of course, I am sure OpenD will be here directly to say each and every one has been discredited in some way, shape or form and that Monsanto is on the side of the angels...
Not a bit. I don't think Monsanto is on the side of the angels. I've actually said that I think they are evil. Your comment speaks to the difficulty in talking rationally about the issues, when those who are anti-GMO have such a poor relationship with telling the truth.
But consider the source for that YouTube... a highly biased Gary Null... a man who has made himself rich pushing his own nutritional supplements, without benefit of credible scientific research, by scaring people about eating normal foods.
Not a bit. I don't think Monsanto is on the side of the angels. I've actually said that I think they are evil. Your comment speaks to the difficulty in talking rationally about the issues, when those who are anti-GMO have such a poor relationship with telling the truth.
But consider the source for that YouTube... a highly biased Gary Null... a man who has made himself rich pushing his own nutritional supplements, without benefit of credible scientific research, by scaring people about eating normal foods.
But...you haven't even had the time to watch it all since I posted it.
Guess you just watched the opening credits and decided "Oh...don't like THAT guy, that's enough for me!"
Of course, Monsanto and their reports are highly biased, too.
Don't think they would fudge reports to suit their agenda?
Pro-GMO folks have such closed minds and a such a disregard for science. Poor things.
Also...organic farmer here. If a neighbor uses Monsanto seed and pesticides/herbicides/etc., can I sue them and Monsanto for contaminating/destroying my crops and/or my livestock?
Not so far, but praying for that day to come.
80 countries either mandate labeling of GMOs or ban then.
Also...Texas CAN secede. They put that in their constitution and the federal government accepted it.
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