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...Besides, indigenous pollinators didn't have apples, oranges, peaches and slew of other fruits to pollinate.
Sure they did - crab apples are indigenous as are a number of other fruit and nut trees.
Honey bees didn't evolve along with indigenous flora, so they are pretty ineffectual at pollinating native species.
But, honey bees do produce honey and pollinate introduced crop species.
Last edited by Dirt Grinder; 09-25-2013 at 03:56 PM..
Honeybees have nothing to do with tomato plants and aren't vital for their production at all. If every honeybee ceased to exist, tomatoes would still grow. No idea why you even bothered including that in your argument. Also, bug-resistant crops don't affect bees at all. They affect mostly locusts and aphids, and similar.
As for tomatoes - I've posted before somewhere on CD, that we have a lively and active organic farming community here in my area of the state. I've had plenty of organic foods, and the ones that are most edible, LOOK most edible. The mushy tomatoes are mushy because they're overripe and nasty tasting. The badly-bruised and black-spotted peaches look the way they do, because they're in the process of rotting. The apples with holes in them have holes, because they're infested with worms.
I have a blackberry tree in my yard and know exactly what organic blackberries are supposed to look like when they're ripe, because I don't _do_ anything to the tree other than mow around it, and hold my hand out to catch them as they fall while I'm mowing, for a snack. Oddly enough, they look just like the ones they sell in the supermarket. Firm, royal purple with occasional crimson bulbs, sweet-sour, and juicy. This is a wild tree - no one planted it. So it's not only organic, it's also non-GMO. It's been in our yard for around 80 years, long before GMO science showed up in a lab.
Honeybees don't bother with the tree either by the way so again - I don't know why you even bothered bringing it up.
Organics are organic - whether from GMO seeds or not. Genetically modified doesn't mean that the seed isn't planted and grown in natural manure with just fresh water to water it, no pesticides at all except perhaps diatamaceous earth. And organic doesn't mean the seed wasn't the result of genetic modification.
The two are not mutually exclusive.
You missed my point entirely. I wasn't talking about freshness, I was talking about the size and shape conforming to a preconceived notion of the "ideal" fruit or vegetable.
I never said tomatoes are pollinated? Not sure where you read that.
Better take your blackberry tree to Ripleys believe it or not because blackberries grow on bushes not trees. I believe what you are describing is a mulberry tree. Mulberries do slightly resemble blackberries but not enough to ever confuse the two. The taste is very different. Several mulberry trees grow wild on my grandfathers and fathers land.
My mention of the honeybees was in response to your earlier comment about liking the idea of plants being modified to grow their insecticides. Honeybees play a crucial role in modern agriculture by increasing production of and quality of fruit. Bees account for about 80% of pollination which adds up to about 1 in 3 foods typically eaten.
Last edited by justanokie; 09-26-2013 at 08:42 AM..
Sure they did - crab apples are indigenous as are a number of other fruit and nut trees.
Honey bees didn't evolve along with indigenous flora, so they are pretty ineffectual at pollinating native species.
But, honey bees do produce honey and pollinate introduced crop species.
The point was that today there are many many more trees requiring pollination than the indigenous population of pollinators ever could possibly deal with. Honeybees are not the ideal pollinators for some species, nothing to do with whether they are native or not. Thats why they have all kinds of bees like bumble bees, carpenter bees, leaf cutter bees and others that are cultivated for those crops.
The taste of durian is actually pretty good. The odor is of rotting carcasses, no kidding.
Quote:
Originally Posted by justanokie
Durian is one of my favorite fruits. They are perhaps the sweetest fruits I have ever had.
Neither statement is true. The durian has an offensive smell, but it is more like really stinky feet than anything. It is true that hotels and airlines ban them, but not countries.
And the fruit is sweet, but not terribly sweet. Zimmern was more likely reacting to the mucusy texture than the taste. It's more like a bland custard than anything.
If you want a really sweet fruit, you have to try the white pineapple in Hawai'i, June to September. Sorry, they don't ship.
My mention of the honeybees was in response to your earlier comment about liking the idea of plants being modified to grow their insecticides. Honeybees play a crucial role in modern agriculture by increasing production of and quality of fruit. Bees account for about 80% of pollination which adds up to about 1 in 3 foods typically eaten.
Here's the obvious problem with your argument... the transgenetic plants which carry their own BT insecticide, the very same insecticide which has been used by Organic farmers for over 60 years, are not the kinds of plants that are pollinated by bees.
There no question that bees are having a hard time, and researchers have found there are three key factors in their population collapse... 1) two viruses hitting their colonies at the same time, 2) over-use of nicitinoid pesticides, and 3) loss of natural habitat they feed on.
Please notice that GMO crops are not among those factors.
Honeybees have nothing to do with tomato plants and aren't vital for their production at all. If every honeybee ceased to exist, tomatoes would still grow. No idea why you even bothered including that in your argument. Also, bug-resistant crops don't affect bees at all. They affect mostly locusts and aphids, and similar.
As for tomatoes - I've posted before somewhere on CD, that we have a lively and active organic farming community here in my area of the state. I've had plenty of organic foods, and the ones that are most edible, LOOK most edible. The mushy tomatoes are mushy because they're overripe and nasty tasting. The badly-bruised and black-spotted peaches look the way they do, because they're in the process of rotting. The apples with holes in them have holes, because they're infested with worms.
I have a blackberry tree in my yard and know exactly what organic blackberries are supposed to look like when they're ripe, because I don't _do_ anything to the tree other than mow around it, and hold my hand out to catch them as they fall while I'm mowing, for a snack. Oddly enough, they look just like the ones they sell in the supermarket. Firm, royal purple with occasional crimson bulbs, sweet-sour, and juicy. This is a wild tree - no one planted it. So it's not only organic, it's also non-GMO. It's been in our yard for around 80 years, long before GMO science showed up in a lab.
Honeybees don't bother with the tree either by the way so again - I don't know why you even bothered bringing it up.
Organics are organic - whether from GMO seeds or not. Genetically modified doesn't mean that the seed isn't planted and grown in natural manure with just fresh water to water it, no pesticides at all except perhaps diatamaceous earth. And organic doesn't mean the seed wasn't the result of genetic modification.
The two are not mutually exclusive.
What is a blackberry tree? Every blackberry I've ever known of grew on vines.
Lots of food dyes are banned in other countries except the US. If I had a kid, no way in hell I'd let them eat processed junk that contains artificial food colorings.
You missed my point entirely. I wasn't talking about freshness, I was talking about the size and shape conforming to a preconceived notion of the "ideal" fruit or vegetable.
I never said tomatoes are pollinated? Not sure where you read that.
Better take your blackberry tree to Ripleys believe it or not because blackberries grow on bushes not trees. I believe what you are describing is a mulberry tree. Mulberries do slightly resemble blackberries but not enough to ever confuse the two. The taste is very different. Several mulberry trees grow wild on my grandfathers and fathers land.
My mention of the honeybees was in response to your earlier comment about liking the idea of plants being modified to grow their insecticides. Honeybees play a crucial role in modern agriculture by increasing production of and quality of fruit. Bees account for about 80% of pollination which adds up to about 1 in 3 foods typically eaten.
Yes, you're right, it's a mulberry tree, not blackberry. I can't get past the song "Here we go round the mulberry bush" in my head, and keep calling it a blackberry tree.
However - your comment about my earlier comment about liking the idea of plants being modified to grow their insecticides - I never made such a comment. In fact, I don't recall seeing anyone make such a comment.
Bug-resistant does not mean insecticide. I think you're confusing terms, just as I confused a blackberry with a mulberry.
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