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Should Ireland welcome gentically modified food?

  • 12-03-2012 12:09am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Teagasc the Irish agricultural and food development authority have applied to the enviromental protection agency grow genetically modified potatoes in Carlow. This in my opinion is a good thing but for some reason enviromentalists (Which I would usually consider myself) see this as something really wrong and are planning action against it. Link below.

    http://www.thejournal.ie/gm-potato-trials-could-be-held-in-carlow-367973-Feb2012/
    However, environmentalist groups have voiced strong concerns over the application. Tony Lowes, one of the directors of Friends of the Irish Environment, said that the issue of introducing GM crops to Irish soil presented a “Pandora’s box situation” – saying that once GM organisms were introduced to an ecosystem they could not be removed.
    “We are opposed to any GM materials being grown outside a laboratory,” Lowe said. “Mistakes are common – they have caused exceedingly complex problems all over the world.”
    Lowes added that there would be a “concerted effort” to oppose the application by Teagasc.

    And in the link below a letter which Is from the Irish doctors enviromental asociation.

    http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2012/0310/1224313106060.html
    Sir, – It is very disappointing to note the application by Teagasc to grow genetically engineered potatoes in Carlow (Home News, February 28th). It is difficult to understand why Teagasc, the Irish agricultural and food development authority, would choose to pursue the development of genetic engineering in Irish agriculture.
    Genetically engineered food has engendered widespread opposition from consumers and is in direct opposition to Bord Bia’s current campaign to highlight Ireland’s green image.
    On the contrary, we must capitalise on our position as a relatively unpolluted island, and work to ensure that consumers have access to the foods that they can trust and wish to buy. – Yours, etc,
    ELIZABETH CULLEN,
    Irish Doctors’ Environmental Association,

    To be honest I find it hard to believe a doctor wrote that. The gm crops scare is a witch hunt. People hear genetically modified and they assume the worst. In Britian there have been bigger public backlashs over gm food and in america gm crops were even vandalised. Does the arrival of gm crops worry you?

    Personally I think the scientists behind gm crops should be doing more to educate people but I think that its a shame that a comittee comprised of doctors could take such an uneducated view of gm crops. Whats your views guys and girls?

    Should gm foods be welcomed in Ireland? 123 votes

    Yes they should.
    0% 0 votes
    Yes but not until we know more about them
    68% 84 votes
    No they shouldnt.
    31% 39 votes


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Comments

  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,177 ✭✭✭MickySticks


    tl;dr


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,333 ✭✭✭Hande hoche!


    General motors are making food?


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    General motors are making food?

    Yes.....yes they are.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,635 ✭✭✭eth0


    Patented and copyrighted foods are bad news


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    eth0 wrote: »
    Patented and copyrighted foods are bad news

    Now you do have a point in that sense. I would advise farmers and government in Ireland and especially those in developing countries to insist on fair regulation in this regard.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,848 ✭✭✭bleg


    eth0 wrote: »
    Patented and copyrighted foods are bad news


    Sounds like you have a problem with patent and copyright law and not gm food.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,069 ✭✭✭Tzar Chasm


    They've been experimenting with GM crops at Carlow for Years.

    What difference is this??


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,229 ✭✭✭LeinsterDub


    eth0 wrote: »
    Patented and copyrighted foods are bad news
    Why lots of things we take for granted now where patented originally and after 20 years became available and you can't copyright an process


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,137 ✭✭✭44leto


    Yes they should with open arms it is a future industry.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,066 ✭✭✭Washington Irving


    Bad for Ireland's 'green image', in international food markets


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  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Tzar Chasm wrote: »
    They've been experimenting with GM crops at Carlow for Years.

    What difference is this??

    I think their actually testing the impact on the enviroment with larger scale trials.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Bad for Ireland's 'green image', in international food markets

    Why?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,219 ✭✭✭woodoo


    Bad for Ireland's 'green image', in international food markets

    Absolutely. We should be going for the organic market worldwide.

    Stay the hell away from GM foods.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    woodoo wrote: »
    Absolutely. We should be going for the organic market worldwide.

    Stay the hell away from GM foods.

    Again why? I think gm foods are far better than organic foods! They can be modified for any particular trait.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,137 ✭✭✭44leto


    Bad for Ireland's 'green image', in international food markets

    I don't think green organic food is the future, I think mass production is, the world needs more high intensity industrial farms.

    Look at current food inflation, oil prices is a factor, but a bigger factor is the emerging east demanding more meat products, therefore more feed for livestock is needed.


  • Posts: 0 ✭✭✭ Tony Ashy Steamroller


    eth0 wrote: »
    Patented and copyrighted foods are bad news

    There was a story that a farmer had his crop cross pollinated with a patented crops pollen and was successfully sued, I can't find the story but I'll link it if I do.

    Also, if you buy seeds that are patented in some circumstance (perhaps all) you are not allowed harvest the seeds from that crop and replant them, you must buy them from the patent owner again.


  • Registered Users Posts: 789 ✭✭✭The Internet Explorer


    I for one, welcome our new genetically modified over foods.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,915 ✭✭✭MungBean


    I think we should be modifying the shít out of all kinds of foods.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,848 ✭✭✭bleg


    Let's not let patent law affect the science.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Sacramento wrote: »
    There was a story that a farmer had his crop cross pollinated with a patented crops pollen and was successfully sued, I can't find the story but I'll link it if I do.

    Also, if you buy seeds that are patented in some circumstance (perhaps all) you are not allowed harvest the seeds from that crop and replant them, you must buy them from the patent owner again.

    Well thats an area that needs to be looked at seriously. This could destroy farmers in developing countries. The circumstance your talking about was when a farmer bought genetically modified seeds that would only produce one crop which in turn wouldnt produce seeds that would germinate.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,219 ✭✭✭woodoo


    Sacramento wrote: »
    There was a story that a farmer had his crop cross pollinated with a patented crops pollen and was successfully sued, I can't find the story but I'll link it if I do.

    Also, if you buy seeds that are patented in some circumstance (perhaps all) you are not allowed harvest the seeds from that crop and replant them, you must buy them from the patent owner again.

    Food Inc.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMGFR1HfHIw

    The farmer had a field next to someone on the books of the GM company. They ended up getting cross pollinated and getting sued.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,628 ✭✭✭SeanW


    I'm not a fan of GM agriculture. Primarily because you cannot protect neighboring farms from cross-pollination. If it does cross-pollinate, and DNA goes from a GM farm to an organic farm, it's more or less game-over for the organic farmer and there are few, if any options for redress. There is also the case that if the affected farmer doesn't destroy the crop, they can potentially become liable for patent royalties, like Percy Schmeiser was sued by Monsanto when their garbage cross-pollinated into his crops.

    I've also come to realise that nature is the best genetic engineer we could ever hope for and that the more we process our food, the more we f**k it up. Like the difference between eating an organic apple and a processed ready meal full of sodium, chemicals and hydrogenated fats, the less we screw around with our food, the better.

    That's not to say that all GM food is bad, an example was given on these boards of Golden Rice, which combined the Vitamin A producing capabilities of carrots with rice. But that's very little, in general my view of GM food is dim.

    So no, I would not welcome it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,137 ✭✭✭44leto


    I for one, welcome our new genetically modified over foods.

    Pip-less grapes and oranges, best thing since the wheel. If they are dangerous I am already fuked, so more wont do any harm.

    We are eating GM food a long time now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    SeanW wrote: »
    I'm not a fan of GM agriculture. Primarily because you cannot protect neighboring farms from cross-pollination. If it does cross-pollinate, and DNA goes from a GM farm to an organic farm, it's more or less game-over for the organic farmer and there are few, if any options for redress. There is also the case that if the affected farmer doesn't destroy the crop, they can potentially become liable for patent royalties, like Percy Schmeiser was sued by Monsanto when their garbage cross-pollinated into his crops.

    I've also come to realise that nature is the best genetic engineer we could ever hope for and that the more we process our food, the more we f**k it up. Like the difference between eating an organic apple and a processed ready meal full of sodium, chemicals and hydrogenated fats, the less we screw around with our food, the better.

    That's not to say that all GM food is bad, an example was given on these boards of Golden Rice, which combined the Vitamin A producing capabilities of carrots with rice. But that's very little, in general my view of GM food is dim.

    So no, I would not welcome it.

    But all crops Gentically modifed or not can cross pollinate?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,219 ✭✭✭woodoo


    We have referendums on lots of crap. I would love a referendum on GM foods where both sides get to make their case. I think people don't realise there is no going back once it in brought in.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    SeanW wrote: »
    I'm not a fan of GM agriculture. Primarily because you cannot protect neighboring farms from cross-pollination. If it does cross-pollinate, and DNA goes from a GM farm to an organic farm, it's more or less game-over for the organic farmer and there are few, if any options for redress. There is also the case that if the affected farmer doesn't destroy the crop, they can potentially become liable for patent royalties, like Percy Schmeiser was sued by Monsanto when their garbage cross-pollinated into his crops.

    I've also come to realise that nature is the best genetic engineer we could ever hope for and that the more we process our food, the more we f**k it up. Like the difference between eating an organic apple and a processed ready meal full of sodium, chemicals and hydrogenated fats, the less we screw around with our food, the better.

    That's not to say that all GM food is bad, an example was given on these boards of Golden Rice, which combined the Vitamin A producing capabilities of carrots with rice. But that's very little, in general my view of GM food is dim.

    So no, I would not welcome it.

    Plus we have been eating genetically modified food for thousands of years. Its not a new practice.


  • Registered Users Posts: 23,179 ✭✭✭✭ted1


    We're a small island with limited land mass, we can't do high volumes. Our niche is superior organic natural products that come with a premium. Leave the freak show crops to the high volume producers.


  • Registered Users Posts: 541 ✭✭✭TheBegotten


    What has organic food actually have going for it? I'm sure the Daily Mail goes on to no end about its cancer-defying, mugger-repelling superpowers, but otherwise I don't think there are advantages to eating them. Whereas GM foods are cheap, plentiful and Safe (scientists are generally thorough with these things). Remember, if we stayed natural we'd still be living naked in Africa.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    What has organic food actually have going for it? I'm sure the Daily Fail goes on to no end about its cancer-defying, mugger-repelling superpowers, but otherwise I don't think there are advantages to eating them. Whereas GM foods are cheap, plentiful and Safe (scientists are generally thorough with these things). Remember, if we stayed natural we'd still be living naked in Africa.

    Gm foods have saved some people from starvation and diseases related to nutirtional deficiencies.

    What they could do for our crops is make them double or triple as resistant to pests. Make them grow a lot faster, make them taste better and make them produce more biomass.

    Im not sure about the benifits of organic but they would not overshadow the benifits of gm foods.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 746 ✭✭✭skregs


    SeanW wrote: »
    an organic apple

    is the result of thousands of years of selective breeding to make the fruit bigger and tastier, improve cold tolerance and increase disease reistance.


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