CEO of Monsanto on CBS Morning right now

[librechik]

Last edited Wed Dec 2, 2015, 12:16 PM - Edit history (1)

saying, basically, total penetration by GMOs has already occurred to the available American foods and textiles 80%. Why bother to label any of them? It's too confusing to conduct business with that kind of distraction. GMOs are safe.

[TexasProgresive]

1. There are those here that agree with Monsanto

Considering that Monsanto wants to have total control of our foods by patenting them and charging farmers with infringement is enough reason to be against GMO foods even supposing they are safe.

[saturnsring]

2. agreed, the thought of any company owning the food is horrifying ... eom

[HuckleB]

5. All types of seeds are patented. It's not a GMO-only thing.

So that has nothing to do with any argument against GMOs.

http://www.europabio.org/why-do-seeds-have-patents-are-gm-seeds-only-patented-seeds

[TexasProgresive]

7. And who is actively seeking to patent natural plants?

http://www.naturalnews.com/041014_Monsanto_seed_patents_GMOs.html
European Patent Office grants Monsanto patent on natural broccoli seeds, florets
Monday, July 01, 2013 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Monsanto's efforts to usher genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) into the European Union (EU) have been largely stagnant in recent years, so the multinational corporation and others in the industry are taking a new and more evil approach to gain more market control. According to a recent announcement put forth by the human rights advocacy group No Patents on Seeds!, the European Patent Office (EPO) is now granting biotechnology companies patents on all-natural crops such as broccoli, which was recently handed over as private property to Monsanto.

[HuckleB]

8. Natural News is a conspiracy web page.

See: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/NaturalNews

And... http://bigthink.com/neurobonkers/who-do-you-know-who-believes-in-the-most-deadly-kind-of-pseudoscience

And "natural plants" is just a nonsense use of language. Monsanto is one of many companies taking patents on seeds developed using other technologies. Companies patent all types of seeds. There is a small movement toward open source, but otherwise companies are patenting their seeds, and it's not a Monsanto only thing, either.

And you might want to learn about one of the ways they change the genes in organic foods. Why aren't those foods labeled?

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/500409-its-labeled-organic-but-its-genes-were-scrambled-with-gamma-rays/

[Pathwalker]

12. Many new roses are now patented, carry signs forbidding propagation.

n/t

[TexasProgresive]

23. At least we don't eat roses

Although my grandfather would eat rose hips which are very high in vitamin C.

[Nailzberg]

22. Just about every company patents thier seeds. Since about the 1930s.

[KT2000]

3. that was the marketing plan

saturate the market before objections can be acted upon.

[2naSalit]

4. +1 nt

[Archae]

6. As opposed to the organic business model...

Use hysterics and fake science to call GMO's "frankenfoods" and "poison," and demand that GMO food get labeled, meanwhile organic food is far more expensive, and is subjected to more poisonous pesticides and herbicides.

[GreatGazoo]

9. Did they ask him about the EPA reversal on Enlist Duo?

Taxpayer subsidies for GMO crops cost Americans about $8 bil in 2014. With foreign bans on GMO, American farmers are getting shut out of international markets and are stuck taking welfare even as they work their butts off.

Many American farmers have gone back to pre-GMO conventionals in order to make a profit and get off of welfare:
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/04/20/more-money-non-gmo-corn-soy?cmpid=tp-ptnr-eatlocalgrown

GMO crop technology is a failure. It has failed to deliver on the promise of "less pesticide use" -- quite the opposite. The EPA was pressured into approving Enlist Duo which was a doubling-down by the GMO industry as a solution to the pervasive growth of RoundUp Ready weeds such as amaranth. Exactly what responsible farmers and scientists said would happen: the pervasive pairing of RoundUp Ready crops with ever increasing amounts of RoundUp being sprayed will lead to natural selection for RoundUp Ready weeds. It happened:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2014/06/22/superweeds-choke-farms/11231231/

Last week, the EPA reversed course and acted to halt approval of Dow’s Enlist Duo herbicide.

The taxpayer should stop subsidizing this GMO crop charade, label this crap and let the marketplace sort it out.

[skepticscott]

10. Do you even know the difference

between a herbicide and a pesticide?

[GreatGazoo]

11. oh my friend...

If you think that is a "gotcha" question then it is likely that YOU don't know that herbicide is a type of pesticide, the other 2 types being insecticide and fungicide.

Do you feel smarter now?

[skepticscott]

13. Nice try

But if those are your definitions, then your claim that GMOs have failed to deliver on reduced use of "pesticides" is false.

Take your pick.

[HuckleB]

14. Of course, that's only part of the problem with that post.

Superweeds are not a bigger issue for GMOs than for other crops.
http://weedcontrolfreaks.com/2013/05/superweed/

In fact, if the baseless fear mongering about GMOs does lead to farmers going back to conventional crops, it may mean more superweeds and the use of harsher herbicides.
http://weedcontrolfreaks.com/2015/05/what-does-chipotles-switch-to-non-gmo-ingredients-mean-for-pesticide-use/

It's astounding to see the harm the anti-GMO movement may be doing.

[Archae]

16. Back in the 1950's, Isaac Asimov wrote about this.

He called it the "Cult Of Ignorance."

Attacks on intellectuals and science, in popular media they were "mad scientists" who wanted to destroy the world, or men and women who never got the good-looking dates until they give up science.

I see this nowadays, with fundys destroying landmarks and historical sites, other fundys forcing their dogma into classrooms, and attacks on science, especially GMO's.

[HuckleB]

17. Indeed. Plus, intuition is really not very good.

Why People Oppose GMOs Even Though Science Says They Are Safe
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-people-oppose-gmos-even-though-science-says-they-are-safe/

[Archae]

18. I blame the organic industry.

They want to keep their overpriced foods away from real competition for our grocery $$$.

[HuckleB]

19. Fear mongering works.

Always has, and the organic industry knows it. What sucks is that it has conned itself into wearing a halo in the eyes of its customers when what it really wears is horns. (Yeah, bad Christian-based metaphors, but...)

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/07/are_gmos_safe_yes_the_case_against_them_is_full_of_fraud_lies_and_errors.html

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/7-propaganda-talking-points-against-gmos/

[Archae]

20. Absolutely.

I saw today at the grocery store "premium organic milk," it's no different than the store brand of milk.
No difference at all. Except one.

The store brand is about $2.75 a gallon.
The "premium organic milk" is $6 a half gallon.

[skepticscott]

21. Although to be honest, I bristle more at "premium"

on a label than I do "organic". "Organic" at least has a pretense of meaning something, and if people driving Volvos want to pay more for it, they can knock themselves out, and have a pretty good hope of getting what they think they're getting for it (however much it actually matters). But "premium" is nothing but manipulative marketing bullshit..it means nothing. Anybody can call any product they sell "premium" and not have to meet any sort of standard at all.

[GreatGazoo]

24. You fail to grasp the most basic terminology of this discussion.

You have your own definitions of terms meanwhile the rest of the world knows the definition of pesticide and knows that GMOs have failed.

Both of these claims have withered as Monsanto's products have come to dominate US farm fields. Insects and weeds have evolved to resist them. Farmers have responded by unleashing a gusher of pesticides—both higher doses of Monsanto's Roundup, and other, more-toxic chemicals as Roundup has lost effectiveness.

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/05/monsanto-syngenta-merger-45-billion-pesticides

Your personal definition of pesticide to mean only insecticide is at odds with reality:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#safe=off&q=pesticide+definition

[Octafish]

15. So it's not likely to disrupt anybody's endocrine system or anything.

That can be traced back to us, anyway, so eat! Eat! Eat!