GMO vs Organic

[I_am_not_mafia]

I'm not going to try and convince people that they should eat organic or stay away from it. Although I personally find that a lot of people who don't eat organic, seem to have a need to convince those that do eat organic that they are wasting their money. It makes me think that they are trying to make themselves feel better about their own decisions. I'm not interested any more in responding to people trying to convince me otherwise. Choose what you want to do and be confident in your decision, or re-evaluate it.

I'm not bothered about GMO food. I am bothered about the abundant use of artificial chemicals and hormones not fit for human consumption. For me it is about probability. I want to reduce the probability of being at risk from dodgy farming practises employed to reduce cost and increase profit, such as feeding cow brains to cows.

Primarily though I want to reduce both the build up and variety of artificial chemicals in my body over the course of my lifetime, most of which are not tested for human consumption. The only concern I have with GMO food is in relation to increased use of pesticides. I believe that eating organic food where possible reduces this risk and the amount and variety of artificial chemicals that I consume.

This doesn't just relate to food, but to all kinds of chemicals. For example cleaning chemicals. The stuff you use to clean your floors were never tested for toxicity in the body, but the liquid dries off leaving a toxic dust behind that gets breathed in as it gets kicked up into the air. Adverts for washing up liquid often show a pile of sparkling bubbly dishes, but this leaves a distinguishable film and taste on your crockery and cutlery that you can taste the next time you eat from them. These can contain many carcinogenic chemicals that were never meant to be ingested, e.g. Dawn (Fairy Liquid in the UK). I've even spoken with Americans that wash their shop bought vegetables in Dawn. Make-up is another one. Where does all that lipstick go? It doesn't flake off so I am probably unconsciously consuming it when I lick my lips to stop them getting dry. And we know that chemicals can be absorbed through the skin.

[Alex K]

@Mathilda,

I'm not convinced that organic farming practises are that better, don't they use all kinds of different pesticides and fungicides like copper which don't sound very desirable to have on my food either? Merely not using artifical stuff doesn't make it more fit for consumption. In principle, not using specifically designed substances will give you more unwanted side effects and can require higher doses.

[Aractus]

I'm not bothered about GMO food. I am bothered about the abundant use of artificial chemicals and hormones not fit for human consumption.

Folic acid though is tested, it works exactly the same as folate.

[pocaracas]

[Alex K]

[pocaracas]

[I_am_not_mafia]

@Mathilda,

I'm not convinced that organic farming practises are that better, don't they use all kinds of different pesticides and fungicides like copper which don't sound very desirable to have on my food either?

Sure it's not perfect but at the very least it cuts down on the variety of different chemicals that I am ingesting which means that the likelihood of consuming something particularly nasty is reduced. I'd rather consume copper than organophosphates specifically designed to attack the nervous systems of insects.

Not that I want a copper pesticide either but at least the Soil association only permits its use in the event of a major threat to crops. This is better than a farmer spraying a pesticide liberally in the absence of any threat in order to ensure maximum profit.

I am sometimes tempted to buy non-organic if there is no organic version available, such as with Mangoes or avocados which are peeled. But I wouldn't buy non-organic blackberries for example which you can't peel.

I used to enjoy eating non-organic raspberries because I particularly love raspberries and made an exception for them. But stopped when I found that it was giving me a very slight sore throat. I do not get the same thing happen with organic raspberries.

As I said, it's all about probability and trying to minimise exposure.

[The Grand Nudger]

I will be more than happy to admit that I'm wrong about them, until proven so, however, documentaries have been done on Montsano that show what they are doing. They don't hold patents in crops themselves, but they do hold patents on seeds that have been genetically modified and that's the rub. Crops like wheat have seeds that can get carried away in the wind, thus spreading to other farmland. Farms that don't have the exclusive rights to plant GMO seeds are being sued.

There's been a bit of mythmaking about monsanto in that regard, not that their legal dept isn't as shady as any other major multi-national.  Monsanto brings things to trial when it's determined that a significant portion of the crop is theirs. In the most famous case, over 95% of the field was roundup ready, this was not lost on the small farmer..he was using roundup on it- he knew exactly what he had. He claimed that this was wind blown contamination, and saved seed. That's so unlikely as to be impossible (but it makes for a good story).  When that happens, monsanto first offers to license, then to buy the crop at extreme discount, and finally to destroy the crop at their own cost.  Having refused all of these offers, a farmer will be sued...and they will lose.  

I was under the impression that that's not a principle that was introduced recently on purpose to make money, but has been a really old hat and a biological necessity ever since people decided to use hybrid seeds?

Yes and no.  F1 hybrids don't produce true to type.  That;s not something breeders engineered or bred in, just heredity.

[Alex K]

I was under the impression that that's not a principle that was introduced recently on purpose to make money, but has been a really old hat and a biological necessity ever since people decided to use hybrid seeds?

Yes and no.  F1 hybrids don't produce true to type.  That;s not something breeders engineered or bred in,  just heredity.

What's the no?

[Clueless Morgan]