Sen Ruderman, where is the proof

[Rob Tucker]

Rainyjim,

I am trying to find out what your contribution to this topic is and I'm not finding much except mean spirited posts. I'm going to give you an opportunity to back it out. If you don't then I will do what I do.

Assume the best and ask questions.

Punaweb moderator

[FactualFoodie]

Sen. Ruderman has chosen to place his ethics in question. He could choose to answer the questions yet he keeps slinging mud towards Mr. Ha rather than answer the questions.

Mr. Ha is respectful and thoughtful; while Ruderman is Rudderless and Rude at times. Except when he chooses to want your vote. I say Vote rascals out!

Fact is not 1 case of any GMO harming humans as ever surfaced. People cry they want human testing, has no one thought that we have been consuming a biotech papaya in huge quantities for 16 years! The rainbow and Hawaii papaya is the best papaya variety grown in the world, yeah I'm partial..Partial to Hawaii grown food!

Organic junk food is just as bad as conventional processed food. Same as organic certified pesticides will kill or harm you just as fast as roundup or other pesticides. Basic commonsense...Ruderman has a conflict of interest and why shouldn't his constituents not have the right to ask why? Good politicians provide balanced thought leadership.

[Clayjacks]

Okay, innocent question: Why are GMO foods considered to be "covered in poison"?
Also, as a simple matter of semantics, remember that Genetically Modified plants include every plant cultivated for food or utility throughout human history. Genetic "modification" is plant breeding. That fantastic lemon that's been grown, organically, in your back yard has been genetically modified to be fantastic. It's the Genetically Engineered (GE) stuff that I presume everyone is shouting about. This is where certain gene sequences are inserted into the DNA of various agricultural crops. I'm in no way supporting one side or the other, and the jury is still out on the health/environmental impacts, but there are no "chemicals" in the equation.
So I'm seriously, and innocently (again), wondering why a "Rainbow" papaya engineered for a certain viral resistance is so terrifying? I'm no fan of corporate genetic patenting, but how is it any different from a "Beefsteak" tomato or a "Knockout" rose?

[Obie]

Oneself

If you mean organic food that causes deaths I have to wonder.Why would you buy food that costs more and has been linked to deaths?

The E.coli outbreak in Germany that killed 50 people and hospitalized thousands in 2011 was caused by organic sprouts. Also, last year, sprouts from an Illinois organic farm sickened people in 26 states. These outbreaks didn’t come from conventional or GMO foods.
This year, an organic farm was responsible for at least 10 people being diagnosed with Campylobacter infections.

http://theprogressivecontrarian.com/2013...ut-for-ya/

[punafish]

And for the record, I do have a beef with Russell: he never has that Creamy Top Blueberry yogurt in stock anymore. Fix that and maybe I'll cut you some slack in other areas.

[Obie]

This is one of the statements that Russell makes.

"In GMO Bt crops, we are consuming the toxin with every bite, and this poison builds up in our bodies and in the fields. There have been several scientific studies showing ill effects in humans and animals from such high quantities of Bt toxin. And as a result of this new widespread use, Bt-resistant strains of bugs have now developed for the first time. Tellingly, Bt corn itself is listed as a pesticide with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In a human study, Bt bacteria were found to have transferred to the normal bacteria in the gut lining in subjects that ate Bt corn, creating a toxin-producing bacteria culture inside human digestive systems. In a future column I will discuss such health studies in more depth."

This is a statement based on fact

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Bt is so safe that the EPA has exempted Bt insecticides from its food residue tolerances, groundwater restrictions, endangered species labeling and special review requirements. Bt has no known effects on fish, birds, or mammals, with one exception: if you apply it directly to rabbits’ eyes, they get irritated. Researchers note that that may be caused by the formulation tested and not the Bt itself (source: UCSD Aorian Laboratory).

[Permie]

Anyone commenting on this topic should first read this incredibly well sourced paper by a renowned scientist: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1332649/

What it comes down to is the EPA didn't require any developmental neurotoxicity testing for pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides until very recently. And the data that is coming out is VERY BAD.

quote:

---

The quality and quantity of the data about the risk posed to humans by individual pesticides vary considerably. Unlike obvious birth defects, most developmental effects cannot be seen at birth or even later in life. Instead, brain and nervous system disturbances are expressed in terms of how an individual behaves and functions, which can vary considerably from birth through adulthood. In this article I challenge the protective value of current pesticide risk assessment strategies in light of the vast numbers of pesticides on the market and the vast number of possible target tissues and end points that often differ depending upon timing of exposure. Using the insecticide chlorpyrifos as a model, I reinforce the need for a new approach to determine the safety of all pesticide classes. Because of the uncertainty that will continue to exist about the safety of pesticides, it is apparent that a new regulatory approach to protect human health is needed.

---

I'm moving to Hawaii to get away from this stuff for the sake of my children. I want to be able to grow as much of my own food as possible because make no mistake, pesticides ARE poison.

And some additional reading for those who wish to educate themselves via reputable scientific literature:

- Adverse effects of synthetic pyrethroid and organophosphate exposure during early development can lead to severe and irreversible brain damage: http://www.ehjournal.net/content/7/1/50

- Early synthetic pyrethroid exposure associated with decrease in learning and memory performance: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...6206000523

- Neonatal exposure to pyrethroids causes long term effects in behavior, monoamine level, and oxidative stress: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...3X06006214

- Organophosphates associated with lower birthweight and early birth: http://www.ewg.org/news/news-releases/20...-pregnancy

- Lower IQ associated with prenatal organophosphate exposure: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21507776

- Pesticide exposure during pregnancy positively associated with childhood leukemia: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...2010001662

- Organophosphate exposure at levels common among US children associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD): http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/co...1270.short

- Where organophosphate pesticides may not show systemic toxicity, they can still show developmental neurotoxicity: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1459930/

[opihikao]

FYI:

The Fable of Hawaiian Frankencorn - February, 2014 Issue
(*Snipped - Much more at link)

http://reason.com/archives/2014/01/15/the-fable-of-hawaiian-frankenc?fb_action_ids=10201467656072893&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

Hawaii is the epicenter of a furious campaign to shut down production farms that yield genetically modified seed. It was September, and I was there to see for myself the "Frankencorn" that haunts activists' choleric imaginations.

Why are the seed companies in Hawaii in the first place? Three words: perpetual growing season. Plant breeders here can produce three crops per year instead of just one. This speeds up the development of new crop varieties from seven years to just four. The seeds can then be transferred to mainland production farms, where bulk quantities of the new, improved seeds can be grown to supply farmers around the world.

(*Snipped)Hawaii was the site of one of the first great successes of crop biotechnology. In the 1990s, the Hawaiian papaya industry was saved by the creation of a genetically enhanced variety modified to resist the ringspot virus that was then devastating growers. Today about 80 percent of the papayas grown in Hawaii come from these biotech varieties.

(*Snipped) The anti-biotech campaign has frightened residents so much that state and local politicians are proposing and passing legislation that could end up pushing seed companies off the islands.

(*Snipped) Both the Hawaii County and Kauai County bills ostensibly are intended to protect the state's environment from contamination by biotech crops. Some 90 percent of the biotech crops grown in Hawaii is seed corn; the rest is seed soybeans and canola. None of these crops can commingle with or pollinate any native Hawaiian species. Fears about the "uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered organisms" are overblown. No forests, swamps, or prairies anywhere have been overrun with domesticated corn, soy, or canola plants gone wild.

And when worrying about keeping Hawaii's ecosystems pristine, keep in mind that half of the plant species now living on the islands are nonnative, including such iconic but fading agricultural staples as taro, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, pineapples, and coffee. As for "economic impacts," the biotech seed companies produce about 34 percent of the value of all Hawaiian agricultural crops and employ around 2,000 people, more than 20 percent of the state's agricultural work force.

The chief goal of the anti-GMO campaigners is to disrupt the progress of the technology they abhor by spreading disinformation to frighten the citizens of Hawaii. Sadly, they are succeeding.

[Permie]

What it comes down to is there shouldn't have to be proof that these pesticides and GMO are bad for us. There should be proof that they ARE NOT bad for us. When you go to the doctor and are prescribed a medication, you take a compound that has gone through not only animal studies, but three rounds of clinical trials IN HUMANS. Double blind, placebo controlled trials. Pesticides, herbicides, and GMO only go through minor animal testing. Minor animal testing that is done by the manufacturer. There are no human trials.

And now these pesticides that were once thought to be relatively safe are being found to cause all sorts of developmental neurotoxicity issues.

Taking this even further, we all metabolize compounds differently. For example, there is a medication called azathioprine that is used for people with organ transplants as well as people with afflictions like Crohn's disease. Some people can take the standard dose of azathioprine no problem. Others need a higher dose. Others need a lower dose. And some people? Even a small dose can kill them. Scientists have figured out why. Because we all are different. Depending on your genetic makeup, how you metabolize azathioprine is different and now they've developed a test (thiopurine metabolite testing) to determine what your dosage should be OR if you shouldn't take it at all.

They're now finding that people have different genetic polymophisms that affect how they metabloze pesticides as well (studies linked at the bottom that showcase this). Sure, YOU might be able to eat a peach covered in pesticide no problem. But what about that person who has the genetic polymorphism that makes them highly susceptible to organophosphate pesticide toxicity? What about them? Or what about the pregnant woman carrying a fetus who has a genetic polymorphism that makes it highly susceptible at a time when its neural connections are being formed?

Where is the proof this stuff is bad? WHERE IS THE PROOF IT IS SAFE? SAFE FOR EVERYONE EVEN IF THEY HAVE CERTAIN, LESS COMMON GENETIC MAKEUPS?

THERE IS NONE BECAUSE THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH HAS NOT BEEN DONE.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v39...284a0.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9703197

[Rob Tucker]

What about the kids that are allergic to organic peanuts?

I'm not particularly impressed with all the fear mongering by the organic food industry. The organic food industry is just as corporate as Monsanto but likely with a higher profit margin.

Show me one person whose death can be attributed, by a coroner, to eating GMO foods and I will pay attention. The rest of it is fear mongering. I can find all kinds of deaths due to organic poisons and non pasteurized dairy products.

I have spent some years in the organic food industry. I have spent six years working on my family's organic dairy farm. I am not ignorant on the subject.