Maui GMO protest

[Rob Tucker]

So are you referring to the FDA perhaps?

[Bullwinkle]

Most of the world all ready embraces labeling .... in the U.S. poll after poll indicates that the vast majority want labeling

on the other side we have monsanto et al

where does the power reside in this issue - with monsanto and the minority reactionary right or the consumers?

remember when they called us citizens? - consumers is what the majority is today

how many of us produce more than we consume? a notable goal if we are going to be self sustaining - beats financing everything offshore imho


http://justlabelit.org/wp-content/upload...esults.pdf

[Rob Tucker]

I think I have a solution.

Since there is no study or research prepared by man that can be relied upon or trusted what is needed is a reasonably priced device that can detect the presence of GMO in food. So each individual can take charge of their own food future.

A device that would sell for, say, three easy payments of $19.95, be hand held and display the results in an easy to understand format.... green light you eat, red light you don't eat.

What is needed is something resembling (or perhaps even might be) a stud finder.

Since a stud finder is designed to indicate the presence of something or nothing - a little minor calibration, a little repackaging and relabeling and a free market, non governmental solution might just be at hand. The development of this device should be much, much cheaper than relabeling hundreds of thousands of food items. And it would certainly be profitable for that fortunate soul who brought the device to market.

Hmmmm.

© 2014 Rob Tucker

[Bullwinkle]

"The development of this device should be much, much cheaper than relabeling hundreds of thousands of food items. And it would certainly be profitable for that fortunate soul who brought the device to market."

I dont agree - I do agree however there are very inexpensive ways to solve the problem - cereal makers already responding to market forces by labeling "non gmo" on the boxes

If its about the cheapest way to accomplish a goal - easy peasy

getting past the monsanto power structure and tea party types - not so easy

it may be helpful to frame this issue in the fact that in most of the world - this is a done deal and not controversial - uniquely our hang up..... we label our gmo exports however - the japanese know what they are eating.....

Manana

[rainyjim]

rob, unsure how serious you are, but assuming seriousness...

thats not a bad idea, and these device(s) do exist, just not in a hand held cheap version like a stud finder.

to begin you would need a sample of the DNA from whatever organism you were examining ... lets say Papaya. Next you would need an array of scientific equipment (a whole working lab at the very least) not least of which being a 'DNA engine' and a 'gel electrophoresis apparatus'

the DNA engine performs a task called the polymerase chain reaction and is essentially a very expensive and advanced peltier device. this engine goes through thermal cycling repeatedly raising and lowering the temperature of the sample as a means of amplifying the DNA, through the use of primers which are targeting specific loci in the DNA strand of the sample you originally took from the papaya. after you have amplified the DNA you would use a gel electrophoresis kit to analyze the genetic fingerprinting to determine the presence of the targeted transgene- in this case the PRSV (papaya ring spot virus) resistance gene.

the above is an extremely simplified explanation of identifying the presence of a transgene in an organism.

hopefully from reading you have a better understanding of why this would be/is so complicated you would first have to know A. the specific transgene for every transgenic crop being tested - this is different for every crop and B. the primers necessary to identify the loci (location) of a specific targeted gene and also different for every crop.

i think it would be handy, especially for those that don't trust even labels...but what you are talking about is quite far off...you are basically asking that a state of the art laboratory be miniaturized to fit in the palm of your hand...no judgement here I doubt anyone but those who have actually worked with transgenic organisms would probably know any of this.

aloha mai kakou

[rainyjim]

fyi, dna engines run ~ $80,000.00 USD...

not to mention... well... the rest of the lab

[Derrick Barnicoat]

What if companies that use GMO ingredients must register and list where they are located and they must properly seal off a growing operation from contaminating the crops of farmers who wish to provide food that is not an animal (sometimes human) /vegetable hybrid.

[Bullwinkle]

how about an free online database - self reporting - no labels required....

its about being transparent ...would that not be a notable goal for the gmo trade association?

[PaulW]

What if companies that use ingredients harvested on the Sabbath must register and list where they are located and they must properly seal off a growing operation from contaminating the crops of farmers who wish to provide food that is not unholy.

[rainyjim]

I've heard that one of the high costs of labeling has to do with distributors buying multiple separate crops from multiple separate producers.

Lets take corn for an example.

Kellogs (the cereal company)

Buys corn from growers A, B, and C.

Growers Aand B grow conventional corn in industrial monocultures

Grower C grows transgenic corn in industrial monocultures.

Kellogs buys all 3 crops and stores them in a granary until processing.

If labeling was required Kellogs must store each type of crop separately. This means more granaries and more sorting and more effort.

This is but one cost associated with labeling. There are many. Its not just about adding a little bit of ink onto a corner of the label.


That said is it right to not label transgenic crops? It seems while the majority of the world has concisely replied "No", our representative democracy is still undecided. Its only for you to decide what you want and let your representative(s) know your desires.