Food Is Weird

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Re: Genetically Modified Foods

Postby MojaveMike » Thu Oct 16, 2014 4:13 pm

surfsteve wrote:Actually seeds from hybrids can not be saved and used again because they revert back to before they were hybrid. Anybody that has ever used hybrid off spring seeds knows this. Also it has not been proven that eating gm foods does not modify your genes. In fact much of the research I've read indicates that even positive or negative thinking can influence our genes so changing our genes because of the foods we eat is not out of the question.

I'm glad to see that you posted a video about epigenetics. While I think that video overstates the extent to which genetic expression can be altered by environmental events, the important thing is that it does distinguish between genetic expression and the underlying genes. The woman in the video I complained about failed to make that distinction, claiming instead that the genes were actually changed, which just does not happen.

As for your claims regarding hybrid seeds:
Contrary to what some say, GM seeds are not the only seeds with Intellectual Property Rights. Almost all conventional (non-GM) and organic hybrid seeds are patented and cannot be saved for use in the next planting season.

LINK: http://www.europabio.org/why-do-seeds-have-patents-are-gm-seeds-only-patented-seeds
It's through the process of hybridization (aka, selective breeding) that new varieties of plants have been developed for centuries and, yes, they do produce viable seed. In fact, depending on the plant in question the traits of offspring can be quite stable. Some plants are incredibly unstable while others are very stable. Apples, for instance, are highly variable and stable strains cannot be reproduced through seeds while most common crops are stable.
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Re: Genetically Modified Foods

Postby surfsteve » Fri Oct 17, 2014 7:20 am

Now we are splitting hairs. I'm not going to watch the video again but I'm assuming by changing genes the woman meant switching them on or off. However you could be correct.

Also traditionally saving seeds from hybrid has never been a problem because the seeds rarely if ever maintain their characteristics. Hybrids almost always are either sterile or their offspring reverts back to one or the other of their parents. Stable hybrids (hybrids who have identical offspring) are rare. I didn't know that they even existed till today. Killer bees are one example of stable hybrids. Originally it was thought that by cross breeding the domesticated honey bee with the highly aggressive African bee that a bee that would aggressively produce more honey would be developed. What they got instead was a bee that only produced enough honey for it's self, killed off all the honey bees and took over their crib. If Monsanto held the patent to killer bees they would probably be suing everyone who's property becomes contaminated with them.

Designing edible organisms to produce their own pesticides should be a no brainer of a bad idea unless you are intentionally trying to wipe out a population. I recall that the vast majority of genetically modified plants are designed to either be resistant to pesticides or produce their own pesticides. Normally fantastic yields can be achieved through hybridization but Roundup ready GM crops are reported to have lower yields. (This makes sense because one of the uses on the label back when I used it was to mix it in very low concentrations and use it as a plant growth regulator, to slow the growth of plants.) Also they are likely to contain a lot more Roundup in them because they are designed to be sprayed with it and Roundup when sprayed does not just sit on the leaves. It trans-locates systemically throughout the plant. I've used Roundup since the mid 1970's when I was fresh out of horticulture school and went to work for a huge commercial landscape maintenance company. At that time it used to say it was bio degradable on the label (they had to change that) and disappeared after a couple of weeks but I couldn't help noticing that if you left cuttings from grass that had been killed by Roundup on the lawn that it killed the grass below it as if it had been sprayed. Even if it had been a month or two since anyone had sprayed it. To be honest I would never pull weeds that have been killed by Roundup with my bare hands. And now come to find out we've all been eating it? Maybe you are right after all and it's not the GM that is so bad but the fact that the plants are designed to be doused with chemicals. I got a feeling it's both!
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Re: Food Is Weird

Postby CactusHugger » Sun Nov 16, 2014 5:41 pm

8 Things You Should Never Feed Your Dogs & Cats
Food is weird in a lot of ways. One thing that you might not expect is that things that people can eat without any problem can harm or even kill a dog or a cat. (Keep that in mind the next time the neighbor's pet keeps you up at night! LOL)
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Re: Food Is Weird

Postby mrfish » Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:37 am

The eight items are xylitol, chocolate, avocados, macadamia nuts, grapes and raisons, yeast dough, onions and garlic, and weed! It's hard to imagine that some of these items could do any harm, but supposedly all these items can cause death in dogs and cats. So be careful not to toss an avacado at the neighbor's dog to stop it from barking. You might be charged with attempting to kill the worthless piece of crap! LOL
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Re: Food Is Weird

Postby panamint_patty » Fri Nov 28, 2014 7:39 am

Seven Foods That Make You Smell Bad
Food for thought? :roll2:
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Re: Food Is Weird

Postby twister » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:03 pm

Avocados, eggs, steak and coffee will cost you more in 2015
When has it ever been the case that food prices don't go up? :shrug:
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Re: Food Is Weird

Postby twister » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:13 pm

Why Sugar-Free Gummy Bears Are SUPER Laxatives :eek2:
Loose stools? :ack:
Don't eat more than FIFTEEN of these gummy bears or else you'll get diarrhea!
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Re: Food Is Weird

Postby MojaveMike » Sun Feb 08, 2015 12:08 pm

Has the World’s Food Production Peaked? :roll2:
I'm not buying any of this. I doubt that more than one-third of the world's arable land is even used at this point. Add on top of that constantly improving technology that can be applied to traditional crops and then add on top of that the prospect of biosynthesized food and I'd say that we could almost certainly double or triple total worldwide food production. I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to limit world population growth, but the assertions made in this "news" clip seem a bit farfetched!
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Re: Food Is Weird

Postby James Sel » Sun Feb 08, 2015 7:20 pm

MojaveMike wrote:Has the World’s Food Production Peaked? :roll2:
I'm not buying any of this. I doubt that more than one-third of the world's arable land is even used at this point. Add on top of that constantly improving technology that can be applied to traditional crops and then add on top of that the prospect of biosynthesized food and I'd say that we could almost certainly double or triple total worldwide food production. I'm not saying that we shouldn't try to limit world population growth, but the assertions made in this "news" clip seem a bit farfetched!


There is a lot of truth to this but it is also short sighted and is misinforming/misleading. He gives us two choices in the conclusion Stop making rugrats or stop consuming. Yea right. Stupid video for stupid people nough said.
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Re: Genetically Modified Foods

Postby panamint_patty » Sun Feb 15, 2015 7:54 am

USDA Approves Genetically Modified Non-Browning Apple :yum2:
It's called the Artic apple and it could be coming to a grocery store near you beginning in 2017!
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