Demonstrators rally against Monsanto in global anti-GMO protest

[bjre]

Demonstrators rally against Monsanto in global anti-GMO protest

CTV Toronto: Protesters target GMO seed firm

Crowds showed up at Yonge and Dundas Square as part of a worldwide protest against genetically-modified produce.

CTV BC: 'March Against Monsanto' hits Vancouver

Hundreds of people swarmed Vancouver's streets Saturday, taking aim at genetically modified foods – and one of their largest manufacturers.

CTV Regina: Walk against Monsanto

Marches were held against Monsanto and other major GMOs across the country Saturday, including Regina.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/demonstrators-rally-against-monsanto-in-global-anti-gmo-protest-1.1296661

Western style democracy is of little use.

Why I said that?

Because media are controlled by powerful people, most people in government and parliament are doing things according to the value that media repeated, few people know what is the most important issues that could harm to them. What is more, media would rather to focus on whether Ford use drug than whether GMO may harm to public health or not. I don't like casino that Ford supported, but I don't like media further more.

The gene modified food issues that I mentioned 3 years ago, now, at last, now, some people begin to notice it, but still, how long it will take for the first effective change on it?

http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums/topic/17476-natives-have-right-too-says-canada/page-13#entry603968

Farmers feed transfer-gene, chemical fertilized crop to feed chickens and cattle, did not see many First Nation guy afford to do that large scale modern farming.

Maybe till all of us die, most issues will still remain unchanged, after many Fords come and go.

[Moonbox]

Western style democracy is of little use.

Yes! World much better in Red China! In Red China, don't need worry about GMO's, only tainted milk!

[bjre]

Yes! World much better in Red China! In Red China, don't need worry about GMO's, only tainted milk!

Why you go to china again. You don't have memory what happened to the last each time some one try to blame china when talk about Canadian issues? Is that part of the Canadian blame culture?

Can your so called “fascist Canada” prevent these things from happen by inspectors? Then why Maple Leaf Meat issue still happen and causes even more death than melamine milk in china?

BEIJING — Chinese courts sentenced two men to death and three other defendants, including a top dairy company executive, to life in prison on Thursday for endangering public safety in a tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children, according to state-run news media.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/world/as...3.19601372.html

On Monday, the Canadian health authorities revised from 4 to 12 the number of deaths from listeriosis that have been linked to contaminated cold meat cuts and the number of officially confirmed cases is now 26 and is expected to rise again, a health official told the press.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/119305.php

What happened after that? Anyone in the company take the charge?

So, because Maple Leaf Meat cause the problem, now the freedom of other companies that have never cause problem should be taken away, to make sure the large companies who dominate the markets still have chance to cause problems again. Your baby foolish people don’t know what will harm to yourselves, need police state laws to assault you further, so that inspectors can search you private properties any time they want with no reason, need take more tax money to build jails and hire cops, need out-law most natural products from the market so that large companies can make even more money.

Is that the logic you want to tell me?

http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums/topic/15238-bill-c-51-makes-canada-a-police-state-and-followed-by-bill-c-52-c-6/#entry476553

[TimG]

"If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." -- Thomas Jefferson

This is extremely ironic sig considering the fact that you want to control what people are allowed to eat. Edited May 27, 2013 by TimG

[waldo]

This is extremely ironic sig considering the fact that you want to control what people are allowed to eat.

no - MLW member 'bjre's' signature is most fitting from the perspective of those simply wanting GMO foods labeled... as GMO. Regardless of one's personal opinion/position on safety concerns, without the labeling, people are not being given the choice - government Monsanto is deciding.

[TimG]

There are plenty of private sector organic labels which assure people that there are no GMOs. People who care about such things should pay for the organic products. Imposing costs on people who don't care is an example of the intrusive and overbearing government that Jefferson was arguing against - hence the irony.

Edited May 27, 2013 by TimG

[waldo]

There are plenty of private sector organic labels which assure people that there are no GMOs. People who care about such things should pay for the organic products. Imposing costs on people who don't care is an example of the intrusive and overbearing government that Jefferson was arguing against - hence the irony.

now who is forcing who? You would force people to buy organic, to as you say, impose costs on them. How, as you say, ironic! But c'mon... labels are being printed anyways... how costly would it be to simply include something like a GMO emblem on the label?

[BubberMiley]

It would be no cost at all, but they don't want to because they know people would rather not consume GMOs. You'd think that people who didn't care would prefer the labels because the GMO products would have to be sold at a cheaper price because they would be the only ones buying them.

[TimG]

It would be no cost at all

Any regulation that requires the detailed tracking of the composition of every ingredient is expensive. On top of that you would need to have expensive government auditing mechanisms because there is no way to tell a GMO ingredient from a non-GMO ingredient since the end products are chemically identical.

In any case, even if the cost was small it makes no sense to pass government regulations to pander to the religious objections of a minority. i.e. people demanding GMO labelling are making demands based on their eco-religion and are no different than people who demand Kosher or Halal labelling.

If people care about GMOs they should pay a premium for private organic labels that provide the assurances they want. There is absolutely no justification for the government regulation in this case.

Edited May 27, 2013 by TimG

[Bryan]

If it's too much for you to keep track of what your putting in my food, you have no business making it. People absolutely should have a right to know if their food is GMO. Saying you should pay extra and get certified organic is like saying you should pay extra to get an ingredient list. No one is looking to force the manufacturers to use a certain list of ingredients here, just tell us what you are using and let us make an informed choice.

Me, I'd probably still eat it. GMO has done a lot of good. It saves millions of lives.

[TimG]

People absolutely should have a right to know if their food is GMO.

So you are saying they have right to know if their food is Halal or Kosher? Should we have government regulations requiring labelling for every religious objection?

Saying you should pay extra and get certified organic is like saying you should pay extra to get an ingredient list.

People have an ingredient list today since there is absolutely no chemical difference between GMO and non-GMO ingredients. What they don't have is information on how those ingredients were produced which is why premium private labels for Organic, Kosher, Halal, Fair Trade foodstuffs exist.

The premium private label system for idiosyncratic religious objections works.

You have not offered any compelling reason to change it.

Edited May 27, 2013 by TimG

[Bryan]

You have not offered any compelling reason to change it.

You have not offered any compelling reason not to. People have a right to know what is put in their food. You can't make an informed choice if you aren't given the information.

[GostHacked]

Yes! World much better in Red China! In Red China, don't need worry about GMO's, only tainted milk!

I do find it odd with the tainted food and yet they do label GMO food. Most Europe has banned most of if not all GMO foods. And Monsanto spend millions to kill the prop in California to make it mandatory for GMO labeling. If GMO food is as safe and as nutritious and as they say or better than organic or non-GMO, then they would welcome the labeling with open arms. But it was met with stern resistance by Monsanto.

[GostHacked]

So you are saying they have right to know if their food is Halal or Kosher? Should we have government regulations requiring labelling for every religious objection?

GMO foods have nothing to do with religious foods.

People have an ingredient list today since there is absolutely no chemical difference between GMO and non-GMO ingredients. What they don't have is information on how those ingredients were produced which is why premium private labels for Organic, Kosher, Halal, Fair Trade foodstuffs exist.

If there is no difference and if GMO is safe, then I would force them to label it as such. Don't give me any crap about the cost of adjusting a label for GMO foods as companies constantly are improving their packaging and presentation.

The only thing new and improved is the packaging while the product is .. the same.

Edited May 27, 2013 by GostHacked

[TimG]

GMO foods have nothing to do with religious foods.

Sure they do. The environmentalist religion tells their followers that they should not eat GMOs because they are 'unclean'. The Muslim religion tells their followers that they should not eat non-Halal foods because they are 'unclean'.

There is absolutely no scientific basis for either claim but if such things are important to individuals then they have the option of looking for private labels that provide the assurances they want. There is absolutely no justification for forcing everyone to pay more because some people have religious objections to GMOs

If there is no difference and if GMO is safe, then I would force them to label it as such. Don't give me any crap about the cost of adjusting a label for GMO foods as companies constantly are improving their packaging and presentation.

Your ignorance of the manufacturing process is showing. The cost is not in the cost of printing new packages. The cost is in the system that has to be set up to ensure that what is on the box is correct. i.e. how does a company that buys flour from another company know that there is no GMOs in the flour? The company has to demand that all of their suppliers set up audit systems which imposes costs on their suppliers which are often in different countries. Running and maintaining such a system is expensive. Edited May 27, 2013 by TimG

[TimG]

Most Europe has banned most of if not all GMO foods.

Not true.

All food (including processed food) or feed which contains greater than 0.9% of approved GMOs must be labelled.

...

It was reported in 2012 that the EU imports about 30 million tons a year of GM crops for animal consumption.[8]

So Europeans eat meat that was fed GMOs. They also allow GMOs for humans but require labeling.

[BubberMiley]

Sure they do. The environmentalist religion tells their followers that they should not eat GMOs because they are 'unclean'. The Muslim religion tells their followers that they should not eat non-Halal foods because they are 'unclean'.

The healthy living religion tells their followers that they should not eat foods with rat feces in them because they are 'unclean.' Do-gooder government bureaucrats try to tell the food producers not to include rat feces in their food, thereby raising the price for those who would rather eat unregulated rat poop. Edited May 27, 2013 by BubberMiley

[TimG]

The healthy living religion tells their followers that they should not eat foods with rat feces in them because they are 'unclean.'

Except in the case of 'rat poop' there is scientific evidence that supports the regulations controlling 'rat poop'. With GMOs there is no such evidence. The objections to GMOs are nothing but the fantasies created by religious zealots. I don't believe in imposing costs on everyone in order to pander to religious zealotry.

[BubberMiley]

The objections to GMOs are nothing but the fantasies created by religious zealots. I don't believe in imposing costs on everyone in order to pander to religious zealotry.

Tell that to people with nut allergies who have no way of knowing whether the food they eat has been grafted with nut plants. Tell that to anyone who eats something with antibiotic resistance built in. The anti-religion argument is compelling but it's bigoted and makes no sense.

[TimG]

Tell that to people with nut allergies who have no way of knowing whether the food they eat has been grafted with nut plants.

Again, a clear scientific rational exists for nut labeling. There is no such scientific rational for GMO labelling - it is demand only made because of religious objections to GMOs.

It is not bigoted to require a scientific justification for regulations.

We cannot cater to idiosyncrasies of every religion.

Edited May 27, 2013 by TimG

[Wilber]

Any regulation that requires the detailed tracking of the composition of every ingredient is expensive. On top of that you would need to have expensive government auditing mechanisms because there is no way to tell a GMO ingredient from a non-GMO ingredient since the end products are chemically identical.

In any case, even if the cost was small it makes no sense to pass government regulations to pander to the religious objections of a minority. i.e. people demanding GMO labelling are making demands based on their eco-religion and are no different than people who demand Kosher or Halal labelling.

If people care about GMOs they should pay a premium for private organic labels that provide the assurances they want. There is absolutely no justification for the government regulation in this case.

Do you read labels at all? There is a lot of information on food labels, much of it already required by law. There is no reason at all why this couldn't be included. Also, you shouldn't have to buy organic to buy non GMO.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Wilber

[TimG]

There is no reason at all why this couldn't be included.

Sure there is: all currently required labeling has a scientific justification.

There is no scientific justification for GMO labelling.

Edited May 27, 2013 by TimG

[Moonbox]

Tell that to people with nut allergies who have no way of knowing whether the food they eat has been grafted with nut plants. Tell that to anyone who eats something with antibiotic resistance built in. The anti-religion argument is compelling but it's bigoted and makes no sense.

When we start seeing widespread allergic reactions to peanuts when people eat apples, we'll consider your complaint. Until then, you're just making up threats. You could make a case for the overuse of antibiotics with raising chickens etc, but breeding crops to be resistant to bacteria and pests and improve food productivity is something I'm not scared about at all.

As TimG already explained, you have options to avoid GMOs. Go waste your money on organic. Don't try to force your goofball (and scientifically unfounded) beliefs on the rest of us.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Moonbox

[DFCaper]

Sure they do. The environmentalist religion tells their followers that they should not eat GMOs because they are 'unclean'. The Muslim religion tells their followers that they should not eat non-Halal foods because they are 'unclean'.

There is absolutely no scientific basis for either claim but if such things are important to individuals then they have the option of looking for private labels that provide the assurances they want. There is absolutely no justification for forcing everyone to pay more because some people have religious objections to GMOs

The people who fight against GMOs seem to be the same croud of people who are against vaccination. Same religion. They tend to not trust any science that they don't understand, and considering these movements mostly comes from the non-scientific world, it can be easily be compared to religious beliefs...

It is the fear mongering and non-fact based information that is spread about GMOs and other issues is why a company would not want to be labeled to have GMOs. Europe is a perfect example of GMO fear mongering causing irrational reactions by the public.

Your ignorance of the manufacturing process is showing. The cost is not in the cost of printing new packages. The cost is in the system that has to be set up to ensure that what is on the box is correct. i.e. how does a company that buys flour from another company know that there is no GMOs in the flour? The company has to demand that all of their suppliers set up audit systems which imposes costs on their suppliers which are often in different countries. Running and maintaining such a system is expensive.

The huge headache to ensure everything in processed food is GMO free would be expensive. Every supplier and Sub Supplier would have to be certified, and monitored, etc... Good luck being a small company in the food industry. I thought "Certified Organic" was how you were to guarentee no GMOs. With NA farming being 90%+ GMOs, that I would assume everything that is not Organic has at least some GMOs.

Despite my stand against the labeling of fear, I think it is terrible the BS Monsanto gets away with and the BS that the governments pass to protect them. I am not against GMOs, but we need to have companies that develop them are at least regulated into be responsible suppliers of our food.

[Wilber]

Sure there is: all currently required labeling has a scientific justification.

There is no scientific justification for GMO labelling.

People have the right to know what they are eating and farmers have a right to know what they are planting. We are getting ever closer to having neither.

http://www.culinate.com/user/KAB/blog/the_dirty_secret_of_organic_seeds

If there do turn out to be negative effects from the consumption of GMO foods, it will probably be years before their effects are seen. If we continue on our present course, it will be far too late to turn back because non GMO seeds will probably be extinct.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Wilber