Diana,
I just ordered a CD of the wonderful film "Symphony of the Soil" and you are welcome to borrow it. (I didn't come yet). Otherwise...Netflix has it.
Margaret
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *I recently watched the environmental film "Symphony of the Soil" again, and it is very good!
There is discussion about GMOs although that is not the main focus in the film. The film has very convincing arguments about the problems of Big Ag chemicals.
Margaret
From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements <[log in to unmask]ORG> on behalf of Donna Buell <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 12:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]ORG
Subject: Re: Zombie GMO mythsHi Tom,
Yes, we are on a treadmill. And how frustrating. I wonder how we can change the dynamics of the conversation to be more effective?
Here’s a thought and maybe some of you have better ideas too..... It seems to me that we are fighting an uphill battle to frame our debate in terms of GMOs rather than the outcomes they have given us. People get lost in the science arguments and then they just tune-out. And many scientists (including my graduate student son) will argue that we laypeople just don’t understand all that’s happening in science since we mapped the human genome. And I don’t understand. But I do know that the outcomes of our farming practices have us wondering how many more decades of soil are left in Iowa.
It is the vastly increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that GMO corn and soy has brought upon us. It is the monopolies that have arisen throughout the entire food production system, from seeds to retail grocery store space. It is the dependency on monoculture that brings us the soil loss and water pollution. ..... GMOs make this happen, but we were on the track of chemical monocultures before GMOs too.
Just a thought.
Cover crops are an easy place to start the conversation about moving beyond the chemicals.
We can’t give up on nutritious food grown in a healthy environment.
Best,Donna
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Great article. Nowhere is this more relevant than right here in Iowa.--Tom M.
-----Original Message-----* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
From: Laurel Hopwood <[log in to unmask]>
To: CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM <CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG >
Sent: Wed, Apr 18, 2018 6:00 am
Subject: Zombie GMO myths
https://globalecoguy.org/
Zombie GMO mythszombie-gmo-myths-a59123a403f2 * Some widespread notions about GMOs — especially that they are “needed to feed a growing world” — are wrong and simply refuse to die.
It never fails. Every few months, someone — usually a reporter — asking me to talk about GMOs*. And they almost always ask the same few questions.
Sadly, these questions are the usual “GMO Zombie Myths” — put into circulation by big agricultural interests and their allies — that just won’t die.
Industrial agriculture and biotech interests have built entire campaigns saying that we “need” genetically engineered organisms to “feed the world."Yet most of the GMOs in use today aren’t even primary food crops that feed the world — like rice, wheat, roots and tubers, pulses, and fruits and vegetables. Instead, most of the world’s GMO farm fields are growing things like feed corn (not sweet corn that we eat, but feed corn that is used for making animal feed, high-fructose corn syrup, and corn ethanol), soybeans (mainly for animal feed), cotton, and canola. Very few of the GMO crops in use today are feeding the world’s poor; instead, they are crops used in the world’s wealthier countries, mainly to fatten animals, make unnecessary biofuels and food additives, or make cheap clothing.
There is the common claim that GMOs dramatically increase crop yields. That’s not really true either.If you really wanted to feed the world, you’d tackle bigger issues — namely food waste, wasteful diets (especially in the U.S. and Europe, where more red meat is eaten) and feedlot animal agriculture (where we turn food crops in animal feed).* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Moreover, there are side effects to using these bundled GMO-pesticide systems at such large scales. The loss of native plants on the edges of farmers fields, and the subsequent impact on native insects, birds, and other wildlife. Plus, there are the potential effects of using any biocide too much in the environment, and the potential impacts on soil microorganisms and biodiversity — which are still poorly understood.
It’s like a giant treadmill, where we are in a race between GMO+pesticide development and nature’s ability to adapt to our chemicals, with new, resistant weeds and bugs. And nature typically wins.
We need whole-food-system solutions, from the farmers field to our plates and stomachs. That’s the way we can feed 9 billion, with true food security and nutrition, with far less environmental and social harm.
But, first, we need to dispel the myth that GMOs are “needed” to “feed the world”. Because that’s just not true, and is never going to be.
* Please don’t say, “Hey, all crops are genetically modified”. Yes, yes, we have been selectively breeding plants for thousands of years. We all know that. But the term “GMOs” refers to the recent development of “gene splicing” and the development of transgenic crops, creating forms of life that nature, or selective breeding, could never have created.
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