sunfish

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...W7UVLw&cad=rja

Garden of Eatin' :: How to Avoid GMO/Monsanto

momoese

DDT free chestnuts would be awesome! Go for it.

They are not lying by saying their seeds are non GMO. If the other guy says his are not and you don't where do think the customer is going to go? The only person/company using the fear tactic was the first one to do this. Go after that one!

sunfish

harveyc

My ethics won't allow me to market in a way that creates a fear that is unwarranted. Companies that do are ripping uninformed consumers off.

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Richard

I think that when a retail advertiser states "All Seeds 100% Non-GMO" on their main page without stating why, they are knowingly perpetuating fear.

Here's a guy purposely adding confusion to the situation: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

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momoese

They don't sell seeds.

harveyc

But they list companies which they think are okay to buy from and companies which they don't think are okay to buy from. Since Monsanto bought Seminis, they think anybody that buys seeds from them (i.e., Burpees), it's not okay to buy from them. I say that's bull.

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harveyc

From what folks have written in the tomato forum (Tomatoville), Baker Creek often sends out seeds that are mislabeled. At least the non-GMO label can be considered accurate even though it's misleading.

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momoese

They are anti GMO, pro heirloom and organic. If that sells more seeds for them without harming anyone who cares? The people that are clicking on that website are already anti GMO. It's just preaching to quire.

momoese

I can't even keep up with all your posts. You bunch of GMO lovers!

Richard

Mitchel, unfortunately it propagates half-truths to new gardeners as well. Every Sunday I have at least a half-dozen brand-new visitors at the market who want to start gardening but their heads are spinning with confusion about all the conflicting information they encounter about "hybrid", "heirloom", "gmo", "organic", "sustainable", etc. It's really sad.

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harveyc

I don't love GMOs. I think some GMO products are okay but don't know that I want to be eating any myself, though I don't objecting to eating animals that have eaten GMO grains. I think a lot of the GMO hate out in the public is due to misinformation.

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harveyc

Fixed it for you! :P

Quire | Define Quire at Dictionary.com

Learn something new every day!

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momoese

I think it's due to government corruption and lack of testing.

momoese

Guess we know who goes to church here!

momoese

Well that is a lot of info to deal with. I understand your frustration.

Nicolas Naranja

I know how they make GMO seeds and I am pretty well versed on the science behind it, but I think it is a major cop-out. We spent years breeding insect resistant corn in Florida and we have some varieties that do very well. I think that GMOs in general are safe, but I have major issues with how the corporations have handled the issue. They have blocked research on things they don't want researched and they have heavily funded research on things they want researched. You now have to sign an agreement with biotech companies that you will not publish without their approval. And if you just go and buy their seed and do unapproved research they will sue you for intellectual property violations.

The GMO thing just makes people lazy. Right plant, right place, right time. When I planted my banana farm I had 8 different varieties, not because I wanted to, but rather as a hedge against panama disease and sigatoka. But, thinking that way doesn't keep the chemical companies and seed companies in business. I have been doing research for 5 years now and I see how things get funded. It's nearly impossible to get funding for pest management strategies that don't involve chemicals, while getting money from insecticide companies is easy. And frankly, the extension agent isn't going to take a farmer deep see fishing to tell him about the benefits of timely planting and biological controls. The chemical rep for Syngenta has a boat for that specific purpose.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Richard

Exactly.

In California, they only have funding to inspect conventional farming and not the certified-organic growers. Once consequence of this is that certified-organic produce that ends up in the stores has 4 times the pesticide residue of conventional produce in the stores.

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Nicolas Naranja

You guys must have a different extension system. Ours don't really inspect. You call them up if you have a problem or bring in a problem to them and they will diagnose. Several times a year they usually put on classes for the growers. But, those classes almost always revolve around pesticides and are sponsored by pesticide companies. I've presented research at several of them. The whole system is set up to support agrichemical companies. The agrichemical company sponsors the research and then uses the University of Florida name to lend creedence to the results. I'll give it to the sugarcane industry, they have spent a lot of money over the years looking into non-chemical IPM. The biggest pests we have are controlled by massive releases of parasitic wasps and fallow flooding.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Richard

We have several extensions. One has the mission you described. Two others are county extensions of the state pest and pesticide branches. The former sets up sticky traps and checks every 2 weeks for vectors such as GWSS. The other administers pesticide applicator license tests and monitors spraying of pesticides in the "danger" category. They are also supposed to do yearly inspections of all registered sites but this only occurs at sites who report above a certain level of pesticide usage. Further, they do not inspect certified-organic sites after the initial visit unless some violation is reported. This might change because the leaf samples from produce at retail locations has shown that the certified-organic industry is grossly under-tested.

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