EU changes rules on GM crop cultivation [Should GMO's be labelled?]

[Headcrab Zombie]

Okay, so let's mandate that all food producers label their food 'non-kosher' or 'non-halal' if it hasn't been religiously blessed. That'll keep the Jews and Muslims happy too.

Working off this point:
Just as kosher and halal foods are simply marked kosher and halal, instead of demanding the marking of non-kosher/halal as such, so can non-gmo foods; in fact a lot of foods are already labeled as such

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[SeventhSandwich]

Working off this point:
Just as kosher and halal foods are simply marked kosher and halal, instead of demanding the marking of non-kosher/halal as such, so can non-gmo foods; in fact a lot of foods are already labeled as such

The question is whether the government should force food producers, who make literally the same food as the 'non-GMO' food producers, to add a label to their product that consumers will see and fear and avoid buying their product. It's a question of whether the government should punish these businesses for selling a product that is substantially equivalent to another business' product.

From my perspective, this is a rare example where the US government needs to step in and overturn the choice of the masses of uninformed Americans. In the same way that a Republic is predicated on avoiding the 'tyranny of the majority' and holding back the occasional lynch mob, the USDA should defend the food producers from the 80% of Americans who have been badly misinformed about this technology and want to ban it on the basis of a reactionary fear towards the 'new'.

[Choi]

We would eat the corn on the left without GMO. They forget that GMO can do these kinds of things.

[Juncoph]

Your argument is 3/4 false, Cancer is from a bad cell that had DNA mutation which keeps multiplying at an uncontrollable rate.

yes... that's the kill timer. if the cell doesn't just die it'll start going haywire and loving up as it multiplies.

[Harm94]

Okay, so let's mandate that all food producers label their food 'non-kosher' or 'non-halal' if it hasn't been religiously blessed. That'll keep the Jews and Muslims happy too.

Kosher friendly foods are usually labeled here in California, GMO/Non-GMO foods as well. Just do what takes to keep people happy, let them live the way they want to live.

[sir dooble]

yes... that's the kill timer. if the cell doesn't just die it'll start going haywire and loving up as it multiplies.

I don't think a cell has to reach the end of its lifespan before it can go cancerous.
Being cancerous can just be a case of having a flaw in its genetic code, a mutation of some sort, which breaks a gene. That gene is likely one which controls the cells ability to know when to divide (which is usually when there is space) and the rate at which it divides.
All it takes is for a normal cell to replicate, and in replicating its new cell has a mutated gene, and that new cell continues to multiply more than it should, and each of those cells in turn has the same mutated gene and they also continue to multiply.

Of course cancer can also be triggered by other things, such as exposure to radiation of varying sorts (nuclear radiation from nuclear waste is one, and UV radiation from sun exposure is a more common one).
A cell doesn't have to be ignoring its time of death to become cancerous.

That's just a bunch of vaguely informed rambling from someone at 3am though, trying to remember what my biology teacher (and former oncologist) taught in an hour 2 years ago. I'm most likely not accurate or detailed here at all.

[Juncoph]

I don't think a cell has to reach the end of its lifespan before it can go cancerous.
Being cancerous can just be a case of having a flaw in its genetic code, a mutation of some sort, which breaks a gene. That gene is likely one which controls the cells ability to know when to divide (which is usually when there is space) and the rate at which it divides.
All it takes is for a normal cell to replicate, and in replicating its new cell has a mutated gene, and that new cell continues to multiply more than it should, and each of those cells in turn has the same mutated gene and they also continue to multiply.

Of course cancer can also be triggered by other things, such as exposure to radiation of varying sorts (nuclear radiation from nuclear waste is one, and UV radiation from sun exposure is a more common one).
A cell doesn't have to be ignoring its time of death to become cancerous.

That's just a bunch of vaguely informed rambling from someone at 3am though, trying to remember what my biology teacher (and former oncologist) taught in an hour 2 years ago. I'm most likely not accurate or detailed here at all.

this is a very good point; i think i've overlooked this because of the fact that the occurrence of one generally leads to the other.

[Harm94]

I don't think a cell has to reach the end of its lifespan before it can go cancerous.
Being cancerous can just be a case of having a flaw in its genetic code, a mutation of some sort, which breaks a gene. That gene is likely one which controls the cells ability to know when to divide (which is usually when there is space) and the rate at which it divides.
All it takes is for a normal cell to replicate, and in replicating its new cell has a mutated gene, and that new cell continues to multiply more than it should, and each of those cells in turn has the same mutated gene and they also continue to multiply.

Of course cancer can also be triggered by other things, such as exposure to radiation of varying sorts (nuclear radiation from nuclear waste is one, and UV radiation from sun exposure is a more common one).
A cell doesn't have to be ignoring its time of death to become cancerous.

That's just a bunch of vaguely informed rambling from someone at 3am though, trying to remember what my biology teacher (and former oncologist) taught in an hour 2 years ago. I'm most likely not accurate or detailed here at all.

Cigarettes, chemicals, and heavy metals as well.

[sir dooble]

Cigarettes, chemicals, and heavy metals as well.

Yeah forgot about that.
Carcinogenic compounds are a big factor (if not the leading factor, at least for certain types of cancer).

[SeventhSandwich]

Kosher friendly foods are usually labeled here in California, GMO/Non-GMO foods as well. Just do what takes to keep people happy, let them live the way they want to live.

You're missing the point here. It's not about labeling things kosher, it's whether people should be forced to label something non-kosher.

GMOs are not dangerous, but if they are labeled separately, people will stop buying them out of fear. It is punishing the business for something they didn't do wrong.

[Nonnel]

Companies should label their things as non-GMO as a selling point for filthy hippies. They shouldn't have to be forced to label it GMO just because they made it better

[sir dooble]

I don't think that they should have to label themselves with a big sticker saying "Contains GMO Products" or whatnot, but I do think that all food (GMO or traditional) should be labelled with the name of the farm they come from, or same way of letting a consumer trace that information.
That way those interested can search for that farm and know under what conditions it grows its food. And that can be any number of things. Are they GMO crops, do they use artificial fertilisers (or traditional manures, or none), pesticides, are they free-range livestock or battery farmed, to what extent do they selectively breed their livestock, their employment (are they fairtrade for example).

Of course it's not suggesting that using or not using any of those things makes a product better or worse, but it lets a consumer (with their own personal beliefs, opinions and tastes) choose to support the farm they want, and know what exactly they're getting.


Besides the cost of putting that label on their product, I don't see a downside for producers, and I see it as beneficial to the consumer, without fearmongering.

[Jubel]

An issue with this though is that not all products come from the same farm, especially for really cheap bargain brand stuff.

Who knows, if I go to buy a giant bag of pistachios, who's to say it wasn't all mixed from like 3 different places in a factory.

[SeventhSandwich]

I do think that all food (GMO or traditional) should be labelled with the name of the farm they come from, or same way of letting a consumer trace that information.

That way those interested can search for that farm and know under what conditions it grows its food.

I'm fine with that.

[Nonnel]

An issue with this though is that not all products come from the same farm, especially for really cheap bargain brand stuff.

Who knows, if I go to buy a giant bag of pistachios, who's to say it wasn't all mixed from like 3 different places in a factory.

then you'd name the three places on the bag