What's your feelings on GE.....

We may have had this discussion before I am not sure, but what prompted me to start this thread, was last night hubby and I attended a focus group held at the university.

A professor there is doing research to find out how the public feel about it all, it was an interesting time, we spent one and half hours giving our opinions, hearing others, answering questions, reading data, and hearing media reports, and we got paid 30 dolllars for our trouble, and drinks and eats all laid on.

People are chosen at random, and they don't know anything about you, as it turned out our group was really interesting because we had a student finishing her science degree and a woman who belongs to Greenpeace, a group who is anti- GE.

I honestly don't know a lot about it myself, and really I am on the fence with how I feel about it all, there are some positives for sure, but it is the fear of the unknown that halts my decision, and I have never been much of a risk taker myself.


NZ has an image of clean and green to uphold, so far our Tourism industry is bringing us more into the country than our Dairy industry, so we have to consider if we change our image is this going to stop the tourists coming? only one thing to think about.. the list goes on and on, once we have started it, there is no going back, and what can happen is scarey to think about.

Can we survive without it, already they are saying 80 per cent of our food is Genetically modified.

How do you feel on this topic, have you mixed feelings like me, or do you take a particular stance on it.

Would you like to see all food labelled if they are GE free or not, and would that actually stop you buying the product knowing?

opinions please.:)

   General Electric comes to mind when I hear GE. GM (Genetically Modified) and GMO (genetically-modified organism) are also common descriptions of this topic. Since many people will always be concerned, I think it would be helpful for foods to be labeled.

   I think there are strong arguments on both sides. So many people starve or have poor nutrition it seems impossible to argue GMOs should not be considered.

   I don't think New Zealand should worry about tourism. I think if there was a commercial on American TV showing New Zealand's scenery from famous movies, showing it's location in the world, and showing it's English-speaking denizens, your country would be overrun with tourists.

      Paul

I think GE will probably be the way of the future.
I do think that all GE food should be labeled giving people
a choice. I personally would not want to be a guinie pig.

what is GE?

I try my hardest not to buy anything that is genetically engineered, preserved unnaturally or with any added chemicals.

I've always felt that stuff is unnessessary and potentially harmful. Food wasn't created that way, therefore I personally don't feel I should ingest it that way.

Luckily, California has a lot of organically grown products and there are many local stores around me so I'm able to eat that way. :)

The same goes for my cats. That's another reason I feed them Royal Canin and Innova. They are naturally made and preserved.

Some GE (GM) food is an acceleration of selective breeding, which has been done since humans discovered agriculture. I think this is unequivocally (nearly) OK, IMO.

Where one needs to be VERY careful is "transgenic" food. This means the gene from one organism is transplanted into the germ plasm of another organism. This is how golden rice is made, as well as experimental crops expressing Roundup resistance, and others expressing drugs or vaccines.

Chemical and Engineering News this week had an article on "pharming", which is making drugs in plants. They recognize how far seeds/pollens can travel. I think GM plants should be developed so that their pollen and seeds are sterile. Monsanto got grief for doing this, but it's the right way to prevent cross-contamination.

Pro's for GM foods/"Pharm" crops: golden rice, which has vitamin A in it; edible vaccines expressed in bananas for the Developing World.

Con's: cross contamination, right to know/consent rules. I think GM foods should be labeled as such.

Did you know Friskies cat food may be made from GE crop derived ingredients along with.

Pringles.

Kraft products.

Cadbury.

Nestle

MCcains

Inghams chicken and Brinks,(some of these are NZ and Australian products you may not know)