From guyclark@socket.net Tue Aug 3 13:14:36 1999 Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 05:17:57 -0500 From: Guy Clark Reply-To: permaculture To: permaculture Subject: Radio show tomorrow and other stuff [ The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Hey folks- I will be on a local one hour radio show later today (7 p.m.) on KOPN here in Columbia, MO talking about genetic engineering and I have a couple of hundred questions. I will limit them to just a few: Does anyone have a good list of biotech employees that have gone into the regulatory agencies? And did they go back to their former jobs when they got done? I am working on a list of companies/countries/agencies/groups that have passed anti-GMO decisions, does one already exist, or the pieces of one? I am also trying to make a list of GMO ingredients in our food supply, does one, or the pieces of one, already exist? I am working on the question from the perspective of arguments used by apologists of the technology and why they are fallacious. Here are some of the ones I am working on: GMO foods are not significantly different than hybrids. Difference in kind, not in degree Not enough to regulate, but enough to patent GMO foods are safe. To non-GMO farmers Genetic drift Increased prolificacy and promiscuousness of GMO's Superweeds/superbugs Genie out of the bottle problem To humans Concerns about increased food allergies Unanticipated problems due to novel combinations Ethical and religious concerns Loss of antibiotics due to use of such as gene markers To the rest of the environment Terminator/Traitor technology Monarch Butterfly/Green Lacewing studies Concerns about damage to bird populations The difference between not proven unsafe and precautionary principle GMO foods are well regulated. By whom? Revolving door problem Agencies caught between regulating/promoting technologies (witness USDA's collusion in creation of Terminator) Regulation divided among different scientists in different departments of different agencies whose agendas are not always in synch. We need GMO's to: Feed the world Reduce the use of toxic chemicals Those who resist the expansion of GMO's are: Tree hugging environmentalist/Luddites Foreign protectionists Irrational So what am I missing? Please help. I will be at the farm most of tomorrow picking for my CSA delivery/Wed. market. Namaste', Guy Clark --- You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: london@metalab.unc.edu To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture-75156P@franklin.oit.unc.edu