{"id":11767,"date":"2013-07-19T14:39:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T18:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/collideascape\/?p=11767"},"modified":"2013-07-19T14:39:07","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T18:39:07","slug":"gm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.keithkloor.com\/?p=11767","title":{"rendered":"Did You Know You Were Part of a Massive Science Experiment?"},"content":{"rendered":"
I have previously noted<\/a> that the GMO labeling campaign<\/a> in the United States is “couched as a consumer rights issue, but really it’s based on fear.” What are people afraid of? Let’s go to a recent op-ed<\/a> by Linda Stender, a New Jersey politician who is sponsoring a state bill to label genetically modified foods. Her piece is a mishmash of fear-mongering, bad science and faulty logic. As such, it neatly encapsulates the typical anti-GMO argument.<\/div>\n

Get Tramadol Online Let’s start with the opening sentence:<\/p>\n

https://www.andrewplimmer.com/business-tools-and-resources/ Ordinary Americans should not be forced to act as human guinea pigs for a real-time study on the long-term health impact of genetically engineered foods.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pregabalin 300Mg Buy Online This\u00a0human guinea pig trope pops up frequently in the anti-GMO discourse. (I’ll be returning to it in a moment.) Moving on, we come to this gem several paragraphs down (my emphasis):<\/p>\n

Industry\u00adwide, Valium 10Mg Buy Online no long-term studies on the side effects of these foods have been conducted<\/strong>, leaving us with little to no knowledge of the health effects of these foods that are rapidly invading dinner tables across America.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

https://ramedicare.com/ramedica-pain-relief/ Hmm. There’s something odd about the way that is phrased. In any case, let’s assume the author is trying to say there is a lack of research on the safety of genetically modified foods. I suppose I could refer you to this nice round-up<\/a> of authoritative statements on the safety issue by Ramez Naam, but it’s more fun to cite Grist<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n

Is there any evidence that genetically modified food is directly harmful to people who eat it? There\u2019s a one-word answer to this: no.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Buy Lorazepam Online Without Prescription To save time I’m going to skip over the sillier parts of the piece so we can get to where the author cites a\u00a0highly criticized<\/a>\u00a02012 French study, which she says “underscores the need for more comprehensive safety studies into these [GMO] foods.”<\/p>\n

Of course! \u00a0That infamous rat study–no matter how much it’s been discredited<\/a>— is the gift that keeps on giving to GMO opponents.<\/p>\n

Now we come to the end of the column, which is my favorite:<\/p>\n

Most of us probably know someone over the past 10 to 15 years who has started to experience a vast array of health issues that appear to be food-related. Every day, I hear more and more people complaining about allergies they never had before. And children, in particular, appear to be much more allergic to a vast array of food items than in previous generations.<\/p>\n

https://rgprincipal.com/contact-peru/ I can\u2019t tell you whether this is all because of genetically modified foods. And that\u2019s the point of my legislation \u2014 we just don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

https://blackhillsballoons.com/local-recommendations/ Until we do, a simple little label can give consumers the power to make the choice on their own of whether they want to consume such food.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Buy Soma 350 Mg Online Taken as a whole, this piece–its reasoning–reflects the state of the GMO discourse. This is where it’s at. GMOs should be labeled so people aren’t human guinea pigs<\/em>. Put another way, here’s a quote from a recent\u00a0op-ed<\/a>\u00a0in Live Science <\/em>(my emphasis):<\/em><\/p>\n

Buy Valium Online Without Prescription “The introduction of genetically modified organisms into the American food supply is a grand experiment<\/strong>,” said Ann Yonkers, co-director of Fresh Farm Markets and a leader in the sustainable-farming movement. “We should be using the precautionary principle with GMOs, and assume that GMOs have to be demonstrated to be good rather than assume that they are good.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

https://worklivelaos.com/1city/ This human experiment<\/em>\u00a0frame is popular in the anti-GMO orbit. Here are just a few examples plucked from Twitter:<\/p>\n

The only way to opt out of the greatest human experiment that is #GMOs<\/a> is to have a choice. And for that to happen, they must be labeled!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joshua A. Kunau (@jkunau) July 20, 2011<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Valium 10Mg Buy Online  <\/p>\n

RT @bookieboo<\/a>: I’m NOT a science experiment. And neither are my children. #Yeson37<\/a> #LabelGMOs<\/a> -If they are so proud of GMOs, then label them<\/p>\n

Buy Soma Online \u2014 CARightToKnow (@CARightToKnow) August 11, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

https://dinoeliadis.com/generations-carpet-cleaning/  <\/p>\n

GMOs exposed – an experiment on man and nature. http:\/\/t.co\/NxVkUHhSIF<\/a><\/p>\n

https://rgprincipal.com/peru/ \u2014 Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStreV) June 24, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Purchase Valium Online  <\/p>\n

This talking point, while increasingly used, is not new. In the mid-2000s, prominent Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki told an interviewer: “We are now unwittingly part of a mass science experiment.”<\/p>\n