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From:
James Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 15 Feb 2018 15:58:49 -0500
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It is interesting that those asking for studies and safety data on GMO food
are vilified as ignorant fools akin to "anti-vaxxers".  
They are pointing out a LACK of science and data, and asking for some (or
more).  
How can asking for more and/or better data be "ignorant"?

I need not remind anyone of the impact on honey for export.

Most people think that new GMO foods are tested and approved, like the FDA
tests new drugs, and the EPA tests new pesticides. 

Nope.  It's all just manufacturer claims.

More stringent regulatory requirements are imposed on new bee-feed products
than on new genetically-modified human food in the USA.

Without any scientific basis at all, the (USA) FDA considers all GM human
food as "substantially equivalent" to non-GM food.  All new GM crops are
inherently designated as "Generally Recognized as Safe", a puzzling
conclusion from no data at all.  It was the triumph of corporate lobbying
over science.  The equivalent of saying that anything made from plastic is
inherently safe, without exception, just because it is plastic.

When a new GMO food plant is ready for market, the company reveals some part
of its summary data for a "consultation" with the FDA.  The FDA has no
ability to demand all the data, or to even know how many studies were done
before the company got some data that they liked, or even much about the
methodology.  The company picks and chooses what to share.

Just 4 countries-the USA, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina-grow 90 percent of
the planet's GM crops.  Everywhere else, the world has been banning,
restricting, and otherwise shunning GM foods.  This is because they don't
see enough science to support the agribusinesses safety claims.

Here is the USA, mandatory GMO labeling is just now ending its two-year
implementation period from the 2016 law passed by Congress, so there will at
least be a choice for those who wish to make it.

So, when the bulk of the planet stands firm in demands for more information,
more science, and more safety data, calling them all names makes us look
like the ignorant and parochial ones.   It won't sell our commodities to
them, including honey, which is a shame, as even the WTO agrees that
patented GMO seeds are NOT the same as public-domain seeds, and our own
Congress agrees that people have the right to know about whatever difference
there may be, forcing the new labeling requirements.

Note: I will take issue with one part of the linked 2013 talk, because it
falsely describes events at which I was personally present - Zambia's
drought in in 2002.  There were no starvation deaths, the situation was NOT
that dire. GMO corn was not "rejected", it was merely milled, and not by the
President, but by his agriculture head Mundia Sikatana, who arranged for the
maize to be milled so that no one would be tempted to "save seeds" from this
GMO crop and plant them later.  The reason was that Zambia had a good export
trade with EU nations, who demanded non-GMO crops.  He did not want to
endanger his nation's entire economic future over food aid for people who
were certainly facing temporary hard times, but not death.  Because the man
"blocked" the GMO "food aid" in the form of seed-corn, he is the subject of
outright lies to this day.  This is a shame, as he acted as a true statesman
and leader.  No one ever said that any GMO maize was "poisonous".  I am sure
that contemporaneous press reports still exist for those who are interested,
but it helps to know more about a place than its name.  Victoria Falls are
in Zambia, for example, straight out of Sherlock Holmes. Worth the trip
alone.  There's also an orphanage/nursery/clinic for baby elephants on the
south end of Lusaka.

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