Food Chain Radio Show #1091

Michael Olson, Author & Urban Farming Agriculturalist

The Substantial Equivalency of GMOs

This Poll is closed!!

Are GMO’s substantially equivalent to non-GMOs?

No

Yes

Total voters: 12

*

75%

25%

Guest: Alison Van Eenennaam, PhD, Geneticist, University of California, Davis & McKay Jenkins, Author Food Fight: GMOs and the Future of the American Diet

How can a GMO be substantially equivalent to an non-GMO?

Michael Olson Food Chain Radio – GMO Substantial Equivalency – How can a plant that has been re-engineered to kill pests, and withstand herbicides that kill weeds, be substantially equivalent to its non-engineered parent?

To see a real live miracle, take a summer drive through America’s heartland.

The miracle you will see is the acre upon acre, mile upon mile, of crops growing in laser-straight perfection, with no bugs, no weeds, and very few people!

(Admittedly, it helps to have been a teen-age herbicide to understand the extent of such a miracle!)

This miracle was made possible by the re-engineering of the crops’ genetic codes. Whereas before crops were prayed upon by pests, the crops have been re-engineered to contain a biological pesticide that literally dissolves the pests’ digestive tracts. When a pest bites into any part of a plant– Poof!– its dead!

The crops have also been re-engineered to withstand herbicides that kill weeds. This re-engineering gives a single farmer the ability to kill all the weeds in the field with an airplane, which is a lot more fun than with a sharp hoe.

These re-engineered crops, of course, are what we eat, either directly in our corn flakes, or indirectly in our bacon and eggs, or veggie burgers.

These re-engineered food crops have been declared safe to eat by virtue of the fact they are substantially equivalent to their non-re-engineered parents, which we have been safety eating for millenniums.

Still, we wonder…

Leave a comment below: How can a plant that has been re-engineered to contain pesticides that kill pests, and to withstand herbicides that kill weeds, be substantially equivalent to its non-engineered parent?

Tune in here, for the syndicated Food Chain Radio Show #1091 February 11, 2017 Saturday 9AM Pacific 

Food Chain Radio – Saturday mornings 9-10AM Pacific