Too many children being born.

I live in the midwestern US, and have alot of friends who are into agriculture. Just one hundred years ago, we couldn't do half of what we can today in terms of growing food. Who knows what you might be able to squeeze out of the ground tomorrow?

They develop new food sources, new strains, etc. all the time. You fall into the island fallacy. The idea that because you might have to import food, you have too many people. Taiwan and Hong Kong have to import virtually everything, and they aren't hurting. Japan has a higher population than is supportable from it's arable land. The US, we could house upwards of 3,000,000,000 and still be comfortable in terms of food.

Concern yourselves with who is coming into your country, not how many. The right imigrants, and you'll be better off than before. The wrong immigrants, and you could be looking at war that makes Bosnia look like a first grade fist fight.

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Originally Posted by :
Who knows what you might be able to squeeze out of the ground tomorrow?

And that is half of the world's health problem, explained right there.
"Squeezing food" out of the ground direcetly results in poor quality which impacts directly on health.
There is no substitute for proper nutrition and it does 'grow on trees', not in chemically fertilised 'soil'. Industrialised food production is the bane of mankind; genetically-modified industrially-produced food has the capacity to destroy us completely.

Just imagine the nightmare of living in a society that was packed in like sardines eating chemical cocktails that simply minimise the state of health while being 'supported' by drugs to stave off genetically induced diseases!
No thanks.

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If you've eaten corn you've eaten a heavily modified food. Corn as we know it isn't as it was when Europeans first landed in America. It took years of horticultural experimentation to come up with that plant. Same with different strands of wheat, and vegetables.

Cows, sheep, etc.? Those are all genetically modified over time to suit our needs. Now, messing with the genetic structure itself? That is a different story. But, as for right now, we don't need to do that. What I know is there is enough resources on the plant to feed 10 billion of us. The problem is distribution.

And, it really doesn't matter, we're gonna kill alot of ourselves pretty soon anyway the way things look.

Anyway, as far as industrialized food production, that is what allows us pursuits other than scratching at the Earth for 12 hours a day. I said I have farmers as friends. If it weren't for those advances, I'd be doing the same thing. So would alot of people.

I'm not saying the system ain't perfect. I am saying that your statement was a touch shortsided.

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I avoid GM foods totally. I also avoid buying products that state they have 'modified' anything in it. The US makes far more use of corn than we do. For example, one of the things that really annoys me is when I see a restaurant in the US stating that they only use 'corn fed' beef - cows aren't designed to eat corn, they eat grass. I would not buy anything that stated it was 'corn fed', it is a con.

Originally Posted by :
And, it really doesn't matter, we're gonna kill alot of ourselves pretty soon anyway the way things look.

With that statement you can justify any illegal act.

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Sorry if you took it that way. I'm not trying to justify illegal acts.

More a statement of desperation.

Yes, you can avoid GM in terms of food which has had it's genetic structure messed with directly, but it can't be done with anything else. Our breeding programs with livestock, and horticultural research had pretty much been too pervasive to pull back on that one. But, I imagine this has gone well off topic of too many kids being born as well.

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Governments are the ones that carry out most illegal acts, they also have a habit of making things legal that are immoral and deserve to be illegal. Sanctioning GMOs is one that should never have been allowed. The way that Monsanto et al have been allowed to write the rules for the FDA was utterly disgraceful and morally bankrupt. The only assurance that anyone has that their products are safe are those produced by them. It needs several generations of testing and monitoring to establish that, but the drive for profit has ensured that the tests are either non-existent or rigged.
The only way to turn it around - in that it is still possible to some degree - is for the consumer to boycott all GM produce before it is too late.

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Originally Posted by TonyG:
one of the things that really annoys me is when I see a restaurant in the US stating that they only use 'corn fed' beef - cows aren't designed to eat corn, they eat grass.

If you've got an example of that, I'd love to see it!!
To state that, as a positive thing, must rank in the
top ten of the worlds "Daftest statements in the World"
competiton.
Reminds me of the "Don't eat the Tuna fish 'cos Dolphins
are getting stuck in the nets" hypocrisy in the 90's, no-one
gave a toss about the Tuna fish before did they?
They've been shoved in tins more than knackered race
horses for years!!!

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Mostly it is on local adverts and banners outside restaurants. I saw quite a few when I was in Virginia on May.
However the Iowa Beef Industry Council clearly think it's a good thing!

Originally Posted by :
Mouth-watering corn-fed beef is only a click away. It is the perfect gift for those on your holiday list with good taste. Iowa beef can be delivered to anywhere in the United States. Several companies offer steaks, roasts, prime rib, burgers and specialty products

http://www.iabeef.org/MailOrder/Default.aspx

Not everyone falls for it, but the majority seem to:

Originally Posted by :
Americans have grown so accustomed to buying beef that is boldly advertised as corn-fed that most people simply assume that corn-fed beef is somehow better than the alternative

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1447318

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Originally Posted by mordechai:
I live in the midwestern US, and have alot of friends who are into agriculture. Just one hundred years ago, we couldn't do half of what we can today in terms of growing food. Who knows what you might be able to squeeze out of the ground tomorrow?

They develop new food sources, new strains, etc. all the time. You fall into the island fallacy. The idea that because you might have to import food, you have too many people. Taiwan and Hong Kong have to import virtually everything, and they aren't hurting. Japan has a higher population than is supportable from it's arable land. The US, we could house upwards of 3,000,000,000 and still be comfortable in terms of food.

Concern yourselves with who is coming into your country, not how many. The right imigrants, and you'll be better off than before. The wrong immigrants, and you could be looking at war that makes Bosnia look like a first grade fist fight.

That all sounds very well and nice, but emergencies happen, and we should be able to support our basic needs. Take global warming - that could put a strain on the worlds resources; or ethanol production. We don't need to be at the mercy of the world economy on such an essential as food. Peak oil and terrorism are other factors that could either put more pressure on the global economy, or sink it altogether. I am convinced that the UK infrastructure has already been stretched to the limit, and that totaly collapse and resultant disaster might not be too far away. The kind of people we are letting in is an issue, but so are the raw numbers. We are sailing to an uncertain future.

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