New poison on your plate - GM Salmon




Source: Food Freedom - Decentralize, Grow Your Own, Buy Local

 
If  you have never heard of Genetically Modified (GM) foods before, your ignorance is NOT bliss. I will tell you why in a moment.


But first, here’s the breaking news: FDA is on the verge of approving GM Salmon. That would make it the first animal species on this planet that has been given the God-Treament by Man!

Source: CNN

I decided to write this article after I saw the sorry excuse of a report CNN put out today to describe the issues around GM Salmon... a sorry excuse much like a lot of their reporting these days.

Anyhow, getting back to the point. AquaBounty Technologies has submitted an application to the United States Food and Drug Administration to obtain a license for producing and selling their GM Salmon. The genetic modification allows the salmon to grow 50% faster than non-GM salmon. This means GM-salmon is market ready in 18 months instead of the standard 30 month growth cycle for non-GM salmon.

How does FDA decide whether the product being proposed should be certified or not? According to Professor Anne Kapuscinski who is a fisheries biologist at Dartmouth College and spoke to NPR on Sep 7, 2010, FDA looks for 3 things in making its decision whether to grant a licence:

1.     What is the impact of the GM product on Humans?

2.     What is the impact of the GM product on the Environment?

3.     What is the impact of the genetic modification on the Animal (salmon) itself?

The above questions are worthwhile, but there are 3 major problems with the certification process:

1.   The data for answering the above questions is provided by the applicant itself (Aquabounty Technologies). FDA does not carry out its own tests. Among other reasons, a key factor is that FDA wouldn’t have the time, resources or money to carry out its own testing for every product certification application it receives. Unfortunately this always means leaving the fox to guard the henhouse!

2.   When it comes to environmental impact, the FDA does NOT set a criteria that would determine PASS or FAIL. It simply requires the environmental impact to be recorded. This would be like saying that its ok for electronic manufacturers to simply dump lead, mercury, arsenic and other toxic chemicals into the waste pipe as long as they let you know that these chemicals will make their way into your water and food supply and wreak havoc with your body. No, that is simply wrong! Its unacceptable that FDA doesn’t have clear and strict requirements that protect consumers but allow the money lobbies to get away with their crimes. Of course this has everything to do with money and politics that prevent good regulation in this case like so many other cases from being put on the books because ideologues cry “less government” but still want all the safety and protections they can get from the government.

3.   FDA is leaning towards not requiring GM-salmon to carry a label that states that it is genetically modified. Do you realize how awful that is? It means you will have no way of even knowing whether the salmon on your plate is GM or not unless ofcourse if the non-GMO salmon producers label their product as such. Still, who will believe the lables if there is no standard's body that provides the differentiating certificate (a seal of approval). Knowing how little time consumers have to do their own research and the almost blind trust they have in the FDA (or similar authorities), its not a stretch of the imagination to state that gullible consumers will be taken for a ride.

It may turn out that despite all the caveats mentioned above, there is really no danger to human, animal or environmental health after all. However its worth noting that GM-anything (GMO = Genetically Modified Organisms, to be precise) has a checkered past and the case against it has been growing ever stronger.

At the core are 3 problems which GMOs potentially pose:

1.   Allergenicity. In other words GMOs have the potential for generating allergic reactions and we have no way of knowing at this point which food allergies may be caused by which genetic modification. Further there is a real danger of the new allergies thus spawned having no cure.

2.   Gene Transfer. In other words the potential for alteration of the human gene sequence leading to unintended consequences. For instance it is being found that the puberty age in the United States has been dropping leading to girls developing breasts as early as the age of 7 and 10 year old boys standing 6 feet tall.

3.   Outcrossing. In other words the potential for genes from the GMOs to make their way into the wild and alter the gene sequences of naturally occuring organisms (plants… and now salmon?!). Unfortunately this is not just a possibility but now a documented reality.

If you are mad now, make your voice heard. Sign a petition, call your elected representative, leave a comment in this blog.

Source: Sign of the times

India, a developing country had the courage to reject Monsanto lead efforts to introduce BT Brinjal. If they can do it, you can do it.

 

Not convinced? Read the case against GMOs:

- The Chilling Reality of GM Foods

- 20 questions on genetically modified foods – from the World Health Organization

- Supreme Court Hears case against Monsato and GMOs 



Source: Philosophical Anthropology



  

Source: Reuters




Source: Sikh Philosophy Network



Source: Green Peace

The Vegetarians are Right

Water
To grow a pound of wheat requires around 130 gallons of virtual water. For meat, depending on the type - multiply that by five to ten times. In brief
Water to support a vegetarian diet - 686 gallons
Water to support a USA meat-based diet - 1320 gallons
And thats PER DAY. Learn about your Water Footprint

Crop
Meat Production requires crop production for livestock. 70% of the crop grown in the US is for Livestock. This means:
- More water used
- More energy used
- More land use
- A bigger industry for GM (genetically modified) produce, which means more power (money) to Monsanto and other big evil food corporations, which spend more of our money to spread misinformation, and lobby lawmakers to make laws that go against the health of humans, animals and the planet.
- More GM produce means more animals and humans being afflicted by new-age ailments, requiring greater investments in disease control and treatment. We know that the anti-biotics fed to livestock cause internal bleeding and pus formation (and thats what you eat)

Land
A meat eater requires 200% to 400% times more farmland than a vegetarian. To make room for enough farmland, the meat industry constantly destroys vital ecosystems, thus taking away the habitats of myriad species and reducing biodiversity. The vast Amazon rainforest is rapidly being destroyed to make way for
ranching and growing animal feed and will be gone by the end of this century if the current rate of destruction continues. Do you want to let this happen? Source: Green Decade

Energy
800% more oil is used in the production of animal protein as is used in plant protein production due to the fuel required to manufacture fertilizers and pesticides for animal feed, to operate farming machinery, for transportation and for irrigation.
 
Greenhouse Gas Production Factory
- The bacteria in the rumen as well as the manure from livestock releases Methane, a 1000% more severe greenhouse gas than Carbon-Di-Oxide.
- Forests and Grasslands that would absorb high amounts of carbon dioxide are cleared to make way for farmland. To make matters worse, the enormous fires used to burn down these forests release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

Destruction of Ecosystems
- The manure spills out of open air storage pits and makes it way to water systems. There the algae feast on it and deplete the water of oxygen, causing harm to the aquatic life and disturbing fragile ecosystems
- Manure also releases ammonia into the air, which mixes with rain and kills forests and other vegetation
- Reduced forest cover also drives large wild animals to extinction, further destroying ecosystems and reducing biodiversity.

Human Water Supply and Food Chain
Nitrates leak from manure into community drinking water, causing serious human health problems.
Animals act as concentrators of pesticides, fertilizers, weedicides. Meat produces more human disease than agricultural produce does.

Quality of Life
- Vegetarianism is the fastest way to reduce Poverty per World Bank. Thats not hard to see because reduced demand for meat would allow for greater production of vegetarian food thereby tempering hunger.
- Poverty is the fuel that keeps the fire of Terrorism Alive. Elimination of Poverty would go a long way in reducing the motivation for conflicts and denying terrorists the following they enjoy in poor countries be it in West Asia, Africa or South America.
- You can grow your own food in a small patch of land. Try raising livestock on your P-Patch!
- Vegetarians are happier than meat-eaters according to Discovery.

Credits and Further Reading
Production and Consumption of Meat: Implications for the Global Environment and Human Health
Environmental Benefits of Vegetarianism
An Ecological Argument for Vegetarianism
Five Good Reasons for Being Vegetarian (Ethical, Economic, Ecologic, Health, Spiritual)
Can people have meat and a planet too?

Urban Farming - Its fun!

One of my best friends who works as an IT Security Technologist at one of the world's largest software companies has a P-Patch where he has been growing veggies. Here's his story and then my comments.

"I had fond memories of the Kitchen Garden in my grandparent's house in India. So when my friend told me about growing veggies in a P-Patch smack dab in the middle of my neighbourhood in the Seattle Metro Area, I jumped right in to recreate those memories. I rent a patch of land (400 sq ft) for about $60 per year from the Bellevue Park's Department. It has been a most wonderful experience so far:). This is my second year and I am still in the learning phase and have more misses than hits... I have learnt that in the Pacific NW weather, some things grow better than other and some dont at all :)

The biggest problem out here is the short growing season and lots of happy weeds... it seems there really isnt a perfect solution for weeds other than pulling them out regularly. You can minimise the weeds by covering the soil in the winter with an opaque plastic sheet. You cut small holes and plant in the plants in those holes...


Food prepared by the produce from P-patch tastes much better than what you get from the grocery store ... and thats the reward :) Plus you get to meet lot of people in the patch and get free exercise."
 
 
I have been impressed with my friends who are doing this. They are among a growing tribe of everyday folks who are showing the rest of us the way to wean ourselves off corporate produce that is laced with fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals and often Genetically Modified (GM) to allow for greater output per square foot of land.
 
Some of the other things that you may want to try:
 
Hire-a-Box-Farm
 
"Young Urban Farmers" is a small scale Toronto Business that builds a box farm and delivers it to your backyard. They take care of planting and managing a box full of veggies of your choice that sits in your backyard - everything from carrots and tomatoes, to strawberries and lettuce. And now they are providing franchises as well.

This is especially useful for those who have challenges (time, physical or other) in building and taking care of their own organic garden.
 
Community Farming/Gardening
 
My friend Ambar, in India suggested on another blog post that Apartment Complexes would be a perfect place to build urban farms and build communities. Well, Seattle is already showing the way in this regard through its P-Patch Community Gardening Program .
 
Besides yielding food for the community, in 2009 alone, gardeners contributed over 18,500 hours (equivalent to 9 full time workers) and donated over 12.4 tons of food to Seattle food banks and feeding programs.

Window Farming
 
Dont live in a community that has room for growing a pea patch? Fret Not. Window Farms are vertical, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible window gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials. Water consumption is low too. Plus they reuse plastic water bottles that otherwise may(not) get recycled. And we all know Reuse is better than Recycling (which takes energy)

Aquaponics

It is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment.

Aquatic animal effluent (for example fish waste) accumulates in water as a by-product of keeping them in a closed system or tank (for example a recirculating aquaculture system). The effluent-rich water becomes high in plant nutrients but this is correspondingly toxic to the aquatic animal.

Plants are grown in a way (for example a hydroponic system) that enables them to utilize the nutrient-rich water. The plants take up the nutrients, reducing or eliminating the water's toxicity for the aquatic animal.

The water, now clean, is returned to the aquatic animal environment and the cycle continues. Aquaponic systems do not discharge or exchange water. The systems rely on the relationship between the aquatic animals and the plants to maintain the environment. Water is only added to replace water loss from absorption by the plants, evaporation into the air, or the removal of biomass from the system.

Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor units to large commercial units. They can use fresh or salt water depending on the type of aquatic animal and vegetation.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Read about a small business in Milwaukee, WI that has successfully transformed an abandoned industrial shed into a thriving aquaponic urban farm.

A self contained aquaponic system that uses solar power

Vertical Farming

Vertical farming is an upcoming agricultural method that involves large-scale farming in urban high-rises or "farmscrapers". Using recycled resources and greenhouse methods such as hydroponics, these buildings would produce fruit, vegetables, edible mushrooms and algae year-round.


Proponents argue that, by allowing traditional outdoor farms to revert to a natural state and reducing the energy costs needed to transport foods to consumers, vertical farms could significantly alleviate climate change produced by excess atmospheric carbon.