By: Shawn Alli
Posted: May 31, 2017 (on http://www.shawnalli.com/)
Nye begins by extracting strawberry DNA via dish soap, salt, water, and rubbing alcohol. This sets the stage for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Nye says that the world needs more food.
I'm going to stop him right there. As I mention in past articles many times, there's nothing wrong with the supply of food. The problem is the unequal distribution of it. But Big Agriculture is still trying to convince you that it's a supply problem and doing their best to export GMOs to developing nations. Truly disgusting.
Nye says that in the past he's skeptical of GMOs, but today he believes that the advantages outweigh the risks. He even defends the use of glyphosate. Perhaps California liberals should have a talk with him. A former EPA official allegedly kills glyphosate cancer studies and influences the EU's approval of glyphosate. [1] [2]
Nye says that there's no solid evidence that GMOs are harmful. In reality, there's lots of evidence. (see Autoimmune Diseases for Everyone in Philosophy Reborn Part IV: Naturally Unhealthy Big Pharma & Big Media).
Unfortunately, WE scientists tend to disregard anything that they don't like and magnify the importance of studies they do like. This is one reason why the peer-reviewed process is completely broken (see A Broken Peer-Reviewed Process in Philosophy Reborn Part III: Science).
At least Nye is kind enough to mention that crops are becoming more resistant to pesticides. But he ignores the fact that Big Ag is destroying crop/farm land under the pretext of saving the world's food supply. Nye is already a cheerleader for Big Pharma. It's only natural for him to be a cheerleader for the biotech industry and Big Ag.
Nye says that we'll need all of our tools to grow food due to man-made climate change. And that's part of the problem. Aside from exporting GMO ideologies across the planet, Big Ag is profiting from natural disasters. The more extreme the weather, the more profit from their GMOs and pesticides.
But most WE scientists like Nye ignore this. And that's not accidental. That's intentional. Why? Because they want every person on the planet eating GMO and pesticide based crops. Why? Because it sets the stage for future health problems that only WE medical science can fix (see The Cancer Industry and Autoimmune Diseases for Everyone in Philosophy Reborn Part IV: Naturally Unhealthy Big Pharma & Big Media). Ingenious and unethical.
Derek Muller (a member of Nye's team) goes to a farmer's market to ask questions about GMOs. While Big Ag would love to crush farmer's markets, they're not exactly a threat. Why not? Because of changing seasons. A farmer's market is a summer thing. It doesn't work in the spring, fall, or winter. Can people build greenhouses for their organic crops? Yes, but it's not exactly simple, convenient, or cost-effective during non-summer periods. Backyard greenhouses are not part of the current norm in 2017.
Muller shows how ignorant people are about GMOs. And yes, there are such people. But people can easily find out more information online, read books, or read the peer-reviewed literature.
Muller and Nye downplay the fact that glyphosate kills insects on contact. And that's the difference with organic polyculture farming and GMO/pesticide based monoculture farming. The former argues for a more holistic approach where all insects play a role in the ecosystem. The latter involves sterile land and crops.
And yes, as an organic grower I don't use any chemical pesticides. I could use organic pesticides (lemon juice and water solutions) but I don't. I just let it play out. If insects are destroying a particular crop I'll use companion planting. Put a garlic crop in your backyard and you'll see insects go the other way.
Nye convenes his panel: Dr. Robb Fraley (Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto), Julie Kenney (a GMO farmer), and Dr. Fred Gould (a professor of agriculture). Nye gets straight to the point and asks whether we need GMOs or not to feed the world. Dr. Gould says no, but that doesn't mean that they're unsafe he says. I would disagree about the safety (see Autoimmune Diseases for Everyone in Philosophy Reborn Part IV: Naturally Unhealthy Big Pharma & Big Media).
Dr. Fraley says that GMOs are an important tool (I like how he dodges the question). He talks about human insulin and enzymes in genes to rationalize GMOs. Hilarious.
Kenney then talks about the benefits of using GMOs. Yawn. Yes, you'll get your increase in yield, but only at the cost of destroying and modifying nature unnaturally. And that yield will only increase up to a point. After a while, the insects will become resistant to the pesticides and that means new toxic poisons. Contrary to what non-California liberals will tell you, GMOs aren't necessary to save the world.
Kenney says that without using glyphosate, they'll experience a deficit in crop production. Of course they will. Monoculture is a backwards ideology. Polyculture requires a thriving soil. Not one season of not using glyphosate.
Fraley then goes back to the early cavemen argument. Humans have been genetically modifying their food since the beginning of time. Yawn. No, they haven't. While crossbreeding plants causes a change in the genetics, it's not the same as artificially injecting a different species into crops. Clearly, Nye doesn't give his audience any credit for spotting garbage.
But I like to be fair in my books. I explain a path for biotech companies to destroy the organic market and regain the trust of most people with gene editing and synthetic biology (see Genetics in Philosophy Reborn Part III: Science). Why are you helping them? Blades sharpening blades. As they up their game we have to up our game.
Gould then spouts the usual GMO nonsense about less insecticide use which equals more biodiversity. One, the less insecticide use is a short term result. The long term requires new insecticides to adapt to the forever changing resistance of insects. Hence, the deep profit margins of Big Ag and the biotech industry.
And two, people who advocate monoculture have no right to talk about biodiversity. Planting one crop for 100 acres doesn't represent biodiversity. It represents the severe lack of biodiversity (see The War Against Natural Health in Philosophy Reborn Part V: Naturally Unhealthy Big Gov’t, Big Ag, Big Industry).
Nye brings up the issue of the decline of monarch butterflies due to GMOs and pesticides. Gould counters with we don't know.
Fraley uses the feed the world argument and that people in India or Africa are doing so much better because of GMOs. Yes, in Africa they're doing better because prior to that they have almost nothing. Of course a positive number is better than zero.
As for India, you have WE governments shoving GMO seeds down their throats. The export of WE cultural hegemony as the best is powerfully annoying. But remember, India is a developing country (though it's debatable). Hundreds of millions of people have no electricity and are burning cow crap (see Leonardo DiCaprio's Before the Flood Completely Debunked). Like Africa, increasing to a positive number is better than zero.
Nye and Muller show their plan to rebrand GMOs as OMGs. Well done. If that actually works it will only show how easily influenced the people are from industry and government.
The fact that Nye doesn't mention the term organic polyculture farming in the episode isn't accidental. It's intentional. Why? Because he's a cheerleader for Big Ag and the biotech industry. And polyculture organic farming is the enemy of Big Ag.
References:
[1] Neslen, Arthur. EU declared Monsanto weedkiller safe after intervention from controversial US official. Guaridan. May 24, 2017.
[2] Rosenblatt, Joel, et al. EPA Official Accussed of Helping Monsanto 'Kill' Cancer Study. Bloomberg. March 14, 2017.
Interesante post sigue asi