Fedoroff Response

W10

Nina Fedoroff believes genetically modified foods are doing more then they are harm on American society. She believes that genetically modified foods are in fact healthy. She points to research done by the European Union, and the FDA and even independent scientific research. Fedoroff feels that genetically engineered foods are more profitable for the farmers then organic foods. She points out that farmers are still using genetically engineered seeds, because the produce a better yield then the organic seeds.

I agree with what Federoff has to say about genetically modified foods being safe to eat. We have been genetically modifying food for thousands of years now. "Omnivores Dilemma" pointed out how corn was genetically modified from a strain of Mexican grass. It took hundreds of years, but eventually the Aztecs were able to genetically modify corn from grass. That is to this day the greatest feat of genetic modification in the history of Humanity. It is also absolutely true that foods that are genetically modified on the molecular level are just as safe as foods that are genetically modified through breeding methods. However is the safety of genetically modified foods the real issue here.

The real problem with genetically modified foods is the politics behind these foods. Genetically modified foods may be producing more profits for these farmers on the surface, and the corporations, like Monsanto, producing these foods, and patenting the formulas for these genetic modifications. As we saw in "Food INC" farmers can no longer reuse their seeds. These corporations have patented these seeds to the point that farmers can't even use the seeds that their crops produce. The farmers have become completely dependent upon Monsanto. Monsanto now control over ninety percent of the soybean market.

When she talks about how regulation would help the little gain traction amongst the super size corporations like Monsanto; she is being to broad with her assessment. Certain regulations crush the "little guy." These patents need to be addressed. I don't understand how it is legal for Monsanto to do what they do. Monsanto doesn't only force soybean farmers to become dependent on their products; they actively look to bankrupt farmers with lawsuits. Monsanto sends people, who resemble the thugs Al Capone would use to perform hits; to investigate farmers to find out is they are trying to save their seeds. Not only that, but also these thugs also does immense harm to farmers who aren't even growing soybeans.

When I lived In Missouri I knew of farmers who were bankrupted, because seeds blew over from nearby fields and started growing on their land. The thugs who work for Monsanto found their crops growing on their land and immediately brought lawsuits against these farmers. These farmers did absolutely nothing wrong, and they are being put out of business because of the hundred plus mile per hour winds in the state of Missouri.

If our food industry weren't this political business that it is we would not have these problems. Genetically modified foods created the politics we have to deal with, and maybe that is something we should consider. 

Bottled Water

W9

Being that I was raised Catholic my entire sense of morality is based upon guilt. Growing up my family always had what is known as the rice bowl in the center of the dinner table. Every night at dinner my sister and I would put a dollar in the rice bowl, and at the end of lent the money would be donated to starving children in another country. However this soon turned into just a way for my mother to make my sister and I feel guilty for not finishing our food. "I bet the starving children in China would love to have that food you didn't eat," my mother would say. Still to this day I cannot stand to watch people waste food.

           

America however has picked up an even more despicable, wasteful habit than wasting food, bottling water. Bottled water is the end of western civilization, as we know it. It has already caused two thirds of the United States acquire obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Americans are now evolving to the point where we cannot drink the tap water or else we get sick.

           

What cracks me up the most about bottled water, is the people who buy bottled water. On any given day go to a While Foods. Whole Foods, the store where smug, excuse me; socially conscience people go to shop. I will be willing to bet you, dollars to doughnuts, that half of the people who walk out of that store will have a case of bottled water in their cart. My question to these people is that if they are so socially conscience that they realize that we are better off spending three dollars for a dozen eggs then why can't they see the backwards, counter intuitive nature of purchasing bottled water.

           

If these people are the social activists they say they are. Then why don't they actually go and fight for healthy tap water in our communities. Just like food aid, bottled water is nothing more then a bandage, a finger in the dike, and the other cliché that I cannot think of at the moment. There is absolutely no reason that in the twenty-first century, forty years after we put a man on the moon, that we cannot have acceptable drinking water coming out of our taps in our homes.

However the water is acceptable to drink. People in other countries don't treat their water nearly as much as we do in the United States, and most of those countries have longer average life expectancies. We as Americans have evolved to the point that we cannot drink the water! Allow me to repeat we have evolved to the point were we             CANNOT DRINK THE WATER! What happens when earth finally does get hit with that solar flare the Mayans were talking about, and the grid shuts down, and anarchy becomes the norm. We won't be able to drink the water, because we have become pussies. So next you are holding that crinkly, overpriced bottle in your hand, Remember you are contributing to the downfall of America.