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<div>Roger,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>It's not that simple. Here's a link to the last issue of High
Country News and their article on Roundup Ready alfalfa. Story is
based in Nampa. In a nutshell, making crops Roundup tolerant by
genetic engineering is creating Roundup tolerant weeds as they adapt
to the new Roundup-rich environment and threatening an entire crop
whether you are using Monsanto seeds or not.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="+1"
color="#000000"
>http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17054</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Evolution is a multi-faceted process with species adapting to how
other species interact with them. No species exists in an evolutionary
isolation bubble.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Mark</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>At 11:15 AM -0700 6/25/07, lfalen wrote:</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>The concept of Frankenfoods is
anti-science and anti-progress. Genetic engineering is no different
than selective breeding. It just speeds uo the process. Genetic
engineering is a great tool that is used to improve products and
increase productivity. There is no danger from these products. Every
new improvement has been opposed by unfounded fears. X-rays,
irradiation of food, you name it. The biggest danger, may be all
the additives and/ingredients that are in most processed foods
to eople with various food allergies( Soy etc). This can
be handled by reading the labels.<br>
<br>
Roger<br>
-----Original message-----<br>
From: "Bill London" london@moscow.com<br>
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:48:44 -0700<br>
To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>
Subject: [Vision2020] Avoiding Frankenfoods? Shop in Moscow.<br>
<br>
> OK. So, this is an article about the Moscow in
Russia....but it's still interesting...BL<br>
><br>
> Want to be sure it's GM-free? Buy food in Moscow<br>
> By James Kilner<br>
> Reuters<br>
> Posted: 2007-06-24 19:17:07<br>
> MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow next week introduces a
city-wide label to identify GM-free foods, a move ecologists hail as
ground-breaking but which foreign producers say is complex and
costly.<br>
><br>
> A handful of individual food producers around the
world already use labels certifying their food is free of genetically
modified elements -- but this is the first large-scale political
effort to introduce such a system, Greenpeace says, expecting it to be
watched by others as a test-case.<br>
><br>
> "These labels are important for consumers so
they know which companies keep a tight control on ingredients in their
products," Greenpeace's GM researcher in Russia, Natalia
Olefirenko, said.<br>
><br>
> After an official -- voluntary -- inspection
producers will have the right to carry Moscow's GM-free label for a
year.<br>
><br>
> The European Union already insists products
which contain more than 0.9 percent of GM-enhanced ingredients must
say so on the packet, but environmentalists argue that does not go far
enough.<br>
><br>
> "It's very important for the rest of the world
to watch Moscow," Olefirenko said.<br>
><br>
> Greenpeace estimates around 80 percent of Russian
produce contains no genetically enhanced ingredients, in line with
other developing countries, against only about 20 percent in the EU
and richer countries.<br>
><br>
> But Greenpeace said parts of the EU could follow
Moscow's lead if it is a success, although the label should remain
voluntary.<br>
><br>
> Foreign food producers say that is just one of the
problems the label brings.<br>
><br>
> Supermarkets eager to curry favour with Moscow's
government have hinted they will only stock products carrying the
GM-free label -- and signals from the authorities suggest the label
will effectively be obligatory, producer lobby groups say.<br>
><br>
> "And it's all extra costs," said Alexei
Popovichev, head of Rusbrand which represents big Western producers
such as Nestle and Kraft. "It involves special testing, special
packaging and the costs will be passed on to the consumer."<br>
><br>
> Small domestic producers will probably feel the
burden of the extra costs hardest as they will not be able to spread
them through economies of scale, he said.<br>
><br>
> Western businesses also argue the GM-free label could
mislead customers into buying poorer products because the assertion
that foods contain no GM-ingredients could be misread as a signal that
all the ingredients are of high-quality.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>><br>
> ARGENTINIAN APPLES<br>
><br>
> Greenpeace does warn there is a potential flaw in the
Moscow GM label, saying the testing system chosen by Moscow is untried
even though it says over $2 million has already been spent buying
equipment for laboratories owned by a Moscow businessman.<br>
><br>
> The project, an initiative of Moscow's 70-year-old
Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, comes to a city where ecological concerns are not
typically high: traffic chokes Moscow's roads, residents throw out
rubbish with scant regard for recycling and the centrally controlled
heating grinds out warmth during even the mildest winter.<br>
><br>
> Russia lags behind in the growing
multi-million-dollar organic food industry -- Moscow has just one
self-styled organic supermarket.<br>
><br>
> Called Grunwald, it is tucked away under an 18-storey
concrete apartment block in a leafy, green suburb 30 minutes west by
metro from the centre of Moscow.<br>
><br>
> Foreigners and wealthy Russians who live in nearby
gated communities and dachas form the bulk of the customers, Marina
Goldinberg, the supermarket's marketing manager, said.<br>
><br>
> All the products in the store -- and everything is
foreign -- have been certified to be GM-free.<br>
><br>
> On a weekday mid-afternoon visit the handful of
middle-aged women browsing the displays wore designer sunglasses on
their heads and the latest fashion from London and Paris.<br>
><br>
> They inspected GM-free apples from Argentina, which
cost around $12.50 per kg, and wild salmon from Sweden at $80 per
kg.<br>
><br>
> "When this new law comes in we will stock
locally grown and produced food, prices will drop and more and more
people will shop here," Goldinberg said.<br>
><br>
> And Dmitri Yanin, head of Russian consumer group
KonFOP, said research appears to suggest GM-free produce is not a
priority for most Russians.<br>
><br>
> He said research last year showed 60 percent of food
buyers in Russia said price was the most important factor in choosing
what to buy. Just over 5 percent picked ingredients.<br>
><br>
><br>
> Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by
framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors
or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
>
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