WHO THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS???

[Matt. K]

Tony Burk must have somebody whispering in his ear. Who the hell does he think he is to tell us that we must eat GM food????? What is his motivation for being the spokesman for GM foods????? Since when has Australia struggled to feed itself??? Obviously there's big money at play here. Am I the only one to smell a rat here??? Sack him. And sack Ian McDonald for allowing GM foods to be grown in Australia in the first place.

AUSTRALIANS have been told they will need to embrace genetically modified foods as the world faces an uphill struggle to feed its growing population.
On World Food Day, the Federal Government warned the world will have to produce 70 per cent more food by the year 2050, with the population expected to boom to 9.1 billion.

The days of people rejecting biotechnology and genetically modified food production were numbered, Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said.

"On the face of it, it's an impossible equation - the only way we can meet what the world will demand is by following every possible path of scientific research," he said.

"I don't see how anyone can mount a moral argument against genetically modified food when we're facing these sorts of projections on global hunger."

[Reschsmooth]

On World Food Day, the Federal Government warned the world will have to produce 70 per cent more food by the year 2050, with the population expected to boom to 9.1 billion.

Ok, I am a simpleton, but if we have to grow food production by 70%, and assuming we base ourselves at 100 in 2009, over 40 years, this means we have to grow food stocks at a compound rate of 1.4% p.a. Are there other options?

[Matt. K]

If we grow more food then there will be more people???

[biggerry]

i remember the days when there was only one type of lettuce you could buy in the shop....now i have a different lettuce type for each day of the week.

If we grow more food then there will be more people???

that makes me think of my worm farm, the more i feed it, the more worms i get, the less i put in there, the fewer worms...not that i suggesting that my worm farm is to be compared to the world

what we need is GM humans that eat less.

[sirhc55]

Wot I sez is we ned a bloody big war.

[Reschsmooth]

Wot I sez is we ned a bloody big war.

In someone else's country.

[surenj]

The government seems to tell us what to do in general though. For example, they wanted me to pay tax last year. [no wait, they took money from my pay; they didn't give me a choice]

Similarly they seem to control the water we drink, food that we eat, land that we live etc etc

For more information please click here. Like GM food it's good for you. Kinda like a GM dog, say like a spoodle.
http://www.tonyburke.com.au/



Can we elect to get rid of the government and not have another?

[Greg B]

This is a very complex issue.

My understanding is that food production in the EU and the USA is artificlally reduced
and has been for some time. Farmers are paid to reduce production. Certain foods
are stockpiled to create demand. The "global food shortage" is is more a result of
deliberate policies than an inability to produce the amount of food required.

As for GM foods, I resent that governments have failed to require full disclosure
on food packaging. Why should the consumer not be fully informed, and either choose
to eat or not eat GM products, or choose to not care?

In answer to Matt's question "Who the hell does he think he is???", I think he thinks he
is the Agriculture Minister, and in that context, it is probably not unreasonable for
him to hold and espouse a view on agricultural matters. We, of course, may agree or
disagree or - and this appeals to me - remain uncertain, skeptical, disillusioned, mistrustful,
cynical and generally pissed off about this issue (and most other stuff too.)

[jaff]

Where do you draw the line, we have been eating modified foods for years! If we were to only allow natural occuring substances to pass our lips, the world would have just been a disease ridden cess pool.............but... now.. that I think about it ....It is just a disease ridden cess pool ...... probably about time some more chlorine was flocked into the gene pool!

[sirhc55]

On a side note it reminds me of those people who espouse the use of only organically grown foodstuffs.

Science devides chemistry into 2 categories, organic and inorganic. All natural growing food is ORGANIC with traces of inorganic elements too. Most NATURAL fertilisers are ORGANIC with trace inorganic elements. A lot of man made fertilisers are also organic.

Advertising organic foostuff is just another marketing ploy foisted onto people whose only knowledge of chemistry is knowing that water is H2O

[gstark]

Advertising organic foostuff is just another marketing ploy foisted onto people whose only knowledge of chemistry is knowing that water is H2O

Of which there is a brand of bottled water named "Organic". One needs to be careful to not let one's mind wander too much with that one ...

[Mr Darcy]

Science devides chemistry into 2 categories, organic and inorganic. All natural growing food is ORGANIC with traces of inorganic elements too. Most NATURAL fertilisers are ORGANIC with trace inorganic elements. A lot of man made fertilisers are also organic.

This denies the richness of our language. It is quite commonplace for words to have layered meanings, with shifts depending on context.
An astronaut in orbit will have a very different concept of the word "vacuum" to what a cleaner has looking at a dusty floor.

Mind you, that doesn't stop me from replying to a salesman who has just told me "it's good for you. It's organic" that "Cyanide is organic. You should try it"

[Killakoala]

We've been genetically modifying foodstuffs for thousands of years, but that was to create higher yields and pest resistance, not pesticide and herbicide resistance.

So GM crops are fine so long as it is to increase the yield, not to make it survive a severe dosing of chemicals.

I do draw the line at crossing animal genes with plant genes though. Some idiot was trying to add a swine gene into tomato genes to make the pigment of the tomato redder. That is stupid and should be stopped.

Someone also made four legged chickens. They had four legs and no wings. That is dumb too. I like chicken wings.

Next year I am going self sufficient on water, power and most food that I can grow. I am also moving away from the coast.

[surenj]

We've been genetically modifying foodstuffs for thousands of years, but that was to create higher yields and pest resistance, not pesticide and herbicide resistance.

So GM crops are fine so long as it is to increase the yield, not to make it survive a severe dosing of chemicals.

on both counts. If we need more food, let make it any way we can! If science can help us, (just like it helps with making better CCD, CMOS, or helping people get better from illness etc etc) lets do it!

The same people who boycott 'GM' foods carry spoodles in their purses!

[Grev]

I don't fear genetically modified foods, I don't see why the scare tactic would work when laymen don't even know what's good and what's bad. BTW, I want to be a transhuman anyway.

[Killakoala]

 BTW, I want to be a transhuman anyway.

Don't you wear a dress for that?

Am I thinking of something else?


Back on topic.

I think there should be a test and license issued before people are allowed to vote these idiots in to power. I think Pollies should be made to sit an IQ test before they are allowed to sit for election.

[Mr Darcy]

I think there should be a test and license issued before people are allowed to vote these idiots in to power. I think Pollies should be made to sit an IQ test before they are allowed to sit for election.

Nope I disagree IQ tests are highly overrated. But actually wanting to be one should be an automatic disqualification.

[Grev]

 BTW, I want to be a transhuman anyway.

Don't you wear a dress for that?

No. Transhumanism is embracing technology and merge technology with our biology. Cyborgs.

[gstark]

Some idiot was trying to add a swine gene into tomato genes to make the pigment of the tomato redder.

He probably works for Pentax.

[gstark]

I think there should be a test and license issued before people are allowed to vote these idiots in to power. I think Pollies should be made to sit an IQ test before they are allowed to sit for election.

Nope I disagree IQ tests are highly overrated. But actually wanting to be one should be an automatic disqualification.

Exactly!

[sirhc55]

I always wanted to be one until the day I awoke and realised I was one

[Reschsmooth]

I always wanted to be one until the day I awoke and realised I was one

A bit like a card I saw, saying: "I never believed in God until I realised I was God".

[glamy]

I have more issues with the sterile seeds that have to be bought every year than the fact food has been modified. Money and power are more what it is about. Who remembers the taste of a "real" chicken, the taste of fresh milk? Food these days is an industry that provides nutrients and sometimes a pill would taste better.