Cooking and GMO Foods

[kybearfuzz]

I spent most of the early morning shredding the turkey breast I'd cooked, believe it or not. I think it turned out okay, but I hated how the whole house smelled like turkey. Now normally, I love the smell, but it pretty much permeated the entire house. Maggie the Cat naturally loved it. Tonight, I made garlic and horseradish mashed potatoes (and a separate non-garlic/horseradish version too for those who don't like horseradish). I admit I do love cooking for the most part, despite the mess I made last night with the turkey.

One of the topics I thought about writing on was GMO Foods, so this seems to be a reasonable segue. I know a lot of health food and organic food folks freak out regularly about GMO foods. If you go to the FDA page on Facebook, pretty much every entry gets slammed with someone complaining about GMO foods, some of them viciously so.

I guess I don't see the big deal. Farmers have been genetically modifying foods for a long term by cross-breeding different strains of fruit, vegetables, or grains, in an effort to gain a heartier product. Modern modifications are done by more direct genetic manipulation with similar results. Some of the folks fear the "GMO" foods so badly that one would think they're crossing radishes with crocodiles, fearing that they will be attacked by a vicious variety of "crocoradish" in the produce area. I personally think most of the fervor over GMO's is due to lack of knowledge.

Granted, my degree is in chemistry, so genetic modification of foods is outside my discipline. However, from what I have read makes me think the GMO foods aren't dangerous at all.

At least I know my mashed potatoes won't hurt anyone tomorrow.

Comments

[bradferd23.livejournal.com]

I had a conversation on FB about this... and talk about a storm of crap slung there. Like a horse and a mule makes a donkey... They we telling me that it's like a bird and a horse to get a pegasus. I agree that the modifications aren't going to 'kill' you and if we really look at what they are modifying, it's the resistance to insects or egrot or something of the such to increase yields. I was blown away by the ignorance of people.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I think most people are worried about the unknown. Let's face it, most of us are not genetic engineers and most fictional media about them involves scifi or horror movies.

I'm not sure what it would take to convince folks that they're not harmful. A lot of the public has believed they are and won't believe otherwise.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed when my friends prepare food for parties! I know it may be no big deal to you, but an entire turkey and yummy mashed potatoes? That's terrific! I hope the potluck is a success and your efforts appreciated!

As to GMO's, I don't know what to think. In terms of fresh produce, I just wish I could purchase fresh berries or tomatoes that are full of flavor!

HUGS!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

If I had made some rolls and green beans, possibly a dessert, I would have essential made a full meal for several.

It went over well, by the way. I got several compliments on both the turkey and the garlic/horseradish potatoes.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

I think GMOs get used to bad ends, but that has very little to do with the technology itself; it's mostly about agribusiness megacorps being douchey...

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I agree. However, I think a lot of companies put the phrase "organic" on goods to hike up the price and making "GMO" negative just helps sell it.

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

The is a big anti-GMO feeling over here. I always had the impression that the US didn't mind them?

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

We don't have any specific regulations for GMO foods, including no requirements for labeling them as such. I think that might be one of the bigger complaints is that people are not sure if they're buying a GMO food or not.

[pbehr.livejournal.com]

"Modern modifications are done by more direct genetic manipulation with similar results."

I have no scientific background but, from what I have read, I am not sure that the results are similar at all. My understanding is that GMO plants have been modified to resist certain patented insecticides/herbicides and to extend shelf life. However, my understanding is also that there have been no credible studies on the nutrition delivered by the modified plants. My suspicion is that a lack of nutrition is partly responsible for the epidemic of obesity that has swept over North America in recent years.

For what it's worth, a personal counterstory this year has been my use of a weekly "box" program where I received weekly a selection of fruits and vegetables that are organic, local, and fresh. These have been a revelation to me. I expected them to taste "good". But what they also taste is nutritious. On the third mouthful, my body tells me that this stuff is good and good for me. My body really likes it. An analogy for me would be cross country skiing, which doesn´t make any obvious rational sense but feels really good.

My experience this year confirms my willingness to pay more for "organic" and it would be nice to have labeling that reassured me that I was buying non-GMO.

I am in Spain for 7 months of the year. The EU at this point still does not allow GMO products and the standard vegetables at the supermarket taste great. Tomatoes like tomatoes. Oranges like oranges. But they are all from Spain, so they don't need the shelf life time required by similar products back in Canada.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I think in the past, farmers would cross-breed different strains of a food to get a heartier results, which were often hit-or-miss based on which genes were inherited by the resulting plant. My comment about direct genetic manipulation was meant that such activities are more targeted and possibly arrived at the same result quicker.

I wasn't aware there were no credible studies regarding the nutritional content of GMO foods. I know there are surveillance work on foods to determine their nutritional value. Companies who sell produce would have to verify the nutritional value of the food in order to place it on the required food labeling.

[ui-tomcat.livejournal.com]

I think all the fears against GMO's tend to lack any scientific basis. Kind of one of the Left's boogeyman.
That said, what does worry me is that some corporation will own a patent for food and it won't be accessible to anyone who can't pay for it or grow it without buying their seeds.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Ugh, now that is a frightening thought.

[mort-83.livejournal.com]

I am a genetic engineer so I do have a few thoughts on this, as you might imagine. :) my area is bacteria but plant engineering had its roots (pun intended) in bacterial molecular biology. I agree that modern pant genetics can be a speedier way to do things that plant breeders have done the older, slower way. I think that ought not to be a concern. Other manipulation are more recombinant, say engineering plants to express protein toxins from bacteria that are insecticidal. The question here is: what's the effect on humans who consume these proteins? Not toxicity but, say, immune responses to proteins we don't normally eat, or don't eat in the context of plant food. I still think there really isn't a concern unless we have data otherwise. I wouldn't ascribe loss of nutrients in GMO per se, but development of commercial strains- things bred or engineered for shipping or appearance could have poor nutrient quality regardless of the method used.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Could the product then have the nutrients of the non-GMO variety and it's just a question of whether humans can metabolize them the same way? Hmmm....

[mort-83.livejournal.com]

I'm not certain that the nutrients change all that much. It's extra protein, really, that's being engineered into the plants. We'll metabolize them like the plant proteins, but the concern is whether or not some of the proteins my induce a unforeseen immune response--some sort of autoimmunity or allergy. There'a an odd case of a tick-borne disease (I think it's bacterial) that causes sufferers to develop an allergic reaction to meat. Primarily beef and pork, I think. It's a cross-reactive immune response to the infection. After you recover, you get sick if you eat meat. Bizarre....

[maxauburn.livejournal.com]

I like your Edna user icon. :)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Oh I love Edna :)

[maxauburn.livejournal.com]

Have you heard they're making Incredibles 2?

I can't wait to see that!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Oh I was thrilled to see that. I'm surprised it took them so long to decide to make a sequel to be honest.

[maxauburn.livejournal.com]

Just hoping it'll be at least as great as the first one was!

I watched SKY HIGH on cable tv this morning. Terrific movie!

Have you seen that one?

[mort-83.livejournal.com]

Daaaaahling!

"Ask me, before I again become sane!"


She had the BEST lines in the film. She better be in the sequel!