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At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

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Re: At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

#21

Post by brianwawok »

wyldfire wrote: post #9

> “It’s really hard to find non-GMO produce,” Moran said. Aside from the IP problems of patent-infringement-via-unintended-germination, I don't understand what's not to like about GMO. GMO seems like a great idea -- modern human medicine seems to include techniques that are similar to or just-short-of "GMO." Are there any HNers who can articulate what they don't like about GMO?

> modern human medicine seems to include techniques that are similar to or just-short-of "GMO."

I think that is actually the root of the problem for some people, including me. I have seen what modern medicine does to people. "You cholesterol is too high, take this statin and your number will get better. Don't take it and you will have a heart attack". And then you have family members and friends take the drugs, and start having side effects.. random pain, random problems that stop them from being physically active. So then they go back to a doctor and get some new medicines, that maybe fixes the pain, but then adds a new side effect. And pretty soon they are bed ridden and taking 14 pills to stay alive. What a bunch of crap.

I am not anti-medicine, but I am anti-cutting-edge-for-margain-gain medicine. If you have AIDs, you probably should take some medicine. I vaccinate myself and my children. However I think that if you are active and eat well, I don't care what my cholesterol is. Maybe it is high, maybe it isn't. And if you aren't active or eating well - you need to fix that (not take medicine). If I start dying of cancer, I will throw every medicine I can find at it. But if I am good and healthy, I am going to leave well enough alone.

So to tie this back to food... I don't have a big desire to be a food beta tester. I am sure 75% of GMO is fine. Could some cause something horrible to your health in 20 years, like increased cancer risk? For sure. In fact we are seeing that a lot of the veggies we grow now through traditional breeding practices have reduced the vitamin content compared to the same veggie 20 years ago. But if I can pay a few pennies more for stuff that has a 100 year track record vs something that came out of a lab a month ago? Yes please, sign me up.

Let there be GMO. Let me be able to pay to not beta test food. I like beta testing software, I don't like beta testing food and drugs when I am otherwise healthy. It is insane that there is such resistance to putting a label on food telling me the GMO status. GMO status is just the start, I would love to know 100 more things about the food I eat. Fertilizers used? Harvesting technique? Etc. Let me have more info and make an informed choice about what I put in my body. It may be a bunch of busywork for no gain, but that is my choice.

Re: At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

#22

Post by smelendez »

wyldfire wrote: post #9

> “It’s really hard to find non-GMO produce,” Moran said. Aside from the IP problems of patent-infringement-via-unintended-germination, I don't understand what's not to like about GMO. GMO seems like a great idea -- modern human medicine seems to include techniques that are similar to or just-short-of "GMO." Are there any HNers who can articulate what they don't like about GMO?

I'm not an expert, but one criticism I've seen is that a lot of genetic modification is used to either get plants to produce pesticides or be immune to commonly used weed-killers, like Roundup. Some critics worry that lets farmers basically saturate their fields in herbicides to eliminate weeds, and that some of them are toxic to humans, other animals and plants near to the farm.

Another issue is that most genetic modification work is done by massive companies, which then patent their results. If they develop cheaper-to-grow crops, farmers may essentially have no choice but to license their IP to stay competitive. That gives those big companies a lot of clout over farmers and probably advantages giant farming operations, who can negotiate to buy GMO seeds cheaper than small farmers can.

Some people also worry that there will be "bugs" in the genetic code introduced into plants that will have unforeseen consequences. On some level, plant genetics always been a software problem, but now we're potentially deploying updates in the (literal) field much faster. If new corn seeds distributed en masse accidentally produce toxins, or are unusually conducive to harmful bacteria, or just don't grow properly in some areas, what does it mean for farmers and consumers?

I think it's a lot of the usual technology-upends-formerly-slow-moving-industry issues, but that's especially frightening for a lot of people when it comes to things we're putting in our bodies.

Re: At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

#24

Post by brianwawok »

PedroBatista wrote: post #23

I'm not familiar with US laws, but isn't this fraud?

Something like 30% of fish sold isn't the fish on the label.

Being illegal and being able to do something about it? No always the same.

Sure if your swap killed a bunch of people, you would get caught. Who is going to instantly die form eating a GMO though?

Re: At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

#25

Post by smacktoward »

jcoffland wrote: post #13

This is super common. My wife and I live in Sonoma County. She operates a floral design business where she only sources locally grown flowers. To our frustration many of her competitors also claim to use local flowers. However, my wife knows nearly all of the local flower growers personally and they tell her that these same competitors give them very little to no business. Instead they buy nearly all of their flowers…

> It's amazing how many businesses have no problem flat out lying to their customers.

It has been ever thus. This is where regulation comes from.

Re: At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

#26

Post by nommm-nommm »

wyldfire wrote: post #9

> “It’s really hard to find non-GMO produce,” Moran said. Aside from the IP problems of patent-infringement-via-unintended-germination, I don't understand what's not to like about GMO. GMO seems like a great idea -- modern human medicine seems to include techniques that are similar to or just-short-of "GMO." Are there any HNers who can articulate what they don't like about GMO?

It's not a GMO specific problem but lack of biodiversity.

Re: At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

#27

Post by smelendez »

School-Cotton wrote: post #2

I've never understood what "farm-to-table" means. Doesn't all food come from a farm? Is it supposed to mean "farm owned by a stereotypical farmer, not by a corporation?" If so, that's pretty vague and subjective.

As other people said, it generally is supposed to mean the food came from a nearby farm that the restaurant can identify.

In these cases, though, restaurants weren't just saying "farm-to-table"--they were making specific claims about what farms were supplying the food that just weren't true. In some cases, they weren't even correctly identifying the species involved, like saying cheap fish was something more expensive or even that pork was veal.

Re: At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

#28

Post by PedroBatista »

brianwawok wrote: post #24
PedroBatista wrote: post #23

I'm not familiar with US laws, but isn't this fraud?

Something like 30% of fish sold isn't the fish on the label. Being illegal and being able to do something about it? No always the same. Sure if your swap killed a bunch of people, you would get caught. Who is going to instantly die form eating a GMO though?

Isn't the some kind of Government Agency that buys random stuff from supermarkets/suppliers, tests the food and inspects the label? The same for restaurant inspections? Its not that expensive and it sends a clear message to these people.

Re: At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

#29

Post by kbenson »

jcoffland wrote: post #13

This is super common. My wife and I live in Sonoma County. She operates a floral design business where she only sources locally grown flowers. To our frustration many of her competitors also claim to use local flowers. However, my wife knows nearly all of the local flower growers personally and they tell her that these same competitors give them very little to no business. Instead they buy nearly all of their flowers…

What shop? I'm also in the area and would prefer to know of a shop that I could assign a bit more trust to, since I'm getting married in the next year or so.

Re: At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction

#30

Post by splawn »

wyldfire wrote: post #9

> “It’s really hard to find non-GMO produce,” Moran said. Aside from the IP problems of patent-infringement-via-unintended-germination, I don't understand what's not to like about GMO. GMO seems like a great idea -- modern human medicine seems to include techniques that are similar to or just-short-of "GMO." Are there any HNers who can articulate what they don't like about GMO?

Its just like "I don't swim because of sharks"... You are going to get a list of fears that are perfectly understandable, yet irrational due to lack of evidence. Its a shame because of the huge potential GMO's have to positively impact so many of our current global problems. (malnutrition, water shortages, carbon footprints, etc)
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