Venison and GMO corn

[outdoorfan]

Just thought I'd bring this up in case it hasn't been discussed recently.

It my understand that pretty much all corn grown in the US is GMO (genetically modified), unless it's organically raised. Being that eating a "corn-fed" deer is typically preferable by many people, has anyone given thought to their stance on GMO corn and how that is affecting the venison that many enjoy?

I for one have pretty much stopped eating any GMO corn. The deer that I hunt are about 2 miles from the nearest corn field, and I suspect probably eat some corn, although not much. I don't think I would want to bag a deer that has had a lot of its food from corn.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

[Mica_Hiebert]

All corn is gmo! Corn is a man made plant from the original plant maze. Corn cant even grow on its own without human intervention... Any one marketing corn as non gmo is taking your money and laughing all the way to the bank!

[Stewbaby]

My 'over corn' hunting spot

[smokeywolf]

All corn is gmo! Corn is a man made plant from the original plant maze. Corn cant even grow on its own without human intervention... Any one marketing corn as non gmo is taking your money and laughing all the way to the bank!

Was under the impression that what is referred to today as GMOed anything means that the DNA was altered in a laboratory by the introduction of DNA from a completely different and separate species. Is that how maze became corn or was this done by crossing plants within the same or very similar DNA profile.

[starmac]

Hmph, corn doesn't grow here, for that matter neither does deer, but sure wouldn't turn either down if they did.
Beef, basically all beef eats corn, Corn is a huge part of most hogs diet, do you eat bacon, sausage, pork chops or ham,???
Chicken, eggs, hmm, well maybe the eggs don't eat corn, but you get the drift.

[jaysouth]

If you try to pin down the people who are nattering about GMO, the first thing out of their mouth is: "Someday, it might......................."

the ones I see spouting about GMO are obama voters who realized that their warnings about global warming made them look foolish.

[Piedmont]

GMO foods are illegal in Europe. Research in the USA is not undertaken because the powers that be own the politicians and universities (meaning they contribute huge amounts of money to agricultural research, so you better tow the line or we take away your money and you better not research an unpleasant to us topic).

The poster who mentioned corn being fed to cattle, hogs, chicken, etc. is right on the money. Typically beef is fattened at the end of it's life on GMO corn. I don't want to eat that. If you raised the animal you can control its diet, otherwise you are probably being contaminated to one degree or another. It isn't just the GMO aspect, look at what else goes into those animals from injectables to food.

Foods in the US don't even have to be labeled as containing GMOs. Why is that? It is because as soon as that is required many people will stop buying GMO foods.


It is all about the money and as usual, your government doesn't care about your health, they just like to pretend they do when conning you into voting for them.

[outdoorfan]

GMO foods are illegal in Europe. Research in the USA is not undertaken because the powers that be own the politicians and universities (meaning they contribute huge amounts of money to agricultural research, so you better tow the line or we take away your money and you better not research an unpleasant to us topic).

The poster who mentioned corn being fed to cattle, hogs, chicken, etc. is right on the money. Typically beef is fattened at the end of it's life on GMO corn. I don't want to eat that. If you raised the animal you can control its diet, otherwise you are probably being contaminated to one degree or another. It isn't just the GMO aspect, look at what else goes into those animals from injectables to food.

Foods in the US don't even have to be labeled as containing GMOs. Why is that? It is because as soon as that is required many people will stop buying GMO foods.


It is all about the money and as usual, your government doesn't care about your health, they just like to pretend they do when conning you into voting for them.

Yes, this is my understanding too.

My family has been cutting out pesticided gmo'ed food for awhile now, which includes the consumption of animal meat that has been contaminated with such. We grow our own chickens with organic feed (expensive). We buy beef locally (organic) at $5/lb.

I hope this brings about more discussion. My gut feeling is that most people simply aren't aware of it.

[Artful]

Was under the impression that what is referred to today as GMOed anything means that the DNA was altered in a laboratory by the introduction of DNA from a completely different and separate species. Is that how maze became corn or was this done by crossing plants within the same or very similar DNA profile.

http://www.campsilos.org/mod3/students/c_history.shtml

In the Beginning
Corn as we know it today would not exist if it weren't for the humans that cultivated and developed it. It is a human invention, a plant that does not exist naturally in the wild. It can only survive if planted and protected by humans.

Scientists believe people living in central Mexico developed corn at least 7000 years ago. It was started from a wild grass called teosinte. Teosinte looked very different from our corn today.



The kernels were small and were not placed close together like kernels on the husked ear of modern corn. Also known as maize Indians throughout North and South America, eventually depended upon this crop for much of their food.

From Mexico maize spread north into the Southwestern United States and south down the coast to Peru. About 1000 years ago, as Indian people migrated north to the eastern woodlands of present day North America, they brought corn with them.

When Europeans like Columbus made contact with people living in North and South America, corn was a major part of the diet of most native people. When Columbus "discovered" America, he also discovered corn. But up to this time, people living in Europe did not know about corn.

The first Thanksgiving was held in 1621. While sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie were not on the menu, Indian corn certainly would have been.


Today there are many kinds of corn. The most common types are flint, dent, sweet and of course popcorn, all created thru selective genetic breeding to modify the original genome pattern.

GMO
noun
abbreviation

1.genetically modified organism: an organism or microorganism whose genetic material has been altered by means of genetic engineering.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneti...ified_organism

A GMO is an organism whose genome has been altered by the techniques of genetic engineering so that its DNA contains one or more genes not normally found there.

Note : A high percentage of food crops, such as corn and soybeans, are genetically modified.

A more specifically defined type of GMO is a "Transgenic Organism". This is an organism whose genetic makeup has been altered by the addition of genetic material from another, unrelated organism.

This should not be confused with the more general way in which "GMO" is used to classify genetically altered organisms, as typically GMOs are organisms whose genetic makeup has been altered without the addition of genetic material from an unrelated organism.

The first genetically modified mouse was in 1981,[1] the first plant was produced in 1983 [2] and the first genetically modified human (modified mitochondrial DNA) was born on July 21, 1997.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_plant

An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit (Australia and New Zealand), or (especially in Ireland and the UK) heirloom vegetable is an old cultivar that is "still maintained by gardeners and farmers particularly in isolated or ethnic communities".[1]

These may have been commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but are not used in modern large-scale agriculture.

In some parts of the world, notably the European Union, it is illegal to sell seeds of cultivars that are not listed as approved for sale.[2]

The Henry Doubleday Research Association, now known as Garden Organic, responded to this legislation by setting up the Heritage Seed Library to preserve seeds of as many of the older cultivars as possible. However, seed banks alone have not been able to provide sufficient insurance against catastrophic loss.[2]

In some jurisdictions, laws have been proposed that would make seed saving itself illegal.[3]

Many heirloom vegetables have kept their traits through open pollination, while fruit varieties such as apples have been propagated over the centuries through grafts and cuttings. The trend of growing heirloom plants in gardens has been returning in popularity in North America and Europe in recent decades.

https://bonnieplants.com/library/wha...t-is-a-hybrid/

There is a lot of confusion out there regarding hybrid vs. GMO vs. heirloom plants, especially when it comes to tomatoes. What’s the difference? This simple guide sorts it out for you. (Bonnie Plants offers both hybrid and heirloom varieties, but every plant we sell is non-GMO.)

Hybrid Plants
A hybrid vegetable is created when plant breeders intentionally cross-pollinate two different varieties of a plant, aiming to produce an offspring, or hybrid, that contains the best traits of each of the parents. Cross-pollination is a natural process that occurs within members of the same plant species.

In hybridization, pollination is carefully controlled to ensure that the right plants are crossed to achieve the desired combination of characteristics, such as bigger size or better disease resistance. The process of developing a hybrid typically requires many years.

One example is Juliet, a 1999 All-America Selections winner. This Roma-style grape tomato offers great taste and productivity along with improved disease resistance to increase success in the garden.
Juliet Roma Grape Tomato


Another is Sun Gold, a prolific yellow cherry tomato that’s so sweet and delicious, it’s like candy from the garden.


In general, hybrids offer some combination of these favorable traits: dependability, less required care, early maturity, better yield, improved flavor, specific plant size, and/or disease resistance.

Hybrid vegetables typically look like the veggies you’d find at a supermarket.

GMO Plants
GMO plants, on the other hand, are the result of genetic engineering. (“GMO” stands for “genetically modified organism.”) This is a process during which the plant’s DNA is altered in a way that cannot occur naturally, and sometimes includes the insertion of genes from other species. All of our plants are grown from non-GMO seeds.

Heirloom Plants

Heirlooms come from seed that has been handed down for generations in a particular region or area, hand-selected by gardeners for a special trait. Heirloom vegetables are open-pollinated, which means they’re pollinated by insects or wind without human intervention. How experts define heirlooms can vary, but typically they are at least 50 years old, and are often pre-WWII varieties. In addition, they tend to remain stable in their characteristics from one year to the next. Many older people have grown the same heirloom tomatoes for many decades.

Many gardeners agree that most heirloom varieties boast greater flavor than that found in hybrids, especially among tomatoes.

Bonnie’s heirloom tomato varieties are clearly marked on the plant tags and trays.

While hybrid plants typically yield a crop that is uniform in both appearance and timing, heirloom vegetables produce a “mixed bag” harvest.

The harvest may come in less predictably, and fruit size can vary greatly even on the same plant.

Despite their sometimes odd looks and quirky ways, heirlooms bring lots to the table (literally!).

The Amish heirloom tomato Pink Brandywine, for example, yields fruit with an unbeatable flavor in shades reminiscent of a glass of Cabernet.

Arkansas Traveler, a Southern favorite, originated in Northwest Arkansas prior to 1900 and gradually found its way across the South to North Carolina. Resistant to cracking and disease, this beauty yields delicious tomatoes under typical Southern summer conditions–high heat, high humidity, and drought.

What Kind Is Right for Me?
In the battle of hybrid vs. GMO vs. heirloom plants, we suggest growing both hybrid and heirloom vegetables (especially tomatoes!). Doing so will ensure a reliable, flavorful harvest that offers a lot of variety and, truly, the best of both worlds.

And to further muddy your waters

http://www.bigblogofgardening.com/re...-may-surprise/

According to the USDA’s Glossary of Agricultural Biotechnology Terms, a GMO is “an organism produced through genetic modification.”, which we all knew. However, the same glossary defines genetic modification as, “the production of heritable improvements in plants or animals for specific uses, via either genetic engineering or other more traditional methods.“

Genetic engineering: Manipulation of an organism’s genes by introducing, eliminating or rearranging specific genes using the methods of modern molecular biology, particularly those techniques referred to as recombinant DNA techniques.

Genetically engineered organism (GEO): An organism produced through genetic engineering.

-USDA

Wow. So the USDA’s definition of GMO includes traditional methods like plant breeding via hybridizing (controlled cross breeding by horticulturists); natural selection of open pollinated heirloom varieties (because you’re selecting for certain traits, hence genetically modifying the plant); and natural mutations.

So basically, under the USDA’s definition, anytime a plant is either manipulated in a laboratory, greenhouse, or (possibly) by nature, it’s considered genetically modified. That sort of muddies the waters, doesn’t it? Plants are “improved” for beauty, size, taste, color, or a number of other traits – some to feed us, some just to enjoy. And sometimes that occurs without our intervention, but we like it, so we save the seeds of that plant so that we can grow more of them.

By and large, and what most of us assume when any media organization trots out the word GMO, they’re referring to genetically engineered organisms (which the USDA glossary abbreviates as GEO). Most of us use the terms interchangeably, so why does it matter?

It matters enormously when laws are written. If a law is enacted that restricts GMO crops from being grown in a certain area or included in certain food products , it’s essential that the wording of that law be precise and restrict only those crops that are genetically engineered, and not those modified by traditional, age-old and naturally occurring methods. As we know all too well, if a loophole exists in any law, corporations will find a way to exploit it. And it takes years to re-write a law once it’s on the books, during which time all kinds of damage can be done.

So let’s start using the term GEO instead of GMO. Just so we’re all on the same page.

[starmac]

Lots of organic farmers find themself working the night shift to make a living.
I hear the human race in the US is on the verge of extinction from eating gmo foodstuffs, so the government is bringing in lots of folks from the middle east, to prop up the population.
What I see myself happening is gmo foods making lots of folks fat and some what lazy. lol

[Lloyd Smale]

let me crack a beer and light up a cig and think about my answer

[Rick Hodges]

Hahaha we are all genetically modified....the Darwin factor. The world was starving so we bred livestock that produced more food....and plants that resisted disease and pests and yielded more. Oh no, there are too many people now...how evil that we discovered how to feed them. Lets just go back to those glory years ...you know when we were hunter gatherers and lived to be maybe 30 yrs old.
........and while we are at it lets eliminate all vaccines and let our kids cripple up with polio and have newborns deformed by rubella, how awful we found out how to prevent smallpox and actually stopped it from spreading and.................

[jsizemore]

Since your worried about eating critters that eat GMO laced food crops, I guess the next boolit you cast will be for the head of lettuce you hunt.

[Newboy]

It seems to me that the genetically modified grains have already begun to affect some people's reasoning abilities.

But, there have always been people afraid of change.

[bedbugbilly]

Here on our farm, we don't have a problem with the deer eating from our corn fields. We've trained them to be "specific vegetarians" . . . they only eat organically grown vegetables that we plant in a special plot for them. The nice thing about it is that while they are eating in the patch, the patch is "naturally fertilized" by them as they munch. Now if we can only get their ecoli infections cleared up . . .

[sparky45]

let me crack a beer and light up a cig and think about my answer

Lloyd's got the right attitude, IMO.

[GhostHawk]

Control is an illusion. If you think you can control your exposure to GMO foods think again.

The vast majority do not change the end result, the grain at all. And the majority of GMO's at this point prevent damage to plants from corn borer, or are "Roundup ready".

There is a lot of hype and unproven claims regarding GMO foods. If this worry's you, well I'll leave you with your illusions intact. But in my opinion there are bigger things to worry about.

Like what you are going to do when all the hungry people of the world descend on us like locusts demanding food. The population is quickly outstripping our ability to feed it. And people who are afraid of GMO want to take away one of the few tools that actually work!

[outdoorfan]

Hahaha we are all genetically modified....the Darwin factor. The world was starving so we bred livestock that produced more food....and plants that resisted disease and pests and yielded more. Oh no, there are too many people now...how evil that we discovered how to feed them. Lets just go back to those glory years ...you know when we were hunter gatherers and lived to be maybe 30 yrs old.
........and while we are at it lets eliminate all vaccines and let our kids cripple up with polio and have newborns deformed by rubella, how awful we found out how to prevent smallpox and actually stopped it from spreading and.................

I definitely don't agree with these opinions. Sorry!

Since your worried about eating critters that eat GMO laced food crops, I guess the next boolit you cast will be for the head of lettuce you hunt.

Well, like I said, the nearest corn field is a couple miles away. I still haven't completely given up all gmo yet, and whackin' deer is a lot of fun.

Here on our farm, we don't have a problem with the deer eating from our corn fields. We've trained them to be "specific vegetarians" . . . they only eat organically grown vegetables that we plant in a special plot for them. The nice thing about it is that while they are eating in the patch, the patch is "naturally fertilized" by them as they munch. Now if we can only get their ecoli infections cleared up . . .

This brings up a good point. I've read first hand accounts of where the animals naturally choose the non-gmo grains when they have a choice between the two.

let me crack a beer and light up a cig and think about my answer

Yeah, let's keep it light-hearted. I realize people will polarize just like in other areas, but I'm more interested in finding out where the percentages are on people that are aware of this vs those who aren't, etc...

[William Yanda]

If my understanding of human digestion is correct, everything we eat is broken down to the molecular level, so it can pass from the digestive system to the circulatory system, the blood. Given that fact, please explain to me how GMO foods differ in effect from non-GMO foods.
I lean toward the anti GMO crowd peddling a bunch of hooey school, but am willing to be convinced otherwise.
Respectfully,
Bill

[WILCO]

What are your thoughts on this matter?

I don't care.