I'm with you Stuart. I find it all very disturbing and unnatural.

Stuart, I absolutely agree with you. They already put fish genes into tomatoes. Where is it going to end?

I wholeheartedly disagree - it is not possible to compare introducing a toad that has very bad impact on a local eco-system and GMO food production. Farming is an industry and like other businesses, it is all about the bottom line and maximizing profits. Even in developed countries there are many people who can not afford to buy organic grown products. Even farmers who do not grow organically rotate crops - everyone knows that it would be unproductive not too. It is political correct elitism from people who can afford to live in a fantasy world, that perpetuate the misconceptions of GMO and broadacre-farming. Even organically grown wheat are grown on similar fields as the the non-organic wheat. It does not yield as much as the non-organic grown wheat.

We have always relied on natural selection to determine which varities does best in our local climate. Intensive testing is being done to determine which crops does best over a few years. Then these crops are chosen to grow in these areas. Same with ornamentals - we as gardeners choose too. Making choices that goes against natural selection. Gardening is not nature, but (horti)culture. Most of us on a small scale notice the benefit of not turning our gardens into toxic dumbs, by growing our veggies and ornamentals organically.

In the developed world some of us have the luxuary to choose. We can choose not to buy GMO foods. Others do not have that luxury - especially not people in third world Countries. Food prices have risen dramatically - extreme weather like flooding and drought this year will make prices rise even further. But of course those of us who own cars, airconditions and use the majority of this worlds ressources are responsible. Growing our veggies and ornamentals organically will only benefit us, not those who die of hunger in thirld world countries. Each holier than thou gardener can ask themselves - did you use your car to pick up foods from the supermarket? Did you use your car to pick up plants and garden supplies from the garden centres? That made you part of the problem - not the solution.
Growing a few veggies and ornamentals organically in our gardens will not solve that problem. It will not prevent hundred of thousands children in third world countries to get braindamaged from malnutrition or die from hunger.

Preach it Niels but you must understand that this is not solving the problem - merely adding to it. Who will benefit from the GM wheat? Certainly not poor third world farmers. Oh, no. The benefits from this will only line the pockets of the rich who can afford to buy cheaper non-arable land and who will be able to buy cheaper seed therefore reducing the price throughout the world. It will be near impossible for the third world to compete let alone produce enough to feed their own.

My sentiments hadn't even taken into account the economic problems that this would cause but I'm certainly happy to discuss them. My concerns are for a world devoid of thinking forward rather than only perpetuating that broad-acre farming is still the answer for food production in the 21st century. Surely not?

Stuart, you bring up salient points, particularly regarding terra-forming and changing the land. Brazil and countless rain forest areas are also replacing natural forests with incredibly wide expanses of now-arable (but for how long?) land.

But what is scarier still revolves around the genetically-engineered seeds which are surreptitiously engineered to go sterile following one harvest. India has lawsuits pending against Monsanto for exactly this. What Monsanto is seeking is a fresh round of seed-buying yearly which makes sense for their profits yet can be a disaster for anyone trying to develop a working farm. Add that this was not disclosed and you have a near perfect storm.

I agree! Just say no to GMOs!

Ah, very controversial subject Stuart. Yes, GMOs scare me.

The Monsanto/GMO thing, Monsanto's Roundup resistant GMO seed, the Monsanto controlling farmers thing, (not to mention the investigators Monsanto pays to find and penalize farmers not playing by their rules thing,) and oh, there's that little detail that some may not remember (or weren't born yet,). . . the fact Monsanto was the manufacturer of Agent Orange and assured everyone of how harmless it was, as it was being showered down on our troops, innocent civilians, and an ecosystem in a little war a few years back.

These are not solutions for feeding the world, they are ways for Monsanto and other GMO manufacturers to make unimaginable amounts of money while controlling the world's food supply.

Feeding the world, in this case, is just PR. Yes, GMOs are scary.