Theory about the function of GMOs and Fast Food in America
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LUClEN
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While writing a paper on social protest in Canada I came across several articles that claimed hunger and unavailability of food are major causes of protest. The Arab Spring happened around the time that food prices sky rocketed making it very difficult for people to feed themselves. This got me thinking about the state of America, and how most Americans are very poor yet still manage to eat every day. The food they eat is very low quality, usually fast food, and the number of GMOs is increasing all the time. I wonder though, could the push to make food cheaper and ensure every American has access to this incredible cheap and low quality food be a way of making sure Americans do not protest what is going on? Is food a propaganda tool in the United States that is used to delude the masses into believing the idea that America really is a great country to live in?
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
Comments
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Yes. I'm pretty sure the U.S. uses food as a propaganda weapon. 10-20 years from now Monsanto will probably have a almost complete monopoly on the food that's being produced because the honey bees that pollenate plants that bear about 50 percent or so of our fruits and vegetables are dying off rapidly. After all of the fruits and vegetables that the bees pollenate die off the only food available will be the ones are GMO produced by Monsanto.
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GMO food is used to stretch the availability of food. I spoke to my nutrition professor about this, she pointed out that the World Health Organization favors GMO foods for their availability to stretch food availability.
So I looked it up and she was right but there was more to it:
"The initial objective for developing plants based on GM organisms was to improve crop protection. The GM crops currently on the market are mainly aimed at an increased level of crop protection through the introduction of resistance against plant diseases caused by insects or viruses or through increased tolerance towards herbicides.
Insect resistance is achieved by incorporating into the food plant the gene for toxin production from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT). This toxin is currently used as a conventional insecticide in agriculture and is safe for human consumption. GM crops that permanently produce this toxin have been shown to require lower quantities of insecticides in specific situations, e.g. where pest pressure is high.
Virus resistance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from certain viruses which cause disease in plants. Virus resistance makes plants less susceptible to diseases caused by such viruses, resulting in higher crop yields.
Herbicide tolerance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from a bacterium conveying resistance to some herbicides. In situations where weed pressure is high, the use of such crops has resulted in a reduction in the quantity of the herbicides used."
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/
GMOs are creepy because corporations like Monsanto don't believe we should know that the food is modified, they also insist on bullying farmers who inadvertently plant GMO seeds.
The more I read about it the weirder I feel about it. America is consumed with corporatism, luckily the EU is a counter-point, she pointed to an article here:
"Respected independent institutions in Europe have provided evidence that GM crops can contribute to sustainable food production, especially when bred for insect and disease resistance, and that they do not carry risks beyond those of conventional varieties.† In 2011, the EC stated that the authorization procedure is dominated by preconceived ideas that prevent a fair revision of procedures to evaluate, approve, and control GMOs. However, in reaction to the flawed Caen study, the EC has opted for further delay, seeking more research on the long-term effects of GM feed. Yet 39 GM crops are currently allowed into the EU as food or feed, with many new requests expected. Europeans and their livestock are already consuming GM foods on a substantial scale.
Europe's lack of trust in GMOs reflects a wider distrust of science. Similar attitudes prevail concerning shale gas and nuclear power. The irony is that the generations who have benefited most from scientific progress are now the most suspicious of science. Europeans tend to romanticize the pre-modern past, unaware of the suffering and food scarcity associated with low crop yields. This European distrust of science affects R&D investments and may have harmful effects elsewhere. In Africa, European donors and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) unnecessarily delay the introduction of disease-resistant GM plants, such as the cassava needed to counteract the growing famine caused by brown streak virus."
So I'm confused on the topic of GMOs now. To think that without GMOs people would starve, I'm sure that allowing people to starve is a greater crime than the existence of GMO foods.
I will have to think it over more but food availability in America is still scarce, especially amongst the poor, children & the elderly. -
I forgot the link:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6122/883.full
I also forgot to answer the topic: No, food isn't propaganda. I don't think many people care where their food comes from. A documentary like Food Inc. should have opened a lot of eyes...but it didn't. Some people who know about GMOs and how food production takes place are willing to look past it as well.
I think even if they labeled GMOs people would still eat it, I mean the Surgeon General warnings don't stop smokers did it? -
But if people stopped being able to eat 80 cent cheese burgers and could no longer eat, history tells us that they would revolt
Starvation is considered to be a leading cause of protest and revolt. In this sense, making food such a primary facet of American life enables capitalists to pacify the masses. They can tell them "America is great and everything is fine" and as long as these people are eating themselves into mass obesity they will believe it. Or at least that's what it seems like. -
Yes and no. Yes because of the reason you gave, no because of the rest of Maslow's hierarchy of need. People have food but a lot of people are losing shelter (housing crisis) and are unstable in finding and holding jobs, as well as health issues (not just insurance but illness in general). Food is one thing but people still need more than that to live comfortably.
The Great Depression overwhelmed charities and forced a change in government. We are reaching a similar space now. Poverty & debt are trickling up to encompass college grads not just high school dropouts. Occupy Wall Street was the beginning of seeing how people need and desire more than cheap food. -
From what I have uncovered in my research, homelessness does not push people to mass revolt as effectively as starvation, or it is at least not discussed as much.
I particularly find it odd that Obama has expressed views against concealing GMO products and yet has gone and given mon santo enormous power. He has no desire to carry out the mandate -
so essentially you're saying it's okay to let the bees die off?
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IMO support for GMO foods are similiar to Eugenics and what the Nazis did in Germany when they murdered or supposely murdered the Jewish people.
Please let humanity have a choice between GMO foods and non GMO foods.
