>Based on these sorts of studies, it does not seem to me to be too much of a
>stretch to hypothesize that production methods, including mineral nutrient
>balance and soil "health" (e.g. disease suppressive soils, microbial
>populations, etc.), could influence the attractiveness of plant material to
>herbivores - including mice and cattle. By the same token, insertion of
>transgenes could also alter the aromatic emanations from herbage, affecting
>apparent preference.
>
>This would be a readily testable hypothesis, if anyone has the money and
>facilities. Ann
Yes, this would be a fascinating experiment: to give animals free
choice between GMO and non-GMO feed. There are already anecdotes which
indicate that cows and pigs refuse GMO crops. A researcher even
admitted that when Flavr Savr tomato was tried in a feeding test with
mice, they refused to eat it. In the end, they had to be force-fed for
the experiment to go on.
It would also be a simple experiment. I suggested it once on another
list, but it was stricken down because it supposedly encouraged animal
experimentation.
I thought that if the animal subjects consistently chose the non-GMO
over the GMO in repeated experiments, as the anecdotes seem to
indicate, the whole concept of substantial equivalence is at once
disproved (even if the experiment what it is that makes the two not
substantially equivalent).
Taken from the document GE Debate, which I have been compiling:
- In March 1998 a letter in the UK's Farmers Weekly
reported that livestock on farms from Nebraska to Iowa were not
grazing, as in the past, in fields of Bt corn. Unpalatability of
the Bt stalks was suspected. One farm specialist from Dawson
County, Nebraska, reportedly said: "At first we thought it was a
joke, but I have heard it enough now that we are looking into
what could be going on." (See: Farmers Weekly, UK, Mar 1998)
<http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/gmanimalgrazing.htm>
- Animals reject "substantial equivalence"? After four
months of hearing anecdotes from Kansas to Wisconsin, it is time
to collect stories more thoroughly from farmers: About the hogs
that wouldn't eat ration when GMO crops were included. About one
farmer who said "if you want your cattle to go off their feed,
just switch them out to a GMO silage." About another whose cattle
broke through an old fence and ate down the non-GMO hybrids but
wouldn't touch the Roundup Ready corn, though "they had to walk
through the GMOs to get to the Pioneer 3477 on the other side."
About the cattle whose weight-gain fell off when switched over to
GMO sources. About the organic farmer with a terrible deer
problem on his soybeans, who drives out at night, and sees 40 of
them mowing down his tofu beans while across the road not one doe
is eating on the Roundup Readies. About the raccoons romping by
the dozen in the organic corn, while down the road not one ear
has been touched in the Bt fields. Even the mice will move on
down the line if given an alternative to these "crops". (See:
ACRES USA Special Report, 18 Sep 1999 by Steven Sprinkel,
Yankton, South Dakota)
- Rodents reject "substantial equivalence"? Consider the
Flavr Savr tomato, which was given a gene to delay its ripening.
When scientists tried to feed rodents the tomatoes, however, the
animals wouldn't eat them, recalled Roger Salquist, a scientist
involved in creating the Flavr Savr. "I gotta tell you, you can
be Chef Boyardee and mice are still not going to like them." They
went so far as to force-feed the rodents through gastric tubes
and stomach washes. This made the rodents sick, and revealed
nothing about the tomato's safety. The tomato ultimately won
approval from the FDA but failed in the market in part because it
was so expensive. (See: Rick Weiss, Washington Post, 15 Aug 1999)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/daily/aug99/gmfood15.htm>
Roberto Verzola
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