one under god, I did introduce my comments as being the best way to deal with Jeffrey Smith. He has delusional thinking. All the issues in his book have been well and truly shown to be inaccurate. It is like rebutting fairy tales. One example (number 1.20): you should look here http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/ds-tryp1.html http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/tp5htp.html http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/NEW00064.html http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/ds-ltr3.html More than a decade ago the problem was identified; impurities passing the filtering process. It had been seen before and has been seen since and has nothing to do with genetic modification, despite Smith’s delusional writing. I could similarly deal with the others, but I don’t have time in one post.

With respect to the rest of your post, I can see why you like Smith’s work. By the way, have you read the book? Or did you just post the chapter titles? I have a copy, bought cheap, and have read the book.

dickie, Australia’s soils are old and fragile. Therefore, tillage is a dangerous practice, because it results in compaction and erosion. How might you manage this problem? Use no-till farming systems. In Canada, US, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and elsewhere, GM crops have been widely used to aid the movement to no-till farming. How come you think Bob Phelps is an expert in this area?

examinator, I agreed there was concern about these companies and their practices. I tend to disagree about how widespread that concern is and whether it is based on facts. One of the concerns seems to be that these companies make money from selling seed. I want to point out how silly that concern was. Secondly, these companies are nowhere near as powerful as is portrayed. I think it is interesting how the activities of one company get projected onto other companies and then onto products. Surely a better approach is to regulate based on the product and what it might do? These companies haven’t enlisted the US Government to act on their behalf. The US Government couldn’t care too hoots about how well they perform, but is concerned about the ability of US farmers to trade

Cars are risky, and people die in them all the time, but the benefit to those that use them far outweighs the risk.

With global warming and the food shortage we need to produce more food / energy. The time to panic about insignificant possible harm in the future compared to imminent starvation now has long past.

Those who know better have moved to GM. Staying with existing technology or even organic is the preserve of the rich.