So I promised @/CDGuanzon a #PhytoFriday thread about GMOs and like, why I hate/loathe/detest with every fiber of my seeing 'GMO' everywhere and everyone gets their knickers in a twist about it.

This is probably going to be my longest thread to date re: PhytoFriday

What does GMO stand for?

It stands for 'genetically modified organism.' Now, class, can anyone think of a genetically modified organism?

Well, you should be able to think of at least one. Because that's you, bads and rads. That's YOU. AND YOUR DOG. AND CAT. AD NAUSEUM.

ok so someone's gonna roll up in my thread screaming about how this refers to the bullfuckery we do in labs & not like... ~all organisms~ and I'm just going to stop you right there because you're being a lil shit & I'm not going to have that on my thread, thank you.

I don't hate the phrase 'genetically modified organism,' but I do hate what it is supposed to refer to because it's literally not specific enough.

What people want it to stand for is 'the stuff that we do in laboratories.' Not for what happens in the natural world or what

we do (& have been doing since us humans figured out how to do it in the first place) as part of the selective breeding process for plants and animals.

So, you can see my point about why that phrase isn't good for specifically referring to things done in a lab, but also

realize that like... when a human gets involved in the breeding process for a plant or animal, there is likely to be a lab (or a closed circuit/structure/nursery) where this stuff takes place, by nature of a human involving themselves in reproductive processes.

The bigger problem wrt: the food products we eat (plant & animal) is that there's a bunch of extracurricular bullshit that goes on which involves, but is not limited to: patenting plants, patenting genetic sequences, capitalism (LOL who could have guessed), & varied regulations.

But, briefly, I need to circle back as to what a plant would look like without human interference(note: I hate that they use the term artificial, ignore it; we are looking at these for the pictures of wild fruits b4 we got all in their sexy plant biz): https://www.sciencealert.com/fruits-vegetables-before-domestication-photos-genetically-modified-food-natural

We basically modified plants to make it less work for us to gain nourishment from fruits and vegetables - work smarter, not harder! Other times, we do it for our vanity (like most garden plants you get from the nursery). Other times still, we may have looked at one thing

decided it was too much work, but then used our thinky think bits to apply our knowledge and found something similar to the first thing we found, and decided to cultivate it.

There are a lot of problems surrounding agriculture/agricultural pressures (water, land space and management in the face of natural disasters, resources), but you know what doesn't help? A company coming in and putting patents on plants with a legal department that rivals, if not

completely surpasses, WotC's. What company is this?

Monsanto, which was picked up by Bayer in 2018 for its crop science division. Basically what Monsanto is known for is genetically modifying seed, patenting seed for agricultural products, and because they have a patent on the

seed... if their seed escapes (as seeds are prone to do by various dispersal methods - wind, rain, animals (fur or their digestive tracts), they can legally sue (and have done so) small farmers - and the only way you can tell if the seed has been patented? you have to look at it

under a microscope because, surprise surprise, sometimes you can't tell something's been genetically modified unless you have... you know. a multibillion dollar laboratory and also trespass on private property to gather samples to figure it out.

Monsanto has done a lot of unethical things related to agriculture and I don't really have the slots nor time to get into every single instance of it, but know that this company was around for 117 years and while it's now a division of Bayer, they're probably going to continue

doing harm and causing problems.

I know I kinda segued off topic slightly but it is important for us as consumers to be aware of what is on our labels for food, but to also not get in an absolute tailspin over what is now essentially a buzzword in order to charge you more money

The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) has regulations in place for food safety, although under this current administration there's been a lot of extracurricular bullshit (sorry, I like this phrase that I've coined, gonna continue to use it) but in the before times, things

that have the label USDA certified organic have to go through a process in order to be labeled as such. Organic means no pesticides and a bunch of other things, too (which can be its own thread for a PhytoFriday, really). In my humble (and not expert at all) opinion, is that

GMO shouldn't be a phrase that's used in conjunction with food products made in a lab - however, I'm also a big advocate for us as consumers to know where our food came from, and to understand the implications it has on the world surrounding where that food came from. And to also

have a fucking blessed phrase that means "we made this in a lab, just so you know" vs. the centuries upon centuries old processes of asexual/sexual propagation of foodstuffs.

If you learned something at all from this thread, consider giving me a ko-fi, yeah? https://ko-fi.com/jwashburnedits