future of food

[solarliving]

I was watching a video on the future of food regarding GMO's. Apparently there are pattens (sp?) out there for what is called a suicide gene for plants. Basically if used it would only allow 1 crop to grow and then it wouldn't be able to reproduce. The government owns 1 patten on this. I'm sure most of you know of the concern of these gmo foods spreading to other crops. This got me thinking about possibly buying and storing seeds for the future. So here is my question: How long will seeds last? Do you guys think it would be wise to store some seeds for the future, just in case?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvLBMXC_D0Q

[sport]

These seeds are called Heirloom Varieties and there are groups set up that are preserving them for the future.
If you want to help them maybe if you google it and find a way to donate some money to these projects and let the rest of us know where we can donate.
I think that it a worthwhile cause.

[luckitri]

Remember that seed found in the Egyptian pyramids have been fertile and grew.

[solarliving]

Sport and Luckitri- Thanks for answering my post.

I didn't find any groups but there are several companies selling seeds. Here is one. http://www.heirloomseeds.com/

Luckitri- That is interesting about the pyramids. I wonder if somehow they were preserved due to their location. My dad said they have expiration dates. Geez, I can't wait to have some land so I can grow my own food.

[beppa66]

There is a seed company in Iowa that sells good seeds (no gmod).
I think that is a great idea. Everyone should watch these 6 videos!
I feel sick to my stomach about this. I seriously had no idea the extent of it. YIKES!

I've sent the link to everyone I know!

[northernstars]

The pyramids were not overly damp and I think that is a major reason the seeds were kept viable. From what I remember, the seeds were kept dry and cool.

Heirloom seeds are great and the resulting food has a special quality to them that we don't see and taste with much of what we buy in the stores.

[luckitri]

Yes I don't understand about the expiration dates either. Maybe the interior of the pyramids are temp and moisture controlled by their very nature - plus being packed away in sealed containers for centuries.

One report that was never followed up on came out decades ago. They discovered Egyptian cotton seeds that had been engineered by them to produce bright colors of magenta and turquoise type colors thus eliminating the need to dye the cloth. Permission to grow this crop was given to a woman cotton farmer in California I believe and she was going to have a special line of clothing with this cotton. Never heard if it was successful or not.

Also yeast from the pyramids was found to be active. Don't know if they gave anyone permission to bake bread with it! :D

Yes I would really like to have a little plot to grow on as well. If I ever have chickens again they will not be free range like last time because they ate everything green - I mean everything! Their fertilizer is great for the compost and I had wonderful black soil in short time. So a moveable pen is probably ideal if you have some flat ground. The chickens are great for pest control as well so I don't know how to let them do that job without eating all my plants - which they did do.

[luckitri]

Interestingly enough I find that it was a very conservative group of rightwing reactionary Christians that introduced me to the perils of GMO crops and it fits right into their end-time conspiracy ideas (and they make a very good case of it too!) (I also find it interesting how many disparate groups that do not tolerate each other well have the same ideas about problems.)

This weekend I encountered a new idea of GMO problems. I was considering an attempt at use of L-tryptophan for my sleep problems. More than a decade ago this nutrient was removed from the market by the FDA because of 37 people dying. The permanently disabled survivors now have a website for their illness called National Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome Network at http://www.nemsn.org/.

L-tryptophan is back on the market but before considering it I did some research and saw that they claim some genetically engineered bacteria was used by the production company and this is what has caused the deaths and the severe illnesses. So I am not ready to take this risk to deal with my insomnia. I will try simpler means for longer. I don't think they have to genetically engineer something for me to take a magnesium bath or make a homeopathic remedy (I hope).

So I bring this up because most of us on this forum try to seek out more natural non-invasive or chemical means to cure our ailments and yet what we think is natural and healthy in our HFS may actually be quite dangerous and life-threatening.

My idea of regulation on health food products and supplements is unformed. I do not wish to have regulation by the pharmaceutical companies who wish to remove our options or profit greatly from them. However their does need to be some regulation and standardization and at this point I don't know how much there is and how much market forces are doing the job. The problem is that a working parent really does not have time to investigate these things thoroughly and therefore are at risk for hurting self or loved ones so there does need to be some help, some regulation, but I have no idea what form is acceptable.

[luckitri]

Here in AZ we have an entity called Native Seed Search. Many of the tribes here are plagued with 50% diabetes due to being torn from their native diet and agriculture in such a short time that their bodies did not adapt well to the white flour and sugar. I think that because they are closer in time to their nomadic roots that their bodies store food in a huge way in preparation for times of lack. The result is that in addition to the diabetes, many of them are so huge that they cannot be employed despite good training because they physically cannot fit into the work environment. (Yes I know that there are laws against this type of discrimination but also a company should not have to rebuild its property or purchase special furniture to accomodate this size.) Anyway this groups goal has been to re-establish their relationship to their traditional foods. It has links to other similar organizations on their site. I have not heard of anyone GMO'ing native seeds yet.

http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/default.php

Under links they have a list of Heirloom Seed companies.

[solarliving]

I have a client who was poisoned by that particular Tryptophan supplement. Those GMO's are bad, bad. After dealing with eczema for over a year and my hands being completely healed, I ate a bagel the other day thinking it would be ok, and my hands broke out again by the next morning. I know it was the corn in the bagel and perhaps the malt barley. I have no doubt the reaction is caused by Gmo corn. The strange thing is the rash always shows up on the middle fingers which is the pericardium meridian. I hate to think of what that corn is doing to my body. It's very sad indeed what has happened with our food supply. Fortunately there is an organic Co-op near me that educates the community about these things. The next thing that has been approved is cloned animal products, which will not be labeled. Another reason to be completely vegetarian.

[luckitri]

I did not know that had been approved. Well last night my son did not eat the meat I had prepared for my husband. He said that he does not crave meat anymore. Yippee!

Hopefully I can find a good article that is short to emphasize to my son that he is making a right choice.