U.S. Approves Corn Modified for Ethanol

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

A type of corn that is genetically engineered to make it easier to convert into ethanol was approved for commercial growing by the Department of Agriculture.

The decision, announced Friday, came in the face of objections from corn millers and others in the food industry, who warned that if the industrial corn cross-pollinated with or were mixed with corn used for food, it could lead to crumbly corn chips, soggy cereal, loaves of bread with soupy centers and corn dogs with inadequate coatings.

“If this corn is comingled with other corn, it will have significant adverse impacts on food product quality and performance,” the North American Millers’ Association said in a statement on Friday.

The corn, developed by Syngenta, contains a microbial gene that causes it to produce an enzyme that breaks down corn starch into sugar, the first step toward making ethanol. Ethanol manufacturers now buy this enzyme, called alpha amylase, in liquid form and add it to the corn at the start of their production process.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/business/12corn.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. And so the ethanol scam gets even worse... n/t

[notesdev]

2. The crime against humanity continues

Just wait 'til this spring when commodity inflation hits supermarkets in the USA.

Two things we desperately need to do with regards to food supply:

1) ban ethanol as fuel (it's terrible for autos too btw)
2) stop paying people money not to grow food

[Desertrose]

3. Good grief. How stupid can we get?

Evidently pretty damn stupid.

[saras]

4. Why not finish the job?

Why not just GM the corn to produce ethanol straight up? Then we could just stay drunk on it and not give a shit.

Even better, why not just GM watermelons to fill up with ethanol? Grow the stuff prepackaged?

[AtheistCrusader]

5. What the hell is HFCS doing in bread anyway?

It's in about 75% of the bread on the shelves at Safeway that I can tell. Ridiculous.

[ixion]

8. HFCS is in just about all processed foods...

which is why I don't by processed food anymore.

[amandabeech]

19. I don't like tht sweet taste in bread, either.

I currently shop at Safeway, but I can't find decent bread that doesn't have a sweetener.

I don't have money to spare, but I think that I'm going to have to go to a premium grocery or bakery to get bread without that stuff.

I've tried baking with yeast, but I can't get my bread to rise very much. I can do a nice cinnamon role baked in a pan with brown sugar, butter (or margarine) and walnuts, though! You turn them upside down on a plate after they've cooled just a little and the brown sugar goozles down into the rolls. It doesn't matter that the rolls themselves are a little dense--they accept the goozle very well.

My grandmother made the best slightly sweet dinner rolls, but I just couldn't make them like she did. One of my cousins, while visiting my grandmother, managed to sneak an entire round baking pan of the rolls into the bathroom, lock the door and eat them all!

If my cousin is ready this: you're story is too good to keep secret!

[AtheistCrusader]

21. Best trick I can get to get yeast to rise:

Put the dough in a steel bowl in your car on a warm, not hot day and cover with a damp cloth.

If it's really hot, make sure the dough isn't in direct sunlight, and crack the windows a bit.
Works like a champ for me. Except I get hungry every time I drive for a few days.


Mmmmmm rosemary sourdough.

[Hugabear]

6. Good. It's not as if we really needed the food...

:sarcasm:

[katnapped]

10. You'll eat your soylent green

AND YOU'LL LIKE IT DAMMIT!!!!!

[ixion]

7. This is a bad bad bad bad bad idea. Humans never learn.

Write that as an epitaph on what we'll leave left of the former planet Earth. :(

[dougolat]

9. More Sabotage...

..big oil and auto manufacturers sabotaged electric vehicles in the early 1910's...
...alcohol fuel in Prohibition...
...hemp sourced alternative fuel, lubricants, fibers, and non-toxic plastics in the 30's
...trolley cars and electric locomotives in the 30's to 50's...
...Carter's move away from total petroleum dependence in 1980...
...and this whole ethanol diversion, ---because of profits; to heck with long-term public good, a big mess is just another opportunity to look forward to.

[FailureToCommunicate]

11. Whatever our SUV's need, we must obey!

Time to make the ethanol.

[no_hypocrisy]

12. GM corn for consumption was bad enough. Soon there won't be any

"pure" non-GM seeds available as they will have been contaminated by GM genes.

[plumbob]

13. Yeah, growing fuel instead of food; allowing the wind to turn food into

fuel - what could go wronnnng?

[JohnyCanuck]

14. Meanwhile, Mexico tells Monsanto they can stick their GMO corn where the sun don't shine.

Mexican officials seem to have more common sense than American officials, with their continued denouncement of Monsanto's genetically-modified (GM) corn. Mexico has kept in effect a moratorium on Monsanto's GM corn since 2005, citing a lack of safety studies and evidence showing the "Frankencorn" is safe, and that it will not cross-contaminate non-GM crops. The Mexican government recently denied Monsanto's request to expand a pilot program for its crops in Northern Mexico as well.

In 2009, Mexico decided to allow Monsanto to plant small GM corn test sites on the condition that the company could both prove that its crops were resistant to pests and pesticides, and that they could provide economic benefits to Mexico. Monsanto has yet to show that the crops actually benefit people rather than its own pocketbook, and of course the multinational biotechnology company has yet to submit a single legitimate safety study for its crops.

The Mexican govenment seems to have had enough of the games, it seems, having recently denied any further expansions of the Monsanto test sites. With its many varieties of heritage corn, Mexico has a lot to lose if its corn stocks become contaminated with Monsanto's patented corn varieties. So it is pressing for more safety studies before any further plantings take place.

To date, there has never been a single, verifiable safety study proving that any GMO is safe for people or for the environment. GMO residues, however, are known to travel to nearby fields and contaminate conventional and organic crop varieties. In fact, most of North Dakota is now blanketed in GMO canola, as the mutant crop now infests fields and meadows, and grows by roadside all across the midwestern plain state (http://www.naturalnews.com/030810_G...).

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031295_Mexico_GMO_corn.html#ixzz1DkrBkxm1

[lonestarnot]

15. Fucking A. I thought the hummer was dead.

[skoalyman]

16. there still humming the same ole tune

[slackmaster]

17. Perfect for making moonshine whiskey

:hide:

[midnight armadillo]

18. What could go wrong?

It's not like the shit spreads through the air or anything.

wait...

[WatsonT]

20. So we're just going to keep heading down that road to ruin

awesome.

We need more engineers in government and fewer lobbyists.

[hunter]

22. No fears. Soon they'll be watering it with Brawndo...

... because Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes.

[robcon]

23. Turning corn into ethanol: aggressive stupidity.

Worst idea in the name of saving resources I've ever heard of.