(Untitled)

[kupukello]

The newspapers have been full of genetically manipulated soy lately, and the poll from today states that over one half of Finns doesn't want to eat meat that has been fed with GMO soy, and that over 90% of Finns want the packages of said meat to be tagged so that you know you are, horror of horrors, eating animals that have been eating genes. Or

Comments

[nimroddess]

I am all for genetically modified produce and things. But... I am a scientist who has been in the business of genetically modifying things. (Not things that humans eat, but it's all the same really.) My opinion is that the general public is anti-gene-meddling because they are afraid of what they don't understand. It is unnatural, just like gay sex. If there are legitimate dangers, I am unaware of what they might be.

I'm just guessing, but my understanding of the Jewish parent thing is that he would be part Jewish in terms of nationality/heritage, but he would have the choice whether or not to follow the Jewish religion.

[ladycoreopsis]

Perhaps your answer may apply to the society of fear that Americans like to live within (and I mean no offense as an American myself), but culturally, I don't see it applying to Finns. Finns tend to be more educated than your average American, and not just because the university is free, but because the school systems are better here. Kids learn more in primary and high school than American kids do. And then on top of that, lots of people have Masters degrees. And on top of that, newspaper reading percentages and book reading are very high here in Finland as well. People are pretty well informed here

[ladycoreopsis]

Oh, and I should also note that my Finnish opinion on this also has an educational and bias. These are college-educated, gainfully employed Finns. So, by no means, does it represent the entire possible population of anti-GMO folks here.

[ladycoreopsis]

Unfortunately, I probably come off sounding all euro-snobby, but I've learned a lot about the differences between Americans and Europeans in the last 4 years (and more specifically Finns, though I do have plenty of immigrant friends and colleagues). The differences in the way people think over here (in general) are just vastly different. And I can illustrate this using my own work as an example (I'm a copywriter in web advertising

[kupukello]

The ethical, political and environmental issues have not gained much space in the newspapers, and that's what worries me. There has been an article, poll or something about GMO soy in the newspaper everyday, but I haven't seen any proper arguments for or against it, just these "GMO is bad for you because ...it's BAD for you

[ladycoreopsis]

*holds up her right hand and points at her palm*

Where are you from, by the way?

*prepares her left hand too, extending the thumb upward and pinky slightly downward to form the UP too*

That should confuse kupukello. =)

[kupukello]

Er? LOL!! Yes, you QUITE managed to confuse me :))) *tries to do it herself* Nope, I still can't get what you're doing...

[kupukello]

I'm afraid you are correct there. For all the "WE DON'T WANT GMO SOY!" talk there has been, I haven't seen one proper article of what the dangers might be, or any talk about the ethical, political or environmental effects it would have. So it looks as if the reason to rally against GMO soy is because it sounds unnatural. Then again, people have been doing cross-breeding for hundreds of years, just not with genes, so even if this genetic manipulation is a lot faster than the traditional method, the result is the same: crossbred plants.

Or maybe some people are afraid that GMO soy makes the pigs taste different, just like when back when chicken were fed nothing but herring, and both their meat and the eggs started to taste like herring :)))

Doesn't a person "inherit" Judaism from their mother? At least I THINK I learned it that way back in secondary school :)))