This is unedited, and I don't have the time to edit, otherwise I would've.

I just had someone threaten the existence of all that I have worked and believed in for the past three years. What do I think? The person who it was I had great expectations, I expected to love him, his work, and what he had to say about the environment. What I was met with was not what I expected. I wasn’t judging him by the first, or by the second lecture, I’m still not judging him, I think he has a lot of good ideas and is doing a good job, and I even agree with him on many other things, but when he THROWS out, yes throws out that organic agriculture has actually ANY good at all, and that conventional modern agriculture and science are the way to do it, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Afterwards I regretted asking his opinion because, after knowing it, I’d rather I hadn’t known. How can someone say that? In other words until modern genetic engineering and artificial growth hormones, and fertilizer we were killing our selves by growing organic food. 

I don’t think I want to get into a personal conversation with him, that will make me dislike him more. 

I am still in shock, I didn’t realize that people out there actually, really believed that GMO was GOOD for you!? I can understand a company like Monsanto, or someone working for them, and only for the money, but to actually think they are much BETTER? 

I have done hours and hours and hours of research over the web. I’ve read books and books about health, food, and agriculture. I have personally seen the results of Organic gardening.

Health issues I take with GMO. 

First, when you start mixing up genes you start raising some eyebrows, but when the genes you are putting in are from a pesticide? You’ve really got me worried. And then the fact that when you do that you are altering the protein form (like in GM Wheat) which alters it in a way making it harmful for your body when you eat it. But if you think GMO is good, where does it stop? Do you believe in poisoning the soil to the extent of killing of all forms of bacteria and beneficial insects? How can you actually believe that plants grow better on artificial forms of NPK and NOT have trace minerals and elements, and then they are HEALTHIER? I just don’t understand, how something growing in poor soil can be healthier.

Agriculture, well. Let’s just say I don’t believe he’s seen the right methods of Organic Agriculture. I’ve done hours of research on Organic gardening, farms, and methods of Organic Farming, and I’ve seen results that were better than conventional.

Sustainable agriculture according doesn’t seem to line up with GM grown crops. Chemical fertilizers add salt to the soil which will build up and cause a problem. They also kill or force insect and bacterial life out of the soil. Organic gardening done the right method doesn’t need fertilizer, water (except at planting), pesticides or herbicides in a good system. All these can be done with simple organic practices. 

The more I hear from the GMO side of the debate the more I want to spend my career showing that Organic Farming can result in higher, healthier, and reduce the amount of water, fertilizer, and poison use in farming. There are many places where groups have gone in and changed the farmers from conventional to organic and the result was a yield 5x higher! They actually started making money and having a surplus for themselves.

The reason why America has the agriculture that it has is because of money. A good organic farming system would be cheaper than the billions spent on farming each year, thus the fertilizer companies, pesticide/herbicides companies would all but go out of business and not be making nearly as much money. The agriculture system we have comes down to money. What makes more money, GMO crops or Organic? Organic might on the outset look like more intensive labor, but with the right system could easily be much cheaper. Conventional farming uses chemicals to make the plant grow, and chemicals to keep insects of the plant as it grows, thus requiring vast amounts of money to grow it.

With perfect soil having all the nutrients (that includes trace nutrients) a plant will be completely healthy. A healthy plant will not attract insects to it, thus a healthy soil results in a plant without the need for insecticides to grow. Conventional Farming doesn’t fix the problem, it just covers it up for a while. 

English Vintner