# TTIP



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Negotiate...."word" of the potential Trans Trade agreement??

Regards, Mike

http://www.dtnprogressivefarmer.com/dtnag/common/link.do?symbolicName=/ag/blogs/template1&blogHandle=editorsnotebook&blogEntryId=8a82c0bc512739e40151728f5a4c0299&showCommentsOverride=false&blogRegionCode=


----------



## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Interesting to watch.....They have always had a very strong anti-GMO focus, but my perception is that it comes from the general population rather than from the agriculture industry. That makes it much harder for the negotiators to deal with.....


----------



## NewBerlinBaler (May 30, 2011)

Here in the United States, Big Money usually rolls right over the will of the people - on virtually every issue (think bailouts for Wall Street). This is likely what Tom Vilsack was thinking when he made those remarks.

Politically, Europe is very different. We'll see.

Gary


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Once again, Vilsack and the USDA basically operate as a mouthpiece for big agribiz companies in the US, and screw the consumer and what they want...

Just like the way they tried to shove HFCS down the Mexican's throats, whether they wanted it or not, now they want to shove GMO's and hormone treated meat/milk down the Europeans' throats, who've already said, "screw you, WE DON'T FRIGGIN' WANT IT!"

That's the same message the Europeans have been adamantly sticking to for the last two decades (basically since the widespread use of GMO's started and we lost a lot of our grain export markets in Europe because of it). The US still "refuses to accept that answer" and looks to "strong-arm" the customer into buying *what THEY want to grow and sell*, NOT "what the customer wants to buy"...

Don't get me wrong-- I think that the Europeans are kind of all wet on some of these things... but on others I think they have a legitimate gripe. I think they also want to protect their domestic ag production and industries-- I wish our own friggin' government would do as much... BUT, even if the EU decided "tomorrow" to "throw the doors open" to GMO's and the other stuff, I STILL think that any increase in our sales over there would be *virtually nil*. It's not just "recalcitrant, protectionist gubmints" over there "keeping superior US products out", it's that the VAST MAJORITY of Europeans DO NOT WANT GMO's and HORMONE RAISED MEAT/MILK. IOW, we're trying to sell products that THEY DON'T WANT TO BUY.

The only way you can succeed with that model is either 1) flood the market with a ready supply of MUCH CHEAPER GMO-hormone products to lure cost-conscious buyers into buying your "inferior" but yet much cheaper product, and/or 2) do what they've done SO successfully in this country to "gain acceptance" of GMO/hormone grown products-- keep the consumer COMPLETELY in the dark about what they're actually buying and what's in it, and make it difficult/much more expensive to buy competing products "guaranteed" to NOT have GMO's or hormones in them... and eliminating the competition or differentiation between the competitor's "GMO/hormone free" products and your own, to the greatest extent possible.

The Europeans, being well-entrenched and dedicated liberal socialists, love to regulate things even more than our own out of control gubmint does... so they're NOT going to 'back down' from their uber-regulatory stance on such things... and, playing devil's advocate, even if they DID, the market is STILL going to reject those products containing GMO's or hormones, just as they always historically have... so unless they can figure out a way to "blind" the consumer to what they're actually buying and flood the market with cheap products containing GMO's/hormone raised meat/milk, I don't see any great "rush" or "desire" to buy any of these products from the US... quite the contrary.

BUT, never let "the facts" get in the way of what the gubmint wants... as long as ADM's and Cargill's shares are going up, who cares what the PEOPLE actually want anyway??

Later! OL JR


----------



## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

luke strawwalker said:


> Once again, Vilsack and the USDA basically operate as a mouthpiece for big agribiz companies in the US, and screw the consumer and what they want...
> 
> Just like the way they tried to shove HFCS down the Mexican's throats, whether they wanted it or not, now they want to shove GMO's and hormone treated meat/milk down the Europeans' throats, who've already said, "screw you, WE DON'T FRIGGIN' WANT IT!"
> 
> ...


Damn, it only lets me "like this" once......


----------



## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

JR-

Well stated. Eskimos don't buy a lot of ice...


----------

