Master11 wrote:
You have disregarded the fact that Monsanto do indeed do this. I was not referring to organic grapes grown from Cuttings and grown in small batches.
I was referring to the mass produced variants used for mass produced products such as beverages etc.
Look if you are going to say that most of the worlds grapes are GM modified monsanto, lets see some info on it at least. In this post i will put up some info that refutes this disinfo.
Also i will add that grapes grown from cutting and grafting arent necessarily organic...GM modified and organic...thats two seperate issues. Ancient varieties for example can still be sprayed with pesticidies, antifungals, and the ground sprayed with roundup to kill the weeds. It means the produce isnt organic, but it still isnt GM.
And grapes grown from cutting/grafting arent in small batches LOL, grapes propagate poorly from seeds and almost ALL of the worlds cultivated grapes are vegetatively propagated, they arent grown from seeds. Just like most olives and all stonefruit and almonds.
Lets remember that GMO means foreign DNA has been inserted into a plant.
Since this thread is about grapes, and the GM modified factor has entered the thread, i just want to say that my position is still that most grapes currently grown in the world,
arent GM modified varieties. They have been selectively bred. And im not talking about the small growers, im talking about the large plantations. Certainly that is the case in Australia, Europe (spain, italy, france, greece etc) , Turkey and the USA.
Some of the largest vineyards and orchards in the world are here not so far from me, (in australia) a lot of the grapes produced in Australia are exported as well as wine, only a fraction of what is produced here is consumed domestically. Many wineries of the world also still rely on growers to bring the grapes to the processing plants. Same goes for many nut crops and olive oil, especially in Europe.
Again im talking about grapes here, im not denying what monsanto has done or is trying to do elsewhere especially with ground crops.
Most tree crops (fruits and nuts) and vines
arent GM modified, though they have been selectively bred. Since no foreign DNA has been spliced into the plant, they cant be considered GM modified.
I know they want to bring them in, I know they can do it, but it hasnt happened yet on a large scale.
If we were talking about corn and soy beans and other crops i wouldnt be saying what I am saying about orchards.
Lets take a look at some sources of info on grapes...
The cultivation of the domesticated grape began 6,000–8,000 years ago in the Near East.[1] The earliest archeological evidence for a dominant position of wine-making in human culture dates from 8,000 years ago in Georgia.
Mutations in two regulatory genes of white grapes turn off production of anthocyanins which are responsible for the color of purple grapes.[6] Anthocyanins and other pigment chemicals of the larger family of polyphenols in purple grapes are responsible for the varying shades of purple in red wines.[7][8]
Most grapes come from cultivars of Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Minor amounts of fruit and wine come from American and Asian species such as:
Vitis labrusca, the North American table and grape juice grapevines (including the concord cultivar), sometimes used for wine, are native to the Eastern United States and Canada.
Vitis riparia, a wild vine of North America, is sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. It is native to the entire Eastern U.S. and north to Quebec.
Vitis rotundifolia, the muscadines, used for jams and wine, are native to the Southeastern United States from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico.
Vitis amurensis is the most important Asian species.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 75,866 square kilometres of the world are dedicated to grapes. Approximately 71% of world grape production is used for wine, 27% as fresh fruit, and 2% as dried fruit. A portion of grape production goes to producing grape juice to be reconstituted for fruits canned "with no added sugar" and "100% natural". The area dedicated to vineyards is increasing by about 2% per year.
There are no reliable statistics that break down grape production by variety. It is believed that
the most widely planted variety is Sultana, also known as Thompson Seedless, with at least 3,600 km2. (880,000 acres) dedicated to it. The second most common variety is Airén. Other popular varieties include Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Grenache, Tempranillo, Riesling and Chardonnay.[10]
The sultana is a "white" (pale green), oval seedless grape variety also called the sultanina, oval-fruited Kishmish[citation needed], Lady de Coverly (England), and Thompson Seedless (United States).
It is assumed to originate from the Asian part of the Ottoman Empire.[1]
The sultana raisin was traditionally imported to the English-speaking world from the Ottoman Empire. Turkey and Australia are major producers.[4]
The sultana grape's American name, Thompson Seedless, refers to William Thompson, a viticulturist who was an early grower in California and is sometimes credited with introducing the variety.[1][5][6]
According to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, the two names are synonymous.[7]
Virtually all of California raisin production (approximately 97% in 2000) and roughly one-third of California's total grape area is of this variety, making it the single most widely-planted variety.[6][8]
Although grape seeds contain many nutrients, some consumers choose seedless grapes; seedless cultivars now make up the overwhelming majority of table grape plantings. Because grapevines are vegetatively propagated by cuttings, the lack of seeds does not present a problem for reproduction.
There are several sources of the seedlessness trait, and essentially all commercial cultivators get it from one of three sources: Thompson Seedless, Russian Seedless, and Black Monukka, all being cultivars of Vitis vinifera.
There are currently more than a dozen varieties of seedless grapes. Several, such as Einset Seedless, Benjamin Gunnels's Prime seedless grapes, Reliance and Venus, have been specifically cultivated for hardiness and quality in the relatively cold climates of northeastern United States and southern Ontario.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape
So we can see what cultivar the majority of the worlds grapes come from, and sorry bro it aint monsanto GM modified.
if we go into it here 
It's a hijack performed by corporate retailers to stave off what they see as a threat. The threat of local growers and communities relying on eachother...........Now that would surely link into the Agenda 21 thread 
