Larry Lesher

AdAgrA 2015: Restoring the Waste Places

Breakout Session 2

AdAgrA: Adventist Agriculture Association

GMO’s: Where are They Not?

You're here, I suspect you have a pretty good idea.

So, I'm going to go into a little bit about what it is, but I don't want to spend the whole time talking about what we already know.

What I'd like to get into is a little bit more of the details about what's actually happening in the world around us and how extensive is this and what exactly do we need to do to sort of guard ourselves against it.

I don't think we understand exactly how ubiquitous GMOs have become in the world around us, and to what extent we're being subject to it and not understanding what it's doing to us, our children, the biology and the soil and how that's affecting the plants that we're eating.

And usually we talk about it on a superficial sort of surface level as an introductory, what is a GMO?

But I was hoping, and I think everyone seems to be nodding, that they're interested in a little bit more than that.

Well, to start, I'm just going to give a basic rundown of what a GMO is so that we're on the same page.

There's a lot of different ways GMOs come into being.

The most prominent 1, I guess, is the way I would say it.

And by the way, I'm not gonna have any slides or anything.

So if you want, take notes because you're going to want to go test all things and prove and hold to that which is true, not what I say.

And so, I just need to know really quickly, what time is this over?

A GMO on a certain level is a genetically modified organism.

It means that it has been genetically modified on a cellular level.

1 of the primary way as I understand it is they take a gene species that they want.

So for instance, if you have strawberries and you want more frost resistant strawberries, 1 of the things they've done is they've taken the strawberry gene and they've crossed it with a cold water fish, a flounder, because it has in itself the ability to resist freezing and freezing temperatures.

And so you find out what is in the genetics, the DNA that causes that to happen, and you will take that gene and splice it into the DNA and the genes of that strawberry in order to find that frost resistant characteristic now available in the strawberry for instance.

So if you don't eat fish and you're at the grocery store and you're getting your strawberries, you now effectively are eating fish on a cellular level at least.

And so it can be quite concerning for many people just on that simple level.

It's not that simple though when you think about how they get those genes to cross, we have this idea that it's some sort of very specific scientific process that we have down and it's 1 of the arguments they give for it is that it's going to be more precise than our traditional hybridization methods, which are, as they would claim, very haphazard, takes a lot of trial and error to grow out something and get, make a hybrid that does what we want it to do, have a certain characteristic that we're trying to impart to it.

If you are ending up with a hybridization process out to a, what we would call an open pollinated or a line that is stable, it takes about, well, you're gonna go to the F7, so that means it has to pass through 7 generations.

And each 1 of those generations, every 1 of those genetic characteristic potentials are available in every 1 of those generations.

So even though you've got the tomato that you were trying to generate that's a perfect round tomato every time, same colorization, very consistent, and so that's what you're shooting for.

You may take that 1 and grow those seeds out from that now nice red tomato, and The next ones can be yellow and green and not shaped round at all, pear shaped.

And you can get all the genetic potential that are in those genetics.

By the time you get to the F7 stage, you have what is called stabilization and it starts to reproduce after what it looked like, the parent plant.

Do you understand what I'm saying when I'm talking about that?

So that's hybridization as we hybridize out to a stable variety.

None of the seeds we have effectively have in their past been hybridized.

When you get an heirloom seed in its lineage, in its past life, it has at some point been hybridized.

There's not this idea of a seed that is from the Garden of Eden that we sell, that we have access to at this point in history.

Okay, so what they're saying is, is in this process that this genetic manipulation or genetic modification is a more specific science and we're better at it.

So it takes about 10, 000 tries to hybridize something and get what you're looking for, 10, 20, 000 plant tries to come to it.

The interesting thing is, is it takes about 10, 000 tries to get a GMO that functions the way we think it ought to function.

And what it does that we don't understand largely is it's manipulating, we used to think that you could insert a cassette into the DNA strand and it would not really affect something downstream in the DNA strand.

What we understand now is that it can affect everything in the DNA.

So when we think of, we think of like, when a specific part of DNA is gonna express itself as an on and off switch.

You ever heard people talk about it as on and off switches?

They're actually more like a dimmer switch or a volume knob.

So there's a volume by which it will express itself or not express itself.

That's why I have different color blue eyes, different color brown eyes.

It's not on and off, it's the whole range of volume between on and off.

And so what's happening is some proteins, some things that they would call, at the end of strands often there's something that they would, they term junk DNA.

Stuff that has once been functional, but is no longer, we don't recognize it anywhere around us.

And sometimes that so-called junk DNA is affected.

And some of these things are diseases that we had once dealt with and have been moved out of society or things of that nature.

And so it can have real huge ramifications that we truly don't understand.

And the reason we don't understand it is because the science is very fledgling.

It's a very new science, it's not very old.

And effectively, When we function in the scientific community, by law, actually, we function under what's known as the precautionary method principle.

Is everybody familiar with what a precautionary principle is?

Precautionary principle means that you have to prove it's safe before it can be put out into the general public, not that it's safe until you prove otherwise.

Okay, that's the scientific model that has, is in law by our federal, by our governments.

And so we should be functioning under that model.

We function under what has been now, that's been set aside when GMOs came on the scene effectively.

And we operate under what is called substantially equivalent.

And so, GMOs are considered substantially equivalent to their like kind, so if it's corn, it's corn.

If it grows in the ground, it grows a stalk, produces an ear, and it's corn, then it's substantially equivalent to any other corn.

We know that that's not true, and they know it's not true.

Now, the reason I can say I know they know it's not true is because there's lawsuits and patents that say you're infringing those patents because it's so different from anything else that's ever existed, they can patent it.

In 1 breath it's substantially equivalent, in the next breath we can patent it because it's so different and you can be sued for infringing patent laws.

And so they know that they're substantially different, they're not substantially equivalent.

And so those are some of the things that are going on with it.

Now the process of making something genetically modified, and there are several different processes for different things they're trying to come to, like different outcomes.

The primary 1 that we're gonna talk about or look at is they will take a gene, like I said, a strawberry and a cold water fish.

Now, you can't just smash those 2 things.

You can't plant a fish with a strawberry plant and expect those things to just, genes to somehow fuse, right?

Nature has barriers, it doesn't function that way.

And so in order to deny that, to break through the barriers that, I will say, quite frankly, God has put in place to protect us, is they use things like vectors.

So a vector would be a virus, a bacteria, things that will cross the cell wall.

So when you get sick because you get a cold, bacteria is able to cross into your, you know, in a cellular level and go throughout your body and wreak havoc, right?

And so that's a vector, that's something that can help carry, or a carrier that helps carry it in to the cell.

And in order to understand when they do this, what actually got into the cell, they attach to that gene also an antibiotic gene resistant marker.

Morning Devotional

Why Are We Here?

But we don't want to just be hearers of these things Lord I pray that they would have the intended effect on our hearts that we would become doers that We might be the vessels that you can fill to overflowing That we will be pressed down and overflowing Lord That we would glorify you and all that we do and that we would be that people that you need to see, that you might come quickly.

Father, prepare us for this day I pray in Jesus name, amen.

So when I was asked to do the morning devotion, a couple of things came to my mind.

1 of them, 1 of the first things that came to my mind is, why are we here?

In the world, we might be here because we recognize the signs of the times and we want to be prepared for all those things that are going to come upon us and a lot of times that can be a fearful reaction where we start to put things, you know, back and...

I thought that's not what we're called to be here.

If that's why we're here, I hope that the experience while you're here will change that heart condition to a condition that we're here because we want to know who our Creator is and we want to come to the garden to learn of Him.

So we're not here to escape from or hide from or to get away from the dangers of the world.

We're here for to learn how to to get into the country and be sustainable but to be a light on a hill.

We're not here because of self-exaltation, because we want to be you know the the ones that do it all the best.

I was, and I am in agriculture and it's easy, It's become a popular thing and it's sometimes a cool thing.

It can be easily, you can find yourself in that vein of thinking.

To feel better about ourselves, often times we do things because we're motivated by how it makes us feel about ourselves.

But I hope that we go away from this with the idea that we're here to learn how to be servants and how to give service.

Have a morning devotion that might come off a little bit like in a negative light, sort of.

I tend to look at things and ask myself what's wrong, because I want to see it improve.

When I'm in the garden, Allen 1 time said to me he takes pictures of all the bad stuff, and Aubrey, his sister, takes pictures of all the nice stuff.

Because our point of view is to improve the garden, right?

And so oftentimes we're looking at things from that point of view, but I think when we look at things from that critical point of view, it allows us to see ourselves for who we truly are and not trust ourselves, but trust to Christ.

And so as I do this, don't think of this as a negative kind of a critique, but it's a positive critique in that we really have this opportunity in front of us and are we going to grab it with all that we have and try to do the best that we can to glorify God.

If you have your Bibles, if you would turn with me to 2 Corinthians 6, I believe.

2 Corinthians 6, 13 and 18, 13 through 18 rather.

The Bible reads, now for a recompense in the same, I speak as unto my children, be ye also enlarged.

But be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?

And what communion hath light with darkness?

And what conquered hath Christ with Belial?

Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?

And God hath said, I will dwell in them, and I will walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.

And touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, sayeth the Lord Almighty.

Ellen White quotes this verse, and then she has this to say.

I'm not too interested in what I have to say.

I don't really have much to say, except to point you in a direction and it's gonna be Bible and spirit of prophecy.

She follows up that with this, never was there a time when this warning was more appropriate than at the present time.

When I read statements like that, after something said, it strikes me that I probably ought to understand this.

And so, it goes on to say, far too large a number of professed Christians are Christians only in name.

I always, growing up, understood the second commandment in the context of we don't say God's name in vain as in...

Yeah, don't say, you know, don't say His name when you're upset or in some negative form, right?

But I have my father's name as well, like my biological father's name.

And how I act in life determines whether or not I honor that name or dishonor that name.

And so when I take his name, I either represent him correctly or incorrectly, and such as with our Heavenly Father.

If we're Christians, then we take that name either in vain, or we take it and glorify our Father, right?

And so, are we professed Christians in name only, or are we actually about the business of glorifying our Father in what we do, say, what we think, how we treat each other, even behind closed doors?

I grew up in the world, and in the world that I grew up in, you know, The meaner you were to your friends, the more they knew you loved them.

I was a skateboarder and that's just sort of how we were.

We were abusive to 1 another for all intents and purposes.

So, as becoming a Christian, there's habitual habit patterns that are hard to overcome.

And so, you kind of find yourself in this sin and repent, sin and repent, sin and repent.

It's not a good place to be, but we can relate to it.

So this goes on, it says, they have no root in themselves.

Their hearts are filled with pride, impurity, unholy ambition, self-importance, a love of supremacy.

When we find ourselves with our friends and we're out and hopefully you don't do a lot of the things that the world is doing, but it's still sort of this, it's easy to be prideful.

It's easy to look at others and go, wow, glad I'm not like that guy.

It goes on and it says, "...they may have an intelligent knowledge of the theory of truth, and prove their doctrines to be sound and scriptural.

How many people here have a theory of the truth and can prove it from the Bible?

But they hold the truth in unrighteousness, it goes on to say.

By their course of action, they deny the Savior.

That we could have, I count myself blessed to be a part of this church because we have a wealth of knowledge that doesn't seem to exist in the world, even in the Christian world by and large.

But do we hold the truth in unrighteousness?

Their hearts are not sanctified through the truth.

They are unholy in heart and un-Christlike in deportment.

Unless the spirit and principles that characterize the life of Christ are planted in the heart, they cannot control the life.

The law of God must be written in the heart.

The truth of God must illuminate the soul.

Holiness, Mercy, truth, love must be brought into the life.

Unless the soul temple is cleansed from its defilement, unless there is purity of heart, unless earnest efforts are made to meet the standard of God's word, They will never be lifted to be the companions of the pure and holy.

They will never wear the white linen, which is the righteousness of the saints." As long as we have this experience, we will not wear the white linen.

We have, by all observation, by all outward looking, we all have this sort of stumbling.

Sin and repent, sin and repent, sin and repent.

Maybe it's something that can be depressing when we go through this process.

AdAgrA 2014 Conference

Market Farming/Gardening

Alan Seiler

2- Better Together Farms & Eastward Gardens

Okay, we're gonna get right on to our next 2 farms.

We're gonna move up in scale a little bit to a seventh of an acre.

Alan Seiler is gonna share and then Larry Lesher.

So let's go ahead and start with a word of prayer for the second part, and then we'll start talking about some farming, some more about farming.

Dear Father in heaven, we just want to thank you for this day, for this time that we get to be here.

We just pray that we'll be able to learn much and be able to apply it, not just hear about it, in our own experience.

So 1 of the things that you're going to hear us talk about over the course of this presentation is small, simple, small, simple, small, and simple.

Basically, that is a main part of our operation right now.

So I'm currently 20 now, and I started my love for agriculture when I was 14 years old, so around 2008 time frame, and found a Black and Decker gardening book in my grandma's garage.

I'd done a little gardening before, but looked at this book and it starts talking about, oh, you're actually supposed to fertilize your soil?

Plants actually take things out of the soil.

Anyways, so next off, we went to a family camp together with Dysingers, and I met John Dysinger's brother, Uncle Edwin.

I call him Uncle Edwin, Uncle John, because, anyways, so I started asking him a lot of questions.

And he's like, no, don't ask me all these questions.

And another book called The 4 Seasons Harvest, written by the same author.

Great for small growers wanting to get into it, but when I started out, I really enjoyed his 4 Seasons Tarbets book more than his other book.

But it's amazing, I was a really poor reader, and my sister used to read me books and stuff, and that was great because I loved listening.

But no 1 wanted- I didn't want to read agriculture books to him.

No 1 wanted to read anything on agronomy, you know?

So I had to read, and I learned how to read.

I did know how to read, but not very well.

Anyways, so read those books, applied it, and then when I turned 18, I went to Dysinger's six-month internship in Tennessee, which is very close to here, which hopefully they're gonna start it up here again soon sometime, I think that's a part of the plan.

But anyways, Dad and Mom are like, well if you're gonna wanna do this for an occupation in the future, you better go and see if you wanna do something like this.

So we had a very fiery trial when we first got there.

It was 114 degrees in the middle of July.

And I remember wheel-hoeing in the sweet potato field and taking my shirt off.

And it's just like, you know, maybe, maybe.

He was a video person at Weimar working on a computer.

And I felt really bad for him coming to the farm the first week and working outside in 114.

I think we both sat down and cried after that week.

Anyways, so after Disingers, came back home and our land, we never purchased it for agriculture.

So it was very rocky, very rocky soil, and not a lot of area to grow.

But we worked on getting rocks out, and still are.

But That acreage, kind of like what I said in my devotional, was a great place to start because it forced us to be small.

You couldn't just plow up a half an acre and say, we're going to plant.

It's like, you've got to get the rocks out of it before you can plant in it kind of thing.

Yeah, and that's not like a rock that I'm digging around to pop it out of the soil.

That probably goes 2 miles down into the ground.

We live in a very rocky part of Oklahoma, okay?

You don't have any idea, even the questions to ask when you get involved, okay?

You run into things that, so for instance, I bought some compost this year, Put it on my soil.

Part of the cucumber problem that I mentioned was it had over 1, 500 parts per million of soluble salts in it.

Well, if anyone knows about soluble salts at 35 pounds, tons per acre, it's very salty in a greenhouse.

And basically it was killing the plants, the salt in that compost.

I didn't even know what soluble salts were, okay?

Presenter

Larry Lesher

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