The U.S. Is Behind the Curve in Rejecting GM Foods
People around the world have joined forces to refuse GM foods and crops because of the dangers they present to your health and the future of your food supply. Europe, for example, eliminated GMOs from their food supply 10 years ago.
In the United States, however, many of you are still not even aware you’re eating GM foods every day.
That’s because an estimated 75 percent of foods in U.S. grocery stores contain GM ingredients. About seven out of every 10 items in the average grocery cart have been genetically modified. And don’t bother reading labels to see if you’re buying a GM product, because no labeling is required.
Why Genetically Modified Food in the First Place?
The stated purpose for the development of GMOs is to increase crop yields, reduce costs for farmers, and to use less herbicide.
No increase in yields: GM soy decreased yields by up to 20 percent compared with non-GM soy, and up to 100 percent failures of GM cotton have been recorded in India.
Increase in costs to farmers: “Terminator technology” is being used to create seeds that self-destruct. The seeds (and subsequent crops) are sterile, which means farmers must buy them again each year instead of using the seeds from their harvest to replant the following year, which is the traditional way.
This means bigger profits for the food companies that are patenting GM seeds, and more money shelled out from farmers. Worse still, this practice could actually threaten the entire food supply because the sterile seeds may spread to nearby fields.
No reduction in pesticide use: USDA data showed that GM crops increased pesticide use by 50 million pounds from 1996 to 2003 in the United States.
Roundup herbicide: This product is lethal to frogs and toxic to human placental and embryonic cells. It is used on more than 80 percent of all GM crops planted in the world
GM crops harm wildlife: Wastes from GM corn impairs the growth of aquatic insects.
GM food and feed have been linked to deaths and sicknesses: Both in the fields of India, and in lab tests around the world.
Biotech firms claim they offer a genetically modified pest-resistant crop. Pest-resistant in this context actually means the crops contain their own built-in pesticide. So eating a GM plant, whether you’re a bug or a human, means you’re ingesting toxic pesticides.
The fact is, genetic engineering is crude, imprecise and insidious. The process itself alters DNA and mutates genes. It’s a game of genetic roulette that can’t be won, and is ultimately dangerous.
It has been proven GM crops do not fulfill their stated purpose. They have not influenced the escalating rates of hunger, poverty, food prices and environmental disasters.
The solution is a fundamental change in farming practices that does away with GM crops and promotes small-scale organic farming.
The Clear and Present Dangers of GM Foods to Your Health
According to Jeffrey Smith’s research, between 1994 and 2001 – a period during which GM foods flooded the market – food related illnesses doubled.
GMO foods can be:
Despite claims by giant GMO manufacturers like Monsanto that genetically modified foods are no less healthy than non-GM foods, the research says otherwise.
Smith addresses recent GMO-related health problems in both animals and people in his video. GM foods can also:
Contribute to food allergies
Possibly cause damage to your immune system
Potentially cause outbreaks of Morgellons Disease
In case you’re unfamiliar, people with the bizarre Morgellons Disease, which has been cropping up worldwide, describe a sensation of bugs moving around beneath their skin. This unsettling sensation is accompanied by open lesions that ooze blue, black or white fibers that can be several millimeters long. These fibers are strong enough to distend the skin when pulled and are painful to remove.
The traits of GM crops can get passed on to other non-GM crops. This means that a crop engineered to contain a vaccine, or to be sterile, could easily taint an entire region, and eventually the entire world. As Smith points out in the video, the environmental impact of GMOs is potentially much greater even than the health impact.
How to Recognize GM Foods
The offspring of these products include products such as maltodextrin, soy lecithin, and high fructose corn syrup. Other GMO products include:
Some varieties of zucchini, crookneck squash, and papayas from Hawaii
Milk containing rbGH
Rennet (containing genetically modified enzymes) used to make hard cheeses
Examine produce stickers on the fruits and vegetables you buy. The PLU code for conventionally grown fruit consists of four numbers; organically grown fruit has five numbers prefaced by the number nine; and GM fruit has five numbers prefaced by the number eight.
Buy organic produce as often as you can. By definition, food that is certified organic must be free from all GM organisms.
Stay away from processed foods. Most of these contain corn and soy products.
The True Food Shopping Guide is also great tool to help you determine which brands and products contain GMO ingredients. Print it out and take it with you every time you go to the grocery store.
What Else Can You Do to Fight for a Safe Food Supply?
As a consumer you have power. Large portions of Europe have already succeeded in kicking GMOs out of their food supply, forcing food manufacturers to use real ingredients in their European product lines.
You can be the change you want to see in America by educating yourself and spreading the word.
Refuse to purchase genetically modified products
Ask your local supermarket to stock the shelves with more natural organic foods
Avoid all processed food products and buy only fresh, locally grown, organic foods
Let your elected officials know how you feel about GM foods. Demand the implementation of a precautionary principle: GMOs should not be allowed into the food system until extensive long-term, third-party studies — not studies funded by seed technology companies — have been performed. And as long as it is present in food, all products must be clearly labeled as to whether they contain GMO crop ingredients.
Visit www.responsibletechnology.org/donate to be a part of this worthwhile and important cause
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