Like many people, I’ve heard about genetically modified food, and have read a few articles about how it has now “infiltrated” our grocery stores. I’m also extremely knowledgeable about nutrition, but I have to admit that until recently, I would have been unable to intelligently discuss “GMOs” and how they got into our food, or even what food they were in, because I really didn’t have a clue. That is, until I read an in depth news report that so shocked me, it caused me to dig deeper.
The tone of my blog has always been one of informing, but trying hard to not preach. Everyone is “where they are” and that’s OK. We’re all in process, including me. I want to give tips, and be helpful, but I’ve got to say, this is so alarming, that I just can’t help but implore everyone to do more reserach, and make a personal decision if you want to continue feeding this food to your family (and chances are, you already are, whether you know it or not).
According to the Center for Food Safety, an estimated 75% of our processed food contains some form of genetically modified ingredients. Monsanto’s patented genes are inserted into roughly 95 percent of soybeans and 80 percent of corn crops grown in the US. Until now, I did not understand the process by which these GM food are developed, or what the implications are for our environment (not to mention our bodies). These foods were rushed to your tabletop with little regulation, and without your knowledge or consent. And worst of all, there has been precious little testing on the effects of GM food on the human organism, and what animal testing has been done, has had startling results which have been kept amazingly quiet.
Genetic modification of our food is a cell invasion technology that is really revolutionary. The original guiding principle of genetic modification was to take the desired trait of one organism, and insert it’s DNA into the DNA of another organism in order to increase crop yield to 100%. Example: tomatoes. Tomatoes are susceptible to cold and can freeze. This destroys the tomato and affects crop yield. But the Arctic Flounder (yes, a fish) can withstand extreme temperatures. If scientists can take the DNA trait that allows this fish to withstand extreme cold, and insert it into the tomato, then you’ve just increased your crop yield to 100% for your tomatoes.
But the real question is, “how does that tomato cell get invaded with the founder gene?” What’s real good at invading cells. Yep, you’ve got it. Bacteria and viruses. Read that again.
The process behind genetically modified food involves a careful re-configuration of genes combining e-coli bacteria, soil bacteria and the cauliflower mosaic virus that causes tumors in plants. They add an antibiotic and then artificially force it into plant cells with a gene invasion technique. All this is so farmers can douse nearly unlimited amounts of Roundup Herbicide on the crops and the plants won’t die.
These seeds are known as “round up ready” seeds and they have already invaded our farms. Farmers who refuse to use the genetically modified seeds are experiencing harassment and even being sued by Monsanto, who has clearly taken over the seed market.
First, watch and learn just exactly what the process is that makes a food genetically engineered:
The FDA has steadfastly deinied any knowledge of information showing that GM crops were different that non-GMO crops, in fact, they were deemed “substantially equivalent” to non-GM plants by executive order, and entered the marketplace with no testing. But over 40,000 internal FDA documents that were made public as the result of a lawsuit show that this is far from the truth. The FDA’s own scientists have conceded that these genetically altered foods could lead to dangerous new allergens, toxins and disease processes in the human organism.
What has science revealed about the health effects in animals?
Believing in the potential of GM foods, UC Berkeley’s Ignacio Chapela and Arpad Pusztai, a plant genetic modification expert from Scotland Rowett Research Institute, were fired after they were commissioned to conduct the first independent study of GM foods.
Arpad Pusztai and other scientists were shocked at their results of animals fed GM foods. Other independent studies showed stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, abnormal and potentially pre-cancerous cell growth in the intestines, impaired blood cell development, misshaped cell structures in the liver, pancreas and testicles, altered gene expression and cell metabolism, liver and kidney lesions, partially atrophied livers, inflamed kidneys, less developed organs, reduced digestive enzymes, higher blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates and higher offspring mortality as well[6].
Bob Edwards, Environment editor of Scotland’s Sunday Herald wrote of another study “genetically modified (GM) food could give you cancer. That is the stark warning today from one of Scotland’s leading experts in tissue diseases.” “Dr Stanley Ewen, a consultant histopathologist at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, says that a cauliflower [mosaic] virus used in GM foods could increase the risk of stomach and colon cancers.”
There are five major GM crops being grown in the U.S. today, and more on the way I can assure you. Soy, canola, cotton, corn and sugar beets. Alfalfa is not far behind. These GM crops are in our food system and they are not going away. Unfortunately, the science is new and not well-controlled. Nobody can say for certainty what the end result will be.
Another GM food trait is a built-in pesticide, primarily used in GM corn and cotton. A gene is inserted into the plant’s DNA, where it secretes the insect-killing Bt-toxin in every cell. There is evidence that these genes continue to be active in the human gut, when we eat this food.
Where does it end? Even as I write this, MSNBC is carrying a lead story about a massive (and growing) recall of foods that have used hydrolyzed vegetable protein that has been contaminated with salmonella! Between the factory farms that mass produce food, while spreading mass pollution, and now the growing of Frankencrops that don’t die even when doused with massive quantities pesticide, what is next? And what is the cost of hurdling our citizens down this new gauntlet of technological “advances” in food production?
What Can You Do?
- Get educated. Understand where your food comes from. Start with the documentary, “The Future of Food.” which goes into detail about “how we got here” and where we we’re headed if the public doesn’t get involved in the outcry agains GMO foods. Read the article that I quoted extensively in this post: While We Were Sleeping….GM Food and The Brink of No Return.
- Vote with your wallet. Find out who supports non-GMO and shop there. Buy brands that refuse to use GM ingredients. Go to: Non-GMO Project to learn more and find retailers and brands. Read about meat labels and what they really mean.
- Take action. Join the Organic Consumers Association and join the fight against Monsanto, and sign the Global Food Petition of 2015. Get involved and let your voice be heard.
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