Everyday we're eating foods that have genetically engineered ingredients--particularly present in snack foods and fast foods. If it has corn in it (or was from an animal fed corn), it's a fairly safe bet that it contains GMOs as 88 percent of corn grown in the US during 2012 was genetically modified. You can verify that through the excel chart here: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-genetically-engineered-crops-in-the-us.aspx. Top GMO crops in the US are corn, soy, cotton, and sugar beets. Canada recently petitioned the government to introduce a genetically engineered apple that doesn't brown after being sliced open. Really?! Here's a NYT article about it http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/business/growers-fret-over-a-new-apple-that-wont-turn-brown.html?_r=2 and a link to a government site where you can leave your comments for or against it http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0025-0001.
If you listen to Big Ag's scientists, particularly those associated with Dow Chemical and Monsanto, they'll tell you there's nothing harmful about GMOs. But they don't want them labeled, either. If you listen to independent, international studies on GMO foods, you'll hear a different story. Here's a link from Concerned Scientists that talks about some independent findings on GMOs http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_genetic_engineering/promoting-resistant-pests.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=fb. Here's a link about GMO soy in South Africal http://www.gmwatch.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12598%3Agm-soy-increases-poverty-threatens-health-in-south-america-farmer-advocates. And here's another article on GMO soy in the US with a link to leave the federal government your comments for or against it http://justlabelit.org/usda-prepares-to-green-light-gnarliest-gmo-soy-yet/.
Bear with me; I'm trying to set the stage for upcoming information by giving some information on GMOs. Big Ag is spending a lot of money in different places--not just California--to keep you, the consumer, from knowing what you're eating. They've already made their influence felt in the upcoming Farm Bill, which would basically allow companies pedaling GMO seeds to sell, and then farmers will plant, GMO crops even if there is a lawsuit in the federal courts halting such actions because of environmental or other concerns. Here's just one article on what's being called the Monsanto Rider in our 2013 Farm Bill, which the house is set to vote on anytime http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/17/us-usa-agriculture-biotech-idINBRE86G0XF20120717. If you'd like to contact your representative about this, here's a link where you can find and contact him or her: http://www.house.gov/representatives/. Here's another link where you can sign MoveOn.org's petition against the rider http://signon.org/sign/stop-the-monsanto-rider.fb16?source=s.fb&r_by=2188256.
I talk to people about GMOs, and most people don't know a lot about the subject, which I find distressing given the fact they are eating this stuff probably on a daily basis. I'm hoping to shed a little information about this issue and what is and is not happening in regard to GMOs. Consider this: When polled, 90 percent of Americans surveyed want GMOs labeled--just simply labeled. But a recent vote in Congress--by OUR representatives--made sure we don't have the ability to even vote on whether we want this information. GMOs have been linked to allergies, infertility, and weight gain, among other things. I also find that public comment periods about GMO crops--and likely a host of other things--are not well known, so I want to pass along that information as well.
Please read some of the links and leave your comments. I want to keep a conversation going about this and other food topics. Thank you.
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