GMO's, California's Prop 37, and Your Right to Know

I thought it was time to dust off the blog and put food thoughts out there once more. Rather than recipes, I want to take some time to write about Genetically Modified Organisms, California's Prop 37 where voters will decide on November 6 on whether they want to require products containing GMOs be labeled as such, and the companies who are spending money to defeat it. At least, that's where I want to start.

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.

Say "NO" to the King of GMO

I've been stuck inside for two days because of work and rain, so there is no planting news to report (is that a collective sigh across the Internet I'm hearing?). The good news is that in the world of food, one is never lacking a topic. Today I opened a small weekly, The Auburn Villager and found a column by Bita Bullet (a pseudonym) talking about rising food prices and the crisis that continued increases pose for America. Food crisis. This is a common thread in articles and discussions these past few days.

My husband and I were looking at news photos after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and one of the photographs showed empty shelves at the market. Whether snowstorm or tsunami, natural disasters seem to trigger a similar response: everyone heads to the store so they can stock up on essentials. Food crisis.

I open my inbox today and see a newsletter from the Organic Consumers Association, and inside this newsletter, I read more about food crises, or perhaps how to avert crisis. The first article contained an excerpt and link to a United Nations report titled "Agroecology and the Right to Food." If you follow the link, you can read the full report for yourself, but let me give you a few of the findings. Implementing agroecological techniques, or environmentally sustainable techniques, in developing countries increased food production by as much as 79 percent. According to the report, such practice "also puts agriculture on the path of sustainability by delinking food production from the reliance on fossil energy (oil and gas)" (page 13) and allows food producers to better respond to challenges brought about by climate change.

This brings me to the next article and the reason for the post. There are also two articles about Monsanto and genetically modified crops in the OCA newsletter. The first article is urging readers to go a Month without Monsanto, and it continues by saying how difficult a task this may be, particularly if you don't already eat organic foods. GMO crops, of which Monsanto is one of the largest producers, if not the largest, proliferate in corn, soy, cotton, sugar beets, and alfalfa. OCA is urging people to contact their U.S. representatives to fight for truth in labeling so that consumers know when they are getting GMO foods, which is expanding into animal products if a company called AquaBounty is approved for the first GMO animal destined for our dinner tables.

What's the harm? Well, the truth is, no one really knows because independent scientific studies are few and far between. There is a suggestion that GMO's contribute to food allergens, but we don't really know. We do know that GMO products are hard to control, infecting organic crops, and sending small farmers into court if a renegade Monsanto seed winds up in their fields. Hmmm. What's wrong with that picture.

OCA is asking everyone to join in the fight and create a Million Against Monsanto Chapter for his or her Congressional District. Follow the link for more information.

It's easy to get discouraged when fighting against multi-billion dollar, multi-national corporations, but take heart with this example from Fast Food Nation: "In the Spring of 2000, McDonad's informed Lamb Weston and the J.R. Simplot Company that it would no longer purchase frozen french fries made from genetically engineered potatoes. As a result, the two large processors told their growers to stop planting genetically engineered potatoes--and sales of Monsanto's New Leaf, the nation's only biotech potato, instantly plummeted." (Schlosser 269)

That's because Americans said "No to GMO."