Do you know what you’re eating?

by JM

Are you scared of your food?  Those fries looking a little too  much like teeth?  Does that yogurt look a little TOO quick-sand like?  Has your apple been poisoned by an evil witch?  Ok, ok, so that’s not what I meant.  Your food may not be outwardly scary, but boy oh boy, if you only knew more about what you’re eating!

I love food. I’m a novice foodie. I love to cook and I love to eat. But, underneath that, food makes me nervous. In particular, food’s origins and contents. There’s the traditional food that’s sprayed will sorts of stuff and grown using all types of fertilizers and grown in earth treated with a variety of chemicals. There’s processed food with who knows what in it, I certainly can’t pronounce most of it. There’s organic food which touts not having any chemicals involved at all from seeds to your table. And now there’s something (kinda) new.  Have you ever heard of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)?  Well let me learn you a little:

“A genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically engineered organism (GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.” – Wikipedia

Ok, so what exactly does that mean to the eaters of all that food?  It means people in labs went in and swapped out some DNA from your corn, your soy, etc with some new fancy genes.  Genes that make them bug resistant, or make them resistant to the latest insecticide/herbicide.

Wait!  These are awesome improvements, RIGHT?  I mean, who likes dealing with pests like bugs and weeds?  No one!

Unfortunately, there’s a trade-off to these “improvements”.   As the crops of corn and soy became resistant to pesticides and herbicides, it encouraged the greater use of these toxins.  Guess what, guys, plants and bugs have fast life cycles.  You know what that means?  They can adapt very quickly.  Enter the super bugs and super weeds.  So now the GMO manufacturers are like, well crap, what now?  I KNOW, we’ll use stronger pesticides and herbicides and make GMO seeds that can resist those too!  Huzzah!  So, now they’re using things like…Agent Orange.  You know, that highly toxic compound that our military used against the Vietnamese!  Because, that, my friends, is what I want on my food!  Stuff that left hundreds of thousands of people dead, and even more children born with birth defects.  Uh huh.  Yum.

So, ok, yeah, I can wash my fruits and veggies.  However, that will not get it all off AND that doesn’t negate the whole super bug/super weed effect.  Bad! Also, washing off your produce doesn’t help with the chemicals that were sucked up into the plants through the soil and water. This is called systemic absorption. The chemicals in the fertilizers and/or pesticides dissolved in the water and get used by the plant. This, actually, is a technique sometimes used on purpose. You might think you’re eating broccoli, but you really have little idea what else you might be ingesting!

Now, onto the GMO seeds themselves.  There have been numerous studies that show that GMOs cause cancer in lab rats.  You know why they use so many rats in labs, right?  Because they are a pretty good biological indicator of how humans will react.

They haven’t come up with any definitive evidence that GMOs cause cancer in people. They haven’t really been around long enough to run an appropriate test. The FDA/USDA allowed the use of GMOs based on the idea that well, there haven’t been any tests NOT proving it unsafe! Yet. But, given the steep increase in instances of cancer in the United States, something has to be going on. Maybe it’s not GMOs but I, for one, would like to at least have the option of eliminating potential causes. The main problem is, however, that GMOs are not labeled. There is no way you can know whether or not you are eating something created in a lab, unless you eat Organic. GMOs are required to be labeled in the EU, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and even China. China labels GMO foods and we don’t? Come on, keep up, United States!

Around 70% of processed food in our grocery stores contain one or more Genetically Modified ingredients. Over 86% of all corn grown in the US and over 93% of soy grown in the US is a GMO.  And these two crops are everywhere in your food.  And I mean EVERYWHERE.  There’s the obvious corn in your corn chips and tortillas.  There’s the still kind of obvious High Fructose Corn Syrup (which is a whole other story).  And then there’s the less obvious.  You know all those random ingredients at the end of all your processed food ingredients list?  Almost every single one of those can be and has been synthesized using GM corn.

It seems like there’s no escape!

At this point, as I stated before, the only real way to know that you aren’t eating GM ingredients is to eat Organic food.

The USDA definition of Organic includes:

“Organic crops. The USDA organic seal verifies that irradiation, sewage sludge, synthetic fertilizers, prohibited pesticides, and genetically modified organisms were not used.

Organic livestock. The USDA organic seal verifies that producers met animal health and welfare standards, did not use antibiotics or growth hormones, used 100% organic feed, and provided animals with access to the outdoors.

Organic multi-ingredient foods. The USDA organic seal verifies that the product has 95% or more certified organic content. If the label claims that it was made with specified organic ingredients, you can be sure that those specific ingredients are certified organic.”

That’s right, no GMOs!  

Also, send a message to Tyson, Cargill, Monsanto, and don’t buy their food!  Sure they have tons of money and power in DC, lobbying for their mutant food. But if no one is buying it, maybe they’ll get the message!  Hey, the people of the United States want to know what they’re eating….maybe it’s time to treat them right.

You know those countries I mentioned that have required GMO labeling? Well a bunch of those countries have serious restrictions on or have banned some if not all GM products. And you know what?  U.S. Companies that sell overseas, provide those countries with the non-GMO food.  That’s right, it appears that the people of the US are getting the sh1t end of the stick.

So, take back your rights to full disclosure regarding the food that you eat! You could be helping yourself and your future generations reduce their risks of cancer. Or, at least it’ll be in your hands now.