GMOs: An Introduction

SuperGreen

Since there have been several posts on GMO food in the last day or two, I thought I would post my saved introduction to GMO for new people who don't know about it.

Genetic engineering or genetic modification (GM) of food involves the laboratory process of artificially inserting genes into the DNA of food crops or animals.  The result is called a genetically modified organism, or GMO.  GMOs can be engineering with genes from bacteria, viruses, insetcs, animals, or even humans.  For example, conventional tomatoes are geneticall engineered with fish genes that prevent the tomato from bruising during transport.  GM corn and cotton are engineered to produce their own built-in pesticide in every cell. When bugs bite the plant, the poison splits open their stomach and kills them. Biotech companies (like Monsanto) claim that the pesticide, called Bt?produced from soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis?has a history of safe use, since organic farmers and others use Bt bacteria spray for natural insect control. Genetic engineers insert Bt genes into corn and cotton, so the plants do the killing.

The Bt-toxin produced in GM plants, however, is thousands of times more concentrated than natural Bt spray, is designed to be more toxic, has properties of an allergen, and unlike the spray, cannot be washed off the plant.

Moreover, studies confirm that even the less toxic natural bacterial spray is harmful. When dispersed by plane to kill gypsy moths in the Pacific Northwest, about 500 people reported allergy or flu-like symptoms. Some had to go to the emergency room.

The exact same symptoms are now being reported by farm workers throughout India, from handling Bt cotton. In 2008, based on medical records, the Sunday India reported, ?Victims of itching have increased massively this year . . . related to BT cotton farming.?

Farmers have been tricked by Monsanto into thinking GMO crops are the way to go due to their increased yields.  Corn and soy are heavily subsidized by the government, this allows farmers to produce these crops at below the cost of production.  They then send the GMO corn to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) to feed cows, chickens, and pigs.  Rent Food Inc., it shows the industrial corn (oops I mean "food") system very well.

However, GMO crops like corn are patented by Monsanto, so farmers cannot keep their own seeds to use the following year, they must buy more from Monsanto.  GMO pollen also blows in the wind and gets transferred to non-GMO farms.  Monsanto comes in and says "you have our property on your farm" and sue the farmer for patent infringement.  Monsanto has been ruining farmers who don't buy their products this way for years.

So not only are GMOs harmful to your health, they also ruin crop diversity and Monsanto is putting the very few remaining farmers (90% of soybeans in the US are GMO) out of business.  Very evil.  Hence my signature, HELL NO GMOs!!!

I think GMO does = the devil.  The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) called on ?Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.? They called for a moratorium on GM foods, long-term independent studies, and labeling. AAEM?s position paper stated, ?Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food,? including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. They conclude, ?There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation,? as defined by recognized scientific criteria. ?The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.?

PLEASE read this article, some of the things that have happened worldwide from GMO food is just disgusting, and I can't believe we're eating this stuff!

http://blogs.healthfreedomalliance.org/blog/2009/07/01/doctors-warn-avoid-genetically-modified-food-2/

Here's a whole bunch of articles on GM food concerns from the Organic and Non-GMO Report

http://www.non-gmoreport.com/genetically_modified_food_news/gm_food_concerns.php

Another article Alisha posted earlier this month, "Three Approved GMOs Linked to Organ Damage" http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19951.cfm

 

If you would like to avoid GMO food, please e-mail me at elaine dot dubin at gmail dot com and I'll send you the GMO Pocket Guide from the Center for Food Safety, and instructions on how to print it so you can keep it in your purse.

jennyk213

Thanks for posting all of this! 

Have you come across anything on whether the effects of eating GMO food are reversible.  Is reversible is the right word?  In one of the articles it talked about decreased fertility in animals.  I wonder if fertility increases when they stop eating GMO foods or is the damage done? 

jpeazybreezy

I think because there is so little research done on the effects of GMO foods, there would prob be even less info on what switching to a more wholesome diet would accomplish. Biologically speaking, your body recreates itself constantly, you are daily being remade from the skin in. So, I would think that except for the types of hormones that linger in your fat, which never goes away, the other nasties that find their way into your blood stream can be cleared out with good, healthful eating quite quickly. As for the hormones that linger in fat, birth control does that, and no matter how long you've exposed yourself to that, general knoledge says for the average woman, it's three months to get is suffienciently out of your system. That might be a good marker for how long the metoblic process takes for other ingested hormones.

sommerrayne

marking for future reference. Thx!