Teach me about GMO's

littlemommy1

I know they are bad, but how bad?

treesapplaud

We'll see in about 50 years. Billions of people are taking part in the study.

littlemommy1

I've been buying more organic meats and produce. I grow most of our vegetables in my garden, but no corn.  I know we will be offered free sweet corn, but not sure if it is non GMO.  If not, how do I politely decline the offer? DH's dad always gives us some...but I know it's been sprayed plenty. 

When I told DH that I didn't want to eat it when he gives it to us, he laughed at me and said "OMG it's FREE. We have to eat it!" 

Lisa78

The Future of Food is a good documentary that looks at GMOs. You can watch it for free online at http://www.thefutureoffood.com/. 

littlemommy1

Thanks I'll have to check that out!

Supergreen, do you have anything to add? 

Alisha_A

Freaky deaky.

There have been a number of pretty in-depth discussions if you go back through the posts in here. Unfortunately the search function here doesn't work but the titles are obvious.

Basically:

1. Health concerns. GM foods have shown seriously concerning results in testing from organ damage to uptake in the digestive tract.

2. Lack of control. GM foods pollinate with non-GM foods. This, along with lack of labeling, means we can't even choose not to have it, nor can we control where it goes.

3. Creation of superweeds and chemical concerns. GM foods are often 'roundup ready'. Long story short, GM crops encourage super weeds, much like excess antibiotics have created super germs, and continue a cycle of dependence on toxic chemicals.

4. Also continue to promote the unsustainable trend of monoculture. The ability of GM foods to spread also means it takes over and wipes out other varieties of plants. Watch the Future of Food. Very sad all the varieties of corn being lost in Mexico.

5. Inferior. Many GM crops have been sold to poor farmers, who have ended up with worse results, and great losses. See India bt cotton

SuperGreen

Agree with Alisha, freaky deaky.  The OP wasn't "what are GMOs?" so I'll skip my explanation.  If you want it let me know, I am more than happy to give it.  Watch "The Future of Food" for a great primer on GMOs.  It's an excellent film. As far as how bad they are:

Health 

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

This study ?clearly underlines adverse impacts on kidneys and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, as well as different levels of damages to heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system,? reported Gilles-Eric S?ralini, a molecular biologist at the University of Caen.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19951.cfm

 

Impact on Farmers:

Farmers have been tricked by Monsanto into thinking GMO crops are the way to go.  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.

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.  And of course Monsanto sets the prices, which puts farmers in debt to them for years.  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. 

littlemommy1

How can we avoid them? I read an article that ALL sugar beets in the U.S. will soon be GM. That's over half of all sugar in the country. Think of how much sugar hides in everyday food, like ketchup. 

We were just given 20 quarts of sweet corn, which is now in our freezer. I'm scared to eat it, especially because I'm breastfeeding. DH doesn't understand. He sees it as free food, so we should not waste it.

 I feel like I'm going to be paranoid about EVERYTHING we eat from now on. Oh the anxiety! I watched most of that Future of Food show, and saw how evil this company is. So sad. What's even more sad is that our government allows this crap to happen, and allows the future (children) of our country to eat poison. 

jolata

littlemommy1:

How can we avoid them? I read an article that ALL sugar beets in the U.S. will soon be GM. That's over half of all sugar in the country. Think of how much sugar hides in everyday food, like ketchup. 

Buy organic or look for cane sugar on the label

This has some good info

http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Genetically-Modified-Foods

and take action to have foods labeled as GMO

http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=15178631

SuperGreen

I have a purse-sized non-GMO buying guide, e-mail me at elaine dot dubin at gmail dot com if you'd like it.  If it's certified organic, meaning it has the USDA Organic seal, then it is not GMO.  Even products that say "made with organic ingredients" are not GMO. For example, "made with organic ingredients" means 70% of the product must be organic, but 100% are non-GMO. 

For non-organic products, avoid The Big Four: Corn, Soy, Sugar, and Canola.  If a label says "sugar," it's almost certainly GMO beet sugar. Buy organic or product that specifically says "cane sugar."  The majority of the sweet corn, like what you have in your freezer, is not GMO so I think you're fine.  It will be a hybrid variety, which means it was selectively bred, but is not genetically engineered to withstand Roundup, or to kill bugs that munch on it.  90% of the corn currently grown in the U.S. is GMO, and is used in processed foods and to feed to livestock.  Sweet corn from your local farmer's market should be fine.

Avoid all non-organic soy and canola products too, which includes their oils.  The brand Spectrum makes affordable non-GMO canola oil.  If you read the label on any processed food, I gurantee it will include either soy or canola oil or "vegetable oil," which given the cheap vegetable choices will be soy or canola.  Buy organic soy sauce.

ETA:  The sweet corn in your freezer was probably sprayed though.  If it still has the husks on, personally I would eat it.  I would scrub the husks throughly before you remove them (your hands or knife can move the pesticides to the corn ear inside) and rinse the ears throughly.

TPOX

SuperGreen:

 For example, "made with organic ingredients" means 70% of the product must be organic, but 100% are non-GMO. 

For non-organic products, avoid The Big Four: Corn, Soy, Sugar, and Canola.  If a label says "sugar," it's almost certainly GMO beet sugar. Buy organic or product that specifically says "cane sugar."  The majority of the sweet corn, like what you have in your freezer, is not GMO so I think you're fine.

  Buy organic soy sauce.

I love learning from you!  These are all things I didn't know or hadn't thought of.  Good to know the farmers market sweet corn is generally safe - I felt like as idiot asking the farmer about it last weekend, so it's nice to know I can avoid that conversation in the future!