Food For Thought: GMO or Non-GMO. Which Are You?

The foods found in our drawers, cupboards, and refrigerators, say a lot about us. One glance communicates our free time, our love or disdain of sports, our food preferences, and more importantly: whether we have strong views about non-organic foods versus organic foods. In other words, do we care what we are eating and applying to our bodies, and if we don't care, what does that say about us? And are we able to correlate the apathy of our choices into why we are fat, diseased, and unhappy?

As one would expect, non-organic proponents argue against organic products because they cost more, and allege it is inconclusive they are better for human health. Organic proponents have equally hard-line stances on the issue. One of the main points of contention has to do with GMO versus non-GMO ingredients. A GMO is an organism whose genome has been altered in order to favor the expression of desired physiological traits, or the output of desired biological products. Monsanto has said pointedly that it is the FDA’s job to discern if GMOs are dangerous to human health, which is a bit droll, and certainly rhetorical, since Monsanto has people pulling the FDA’s strings. But what of Mr. Obama? Is he also on the Monsanto payroll? Regrettably, yes.

After his victory in the 2008 election, Obama filled key posts with Monsanto people, in federal agencies that wield tremendous force in food issues, the USDA and the FDA: At the USDA - the director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Roger Beachy, a former director of the Monsanto Danforth Center. The deputy commissioner of the FDA, the new food-safety-issues czar, the infamous Michael Taylor, former vice-president for public policy for Monsanto. Taylor had been instrumental in getting approval for Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone. As commissioner of the USDA, Iowa governor, Tom Vilsack. Vilsack had set up a national group, the Governors' Biotechnology Partnership, and had been given a Governor of the Year Award by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, whose members include Monsanto. The Agriculture Trade Representative, who would push GMOs for export, Islam Siddiqui, a former Monsanto lobbyist. The counsel for the USDA, Ramona Romero, who had been corporate counsel for another biotech giant, DuPont. The new head of the USAID, Rajiv Shah, who had previously worked in key positions for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a major funder of GMO agriculture research. And Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton,who once worked for the Rose law firm, which was counsel to Monsanto. Obama nominated Elena Kagan to the US Supreme Court. Kagan, as federal solicitor general, had previously argued for Monsanto in the Monsanto v. Geertson seed case before the Supreme Court.

The corruption is deep and there is no pulling it out by the roots. It is up to US, the consumers, to decide how to live, what to eat, and what to apply to our bodies. If we do nothing, we and our families will suffer the consequences. That's sobering food for thought, eh? The bottom line: Corporations are in business for the money, not to worry about what is good for people. When discussing corporations such as Monsanto, it is THEM vs. US.

Genetically modified foods were first approved for human consumption in the United States in 1995. The FDA and the EPA have been accused of being under the control of corporations, such as Monsanto, which has its fingers in a whole lot of pies. You know things are awry when people high up in our government have or had ties to Monsanto, including Donald Rumsfeld, Clarence Thomas, and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture – Anne Veneman  (http://www.redicecreations.com/specialreports/monsanto.html). Here is another organically inclined site that addresses the Monsanto ties. http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

Techniques used to produce genetically modified organisms include cloning and recombinant DNA technology. The primary applications of GMOs are in the areas of agriculture and biomedical research. GMOs offer numerous benefits to society, including increased crop yields and the development of novel therapeutic agents to prevent and treat a wide range of human diseases. Concerns surrounding the use of GMOs include risks posed to human health and the generation of insecticide-resistant “superbugs.” Mom to her kids: "You kids get in here and have a bowl of pesticide laden cereal. No sense going off to school without a good hearty breakfast!"

Listen: the majority of people do not care what they eat or apply to their bodies. One blog is not adequate to address the problems with our foods, nor tackle the huge list of toxins in our personal care products. For habitual label readers, ingredients matter. There are fairly organically inclined stores out there, such as Natural Grocers (http://www.naturalgrocers.com/), Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/), New Seasons (https://www.newseasonsmarket.com/), and Trader Joe’s (http://www.traderjoes.com/). 

But even within these consumer friendly stores are many non-organic products. Ticking time bombs, if you will. But let's be honest: short of making your own lotions, shampoos, cosmetics, and buying seeds from a known organic source, the odds are you are buying products with GMOs. Ninety percent of all human beings have GMOs in their bodies. You aren't necessarily doomed, but your body has been a dumping ground for years, and it takes time to detox. Eat more cilantro. The  produce grown in your garden, the nut butters, juices you made in your juicer, and jams you put away for the winter, are not 100% free of problems and could potentially negatively impact your health. Like give you cancer, for example. But at least the risk would be smaller than not caring. It is no wonder obesity is a major problem in America, (as well as diabetes). We should care, but most do not.

Finding truly organic companies is not easy. Shop in stores with only organic produce. Read labels. Buy juices without cane sugar. And if the item whose label you are examining does not mention organic sugar, it isn’t organic sugar. Sugar is ubiquitous.  Juices, such as carrot juice, have a lot of natural sugars. There are heroes out there. The Rigoni di Asiago family, in northern Italy, for example, makes excellent products without added sugars. http://rigonidiasiago-usa.com/our-products/fiordifrutta/ 

Despite all the bad out there, there are still companies that care about your health. Lakewood Juices is one of them.  http://www.lakewoodjuices.com/ Food for Life is another. They make a wonderful line of gluten free breads and cereals (http://www.foodforlife.com/), with the engaging Biblical verse: Ezekial 4:9. "But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself. . . .  Coconut oil, and coconut juice are big sellers. Dr. Bronner has an organic coconut oil, as well as a line of personal care products. Here is a review of coconut products, for those of you who are not in the familiar with its benefits. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/coconut-oil-benefits_n_1625631.html

Take a look in your house and read the ingredients labels of the foods, and other products you use. It will tell you a lot about where you’re at, and might provide the epiphany you need to reinvent, and rethink your diet, and lifestyle. Cheers!