Unfortunately, most people are unaware of what GMO's are and how deeply infiltrated they are in our food supply. Currently, approximately 1/3 of U.S. crops grown are GMO and ten percent of world crops are GMO. The harmful effects of GMO crops were known way back in the 90's. A Dr. Arpad Pusztai, who was the top GMO researcher in 1999, yes, 1999, was a scientist affiliated with the prestigious Rowett Institute in Scotland. His assignment was to work on a protocol to test GMO safety. He did his job so well, that in fact he found out that GMO's affected rats adversely in many areas, such as: expediating cancerous cell growth, causing smaller organ growth, and damaging their immune systems. In summary, his studies proved a link between the ill effects of GMO foods upon rats and the projected ill effects on the human population. The ill effects of GMO's can be attributed to the chaotic, and unpredictable system of genetic engineering itself. When Dr. Pusztai let the proverbial "cat out of the bag," he was fired from his position of 35 years. Any person in the know, would scratch their head and wonder why corporate "thugs" would hire a person to research GMO's and then let him go when he found out that it would not be such a good idea to genetically modify our food system. However, many people nowadays appear to be devoid of deductive reasoning or logic. The reasoning behind corporations interested in propagating such technology can be proven to be null and void. For instance, the main reasoning behind developing GMO crops can be surmised in three basic arenas: to increase crop yields, reduce costs for farmers to farm, and to use less herbicides/pesticides. In reality, crops such as soybeans, GMO crops vs. non GMO soybeans have decreased in yield by 20%, regarding reducing a farmer's cost to grow a crop, "terminator" technology has been developed. Self destructing, or terminator seeds, are sold to the farmer and if they fail to produce a yield, it is tough luck for the farmer as they become sterile after one growth cycle and the farmer is at the mercy of the huge multi-corporate conglomerate to buy more. Crop failure is rampant in parts of India due to "terminator seeds" thus causing many farmers to commit suicide if their crops fail. This is due to the fact that they were duped! The last argument by big corporations in their defence of GMO seeds is that they utilize less pesticides to maintain the crops. This is another boldface lie as USDA data has shown an increase in pesticide usage from 1996-2003 in the U.S. alone.
It is important that one knows how to defend themselves against this corporate onslaught of greed and lack of morality. One defense mechanism is to be able to identify GMO foods. Beware of products containing High Fructose Corn Syrup as this product is in approximately seventy percent of mass market produced foods. There are also some varieties of Zucchini, Crookneck Squash and Papayas from Hawaii that are grown from GMO seeds. Rennet from hard cheeses can contain GMO's as well as NutraSweet, also known as Aspartame, which is a sweetener in many foods. Unfortunately, due to labeling laws, it is not required by companies to list GMO ingredients on the label. Fortunately, produce stickers can give the intelligent consumer a clue. For instance, most produce will have a four digit PLU, organic will have a five digit PLU proceeded by a nine and GMO produce will have five numbers proceeded by an eight.
The key is to become educated and vigilant and to fight for laws that are for a clean and healthy food supply. Avoid processed foods and eat local and organic as often as you can. Also, please check out the following sites for more detailed information regarding GMO free food lists and more in depth facts regarding GMO's in general: www.responsibletechnology.org, and www.organicconsumers.org.
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