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Sophie Uliano, A Simply Gorgeous Life:

Genetically Modified food (AKA GMO food,) really annoys me, especially in this country where we increasingly have a hard time telling whether we’re eating GMO foods or not, because of commercial interests. Unlike Europe, food labels in the US are not required to be honest about whether or not they use food from manipulated seeds. Huh? So they’re telling me that I don’t have a right to know what I’m eating?

I think we all have the right to know, especially with a giant global food experiment, which by the way, is still an experiment because the effects of eating these foods has not been adequately tested for it’s effects on human health. Guess what? It’s now estimated that almost 75% of all processed food in the U.S. is genetically modified. So walk through the aisles of a sterile mega mart and that’s what you’re dealing with. I’d rather scrub mud off my Farm-Fresh-To-You veggies all day long, than subsist on a diet of foods that have been manipulated by Cargill or Monsanto.

Genetic engineering enables scientists to create plants, animals and micro-organisms by manipulating genes in a way that does not occur naturally. These genetically modified organisms can spread through nature and interbreed with natural organisms, thereby contaminating non ‘GE’ environments and future generations in an unforeseeable and uncontrollable way. Their release is ‘genetic pollution’ and is a major threat because GMOs cannot be recalled once released into the environment.

The big issue for me is that by not fighting for our right to know – and the way we can fight is to actively avoid GMO foods by only buying USDA certified organic food. By not casting our vote for clean/safe food, we risk losing our freedom. The mega seed companies have modified and patented their GMO seeds, which basically means that they’re patenting our life source.

Watch this video by one of my heroes, Shiva Vandana, who is a huge environmental activist, she eloquently, if not poetically, explains the real problems inherent in GMO food:

So what about you, me and our precious kids? What are the actual health risks involved? When researching for The Gorgeously Green Diet, I spent a lot of time digging through studies and reports on this controversial subject – controversial because of the lobbyists working on behalf of the mega seed companies. Suffice to say that there are significant health risks, which I’m not prepared to take with my family. If you have kids with suppressed immune systems or who suffer from allergies, I strongly recommend steering clear in every which way you can.

So to answer my original question: Is GMO food dangerous? It could be – for the future of our food security, it is very dangerous. For our health – the jury’s out, but I happen to think it smells a bit fishy, so I’ll try not to include my family in this giant experiment.

If you want to do something about this rather alarming situation, I highly recommend watching The Future Of Food and getting family and friends to do the same. You can also visit Say No To GMOs

Tip: If you want to avoid GMO produce, look for the green & white USDA certified organic sticker.

Here are the most common genetically modified crops. You can also visit Healthy Child Healthy World and read their tips on how to avoid GMO foods.

• Soybeans – Gene taken from bacteria (Agrobacterium sp. strain CP4) and inserted into soybeans to make them more resistant to herbicides.
• Corn - There are two main varieties of GE corn. One has a Gene from the lepidoptera pathogen microorganism Bacillus thuringiensis inserted to produce the Bt toxin, which poisons insect pests. There are also several events which are resistant to various herbicide. Present in high fructose corn syrup and glucose/fructose which is prevalent in a wide variety of foods in America.
• Rapeseed/Canola – Gene added/transferred to make crop more resistant to herbicide.
• Sugar beets – Gene added/transferred to make crop more resistant to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide.
• Rice – Genetically modified to resist herbicides; not currently available for human consumption, but trace amounts of one GM long-grained variety (LLRICE601) may have entered the food supply in the USA and Europe.[3]More recently, golden rice, a different strain of rice has been engineered to produce significantly higher levels of beta carotene, which the body uses to produce vitamin A. Golden rice is still undergoing testing to determine if it is safe for human consumption.[4]
• Cotton – engineered to produce Bt toxin. The seeds are pressed into cottonseed oil, which is a common ingredient in vegetable oil and margarine.
• Dairy – Cows injected with GE hormone rBGH/rBST; possibly fed GM grains and hay.
• Aspartame/AminoSweet – Addictive and dangerous artificial sweetener commonly found in chewing gum and “diet” beverages. A building block of aspartame, the amino acid phenylalanine, is usually manufactured with the aid of genetically modified E. coli bacteria. This process has been used industrially in the USA for many years.
• Farm Raised Salmon
• Squash (Zucchini) Resistance to watermelon, cucumber and zucchini yellow mosaic viruses. Contains coat protein genes of viruses.
• Sweet Peppers Resistance to virus. Contains coat protein genes of the virus.

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Editor’s Note: This is part of our Blog of the Week series where we ask our network of bloggers to write about a hot topic from our community and then we choose one post to feature.

Other MUST READ posts on this topic include:

• GMO Toxin Found In The Blood Of Unborn Babies from The AllergyKids Foundation
• Why Isn't GE Labeling Mandated In The US? from Two Dancing Buckeyes
• True Food Now from The Green Mom Review
• Green Tip - Avoid Genetically Engineered Food from My Green Sid
• The ABCs Of GMOs from Spoonfed
• GMOs: We Have The Right To Know from Groovy Green Livin'
• This Is My Ruckus...The One About GMOs At Least from Becoming Sarah
• GMOs And The Organic Company Food Chain from Mkokopelli
• How To Avoid Genetically Modified And Engineered Food from Dagmar Bleasdale

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