Genetically modified foods - like canola oil and Pasta Roni - are being deceptively pushed into our diets everyday. One example is "Round-up Ready" corn sold and manufactured by Monsanto. More about that here. Simply put, Monsanto makes Round-up, it's the liquid weed killer you can buy at your local nursery; you spray it on the leaves of the plants where it's absorbed and blocks an enzyme the plant needs to live.
Here's where I have serious issues with entire fields of "Round-up Ready" corn:
- The corn seeds are genetically modified in a violent way (a "gun" and high velocity is used to ram the new DNA into the cell).
- The plants are not the only thing that is getting sprayed with this chemical. It also lands onto and is absorbed by the soil. Where do the plants get their vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that make them good for us to eat? The sun and the soil. And here we are dumping hundreds of gallons of a toxic chemical on them week?
- Round-up then gets into the soil and mixes with the water used to irrigate the corn; the corn "drinks" up the water/chemical mixture where it then becomes part of the cellular structure of the plant.
- Humans are supposed to eat this "Round-up Ready" corn that has been grown in a bath of chemical herbicide and believe it's safe.
- (Does any of the chemical herbicide get into our aquifers and drinking water supply?)
According to Howstuffworks.com, Round-up contains glyphosphate - the main ingredient used to stop the plants from producing that enzyme. And, "most people react badly to glyphosphate (and other chemicals mixed with it) when ingested or applied to the skin, so you want to avoid any contact with the chemical."
So, Round-up (which contains glyphosphate) is sprayed on corn fields hundreds of gallons at a time. The corn ends up "drinking" the Round-up as it's mixed with water and/or rain. Glyphosphate ends up in the cellular structure of the corn (it could be said that the plant has "ingested" the glyphosphate). I go to the store, buy the "Round-up Ready" corn or a product made with it, take it home, and eat (ingest) it. Does anyone else see a problem here?
Oh, and Monsanto, Con-Agra and other big-business "leaders" in the field of genetically modifying our food supply pay big bucks for lawyers and lobbyists so that they don't have to label foods that have been genetically modified. That and the FDA's role is here.
Many people including genetic scientists and biologists agree that genetically modified foods need hard, rigorous study, and that they are unfit for human consumption.
Thanks to a recent lawsuit, internal FDA documents revealed "that agency scientists warned that GM foods might create toxins, allergies, nutritional problems, and new diseases that might be difficult to identify."
In addition, a panel of experts from the Royal Society of Canada reported that "it was "scientifically unjustifiable" to presume that GM foods are safe," and the UK's Royal Society reported in 2002 that "genetic modification could lead to unpredicted harmful changes in the nutritional state of foods."
One independent study published on GM foods being fed to animals "showed evidence of damage to the immune system and vital organs, and a potentially pre-cancerous condition." Two other studies "showed evidence of a potentially pre-cancerous condition." Moreover, seven other studies were designed specifically not to identify these details.
For a very good account of genetically modified foods, read Seeds of Deception.
3 comments:
I agree with almost everything that you write about. However, I’m not nearly as verbal as you. I do what I can to live right and do right by others. It is safe to say that I sleep peaceful at night.
I prefer to avoid getting into debates over war, abortion, politics and religion that does not mean that I am not interested in what someone might have to say about it; however I prefer to read such comments rather then listen to someone rant off. I feel it is rude to walk away when someone is talking, but no one is offended when the paper is simply folded over and left on the coffee table. I have an opinion about all of the above, I just feel that once you have your mind set and have your own beliefs, it’s really hard to listen to someone else’s point of view.
I suppose I first sent you a message to pull your attention in a different direction. It concerns me that you are so young and so jaded. I understand that with education comes this acute awareness of ones surroundings. However it does not mean that you can't look on the brighter side every now and then.
Hence why I asked you to focus on what what inside the box, rather than what came out of it.
Muse
I thank you for your concern about helping to make sure I still see hope as viable. I tried to assure you it is still alive and well within me. However, as I pointed out in my previous reply to you, "hope" is not the context that this blog is written in. It's written so that I may give commentary to very important news stories that the mainstream media continually ignores.
My purpose is to educate. For instance, after reading this post above on GM foods, an astute person would read more about genetically modified foods as well as begin to pay attention to GM food discussions in the media and start to question what the true ingredients in his or her food really are.
And, as I said before, in order to stop a bad habit (or evil) one must know what that bad habit is. Thomas Jefferson said that only timid men prefer the calm sea of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
So my advice to those reading my blog is this: read all you can; educate yourself and question everything, then go out into the world and help make change happen.
P.S. I also question how well you know who I am when you say you are concerned about my age and education...two things which do not appear in my blog or on my blog profile.
Unfortunately I am not an oracle; your picture is on your site and it does not take much on my part to come to a decision that you are a well-read person by the topics that you write about.
I’m looking forward to your next entry.
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