I’ve been
hearing a lot about GMOs and seeing labels on products saying “NON GMO
PROJECT”. I’m sure I’m not the only
one wondering what a GMO is so I gathered information from many of the top
sources and put it all in one location just for you!
Sooo…
What is
GMO?
What do we
need to know?
Should we
like it or hate it?
Are GMOs the
answer to world hunger or is it causing a greater issue?
What is a GMO?
GMOs or
Genetically Modified Organisms and have been around for centuries, yet, many of
us are just beginning to see and hear the words GMO. Organizations are starting to form to help make people
aware of GMOs and inform us what foods contain and do not contain GMOs.
GMOs allow
us to genetically enhance (GE) organisms by selectively breeding, mutate,
delete, or add genetic material to another organism to achieve the desired
result. Organisms include plants,
animals, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
The organism’s genetic material is artificially manipulated through GE
by copying the genes of one organism and inserting the genes into another
organism. This is how we are able
to create unique blends of organisms. We genetically engineer organisms
because we want what cannot not occur in nature or through traditional
crossbreeding methods.
It is estimated that 70% of processed foods in America contain at least
one GM ingredient.
GMOs fall into one of two categories:
Cisgenic
modification is similar to what occurs in nature. This GMO swaps genes among closely related, sexually
compatible organisms but with far greater precision.
Transgenic
modification mixes and matches genes from radically divergent species.
Medicinal products such as insulin, blood
factor VIII and human growth hormone were formerly produced from humans and
animals and some carried a slight risk of transmitting disease. Now, with GM
technology, pure and safe equivalents can be produced.
This may sound like an answer to world hunger
and many other issues the world faces.
But is it logical to use this as an option if evidence proves that it
hurts us in the long run?
The biotech
industry promises that GMOs offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced
nutrition, and other benefits, which have all been proven to be
false. Much
research and evidence has proven GMOs to cause health problems, environmental
damage and violation of farmers’ and consumers’ rights.
EXAMPLES
OF GMOs
-Sweeter
corn and tomatoes
-Delay of
ripening until after picking
-Fruits and
vegetables that produce their own pesticides and are resistant to herbicide
-Virus resistant
foods
-Increase
foods nutrition content
-Extended
shelf life
-Purebred
dogs at the park
-Your
neighbor's prize rosebush
-Dogs bred
to be more docile pets
-Beefier
cattle
-Larger
turkey for Thanksgiving dinner
Almost all
of the corn, soybeans, and cotton grown in America is genetically modified. In the near future we may see salmon
that is genetically modified to grow faster, resist disease, and able to
tolerate various temperatures, which will allow them to grow larger.
LABELING
Wanting to know
what we are putting into our bodies, people have protested to require companies
to label products or seeds containing GMOs.
The food
industry, companies that genetically engineer seeds and the FDA (Food and Drug
Administration) have fought against labeling laws because they say GMOs are safe and
labels are misleading.
Vermont is
the first state to require labeling of GMOs. Connecticut and Maine recently
passed laws that would require food manufacturers to reveal GE ingredients on
product packaging, but those laws won't go into effect until other states adopt
similar regulations. Sixty four countries are currently labeling GE foods.
This includes the European Union and China.
The same companies that fight GMO labeling in America, label
GMOs in the foods they sell overseas. We do this for other countries, yet America has spent over $100M to keep Americans from knowing what's in our food.
Biotech companies and the food industry say that such
labeling would be expensive and pointless because GE foods are safe. Others say that labeling such products is extremely cheap,
costing producers approximately one penny per day. Producers change their labels all of the time and don't
increase the costs to their customers.
There was a time when foods did not have nutrition labels
and now many of us use this information every day. Knowing GMOs are in our food will make as much of a
difference as knowing the nutrition in our food. Many people may even want to eat GM foods. Once people know what
is in their food, they can then make the choice to avoid GMOs or not.
The long-term impacts of GMOs are unknown, and once released into the
environment these organisms cannot be recalled. There must be a reason the food industry is so against
labeling GMO products!
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
More than 80% of all GMOs grown in the world are engineered
for herbicide tolerance. This has
caused the use of toxic herbicides like Roundup to increase 15x’s since GMOs
were introduced. Between 1996 and
2008, US farmers sprayed an extra 383 million pounds of herbicide on GMO crops. GMO crops are also responsible for
“super weeds” and “super bugs” which can only be killed with even more toxic
poisons. Some crops are even genetically
engineered to be immune to herbicide so that farmers can destroy weeds without
killing their cash crops.
GMOs cross-pollinate and their seeds can travel
and because of this, it is impossible to fully clean up the contaminated gene
pool. We must think about our children and grandchildren because the potential
impact of this will impact the health of future generations.
THE ENVIRONMENT
GMOs harm birds, insects, amphibians, marine ecosystems, and
soil organisms. They reduce bio-diversity, pollute water resources, and are
unsustainable. Roundup herbicide
has been shown to cause birth defects in amphibians, embryonic deaths and
endocrine disruptions, and organ damage in animals even at very low doses. It must be doing the same to us if it is doing this to animals!
GMO pollution will outlast the effects of global warming and
nuclear waste. We must learn more about the
potential long-term impacts of genetically modified plants on the environment
before mass-producing them.
ARE GMOs SAFE?
Many developed nations do not consider GMOs to be safe. More than 60 countries have restrictions
or bans against the production and sale of GMOs. America does not ban or
restrict GMOs because our government has approved GMOs based on studies
conducted by the same corporations that created them and profit from their
sale.
The very
process of creating a GM plant can result in new toxins, allergens, carcinogens, and nutritional deficiencies. The protein products of introduced genes may be toxic or allergenic to
certain individuals who suffer from allergies to various foods such as, nuts,
wheat, eggs, or dairy products.
The FDA says
the foods they have evaluated to this point have not been any more likely to
cause an allergic or toxic reaction than foods from traditionally bred plants.
Yet, the FDA
is not required to approve genetically engineered crops for consumption.
In the medical industry, the American Academy of
Environmental Medicine (AAEM) asks doctors to prescribe GMO free diets. Animal
studies show organ damage, gastrointestinal and immune system disorders,
accelerated aging, and infertility. Human studies show that GM foods leave
material behind, which cause long-term problems.
Here are
some of the health problems arose after 1996:
-The
percentage of Americans with three or more chronic illnesses jumped from 7% to
13% in just 9 years.
-Food
allergies skyrocketed.
-Disorders
such as autism, reproductive disorders, digestive problems, and others are on
the rise.
Independent scientists are proving that industry-funded research is
designed to avoid finding problems, and how findings are distorted or denied.
Scientists
who discover problems with GMOs have suffered greatly for releasing negative
findings. Such scientists have
been fired, threatened, or denied funding. The media has attempted to expose
such issues but they are often censored.
ORGANIC FOODS
In the 1990s, the USDA organic standards prohibited any GM ingredients. Though, this does not include GE foods. Therefore, purchasing organic foods is the safest bet if foods are not labeled as being a GMO food.
In the 1990s, the USDA organic standards prohibited any GM ingredients. Though, this does not include GE foods. Therefore, purchasing organic foods is the safest bet if foods are not labeled as being a GMO food.
Nongmoproject.org
Takepart.com
Hse.gov.uk
Responsibletechnology.org
Labelgmos.org
Learn.genetics.utah.edu
Gizmodo.com
Huffingtonpost.com
Motherjones.com
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