Genetically Modified Foods (or GMO’s) make up 80 % of the American packaged food supply. GMO’s also are in a majority of the feed given to farm animals including farm raised fish.
GMOs are crops or animals whose DNA has been altered to add traits to help growth or product yield. These traits are deemed desirable by the producers of the crops or animals. But these traits do not enhance the health benefits of the food or meat for humans.
What exactly is a GMO? Simply said, the scientists have taken a toxin for instance, and inserted it into corn DNA to make it insect-resistant. So, when the bug tries to eat the corn it dies and the corn continues to grow. This is a GMO corn. The scientists also take an herbicide called glyphosate and add that to the seeds used to grow GMO crops. Then, when the farmer sprays weed killer on the crops, the crop doesn’t die but all the other weeds around it do. This is a GMO plant. The alterations make it easier to grow the crop. But, when we eat the food that grows, we are also eating the toxin or the herbicide also. GMOs have actually have never been tested on humans so the outcome is unknown. So, GMO? Genetically Modified Organism or Guess My Outcome. We just don’t know, so why risk it?
Some of the health concerns surrounding GMO’s include:
- both GMOs and the chemicals used to grow them have been shown to cause rapid tumor growth in animals
- the pigs fed a combination of GMO soy and corn suffer more frequent severe stomach inflammation and enlargement of the uterus than those who eat a non-GMO diet
- animal studies have shown allergies, sterility, and birth defects from genetically engineered soy
What can you do to avoid GMO’s?
- sticking with certified organic, certified non-GMO verified, and locally-grown foods that are produced naturally without biotechnology
- purchase corn from your local farmers’ market and make sure you ask if it’s grown from Monsato corn seeds or if they are non-GMO corn.
- avoid all non-organic foods that list soy and soy flour as ingredients
- reach out to your government and require labeling of food. If it’s not labeled, you just don’t know what you are eating.
Today GMOs make up more than 90% of the corn, soybean, cotton, sugar beet and canola grown in the U.S. In the year 2000 20% of the corn in the US was GMO. Today, it’s 90%. In the year 2000 55% of the US soy crops were GMO. Today that number is 95% of the US soy crop. Look at labels – forms of soy, corn, and sugar are in almost all packaged foods in the US which means GMO’s are in the food too.
Other countries require labeling of GMO’s or have strict regulations regarding GMO’s in the food supply. More than 60 countries including the European Union require labeling or stricter regulations of GMOs. Some countries have banned them entirely. So instead of Guess My Outcome…..it’s recommended to avoid GMO’s for now because it is a guessing game about your health.