Frankenfoods......

I don’t like the concept of genetically modified foods (GMO’s). The concept is that foods have been engineered at their DNA to produce favorable traits. And that this process is synonymous with grafting or selective growing. It is not. First of all there are combinations that could never happen in nature. Like combining plant and animal genes. And since this is a new process (GMO’s hit the shelves in the 90’s) no one knows the long term effects of this practice. (Like the microwave. But that’s another build.) And the reasoning behind this is not so that the food will be tastier or healthier. NO… It is so that farmers can spray pesticides directly on the plants without damaging them. Come now? Has our selfishness really taken us to this level?

I remember some time in the 90’s I became really very ill anytime I ate a food that contained or was cooked in corn oil. I couldn’t be in a home where corn oil is being heated. No doctor could ever tell me what was up with my new allergy. I was just told they can develop over the years. Almost all this country’s commercial corn is a GMO. Now I wonder if all the new allergies I am developing have anything to do with GMO’s? Why I gotta be the canary?

So what does this mean for me? Buy organic as my wallet will allow. Some foods with thicker inedible skins don’t have to be organic. The pesticides will be discarded with the skin. But thin skinned foods like apples and grapes, definitely organic. And I clean all produce with vinegar. And try (yet again) to grow my own produce. We will figure something out about that one. Why not form a growing co-op where folks grow some things in their yards and swap with other home gardeners? Any takers on that one? Y’all live in the metro ATL?

Product that are known GMO’s are corn, cotton, canola, papaya, zucchini and soy. Y’all be careful. They aren’t required to put the fact that the product is a GMO on the label. Here are some links to fuel the outrage….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food
http://www.geneticsandhealth.com/2005/07/26/genetically-modified-food-pros-and-cons/
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/genetic-engineering
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/


Peace

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