GMO's: What the heck are these things?!?!

Hey There!
This week I am doing something a little different, I don't have a recipe to share, mainly out of sheer laziness to take any pictures of any of my food. So I thought I would discuss a hot topic - GMOs.

**Warning** I'm about to share some low-down, dirty truth with you so if you like to live in bliss of the food we consume, this is not the post for you! OK I'm about to get FIRED UP!

As most of you know GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms or they are know as GE, genetically engineered. The technical definition is "the result of a laboratory process of taking genes from one species and inserting them into another in an attempt to obtain a desirable trait or characteristic." The most common application with food is by taking the DNA from the weed killer Round-up and inserting it into the DNA of soybeans (most common), corn and cotton, just to name a few, as well as a slew of other edible plants. The desirable outcome being a plant that is resistant to weeds and pests, has less grow time, can withstand droughts, and produces bigger and more of its fruit than an organic or ancestral plant would yield.  Scientist are also able to enrich the plants with nutrients and vitamins. (Wait, I thought vegetables were already high in those things) The idea being we can produce more food and solve hunger, and malnutrition!! Woo Hoo U-S-A, U-S-A. Too bad thats not what they are doing.

So what are they doing?

Using the GMO's as filler in processed foods, (literally almost all processed foods contain GMOs, I kid you not!)  and not just that, approximately 75% of non organic food is GM! And so you think only buying organic vegetables is safe enough? Think again because 98% of the soybean crops are used as feed for livestock. Cows eats the feed, you eat the cows, you are consuming GMOs.

So what's all the fuss about? Are GMO's safe?

Who the hell knows!

Genetic modification started in the 1980's with tobacco being the first plant to successfully have a transgenic characteristic; it was anti-biotic resistant. Then cotton, and then the herbicide- immune soybean and other seeds of plants we all consume today. This was only 1995 folks. The issue is there hasn't been any long-term health studies conducted to find out what happens when humans consume GMOs. This is relatively new stuff and the majority of it is being produced by one biotech company, Monsanto. I like to think of Monsanto's scientist like Ashton Kutcher in Butterfly Effect. You can't play God and you can't start mixing shit together that isn't suppose to be together or you'll end up blacking out, blowing up your neighbor's mailbox and next thing you know you're a quadriplegic, who doesn't get the girl and you'll just wish you never started fucking with stuff to begin with. Just let life do life, yo!

**A little background on Monsanto: for those of you that don't know too much about Monsanto this is the same company that produced Agent Orange in the Vietnam War and saccharine for Coke. Both of these chemicals have had major negative health impacts on the world. So we should definitely trust their research! (That's sarcasm folks) Sounds like the type of company that cares a whole lot about the health of US citizens and citizens of the world.

I know what you're thinking, "the government isn't going to let us just consume potentially health detrimental food. There's this organization that controls this stuff, maybe you've heard of them, they're called the FDA?"

Yes I have heard of them but here's just a little knowledge about the FDA. They believe that genetic engineering is just another kind of conventional breeding techniques that have been used by farmers forever. This isn't a donkey and a horse doing it and having a mule. This is a pig that's had jellyfish DNA inserted into it, making its nose glow. Or tomatoes with Arctic fish DNA inserted into it to withstand freezing temperature. It's not the same thing as cross breeding a green pepper with a red pepper and making a purple pepper.

The FDA scientists did, however, warn that GMOs can create hard-to-detect, unpredictable side effects such as allergens, toxins, diseases and nutritional problems. They wanted long term studies done before this stuff was released for public consumption but they were ignored. Instead the FDA decided to leave the safety determination of GMO's up to the biotech companies, even though they have been found guilty of hiding harmful effects of their chemical products in the past. And the mastermind FDA official whose bonehead idea this was, Michael Taylor, Monsanto's former attorney and later their vice president.

Later a Monsanto official quoted in the New York times saying that the corporation should not have to take the responsibility for the safety of its food products. "Monsanto should not have to vouchesafe the safety of biotech food." "Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring it's safety is the FDA's job."

Looks like everyone has dropped the ball on the safety of GMO's. In fact, the ball is like a scorching hot potato, no one wants it in there hands when the shit hits the fan.

So how do you avoid GMO's?

Its not easy folks, but it is doable.

Here's a statistic of some of the most GM crops...
soy (94%), cotton (90%), canola (90%), sugar beets (95%), corn (88%), Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%), zucchini and yellow squash (over 24,000 acres). It doesn't stop there. Avoid conventional, factory-raised meat, sugar and all processed foods. If you must have corn or soy, buy it organic. Check out the list on my post on shopping to find the dirty dozen top foods to buy organic. To sum it up:

• There's no way to know the exact effect GMO's will have on us in the long term, its only been around for less than 15 years. What we do know is more people are infertile or have infertility problems than ever. There are more cases of food allergies than ever. Short term studies are showing connections to birth defects, reproductive issues, cancer and infectious disease such as Mad Cow Disease. (Yup you can get that!)

• The FDA is a bunch of assholes working for Monsanto. Monsanto is a bunch of heartless pricks working for the FDA. You can't believe the shit either of them say. 

• 50 countries have banned or restricted GMOs. The U.S.A. doesn't even require labeling. 61 nations have 'right-to-know' laws of GMO labeling. The U.S.A does not. 

• 87% of American consumers want GMO labeling, yet somehow we still do not have this. But it's getting better. People are getting more educated and the more we demand our right-to-know, the closer we get to it. So keep signing those petitions passed around on Facebook, look for organic vegetables, grass-fed meats, and pastured chickens. If your store doesn't carry it, Demand it! Go to a Farmer's market, support your local farmer, or start your own garden, sign up with a CSA, or buy into a cow share.

I know a typical rant would probably have some links to some references, and honestly I should of done that but I didn't, my bad. If your curious as to where I got this info, take any topic you want and throw it in a search engine and I guarantee you will get more information than you bargained for. So I will just say I referenced a lot of Natural News sites and Dr. Google. 

Thanks for listening to my rant, sorry about the f-bombs or any other profane language! Remember to subscribe to the blog and get these super awesome posts delivered straight to your inbox! And subscribe today and get a free pair of Kitten Mittens. Act now and we'll send you a second pair free!!

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