What is wrong with GMO foods?

[karika]

This is a spin off I was inspired to start after a post in another thread. I do not advocate the use of GMO (genetically modified organisms) technology in any form due to many reasons. Some people believe it is the only way to feed the burgeoning population of this world. Let's have a discussion on this. Perhaps many people do not even realize most of the foods in the US grocery stores have GMO ingredients (cheerios, Hershey's, frozen dinners... anything not labeled organic or GMO free has GMO components) Meat not labeled as being fed from a GMO free diet was fed GMO grains (unless it is grass fed) Here are some links to articles I have read that helped me make a commitment to a 100% GMO free diet for us (even though it means no mayonnaise since soy and canola have been compromised IMO, unless I make it myself...)

Deborah Koons "The Future of Food" full length film free to watch
http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi2420179737/ (LOL it is sponsored by hot pockets which has gmo components)

This blog has many of the articles gathered in one place, with clickable references. This site also has a lot of other great info
http://www.wellnessuncovered.com/joo...tent&Itemid=15

"Organic Agriculture Can Feed the World"
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/110705.cfm

I am sure I will post more later. Let's talk about this.

[karika]

More and more studies are drawing the same conclusions. Americans don't seem to be listening as they continue to buy the Cheerios, drink the soda and eat meat raised on GMO grains. Like they say in Food, Inc., we vote with our dollars with every item that crosses the grocery store scanner. If we buy organic and non GMO foods, the industry will respond by making those foods more available. Here is a link, followed by a quote from the article.

http://salem-news.com/articles/april...gm-food-as.php
"Studies showed stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, abnormal and potentially pre-cancerous cell growth in the intestines, impaired blood cell development, misshaped cell structures in the liver, pancreas and testicles, altered gene expression and cell metabolism, liver and kidney lesions, partially atrophied livers, inflamed kidneys, less developed organs, reduced digestive enzymes, higher blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates and higher offspring mortality as well[3]."

Please stop eating the processed foods and ingesting the soda and anything else containing HFCS and other known GMO products, and tell everyone you know. All of us here on MDC, the natural mamas, are needed to bring the world back to sanity. If we all buy natural organic food only, the industry will respond.

[mamadelbosque]

I honestly just don't think people really realize it. And even if they do, they don't have the money to completely avoid GMO and so get despondent and just don't bother. Thats where I am at this point - I don't have the money or the time to completely avoid GMO (time because that would involve driving an hour each way to a grocery store w/ organic foods... our local ones have a few things, but not anywhere close to a decent selection), and as a result I've just gotten to the point where I try not to think about it. I just don't have the time, energy, or money to avoid it and thinking about it makes me feel bad... so I don't.

[serenbat]

to a grocery store w/ organic foods...

it's NOT just organics, other companies are catching on- some state it, other's you have to check out

just one that's not buying in GMO!!
www.clabbergirl.com/consumer/products/rumford/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...top.html?cat=5

[blumooned]

Thank you for starting this thread!
I guess I'm one of the ones who just didn't know! And I do know a lot about why one should eat organic/all natural, but GMO wasn't on my radar. I do know they're bad, but wasn't aware they were so prevalent in our food.
So, what are the main GM foods?
Corn
Soy
Canola
What else??
If I just look for non-GM of these, am I OK? Oh, and then the meat that was fed this stuff, too!
Ugh, why does food shopping have to be so complicated!?!?!

[lakeruby]

I think the scariest thing that I've heard about GMO foods is that many European countries have completely banned them, becuase they (and we) don't really know the long-term effects of eating them. I know at least one European official has said that they are watching American children who are growing up eating GMO foods, and waiting to see the long-term effects before they approve the use of GMO foods....Personally, that's all I need to know to understand that I want no part of GMO!

I think we are constantly shown, in scenarios all over the world, that we can't just change nature and expect to get away with it without causing some harm somewhere!

It is a huge headache to try to sort out food choices these days, though! We do pretty good with meat and dairy, and we don't use much processed food, but we are starting to have to think about what we feed our animals, etc, and it's getting quite expensive to stay GMO-free. It would be so nice if our government took the "guilty until proved innocent" approach that Europe is taking. It would sure make my life easier/cheaper!

[Sativarain1]

I feel that many people just don't know about GMO's in their food supply. Also the cross contamination of seeds in the enviroment is scary enough. Foods in our grocery stores aren't labled to announce that it is from a GMO seed. It 's important to know which foods contain them and which don't but many just aren't aware.
Someone above mentioned that other countries have banned them, why hasn't the U.S.???? We have the land to grow food safely.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

I honestly just don't think people really realize it. And even if they do, they don't have the money to completely avoid GMO and so get despondent and just don't bother. Thats where I am at this point - I don't have the money or the time to completely avoid GMO (time because that would involve driving an hour each way to a grocery store w/ organic foods... our local ones have a few things, but not anywhere close to a decent selection), and as a result I've just gotten to the point where I try not to think about it. I just don't have the time, energy, or money to avoid it and thinking about it makes me feel bad... so I don't.

I can't afford to buy all organic, even though I'd like to. Sometimes, I get really bummed out about it. But, I've given it a lot of thought, and decided to continue to buy organic when I can. Any reduction in the GMO, pesticide, etc. load for me and my family is a plus...but every organic item I buy also adds to the total purchasing of organics that's happening. The more we support organic food, the more organic food there is. Just do what you can. I figure something is better than nothing, yk?

[mamadelbosque]

Oh, i agree completely storm bride. I buy whatever I can organic whenever I get the chance. I just don't stress about all the stuff that I just can't buy organic - canned tomatoes, pasta, whole wheat flour, pizza sauce, canned mushrooms & peaches & pineapple, broccoli, veggie dip, onions, potatoes, oranges, apples (I can occasionally get decent organic apples, but mostly not), etc.

[mambera]

Honestly I vastly prefer a GM plant that produces a biologically occurring pesticide to one that's been sprayed with a synthetic pesticide.

I don't think it even makes sense to talk about 'GMO food' as some kind of bloc. The safety and utility of the food depends on the gene you put into it.

I think the big concern for most GMO crops is more of an environmental-impact one - eg 'super-crops' resistant to local bugs taking over the local flora - and less of an issue for the health of the consumer.

The article about the possibility of increasing crop yields by improving on current organic methods is interesting. If that is true it definitely makes more sense than putting our energy into more GMOs. But it goes against much of what I've read about this topic. Most sources say exclusively organic methods are never going to be able to sustain 6.5 billion people.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

Originally Posted by blumooned

Thank you for starting this thread!
I guess I'm one of the ones who just didn't know! And I do know a lot about why one should eat organic/all natural, but GMO wasn't on my radar. I do know they're bad, but wasn't aware they were so prevalent in our food.
So, what are the main GM foods?
Corn
Soy
Canola
What else??
If I just look for non-GM of these, am I OK? Oh, and then the meat that was fed this stuff, too!
Ugh, why does food shopping have to be so complicated!?!?!

this link http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Genetically-Modified-Foods

show that sugar rice, beets and cotton round out the top 6 most likely to be gmo, so guess that means buy sugar made from cane, and for cotton: buy less clothes, more organic cotton and more second hand, and rice, ugh that's not what i want to hear,...


For me it's all about the labels, i am trying to get rid of the hfcs, bht laden, msg foods from the cupboard and trying to stick to more whole foods, fresh foods that don't need lots of extra enhancers or preservatives.

and as for the arguement that we need gmo to feed the world, um no that's not what is happening, what is happening is we are overfeeding americans and i don't many people starving in developing countries are seeing much of our gmo corn, no that is in the stomaches of americans, in the form of chips and pop and candy...Not really food imo, but junk...

[mamadelbosque]

My issue with GMO is that there is zero (or very close to zero) safety testing on these foods. They are allowed as "GRAS" - Generaly Regarded As Safe. IE: Regular (non) gmo corn/soy/whatever is perfectly safe, so gmo corn/soy/whatever must be safe too! No safety testing needed!

So, we're all pumping our bodies full of untested food - we don't *know* that this stuff is safe short, let alone long-term. We're all conducting a huge long-term safety study for big pharma/big ag. And nobody, absolutely nobody, knows what the result will be. Maybe they are all perfectly safe. But maybe their not.

One study done on rats fed gmo potatoes showed increased levels of cancer, vs those fed non-gmo potatoes.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/arti...ticle_4167.cfm

[karika]

The testing

The testing done shows it is dangerous. The latest study was done in Russia and the results are to be published soon. It is a danger we cannot ignore. The third generation was sterile and had hair growing in their mouths! Here is Mercola's site about this new study, http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...-april-24.aspx

To the poster that said we cannot sustain food for the population, I disagree. If people did not eat the unnatural diet they do, we could. Much of the GMO corn, for instance, is grown for feeding animals that are not even meant to ingest grains. Much is grown to make HFCS with, which is a useless ingredient. It is also used as filler in processed foods, all unnecessary uses. The land could be used rotationally as pasture, which would fertilize it and then for rotational, nutritionally dense crops. The situation is that the wrong crops are being grown for the wrong reasons. We can feed the world with organic agriculture.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/110705.cfm
http://nicolasroux.wordpress.com/201...hall-not-pass/
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/60523

More people having a lawn that grows food is a step in the right direction. Instead of flowers, plant food to harvest. choose organic or heirloom varieties, use natural techniques (no chemical pesticides or herbicides) and you are helping the planet.

A pp talked about the cost. It will cost you now or later. It will cost you now or your children later. There are ways to get organic food anywhere in the country. I will post that next. As for buying produce that is not organic, it is not GMO (only a few veggies are), but it is laden with pesticides that are now linked to ADHD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of9iFh5gux0 (this is just one link, google it for lots of articles) Pesticides cause neurological damage to humans just as they do to insects.... to be as safe as you can be, at least get the 'dirty dozen' as organic, http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-214

[AnnaNova]

i recently listened to a report on npr stating that there is already plenty of bugs and weeds that are RESISTANT to gmo plants. something that scientists theorized wold happen eventually is already happening and heppening fast. and if that was the reason for gmo plants in the first place - make them resistant to bugs/weeds, then wha's the purpose of having them anyway?
i have recently read 'hope's edge' where the author debunks the myth that there is not enough food in the world, and i agree with what she said:
we have to find a way to create communities that are self sustainable and tap into nature's resources rather than deplete them; we have to think of how our lifestyle and diet affects the rest of the world.
5% of population (which is the united states) uses 20% of world resources, isnt that scary?

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by mambera

Honestly I vastly prefer a GM plant that produces a biologically occurring pesticide to one that's been sprayed with a synthetic pesticide.

I don't think it even makes sense to talk about 'GMO food' as some kind of bloc. The safety and utility of the food depends on the gene you put into it.

Agreed. Google Norman Borlaug, he pioneered the "Green Revolution," saved the lives of over 1 billion people. That said, from what I understand, his methods and say, Monsanto's methods of creating genetically modified crops were entirely different.

[karika]

I find that I have been unable to be as attentive to this thread as I had hoped. I do not understand anyone's willingness to consume these gene structure changes although I also once thought it a 'good thing' and 'necessary'. Then I did the scientific research. When an animal ingests a GMO grain, something is changed in the animal's genes (very simplified speak here). Say fo rinstance, we are referring to the 'terminator' gene most GMO is spliced with. So the animal eats it, then it changes that animals DNA, then it is ingested by a human which also changes the human's DNA. This is a very scary scientific experiment being played out on unknowing parties. India is now leading the way in expulsion of GMO technology and I commend them.

I saw the documentary "Life Running Out of Control" yesterday. Here is a google link to the entire documentary http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...1729566469042#

A few key points I noticed that I want to share.
-The companies that are to profit are the only ones doing the research on these things. No other parties are permitted to see any of the data.
-In India, Big Seed has successfully patented plants. Not GMO plants (yet) just regular everyday plants like turmeric. A courageous woman and her supporters have managed to have a few of the patents overturned. Life is not to be patented, yet wiht the monetary influence of Big Seed, they have succeeded in doing that around the world, including in the US with red yeast rice for instance.
-A scientist on the film speaks frankly about the influence of Big Seed on science and research. The estimate is that only 5% of scientists are impartial at this point.
- When researchers at Purdue ran a computer simulation on what would happen if the altered fish being released now (the film is dated 2005) bred with the wild population. Their model was 60000 wild fish infiltrated by only 60 altered salmon. The entire population was extinct in 10 generations, which is only a few years when speaking of fish. This corroborates the Russian findings about the mice fed GMO soy becoming sterile in only a few generations. This is a global plan of sterilization being played out IMO.

On another note I found out that Monsanto in particular has been charged and found guilty of bribing a high level official in Indonesia. I do not have the link I read about it on handy, but this came up first in a search. http://www.mindfully.org/GE/2005/Mon...ery27jan05.htm

I hope to devote more time to breaking this down scientifically by product to show why this 'technology' is a death sentence to humans and all other life on the planet. Visit the Center For Food Safety to learn more. http://truefoodnow.org/?CFID=24186240&CFTOKEN=35275237

[christianmomof3]

I am learning about all of these things and it is really scarey and it is difficult to find the right foods or know which ones are or are not healthy.

For example, peaches are on the "dirty dozen" list. But it is said that locally grown foods may be ok. Right now it is peach season and not only the farmer's markets - which I cannot go to every week because they have limited hours often when I am working, but right now local grocery stores are all carrying "locally grown" peaches. Are those peaches ok since they are "locally grown"? How do I know?

And it is hard to find good organic fresh produce anywhere and I live right near a Whole Foods grocery store and other stores that carry some organics, but still, usually the locally grown produce and conventional produce is fresher and better looking than the old, limp looking overpriced organic produce. When I do find organic produce that looks good I get it, but it is so much more expensive. And is all corn bad? Right now, corn on the cob is 10 cents an ear. That is awfully cheap and we are on a very limited income. I did go to a store that carries only organic produce a few weeks ago, but then I had to spend extra time and gas money to get there and still a lot of their produce is limp and not fresh looking, and I bought two ears of organic corn for 75 cents an ear. It was delicious! I wish I had gotten more. But that is a huge price difference.

As far as lettuce goes, the only "organic" lettuce I usually find is the ones in the plastic boxes that have been shipped from who knows where and not sure how old it is, but it is usually ok.

I love bell peppers and have never seen an organic one anywhere I don't think.

I do hope that we can get stricter laws passed so that it will be easier for us to get healthy food.

[MelissaAHM]

I try to avoid GMO like the plaque.
I would say our diet is 90% GMO free. We don't have that much 'organic' around here too - but it takes changing your diet to avoid it.
Cottonseed oil is GMO too...So anything on your 'food labels' that says partially hydrogenated soybean oil or cottonseed oil is GMO.

Produce isn't GMO - so thats not a concern - Yet.

The only produce thats GMO is Papaya from Hawaii, and some crooked neck squash and zucchini.

I think GMO is a problem in processed foods - it's hidden in the ingredients label as mentioned above. I believe the easiest way to avoid GMO is to cook at home. Produce is pretty much alright (GMO speaking). Grains is another story - to avoid GMO you would have to avoid bread, and pasta. This were I have a hard time. Bread is the one GMO product I buy. With 5 kids we eat lots of sandwiches and I havent found a bread alternative I like yet. We dont use as much bread as we used tothough - we've switched to Eziekel (bread). They are tortillas made of spelt and lentils. For baking we just avoid flour. I find too, going gluten free you can avoid some GMO.

It can be discouraging to avoid GMO but it can be done without spending a lot of money - it just takes changing your tastes.
Instead of cereal, eat eggs, fresh fruit, smoothies, or left of dinner.
For dinner instead of using rice use couscous (there is a organic brand at the store that isnt expensive.
For snacks we buy 'Annies' cheese crackers ect.

I am very passionate about learning everything I can about GMO food,and therefore learning ways to avoid it.
I do know GMO food is detrimental to your bodies cells. There is evidence it could lead to 3rd generation sterility. Which if they are correct (the scientists who have studied this based on animal studies) our great grandchildren will be infertile. Maybe not 100% of the population but a majority that have eaten the GMO foods. Some 'conspiracy theorists' have even screamed this is a form of population control. the sterility experiments were done on cattle/rats. This was true in 'all' animals tested. The question remains what about us??? We have yet to see since GMO has only been around since approx 1996/1997.
Sterility/Cell damage is only the beginning -GMO causes a lot of problems. One study on rats is rats fed a GMO diet the male rats had smaller/ blueish testicles. (I'm guessing deprived of oxygen). The rats fed a NonGMO diet had normal pinkish testicles. I could go on and on the damage done to these animals.
I won't be a guinea pig nor will my children.

For excellent info on GMO go to Mercolas website then type in 'GMO' he has all the latest articles and studies on this food.

I'm not sure if I can post this (maybe the link)?
but I have a website were you can print up a GMO Shopping Guide. It's on a standard 8 x 10 printout you fold up like a brochure. So you can take it to the store - fits perfectly in your purse. That way as you shop you can avoid GMO. It lists the brands that use GMO ingredients. Like snacks, salad dressings, salsa, peanut butter, canned food, cereals, ect. I use this and it takes the stress out of searching for GMO foods. For instance you can still buy salsa and salad dressing but change brands.

I could go on and on I just want people to wake up and understand the danger this has on us and future generations.

[MelissaAHM]

Originally Posted by karika;15584903
- When researchers at Purdue ran a computer simulation on what would happen if the altered fish being released now (the film is dated 2005) bred with the wild population. There model was 60000 wild fish infiltrated by only 60 altered salmon. The entire population was extinct in 10 generations, which is only a few years when speaking of fish. This corroborates the Russian findings about the mice fed GMO soy becoming sterile in only a few generations. This is a global plan of sterilization being played out IMO.


I hope to devote more time to breaking this down scientifically by product to show why this 'technology' is a death sentence to humans and all other life on the planet. Visit the Center For Food Safety to learn more. [url

http://truefoodnow.org/?CFID=24186240&CFTOKEN=35275237[/url]

This IS extremely scary and I don't understand why more people aren't concerned.

[mambera]

Originally Posted by karika

When an animal ingests a GMO grain, something is changed in the animal's genes (very simplified speak here). Say fo rinstance, we are referring to the 'terminator' gene most GMO is spliced with. So the animal eats it, then it changes that animals DNA, then it is ingested by a human which also changes the human's DNA.

That is Non. Sense. Nonsense.

I agree that Monsanto et al are not making the best use of GM technology but the problem lies with the agribusiness model, not with the technology itself, which has the potential to be used either for great harm or for great good.