The Non-GMO Project is a great resource for all of us concerned with what is happening with the food we are eating and feeding our children (much of the information below is taken from their site). They now have an iPhone app shopping guide that's a huge help when grocery shopping.
(since I only have a stupid-phone I have been copying and pasting from their site onto my grocery delivery service - yes, I've been having my groceries delivered - it's winter, I'm cold and lazy, but eating less GMOs these days)
GMOs, or “genetically modified organisms,” are plants or animals created through the gene splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering which sound scary because it is). This experimental technology merges DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding.
If you are wondering why Monsanto is the scariest word in the English language this is why (well this plus agent orange, DDT, polystyrene - ranked 5th in total hazardous waste production with this one product alone, Round Up, PCBs, 300,000 dead Indian farmers and millions of dead everybody elses)
The most common GMOs are soy, cotton, canola, corn, sugar beets, Hawaiian papaya, alfalfa, and squash (zucchini and yellow). Many of these items appear as added ingredients in a large amount of the foods we eat. For instance, your family may not eat tofu or drink soy milk, but soy is most likely present in a large percentage of the foods in your pantry.
GMOs may be hidden in common processed food ingredients such as: Amino Acids, Aspartame, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Ascorbate, Vitamin C, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Flavorings (“natural” and “artificial”), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Lactic Acid, Maltodextrins, Molasses, Monosodium Glutamate, Sucrose, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), Xanthan Gum, Vitamins, Yeast Products.
(the oil that little box of raisins is packed in that parents pack in their kids lunch as a "healthy" snack is a very high GMO risk- we need labeling!)
There is a great link HERE to GMO myths and truths and is a great wake-up call if this is an issue that is not on your radar. GMO foods are highly regulated and even banned in Australia, Japan, all the countries of the European Union and 50 other nations. In the U.S. we let the chemical companies tell us they are safe - they're not.
Cereals, snack bars, snack boxes, cookies, processed lunch meats, and crackers all contain large amounts of high risk food ingredients. In the U.S., over 80% of our food contains GMOs. Studies around the word have linked GMOs to cancer and infertility and we are ingesting them and feeding them to our children everyday.
(makes me furious - and that's a good things - mad moms can change things - just ask the alcohol industry)
We can't let this overwhelm us into passivity - we need it to stir all of us into action. There is a lot we can do - there is a great list HERE.
To make our voices heard by congressman, Obama, etc HERE
4 comments
Yes, we all must keep on fighting against these dirty tricks of the food industry . though mainly forbidden in our countries, they always try to create loopholes.
Meanwhile you cannot shop food without spectacles to read the fine print because of all these strange ingredients .
I can't quite escape. I do, however, buy most of my food at a Farmer's Market. Once I move, I will be buying most of my food on the outside isles of the grocery store, that is until I find a good farmer's market.
even when I am looking and vigilant I still am forced to buy things I can't be sure about and we still eat out too often and then it is impossible to know but I would assume it is not good - outside aisles, spectacles and our determination to be vigilant all good ideas! xo
It's scary, isn't it, Cat? I only buy my tofu from the Asian grocery now because it is made without GMO's and delivered in barrels 3 times a week.
Frankly though, eating meat is as bad for the planet as eating GMO's. For every acre a cow grazes, 10 times the amount of food could be grown to feed the world. And, who knows what they feed those animals?
I am fortunate to be able to choose where I purchase my fresh produce, it's a shame everyone isn't.
xo
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