Organic Food - The Healthy Choice
Real, whole, unprocessed food is the baseline in eating for your health. There are no ingredient labels to read on fresh vegetables and fruits, but there is one major consideration when buying fresh food, and that is to shop for organically grown and non-GMO products. Right now, buying organic is the safest bet to ensure that you aren’t eating foods grown with genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
GMOs are created by splicing the genes of one species into another, such as flounder genes into a tomato. They are also created to withstand heavy applications of herbicides like Roundup. Since the introduction of Roundup Ready seeds in 1996, it has been sprayed so heavily that the active ingredient, glyphosate, is contaminating ground water in many areas; in fact a recent study even showed high levels of glyphosate in the urine samples of city dwellers. Roundup Ready crops have been becoming more and more susceptible to the weeds that Roundup is supposed to kill. This lessening of effectiveness has resulted in the herbicide being sprayed in ever heavier applications, and now an even greater threat is on the horizon.
Dow Chemical and Monsanto have come up with what Mother Jones magazine calls “The Mother of All Herbicide Marketing Plans.” This newest threat to food integrity is a class of genetically modified seeds that will withstand not only glyphosate but also glufosinate and, most disturbing of all, 2,4D. 2,4D is one of two active ingredients in the infamous Agent Orange. 2,4D has been linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, liver and kidney problems, reproductive effects and endocrine disruption.
This new class of seeds are referred to as “stacked hybrids,” which allow spraying of Roundup, 2,4D and other herbicides to kill virtually any and all weeds.
The approval of this newest GMO seed for corn, named Enlist is being opposed by many farmers, including a large contingent of conventional farmers. One of the greatest dangers of Enlist, if approved, is the toxicity of 2,4D in drifting to neighboring fields. Fields up to two miles away can be affected, and tiny amounts of 1/300 of the application strength can result in significant crop loss.
The best way for consumers to fight the increased use of GMO crops is to support organic agriculture as well as the Non GMO Project: http://www.nongmoproject.org/
Our food supply and our health are too important
to risk.
|
Back
