GMO Foods, Elections and Immunity

Scott was on a trip around South America but was still able to join Martin and deliver another episode of Life Enthusiast podcast, this time provoking some burning questions about issues in todays society. While GMOs are a really big issue these days, people who are in charge of them are trying to convince the general population that everything is fine. Like it or not, if more than a suggestion to the plants to cross pollinate was involved, it is a genetically modified organism. It does not happen by a natural process, and no one really knows all the consequences that might result from us consuming these products of genetic engineering. No longitudinal studies have been done, but the anecdotal evidence of what is happening already is quite shocking.

Natural cross breeding is a very different and natural process. With genetic engineering, you can cross breed basically anything. But why would anybody want to create a pig that glows in the dark? (Seriously, this happened when jellyfish genes were put into pig DNA). Why do people still think they are smarter than nature? Yes, we are intelligent beings, we can wear ties and high heels, we drive cars, use cell phones, and we are able to produce countless products just from corn, but that doesn’t make us faultless.

GMOs used to feed humans (and animals, too) are very well marketed. Isn’t it amazing that some crops now grow much faster than they used to a few decades ago? Farmers are able to get a better yield in a much shorter time and feed more people. Excellent, right? Not really. Crops like corn or soy that are genetically modified for greater yield have their unique natural DNA code altered in a lab, mutated from its natural state. Labs and factories make our food now instead of nature.

Animals know when the rain is coming and they are able to hide from it. We don’t. We lost our natural instincts and we now need a weather forecast on TV to find out what we used to sense naturally. We know what the natural diet is for animals, so when we keep them in a ZOO, we know what to feed them, but still we have forgotten what the natural diet is for our species and we try to MANUFACTURE our food, despite the fact that nature is already giving us all the nutrition we need in the form of plants and animals.

Around sixty years ago, soy was used in North America to feed animals and was used as an industrial component. Nowadays it is often promoted as healthy food, and can be found as a filler ingredient in nearly every form of packaged food. Corn, soy, and wheat are grown with significant subsidies from the government and the potential uses of these crops are endless. You can make everything from corn glues, textiles, oils, erasers, crayons, cosmetics, cereals, cloth dyes, its used in plastics, even in batteries. Probably the worst corn product is high fructose corn syrup, which is used as a sweetener in almost everything. It is cheap, versatile, and it adds to the income big food companies can use to control our society.

The money we spend on food that has no nutritional value, and is making us hungry for more, will go into the pockets of those who are manufacturing these foods. These companies don’t care about our health. All they care about is their bottom line. We are basically paying them to make us sick. This needs to stop. The first step should be taking control of your health by eating what is truly good for you and boycotting what is making you sick, slowly but steadily pushing those big companies to either change or go out of business. Once we accomplish this, we can affordably feed ourselves with organic produce, and support small farmers and sustainable farms like Polyface, because there will be no more Big Food or Big Farm clutching our wallets and destroying our health. Start in your own home. Reclaim control of your health today. Using lists like the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen will help you prioritize your food choices, even on a tighter budget. These lists focus on the most and the least pesticide-laden produce. You don’t have to necessarily buy organic labeled avocados (as you don’t consume their thick skin), but produce like apples and peaches are better for you if grown organically, without the use of pesticides, because these soft skinned fruits absorb more of the chemicals that will cause you harm. Also check out the movie Bought, an amazing documentary that, besides the issue of vaccination, focuses on the topic of GMOs and their impact on our health.