In November, California voters will be able to say “yes, we want to know if there are genetically-engineered organisms in our food.” Thanks to the efforts of the California Right to Know Campaign, the Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act will be on the November ballot as Proposition 37.
This act does not ban GMO foods but merely requires products with genetically-modified ingredients to be labeled as “GMO.” The vast majority of the food we eat contains GMOs. So what? Why should we be worried about GMOs? Farmers have always purposefully selected certain phenotypes of crop varieties, thereby altering their genetic makeup. So, what’s different now?
Well, let us tell you! There are a number of reasons for why we should at least be cautious about eating GMO foods. Of course, you can make your own decisions about these things, but here are a few reasons why GMOs cause problems in our food supply:
1. Pesticide Resistance: GMO corn and soybeans are designed to withstand high levels of weed killers and other pesticides (a.k.a. “Round-Up Ready” crops). By using bacteria genes and splicing them into corn and soybeans, the plants become resistant to weed killer. So when the field is doused with weed killer or pesticides, all of that poison is still on the corn and soybean plants and, therefore, part of our food supply.
2. Unknown Allergies: Since genetic modification involves taking genes from any plant, animal, or other organism, even those we don’t actually eat, and putting them into plants that we do eat, there is potential for new food allergies to emerge. In order to know whether allergens are present, testing must be done, which is difficult when the organism from which the gene is coming from is not eaten by humans.
3. Cross Pollination: Obviously, not all farmers choose to use GMO seeds. However, if this farmer has a field next to a farm that does use GMO seeds, cross pollination can occur. This is problematic not only because now the non-GMO farmer now has contaminated crops, he or she can also be sued by large agribusinesses like Monsanto. These large companies own the patents on these seeds and if a company like Monsanto finds their GMO crops in a non-GMO field, they will sue that farmer for illegally growing their product. Is that not $@&$-ed up or what? On a related note, farmers are not allowed to collect the seeds after the growing season and use them again next year because they have to buy them again from the patent owner, Monsanto. Monsanto lawyers are a step above serial killers on the morality ladder.
So, in short, you should really consider voting YES on Prop 37 in November just so we can have a CHOICE in selecting what we want to eat!
Additional Information:
California Right to Know Act Campaign: http://carighttoknow.org/
Monsanto, Chemicals, and GMOs (this 5-minute video really summarizes Monsanto’s influence on crop production really well): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbvYwg-Aqis
Bt Corn (not only is it pesticide resistant but the Bt gene itself can be toxic to us!): http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/06/dangerous-toxins-from-gmo-foods.aspx
Currant Table 