Most people would respond to this with an uncaring response
like “doesn't affect me so I don't care”. As I mentioned earlier, 80 percent
(and likely more due to cross-pollination) of the crops I mentioned are
genetically modified. These crops are also then fed to livestock (and the
livestock may also have been genetically modified). Here
is a TED talk about seeds, and how important they are in our everyday diets. So
the food you eat is likely unless otherwise stated, genetically modified. There
are not a lot of studies conclusively stating that these foods harm us.
Although many of the studies which do not state there is harm are funded by or
conducted by patent holders of the genetically modified seeds. There are many
other processes our food goes through which are not proven to be bad or good
for us, but those are still labeled. Here
is a TED talk about our lack of labels for genetically modified food. So, this
iffy modification which has not conclusively been proven to be safe to ingest
has had a prolific adoption by our farmers and is not labeled. That should
scare everyone.
While growing more and more food per acre and providing
technological advancements to agriculture are good. Monsanto has abused their
patents and essentially bully all those who are not paying for their patented
seeds on a yearly bases. I think the best example of this would be their lawsuit against organic
farmers whose crop was cross-pollinated without their consent or knowledge with
neighboring farmer’s Monsanto seed based plants. Organic farmers have no
definitive way of knowing their crops had been cross-pollinated, and no
practical way to stop it. Over 80 percent
of: soybeans, corn, cotton, sugar beets, and canola seeds are genetically
modified. The scenario of an organic farmer being entirely surrounded by GMO
plants entirely plausible. At the very least it is likely an organic farmer has
a neighboring farm or two with genetically modified seeds. This passive and
practically inevitable infringement will not stop Monsanto from harassing farmers.
Essentially, I am trying to call attention to this over
protected and potentially harmful industry. Our politicians are in the pocket
of powerful bio-tech companies like Monsanto, we need to have a counter-acting
force telling them enough is enough. These companies have too much legal power;
and don't have enough independent high quality studies of their processes to
remain hidden in our food, and they too aggressive to organic farmers.
For our congressional
representatives, click on Al Franken's
name to contact him or Amy Klobuchar
to contact her (if you're from Minnesota).
This is very professional and a great outlook into a huge unknown problem in our society. I really hope that people take a look at this and realize and become more aware of the problems you have pointed out. It is not only useful information but also a health risk and it is unfortunate that it is possible that stuff like this can be kept so hidden from society.
ReplyDeleteI think Monsanto is damn near criminal, but a lot of the furor surrounding HR933.735 was like a big game of telephone... sort of true, sort of not true. That sort of thing- even when I'm all about the cause- is super frustrating. I appreciate you focusing on GMO/Monsanto and supporting it with credible sources.
ReplyDeleteThis was an issue that I had no idea about. I have heard of genetically manufactured food, but I had no idea how much of it was out there. The potential health risks associated with this issue is astronomial and scary. I am surprised how little press this issue got, and how fast this bill was passed! Thanks for bringing this to my attention, very good blog and good information and facts.
ReplyDeleteThis is disgusting that this can go on and the government is accepting of it. This just goes to show how corrupt the government is.
ReplyDeleteNice call to action. I absolutely love the down with the government type idea. You would be so surprised all sorts of this stuff goes down and the government hides it. Conspiracy theories are my favorite but its scary how the government runs. Spooky, good job giving a way for people to do something.
ReplyDeleteI loved your use of links in this post. I think TED talks can be extremely useful to help teach someone something about a topic they previously did not know much about. I would be interested to see if you could use this topic in your next activism piece as well and call more attention to it.
ReplyDeleteIt scares me that our food is fake, and that politicians and legislators care about MONEY more than they care about humans and their health, as well as the environment. Money drives everything, and comes first to health, happiness and rights. I do not want to eat GMOs, but they are the MOST AFFORDABLE. A stack of kraft cheese is less expensive than a block of natural cheddar. This feels like a trap and I fear for everybody! Good topic, although it makes me scared to eat :(
ReplyDeleteGenetically modified foods wouldn't be so much cheaper if we subsidized the right kinds of foods (organic, vegetables, etc) instead the factory farm crap we throw so much money at today.
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