Monday, July 6, 2009

10 Reasons to Avoid GMOs

 
I wrote this up a few months ago, working with Ann Marie, for the 30 day No GMO Challenge. (http://realfoodmedia.com/no-gmo-challenge/) These are the reasons that so many of us are worried about GMO’s. This is a good list to pass along to everyone you know. It’s time to put an end to GMO’s! Environmental Threat GMOs are, hands down, the greatest environmental threat to our planet. GM crops cross-contaminate. This is also one of the big reasons that gmos are such an environmental threat.  They can invade and mutate regular crops, which will be a world-wide disaster.  We would lose our seed independence and seed purity. All our soy, canola, sugar beet and cotton crops would be transformed into sterile GMO crops. No Testing GMOs have never been tested and studies done show that they’re not safe for people, animals or the environment. Because they have not been tested, all GM food should be taken off the market until proven safe. No Labeling Consumer polls show that 80-95% of Americans want GE foods to be labeled -- mainly so that we can avoid buying them! Nearly two-thirds of the products on our supermarket shelves contain genetically engineered ingredients, and there’s no labeling. Health Risks Scientists warn that GM foods may set off allergies, increase cancer risks, produce antibiotic-resistant pathogens, damage our food quality and produce dangerous toxins in our environment. GMO fed animals had higher death rates and organ damage in scientific studies. GMOs will increase the risk of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria
Due to the use of antibiotic resistant genes in GM food. The British Medical Association cited this as one reason why they called for a global moratorium or ban on GM foods, warning that the allergenic potential of GMOs is uncertain, unpredictable and untestable. Threat to Organic Farming GM crops cross-pollinate: Canadian organic farmers can no longer grow canola and soybean crops organically. The seed stocks of those two crops are now totally contaminated by GMOs, which cross-pollinate into other market garden crops from the brassica family. Threat to Small Farms GM seeds are made to be non-renewable. The seeds can’t be saved and planted the next year as farmers have done for millennium. For farmers and consumers this means higher costs, which is putting many farmers into debt and driving them to go out of business and even commit suicide. 1500 Indian farmers committed mass suicide recently after being tricked into switching to planting GM seeds. GM crops also fail to deliver promised benefits including increased yields. In reality, the yields of the GMO crops have decreased and farmers are using three to five times more chemicals because of the GM superweeds that have developed. GM Fed Animals have Higher Death Rates In the FlavrSavr tomato study, a note in the appendix indicated that 7 of 40 rats died within two weeks and were replaced. In another study, chickens fed the herbicide tolerant “Liberty Link” corn died at twice the rate of those fed natural corn. But in these two industry‐funded studies, the deaths were dismissed without adequate explanation or follow‐up. GMO’s are being fed to our commercial livestock. Global Monopoly GM crops and seeds are owned by one multi-national corporation: Monsanto (Agent Orange, RoundUp, Aspartame, Posilac). They are buying up seed companies, seed cleaners and suing farmers when their product drifts onto farmland. We have anti-trust (monopoly) laws in the U.S.; it’s time our government put them into use. Threat to our Fertility A long-term feeding study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, confirms genetically modified (GM) corn seriously affects reproductive health in mice. Non-GMO advocates, who have warned about this infertility link along with other health risks, now seek an immediate ban of all GM foods and GM crops to protect the health of humankind and the fertility of women around the world. Threat to Our Children’s Health Children face the greatest risk from the potential dangers of GM foods. Children's bodies develop at a fast pace and are more likely to be influenced and show the effects of genetically modified (GM) foods. That is why independent scientists used young adolescent rats in their GM feeding studies. The rats showed significant health damage after only 10 days. Read more, wonderful, Real Food Wednesday posts here, http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/07/real-food-wednesday-blog-carnival-for-7809.html http://realfoodmedia.com/no-gmo-challenge/http://realfoodmedia.com/no-gmo-challenge/http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/07/real-food-wednesday-blog-carnival-for-7809.htmlhttp://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/07/real-food-wednesday-blog-carnival-for-7809.htmlshapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1shapeimage_3_link_2shapeimage_3_link_3
 
 

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