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Why didn’t I know about GMO’s?

A friend who is learning about GMO’s told me that she felt badly that she didn’t know about them before now. It got me thinking as I felt the same way when I first learned about what was going on with our food supply.

Here’s a great description of GMO’s from the Non-GMO Project Shopping guide:

GMOs (or “genetically modified organisms”) are organisms that have been created through the gene-splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods. Virtually all commercial GMOs are bred to withstand direct application of herbicide and /or to produce an insecticide. None of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition or any other consumer benefit. Studies, meanwhile, increasingly show a correlation between consumption of GMO’s and an array of health risks.

Read more here: http://www.nongmoproject.org/consumers/

Why didn’t we all know about GMO’s?

Because, it seems, Monsanto did not want us to.  Putting Genetically Modified Organisms in our food was never presented to the American people, it was done behind our backs. The FDA (run by former employees of Monsanto) allowed them to be marketed, based on Monsanto’s assurance that the products are safe.  There was never any safety testing done by our government and tests done elsewhere in the world have proved them to be unsafe and potentially dangerous.  Our government, both the Democrats and the Republicans have handed our food supply over to a private multi-national corporation. This is the corporation who gave us DDT and Agent Orange. They now own almost all our commercial seed.

They are not doing this to ‘save the world’, they are doing this to control our food supply. If they had good intentions they would not be suing our farmers or putting our seed cleaners out of business. Farmers have traditionally saved their seed to replant for the next year and they’ve done this for thousands of years.  Monsanto is known to sue any farmer who saves their seed, even unintentionally.  They have also put most, if not all, of the seed cleaners that our farmers use out of business as well.  Watch The Future of Food for more information. You can watch the movie here, for free: http://www.thefutureoffood.com/

This is the history of GMO’s in our food supply, dates and basic info from: http://deliciouslivingmag.com/greenliving/dl_article_1558/ comments added by Mom.

1986   First field tests of genetically engineered plants (tobacco) are conducted.

1987   Advanced Genetic Sciences’ Frostban, a genetically altered bacterium that inhibits frost formation is field-tested on strawberry and potato plants in California—the first authorized outdoor tests of an engineered bacterium. Again this was done without public knowledge or approval.

1993   The FDA declares GMO foods are “not inherently dangerous” and do not require special regulation. And the FDA, the same people who are now being put in charge of our farms, allowed them to with no questions asked. In 1994, Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto said, “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.” (source, Kansas City Star, March 7, 1994).  Here’s what another Monsanto employee had to say,

The debate on genetically modified (GM) brinjal variety continues to generate heat. Former managing director of Monsanto India, Tiruvadi Jagadisan, is the latest to join the critics of Bt brinjal, perhaps the first industry insider to do so.

Jagadisan, who worked with Monsanto for nearly two decades, including eight years as the managing director of India operations, spoke against the new variety during the public consultation held in Bangalore on Saturday.

On Monday, he elaborated by saying the company “used to fake scientific data” submitted to government regulatory agencies to get commercial approvals for its products in India.

The former Monsanto boss said government regulatory agencies with which the company used to deal with in the 1980s simply depended on data supplied by the company while giving approvals to herbicides.

Read more here:

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/StoryPrint?sId=83093&secid=4&page=0

Here’s some more history of GMO’s in the US.

1995   GMO soy and corn planted in the United States.

1996   GMO foods first hit supermarket shelves. WE are not told!

1996   Seven percent of soy and 1.5 percent of corn crops grown in the United States are genetically modified.

1999   The rising tide of public opinion in Europe brings biotech food into the spotlight.  Europe has stopped accepting some of our food as it’s GMO and they do have labeling.  Ireland is a GMO free country!

2000   GMO corn StarLink, approved solely for animal feed, ends up in corn products for human consumption.

2002   ProdiGene violates the U.S. Plant Protection Act by allowing experimental biopharmaceutical corn to mix with a commercial soy crop.

2004   GMO wheat developer Monsanto decides against selling GMO wheat because of negative public perception.

2004   Eighty-five percent of soy and 45 percent of corn crops grown in the United States are genetically modified.

Anything you eat with soy, corn, canola like high fructose corn syrup, corn oil, soy oil, canola oil, etc, is most likely genetically modified.

We can get GMO’s out of our food supply but we need to speak up. Let’s make 2011 the year that the USA goes GMO free!

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here:  http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-december-3rd/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/12/real-food-wednesday-12110.html

Sprouted Banana Bread

This is very nice and easy banana bread recipe. It was delicious, the kids loved it and it stayed fresh and moist until we finished it a few days later.  Happy Thanksgiving, hope everyone has a very happy and healthy holiday.

Ingredients

* 3 or 4 ripe organic bananas, smashed

* 1/3 cup melted organic pastured butter

* 3/4 cup sucanat, rapidura or organic sugar

* 1 pastured egg, beaten

* 1 tsp. vanilla

* 1 tsp. baking soda

* Pinch of Celtic or sea salt

* 1 cup sprouted whole-wheat flour

* 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s another great article from Jeffrey Smith’s GMO Speaker training. Did you know many animals will choose GMO free if given the choice?

Would you choose genetically modified food if given a choice? Some animals won’t.  By Jeffrey Smith

There’s a bowl of corn chips in front of you made from natural corn. Next to it are genetically modified (GM) corn chips. Which do you choose?

If you were a pig or cow, we know the answer—the natural corn. Farmers repeatedly let pigs or cows into pens with troughs of GM corn and non-GM corn. The animals would head straight to the closer trough, filled with the genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They’d sniff, maybe take a nibble, then go over to the trough with the natural corn. After finishing off the last kernel, they’d stop by the GM corn one more time just to check it out, but quickly walk away.

An Iowa farmer who read about the finicky livestock decided to see if squirrels had similar dispositions. He nailed an ear of GM corn and non-GM corn onto trees by his house. Sure enough, the squirrels ate only the natural stuff, over and over again. When the farmer stopped replacing the natural corn, the squirrels still refused to touch the GMO. After 10 cold winter days, they got up the courage to nibble a few kernels, but that was all they could handle.

Another curious farmer wanted to repeat this with the squirrels in his area. He bought a bag full of GM corn ears, and another of non-GM, and left it in his garage to wait for winter. He waited too long. Mice did the experiment for him. They broke into the natural corn bag and finished it. The GM cobs were untouched. Read the rest of this entry »

Today we have a guest post from Dr. Ishii-Eiteman from the Pesticide Action Network. Go visit their site – link below.

By Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, reprinted with permission.

Monsanto’s humiliations are all over the news these days. Last week we heard that Monsanto is actually paying farmers to spray their fields with competitors’ weedkillers. Monsanto’s latest press release announces it is offering RoundupReady cotton farmers up to $20/acre to pour on extra herbicides. In fact, The Organic Center reports that this bizarre practice—a reversal of Monsanto’s traditional exhortations to rely on its own chemical Roundup—has actually been going on for over a year now, a response to the Monsanto-induced epidemic of superweeds now ravaging the country. As Tom Philpott explains, it’s a desperate last-hour attempt by the giant seed and pesticide company to slow the wildfire spread of noxious weeds resistant to Roundup, an epidemic which essentially spells the demise of Monsanto’s entire RoundupReady “system of weed management.” Other last-ditch efforts by Monsanto to keep revenue coming in include genetically engineering its Roundup Ready seeds for “enhanced resistance,” that is the ability to withstand—at least temporarily—even heavier dousings of Roundup. Talk about trying to smother a fire with gasoline.
Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: ZUMA Press

GMO’s in the news

I haven’t had a news update lately, there’s a lot to share!

Did you know that your Vitamin C is  most likely made from GMO  corn?

For more than a year now, supplements manufacturers have watched quietly as

an angry chorus has risen up against genetically modified organisms. So far,

though, GMO questions have stayed planted in the produce and grocery

sections of natural products stores.

But now one small but vocal retailer concerned about GMOs in the environment

has started asking his supplements suppliers if there are GMOs in the

vitamin C he sells. The answers he says he’s gotten have ranged from “we

don’t think so but we don’t know for sure” to “probably.” That’s not good

enough for Joe Lemieux, owner of the 2,500-square-foot Go To Health store in

Brooksville, Fla.

“People think that health food stores are a kind of haven from things like

GMOs,” Lemieux said. “That’s why this issue is so explosive, because I can’t

tell them that the vitamin C is made without GMOs.” He’s not saying the

products are unsafe, but he says that genetically modified crops are bad for

the environment, and the agriculture business needs to get that message from

consumers and retailers, which is why he’s taking a stand in his store.

Lemieux still stocks vitamin C but is telling his own customers not to buy

the products, and he’s letting others in the industry know about his

boycott–through word-of-mouth and a Web site that deals with organic

issues–until someone can make a non-GMO vitamin C.

You can read the rest, here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/vitccontro.cfm

And there are a few brands of Non-GMO vitamin C

Source Naturals is making one:

http://www.sourcenaturals.com/products/GP1475/

As is Cardiovascular Research. We’ve been using this one:

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp;jsessionid=RNFEKMT4BSUM4CQUC4YFAGIKCQL00UNE?id=CV-1041

China rejects U.S. corn cargo, citing GMOs

China has rejected a cargo of U.S. corn after finding it contained an unsanctioned genetically modified strain, two sources familiar with the situation said on Friday.

“China only allows 11 varieties of GM corn to be imported to the country, and the cargo was found with GM material outside the 11 varieties,” said one source, who declined to be identified.

“The animal and plant quarantine department has barred it from entering China,” the source said. He said it was supplied by a Japanese trading house.

The cargo of 50,000-60,000 tonnes was shipped to a port in the China’s southern province of Guangdong in September. The problem was detected only in October, the same source said.

China’s first ever rejection of a U.S. corn cargo, if confirmed, risks deepening a trade spat with the United States and a bigger diplomatic row with Japan.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69S23U20101029

Top 10 ways to avoid GMOs

Maria Rodale explains how to stay away from genetically modified organisms.

This month, October, is Non-GMO Month. I find most people are really confused about what a GMO is and where GMOs are found. Some people tend to think that GMO seeds are similar to the type of hybridization that has been going on amongst gardeners for centuries. Not true! The type of genetic modification that happens to create GMO seeds involves the forceful insertion of things like E.coli genes or genes that produce glyphosphate (an herbicide) or cause Roundup resistance (allowing farmers to dump more Roundup onto the plants) into corn and soybeans and cotton.

GMOs exist for one reason only: for the chemical companies who make them to enable themselves to sell more chemicals to farmers. Do not, I repeat, do not fall for any marketing sales efforts that claim GMOs will help feed the world and save farmers from drought. It’s a lie!!!!

And remember, as I write in “Organic Manifesto,” the only safety testing on humans or animals for GMOs is happening right now, on you, on your kids, and on farm animals around the world. Early results are showing everything from digestive failure to kidney and liver failure and accelerated aging. Terrible stuff.

Here are 10 ways to avoid GMOs:

1. Buy USDA-certified organic food. It is currently the only official way you can avoid GMOs, since GMOs are not allowed to be used according to USDA organic regulations. THANK YOU, GOVERNMENT! (For once!)

2. Avoid all nonorganic soy products like the plague. That means things like nonorganic veggie burgers, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and miso products.

3. Don’t buy anything that claims to be “non-dairy” that isn’t organic. Soy is used to create everything from Cool Whip to Coffee-Mate…in addition to the obvious non-dairy soy treats in your health-food store freezer. Yup, they are filled with GMOs, too.

4. Don’t buy or eat anything with corn in it that isn’t organic. That means corn chips, cereals with corn (or soy, for that matter), or even corn bread!

5. At all costs, eliminate high-fructose corn syrup (a.k.a. “corn sugar”) from your diet. It is just an excuse for chemical companies to convince farmers they can keep growing GMO corn and poisoning you and your family.

6. Avoid biofuels and ethanol; they’re a toxic GMO festival. No one seems to care if corn is poisoned if it’s just going to drive our cars. Problem is, we are all being poisoned by it.

Read the rest here:

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating-recipes/stories/top-10-ways-to-avoid-gmos

We just finished the first ever Non-GMO month in October. Let’s make it a Non-GMO year!

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-november-5th/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/11/pennywise-platter-thursday-114.html

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/11/real-food-wednesday-11310-2.html

What is the matter with the FDA?

We’ve been drinking raw milk and eating raw milk cheese for years. We love it and it’s been very good for our health. I make kefir out of raw milk and I’ve made cheese on occasion as well. Thousands of people in my state drink raw milk legally and we are thriving, healthy and not getting sick. There are many other states where it’s legal as well, so what is going on?

It seems like Big Ag,  and the large milk companies,  are getting threatened by all the people who are clamoring for REAL FOOD.  And it also seems like the FDA is more invested in protecting big Ag, then they are in protecting us.  They are supposed to work for us, the American people!

We are tired of over processed junk and want to feed our families real food, from real farmers. The FDA is fine with allowing us to eat genetically modified food – food that’s not been proven safe – and won’t even allow us labeling.  They’re fine with High Fructose Corn Syrup (soon to possibly be called Corn Sugar) and vegetable oils that have been processed using toxic chemicals, and they’re even fine with us eating raw fish.  How come we can go eat sushi, raw fish, in every Japanese restaurant in the country but the FDA is cracking down on Raw Milk and Raw Milk products?  Do you want to only be able to buy meat that’s been cooked? What right do they have to insert themselves into our food choices like this.  Even if you don’t drink raw milk, this issue is important to everyone.

They talk about the dangers but we’ve been drinking raw milk for years, from a good farmer who tests his milk and we’ve never gotten sick.  People around the world drink raw milk and have for thousands of years.  Raw Milk is dangerous when the cows are raised in CAFO’s, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, and fed genetically engineered grain – which has never been tested as safe for human consumption –  and given antibiotics because the conditions are so unsanitary. Any food you eat has potential dangers. Like the recent outbreaks of Salmonella in Peanut butter.

If you are raising cattle on grass and using good practices, raw milk is very healthful and delicious as well. We see news stories about food related illnesses in the news all the time and it’s very rare to ever see a story about raw milk. Raw milk is legal in California, where I live. I buy it in my local store. We’re a big state. If raw milk was so terrible people would be getting sick and we’re not.

Here’s a great article about raw milk:

Drink it raw  – Why is unprocessed milk the only illegal food in North Carolina?

by Suzanne Nelson

http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/drink-it-raw/Content?oid=1202527

The FDA has been raiding farmers and buying clubs for NO reason in the past month.

Here’s an article about the raid at a private buying club in Venice, CA.

Raw-food raid highlights a hunger

Some people balk at restrictions on selling unprocessed milk and other foods. ‘How can we not have the freedom to choose what we eat?’ one says. Regulators say the rules exist for safety and fairness.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/25/business/la-fi-raw-food-raid-20100725

And two farmers have recently been seriously harassed to the point where they are in danger of being put out of business.

The first is Joe and Denise Dixon, owner of Morningland Dairy whose cheese was one of the products taken from the Rawsome club raid.

http://hartkeisonline.com/2010/10/11/family-farm-ordered-to-destroy-50000-pounds-of-cheese/

http://morninglanddairy.webs.com/recallinformation.htm

http://www.ftcldf.org/aa/aa-22october2010.htm

The second just happened this week.

Another FDA Cheese Bust: Award-winning Artisan Raw Cheese Producer in Washington State.

http://www.ftcldf.org/news/news-25october2010.htm

Here’s a great article about why the media is not covering the FDA’s action by the brilliant David E. Gumpert,

http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/davidgumpert/2010/10/25/why-major-media-won%E2%80%99t-cover-the-morningland-case-and-thereby-give-fda-free-reign-over-small-food-producers/

Here’s a great article about raw milk by Pete Kennedy of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund,

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/fdas-ace-in-the-hole/

What can we do? We all need to chip in, to protect our farmers and our food choices, join the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund: http://www.ftcldf.org/

We, the people,  need to protect our access to healthy food, as the FDA seems to have no interest in doing it for us.

I am one outraged mom!

________________________________________________________________________________________

Read more posts about this issue at Farm Freedom Friday here:  http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/11/save-farm-freedom-friday.html

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-october-29th/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/10/pennywise-platter-thursday-1028.html

Read more, great, Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/10/real-food-wednesday-102710.html

Zombie Cattle? GMO Meat Grown in a Vat? No Way!

By Stanley A. Fishman, Author of Tender Grassfed Meat

photo credit: MRyanTaylor.com, http://www.flickr.com/photos/13651999@N08/3877617646/

I celebrate the fantastic taste, texture and nutrient-dense qualities of grassfed meat, taken from animals eating the living grass they were meant to eat, roaming the pasture as they were intended to do. I have hoped and prayed for the day when all meat is grassfed; when the feedlot and the factory meat are abandoned for the disaster they turned out to be; when GMO feed is abandoned, along with all GMOs; and we go back to obeying nature’s laws by eating real meat.

The powers that be have different plans. They have already put cloned cattle in the food chain, with no labeling. They are taking the cells from dead cattle and cloning them to create zombie cattle that are literally raised from the dead.

They have developed a way of creating “meat” in a vat full of chemicals, possibly with GMO modification, “meat,” that, like Frankenstein, must be electrified before use.

Nobody knows how the human body will respond to these products, and we are all guinea pigs once again, without our consent. Do you want to be a guinea pig? I do not.

This month is No GMO month. We must be wary of the latest artificial abominations created, and aware of what they are so we can have the choice to avoid them.

Cloned Meat? No thanks!

Most Americans want no part of cloned meat. We know instinctively that this is contrary to the laws of nature, that this type of meat was never eaten before, not once in the history of our planet.

Cloned animals have been reported to have many health problems and abnormalities. Traditional peoples would not eat a sick or abnormal animal. But our protectors in the government have decided that meat from cloned cattle is substantially the same as other meat, and have pronounced it safe. Just because it is safe does not mean that it is best, or even desirable.

The way cloned cattle are usually created is unusual and abnormal, to say the least. Carcasses of dead cattle are examined for the perceived quality of the meat. If the meat is considered to be superior, cells are taken from the dead flesh, cloned in a laboratory, and used to create cattle. Cattle that are literally raised from the dead. To be honest, this creeps me out.

Because the process is expensive at this point, cloned cattle are created for breeding purposes. It is estimated that there are approximately 1,000 cloned cattle in American herds. When their breeding days are over, it is expected that they will be turned into meat. Our protectors do not require that meat from cloned cattle be labeled.

Since cloned cattle are used for breeding, they will pass many of their qualities into other cattle which will actually be bred the normal way. This meat also is not required to be labeled.

It is also likely that the cloning process could become much cheaper over time. If it becomes cheap enough, we could see the day when all beef comes from cattle that are cloned.

Fortunately, many ranchers and at least one major market chain have rejected cloned meat.

Now, more than ever, it is important to know where your meat comes from—unless you want to take a chance that you will be eating cloned meat.

Frankenmeat Grown in a Vat? No, No, NO!

The British Royal Society, an organization of scientists, reported that a way of growing meat in a vat has been developed. One writer even claimed that this vat-grown “meat” is needed “to feed the world.”

I find it very interesting that almost every GMO plant, artificial food, and technological process that modifies food from its natural state is justified by the claim that we need it “to feed the world” The real purpose of these changes is to make more money.

I find the creation of this Frankenmeat to be even more disgusting than cloning the dead. While all the details of the process are not disclosed, the creation involves putting pork tissue in a vat with chemicals, quite possibly including genetically modified substances, which results in a “meat” that has been described as having a texture similar to undercooked eggs.

Now comes the fun part. Remember those old movies where Frankenstein was brought to life by throwing a switch, which caused a huge electrical charge to bring him to life? Well, vat-grown “meat” also gets an electrical charge, a charge strong enough to change its texture into something that is described as similar to scallops.

Okay, we have pork tissue dumped in a vat with a bunch of chemicals and other substances that cause it to grow and expand into a runny egg like mass, which is then electrocuted, and served as food? Does anybody in the world seriously want to eat that?

Does anybody know what this substance, which has never been eaten in all of human history, could do to our bodies?

Do you want to be a guinea pig to test this artificial abomination? I sure don’t.

We Need the Natural Pastured Meat Our Ancestors Have Eaten for Thousands of Years, Not Frankenmeat

We have a much better alternative. We can eat the meat of pastured animals, who eat the plants and grasses they were meant to eat, living in the pasture as nature intended. Animals who breed and reproduce the natural way, rather than being created in a laboratory or a vat. Our bodies have evolved to use this natural food, which our ancestors have eaten for thousands and thousands of years. Our bodies are genetically programmed to thrive on this fine meat and its fat, which provides a wonderful foundation for nourishing our systems. Meat animals can be pastured on land that will not support the growing of crops, and the cropland that is used to grow plants for the feedlot could be used to grow crops for humans.

What We Can Do

We can demand that our representatives pass laws that will require full labeling and disclosure of all meat from cloned animals, and all meat descended from cloned animals. We can let all our food providers know that we will not purchase any meat that is cloned. We can demand that they provide natural, grassfed, and grass finished meat.

And we can let it be known that we will not purchase any so called meat grown in a vat.

Dr. Weston A. Price, the greatest nutritional researcher who ever walked the earth, said that “Life in all its fullness is nature’s laws obeyed.” We must get back to obeying the laws of nature, which govern our bodies and the natural food that nourishes them. Let us eat the food that nature has provided for us and reject the artificial products of the laboratory and vat. If we do so, we will thrive.

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-october-22nd/

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/10/real-food-wednesday-102010.html

You can visit Stan’s terrific website here: http://www.tendergrassfedmeat.com/

Here’s a link to Stan’s wonderful book, Tender Grassfed Meat. I use it all the time and highly recommend it. Mom

This rustic cake can be sliced and served or toasted before serving. You can serve it with any kind of fruit compote, fresh fruit, ice cream or cream. It was delicious.

To make a simple compote place fruit (I used plums) that have been peeled, pitted and sliced into a stainless steel pan. For 12 plums I used ½ cup water and ½ cup sucanat. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally,  for twenty minutes, then cool before serving.

If you don’t have Meyer Lemons around you can substitute regular lemon, orange or even tangerine zest. 

Yield: Makes 8 servings

1 1/4 cups organic whole wheat flour

3/4 cup organic cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon celtic or sea salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Rapadura,  sucanat or organic sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted pastured butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons (packed) finely grated meyer lemon peel zested – finely grated

4 large organic, pastured eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole-milk organic plain yogurt

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.

Butter 9 x 5 x 3-inch metal loaf pan. Dust pan with flour; tap out excess.

Whisk 1 1/4 cups flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and meyer lemon peel in large bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with yogurt in 2 additions, beating just until blended after each addition. Spread batter evenly in pan.

Bake cake until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.

Transfer to rack; cool in pan 5 minutes. Run knife around cake edges to loosen. Invert cake onto rack, then invert again on rack (top side up). Cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in plastic and store at room temperature.

Cut cake crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices; serve with plum compote/ vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-october-15th/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/10/pennywise-platter-thursday-1014.html

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/10/real-food-wednesday-101310.html

Here’s another article that Jeffrey gave us permission to share, in his wonderful speaker training.

Moms – if you are feeding your babies soy formula – it IS GMO – read the below.

Non-GMO day is this coming Sunday – lets all call the companies that make baby formula and tell them that we DON’T want GMOs – genetically modified soybeans –  in baby formula:

Mead Johnson makes Enfamil, Pregestimil, Nutramigen, and Nutramigen AA – 1-847-832-2420

Abbott Labs Ross division makes Similac, Isomil, Alimentum, and EleCare (800) 551-5838

Nestlé the largest producer of formula in the world, makes Good Start; owns Gerber, 1-800-284-9488

Mom

Genetically Modified Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant Mortality

By Jeffrey M. Smith

April 20, 2010

“This study was just routine,” said Russian biologist Alexey V. Surov, in what could end up as the understatement of this century. Surov and his colleagues set out to discover if Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) soy, grown on 91% of US soybean fields, leads to problems in growth or reproduction. What he discovered may uproot a multi-billion dollar industry.

After feeding hamsters for two years over three generations, those on the GM diet, and especially the group on the maximum GM soy diet, showed devastating results. By the third generation, most GM soy-fed hamsters lost the ability to have babies. They also suffered slower growth, and a high mortality rate among the pups.

And if this isn’t shocking enough, some in the third generation even had hair growing inside their mouths—a phenomenon rarely seen, but apparently more prevalent among hamsters eating GM soy.

The study, jointly conducted by Surov’s Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Association for Gene Security, is expected to be published in three months (July 2010)—so the technical details will have to wait. But Surov sketched out the basic set up for me in an email.

He used Campbell hamsters, with a fast reproduction rate, divided into 4 groups. All were fed a normal diet, but one was without any soy, another had non-GM soy, a third used GM soy, and a fourth contained higher amounts of GM soy. They used 5 pairs of hamsters per group, each of which produced 7-8 litters, totally 140 animals.

Surov told The Voice of Russia,

“Originally, everything went smoothly. However, we noticed quite a serious effect when we selected new pairs from their cubs and continued to feed them as before. These pairs’ growth rate was slower and reached their sexual maturity slowly.”

He selected new pairs from each group, which generated another 39 litters. There were 52 pups born to the control group and 78 to the non-GM soy group. In the GM soy group, however, only 40 pups were born. And of these, 25% died. This was a fivefold higher death rate than the 5% seen among the controls. Of the hamsters that ate high GM soy content, only a single female hamster gave birth. She had 16 pups; about 20% died.

Surov said “The low numbers in F2 [third generation] showed that many animals were sterile.”

The published paper will also include measurements of organ size for the third generation animals, including testes, spleen, uterus, etc. And if the team can raise sufficient funds, they will also analyze hormone levels in collected blood samples.

Hair Growing in the Mouth

Earlier this year, Surov co-authored a paper in Doklady Biological Sciences showing that in rare instances, hair grows inside recessed pouches in the mouths of hamsters.

“Some of these pouches contained single hairs; others, thick bundles of colorless or pigmented hairs reaching as high as the chewing surface of the teeth. Sometimes, the tooth row was surrounded with a regular brush of hair bundles on both sides. The hairs grew vertically and had sharp ends, often covered with lumps of a mucous.”

(The photos of these hair bundles are truly disgusting. Trust me, or look for yourself.)

At the conclusion of the study, the authors surmise that such an astounding defect may be due to the diet of hamsters raised in the laboratory. They write, “This pathology may be exacerbated by elements of the food that are absent in natural food, such as genetically modified (GM) ingredients (GM soybean or maize meal) or contaminants (pesticides, mycotoxins, heavy metals, etc.).” Indeed, the number of hairy mouthed hamsters was much higher among the third generation of GM soy fed animals than anywhere Surov had seen before.

Preliminary, but Ominous

Surov warns against jumping to early conclusions. He said, “It is quite possible that the GMO does not cause these effects by itself.” Surov wants to make the analysis of the feed components a priority, to discover just what is causing the effect and how.

In addition to the GMOs, it could be contaminants, he said, or higher herbicide residues, such as Roundup. There is in fact much higher levels of Roundup on these beans; they’re called “Roundup Ready.” Bacterial genes are forced into their DNA so that the plants can tolerate Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. Therefore, GM soy always carries the double threat of higher herbicide content, couple with any side effects of genetic engineering.

Years of Reproductive Disorders from GMO-Feed

Surov’s hamsters are just the latest animals to suffer from reproductive disorders after consuming GMOs. In 2005, Irina Ermakova, also with the Russian National Academy of Sciences, reported that more than half the babies from mother rats fed GM soy died within three weeks. This was also five times higher than the 10% death rate of the non-GMO soy group. The babies in the GM group were also smaller (see photo) and could not reproduce.

In a telling coincidence, after Ermakova’s feeding trials, her laboratory started feeding all the rats in the facility a commercial rat chow using GM soy. Within two months, the infant mortality facility-wide reached 55%.

When Ermakova fed male rats GM soy, their testicles changed from the normal pink to dark blue! Italian scientists similarly found changes in mice testes (PDF), including damaged young sperm cells. Furthermore, the DNA of embryos from parent mice fed GM soy functioned differently.

An Austrian government study published in November 2008 showed that the more GM corn was fed to mice, the fewer the babies they had (PDF), and the smaller the babies were.

Central Iowa Farmer Jerry Rosman also had trouble with pigs and cows becoming sterile. Some of his pigs even had false pregnancies or gave birth to bags of water. After months of investigations and testing, he finally traced the problem to GM corn feed. Every time a newspaper, magazine, or TV show reported Jerry’s problems, he would receive calls from more farmers complaining of livestock sterility on their farm, linked to GM corn.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine accidentally discovered that rats raised on corncob bedding “neither breed nor exhibit reproductive behavior.” Tests on the corn material revealed two compounds that stopped the sexual cycle in females “at concentrations approximately two-hundredfold lower than classical phytoestrogens.” One compound also curtailed male sexual behavior and both substances contributed to the growth of breast and prostate cancer cell cultures. Researchers found that the amount of the substances varied with GM corn varieties. The crushed corncob used at Baylor was likely shipped from central Iowa, near the farm of Jerry Rosman and others complaining of sterile livestock.

In Haryana, India, a team of investigating veterinarians report that buffalo consuming GM cottonseed suffer from infertility, as well as frequent abortions, premature deliveries, and prolapsed uteruses. Many adult and young buffalo have also died mysteriously.

Denial, Attack and Canceled Follow-up

Scientists who discover adverse findings from GMOs are regularly attacked, ridiculed, denied funding, and even fired. When Ermakova reported the high infant mortality among GM soy fed offspring, for example, she appealed to the scientific community to repeat and verify her preliminary results. She also sought additional funds to analyze preserved organs. Instead, she was attacked and vilified. Samples were stolen from her lab, papers were burnt on her desk, and she said that her boss, under pressure from his boss, told her to stop doing any more GMO research. No one has yet repeated Ermakova’s simple, inexpensive studies.

In an attempt to offer her sympathy, one of her colleagues suggested that maybe the GM soy will solve the over population problem!

Surov reports that so far, he has not been under any pressure.

Opting Out of the Massive GMO Feeding Experiment

Without detailed tests, no one can pinpoint exactly what is causing the reproductive travesties in Russian hamsters and rats, Italian and Austrian mice, and livestock in India and America. And we can only speculate about the relationship between the introduction of genetically modified foods in 1996, and the corresponding upsurge in low birth weight babies, infertility, and other problems among the US population. But many scientists, physicians, and concerned citizens don’t think that the public should remain the lab animals for the biotech industry’s massive uncontrolled experiment.

Alexey Surov says, “We have no right to use GMOs until we understand the possible adverse effects, not only to ourselves but to future generations as well. We definitely need fully detailed studies to clarify this. Any type of contamination has to be tested before we consume it, and GMO is just one of them.”

To learn more about the health dangers of GMOs, and what you can do to help end the genetic engineering of our food supply, visit www.ResponsibleTechnology.org.

To learn how to choose healthier non-GMO brands, visit www.NonGMOShoppingGuide.com.

International bestselling author and filmmaker Jeffrey Smith is the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods. His first book, Seeds of Deception, is the world’s bestselling and #1 rated book on the topic. His second, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods, provides overwhelming evidence that GMOs are unsafe and should never have been introduced. Mr. Smith is the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, whose Campaign for Healthier Eating in America is designed to create the tipping point of consumer rejection of GMOs, forcing them out of our food supply.

Below’s a link to Jeffrey’s must read, Genetic Roulette:

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-october-8th/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/10/pennywise-platter-thursday-10710.html

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/10/real-food-wednesday-10610.html

We have a terrific guest post today, from my friend Joanie.  Thanks Joanie!

Mom

The Next Food Revolution 

By Joanie Blaxter

“A farmer friend of mine says ‘I don’t raise hogs any more. I manufacture pork. That’s my business and my buildings are like an assembly line at an automobile factory.  And out of the end of those buildings actually come animals, but I’m not really interested in the animals.  I’m interested in the attributes those animals have.  I’m interested in the chop.  I’m interested in the ham.  The animals are just carriers of attributes the consumer wants.’ ”

Dr. Michael Boehlje, PhD, Professor

Center for Food and Agricultural Business

Purdue University

When you go to the supermarket and pick up those colorful boxes or bags marked “organic,” what images are evoked in your mind?  A family farm with healthy vegetables and happy cows in the pasture lovingly guided by Mr & Mrs Farmer…?  Well, to be honest, even if I don’t consciously believe that image, I still do feel good knowing there are no petrochemicals used in the growing of my food.  What could be better?

Well, unfortunately, a lot…

Supermarkets excel at one thing: moving stuff long distances extremely cheaply.  And supermarkets do this at a profit, a much better profit by the way, than the margin made by the small farmer at your local Farmers’ Market.  Supermarkets can sell the same thing cheaper than a family farmer and still make money solely because their agri-business suppliers are gigantic producers of one single thing: beef, corn, oranges, etc.

Organic or not, by definition every time we purchase from a supermarket chain we have personally lined the pockets of Big Ag.  Along with that organic but cheaper  tomato comes all the problems inherent in a factory food system: increased risk of contamination (sewage sludge on the fields, mechanical harvesting and handling, etc), inhuman labor practices, a much larger carbon footprint due to being transported long distances, and most important, absolutely no sense of land stewardship.  Monoculture, factory farms owned by agri-business have a single bottom line: profit.  And none of this information is included in the lovely graphics on the package. 

Have you purchased eggs at Trader Joe’s recently?  Better check to see if they’ve been recalled due to salmonella contamination.  TJ’s mega-supplier of Sunshine (like those hens ever see the light of day!) eggs is well known in the industry for repeated contamination violations and yet this company has never been shut down.  Meanwhile the FDA is spending enormous amounts of their budget putting small farms out of business for selling clean, safe, raw milk with no record of any problems for their customers.  Have you ever read that the FDA closed a restaurant for serving sushi that made customers ill?  So why focus on one kind of producer and not the other?  Sorry, that’s another story for another time (hint: follow the money…).

Joel Salatin is a farmer, author and leader in the eco-agriculture movement.  And yet his farm is not certified organic simply because he refuses to go through the paperwork.  Furthermore, he will not transport his product more than a 4 hours’ drive, so you’ll never see his superior, grass-fed beef carried in Whole Foods.  Or any supermarket for that matter.  Why?  Salatin refuses to participate in a food system that he thinks is inherently structured incorrectly.  He believes people should personally know who produces their food.  The greatest guarantee of quality is relationship.  If you can visit the farm where your food is grown, what better guarantee is there?

In his book Holy Cows and Hog Heaven, Salatin says ““Supermarkets, organic or otherwise, do not do a good job of creating food connections, maintaining integrity, or especially insuring that farmers get a living wage.  Supermarkets are predicated on pitting all their suppliers against each other on price, paying their vendors up to 90 days after product delivery (this finances the store on the vendors’ money), and carrying no loyalty to local producers who must deal with seasonality and cash flow…  Except for a few notable locally controlled exceptions, supermarkets cater to the empire builders.  And any producer who aspires to sell there is starstuck, not customer struck.”

I think we in the Green movement have been somewhat lulled to sleep by the label “organic.”  Back in the 70’s, all organic product came from small, diversified farms and was therefore synonymous with “locally and sustainably grown.”  But for better or worse, that is no longer true.  And just as we began the process forty years ago of educating consumers concerning the health benefits of eating organic, these times now require a new wave of consciousness about the critical importance of sustainable land stewardship designed to support local economies.

As Michael Pollan says, Vote with your fork!  “Cheap” food is not cheap because what’s rung up at the cash register is not the true cost.  The hidden bill is paid by bankrupt family farmers, by migrant farm workers, by our children and our children’s children.  It’s paid by the earth.  Can’t afford to buy direct from the farmer?  Or can’t afford not to?

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-september-24th/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/09/pennywise-platter-thursday-923.html

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here:  http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/09/real-food-wednesday-92210.html