GMO foods and common health problems

[FitChick]

Coasttocoastam.com radio did a segment on GMO and how Monsanto has managed to avoid the rules (by bribing politicians?). Doctors are prescribing a non-GMO diet to patients with food allergies and gastrointestinal problems. Animals taken off of GMO feed have fewer health problems as well. GMO foods have been implicated in depression and fatigue, animal and human infertility. Aside from health, it's a financial disaster for farmers around the world.

 

You can print out a shopping guide to take with you on your weekly supermarket visit. If you can't afford to buy all organic, just remember to avoid the five main GMO foods: soy, canola, corn, sugar from sugar beets (always use cane). Any prepared foods that have the above ingredients should be avoided. You can't go wrong cooking your own food -- cheaper and tastes better.

[carhill]

Around here, most of the genetic work is focused on increasing efficiencies by creating glyphosphate-resistent crops. Essentially, this allows Roundup, et al to be targeted more generally and reduces the incidence of invasive and/or unhealthy weed populations into the planted crops. I see this mostly in the alfalfa and silage corn areas, along with some soybeans, due to crop focuses/soils/target markets. I pass by one of the research stations every time I drive over to the coast and it's easy to see their experimental crops out by the road. Also, I'll occasionally see placards advertising the genetic type/formula roadside of some of the fields. Out here, such crops are grown over many square miles and the cost efficiencies are what allow them to be sold around the world, as well as locally, at a competitive price.

 

That said, we do have large certified organic farming operations too, and I do support them with my patronage. It's a tough market to succeed in.

 

One valuable genetically engineered crop which is being aggressively pursued is pest resistant cotton. That crop is huge around here and creating a plant which naturally resists pests (bollworm would be an example) has marked positive influences on the environment, both cutting down the volume of applied chemical agents as well as the ancillary impacts from such applications, which are generally applied by air or ground-based machinery. However, even though cotton is essentially a fiber crop, it does get into the food supply through byproducts of cottonseed meal and oil, as well as the kernal/waste which is incorporated into animal feed and directly for human consumption in mixed cooking oils and other products.

 

Progress has its price and I think it's healthy to examine all aspects of it. As a society, we've done a lot of that in the past 100 years. I expect that trend to continue. Every time I pass by the miles of solar panels and interface with 'green' technologies which customers use, I smile. That's progress.

[amaysngrace]

Wow I was just wondering about my eggs today but there wasn't a category for eggs on that shopping list. Are eggland best eggs safe? Cause they look kind of uniformed.

[fucpcg]

 

Progress has its price and I think it's healthy to examine all aspects of it. As a society, we've done a lot of that in the past 100 years. I expect that trend to continue. Every time I pass by the miles of solar panels and interface with 'green' technologies which customers use, I smile. That's progress.

 

Monsanto is a criminal organization worse than almost any I've seen. There isn't anything that has to do with progress coming from their company, it's pure greed, at the expense and health of the farmers and the general public. This is a fact, if you don't know it then you just haven't done any homework on Monsanto.

[futuregopher]

Lols monsanto has obviously been bribing the government for years. Their top executives all left monsanto to work for the FDA...the same people that are supposed to look after the public are just former monsanto crooks...

 

Watch Food, INC. It's a great movie.

 

But you have to look at it this way. GMO's have their benefits as well. There are just some foods that may not last without the effects of sciences through a brutally cold winter or unusually dry summer.

 

Just because a food is GMO, doesn't mean it should be avoided. Have you ever tasted organic zuchini squash? It's actually very bitter. I'm sure the scientists have found a way to take out the bitterness in the skin. Farmed tilapia and salmon are okay in not too large quantities. Most people can't even tell the difference between wild and farmed salmon.

 

But I would stay away from any beef, poultry, etc that have been fed improperly on the farms and have been injected with something

[FitChick]

Trader Joe's said they don't use GMO foods.

 

It's a good point about eggs. I hadn't thought about it. Chickens eat corn.

 

I don't have a problem with cotton crops being GMO as long as the by products mentioned above are not given to humans or animals. But I do wonder at the impact on wildlife. Birds eat bugs. If the bugs are dying off, the birds will die off.

 

At the very least, we should be able to label food as GMO or not. So far our politicians have backed Monsanto. If there is nothing wrong with GMO food, why the secrecy then?

 

People forget that Mother Nature has been around a lot longer than Monsanto. Farmers are discovering that bugs are becoming resistant to RoundUp which makes the whole endeavor pointless if you ask me. I also read somewhere, and I have no idea if it's true, that the cafeteria at Monsanto only sells organic food.

[carhill]

Roundup is a translocated herbicide. Essentially, it alters the moisture takeup of the roots of targeted weed species and causes them to die from lack of moisture.

 

I just thought of a great anecdote which helps explain balance between pros and cons. Back in the 80's and 90's, I'd often have to wash the pesticide and herbicide spray off my windows from the crop dusters which dropped their loads on adjacent fields during the night. The windows literally would fog up from the overspray. As genetically engineered cotton began to be introduced, spraying lessened and the only time I'd really have to leave was when they were defoliating, as the spray made me nauseous. Even that has lessened now, with newer defoliants which are applied at ground level.

 

Also, during this period, weeder geese and beneficial insects were introduced and experimented with on a number of crops, including cotton and alfalfa. These processes still remain to some degree, in addition to the GMO crops being utilized. The overall result for myself has been a much more pleasant and healthier place to live and work. I imagine that other residents, as well as farm workers, not to mention wildlife, has been positively impacted.

 

Watch out for a strong move from Monsanto and other traditional organic and inorganic ag chemical companies into plant biologics; coatings and sprays which alter/affect plant biology to achieve controls similar to toxic chemicals. Essentially, modifying aspects of the plant to provide the same natural pest resistance as other plants which have such biology but are not foodstuffs. The same applies to soil biologics, which prevent or interrupt the germination/growth cycle of soil-borne pests, like weeds, nematodes, etc.

 

There's a lot in the pipeline and feeding the planet is a big incentive for further research and experimentation.