Do You Know What You Are Eating?

The first time I saw this video, about two years ago, I thought: “Oh, this must be yet another NGO exaggerating facts to get some popularity and cash in some fat checks.” After all, the idea of altering food DNA is nothing new. It has been done for thousands of years and it is still a common practice, even in the USA. And I know that for sure because I lived on a farm as a child and my grandpa would graft all sorts of plans, without any danger to health but an insatiable craving for the delicious results.

So I labeled this reaction as a natural resistance to change that people always express when dealing with technological breakthroughs. “Just give it some time and people will embrace it, just like they’ve embraced technological advances in medicine”, I thought.

But I couldn’t have been farther from the truth and I honestly admit I am glad I was wrong. Here’s what a recent study shows about genetically modified food:

source: rt.com

Would you look at the size of that thing?! What on earth do they put in that food? Now, I’d heard before that this newly fabricated food (GMO) was not as healthy as Montano and other companies involved try to market… but I never thought it was THAT bad! Just look at those rats, for God’s sake!

And tumours are just the beginning. According to the study, “50% of male and 70% of female rats died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group”, after suffering not only from tumours, but also kidney and liver damage. (rt.com)

Objections to the study were very prompt. “Some researchers” stated this species of rats are prone to developing cancer and that’s why they were chosen for this particular test. Alright, alright, let’s suppose that’s true. Let’s say those rats have a tendency to develop cancer. But that doesn’t alter the numbers: the mortality rate is 70% for the rats fed with genetically engineered food and only 30% for those kept on a standard diet.

After these results were published, the French government immediately sent it to the EU food safety agency and asked them to “take all necessary measures to protect human and animal health, measures that could go as far as an emergency suspension of imports of NK603 maize in the European Union“, as Reuters reports.

And EU’s response wasn’t long awaited:“This study finally shows we are right and that it is urgent to quickly review all GMO evaluation processes,” says Jose Bove, vice-chairman of the European Parliament’s commission for agriculture, according to rt.com.

But if GMO food is not very popular among Europeans, it is widely used in the US. Even by you! You just don’t know it yet. And that’s because a genetically modified food is not labeled as such.

source: rt.com

Monsanto, Dupont, Dow, Nestle, Pepsi, Hershey, Coca-Cola, Sara Lee, Rich Products, Dole and Del Monte have raised $25 million (!!!)to keep specifications of modified food off labels. On the other side, California activists are trying to pass Proposition 37. This law would force GMO food producers to specify the nature of their product on the label. But how can you win this war when your opponents are the biggest food corporations in the US… and the congress?

That’s right, Monsanto has already won a battle when Washington lawmakers allowed farmers to plant genetically modified food, even though legal proceedings were pending.

source: rt.com

And let’s not even bring up the so-called tests made to make sure GMO’s are safe for eating. It takes years and years of tests on animals and humans to see what negative effects they may have on the long-term. But Monsanto hurried to state their food is safe not only for health, but also for the environment.

However, the Human Genome Project Information lists a series of possible disturbing effects of GMO’s:

Safety

○ Potential human health impacts, including allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects

○ Potential environmental impacts, including the unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on other organisms (e.g., soil microbes), and loss of flora and fauna biodiversity

Access and Intellectual Property

○ Domination of world food production by a few companies

○ Increasing dependence on industrialized nations by developing countries

○ Biopiracy, or foreign exploitation of natural resources

Ethics

○ Violation of natural organisms’ intrinsic values

○ Tampering with nature by mixing genes among species

But rising from the middle of this battle comes the following question, cleverly addressed by Global Issues: “Do we actually need genetically engineered food,given that agriculture in small biodiverse farms are actually very productive? Economics and politics at all levels, (international, national and local) have often prevented food from reaching hungry people, not a lack of production. These same causes have also created, or contributed to, a lot of poverty, which prevents people from being able to afford food in the first place.”

So, in the end, what we should be concerned about is not labeling genetically modified food as such or banning it from international markets. What every American should be fighting for is our own agriculture, that is now on the edge of destruction, due to political and economical interests of food industry giants.

Just a few decades ago, the USA was called “the Bread Basket of the world”. Today, we’re one step away from becoming “The Poison Basket of the world”. And the cherry on top of the genetically modified cake: citizens just like you and me will be the first poisoned lab rats of the greedy fat cats.