WTF with GMO's?

For those of you who don't know me, I like to think I'm relatively healthy and I stay on top of the latest developments in health related topics (and lots of other topics too!) I became a vegetarian at a very young age, way before it was the "cool" thing to do, and have remained relatively meatless for almost 25 years, albeit a small venture to poultry while pregnant with my second child, at the insistence of my Dr. But mostly, I have lived totally meatless, with the occasional wild salmon fix for those rich Omegas although as of late, my worries about mercury levels have me staying away from that too!

As a vegetarian, I'm always looking for ways to bring interesting and delicious dishes to my family that won't scare them away from the dinner table the way that Tofu does, so when Morningstar Farms introduced their meatless soy-based sausages, burgers, hot dogs and burger crumbles, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. There I was making lasagna and tacos and casseroles by the panfuls and my family was eating it up like there was no tomorrow. For me, being a vegetarian and bringing my family to vegetarianism just got so much easier - or so I thought.

You know the saying, "if it seems to good to be true?" I was at a party in Malibu having a lively, fun conversation with a young woman who was soon to be my neighbor. We were sharing stories of vegetarianism and wine pairings when I said something like, "it's so easy to be veggie now with all the soy based options."

Her reply seemed innocent enough, "Just gotta watch out for the GMO's."

I was then called away so never got the chance to finish the conversation and when I went to seek her out later in the evening, I was told she had exited shortly after our conversation. I was left wondering. I couldn't think of another thing. The veggie burger we were barbecuing at that very moment, the same one that had given me such pleasure, now had me panicked and confused. I ate it, but I did NOT enjoy it.

Of course, the moment I got home, I was on Google. Thank God (Goddess, Buddha, Al Gore, etc.) for the Internet. I was able to quickly locate information on GMO's, what they were, how they came about, what they did, and what products had them. And as empowered as I felt to know, I also felt bamboozled and betrayed by our Government.

So what are GMO's? Here's the rub - they are NOT good. GMO stands for genetically modified organism and when we eat foods containing GMO's that's what we're eating - foods that have been genetically modified to serve a specific purpose and the side effects include such winners as infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system - nice!

The real problem with GMO's is that when we eat them, they can actually change the structure of our DNA. They are genetically modified to make them herbicide tolerant. Scary huh? And we ingest GMO's everyday in a plethora of foods. GM plants such as soybeans, corn, cottonseed, and canola, have had foreign genes forced into their DNA. The inserted genes come from species such as bacteria and viruses, which have never been in the human food supply.

So why isn't the FDA protecting us? Business as usual. Listen to this:

In 1992, the FDA claimed they had no information showing that GMO's were substantially different from conventionally grown foods and therefore were safe to eat. But internal memos made public by a lawsuit reveal that their position was staged by political appointees under orders from the White House to promote GMO's. FDA scientists, on the other hand, warned that GMOs can create unpredictable, hard-to-detect side effects including allergies, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems. They urged long term safety studies but were ignored.

The FDA does not require any safety evaluations for GMOs. Instead, Biotech companies, the same ones who have been found guilty of hiding toxic effect of their chemical products, are now in charge of determining whether GMO foods are safe. What?? Oh yeah - it's like the artificial sweetener debate (which I'll save for another day but the bottom line there is stay the hell away from diet drinks cause they will debilitate and eventually kill you).

So where are GMO's found, and more importantly, hidden in our foods. Isn't that sad? They are actually hidden in our foods and disguised on our nutritional fact labels. There are 5 main culprit foods as it relates to GMO's. They are: soy, corn, canola, cotton and sugar beets.

So how do we avoid GMO's when they're virtually everywhere and no-where? First off, buy organic. Organic foods cannot and do not contain GMO's. Secondly, buy products that are labeled non-GMO. More progressive companies are starting to see that this is actually a great marketing tactic as we near the tipping point on non-GMO foods. Thirdly, avoid products listed on the non-GMO shopping guide found at:
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showDocumentFile/?objectID=144.
And lastly, avoid at-risk ingredients which can also be found at the above link.

So I ask myself, how does our Government allow this to happen? And then reality sets in. Back to the almighty dollar. GMO's make money and so do the diseases that GMOs create. What a sick, sick world! The Mind is Boggled...

At the end of the day, I do believe in the power of the people. We're the ones who buy and consume and ultimately, it is our dollars that will decide if GMO's are acceptable and will send that message loud and clear. I stopped spending on GMO's over a year ago and I strongly encourage you to do the same. We cannot count on anyone else to keep us safe. We must do our own research and stay aware of how best to keep ourselves, and our families, healthy in the best way possible.

It's like my mom always said, things are best left the way nature intended them and the way God made them - no matter that she was trying to talk me out of coloring my hair - the same applies here - you get the idea ;-)