Bravo Jacqueline!
I wholeheartedly agree with the astute points you have shared regarding the importance of eating organically.

One of the most alarming health risks threatening our society today is the dangers associated with eating genetically engineered foods, or GMOs as they are otherwise known. GMOs have been permeating our food supplies for more than 10 years in the USA. Disguised and represented as 'normal' food and produce products, such as corn, soybeans, potatoes, cottonseed oil, canola oil, and recently, wheat, and with many others already on the way, Americans are being subject to a barrage of toxins poisoning and weakening their immune systems every day without realizing it. In fact, we are the real-life 'guinea pigs' if you will, currently having genetically engineered foods tested upon us without us even knowing it and without our consent.

In the book Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey Smith, he exposes meticulously documented evidence that leaves no doubt that GM food should never have been approved in the first place. The biotechnology industry (which Monsanto is the biggest player...think agent orange, thalidomide, and PCB's which they also manufactured), claims that the FDA has thoroughly evaluated GM foods and found them safe. This is untrue. Smith reveals how internal FDA documents made public from a lawsuit, reveal that agency scientists warned that GM foods might create toxins, allergies, nutritional problems, and new diseases that might be difficult to identify. Although they urged their superiors to require long-term tests on each GM variety prior to approval, the political appointees at the agency, including a former attorney for Monsanto, ignored the scientists. Official policy claims that the foods are no different and do NOT require safety testing. A manufacturer can introduce a GM food without even informing the government or consumers. A January 2001 report from an expert panel of the Royal Society of Canada said it was "scientifically unjustifiable" to presume that GM foods are safe. Likewise, a 2002 report by the UK's Royal Society said that genetic modification "could lead to unpredicted harmful changes in the nutritional state of foods," and recommended that potential health effects of GM foods be rigorously researched before being fed to pregnant or breast-feeding women, elderly people, those suffering from chronic disease, and babies.

How could the government approve dangerous foods you may well ask? A close examination reveals that industry manipulation and political collusion-not sound science-was the driving force. For example:

* Government employees who complained were harassed, stripped of responsibilities, or fired.
* Scientists were threatened. Evidence was stolen. Data was omitted or distorted. Some regulators even claimed they were offered bribes to approve a GM product.

Despite the growing body of research with evidence to the contrary on the safety of GM foods, they are not likely to diminish in circulation, and in fact, just the opposite is occurring. GM foods are a regular part of the U.S. diet. Approximately 80 percent of the soy and 38 percent of the corn planted in the U.S. in 2003 is genetically engineered. Derivatives from these two crops are found in about 70 percent of processed foods. In addition, 70 percent of the cotton crop and more than 60 percent of the canola crop, both used for cooking oil, are also genetically modified. About 75 percent of these crops are engineered to withstand otherwise deadly applications of an herbicide, 17 percent produce their own insecticide, and 8 percent are engineered to do both. That means more toxins for our livers, kidneys, and immune systems to deal with!

There are also hundreds of foods produced with genetically engineered cooking agents, food additives, and enzymes, as well as varieties of GM squash and papaya. And there are dairy products from cows injected with a GM bovine growth hormone (also manufactured by Monsanto). All these are sold without labels identifying them as GMOs.

The regulations in the U.S. are so lax, there are no required pre-market safety tests. There is no way to determine if these GM foods are creating serious health problems. People get sick all the time without tracking their illness to food, or pesticides, or air or water pollution. The causes remain well hidden.

According to a March 2001 article in the New York Times, "The CDC (Center for disease control) now says that food is responsible for twice the number of illnesses in the US as scientists thought just seven years ago...At least 80 percent of food-related illnesses are caused by viruses or other pathogens that scientists cannot even identify." The reported cases include 5,000 deaths, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 76 million illnesses per year. This increase roughly corresponds to the period when Americans have been eating GM food. In addition, obesity has skyrocked. In 1990, no state had 15 percent or more of its population in the obese category. By 2001, only one state didn't. Diabetes rose by 33 percent from 1990 to 1998, lymphatic cancers are up, and many other illnesses are on the rise. Is there a connection to GM foods? We have no way of knowing because no one has looked for one.

By following the money trail, as Smith points out, we can easily see who stands to profit from GMOs and who does not. Understand that your optimum health and nutrition is not a part of the equation where genetically engineered foods are concerned. Monsanto's biggest objective in the dissemination of GMOs is to own 100% of the market -- that spells monopoly folks. As one astute world freedom fighter pointed out: 'Owning the food sources is much more powerful than guns, and chemicals. He who owns the food sources and supplies, controls the world.'

You be the judge!

Stay tuned for safe options on how to avoid GMOs and eating non-GMO in restaurants.

Deirdre Rawlings
"Health is a matter of choice, not a mystery of chance"

My family is (ever so slowly!) going raw diet. We have been vegetarian/organic foodies for years, and we are making The Big Leap. Unfortunately, I still like bread, chicken, and scrambled eggs. But the bread I eat I try to make myself, the eggs are cage-free, and the chicken...well, must look into that.

"I'm sick of the pesticides, the preservatives, the chemicals which are no good for me, and have no place running off in rainwater to fill our streams and oceans. I'm sick of horribly underpaid workers in developing countries unknowingly risking their health through exposure to chemicals without any sort of risk intervention, workman's compensation, or access to decent health care just so that I can have out of season fruit or pretty cut flowers in the winter."

Well said!
Thanks for both of your posts!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi
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