What Are GMOs? (Genetically Modified Organism)

Q: What Are GMOs?

A: GMO is short for genetically modified organisms. The most common application of this term relates to food production on the farms and plots. This may include crops and livestock which are later converted into processed foods and meat that humans consume. The modification of the plant or livestock is usually done to the seed in order to influence the quality and quantity of what is finally produced.

The actual scientific process of creating GMO involves looking for best traits in certain seeds and mixing them with others making a hybrid seed with special qualities. This is essentially cross-breeding that is done in the laboratory.

Q: Why Are They Necessary?

A: GMOs are often justified because of their ability to "positively" influence production outcomes. They give much control to human beings taking it away from nature. For example, by genetically modifying crop seed, scientists are able to produce a drought resistant crop that can adjust to climate change. This is said to help alleviate climate change induced food shortages.

Scientists are also able to manipulate the genetics of a crop seed causing more to be produced with less. This might mean a small portion of land producing much more than was previously possible with ordinary seed. This ensures food security were land is limited, for example.

Q: What Are The Dangers Of GMOs

A: First and foremost the most worrisome dangers of GMOs pertain to human health. For a very long time there has been debate around the overall effects of genetically modified crops on humans. Some countries have even gone as far as legislating against GMO foods.

It has been observed that chickens, for example, that are feed GMO chicken feed tend to have a lot of fat. In fact these chickens can grow very much bigger than the other birds feed with ordinary feed. This negatively impacts healthy eating in humans leading to possibly high cholesterol levels in regular consumers. Bad cholesterol known as LDL is responsible for heart disease and hypertension amongst other chronic diseases.

GMO crops in particular may also become insect resistant, produce resistant weeds and higher levels of plant estrogens. These have long-term negative health benefits.

Q: What Is American Government Policy On Labeling GMOs?

A: The main concern amongst many people is that the FDA does not make it compulsory for GMO foods to be labeled as such. This makes it extremely difficult to avoid them even if you wanted to. As a result many people are turning to organic food on the local farmers market which in a bid to eating only foods grown naturally. America is also at loggerheads with some of its international trading partners who insist on GMO foods imported from America being labeled as such.

Aurther Shoko

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Why You Want to Avoid Genetically Modified Food

More than ten years ago the consumers of Europe eliminated GMO foods from being sold. There was no government ban. People quit buying the anything genetically modified so there was no profit. Instead they lost money. Why do the people in Europe believe Genetically Modified food to have such major negative health consequences? If these substances are that bad, why does the US still allow them?




What's Wrong with Genetically Modified Organisms?

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has major concerns about the safety of food and animals which have DNA that has been tampered with. To those of us who don't have training in genetics, substituting a small gene for another may not seem major until you realize that humans and apes have about 98% similarity in their genes. There are just a few genes, comparatively speaking, which make a huge difference between a monkey and a human.

Here are some of the problems found with genetically modified food the bio-tech industry doesn't want you to know about:

•     Mice who ate GM corn as a staple of their diet had fewer and smaller babies.

•     In rats fed GM soy, more than half the babies died by the time they were three weeks old. The cells in the testicles also changed.

•     When hamsters were fed GM soy for three generations, most of those in the 3rd generation could not reproduce.

•     Taking larger animals, in India, thousands of sheep, goats and buffalo died after eating genetically modified cotton. True, we don't eat cotton, but there is something dangerous going on.

•     Other problems include greatly elevated levels of allergies, pre-cancerous cell growth in the lining of the stomach, lesions or sores in various organs, changes in the cells of the pancreas and liver among other problems.

Follow the Money

If this stuff is so bad for humans, why would the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allow it? The answer, I'm sure, doesn't surprise you. It is simply money. The bio-tech industry is huge. The FDA ignored their scientists, the ones they hired to advise them, who told them there needed to be long-term studies. Their very own scientists said you can't know what happens over the years when genetically modified organisms are introduced into the food chain.

The bio-tech industry pulled out its muscle well supplied with money and the FDA caved in. They essentially said, "Of course our scientists don't know as much as these wealthy corporations."

What You Need to Do

You need to avoid putting anything genetically modified into your mouth. Unfortunately, almost all the corn and soy in the US is GM. Protect yourself and your children by not buying it any more unless the label says "Non-GMO." Eat organic meat and drink organic milk. You want food and drink to be raised in organic hormone free and antibiotic free conditions.

Read, become informed and say "No" to drugs in milk, meat, eggs and chicken as well as any other food which is genetically modified.

Cathy Chapman, Ph.D

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Genetically Modified Foods - Americans Should Be Very Concerned

Genetically modified foods, or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO'S) are now a very real part of your diet whether you know it or not. If you eat corn, cornmeal, cornstarch, corn oil or other corn based ingredients, soybeans, soy milk, tofu, soybean oil, and other soybean based products, canola oil, cottonseed oil, sugar beets, papaya from Hawaii, and some zucchini, and yellow squash, then genetically modified foods are making up a significant percentage of your overall food consumption.




 
Over half of all Americans who were polled said that they were not aware that they were ingesting these GMO's and if they knew it, they would not do so. Many even expressed shock over the fact that they were not the slightest bit aware that they had been ingesting this very questionable and probably downright unhealthy stuff. The simple reason that we were not aware is because in the USA manufacturers and producers of such (food?) are not required to let us know that the food has actually been altered at the level of the DNA. In contrast, many other countries demand that GM foods be clearly labeled as such.

Genetically modified foods are produced by inserting genes from some other species into the very DNA of the food. Almost two thirds of all products on the shelves of your local grocer contain at least one element that has been genetically engineered (altered). When engineers manipulate food crops in order to make them produce their own insecticide, or make them resistant to chemical herbicides that kill other plants, a genetically modified organism which would never occur in nature is created.

The question is: Are these GMO foods safe for human consumption? The common sense answer to that question as far as this writer is concerned is NO. At the very best, it should be noted that nobody has any idea as to the potential health problems associated with eating such food. Despite many warnings of health dangers from its own scientists, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided to allow genetically modified foods into the marketplace without labeling or safety testing. The genetically modified seeds that are a product of such manipulation are now planted commercially so that at this writing the majority of the soybeans, corn, cottonseed (oil), and canola (oil) that you buy are actually genetically modified, and you would have no way of knowing which products are and which ones aren't since there is no law that requires that they be labeled as such.

Studies conducted on rats have produced evidence that should alarm consumers as to the possible dangers associated with GM food. Rats which were fed genetically modified corn were compared to their parents who had been fed non-genetically modified corn. Rats that had been fed the GM food produced signs of kidney and liver problems, as well as problems associated with the heart and spleen. The parents who were not fed the GM food did not seem to have any significant rate of problems in these areas. Other studies conducted on test rats which were fed GM food have produced evidence of various health related problems. At this juncture we really can't tell all of the health related problems that these foods might cause, since we ourselves are the rats in which the experiments are being conducted.

In my personal opinion, apart from mounting evidence that we have been heading down a very slippery slope, is the innate sense that is resident in me that anytime scientists alter a God given resource such as food, that this manipulation carries with it a host of problems. I personally am fully persuaded that a Creator God made all things perfectly, but suppose you are one who believes that all things have evolved naturally, then even if that were true, scientist have no business altering that which nature has produced. In my opinion and based on my firm beliefs, scientists certainly cannot now, nor will they ever improve on God's creation and we have no business manipulating the food we eat at the level of DNA. Certainly from a health perspective nothing good can come of this.

Steps To Avoid GMO's
1. Only buy products labeled 100% organic, or products which are certified organic since these products cannot knowingly contain any GMO ingredients.

2. Find products that carry a "Non-GMO Project Seal."

3. Avoid products such as corn and corn based products, soy beans and soy based products, canola (oil), cottonseed (oil), sugar beets, Hawaiian Papaya, zucchini and yellow squash if they do not boast the 100% organic label or do not carry the NON-GMO Project Seal.

4. Do not consume dairy products from cows injected with bovine growth hormone.

In the end it is up to individual consumers to recognize this dangerous problem and take precautions to insure that they and their families are not placed at risk by this genetic engineering of our food supply. It only takes a small percentage of people who refuse to buy genetically modified foods to effect a change at the level of the largest food companies. When major food business begins to see that offering GMO's does not pay, they will begin to pull these dangerous foods off of the shelves, or at least begin to clearly label foods that have been thus modified.

Since there is absolutely no regulation in place regarding the disclosure of GMO's in the marketplace, nor any regulation regarding their sale, we as consumers must take the initiative and effect a radical change in big food business as usual. Greed and the bottom line will continue to be the only concern of major food companies and the government is historically very easy to buy off, so your health and the health of your family will continue to be the least of their worries. By realizing the sad truth that big food business and the government are willing to sell your health for their gain, we must stand up and say NO to genetically modified food in the marketplace. Make your voice heard by refusing to buy the above listed products if they are not clearly labeled organic or if they are not carrying the Non-GMO Project Seal. We must stand together and stop this madness before it progresses even further. Please do your part and make your voice heard.

I am passionate about health issues, and the state of the health of our wonderful America. I believe the American diet is literally killing us and that a steady flow of money and perks from the meat, egg, and dairy industries to the U.S. government is the reason we have had a long sustained brainwashing campaign that has precipitated the shift from a predominantly plant-based diet to an animal-based diet. The result has been an unprecedented increase in heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancers of all varieties. I believe Americans are suffering from a lack of truthful information concerning our diets. I enjoy writing motivational articles that will help to correct the problem regarding this lack of information and also examine the prevailing misinformation in the light of truth.

Mark Brohl

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