Avoiding GMO’s

Avoiding GMO’s

What is GMO?

GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. What scientists have done is that they are modifying plants on the DNA level. They are altering their DNA by inserting different genes into them. This creates a new plant that was never found before in nature. These unnatural plants are new to our bodies and our digestive systems, and we have not had time to adapt to them yet. Just think, it takes 1000’s of years to adapt to changes, and we’re introducing so many changes in a relatively short period of time, 20 years or so.

Why Create GMO plants?

There are 2 major reasons for big-ag to create plants with genetic engineering. The first is to make the crop more insect resistant. They do this by inserting a gene that will make the plant create BT toxin. The plant creates BT toxin within the plant itself, making the plant poisonous to insects. This BT toxin is a bacteria that normally lives in the soil, but now the plant grows it within itself.

The second reason for genetically engineering crops is to make the crops resistant to herbicides such as Round-Up. There are Round-Up Ready crops that can be planted, and then the entire field can be sprayed with Round-Up. Everything else will die with the exception of the Round-Up Ready crop.

Why Avoid GMO plants and food?

1994 is when the US government allowed GM crops to be made available for consumption. Most of the vegetable oils in the US are from GM crops. These crops are listed below:

  • 86% of corn in the US is GM for use as Corn oil, livestock feed, ethanol, HFCS, and human consumption
  • 95% of soy in the US is GM for use as Vegetable Oil / Soy Oil, and livestock feed, and human consumption
  • 93% of canola in the US is GM for use as Canola Oil, and livestock feed
  • 93% of cotton in US is GM for use as Cottonseed Oil
  • 95% of sugar beets in US is GM for use as sugar

Is there BT Toxin residue in the final products we consume? Do round-up ready crops have more pesticide residue? Is there a chance that GM foods could be bad for us?

There are studies that show some adverse affects on rats. I’m not sure that I’m willing to take the chance that decades of consumption of GM foods could cause some of the many prevalent diseases we now have today. Alzheimers, MS, cancer. Who knows?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_maize

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food_controversies

0saves
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Leave a reply