Frankenfood: Was this in God’s Plan?
Well, I have pretty much tried not to get political with my blog or spout off any particular causes but I came across something today and decided it was worth writing. I thought I have to speak about this issue. It’s been called ‘Frakenfood, or (GE) Genetically Engineered Food, or Genetically Modified Food, a few other names too.
Maybe some of you have heard about our American food supplies being tampered with. Many have heard about it, but don’t know much about it. They have told us that by genetically altering many of the foods we consume, it grows food faster, prettier, tastier, more cost effective, and is considered ’safe’ (cough, cough) by the always efficient FDA.
Genetic engineering is like performing heart surgery with a shovel. Scientists do not yet understand living systems completely enough to perform DNA surgery without creating mutations which could be harmful to the environment and our health. They are experimenting with very delicate, yet powerful forces of nature, without full knowledge of the what could happen in the future.
Genetic engineers intend to profit by patenting genetically engineered seeds. This means that, when a farmer plants genetically engineered seeds, all the seeds have identical genetic structure. As a result, if a fungus, a virus, or a pest develops which can attack this particular crop, there could be widespread crop failure.
There are many people who support GE foods, including corporations, politicians and many who are benefiting financially. A particular company called Monsanto seems to be one of the leaders in this ever growing industry. They take a seed say from Canola or Tomato or a Soy plant to name a few and genetically alter the cell structure. How they do this is by using viruses and or bacterias. They alter the plants to make them more resistant to pests or disease, or for cosmetic value, growth or whatever their intention. What’s wrong with this? For starters, there has been no long term testing to determine if this is harmful to humans, animals, the environment or other plant species. What happens if it cross pollinates with other plants? If they use viruses or bacteria and these cross pollinate with other viruses, what would be the outcome? The fact that they use a virus and/or bacterias and then we consume a wide variety of these plants for many years, that might explain some ailments people are having, or cancers, or allergies. What are the long term effects for our children? What happens if these GE seeds mix with our trees? Or animals who consume some of these plants, could they create new human virus’ we cannot fight off? Swine flu comes to mind….
Then in addition to this, Biotech companies are basically trying to force farmers into using their seeds. These companies have obtained the patent to many seeds. In one case a farmer was growing Canola. Some of these GE seeds blew into his field by wind or whatever cause, and the company sued the farmer, because they have a patent. This farmer lost his life savings to fight this company. The farmer said he has no control over what blows into his crops and the judge ruled against the farmer anyway. The farmer said that basically it’s like being a farmer who owns cows, and your cows go in and destroys the corn crops of your neighbor. The judge then declares the owner of the corn to put up a fence or whatever means to keep the cows out, and it’s the corn farmers responsibility.
So in reality there is no way to keep this GE altered seed from blowing into normal crops, so the company has a contract that they have a farmer sign. They sell their seed to the farmer, who in turn sign an agreement to use only their GE seed, not to redistribute or sell it, and cannot obtain the seed from the crop he just grew. He also pays an annual fee to use that seed. The farmer is then forced to purchase new seeds each year. So, this company gives new seeds to the farmers, then they can continue to genetically alter them at they see fit before selling each year. You wonder how America could allow a company to almost force a farmer to comply or quit farming.
Some groups have pushed to at least label the foods ‘Genetically Enhanced’ so consumers can decide as if they want to ingest it or not. The company does not want that, they feel it would scare people. With limited exceptions, under current FDA regulations, companies are not even required to notify the FDA they are bringing new genetically engineered products to the market. According to the FDA the GE food is no different than the regular food and needs no labels. Huh? Sounds different to me.
Now many animals are in the works…chickens to produce more eggs, GE cows to produce more milk…. anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? If they can’t alter the livestock, they can alter their feed.
Some claim that genetic engineering will help developing countries. With the Biotech companies having a patent on their seeds, these poor third world country farmers are left in the companies hands. The poorer farmers from other nations depend on saved seed for survival each year. Biotech companies also patent other seeds, like rice, neem, and quinoa, taking advantage of indigenous knowledge and centuries of selective breeding by small farmers without giving anything in return. The same companies, backed by the U.S. government, proposed to protect their seed patents through the “Terminator Technology”. A Terminator seed grows, but the seeds it produces are sterile. Any nation that buys such seeds will swiftly lose any means of agriculture self-sufficiency. In other words, the companies don’t have to worry about non compliance, so they don’t lose money. So how can the poor farmer win?
The other thing you will be told by these companies is that they will have to use less pesticides. The truth is, some of these crops are made to produce their own pesticides in every cell continually. Some of these crops like the BT Potato, are actually classified as pesticides by the EPA.
It almost sounds like these companies are trying to corner the global food market. Buy only Certified Organic foods and you stand a chance of not being one of the guinea pigs. But as time goes on…. the cross pollination, the animals fed GE grains, and the ever growing Biotech companies making more money, greasing a lot of palms and trying to get other countries in their pockets, I say it’s scary. There is hope with many countries worldwide that do not want GE foods, or at least allow only a small amount of crops. Some European companies like Germany and France have said no thank you to our GE corn. Also some of them have labels on their foods informing the public.
Small List of GE ; canola, soy, tomatoes, potatoes, maize/corn, yeast (used for breads), cotton. If the label contains high fructose corn syrup, you are probably consuming GE foods because of the obvious…corn. There are some that were introduced to the market and taken off, and some new ones in the works. Rice and wheat are two they are trying to add to the list. They are hoping to expand with animals. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to eat a BLT with a frog DNA in my lettuce and a pig DNA in my tomatoes. Doesn’t sound too appetizing.
Do your own research, check around online to see what’s going on with what you consume. Just last week The American Academy of Environmental Medicine released its position paper on Genetically Modified foods stating that “GM foods pose a serious health risk” and calling for a moratorium on GM foods. Click on the link to read the statement.
Too many people playing God again, believing that Gods creation was not sufficient.
