Say no to GMOs

It’s horrifying when I read that influential biotech companies promoting genetically modified (GM) foods insist that unnatural genetic alterations and continuous use of lethal herbicide will be the best way to feed the world and stop hunger.

This is only part of the horror. A report revealed that industry and regulators were aware that glyphosate (an active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup) causes deformities as early as the 1980s but withheld the information from the public.

The implications of GM foods extend to other health complications too, and not only that, poor farmers pushed to plant only GM seeds find themselves totally reliant on herbicides and GM seeds. I recently watched two documentaries tracing the lives of such farmers in China and Thailand, torn between price, demand and the know-how to cut their costs. I’m moved to post about an inspiring Thai rice farmer determined to stay organic and true to the original way of farming. More on that in another day, after I collect my thoughts.

So what the farmers harvest from their GM crops will end up somewhere in our grocers’. Here’s a partial list of GM foods that is found largely in processed products:

• Soy (derivatives such as soy lecithin, soy bean oil)
• Sugar from sugar beets
• Corn (derivatives such as high fructose corn syrup)
• Hawaiian papaya
• Cottonseed (used in vegetable cooking oils)
• Certain varieties of zucchini
• Canola (canola oil)
• Crookneck squash
• Milk containing rbGH
• Rennet (containing genetically modified enzymes) used to make hard cheeses
• Aspartame (NutraSweet)

More:

• 10 reasons to avoid GMOs
• Non-GMO shopping guide
• GM farming drives Indian farmers to suicide

Books:

• Genetic Roulette
• Seeds of Deception