A GMO is a genetically modified organism. Although it is primarily used for food production, I have heard rumors of experiments in the lab that are nothing less than successful Frankenstein experiments. The modification is completed in the DNA through genetic engineering. Many successful alterations are actually patented. Many countries have banned the product others require GMO’s to be labeled. Neither is true in the US because the government is afraid of being sued by the largest manufacturers of the GMO seed. Worse still, when people report or whistle blow about the subject, the media makes fun and discounts the claims.
Why they are genetically modified:
The original purpose of GMO was to create a product that would serve a purpose outside the original natural design of the plant. Plants were crossbred to create specific planned outcomes. Seedless grapes, Marijuana from hemp and Broccoflower (my sons personal favorite, you must just see it to believe it) just to name a few. However, in more recent decades, very specific bioengineered plants with a specific purpose have been created. Some are designed insect resistant (by designing a plant that contains its own insecticide), and another designed to be herbicide (weed killer) resistant. If a food source contains its own insecticide, the bugs are much less likely to kill the crop. Therefore, anyone who is eating the GMO product with this inside is actually eating pesticide.
The other kind of GMO that is more popular is a crop that is resistant to glyphosate. That sounds harmless enough. But when I found out what it is, I fell off my chair. The commercial name for glyphosate is Round-Up®, yes you read it right, the agricultural industry created a corn, soybeans, canola, cotton, sugar beets, and alfalfa plant that will resist weed killer that boast killing almost all unwanted weeds. The reason to develop this amazing crop is that the farmer can now spray the crop with herbicide without killing their crop, leaving only the refined
crop behind. So simply we eat the plants that have sprayed in herbicide. Yuck!!!
Corn and Soy
Most protein shakes are derivatives of soy or whey. Soy is obviously GMO, but whey is the liquid left
after curdled milk has been put through a strainer. OK, what does that have to do with GMOs? While the cows eat the corn that is GMO, and the chemicals pass through the cow’s body. Even if the GMO chemicals are not in the whey directly, herbicides and pesticides can’t possibly improve the health of the cow. Moreover, the cows are fed antibiotics, and I have a strange time believing they are not in the cow’s reproductive food supply.
What about high fructose corn syrup? It’s prolific, in everything from soda to candy. If the GMO is used to create the syrup, one is left to wonder how much of these dangerous chemicals are being consumed when eating corn syrup products. Oh wait I get it, regulators require them to wash the herbicide (plant killer) off before they process it into corn syrup. If that helps you sleep at night…
It’s not just food anymore
OK, now here is where it gets really weird. I’ve heard that there have been experiments with glow in the dark cats and rabbits so that their owners won’t lose them. But here is the “grosser than gross” fact of the food supply. It’s called transgenic fish, and they are already being sold at market. Tilapia and Salmon are being bread to release growth hormone to increase the speed of growth in the fish. It was harmless at first. Just creating fish that would glow pretty colors under black light seemed harmless enough. But now these fish are being served in homes and restaurants throughout the world. There are no regulations requiring restaurants to identify GMO, and in many cases neither are the ones at the store. They, in fact, are often regarded as farmed fish, but the GMO’s are not identified to the unsuspecting public.
Why does the FDA allow it?
I’m not really versed in FDA law, but my experience is that the FDA requires the company wishing to pass a product to perform the tests that prove the product to be both effective and not dangerous. Any tests that were failures may be avoided; furthermore, the long-term effect may be ignored. What’s more is they only control any marketing and health-related benefits of a product. They often ignore side effects as a cost of doing business.
Where is it found?
GMO’s are found in virtually all processed food. Even “Health Food” stores will often have GMO food present. People don’t’ stop to think, but when you go to any restaurant in America, it will be nearly impossible to get food that has absolutely no GMO’s present. Even the cooking oils are made of a crop that contains GMO’s. To find food that is not GMO, you must find organic food that specifically says no GMO’s. Most people accept that the GMO’s are present in their food, which is a shame because the best way to stop GMO’s from being used is to stop buying them. In some cases, the GMO’s have been planted in fields near farmers who didn’t buy the seed. The owners of the patents later sued, forcing farmers to quit farming or buy future. The farmers have also been stonewalled until they stop creating their own seeds from the product they have grown from the prior year. It’s a common misnomer then all GMO plants are infertile and can’t create more seeds. The owners of the seeds simply require the farmers to buy new ones every year as part of their patent and use agreement.
A genetically modified organism deviates from nature. The fact that we openly eat plants that contain their own pesticide or resist herbicides is incomprehensible. As a society, we believe the FDA keeps stringent control over the marketing of chemicals that are placed into the food we eat. Moreover, with the overuse of corn and soy, the GMO has traveled into virtually every part of the food process. Only time can tell the long-term effects and the effects it has on our children.