I've always wanted to do a post about GMO's and now that its on the California ballot and has everyone's attention I think it's the perfect time...
I could talk about this all day, but I'm going to make it as easy and straight forward possible:
What is a GMO?
GMO stands for genetically modified organism; an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.
Why are GMO's bad?
I would assume this is obvious, but you never know. First of all a GMO is not something that naturally occurs in nature. Should you eat something that's unnatural? The answer is no, but people still do it, so I'll go on. Once genetically altered foods their mutant genes could be passed onto your bacteria in your digestive system. We still don't know exactly what these genes could cause, but my guess is that's its not good. When you think about a GMO, think of it as a pure breed dog. They don't last very long and end up costing you a fortune at the vet. A GMO plant also requires an excessive amount of pesticides and other "help" to keep it alive until it's ready to be processed.
What are the most common GMO foods?
Corn, soy, rice, cotton (cotton oil, the oil In n Out uses), papaya, tomatoes, rapeseed oil (canola oil, margarine), dairy products, peas, and potatoes.
click here to read more about these products in detail.
How do I know what foods are GMO safe?
Here's the hard part, as of right now this is mostly up to you and you educating yourself. Some foods are labeled GMO safe, but it's up to the company to judge that, there is no government regulations placed on the issue. Whole foods is good about labeling GMO, but they still sell products that contain GMO and not everything is labeled. Trader Joe's does not label GMO, but the company claims all Trader Joe's brand products are GMO safe. A friend of mine recommended an app called "fooducate" where you can type in the name of the product or scan the product and it will tell if it is GMO and other nutritional information.
If I buy organic, is it non GMO?
No, not always. The product has to be 100% organic. The USDA can label something organic that is only 95% organic, so that other 5% could possibly be GMO because there are a few loopholes in the system. For example, a strawberry can be labeled organic even if they had their start in a conventional nursery. I was very surprised to find all this out because I thought buying organic was a safe way to avoid GMOs. This issue came up when I was discussing formula with a very pregnant friend of mine. Almost every formula contains GMO, even the organic ones. I can't even go on about formula because it makes me so flippin mad. You're all wasting your money on poison for your baby, end of story.
Not only will Prop 37 label GMO foods, it will also make prohibit products being labeled as "natural" (which really grinds my gears!). Technically high fructose corn syrup is made from corn so products that contain it, can be labeled as natural as well as GMO foods, which hopefully you know by now are not natural. There is a lot of money against this proposition because there are a lot of corporations against it like Kelloggs, Coca Cola, Campbells, basically every crap company out there.
I'm not a political person and it's not the type of debate I like to get involved in, all I'm really asking of you is to be an advocate for yourself and your family.
peace, love, & read your labels.
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