Six Bottom Line Issues We Must Face About GMOs

No matter where you stand on the controversy over GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), or GE (Genetically Engineered) Crops as they are also called, there are some bottom-line issues that we must consider. It’s no longer just about the right and wrong of this issue. It’s much deeper than that. It’s about the American public’s right to know. It’s about our right to be informed about what we are consuming and what the products we purchase are made of.

Some people insist GMO (genetically modified organisms) crops are OK because they don’t feel they can make the changes necessary to avoid them, or they just don’t want to.

Some people, surprisingly, don’t even know what I’m talking about when I mention them. Recently, I was giving a talk and in answer to the question about our improved health, vitality, and appearance, I mentioned that a large part of it was because we had removed them from our diet.

I was shocked to have to stop and give a brief explanation of what I was talking about!

I want to draw attention to six (6) things related to this major issue that I am not OK with, give you the information related to each, and then you can make your own decision.

It doesn’t matter to me what stand others take on the issue, as long as they are making an informed decision and are not just blindly placing their trust and faith in what the system tells them.

Ultimately, no one should be allowed to tell another person what to think, what is best for them, what they have to buy, or what decision they have to make. Every individual should be allowed to make their own decision based on facts and truth, not on lies, manipulation, smoke screens, or scare tactics.

You can find more information on GMOs (GE crops) in our previous articles: Is Your Food Really Organic?, A Seed Is a Seed Is a Seed, Right?, and here.

So what are these bottom lines for me about GMOs?

1) I’m not OK with one company owning all the seeds.

Let’s say you buy GMO seeds from a company owned by Monsanto or that sells their seeds. Like most farmers, you save some seeds from your crop to plant next year. Uh-oh, you can’t do that. Monsanto owns those seeds and it’s illegal for you to save them.

No matter how small you are, even just a backyard gardener, you can’t legally save seeds from any crop produced from their GE seeds. Here’s a list of companies owned by or that sell Monsanto seeds. This link also includes a list of those who are not owned by them.

Monsanto has taken over 400 farmers to court charging them with stealing their patented seeds. That’s right, GMO seeds are patented…hmm, that’s a red flag in itself.

Not to mention that they are now designing most of these seeds to not be able to reproduce, thus forcing the farmers to have to buy them year after year, regardless of the price.

If you plant heirloom, Non-Gmo seeds and your crops are cross-contaminated by GE crops, you no longer own your seeds. They are now the property of Monsanto. How do you feel about that?

It’s estimated, since only a privileged few know the true secrets of Monsanto’s numbers, that they own over 90% of corn seed in the U.S., over 88% of the cotton, and over 94% of the soybeans. These estimates are from 2013 so they are even higher now.

So what do you think of that? Is it right for there to be a monopoly on seeds? Is it right for a corporation to be able to tell the farmer what he can plant and that he must buy his seeds from them every year? I’m not OK with this. Are you?

2) I’m not OK with being a guinea pig for experimental development of products.

There have not been, nor, according to Monsanto, will there be safety trials. The initial studies done by the staff scientists at Monsanto were removed from public record and the scientists themselves were forced to sign privacy documents or be fired and threatened with lawsuits.

You can hear more about this from Dr. Jeffery Smith in his film “Genetic Roulette:The Gamble of Our Lives”.

The genetically engineered seeds are designed to contain pesticides in themselves that cause the bugs that bite them to explode from the inside. OK, who doesn’t wonder what that will do our intestines?

Intestinal diseases and food allergies are at epidemic levels and no one sees the connection? We had IBS, gluten intolerance, and other bowel issues before we removed GMOs from our diets. Now, we have none of those.

Monsanto and its supporters say that there is no need for studies. Other countries have and continue to have ongoing research and documentation to prove there is a high risk to human health.

Because of the risks and the evidence provided by these studies, over 26 countries in the world have banned GMOs and over 68 require labeling on any product that contains them. Of course, the U.S., where Monsanto is based, is not on board with labeling.

3) I’m not OK with secrecy about the products made available for consumption or use.

Why the staunch refusal to label GMOs? I just don’t understand, if they’re safe, then why pump billions of dollars into fighting labeling laws in states all over the U.S.? Why spend money and time fighting these state laws all the way to the Supreme Court? What is the real issue?

Despite polls revealing that over 90% of the American population favors GE labeling, our elected officials, food safety departments, and Monsanto don’t want it. Something is fishy.

Even if you don’t believe it’s the safety of the food that is at the bottom of the issue, you have to admit, something is wrong.

4) I’m not OK with lies and cover-ups.

There are news reports every day, not on mainstream media of course, but out in the real world of news. Alternative news sources report about the scientific studies done in other countries, about the number of countries outlawing GMOs and/or requiring the labeling of such, and the economic hardships here at home because other countries are turning away our products by the millions of tons because of GMO seed contamination. Yet the average American citizen hears nothing about it. Why?

Dr. Oz has been in the news a lot lately because of his stand against GE crops. Jane Goodall has condemned GMO food as fraudulent.

Scientists worldwide are raising the alarm and yet, the U.S. holds firmly to its no labeling, no banning policies. While the American public is being lulled to sleep, the rest of the world is waking up to and facing this dangerous situation.

Our grandparents ate food from the garden; our children are being fed food from the lab.

5) I’m not OK with the destruction of whole ecosystems from these GE crops.

The destruction of milkweed in the Midwest breeding grounds of the Monarch Butterfly has caused a panic in the agricultural world.

It has been brought about by the use of herbicides, insecticides, and GE crops with these bred into them. These herbicides and insecticides are made by the same company that would have you believe their GE seeds containing these chemicals are safe for you and your family. Yes, Monsanto.

There is also evidence in the beekeeping community showing that their bee populations have been drastically reduced because of GE crops. This is because of the herbicides and insecticides that are in the seeds themselves. When the bees and other insects go to these crops for food, they are killed.

So you lose a butterfly, no big deal you say; we lose a lot of bees, what’s the fuss? Well, that’s a big picture.

You see, the bees and butterflies are just two of the more noted examples of ecosystems being destroyed by these chemically laden crops. These two just happen to be responsible for over 75% of the pollination of most of our food supply.

The destruction of any part of the ecosystem of plant pollination destroys the whole system. The remaining insect community just simply can’t do the job.

6) I’m not OK with the real health threats Americans are experiencing at an epidemic rate.

GE crops were first released into the mainstream of the American diet in 1994. Since then we have seen a dramatic breakdown in our DNA and a dramatic increase in disease and birth defects at epidemic levels. We have come so far that the children of today are the first generation who are not expected to outlive their parents.

Cancer of all kinds, intestinal disease, infants with diseases that their parents weren’t experiencing until they were grown-ups, birth defects of all kinds. Why do so few think to tie this to our food supply? Especially considering the evidence coming out of the EU countries that are conducting studies on GE food.

We are what we eat. These “Frankenfoods” have been altered at the molecular level so that our bodies are not sure what to do with them.

Even if you don’t agree with the studies and the evidence, there are just too many unanswered questions for the possibilities to be ignored.

Summary

So, those are the bottom line issues I have with GMOs. Even if you are on the side of being OK with them, these problems are still there. They are real.

Arguing will not bring a solution to any of them. Ignoring them will not make them go away. Only in facing them, banding together, and informing ourselves and others will we be able to find answers, make labeling laws, and help each other along the way.

Because of the health issues of my family and the healing our bodies experienced from the removal of GMOs from our diet, I am against them.

History has proven time and time again that when we manipulate natural order, we create a tsunami of future trouble that our children will be forced to face and deal with. We must consider the realities of the dangers facing our country’s food supply.

Most of the world has the option of making informed decisions through labeling. As I’ve said, over 26 countries in the world have banned GMOs and over 68 require labeling on any product that contains them. Yet, here in the U.S., we aren’t even allowed to know what they are and what products they are in. I’m not OK with this, are you?

As always, we’re here to help.