Post by the Scribe on Sept 13, 2012 15:27:49 GMT -5
This is the UGLY side of Capitalism. Putting profits before people. A rather disgusting precept.
What is a GMO?
A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. The foreign genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans. Because this involves the transfer of genes, GMOs are also known as "transgenic" organisms.
This process may be called either Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM); they are one and the same. Read more.
Where are they?
In your food! First introduced into the food supply in the mid-1990s, GMOs are now present in the vast majority of processed foods in the US. While they are banned as food ingredients in Europe and elsewhere, the FDA does not even require the labeling of GMOs in food ingredient lists.
Although there have been attempts to increase nutritional benefits or productivity, the two main traits that have been added to date are herbicide tolerance and the ability of the plant to produce its own pesticide. These results have no health benefit, only economic benefit.
What foods are GM?
Currently commercialized GM crops in the U.S. include soy (94%), cotton (90%), canola (90%), sugar beets (95%), corn (88%), Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%), zucchini and yellow squash (over 24,000 acres).
Products derived from the above, including oils from all four, soy protein, soy lecithin, cornstarch, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup among others. There are also many "invisible ingredients," derived from GM crops that are not obviously from corn or soy. Read more
Why should you care?
Genetically modified foods have been linked to toxic and allergic reactions, sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals. The effects on humans of consuming these new combinations of proteins produced in GMOs are unknown and have not been studied. See more under GMO Health Risks.
Crops such as Bt cotton produce pesticides inside the plant. This kills or deters insects, saving the farmer from having to spray pesticides. The plants themselves are toxic, and not just to insects. Farmers in India, who let their sheep graze on Bt cotton plants after the harvest, saw thousands of sheep die!
Herbicide tolerance lets the farmer spray weed-killer directly on the crop without killing it. Comparative studies on the toxic residues in foods from such crops have not yet been done.
Pollen from GM crops can contaminate nearby crops of the same type, except for soy, which does not cross-pollinate. In fact, virtually all heritage varieties of corn in Mexico (the origin of all corn) have been found to have some contamination. Canola and cotton also cross-pollinate. The long-term effects on the environment could be disastrous. See more under Environmental Dangers.
Are you and your family on the wrong side of a bet?
When the US government ignored repeated warnings by its own scientists and allowed untested genetically modified (GM) crops into our environment and food supply, it was a gamble of unprecedented proportions. The health of all living things and all future generations were put at risk by an infant technology.
After two decades, physicians and scientists have uncovered a grave trend. The same serious health problems found in lab animals, livestock, and pets that have been fed GM foods are now on the rise in the US population. And when people and animals stop eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs), their health improves.
This seminal documentary provides compelling evidence to help explain the deteriorating health of Americans, especially among children, and offers a recipe for protecting ourselves and our future.
GMO Health Dangers.
Date: 09-12-12
Host: George Noory
Guest: Jeffrey M. Smith,Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, and the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified foods, Jeffrey Smith discussed evidence that GMO foods are contributing to health problems in those who consume them. Crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, and sugar beets are now primarily genetically modified, and a lot of the corn and soybean in particular goes into animal feed. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine reviewed studies of lab animals being fed GM foods and reported that the diet was causing problems with their immune, reproductive, and gastrointestinal systems, contributing to organ damage, and they were aging faster, Smith reported. "We see similar categories improving in pets and livestock when they get off GMOs," but for humans that are increasingly eating such foods, these kinds of problems are on the rise, he noted.
The big player in the GMO industry is Monsanto. They embarked on the process in 2000, when their popular weedkiller Round Up was going off patent, so they developed patented seeds that would only work with Round Up, Smith explained. Among the symptoms associated with GMO consumption are fatigue, allergies, weight problems, infertility, stomach issues, and migraines, he noted, adding that doctors who've prescribed non-GMO foods to their patients say that GMOs cause inflammation and increase allergic responses. One doctor in Chicago said that 100% of her patients get better on non-GMO diets, he cited. Smith recommends the Non-GMO Shopping Guide as a resource for avoiding such risky foods.
On the November ballot in California is Prop. 37, an initiative that if passed would require companies to label their foods as genetically engineered if they use GMOs. Such labeling already is in place in 49 countries, and is desired by 91% of Americans, said Smith. 19 other US states considered such legislation but Monsanto threatened lawsuits, and got the efforts stalled. Monsanto and others have amassed $27 million for a huge TV campaign against Prop. 37 that they are about to launch, he detailed. Smith sees Prop. 37 as a great first step, and hopes that if it passes, companies will remove GMOs from their products on their own accord, since many consumers won't buy them, if they're labeled as such.
www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/
There is also emerging evidence that the use of GMO foods may be to blame for the obesity epidemic we find ourselves in. Note that CORN and SOY are NOT safe unless it says ORGANIC or NON-GMO.
www.responsibletechnology.org/posts/?p=2224
What is a GMO?
A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. The foreign genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans. Because this involves the transfer of genes, GMOs are also known as "transgenic" organisms.
This process may be called either Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM); they are one and the same. Read more.
Where are they?
In your food! First introduced into the food supply in the mid-1990s, GMOs are now present in the vast majority of processed foods in the US. While they are banned as food ingredients in Europe and elsewhere, the FDA does not even require the labeling of GMOs in food ingredient lists.
Although there have been attempts to increase nutritional benefits or productivity, the two main traits that have been added to date are herbicide tolerance and the ability of the plant to produce its own pesticide. These results have no health benefit, only economic benefit.
What foods are GM?
Currently commercialized GM crops in the U.S. include soy (94%), cotton (90%), canola (90%), sugar beets (95%), corn (88%), Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%), zucchini and yellow squash (over 24,000 acres).
Products derived from the above, including oils from all four, soy protein, soy lecithin, cornstarch, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup among others. There are also many "invisible ingredients," derived from GM crops that are not obviously from corn or soy. Read more
Why should you care?
Genetically modified foods have been linked to toxic and allergic reactions, sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals. The effects on humans of consuming these new combinations of proteins produced in GMOs are unknown and have not been studied. See more under GMO Health Risks.
Crops such as Bt cotton produce pesticides inside the plant. This kills or deters insects, saving the farmer from having to spray pesticides. The plants themselves are toxic, and not just to insects. Farmers in India, who let their sheep graze on Bt cotton plants after the harvest, saw thousands of sheep die!
Herbicide tolerance lets the farmer spray weed-killer directly on the crop without killing it. Comparative studies on the toxic residues in foods from such crops have not yet been done.
Pollen from GM crops can contaminate nearby crops of the same type, except for soy, which does not cross-pollinate. In fact, virtually all heritage varieties of corn in Mexico (the origin of all corn) have been found to have some contamination. Canola and cotton also cross-pollinate. The long-term effects on the environment could be disastrous. See more under Environmental Dangers.
Are you and your family on the wrong side of a bet?
When the US government ignored repeated warnings by its own scientists and allowed untested genetically modified (GM) crops into our environment and food supply, it was a gamble of unprecedented proportions. The health of all living things and all future generations were put at risk by an infant technology.
After two decades, physicians and scientists have uncovered a grave trend. The same serious health problems found in lab animals, livestock, and pets that have been fed GM foods are now on the rise in the US population. And when people and animals stop eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs), their health improves.
This seminal documentary provides compelling evidence to help explain the deteriorating health of Americans, especially among children, and offers a recipe for protecting ourselves and our future.
GMO Health Dangers.
Date: 09-12-12
Host: George Noory
Guest: Jeffrey M. Smith,Director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, and the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified foods, Jeffrey Smith discussed evidence that GMO foods are contributing to health problems in those who consume them. Crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, and sugar beets are now primarily genetically modified, and a lot of the corn and soybean in particular goes into animal feed. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine reviewed studies of lab animals being fed GM foods and reported that the diet was causing problems with their immune, reproductive, and gastrointestinal systems, contributing to organ damage, and they were aging faster, Smith reported. "We see similar categories improving in pets and livestock when they get off GMOs," but for humans that are increasingly eating such foods, these kinds of problems are on the rise, he noted.
The big player in the GMO industry is Monsanto. They embarked on the process in 2000, when their popular weedkiller Round Up was going off patent, so they developed patented seeds that would only work with Round Up, Smith explained. Among the symptoms associated with GMO consumption are fatigue, allergies, weight problems, infertility, stomach issues, and migraines, he noted, adding that doctors who've prescribed non-GMO foods to their patients say that GMOs cause inflammation and increase allergic responses. One doctor in Chicago said that 100% of her patients get better on non-GMO diets, he cited. Smith recommends the Non-GMO Shopping Guide as a resource for avoiding such risky foods.
On the November ballot in California is Prop. 37, an initiative that if passed would require companies to label their foods as genetically engineered if they use GMOs. Such labeling already is in place in 49 countries, and is desired by 91% of Americans, said Smith. 19 other US states considered such legislation but Monsanto threatened lawsuits, and got the efforts stalled. Monsanto and others have amassed $27 million for a huge TV campaign against Prop. 37 that they are about to launch, he detailed. Smith sees Prop. 37 as a great first step, and hopes that if it passes, companies will remove GMOs from their products on their own accord, since many consumers won't buy them, if they're labeled as such.
www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/
There is also emerging evidence that the use of GMO foods may be to blame for the obesity epidemic we find ourselves in. Note that CORN and SOY are NOT safe unless it says ORGANIC or NON-GMO.
www.responsibletechnology.org/posts/?p=2224