I’m very proud to introduce a Guest Blogger writing an important/must-read piece concerning GMO’s. It’s a fantastic article that could also be titled; Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about GMO’s. Please share with others and leave your comments and questions below, Chris will answer them…..Take it away Mr. Vogliano:
My name is Chris Vogliano and I am currently studying nutrition and dietetics at Kent State University in their Master’s Program. I am conducting my thesis study on the topic of Genetically Modified Organisms related to Dietitian’s knowledge and perception of them. According to previous research, the public trusts dietitian’s to relay current and scientific information on this controversial topic. However, as I hope to prove in my research, there is a significant knowledge gap in the perception of what dietitian’s know versus the knowledge they actually hold.
I chose this topic because genetically modified foods is personal and strikes an emotional cord. Ever since discovering the topic, I have unveiled more and more unsettling information about this complicated and controversial process.
Most of American’s have no idea what genetically modified foods are, even though over 80% of our supermarket foods contain them. Many American’s believe that simple crossbreeding is the same or at least a similar process to that of genetic modification. Some American’s place trust in the “assumed” strict regulatory processes of the FDA, USDA, and EPA.
Politics plays a much more pertinent role in our lives than anyone wants or cares to believe, and I adamantly feel this with GMO’s…
The patenting of a transgenic soybean in the early 1990’s has had more of an impact than we would have ever imagined. We have seen a revolutionary agricultural shift in the way we grow our produce form even twenty years ago. Many see this synergy of biotechnology and agriculture as a positive step towards our goal of creating a more economically sound production method for our food. Big agriculture business has consolidated hands over the years to just a few large corporations, leading with the illusion of solving world hunger and bridging the world’s nutritional deficits. As a soon to be dietitian who heavily values nutritional philanthropy, I could not have been more eager to learn more about this technology that could potentially curb our world hunger problems.
Let’s take a step back and look at the role of corporations in our society.
While we all vary on our opinions of specific corporations, deeming some as good and some evil, we have to remember one simple fact. Through all the humanitarian efforts some might drape over their figurative bodies to display a positive PR image, corporations have one goal and one goal only.
The primary goal of a corporation is to increase profits for its shareholders. Plain and simple.
While some corporations may choose donations and community building tactics to seem selfless, at the end of the day it is simply to make you feel better about being a customer of their product. This is not to demean the great things some corporations have done, but to call it an altruistic act is not so valid (arguably, is anything actually selfless? a question better saved for your philosophy 101 class).
Back to the grit of GMO’s – The basics of genetically modifying organisms is as follows:
A desired gene from a species not related to the host organisms is transferred into the cultivar or desired product (while sounding simple, this is actually quite a complex process). The interesting part is that we don’t know how this transgenic, or crossing DNA from one foreign species to another affects humans or the environment. This technology was developed and implemented into our food supply less than 15 years ago.
Monsanto is the largest corporate sponsor of GMO’s, fighting for their governmental acceptance worldwide ever since their creation. A quick lesson on Monsanto’s history:
One of the first products Monsanto created was the artificial sweetener saccharin, which we now know can cause cancer
The next major products were DDT, Lasso, and Agent Orange, which we now know are highly carcinogenic.
Now they are trying to sell the idea of “genetically modified seeds” to us as being healthy and safe, when in all reality they are a self regulating organization whose primary interest is not the health of the consumers, but the money in their pocket.
European countries have strict regulatory standards and most countries have stopped the production of GMO’s until further testing has taken place. Those countries who do have GMO corn must blatantly label their products with the phrase “this product contains genetically modified ingredients”, which protects the integrity of the food supply and the safety of the consumers.
GMO seeds have NEVER been tested in human trials to determine the impact they have on our bodies.
60% of our DNA is identical to that of corn and soy, and we have no idea how this transgenic process of altering genes in our food will affect us in the short term or the long term.
The only test currently being done to determine the safety of these products is happening right now, in our grocery stores.
As American’s, we deserve the right to know what is in our food. There is a serious need for us to take action on this issue that will help define the future of the agricultural food chain. We need the health of our food to lean in our favor, and not that of large corporate interest.
While there has been unethical practices that have been slipped passed the American consumers unbeknownst to them in the past decade, there has never been a more opportune moment to express out opinion than now. More than ever, people are forming organizations and events to express their desire to have genetically modified foods labeled. It is out food supply and we deserve the right to know what we are consuming.
think. be educated.
For more information or to get involved (highly encouraged!) visit:
LinkedIn Account:
www.linkedin.com/pub//chris-vogliano/41/806/370
WordPress account
http://chrisvogliano.wordpress.com/
Thanks for this – very informative – thanks to Chris too!
Reblogged this on The Highly Sensitive Family and commented:
Wow. This is a sad reality. Thus the importance of growing our own food as much as possible….
I think the problem goes much deeper than we realise. Being an older person I have a perspective on what has been lost in the growing and consumption of ‘good’ food. I guesstimate almost 70%. Rarely find flavour anymore, even from organic product. In fact ‘organic’ has become as dirty a word as GMO. A buzzword to deflect the concerns of buyers. Better get off my box!
This is a Very Very important discussion. Though terribly recent in its application, GM foods are going to be dreadfully far reaching in ramifications. in many many areas of our lives – for example the bees. One of my hives has just completely disappeared. We live next to a corn field. The whole of america is being turned into a science experiment. Health issues are escalating from eating inert and manipulated foods and no-one seems able to take Monsanto on and stop them. How have they become SO powerful in the political arena. Good work Chris. I look forward to reading the results of your study. celi
Keep getting the word out. This is an issue that needs to be looked at very carefully. Where is the government in all of this?
Really??? They are right in the thick of things-follow the money.
OBAMA APPOINTS MONSANTO’S VICE PRESIDENT AS SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE COMMISSIONER AT THE FDA http://birthofanewearth.blogspot.com/2011/08/obama-appoints-monsantos-vice-president.html
The Unholy Alliance: Monsanto, Dupont & Obamahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronnie-cummins/the-unholy-alliance-monsa_b_642385.html
Search- it’s all over. The gov’t is not watching out for the American consumer…………..
Then we will have to watch out for ourselves as usual. Keep up the good work.
I agree. The problem is, without actual accurate labeling, how is a person to know?! It would be one thing if we could all grow our own food, but anymore, in many places, even that is regulated. Frustrating!
It is true… Michael Taylor has bounced back and forth between being a lobbyist for Monsanto and holding various positions within the FDA over the last 30 years:
He worked for the FDA from ’76 to ’81 as a staff attorney. Then he went to Monsanto and became a lobbyist for them. He returned to the FDA from ’91 to ’94. He was with the USDA from ’94 to ’96 as administrator of food safety and inspection. Then, he returned to Monsanto and worked as a lobbyist again. In ’09 he returned to the FDA as a senior advisor, supposedly to help tackle the problem of starving people in Africa. In ’10, they created a new position for him – deputy commissioner of foods for the FDA.
Monsanto has always been tapped into our government. You can see why Monsanto snatched him up in ’81, having started out as an atty for the FDA. Lots of contacts to take advantage of. It all seems crazy, but it’s true.
It isn’t just Obama that has made them powerful, they were there before him also
Of course! There are big, big $$$ in lobbying. It’s just the most recent appointment that I know of. 🙂
Thank you for your work and the article. We need to keep reading about GMO’s and stay abreast of how our health and food are being manipulated.
Thank you and thanks to your guest blogger Chris, for sharing this well written and informative piece about GMO’s. It’s so very important to get the word out and raise awareness about GMO’s. I also think it’s key that more studying nutritionists and dietitians (as well as others in health related fields) to get their hands on this information so that as they go out and tend to the people they will be armed with this knowledge, so I encourage you to share it with your fellow colleagues. What a great topic for your thesis!
The almighty dollar drives much of what goes on in this world. Isn’t greed one of the seven deadly sins? I wonder, and you point this out with the example of Monsanto, how much of the cancer in this world has to do with messing with mother nature? Cancer was not as prevalent in years past as it is today. Nice post!
You seem to be saying that by eating genetically modified foods, our bodies cells could take on some of those traits. As a nutritional scientist I hope you could clear that up, since earlier you said that it was not easy for the introduction of traits across species. It is misconceptions like these that scare folks. We need the facts.
You list a few bad things that have been produced by Monsanto, but miss the many good things. Do we label all the good things a person does as bad because of a few bad things?
The blame placed on DDT, although well accepted in the popular press, has been completely debunked by scientific study. Many of the problems blamed on DDT happened before the introduction of DDT.
Do you make a corporation bad only because it is a corporation? What is so bad about profit? Corporations also need profits to pay their employees, and develop products to stay in business, profits make sure that their employee pensions are good. Do we say Monsanto is bad, but Apple is good? Both live to make money for those who own them, and Apple makes a lot more money that Monsanto, so Apple should be really, really bad. Is the family corporation that is owned and run by just a few family members also bad?
I am seeing some bias come through. Either you need to stick to the science or stay with the hysteria and rumor. A scientist needs to keep an open mind. Sometimes the science will not lead you where you expect it to go.
I think you’re a paid blogger for Monsanto. Monsanto Creates Genetically Modified Food For Us, But Bans It From Being Served In Their Own Corporate Cafeterias? What does that tell you?
Really? Would that be in the best interest of the company to do such a thing? My guess is you are wrong.
Michael, I don’t think you or I have any scientific data to back up the stance of our cells adopting traits of genetically modified plants. However, since there is not one unbiased study to date, don’t you think it’s unethical to supply the entire nation with this product unbeknownst to them? I think this reaches into multiple categories of wrong doing. Labeling the products would level the playing fields and allow for choice in the marketplace (we do live in a democratic society). However Monsanto doesn’t want this due to potential profit loss. This is a blatant breach of our rights, especially when gallup polls state that over 90% of American’s want them labeled.
Michael–THANK YOU for posting. I have been reading all the posts and was about to decide that I was wasting my time, but your post caused me to reply. These people are being feed lies. Genetically modified food can be an amazing scientific gift to feed a population of humans that is currently growing far faster than farmers can keep up with. If done correctly, GMO crops are the answer to a growing food demand. We have been “genetically modifying” crops for thousands of years, and there is “Green Technology” that takes all native crop DNA and simply accelerates the breeding process that has been occurring for the past 2000 years. People seriously need to consider the propaganda they are spreading before publishing/posting/saying false nonsense. Educate yourselves, people. GMO is the future. Period.
All I ask is that GMO’s not all get branded with the same brush. We are using crops in our fields today that have been genetically altered to use less water and less fertilizer. I don’t see why they need to get branded with the same label as those that make their own insecticide, or survive a certain pesticide.
I am educating myself and there are PLENTY of studies out there that show it needs to be tested more, as there are effects on the animals that have been tested, Monsanto’s testing are bias and missing information they have yet to do any long term studies. Here is just one, look some up for yourself and educate yourself before trying to convince others they are safe please.
http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm
Can you list the “good things” Monsanto has done, I have been researching them and I have to tell you I see nothing? To compare Apple and Monsanto is like comparing Apples and Oranges (pun intended) Apples products do not have the potential to harm us. There are studies (lots of them) that show GMOs need to be studied more as there are many indications they are harmful to the animals they are tested on, there is also studies out there that show the 3 GMO corns from Monsanto kill human cells within 24 hours, yes there needs to be more testing done before these are stated as fact, but in the studies that have been done things do not look good. Monsanto has people all over in our congress they seem to own everything.
http://organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm
http://www.countercurrents.org/seelow280312.htm
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=weed-whacking-herbicide-p&page=3
You obviously have not been following the studies on the rare earths used in all computer technology. The dangers for our earth are there. Just not in the U.S. We’ve exported them to countries that cannot afford more dangers.
Monsanto is a seed and weed control company. If you are not actively involved in agriculture, you do not understand how important their technology is to keeping us small time farmers in business.
Did you know your zoo, park and golf course depend on Monsanto products to keep the place looking nice.
I am a family farmer who uses their products every year. No, I am not an organic farmer, it is because of my location. I have no market for organic products. Those of my friends that are, spend more time, energy and money than I do to raise food and feed crops. They do not get paid enough and must, if they are to be labeled as organic, go through many intense inspections, and do extensive record keeping, just to get that label.
Check out findourcommonground.com/ for other young moms discussing food and farms.
No, I did not know that about computers..thank you that is yet another thing I am going to have to look into, it is such a shame how many things end up being harmful to us and our environment.
I know what Monsanto is, as I have been looking at study after study of their products, I am not a person to go on “hype” alone as I know there are many articles full of misinformation.that scare people if they do not follow where the information came from and if it is actually true. I realize how hard it is for our farmers today and I feel deeply for them they all (conventional and organic) have my utmost respect. I do however feel Monsanto has put farmers in a very hard position that makes it hard for them to get out of the situation they are in, I also realize how hard it is to be an organic farmer and had almost impossible it is for a conventional farmer to go organic (especially since they couldn’t plant for at least 3 years) before they can be considered organic, which of course would just put them out of business. I will be clear I do not in any way blame farmers for what is going on in our food supply today. There is to much for me to say in a comment on a post, so I will just say I do not like Monsanto and I think they have put us all (people and environment) in danger. Thank you for the link, I will go to it and read it because I do like to see information from both sides. If there is anyway I would love to talk to you more in a message or something just for more information from another conventional family farmer.
Reblogged this on TaJnB | TheAverageJoeNewsBlogg.
Dan, did you happen to see one of my last posts on FB? It was about Monsanto buying the research company that had determined THEY were responsible for all the dying bees in the last several years!! They are a very profit-driven company with a lot of money, and also clout in the government. Michael Taylor used to be a lobbyist for Monsanto, and now he’s the deputy commisioner for foods of the FDA. They used the idea of being able to feed the starving people in Africa to get him on Obama’s team, which just gives Monsanto the green light to do whatever they want. Monsanto will benefit far more than the poor starving people of Africa. And to “Michael” who posted above…. No, making money does not make a company bad. I am a capitalist, just like everybody else. What makes a company bad is when it makes decisions regardless of the potential danger to their customers, just to keep their profits up. DDT is a very, very bad product. You never should have chosen that as an example! lol! Have you read “Silent Spring”? (I’m guessing not) Hello!!! That was in the early 60’s, and DDT was banned because of the very solid evidence that it was incredibly harmful to our environment. Anything that changes the genetics of the food we eat has the potential to alter our own genetics, as well. You are what you eat. I refuse to be a guinea pig for Monsanto’s experimentation with our food supply. And even more importantly, I refuse to let my kids be guinea pigs.
I’m with you, Dan. Anyone who would rush to defend Monsanto by watering down the facts and trying to divert attention elsewhere, must have a reason.
-Roz
Hey Roz! Thanks for your comments. I’ll look for your recent post on FB. Please “Share” this article on your FB page. The more people wee can get informed about this subject the faster we can put an end to MonSATAN.
Oh yes, Silent Spring. Glad you brought that up. Did you know that by the time Silent Spring was written, the raptor numbers had already started to rebound? No one has ever been able to reproduce the science that “proved” eggshell thinning by DDT. However, the Clean Water Act did help remove lead, mercury and oil from our countries waters, all things that can be proven to thin eggshells. DDT was banned because of the bad press in the U.S.
A lot of companies have a past of disregarding solid evidence that what they did was wrong. Many others have been driven out by rumor, be sure of your FACTS, believing what you read is only as good a your source.
So you’re saying DDT is okay for the environment? Please……
No, I’m saying don’t believe everything you are told with out checking it out. Why in our life have we heard so many things that later get changed? The rumor is usually more interesting than the fact.
Buddy, I have checked it out. My facts are straight. There is no conspiracy to cover up the fact that DDT is a good addition to our environment!!!! You’re not fooling anyone.
I have spent hours reading and fact-checking. The reason being that I have kids. I want to know what I’m feeding them. Genetically modified foods should be labelled. Monsanto doesn’t want to label them because they know that educated people will stop buying them. That’s it, in a nutshell. Their profits are more important than our health.
Here’s a great way to test the long-term effects of genetically modified foods on the human body….. Have everyone who works at Monsanto eat only genetically modified foods for 10 years straight. If they get a clean bill of health after that, then I’ll consider feeding it to my children. Don’t experiment on unwilling or unwitting people.
I never said that DDT was a good addition to our environment. Just that the data that was originally used to get it banned was faulty.
Hmmm. I know I’ve been planting genetically modified crops in my fields for over 10 years.
You know what? Let’s make that 20 years straight. Because, like you said, so many things in our life later get changed. For example, like saying that DDT is great, only to find out that it’s not so great, after all. Twenty years of eating only gm foods should be a long enough time frame to dispell these “rumors” that they might be bad for us.
One more thing…. These are not rumors. These are concerns that the educated public has, and Monsanto is brushing us off and turning to the government for reinforcement. The reason we are fighting so hard is because we’ve seen what some of Monsanto’s fabulous products have done to the world over time. They have done no human trials on gm foods, and they don’t want to label them. These are not rumors. These are the facts. The cheapest and most profittable way to conduct a human trial is to rush it into the marketplace, then sit back and wait for the next twenty years to see what happens. Then, you fight any negative results by pointing out other potential causes, and you disperse the blame. No thank you. There has already been enough cancer in my family. It’s time to clean up our environment and food supply, just like they cleaned up the waters with the Clean Water Act. Gee, who knows? If we purge all the unnatural crap from our systems, we just might get healthier! Just like the raptors. Duh!
YES!!!!! No one wants to open this can of worms, but the longer it goes on, the more we stand a chance of it being TOO LATE!!!! There is a reason why the world-wide bee population is tanking!
And, it’s no surprise that autoimmune diseases are on the rise.
People REALLY need to wake up to this issue and DO something about it!!!
I checked, the first GMO crops were put on the market in 1990. You’ve been consuming GMO’s for 22 years now as products from both soybeans and corn as well as other crops. After 22 years, perhaps this is old news and not some new crisis.
And it’s no wonder auto-immune diseases (and cancers) are hugely on the rise- like the ones I’ve got, for example. And no, we can’t say our detection methods have gotten so much better as to offset new incidences.
No, it’s not old news. There is no old news when disease is on the rise and no one has concrete answers as to why. It starts, imo, with the food supply. The news, as I see it, is that people are getting more educated and this stuff is now becoming known, which is why people are starting to get an inkling.
People have a right to know what they are eating. Period. 🙂
You think GMO is bad? Let me tell you that vaccinations likely are some form of maturity suppressant / alpha supressant, that the ‘elites’ will disallow to the ‘masses’. Also vaccines likely are and have been mutating humanity since vaccines were invented. I don’t know what or how you can prove and warn but someone had better do sonethinbg. Myself, had just had such a suppresant. I think to suppress latent telepathy which the psyche establishment terms schizophrenia. TELEPATHY is NOT schizophrenia. Not sure which vaccine suppresses byut I suspect the HPV virus vaccine strongly as well as some ‘women’s vaccines’.
Ummmm Huuuuhhh? Telepathy?
[…] This is a great article on GMOs and a very interesting blog. Read it and learn. […]
Cheers on a most informative post Chris. You have to love stooges who post for large companies. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, I once read a negative story about a company who sold heinously expensive beds party plan who ran a campaign of comments against the poor woman who merely rated them as “bad value” and her blog got pushed right up to number 2 in the search engines and everyone who entered the name of these beds got this ladies negative comment and a good look at how much like scientology some of these companies are when protecting their profit margin. Denlyn3 asked “Where is the government in this?”…sad to say the government is highly likely in bed with Monsanto smoking a cigarette about now. Lobby groups and enormous backhand payments to government by companies that can afford to sway the formation of laws, rules and regulations in their favour are companies to be feared and fought at all costs. The total lack of transparency and the whitewashing of any negative features of what they are doing smack of profit at all cost and when you consider the cost to humanity, Monsanto’s profit is NOT worth our health and our lives. We all need to fight this. I live in Australia where the government keeps trying to implement GMO growing trials and the people keep on saying “NO”! The most blatent attempt to maintain profit has to be fighting to have “This product has been produced using GMO ingredients” kept off labels. Monsanto know that this would stop people buying these products in droves and would therefore be a market directive and would stop the companies using this GMO freak food because their profits would plumet. We vote with our feet but in this case, we are not being allowed to vote with our feet. We are being kept in the dark and fed garbage by a company who could care less about us in the long term and even less in the short term. We all have to make our voices heard on this one because our children deserve the same right to choose as we (used to) have. We have done so much to the planet that they are going to inherit and if we can only stop this toxic component of a humans basic right to eat healthy unadultered food if they choose, we will perhaps go part of the way to being able to face our grandchildrens generation
Well put my fine hippie friends! Spread the word
At every chance we get! We are right there with you on this one and you are doing a fantastic job of sharing the massive load of this enormous task. Who would have thought that a company could have tentacles like Cthulhu that could endanger us all for the sake of profit…”For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” remove the word “man” and add the word “company” and you have Monsanto!
I’ve been writing about this on our Facebook page. The more I learn, the more concerned I become.
Reblogged this on porterpondfarm and commented:
A great piece about a very important topic.
Thanks for helping spread the word!
Keep up the great articles; I’m following you on this.
What terrifies me is that so many people eat foodLIKE substances and turn their noses up at real food. And consider THAT normal.
True. Many people can’t even recognize stuff that’s not in a box or labeled. If we can’t pronounce it, we shouldn’t eat it. It’s also appalling that many people (who now have children) can’t recognize raw ingredients or know what to do with them. ‘Cooking’ to many consists of opening up a box and using the microwave. Sad.
Reblogged this on locavor and commented:
Really believe this is information we need to consider and know and act on.
Have reblogged this also. (A very small farm with it’s own water sourse is now – and ever has been my dream. ) I have added you to be followed. Thank you for finding me.
Thank you for sharing this important message–it needs to be shared with EVERYONE!!
Reblogged this on conniededona and commented:
This is something we can’t ignore!
Thank you for re-blogging!
Reblogged this on Family Survival Protocol and commented:
Thank you for stepping forward and making all of this information, along with your insights available to us. The more informed we are the better equipped we are to make informed decisions about our food and the health of our planet.
Thank You for sharing!
Shared on my facebook site! Great read 🙂
Thank You!!
Great writing, thanks. I find that reading Monsanto’s own explanations are enough to make me run screaming in the other direction. “Why aren’t you doing human trials?” Answer: “Because they are safe”. “Are they linked to allergies?” Answer: “see answer one, no human trials.” Any thinking person with a 7th grade education can see the holes in these explanations! http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/food-safety.aspx
Reblogged this on The Green Box Garden and commented:
I’ve been following many discussions on GMO foods on blogs, news and personal dialogue. Personally, I refuse to be given the condescending pat on the head from Big Company that I need not worry, GMOs are safe! Stop being reactionary and paranoid! That is how anti-GMO people are often characterized. But I’m a science-y kind of person, and when the company who controls more than 50% of all seed in the WORLD admits that they have never done human trials on their products, that is a huge red flag for me. Read the blog, then read Monsanto’s explanations here: http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/food-safety.aspx
Thank you Chris & Dan for this post. It’s important for all of us to know what’s in our food, and in the coming years I believe food security is going to be a vital issue globally….. have reposted to my facebook page 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your support in sharing the word with friends!
The GM genocide: Thousands of Indian farmers are committing suicide after using genetically modified crops http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1082559/The-GM-genocide-Thousands-Indian-farmers-committing-suicide-using-genetically-modified-crops.html
It’s not just about what’s happening here in the US……….. 😡
Well done Chris, thanks Dan for giving him a forum. This is a really critical issue and Monsanto will stop at nothing to maintain control over the food/seed production $$. The best thing to do, after reading this post is 1- start growing your own food 2- save your own seed!! http://www.seedsavers.org 3- petition your representatives over and over and over again to get the insane ‘self policed’ status of Monsanto and others changed…. hybridization/selection for desirable traits is NOT the same as GMO. Keep spreading the word!
*anna
One of the best resources I’ve found that disseminates GMO and other food info is Food Freedom: http://foodfreedomgroup.com/. Don’t know if you’ve found it yet or not. It used to be a WP blog that has recently migrated to a designated site. It’s got links to all kinds of resources, in addition to the articles.
Thanks for a great post for an often confusing topic!
I used to spend a lot of time telling anyone who would listen… how important this, and other agriculture issues are—gmo, factory farming, antibiotic resistance, etc. But in the last few years have found it disheartening and exhausting. It’s good to be reminded that there are plenty of people who care very much, and that possibly at some point, it will make a large-scale difference.
I think your description of what a GMO is one of the easiest to understand I have read. The American public does need to understand what they are eating, regardless of how they feel, we should understand what goes into our stomachs. If the people know, we will find out how they feel when they vote with their dollars. I wish these types of things happened before they come out into the public, but we have them.
Great of you to post and great of Chris to share the info. Good partnership at work for our benefit 🙂
First off let me say that I agree with your information about GMO’s and while I applaud your passing on of this information, as a retired professor I would say that you need more work to substantiate your claims. In the paragraph below you make three claims with no facts to back up your claim.
“Most of American’s have no idea what genetically modified foods are, even though over 80% of our supermarket foods contain them. Many American’s believe that simple crossbreeding is the same or at least a similar process to that of genetic modification. Some American’s place trust in the “assumed” strict regulatory processes of the FDA, USDA, and EPA.”
Making such claims, without facts, discredits your argument. In your final work you should be more careful and make sure to give facts and data or you will be as guilty as Monsanto manipulating data to give the results you want.
I fully support your efforts. But, to be taken seriously one must have everything in order or find your work being used by Fox News.
While I didn’t cite the articles above, in my thesis I did. It is proven that more than 80% of the products in our supermarket actually use GMO’s. I appreciate your comment though!
Great topic for your thesis. I hope you let us know how it goes.
Short story, this was a while ago and I wish I could remember exactly what it was. A woman I met was writing her thesis on packaging. She wanted to show how it could be done with organic, recycled methods. When she showed the draft to her teacher he talked her out of it, saying she wouldn’t get a good grade. To change it to plastic, it would be more well recieved.
I hope your school is more open-minded.
My professors are totally on board with this topic, especially since the dietetic association tells us to be unbiased, but is extremely pro-gmo bias themselves. It’s unfair and tells me there are plenty of corrupt politics happening behind the scenes.
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Thank you for all the kind words fellow bloggers, I appreciate your support and please share this article with your friends!
Thank you for your story! I have been looking into this very subject for sometime now and planned to write about the information I have found also, my problem is trying to figure how to condense all the information into one blog post, there is so much out there that folk do not know or understand and I don’t want to confuse them more. You did a nice job writing this piece.
Nice blog. 🙂 Vanity Fair did a great article on Monsanto which is important to share: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805
I don’t like Monsanto, plain and simple. Mostly because of the tremendous power they wield. However, lately I have been advocating for digging deep in to the “details” of any argument, no matter the side. One thing caught my eye in your post. Saccharin and cancer. Originally, saccharin was thought to cause bladder cancer in rats. However, over time it was realized that this was primarily because of unique differences between the urine of rats and humans. So the risk cannot be conferred to humans. In fact, in 2010 the EPA released an official statement saying that saccharin no longer poses a health risk to humans. Furthermore, the FDA and the state of California declared it safe in 2001. Granted, the EPA and FDA are not the end all be all of authority. But they’re fairly good at what they do and I think people should be aware of these details. Please correct me if I’m wrong with this.
Reblogged this on The Goat Granny and commented:
Great article & comments that follow. A must read!
Has anyone ever read this seed manifesto?
http://www.soulmedicinejourney.com/NEWMANIFESTO.html
Cross posted at: theheritagefarm.me
EXCELLENT presentation. I was looking for a clear discussion of what the issues are, for our local area in N Calif. Our grange has been very concerned about GMO’s.
Reblogged this on mousepaw and commented:
Wow. This really shows a lot, doesn’t it? I mean, GMO’s are very bad… Do you agree?
AMAZING research!!! Keep it up! $
Thanks for the great information! If we can’t get rid of GMOs altogether at this point, the very least we can do is label them!! My latest blog discusses how companies try to deceive consumers by using words such as ‘natural’ which recently came to light with the whole Kashi thing.
I have to give it to you Hungary you have done something riethhgre keep Monsanto and their control crap away That comment from Fidez saying they may reevaluate being part ofthe E.U. maybe not so bad after all. Monsanto, white washed tomb is all that is forget the flowerspeeches and promises. I love technology, but they are an exampleof how to use it to control in the guise of wanting to help. Peace
Great article. To add to Monsanto’s list of “sins” they sued the federal government of Canada for loss of revenue when the Canadian government refused to allow the sale of their genetically modified soybean seed to Canadian farmers about a decade ago. While Europe has been able to fend off such law suits based on sovereignty, Canada could not due to the North American free trade act.
Reblogged this on veggiewitch and commented:
Thank you for this post! One of the most blatant examples of arrogance was making it possible to patent life. We live in a time where being stupid is often confused with being smart. Press to have GMO frankenfoods labeled. You have the right to not buy those products, and you absolutely have the right to know which foods are contaminated before you spend your hard-earned money.
Knowledge is power, fear keeps some ignorant to the real facts…I will re-post this on my blog!
Agreed and Thanks!
Excellent post! I discovered that I can order from only one of the six seed catalogs I requested this year. What a shocking discovery of the insidious nature of Monsanto. Will be making note of this on my blog. Thanks for stopping by and liking my post on volunteer tomatoes! Like your blog a lot and will be referring and linking to some of your posts on GMO seeds and so on in the future if that’s okay.
Reblogged this on Three Loving Christians and commented:
So sad we have to resort to changing what we do not understand just to make money. We need to challenge the patents on these foods as they used food they did not own to make them. We all owned the food they used so they owe us money and the patents should not stand.
Great post, lets get this message out there. This needs a mass change in our behavior and primarily our (all of us that is) relationship with the food we eat and subsequently nature. Great to see so many people on board and informed. Heres a post I wrote about this…..
http://thebeachhousekitchen.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/we-are-what-we-eat-g-m-foods-millions-against-monsanto-g-m-os-and-codex-alimentarius/
Thanks for sharing (and caring). Peace, Lee (www.thebeachhousekitchen.wordpress.com & http://www.leroywatson4.wordpress.com)
Wow! Thanks for all the info! I didn’t read through all the previous questions, so hopefully I’m not repeating anyone…I have a small backyard garden in the city and I usually go to a local greenhouse to buy small starter plants for my veggies. How do I know (is there a way to know…do I just ask?) whether the plants have been genetically modified? I know if you start from seed there are organic companies, but when you buy the starters they don’t necessarily indicate. Thanks!
Youll have to ask your grower where he gets his seeds from. Tell him you’re looking for non-gmo heirloom plants only
This is something I have been researching and planning to post about, and to tell you the truth is scares the tar right out of me the more I find out. There is so much that folks do not know or understand about GMO’s and Monsanto I would love to somehow get a piece out there about Monsanto the way it was brought out about “pink slime” and get some knowledge out there about what is really going on in our food supply. I have read interviews with farmers who are “stuck” using this stuff talk about how they do not even want to eat what they grow…that tells you something! Thank you for taking the time to write this article.
Reblogged this on Clear it Waste London and commented:
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Eating this and sooner or later we will have GMO children’s.
Trisha recently posted.. I am an Avenger and I Save the World
I just wish I could hear from someone on a discussion like this who would leave Monsanto out of it and explain to me clearly what the difference between GMO and what used to be done with a paint brush and pollen, or nature in the form of strong UV sunlight on seeds. Alterations in DNA have always occurred spontaneously and man has always taken advantage of these new traits if they were to his advantage. I am losing the plot somewhere but no-one seems to be able to explain it to me calmly and logically, without getting angry and hot under the collar
[…] The Truth About Genetically Modified Organisms – GMO’s (soulsbyfarm.wordpress.com) […]
Awesome! Nuff said!
Come on Michael…I remember watching a man working for the local company that sold Roundup when it first came onto the maket saying it was so safe that you could drink it…and he promptly drank a glass. I wonder where that man is now with all the additional information that we have about it? Same goes for that poor Malborough man…all of our parents delighting in smoking and look what we know about it today? Social lubricant or lung destroyer? Just because you have been growing something for 20 years DOESN’T mean that you have been doing the right thing. You don’t have to feel threatened, just enlightened. We have different views and obviously your view is to support this technology. We are saying “slowly slowly catchy monkey” and make sure you test things BEFORE you start throwing them into mainstream society. No tests = maximum profits NOT human advancement and we are perfectly within our rights to both question AND protest against Monsanto and their profit before ethics policies.
very informative! I am in the middle of reading the book “Wheat Belly” that is basically claiming wheat has been so genetically modified that our bodies no longer process wheat the same as our ancestors and consequently we end up getting fat!! yikes what have we done to ourselves?!
Reblogged this on rural herbivore.
Very interesting article although I think this comes across one-sided. I believe in order to win an argument you must be able to state facts from both sides and then have a strong and convincing argument based on facts. You don’t mention or attempt to disprove any of the positives for GMO’s i.e. As a nutritionist visiting say a dry and poor country in Africa where people are dying of hunger where genetically modified food can feed a nation as it is engineered to cope better in drought are you going to tell the people not to eat the GMO food and starve to death (and don’t think this doesn’t happen in the US as well)? There are 7 billion people in the world that needs to be fed. What is the impact of all the pesticides used in traditional farming? What does the studies suggest? It is very interesting for sure. There was an interesting program on TV where they spoke to a farmer who grows corn. He does half the crop the traditional way and the other half is genetically modified to protect against a specific worm so they don’t have to use any pesticides. What they have found now is that the worm have become immune and have started to infest the genetically modified corn and that they now have to use stronger pesticides ending up costing much more. It is worrying and who knows where this is going to end but we should definitely keep on debating the issue.
Great article. Timely and informative.
Look forward to hearin more of your research findings.
Nicely done. I hope that Chris will continue to share this type of information with us. I couldn’t agree more. Over the last several generations, our society made the choice to hold our food supply at arm’s length and ignore how corporations were manipulating it. It’s high time that we take it back. Chris illustrates several good reasons that GMOs were labelled as “Frankenfoods” back in the 1990s.
Thanks for sharing this info! The more people who know about GM foods the better.
As I’m fairly new to the blogging scene, I’m not sure how to reblog this and give the credit to you. But I will learn!! This is an important issue, one that needs to be made much more public. I also noticed in the comments that some people were talking about organic farmers having to jump through a bunch of hoops to be labeled organic. My question is, who makes the decision about the farmer getting to be labeled organic? And how much clout does Monsanto and others like them have on this decision making? I think the answer to that would be very, very interesting!
[…] The Truth About Genetically Modified Organisms – GMO’s « The Soulsby Farm. […]
reblogged on http://remissionary.wordpress.com/
I sure hope folks come and read this!!
Well written, well said. Dig a little deeper and you discover the contamination of all crops and seeds. I’m not even sure the heirloom seeds are good anymore. Also, check into how they are stopping small farms or farms Not using their seeds. It’s a deep pit.
Chris,
I have been researching Monsanto and GMO foods for several years. I write a column for examiner.com on natural health. You are correct that the average person has no idea what foods they are putting into their bodies or the developing bodies of their children. Doctors are looking for answers for the huge increase in autistic children and children with ADD and ADHD. I believe the answer lies in our food supply.
Thank you for a well-written article. Keep up the good work and help make the public aware of the hidden dangers in our food supply.
Barbara Stanley
http://www.examiner.com/natural-health-in-Atlanta/barbarastanley
Farmers and farm groups are also looking at why this is such a concern. Having used and eaten GMO products for 20 years now I’m not seeing the problem. All GMO’s should not be grouped into one group as bad. The corn farmer now has corn that makes its own organic insecticide to protect the plant, we have corn with better roots and corn that makes more efficient use of sunlight and soil. All of this so we can better feed the world.
I’m concerned that this young blogger has confused emotion with facts. As someone over 50, I’ve seen many of these emotional issues go away when the facts are known.
I highly recommend that you read “Pandora’s Seed” by Spencer Wells to go further with the investigation into the human food chain. Briefly, 95% of the plants on the surface of the earth are C3 carbon processors, meaning the way that they convert carbon dioxide from the air into starches and sugars. The other 5% are C4 carbon processors and those are the tropical grasses – wheat and corn,sugar cane (others are not mono cropped in the quantity we now consume)
So, the question we should be asking is WHY are we getting 75% of our calories from that narrow band of C4 carbon processors? WHY are we force feeding corn to the animals (cattle, chickens, fish) we consume? Wheat and corn are seeds – highly concentrated DNA from the plant. It raises not only the e coli in cattle’s intestines, but raises their triglyceride levels and then….we eat their bodies. Any wonder that they have even postured having McDonalds sell Lipitor at the consumption site?
Not only are we being duped by the GMO’s but we don’t question why our food chain is built on Pandora’s Seed. Google the word HAPMAP as there is a global study on how diets may have been the key factor in genetic mutation in the past, especially the Y chromosome. Something triggers mutations and they are studying not only archaeological evidence but the building data on human health around the globe. Do the profiteers care about long term effects? No, but individuals can change this every time they put any food in their mouths.
Reblogged this on matermusearts and commented:
Every human being needs to know about GMO’s!
Great primer on this VIP subject! Am reblogging. 😀
Thank you, reblogging!
Reblogged this on hippieonthegrid and commented:
Thank you so much for this information. Another point about GMOs is that some seeds are “programmed” to produce plants that cannot reproduce therefore requiring growers to purchase seends again and again which equals more money in the manufacturer’s products. I think it’s a dangerous game. As plants cannot reproduce they are unsustainable, what if the GMOs become the dominant specie of the plant?
Thank you for this article…let us all help educate those who don’t know about these dangers in our food and stick together to try to make a change…one small change at a time!
Reblogged this on naturalifextension and commented:
Thank You Soulsby Farm and Chris Vogliano for the insightful article on GMO’s.
[…] to my post on April 29 of this year, when the blogger from Soulsby Farm made a comment and thus introduced me to the treacherous spread of GMO…, particularly corn (it’s in everything), I really have to say I’ve been way too […]
Chris and Michael,
Thank you for sharing this timely information. The response by readers to this article really does make the point. More education and research are needed before we further expose Americans to modified foods, regardlss of perceptions. Our industrialized production of food has become toxic accross the board; this we know. As many of us try to live healthier and reduce the amount of adulterated consumption; food, natural resources such as water etc. we discover that the transparency is a serious issue. I lecture on the importance of transparency in our food chain and labeling for GMO’s all the time. I am also extremely happy to see that food and diet “experts” are now becoming aware and alarmed about what to share with people who rely on them for beneficience (first do no harm) and factual information. My company seeks educators just like you Chris; qualified ditetician and nutritionists who share REAL concerns about what eating healthy really means to the public and what it is TRULY like to source nutritious unadulteraed foods in our food supply chain.
Kudos! I would love to know what the outcome of your thesis is. Finding credible accrediting programs (ADA) that will address the issue of GMO’s and other unhealthy food production practices that have impacts on public health is tricky to say the least. Please keep in touch, a collaboration may be on the horizon.
Thank you!
Howards Farm sells their home grown produce at the Belle Meade United Methodist Church in Nashville, TN. A real treat. I wish fallow land in the area could be cultivated to raise vegetables. The troubles in Greece is forcing the old people to raise their own vegetables as their pensions were cut 30%.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I just watched Food, Inc. tonight and learned a bit about this topic and Montsanto; thanks for the additional info and resources. It is frightening how complex the food issues are in America…
Reblogged this on therippleeffect2009 and commented:
Check out this interesting post from The Soulsby Farm… after watching Food, Inc. today, which I recommend viewing, this topic was really interesting to me.
BTW, I reblogged your post on my site to share with my readers!
Right on.
[…] Farms has a good essay regarding genetically modified organisms in our food supply. I’d like a footnote or two for […]
Thanks for stopping by my little blog! This info on GMO’s is great and I will read it in it’s entirety tomorrow with coffee and not company so I can concentrate.
The indifference so may show to what is in their food and where it is from is astounding. Nice post.
Reblogged this on Charlotte/Shirvington and commented:
Wonderful article, very informative!
Great article! Thanks for sharing. I’m glad to know there are others out there who share my concern about GMO’s. I had shared it on facebook last night, but I noticed this morning it was missing from my profile. I tried to re-share it, but it’s blocked now ? 😦 I look forward to following your blog. Keep up the good work.
Great article! Thanks for sharing. Have reblogged on http://www.banditqueenpress.com!
Reblogged this on Akron Planeteers and commented:
Check out this great post hosted by The Soulsby Farm Blog.
It seems to me the real problem with GMO’s is monoculture, the destruction of diversity in crops. Obviously eating something genetically modified won’t harm me unless I’m eating neural tissue from an animal; what I fear is the elimination of different species and varieties of plants, and the elimination of varieties of insects that live on these plants. Monarch butterflies and bees are already beginning to die because of fields of GMO crops. Without pollinators, we will have a very hard time feeding ourselves.
It’s good to see so many people care about this, though. Quite encouraging!
The “problem” of monoculture did not start with GMO’s, but when people on the farm became such a small percentage of those who eat. There is no way to feed the world without placing certain crops all together in a field. Wheat, corn and soy are the main crops people think of when they think monoculture, but those crops are frequently rotated. True monocultures include crops like fruit tree and vine crops which are many years in the same crop with never a chance for another plant to grow in their fields. If you want your daily bread, rice or chicken, and live in the city, you are going to have to use the most cost effective methods to produce food at levels that will feed the world.
Data on the loss of butterflies and bees has not shown any correlation to GMO’s. Both insects are more likely to be affected by the insecticides used by cities to control mosquitos and flies.
[…] was just over at fellow blogger SoulsbyFarm’s site reading this excellent piece, The Truth About Genetically Modified Organisms – GMO’s, when I noticed one of the commentors seemed familiar. I clicked on his (publicly available) link, […]
I posted about y’all in my blog. I hope that’s okay. http://soilentgreens.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/monsatans-lap-dog/
I think comparing synthetic sweeteners, DDT and Agent Orange to GMO is like comparing a rock to a flower. Why do people want to demonize science and technology? If I genetically modified a rose to smell like strawberries are you going to cry and say smelling them causes cancer?
Thank you for this informative article. I would like to reblog this with your permission.
[…] “My name is Chris Vogliano and am currently a dietitian and nutrition manager at The Cleveland Foodbank. Food security issues are especially a focus of mine, from alleviating hunger to the genetic modification of our food supply. For my master’s thesis, I focused on the topic of Genetically Modified Organisms in relation to Registered Dietitian’s knowledge and perception of them. According to previous research, the public trusts dietitian’s to relay current and scientific information on this controversial topic. However, as I hope to prove in my research, there is a significant knowledge gap in the perception of what dietitian’s know versus the knowledge they actually hold. Continue reading…“ […]
Who is the Author of this article?
Chris Vogliano
This is an informative and well-written piece. Thank you!
Thank you !!