Stepping into The Twilight Zone: Attack of the GMOs

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are always on my radar screen.  I’ve understood for some time that genetically engineered food is something I do not want to ingest if I can help it.  Keeping them out of my family’s diet is a daily priority for me.  Yesterday, I saw on Facebook that Peru had officially banned GMOs.  Wanting to get clear on how many countries have banned them – in the hopes that these bans matter – I did some further investigation and ended up in…The Twilight Zone.

Countries that have banned GMOs include Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Russia, Austria, Greece, Poland, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar and, for the most part, the Nordic countries.  Kudos to these countries for standing up to the biotech companies pushing these seeds!

Now, take a look at this map, which shows in red all the places where GMOs are thriving.

sott.net May 2012

That is one frightening visual.  Here’s why.

Even if you are in a country that has banned GMOs or put restrictions on their use, the GMO crops in the red countries will eventually invade every corner of the globe.  That’s because the insects and the wind will bring them there. It’s the exquisite natural process of pollination gone awry; a tragic twist on the brilliance of the Earth’s capacity to generate food meant to nourish and sustain us.

Organic farmers are already experiencing this seed invasion, which is both costly and criminal.  It’s the attack of the mutant seeds – genetically manipulated to contain bacteria, herbicides and pesticides yet deemed by the mad scientists who created them to be safe.  Knowing this is happening to our food supply on such a large scale makes me feel like I’ve entered…The Twilight Zone.

Biotech companies like the renowned Monsanto are pushing these seeds onto farmers across the globe, with no regard for the horrific consequences GMOs pose to human health – even when their own studies have shown that they in fact do pose a serious threat.  Here’s one example of many:

In 2007 a team led by Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini at the independent research institute CRIIGEN in France published a new analysis of a rat feeding study conducted by Monsanto with one of its GM maize varieties.

The maize, called MON863, was approved for feed in Europe in 2005–2006. The maize was approved partly on the basis of the Monsanto study, which could not be scrutinized by independent scientists and the publicbecause the raw data were kept hidden on claimed grounds of commercial confidentiality. Only after court action in Germany forced disclosure of Monsanto’s data could Séralini and associates conduct their analysis.

Séralini’s team found that according to Monsanto’s own data, rats fed GM maize over a 90-day period had signs of liver and kidney toxicity. Also, the GM-fed rats had statistically significant differences in weight from those fed non-GM maize control diets. The GM-fed females had higher concentrations of certain fats in their blood, and excretion of certain minerals was disturbed in GM-fed males.

However, all statistically significant effects found in Monsanto’s study were dismissed by the European Food Safety Authority in its favorable safety assessment of the maize. They claimed that the statistically significant effects were not “biologically meaningful”.

Not “biologically meaningful?”  Am I missing something here?

Biotech companies like to use these kind of vague phrases to dismiss scientific findings that are anything but irrelevant.  Many studies conducted on rodents have shown the negative effects of GMOs on the liver, pancreas, kidneys, immune system, fertility and gut bacteria.  Yet no long-term tests on GM crops or foods are required by regulatory authorities anywhere in the world.  The status quo is safe until proven otherwise.

Are we guinea pigs?  It’s looking that way.

And, with a significant number of former Monsanto directors, VPs, board members, managers, scientists, lobbyists, attorneys and consultants holding positions in the US government, there’s no chance of slowing down the distribution and planting of these seeds anytime soon.  Especially given that Michael Taylor, former Monsanto attorney and VP, is our current food safety czar at the FDA!

I feel like I’m in one of those Twilight Zone episodes where I realize what’s happening, and I’m screaming for help, but no one can hear me.

Why are we letting this happen?  Why is it legal to use these seeds when they have not yet been proven safe for human consumption?  Or for the bees that are dying en mass?  Why aren’t citizens insisting at a minimum that all foods containing GMOs be labeled?  Why are we not rising up to stop this insanity?

And it is insanity.  Where once food was grown in harmony with the Earth, now it’s about a transnational biotech monopoly and bought governments destroying the safety of the food we eat.  Food should make us healthy, not sick.  Don’t you agree?

Is anybody listening?

Yes.

Are enough people listening?

No.

Not yet.

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Thank you to Open Earth Source for their outstanding and thorough report on GMO Myths and Truths.  Click here for the full report.

For a quick understanding of the reasons why we don’t need GMOs, click here.

Lastly, you can go to the Non-GMO Project to learn about foods that are certified non-GMO.  Organic food, as of now, is understood to be non-GMO.  Trader Joe’s also stands by a policy that all of their TJ brand name products contain no GMOs.