by Kelley\nBergman<\/em> <\/em>Preventdisease.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You may not want to eat genetically modified (GM) foods, but\nchances are, you are eating them anyway. There are urgent reasons why we need\nto ban them altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n US government data shows that in the US, GM crops have produced\nan overall increase, not decrease, in pesticide use compared to conventional\ncrops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe promise was that you could use less chemicals and produce a\ngreater yield. But let me tell you none of this is true.\u201d \u2014 Bill Christison,\nPresident of the US National Family Farm Coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Genetic modification is a crude and imprecise way of\nincorporating foreign genetic material (e.g. from viruses, bacteria) into\ncrops, with unpredictable consequences. The resulting GM foods have undergone\nlittle rigorous and no long-term safety testing. However, animal feeding tests\nhave shown that GM foods have toxic effects, including abnormal changes in\norgans, immune system disturbances, accelerated ageing, and changes in gene\nexpression. Very few studies have been published on the direct effects on\nhumans of eating a GM food. One such study found unexpected effects on gut\nbacteria, but was never followed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is claimed that Americans have eaten GM foods for years with\nno ill effects. But these foods are unlabeled in the US and no one has\nmonitored the consequences. With other novel foods like trans fats, it has\ntaken decades to realize that they have caused millions of premature deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GM foods are an imminent threat to humanity\u2019s food supply.\nBesides the ethical concerns, genetic pollution is self-perpetuating. It can\nnever be reversed or cleaned up. Genetic mistakes will be passed on to all\nfuture generations of a species. Wind, rain, birds, bees, and insect\npollinators have begun carrying genetically-altered pollen into adjoining\nfields, polluting the DNA of crops of organic and non-GM farmers. This has been\nhappening all over the world for more than a decade. Theoretically, it genetic\npollution continues, it could obliterate the world\u2019s natural organic food\nsupply. Use of herbicide-resistant crops will also lead to a accelerated\nincrease in the use of herbicides, resulting in\neven greater pollution of our food and water<\/a> with toxic\nagrochemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are confronted with the most powerful technology the world has\never known, and it is being rapidly deployed with almost no thought whatsoever\nto its consequences.\u201d \u2014 Dr Suzanne Wuerthele, US Environmental Protection\nAgency (EPA) toxicologist<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a spokesperson for Asgrow, a subsidiary of Monsanto, said, \u201cIf\nyou put a label on genetically engineered food, you might as well put a skull\nand crossbones on it.\u201d The GM industry has got around the problem of consumer\nrejection of GM foods by hiding them in animal feed. Meat, eggs and dairy\nproducts from animals raised on the millions of tons of GM feed imported into\nEurope do not have to be labelled. Some studies show that contrary to GM and\nfood industry claims, animals raised on GM feed ARE different from those raised\non non-GM feed.\u00c2 Other studies show that if GM crops are fed to animals,\nGM material can appear in the resulting products and affect the animals\u2019\nhealth. So eating these \u201cstealth GMOs\u201d may affect the health of consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GM contamination of conventional and organic food is increasing.\nAn unapproved GM rice that was grown for only one year in field trials was\nfound to have extensively contaminated the US rice supply and seed stocks. In\nCanada, the organic oilseed rape industry has been destroyed by contamination\nfrom GM rape. In Spain, a study found that GM maize \u201chas caused a drastic\nreduction in organic cultivations of this grain and is making their coexistence\npractically impossible\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The time has come to choose between a GM-based, or a\nnon-GM-based, world food supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alfalfa is the main forage crop for dairy cows and one of the\nprinciple foods for beef cows, especially grass-fed cattle. Alfalfa is a\nperennial, easily lasting five years once planted. And it\u2019s bee-pollinated, which\nmeans each year, every non-GM alfalfa plant within five miles of every GM\nalfalfa plant will likely be contaminated by GM genes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf some people are allowed to choose to grow, sell and consume\nGM foods, soon nobody will be able to choose food, or a biosphere, free of GM.\nIt\u2019s a one way choice, like the introduction of rabbits or cane toads to\nAustralia; once it\u2019s made, it can\u2019t be reversed.\u201d \u2014 Roger Levett, specialist in\nsustainable development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2009 report showed that GM seed prices in America have\nincreased dramatically, compared to non-GM and organic seeds, cutting average\nfarm incomes for US farmers growing GM crops. The report concluded, \u201cAt the\npresent time there is a massive disconnect between the sometimes lofty rhetoric\nfrom those championing biotechnology as the proven path toward global food\nsecurity and what is actually happening on farms in the US that have grown\ndependent on GM seeds and are now dealing with the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The big biotech firms pushing their GM foods have a terrible\nhistory of toxic contamination and public deception. GM is attractive to them\nbecause it gives them patents that allow monopoly control over the world\u2019s food\nsupply. They have taken to harassing and intimidating farmers for the \u201ccrime\u201d\nof saving patented seed or \u201cstealing\u201d patented genes \u2014 even if those genes got\ninto the farmer\u2019s fields through accidental contamination by wind or insects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monsanto has been the largest player in the GM foods game.\nThey have single handedly made the United States the world\u2019s biggest producer\nof GM foods, pesticides and herbicides. Founded in 1901, Monsanto has\nmanufactured industrial chemicals (e.g. sulphuric acid), plastics and\nsynthetics, and saccharin, a carcinogenic artificial sweetener. It has also\nproduced or granted production licenses for most of the world\u2019s toxic PCB\u2019s\nwhich are now mostly banned worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFarmers are being sued for having GMOs on their property that\nthey did not buy, do not want, will not use and cannot sell.\u201d \u2014 Tom Wiley,\nNorth Dakota farmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2008 World Bank report concluded that increased biofuel\nproduction is the major cause of the increase in food prices. Biofuels are\ncrops grown for fuel rather than food. GM giant Monsanto has been at the heart\nof the lobbying for biofuels \u2014 while profiting enormously from the resulting\nfood crisis and using it as a PR opportunity to promote GM foods!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe climate crisis was used to boost biofuels, helping to create\nthe food crisis; and now the food crisis is being used to revive the fortunes\nof the GM industry.\u201d \u2014 Daniel Howden, Africa correspondent, The Independent\n(UK).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe cynic in me thinks that they\u2019re just using the current food\ncrisis and the fuel crisis as a springboard to push GM crops back on to the\npublic agenda. I understand why they\u2019re doing it, but the danger is that if\nthey\u2019re making these claims about GM crops solving the problem of drought or\nfeeding the world, that\u2019s bullshit.\u201d \u2014 Prof Denis Murphy, head of\nbiotechnology, University of Glamorgan, Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kelley Bergman<\/em><\/strong>\nis a media consultant, critic and geopolitical investigator. She has worked as\na journalist and writer, specializing in geostrategic issues around the globe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sources:<\/strong> The 7 Biggest Reasons To Never Eat Genetically Modified Foods by Kelley Bergman Preventdisease.com You may not want to eat genetically modified (GM) foods, but chances are, you are eating … <\/p>\n7 REASONS TO NEVER EAT GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Increased Pesticide Use<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Have Been Shown To Be Dangerous To Your Health and Unsafe To Eat<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. GM Foods Are Hidden In Animal Feed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. GM and non-GM Cannot Co-Exist<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Long-term Economic Disaster For Farmers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. GM Companies Cannot Be Trusted<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. GM Foods Will Never Solve The Food Crisis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\nmercola.com<\/a>
\ngmwatch.org<\/a>
\nalternet.org
\nbestmeal.info<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"