I'm all for science and the many good things it has brought us. Life-saving drugs and improved surgical techniques have saved many lives. And the researchers and doctors who once pooh-poohed the idea that what you eat could affect your health are now climbing on board the healthy foods bandwagon.
That's good science. Let's talk about Monsanto, et al and good-only-for-the-bottom-line science. Years ago when the chemical companies were pushing their pesticides and herbicides, they had a real problem. Unfortunately the products that could kill the bugs and weeds also killed the crops. What to do? What to do?
How about messing around with a little gene splicing so that the seeds were resistant to the poison that killed bugs and weeds? You could spray Roundup all over the corn, soy, etc. since the crops were Roundup-resistant. Not only could you sell the heck out of Roundup, but now the only seeds the farmers could use were those Roundup resistant ones. And the best part? These little buggers produced sterile plants, so no problem with saving some of the seeds to sow next year because all they would do is just lay there and rot. The company bean counters were beside themselves with joy. Self-propagating profit! But you better not fool with Mother Nature. Her little bugs and weeds developed a resistance to Roundup so farmers had to use more and more of it. Again a win-win for Monsanto.
You will hear that the majority of these frankencrops are not in your supermarket. They are, instead, used as animal feed. Of course - just like us - animals are what they eat. Since the GMO crops are cheaper than the old conventional varieties, they are sold to the food manufacturers to be converted into that super sweetener High Fructose Corn Syrup. They are also used in most processed foods under a plethora of names that are not only unpronounceable, but give little hint of their origin.
There are still some corn, soy and other crops that have not been 'improved' by agrichem (my word) companies. They are clearly marked ORGANIC - NON-GMO. If you make the decision to do without pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones, antibiotics, etc. in your food, it is difficult but not impossible. The extra that you spend for real food will be much less than what you would spend at the doctor's office attempting to undo the damage done by our food manufacturers.
If you would like to give real food a fighting chance, you can download a free list of Non-GMO foods to take with you when you shop. This is by no means a complete list, since it's a category that changes frequently. You can return to this site later on to see the updates.
http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/
