We have all been lied to. A world where everything we eat, drink, sleep and breathe is completely fine. Fukushima, well that was ionizing radiation as a cancer preventative. Genetically modified (GMO) foods are completely fine and have no negative lasting impact on our bodies. For years, farmers have been cross breeding plants for hardiness and for food variety so the splicing of genomes in a laboratory to create a new tomato that is immune to Roundup is no different. Organic, its a scam. The new bottled water fad and sure to die a slow and painful death much like global warming.
Angry yet? You should be. For the second time in a month I have had a troll Scandinavian dwarf strongly suggest to me on Facebook how ridiculously wrong I was for supporting the organic movement and opposing GMO’s.
Let me be clear though on my stance with GMO food products; I AM in favor of a farmers agricultural tactic to cross breed plants in a field (nature does this on her own too), I AM NOT in favor of Dr. Kevorkian playing test tube roulette with a new breed of tomato for my dinner. I support the organic movement because I was educated about organic. I did not hop on some fad toting, band wagon of the newfangled fashion called organic. I did not wake up one day and make the Laissez-Faire decision to just up and rid my pantry and fridge of conventionally farmed, GMO laced foods. Did I clean out my pantry of the majority of those products? Absolutely, maybe not all at once, but I eventually did.
Why you ask?
In 2008 I delivered my twins and found a support group later that year for mothers of multiples. Among our group was a very well educated woman who yielded a fancy science degree, I will spare you her details, however she explained the facts and science of genetic modification (present state), organic foods, farming, how you become USDA organic certified, blah, blah blah. I soaked up every minute. Why? Because why not? I had nothing to gain or lose from her sharing her knowledge, or did I? What I had not mentioned to this point is this amazing woman’s journey defeating breast cancer. She defeated her progressive breast cancer and has been cancer free during the time I have been honored to call her friend. Her battle also included a diet rich in organic fruits, vegetables and meat and dairy products free of hormones or additives. While I am not a doctor and make no claim of the science, I did apply common sense and hear a truly moving
situation.I also applied this new found knowledge to another friend who also had breast cancer. A survivor or Stage IV, double mastectomy, reconstruction and lymph removal. She DOES NOT eat an organic rich diet, staying her course she still frequents all fast food joints, drinks large quantities of diet soft drinks, and just 18 months ago underwent another round of cancer treatment for a form of oral cancer found in her mouth and lymph nodes. She has continued failing health including joint inflammation, thyroid, diabetes, and a gamut of other ailments.
Which path would common sense direct you to choose?
Imagine my surprise when in 2011 I receive a phone call from my physician alerting me to an abnormal pap. Her phone call included “biopsy”, “cancerous cells of the cervix”, “advancing cancerous tissue.” I was in a panic. While my family had integrated organic into our diet, we still fancied some fast food and I still partook in an occasional Starbucks; I had not completely overhauled my lifestyle. November of that year, while undergoing a very painful surgical procedure to remove the cancerous cells and tissue I vowed to change my life for the complete good. My family went full organic. While we already had integrated the fruits and vegetables and milk, meat purchases were still from traditional farming, until that day.While nothing is wrong with traditional farming I could not support this mode of food production. The chemicals, the hormones, the pesticides, none of it seemed right or natural to me as someone who had been touched by cancer and as a mother. From that day forward I have been cancer free and my paps have all been normal every six months.
A little over a year ago my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer. Her treatment was and is aggressive. When we spoke shortly after her diagnosis she mentioned how doctors said if she was going to eat certain foods they had to be organic due to the pesticide interaction with her chemotherapy. I found great irony in that statement. So I went further and researched chemotherapy and an organic diet. At best I found the naturopathic and alternative healing methods like the Gerson Institute and the Breville Method, all supported an organic rich diet of fruits, vegetables and pesticide free proteins. Nowhere did any of the well known cancer sites indicate that cancer patients should be eating a diet rich in organic fruits and vegetables, in spite of the fact that each of these people I know, all strangers to one another shared the same simple fact of eating an organic diet during their cancer treatment. For the conservatives out there I beg the question, what does a doctor gain from making this medical suggestion? If organic is purely a ploy for higher taxation and a fascist movement towards primitivism then why not exploit this venture, especially when physicians and the medical field are supported so heavily by big Pharm and the liberals?
Quite alright, we can save the Ayn Rand style debate for another day.
Do I dream of one day a world where we are free of harmful chemicals in our foods? Positively yes. My Rogerian beliefs is that we are all inherently good, so I favor for optimism in any outcome. Do I claim any health benefits that organic foods are more nutritious? Absolutely not. I am merely making an educated decision for myself and my family based on the research and real life experience of the effects of a diet with conventional farming versus organic farming; cancer or no cancer. I am a protagonist for a diet free of laboratory created, genetically modified foods and substances. When science tinkers around in the genomes and the DNA structure of plants for “improved” purposes I wonder what happens when that DNA is introduced into our environment outside of a lab. My personal research found that children with food allergies, autism, digestive disorders, chronic illnesses and cancer increased dramatically with the introduction of GMO foods. Here is the timeline:
1975 was when DNA was lobbied to be engineered
1980 the first GMO was patented for the use to “gobble up oil spills,” because you know that has been a HUGE success
1982 an insulin produced by genetically modifying E.coli bacteria is on the market
1994 the Flavr Savr tomato is approved by the FDA for sale on grocery shelves and promoted for its delayed ripening and longer shelf life than conventional tomatoes
1996 the GMO resistant super weeds appear, weeds are found to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate
1999 over 100 million acres worldwide are dominated by GMO
2011 Bt toxins (a soil bacteria GMO, engineered to be kill insects such as moths, butterflies, caterpillars) found in humans, specifically the blood of pregnant women being transferred to the fetuses.
From 1997 to 2011 the CDC reported that children with food allergies, digestive problems, chronic illness and skin disorders increased by 50%. Based on the above timeline, I can correlate that negative effects of GMO to our health. The FDA approves drugs on a daily basis that have a side-effect list as long as an ingredient list on a processed food box laden with GMO. Proven fact, Prozac which was and is the most highly prescribed anti-depressant starting in the late 80s has had the longest clinical study, spanning 20 years and is still being studied, continues to releases new and harmful side-effect which include the following: suicidal thoughts and behavior, birth defects, premature labor, severe skin reaction, insomnia, stuffy nose, sneezing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, tremors, dry mouth, low libido, dizziness. Oh and my personal favorites: heart defects in newborns, lung problems in newborns resulting in improper adaptation to breathing outside the womb, and last but not least, an increased risk of the baby developing AN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER.
Argue that GMO is perfectly safe, despite the fact we do not have enough research, hence the Prozac reference. Argue that organic may be more expensive and it’s a scam. But when adults result to insults, personal attack, and the “if you don’t listen to what I am saying” since I think “I am right” attitude, I just stop responding. Now this is about you and your feelings, not respecting my choice of which I respect yours. I have no problem with anyone’s choice regarding organic, and I am not opposed to hearing their side, especially if new information of some compelling nature is shared. Maybe I am wrong. I am okay with that, but for now, until I have concrete scientific proof that the long term effects of GMO, herbicides, pesticides and hormones are safe and the whole ban GMO is bullshit, organic is always my choice.
i agree
While I am all for an all organic diet (if you can afford it on a weekly basis) I am kind of on the fence about some things. I understand why some plants are genetically modified- and it is due to the rising population for the most part. Well, that and farmers wanting to make more momey.
I will say it isn’t the farmers you think of.. the fella with a family who has an acerage and sells the excess, it is large farming businesses like DeKalb,, Pioneer etc to name a few that leases the land to farmers to plant and harvest, and they are thinking of their bottom line and will grow GMOs even if they dont like it to survive.
I aalso have a problem when something is said to be ‘organic’ wheen in fact it is not. The only way to know is to go to the farm, see thier practices and most dont have that luxury. So many are getting the wool pulled over thier eyes buying organoc when pesticides are used.
I applaud the small family farms- and those growing gardens, sharing in the cost of raising beef, pork, chicken for comsumption on a family farm, those who know where their dairy is coming from and if it is done humanely and reesponsibly. Some again can do this, some can not.
I will also bring up the point some of this is a socio economical issue. Poor and those on the margin have less access to fresh and/or organic foods. Price also is prohibitive. Buying pink slime for $2.99 a pound and a bag of noodles is usually preferred over not eating and looking at the meat case when organic meats are running $7.99 pound for hanburger.
It’s a slippery slope. And yes, caancer and other diseases cost money, but most poor or marginaly poor dont or cant afford to go to the Dr until it is chronic or almost terminal.
I could write a book on this, but yes I do beieve some GMOs are harmful as are the vast majority of drugs, but then too chemotherapy is a poison, yet it saves your life.
I make no sense sometimes but thats the pretzel logic.
Ellen, absolutely the one acre farm is doing right. I love small farms. We had a CSA of a very small farm here in the middle of the city and I LOVED their goods. I saw how he raised his farm with the leftovers from the harvest that weren’t up to par were used to feed his truly free range chickens. His pool was drained, not onto the property because he couldn’t support a chemical pool on a chemical free farm.
I also agree much of this is socio-economic which saddens me. I see people wasting food all the time, but those who cannot afford it scrimp and save. I agree that meat is like fuel the pricing is all over the board! Here in AZ it can range from $4.99 a pound to $9.99 a pound. Our fruits and veggies are prices similarly to standard produce farmed under normal practices (pesticides).
I think when people say that the organic movement is a scam to control masses and create an economic disparity (which was my sideways attempt at this article) is farfetched. I do think that people abuse the use of the word organic, which is sad because they can use it without any validation and certification.
I think you may have provided an answer to a question that was unasked but some individuals may just have a higher likelihood of developing cancer than others because of genetic factors the same way that some may be able to fight it off easier than others regardless of food choices.
Your timeline of GMOs and incidence of food allergies and autism etc is interesting, just as magicians show you want you want to see, but you have to consider many other factors. Doctors have been over diagnosing individuals with food allergies and autism spectrum disorders as well as the fact that modern medicine since the 70’s has exponentially improved in it’s ability to identify these allergies or disorders. So to say that GMO is the cause for this, unless you can provide scientific research articles to back this claim, you should not be disseminating false information. If anything, GM can help avoid
Remember, farmers have been doing “GM” for thousands of years. YOu think the berries and almonds you are eating were magically healthy? A lot of this was because of GM by farmers domesticing wild berries or toxic almonds so that they didn’t kill us. The fact that a scientist can identify this gene in a lab and eradicate it in one generation is actually a fortunate scenario becasue we do not have to wait x generations to enjoy berries or almonds.
I agree in your belief of wanting to eat organic or non-gmo as you think it it may be healthier since you have responded well and want to wait for long term studies on the effect of GM crop on individuals. My concern is that we are being mislead and are falling marketing campaigns put out by corporations, government etc without actually doing a little more research. Remember there is always a bigger agenda than we can possibly imagine and for all we now the government, organic farmers and big corporations are all in bed together and banking off of the mark up on organic, non-gmo, gluten free marketing. Just a little bit of research will show you that organic farming isn’t any better tan conventional and has just as much if not more pesticides than non-organic and a lot of times is not even regulated by the USDA.
So yes, I do think non-GMO is bullshit and Organic is a scam. The only way to truly be healthy is to have your own farm and livestock in a vacuum which unfortunately is practiclly impossible this day and age.
Nik, so I was not meaning to isolate GMO as the primary cause but one of many in the successive downgrade failures in food, water, technological advancements, etc. Yes doctors could be providing a misdiagnosis but this is why it’s called “practicing” medicine. As far as markup on organic this is due to the demand because we no longer eat seasonally. But I digress, this was more of an opinion and not a true diagnosis or factoid, we can all speculate.
I stopped listening when you asserted that global warming wasn’t a real thing…
That’s too bad because I actually believe global warming is an issue. Next time I’ll flex the sarcasm font.
I am sorry but the linking of GMO foods vs. Organic Food that seems to dominate forum discussions on the relative merits of Organic Vs Conventional agriculture is a distraction to the pertinent discussion of whether the organic growing system produces in any way a superior product to the conventional growing system. Whether or not we should be growing and eating GMO is a completely different issue.
Of Course I can say this as I live and produce conventionally grown apples in Tasmania which is a GMO free zone as far as agriculture is concerned. So for me the debate is about the differences in growing food conventionally vs growing it organically.
Now I can say that in this case Organic Apples are unequivocally WORSE for the earth and no better for the consumer than Conventionally grown apples.
To grow apples organically has the following impacts:
– requires a more intensive spraying program – 2 -3 times as many
applications per growing season, as the chemicals that can be used are far less effective.
– 2 times the diesel used due to the increased spray load.
– Much more labour required to do tasks such as thinning that are otherwise managed using chemicals.
– Reduced yields of between 20 and 50%
– The use of non selective and inefficient Organically approved pesticides that not only kill the target species but a host of beneficial insects and arachnids. BTW the organically approved pesticides include a number of known carcinogens and mutagens!
-more water and land used per unit of product.
As I am yet to read a single study on the nutritional differences between Organic and Conventionally grown food that properly controls for soil quality, transportation, varieties of produce, time between harvest and testing and all the myriad of factors that affect nutritional content so I am going to go out on a limb and state that I do not believe there is any solid scientific evidence that would convince a reasonably sceptical person that one or the other is better for you.
Also as a conventional farmer I am required to routinely test my produce for chemical residues and to follow strict food safety guidelines regarding the use of these chemicals. NEITHER standard applies to Organic growers here or in the US under the Organic certification process. Yet Organic farmers use chemicals that are as dangerous to human health, and in many cases more so than the conventional farmer.
Of course all of the above applies to commercially grown crops, if you buy organic apples from your local community garden then I am sure you are getting a great healthy product. If, however, you are shopping in a supermarket or buying a processed organic apple product like Organic Apple Cider Vinegar then you are being seriously mislead and paying a premium for a product that is far worse for the environment than the conventional equivalent and has no additional health benefits.
So if you are truly concerned about global warming and climate change then you should be far more concerned about where your food came than whether it had a synthetic chemical applied to it and support your local conventional farmers, as GMO’s aside they are probably a lot more earth friendly than you think.