What Does GMO Mean?

You may heard that Chipotle recently decided to remove all GMO ingredients from their menu. But what does this all mean?

GMO means genetically modified organism. That means that a plant/crop has had its original natural DNA structure changed through the insertion of other DNA, insertion of herbicide (weed killer), or DNA deletion, or DNA modification. This is being heavily sold to the public as the answer to: drought, food shortages, world hunger, disease and cheap food. “Mankind and GMO crops are the answer and will save the world!” The problem is – the cure is way worse than the problem it is supposedly going to solve. There are many reasons the “cure” is dangerous and they are all alarming.

Monsanto is patenting seeds – which means they then own the seed. They also say they own any farmers crop if their seeds are found in his field, (curiously this happens around telephone poles, as though the seeds were thrown specifically in an area that would be easy to come back and check.) Also, if any cross pollination occurs between a Monsanto seed plant and a non Monsanto seed plant, they say they then own that plant and the seeds derived from it as well because it then contains some of their patented seed. Several courts have upheld these rights claimed by Monsanto. This is giving Monsanto control of the worlds food supply, because they will own all the seeds – and this is not an exaggeration. It is difficult for farmers not to use the Monsanto seeds in many cases, because of availability and the pressure to use them is great.

Monsanto makes Round-up weed killer (do not buy or use), which has been linked to Parkinson’s disease and birth defects. Now they are genetically modifying seeds by inserting Round-up into the seed, which then is in the plant. This makes the plant “Round-up Resistant.” This means the field can be sprayed with Round-up weed killer and the weeds die, but the plants do not because they already contain Round-up. It would be a great idea – EXCEPT FOR THE FACT WEEDKILLER IS IN THE PLANT which you then eat!!! It doesn’t just “disappear” because it is ingrown into the fiber of the plant. No one is studying this and the few studies that have been done are done outside the United States….I wonder why? Monsanto is a BIG “contributor” and no one is funding any studies into genetically modified food. In fact they fight tooth and nail to keep food from being labeled GMO by running scare campaigns that labeling will cause the cost of food to skyrocket! Did putting nutritional information on food along with calorie content cause the price to skyrocket?! No. So why do they FEAR labeling so much? If GMO food is so great and wonderful – why do they FEAR labeling so much? Could it be they know – if you know – you will opt for the old fashion stuff – pure, nutritious, wholesome, God-created, God-made, unmodified, REAL food.

Food allergies, which were unheard of are skyrocketing and becoming very common. What has changed to cause this? The answer or at least part of the answer is that food has changed. While the rest of us have been working, sleeping and raising our families, the food industry, which operates with very little government interference or oversight, has been VERY BUSY changing the food we eat through genetic modification and insertion of ingredients never before consumed by humans on a large scale. Are the GMO crops behind the explosion of food allergies? The answer is most assuredly yes. All the flour, corn and rice sold in the U.S., unless marked Organic or Non-GMO – is GMO. :(

Next week we will talk about my approach to GMO and what you can do to protect your health and the health of your family. :)