Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are organisms created when the gene from one species is transferred by means of a plasmid into another species. This is not an example of hybridization, which happens in nature and poses no threat to our food supply. Hybridization means you let two strains of a species breed or even two separate species and you see what the offspring are. A GMO is created when a gene from one kind of organism (eg: fish) is transmitted to a completely unrelated species (eg: tomato).
GMOs are not desirable for a number of reasons.
First, the health risks of GMO’s are unknown and there is no way to really test for thsir long term impacts on humans. We are in the midst of a huge experiment, which most people will not be able to avoid because they don’t even know it is going on. Hungry African and Asian nations are concerned enough about it that they are refusing food aid from us where the food contains GMOs. Europe has been very suspicious of GMOs. There have been examples of health impacts from use of GMOs. In Japan, a bacterium modified to synthesize amino acids, did a wonderful job of pumping out the amino acids, but it also made a new one not found in nature. The new amino acid, in a food supplement powder caused some deaths and a lot of irreversible mental and metabolic damage to hundreds of people until the product was recalled. Japan does not want GMO food. Australia does not want GMO food.
Beyond the direct risk associated with consuming GMOs, there is a risk of contamination of the existing varieties of seed with GMO genetic material. This is more like a certainty than a risk. If you grow your canola or corn across the road from a GMO field, the pollen from the GMOs blows across and your field is also GMO. In Ontario it is now virtually impossible to grow non-GMO corn. So much of the corn crop is GMO that anyone attempting to grown corn that does not carry the GMO traits will without exception, have their crop contaminated. There is no way for them to provide corn to market that can be certified as being free of GMOs. A great concern right now is that the seed banks for corn, mostly in Mexico have now been found to be badly contaminated with GMO's. Tis is serious cbecuse each mother strain has unqique characteristics in terms of how it handles drought, inscets, fungus infection. If the diversity oif the mother strains is destroyed by one or two GMO varieties, the genetic diversity we have with which to breed noew varieties of corn to witstand new pests and conditions is much reduced. The loss of this diversity would be a distaster for the human race.
The traits being bred into food plants will escape to non-target species. Ten percent already have (that we are aware of) and more are likely to. The most famous example of this is the milkweed that was cross pollinated by a Bt corn and became toxic to Monarch Butterflies. Milkweed is the main food of these endangered and amazing butterflies. Many of them died.
Other traits, such as herbicide resistance being bred into canola, wheat and other crops will escape and make their way into non-food species. These “weeds” will then carry resistance to the herbicide. Ironic, isn’t it.
A particular concern, which I think reflects the mindset of the biotechnology industry is that of “terminator” technology. This is a kind of wheat which is only viable if sprayed with roundup (which the biotech company also makes). This isn’t such a terrible thing, unless you happen to be across the road from a terminator crop and you don’t use roundup (as organic farmers will not). Your own crop will not germinate because of cross pollination from the terminator field, or you’ll have a reduced germination rate and will never really know how much of your seed will be viable – since the wind direction during pollination will determine how much of your seed is terminator infected. You won’t know how densely to plant your crop, since you can’t tell what the germination rate will be, and even with germination testing, you can’t say if the wheat at the top of the bin was from the strip along the road by the terminator crop, or from the middle of the field or from over by the coulee. Some parts of your field might come up, and other areas not.
The agent that transfers the genetic material from the one species to the other is called a PLASMID. This is a small molecule that functions kind of like a virus, easily inserting into the DNA of the host (infected) plant. Plasmids can be attached to genes from one species (eg: fish) and then inserted into another species (eg: tomato). The result is a tomato that keeps for a very long time, only ripening when exposed to a gas which switches off the fish gene. Another example is the Bacillus thuringensis gene which produces a toxin which kills chewing insects. It can be inserted into corn or other plants to control insects that might damage the crop. The problem with plasmids is that they can jump out just as they can jump in. Ten percent of biotechnology genes have already escaped into the environment, entering species for which they were not intended.
Lab rats displayed signs of chronic wasting when fed GMO potatoes.
In Canada, certain products are likely to be GMO if not organic. Over half the soy, corn and canola crops are GMO. There are as yet no GMO wheat or potatoes registered for use in Canada. Bovine Growth Hormone is used in the USA, but not in Canada.
Look to theses organizations for your seed.
Love theses guy, The Canadian group, there doing such good work at keeping the biodiversity of plants going.
Seeds of Diversity, is a Canadian volunteer organization that conserves the biodiversity and traditional knowledge of food crops and garden plants. They also have list of seed companies on there web site. Look for one in your area.
http://www.seeds.ca/en.php
Seeds of Change was founded in 1989 by passionate gardeners with a vision to make organically grown seeds available to gardeners and farmers, while preserving countless heirloom seed varieties in danger of being lost to the "advances" of modern industrial agriculture. Orders can only be accepted for U.S. and Canadian addresses.
http://www.seedsofchange.com/
Beth, you are right... I have british neighbor ( 5 miles as the crow flies, it is just countryside here - strange for Europe actually)
who says he bought the house because years ago he saw a sign for the next exit to Monsanto on the Autovia years ago.
"So I thought this might be an opportunity to find out if there is anything GOOD about Monsanto" he told me.
Now Monsanto (a small portuguese town) isn´t really all that near to his home, but then he did buy
a property in the general area, meaning he liked it there... he still does.
However in Iberia, a latecomer in things environment-related, you get all sort of gen crop pollen flying around
and I don´t have to tell you what that means: nowhere to hide, it comes with the wind.
Fortunately I only have wine, olives, figs, plums and apples on my property, so to hell with them 😉
The thing with GMO, own by Monsanto mostly, there are others out there but Monsanto is America, along with big oil, big pharma. They own the political, courts and cops. so what can you do about that. Other than occupy them, shine a light on them. most people have no clue this co-connection of powerful corporations ruling ever aspect of our life's, and in a very very bad way.
Thank you Beth for your insight. Have you ever seed-saved from your own plants as a response to the GMO issue?
I haven't read the entire article but it looks great! I'm in a rush to run some errands so I'm just adding my two cents on the topic. Hopefully I'm not over-lapping too much with what's already been said.
I used to work for a large farming family/operation in country towns/villages for 3-4 years. The family I lived with always grew their own food and tended to have heirloom varieties of plants that they had been saving since they immigrated to my country. I took a year of horticulture in college before leaving for the farming/greenhouse job and learned a bit about what I think they call monoculture. Crops that are so specialized they couldn't survive without expensive equipment/maintenance are scary/risky things. What if a disease hits the ONE main variety of gen-modified corn that is almost the only kind being grown now?
It's unstable and risky. I try to have a "local diet" by buying fruits and vegetables from the local weekend markets, and if possible, buying heirloom varieties of food if I can. Same goes for my honey, grains, etc. I feel if this was common practice we'd be making a more sustainable food source on a whole, rather than relying on the gen-mod patented crops that have taken over (most of them don't bear fertile seeds so no one can "steal" the companies created variety of food without paying for the rights to grow it as WELL as seeds every year. No wonder farmers have such a hard time actually making a decent living unless they are multi-million dollar operations!)
It makes me sad that the "family farm" is becoming a thing of the past that I never wish to see go. 🙁
Thank you Beth for your insight. Have you ever seed-saved from your own plants as a response to the GMO issue?
Yes thanks for asking, its a love really. I always save my seed for about 20 years now. I use to have a green house business were I only started heirloom seeds to sell as bedding plants. And what I didn't sell in plants I planted in my garden grew them out and sold some at the farmers market. Those called heirloom seeds that have been around 50 years or more, some say 25 year, but that's not important. Any non-GMO non-hybrid seed can be saved like Bull blood beets
I started out with, if my brain can recall about 200 dollars worth in seed some 20 years a go, and have saved most of them over the years, I never by zucchini, garlic, onions, squash, tomato, peppers, corn, ect, the only ones I buy are carrot and beets, only because they are bi-annuals a little more work to save. But I did manage to save carrot, two years in a row. Only save from the best, eat the rest.
The best book for seed saving is seed to seed by Suzanne Ashworth
I'd love to try seed saving 🙂 I'm very curious about heirloom varieties, this summer I planted some heirloom chard seed, the results were very noticable!! The plants were vigorous growers! The fact that you haven't bought seed for that long is an inspiratiion Beth. I am a beginner gardener, but I think that saving carrot seed would be piddly work! I joined this site not only because I'm convinced s**t will hit the fan soon, but I'd like to maintain a higher level of self-reliance in my life. Food security is an important component for my plan towards greater self reliance.
Just an other insane thing GMO monstrous monsanto is doing to the earth, I'm boycotting bud.
http://joemohrtoons.com/2010/02/26/we-are-the-lab-rats-for-budweisers-ge-rice-beer/
There are nutters everywhere playing with GMO stuff like this...they're not food though. (#4 & #1 especially...WTF!)
http://listverse.com/2008/04/01/top-10-bizarre-genetically-modified-organisms/
This is worth reading too
http://farmwars.info/?p=5358
Apparently there are also cows that produce (supposedly) human milk in China. (That should fix those of us with Lactose intolerance!) Yeah right!
Russell Coight....outback legend
permaculture institute article on GMO cover-up - this will make you feel sick!
http://permaculture.org.au/2010/02/22/the-big-gmo-cover-up/
Russell Coight....outback legend
"Since we cannot rely on our Canadian governments or corporations to give us the real facts, we as eaters are taking back our right to know what is in our food, and our right to make informed choices. We will bring about the change we want to see! If there is nothing to hide then why hide it?"
http://labelityourself.org/gmo/
WHAT IS A GMO?
GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are plants or animals that have been created by splicing DNA into them from other plants, animals, bacteria, or viruses to create an organism that would not occur otherwise in nature. Most GMOs on the market have been created to tolerate the use of herbicides and pesticides in agriculture.
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WITH GMOs?
While we do not know for sure the longterm impacts of GMO’s, increasing evidence connects them with serious health risks (including infertility, birth defects, allergies, and digestive problems), environmental damage (including water contamination, degraded soil health, die-off of beneficial insects, loss of biodiversity, and seed pollution) risks and violation of farmers’ and consumers’ rights. Once GMOs are released into the environment, there are no known methods for decontamination. Visit our resource page for more info on GMOs
WHY LABEL GMOs YOURSELF?
Polls have consistently shown that a clear majority of Americans want to know if food they are purchasing contains GMOs. The US government has been unwilling to cede to this demand because of the powerful biotech lobby. Since we cannot rely on our governments or corporations to give us the real facts, we as eaters are taking back our right to know what is in our food, and our right to make informed choices. We will bring about the change we want to see! If there is nothing to hide then why hide it?
HOW MUCH OF MY FOOD CONTAINS GMOs?
An estimated 80% of conventional processed food in the United States contains GMOs. Labels like “natural”, “all natural”, “naturally made”, “naturally grown” MAY contain GMOs.
Approximately 90% of canola, 88% of corn, 90% of cotton, 94% of soy, and 95% of sugar beets grown in the US are genetically modified.
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO LABEL?
If the ingredients of a product are any of the following, the product is likely to contain GMOs and therefore SHOULD be labeled:
Anything that contains: NON-ORGANIC corn, NON-ORGANIC soy, NON-ORGANIC canola, NON-ORGANIC cottonseed
Animal products (meat, dairy, eggs) that are not organic can contain genetically modified hormones and were probably fed GMO food!
Most chemical additives to food are made from GMO corn and soy.
Sugar! Much of the sugar in the US is made from GMO sugar beets, including brown sugar.
Here is a partial list of high-risk ingredients:
· Corn syrup
· Corn starch
· Corn oil
· Cornmeal
· Fructose
· Dextrose
· Glucose
· Soy meal
· Lecithin
· Isoflavin
· Tofu
· Soy Protein Isolate
· TVP (textured vegetable protein) · Vitamin E
· Xanthan gum
· Tempeh
· Vitamin B-12
· Baking powder
· MSG
· Yeast extract
· Modified food starch
· Vegetable Oil
· Cottonseed Oil
· Canola Oil
· Aspartame
· Food Colorings
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT NOT TO LABEL?
PRODUCE– very little produce is genetically modified. Only some Papayas from Hawaii are GMO, the rest is not for the time being. Novel products like seedless watermelons are NOT GMO!!!
Anything with a non-GMO label. Keep in mind that there are typically allowances for percentages of GMO contamination, even in non-GMO labeling programs.
ORGANIC FOOD Some food products that say they are organic actually only have one or two organic ingredients. Make sure you read the ingredients to see if they are ALL organic.
Download Labels
Visit LIY TUMBLR to check out what people are labeling and share your own labeling actions.
Very informative post Beth. Thank you.
Monsatan needs to be stopped period.... Did you know that they have BANNED all GMO foods in their own buidlings cafeterias, what does that tell you folks?
Here is some reading, warning some of it is graghic.
http://www.naturalnews.com/037249_GMO_study_cancer_tumors_organ_damage.html
http://www.nationofchange.org/end-monsanto-near-prop-37-succeeding-nations-ban-gmo-crops-1348924495
Lets hope that Prop 37 gets passed in California as it will put the first nail into this nasty corporations coffin..
Sorry for the rant & thanks for the informative post Beth
For sure, Lets hope that Prop 37 gets passed in California. I've been posting that on as many USA site as I can.