What Americans Can Do About GMOs Since Our Government Failed Us
If you’re concerned about corporate overreach, government corruption and most importantly, food safety in the U.S., you need to know that we can still fight Monsanto and our government over our food safety.
Last week the United States Congress, in a stunning decision, approved a bill that would allow Monsanto basically free reign over our food supply. The bill, dubbed the Monsanto Protection Act by food safety advocates, is basically summed up by allowing Monsanto to circumvent the court system and grow genetically modified food (GMOs), even if scientific studies find it unsafe to eat.
In an even more shocking move, President Obama signed the bill into law last night.
The law allows corporations to supersede our basic right to safety.
Why is this important? As I’ve discussed on this site in the past, we don’t know if GMOs are safe; enough scientific research has yet to be conducted.
What we do know is that 62 other countries have banned or strictly regulated GMOs until further study is done on their safety.
This is happening folks, while America allows GMOs to be planted unregulated, untested and now unaccountable for safety.
We also know that GMO seeds contain insecticide; that’s their purpose, to ward off pests. That insecticide is then contained in every cell of the resulting food.
Do we really want to put that stuff into our bodies? At the very least we have the right to know it’s there.
I spoke with Dave Murphy, founder of the consumer advocacy organization, Food Democracy Now, and he told me that 70-75% of processed foods on the market contain GMOs, as well as most commodity products such as corn, soybeans and sugar beets.
Murphy said that in the 1990s, FDA scientists warned that GMO foods would introduce unknown toxins and allergens into our food supply.
That seems to have come to pass. How many children do you know with allergies?
I know a lot, many more than when I was a kid.
Murphy called the decision outrageous. “A corporation should not be allowed to trample our democratic rights and this politically engineered loophole is outrageous.”
Murphy said we need to continue the fight. Now that this bill is law, it’s even more important for our right to know if our food contains GMOs and require mandatory labeling.
As you might recall, California failed to pass its labeling initiative last fall and Hawaii’s initiative was just killed. Alaska has a GMO fish labeling initiative in the works now.
Murphy urges everyone interested in this important subject to go to the Food Democracy Now website and sign the petition.
In the meantime, you can know what your family is eating by knowing your farmer – buy local and buy organic when you possibly can.
If you can’t buy local, look for food marked “organic” and for extra protection, foods marked with the third party verification, “Non GMO Project” label.
I believe this is one of the most egregious take overs by a corporation of our government and we have to do everything to keep fighting.
Our health, the health of our children and our planet depends on it.
What do you think about this new law?
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What makes the whole thing even more bizarre is the whole issue of seed blowing from one farm to another. Who is to say a GMO seed wont end up on an organic farm? Very complicated.
Yes, it very well could, Merr.
God help us. We do our best to keep an eye on this stuff, but also have a great food co-op in town that’s always looking out for us.
That’s always great to have a fresh, locally grown co-op. I wish we had that here.
interesting that his wife is touting fresh healthy food, grow your own garden etc….is there no pillow talk at the WH ?
Well, at least if you grow your own garden, you can choose heirloom seeds and not GMOs, maybe that’s why her big push!
I find it almost incomprehensible that the President would sign a bill like this. The people have a right to know what is in their food.
I’m very disappointed this bill was signed.
It’s interesting what you said about allergies. I developed them as an adult and to weird foods, especially peas. I wonder if it’s the GMOs that are to blame. I also wonder if this is what’s killing off the honey bees? It’s sad when company profits trump consumer safety. Reminds me too much of The Lorax. Why do we love such movies when we are kids, but forget their lessons as adults?
Interesting you bring up beehive collapse, Alisa. Guess who bought the research firm that was conducted studies on what was causing the collapse? Monsanto. You’ve hit the nail on the head.
I really would love to look at the exact amnesty language in the legislation. I’d be curious because it’s likely similar to what vaccine manufacturers got back in the 1980s … except in addition to making them NOT liable for adverse vaccine events, the federal government set up a financial compensation plan for people who suffered after getting a vaccine. I doubt anyone is going to ante up to pay people when the true effects of GMOs comes to fruition.
Following up on Brette’s question … can we assume that organic (or not) fruits and veggies are NOT GMO? I know they are in processed foods, but I wonder about … say a modified peach or something being out there.
Yes, Roxanne, anything labeled organic is supposed to be GMO free.
I buy as little as possible at a grocery store and this will make me buy even less. I grow what I can, buy all my milk,eggs, meat, chicken, lard from trusted farmers locally. I know what I’m eating, I see the animals and conditions, these farmers are in one case now close friends. I feel for those who don’t have the location, time or resources to do what we’ve done over the past 7 years to assure clean food fit to eat. Shame on our Government. Your killing our future, 1 in 50 or 88 what ever Stat you believe with Autism. Do I believe poor food, GMO has a role, you bet!
I applaud your efforts, for sure. Yes, shame on our government. And I do believe that many of the childhood illnesses we’re seeing, including many allergies are food related. As well as the childhood obesity problem and little girls hitting puberty much younger now due to hormones fed to farm animals that we ultimately get in our meat and dairy products. I have a traditional Chinese doctor who advised me to stop consuming dairy altogether because of the hormones and anitbiotics in it. I only buy organic and I don’t do that much dairy, I can’t stop it all together.
I’m horrified. Thanks for this comprehensive post about the situation. Heading over to sign the petition.
Good, Alexandra, keep up the fight!
What do I think about it? I. AM. PISSED. This “rider” snuck into unrelated legislation is lower than low. How can our government do their job fairly and smartly when crap like this gets inserted into more important bills? I’m SO disappointed with the president, that he didn’t pull this bit out before passing the legislation. (And I wrote him a letter to tell him so.) We need to get rid of the lobbyists in DC – all of them. Grr. I’m going to share this at Attainable Sustainable.
Thanks for sharing.
Whole Foods and the like will not be labeling their food as non GMO until something like 2018. So, don’t depend on that to help you. However, organic USUALLY means Non GMO. What you need to do is look at the ingredient list, even on organic foods, for the major culprits: anything with corn, including corn starch, corn syrup, and the like, anything with soy and the same for sugar from beets.
Denise, as Kris pointed out (and I verified today) anything marked organic is not allowed, by law, to contain GMOs. You can look for that 3rd party verification label, though, just to give more peace of mind.
So if something is marked organic, does that mean it has no GMOs? I guess the other solution is to shop at Whole Foods once they begin their labeling program.
Brette, organic foods are not allowed to include genetically modified ingredients. You can also look for the Non-GMO Project’s logo – those are certified/tested non-GMO.