What are Genetically Modified Foods (GMO’s)?

By Joan McDaniel September 29, 2012 Updated February 4, 2014

In light of the recent alarming findings by French research scientists, in what has been referred to as the first complete study of GMO’s,

Hot Off the Press: Rats Fed GMO Corn Die Young

http://coconutcreamcare.com/2012/09/20/rats-fed-gmo-corn-die-young/

I thought I’d take a stab at attempting to clarify exactly what is a GMO?

Genetically modified foods (GM foods, or biotech foods) are foods derived from genetically modified organism (GMOs) such as genetically modified crops or animals. This article deals with genetically modified crops only. It will not discuss genetic engineering of animals or of other different organisms. Remember Dolly the sheep? Well we won’t be talking about Sheep, just plants and seeds.

Frankenfood’s

Opponents of genetically modified food often refer to it as “Frankenfood”, after Mary Shelley’s character Frankenstein and the monster she creates. The term was coined in 1992 by Paul Lewis, an English professor at Boston College who used the word in a letter he wrote to the New York Times in response to the decision of the US Food and Drug Administration to allow companies to market genetically modified food. The term “Frankenfood” has become a battle cry of the Label GMO movement.

Does GMO stand for “God Move Over”?

Just like the creation of the artificial hydrogenation process, in the 1890’s used to create margarine and Procter & Gamble’s Crisco, commercial interests are hard at work. But now they have decided to control more of the food production by creating a whole new plant.

These genetically modified crops are created in a laboratory by taking genes (or DNA) from one plant and inserting them into another. The purpose is to obtain a desired trait or characteristic such as allowing for faster growth, produce extra nutrients, and/or be resistance to pathogens. Bacteria or viruses have also been spliced into the plant’s DNA. Genetically engineered corn, for example, has DNA added so that it has a pesticide built right into it.

The purpose is stated as being beneficial to mankind. It makes me wonder: have these scientists breached the species barrios set up by nature? This is of benefit to whom? I have heard it said that GMO stands for “God Move Over.”

Calgene Flavr Savr Delayed ripening tomato.

The first Commercial sale of genetically modified foods began in 1994, when Calgene first marketed its Flavr Savr delayed ripening tomato. This tomato was first marketed under the name MacGregor’s Tomato. Typically, genetically modified foods are called transgenic. Transgenic means the transfer of genes from one species to another.

The current Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM) plant products are canola, corn cotton seed oil, cotton, rice and soybean.

Flavr Savr was produced by the Californian company, Calgene, and submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1992. On May 17, 1992, the FDA completed its evaluation of the Flavr Savr tomato concluding that the tomato “is as safe as tomatoes bred by conventional means”. The development of new varieties of tomato, oilseed rapeseed (Canola Oil) and Cotton intended for food use are also safe for use. Calgene made history, but mounting costs prevented the company from becoming profitable, and it was eventually acquired by the Monsanto Company.

Grafting and Hybridizing is not GMO

Growers have in the past grafted plants, animals and hybridizing seeds but within the laws of nature. You cannot mate a pig with a potato or a mouse. In order to illustrate, somehow the image of a pig comes to mind. My mind somehow went directly to an illustration from the great book “Animal Farm”. Now you take the pig. You can cross-breed or mate a breed of pig with another breed of pig and get a new breed of pig but it is still a pig. Even when the species may seem closely related the offspring is usually infertile. Like a horse, for example. A horse can mate with a donkey but the offspring (a mule) is sterile.

“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.”

It’s the same thing with cats, dogs, cows, geraniums and the list goes on. We have tall dogs, short dogs, curly-haired dogs and long-haired dogs. You have cats without fur but so far no dog cat or dog goat or boy girl or dogs and WHATEVER.

I told that to a Farmer who sells grass feed beef at my local Farmer’s market. He thought it was funny. His farm still has the original land grant. This man takes the raising of beef very serious. The way we looked at it is why would you want to mix things up? If you get my the picture, if God wanted that kind of animal there would be one already. Leave well enough alone.

Insecticides herbicides Round Up and Round Up Ready

GMO’s scientist are the first to say their research is used to benefit mankind with such grand ideas like, “fight world hunger” or “make growing easier, safer”. Like why not make a plant that is resistant to bugs or weeds?

Monsanto’s (Glyphosate) broad-spectrum systemic herbicide used to kill weeds was invented in 1970 by Monsanto’s chemist John E. Franz in 1970. In 1970 it was brought to market under the trade name Roundup. Glyphosate is the most used herbicide in the US. While glyphosate has been approved by regulatory bodies worldwide and is widely used, concerns about its effects on humans and the environment persist.

Some crops have been genetically engineered to be resistant to Glyphosate (i.e. Roundup Ready, also created by Monsanto Company). Such crops allow farmers to use glyphosate as a post-emergence herbicide against both broadleaf and cereal weeds, but the development of similar resistance in some weed species is emerging as a costly problem. Soy was the first Roundup Ready crop.

GMO’s are Banned or Restricted in Over 40 Different Countries.

Before now we knew very little about the long-term health consequences of eating GMOs or of a diet laden with GMOs. GMO’s have never been proven safe. The FDA does not conduct independent testing and the biotech industry is not required to conduct long-term safety studies because the claim that right is protected under its patented seeds and technologies.

Over 40 countries such as Africa, Asia, Australia, All European Union nations, Japan, South America and the Middle East have banned or restricted GMO Foods. While the United States and Canada allow for both the growth and import of GMOs without even so much as a food label.

Remember the FDA has concluded GMO Foods are “as safe as foods bred by conventional means”.

Now I do not want to tell business what to do, nor do I want the government to dictate what I eat. But the government now approves what food products are safe or in the case of the FDA “GRAS” (Generally Regarded as Safe) and can be sold to the public.

The government with the ability to approve what products are allowed to go to market sounds like a great opportunity for money under the table and payola science… science “for sale” to wealthy corporations. Nearly all the studies that somehow conclude GMO are safe were paid for by the biotech industry. Every one of those studies is unreliable and most likely fraudulent and the scientist a sellout.

Update 2/4/14

This article is from the Health Ranger. It gives a good overall review of the battle for the GMO labeling and worth the read. We have lost some and we are winning some but more and more people are finding out about — “What exactly is a GMO?”

There is no stopping the GMO labeling movement, admits mainstream media

Originally published January 30 2014

by Jonathan Benson, staff writer

(NaturalNews) It is a war for the truth, and NationalGeographic.com writer Laura Parker seems to think that the people are winning it. Awareness about the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is clearly on the rise nationwide, and in the midst of this knowledge boon comes the admission by some in the mainstream media that mandatory GMO labeling is no longer a question of if, but of when.

Click the following link for the complete article

http://www.naturalnews.com/043712_GMO_labeling_mainstream_media_consumer_rights.html

End update 2/4/14

Corporate science is fraudulent science. When enough money is at stake, scientists can be bought off to even declare smoking cigarettes to be safe.

Health Ranger launches 3-minute ‘GMOs Explained’ video to introduce new people to the dangers of genetically modified foods.

Check it out on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8qvskYvnH8

The video reveals where GMOs come from, why they’re used and why they cause organ damage and cancer in mammals. It also explains how to avoid GMOs by shopping for USDA certified organic foods.

The short duration of the video makes it perfect for viewing by new people who either aren’t familiar with the problem of GMOs or who don’t want to sit through a long-duration documentary.

Also covered in the short video is the concept of “genetic pollution” — how GMOs threaten the viability of global agriculture by turning the entire planet into a mad science genetics experiment with potentially catastrophic results.

The video also plugs some of the top websites covering GMOs including GM Watch (www.gmwatch.org), the Organic Consumers Association (www.organicconsumers.org) and the Institute for Responsible Technology (www.responsibletechnology.org).

Watch it here and either share this page or share the video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8qvskYvnH8&feature=player_embedded

Sorry Gates: GMO Crops Shown to be Ineffective at Fighting World Hunger

http://naturalsociety.com/gmo-crops-proven-to-be-ineffective-at-fighting-world-hunger/

“Monsanto shareholder Bill Gates has argued that GMOs are the solution to world hunger, going as far as to say that they are actually needed to fight worldwide starvation. Unfortunately for Gates, who back in 2010 bought 500,000 shares of the company he is now promoting in mainstream media as the solution to the world’s problems, a team of 900 scientists have found that GMO crops are actually not effective at fighting world hunger. “

While I do not want to dwell on politics or any heavy subject like world hunger, I do want to review a growing trend that is taking over our typical farmer and farm land. I will refer you to Dr. Mercola for the heavy stuff. This article is about Monoculture and biodiversity. Our good Dr. says Monoculture can end life as we know it.

In the meantime, communities, indeed entire countries in some cases, are losing their livelihoods and their sovereignty to giant biotech corporations like Monsanto. The small farmer is being replaced or forced to conform to Monsanto’s control.

Kaiser Permanente warning:

Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed healthcare organization in the United States, has published a newsletter advising members to avoid GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in food?

In a Fall 2012 newsletter, Kaiser provided this guidance:

“What do soda, canned chicken soup, margarine, and corn flakes have in common? They all contain genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. GMOs have a piece of DNA from a different species, such as bacteria or viruses, spliced into their DNA. Genetically engineered corn, for example, has DNA added so that it has a pesticide built right into it. This process creates a new species of plant that would have never occurred in nature.”