Saturday, May 14, 2011

An Introduction to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Hey everyone! Our next blogpost is gonna be a recipe for gluten-free corn casserole.  We will also include pics of how ours turned out!   Our family had a hankering for an old favorite; so we adapted it and the results were great! For those of you who don't know us that well yet, we try not to do a lot of corn unless it is fresh or frozen organic corn because around 90% of our conventional corn is a GMO.  If you are asking what are GMOs?  Well, we will be glad to let you know! Genetically Modified Organisms are when one species gene  is inserted into another species DNA  in a laboratory to create  new combinations of plants, animals and other organisms.  These organisms now can be equipped with genes that they could never acquire naturally. This supposedly gives them an advantage in growth, production and survivability. 

The problem lies in the fact that these GMOs have not been significantly tested to see the effects on people and our environment.  Testing that has been done has largely been performed by the bio-tech industry themselves (the ones who stand to profit from large scale acceptance by the agricultural community).  Common sense would say that this alone is a conflict of interest!   This is just one of many problems that became apparent to Jeffery Smith, executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, and a leader in education regarding the dangers of GMOs.   

A few of the studies he cites in his books Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette, show that: 
1.  Rats fed Monsanto Bt corn for 90 days showed significant 
changes in their blood cells, livers, and kidneys.

2.  After rats were fed GM FlavrSav  tomatoes for 28 days, 7 of  20  got bleeding stomachs and several died.

Some crops that are largely GMO are:
1. Soy
2. Corn
3. Cotton
4. Canola

A way to avoid GMO products is to eat  a diet as fresh as possible.  Avoid prepackaged, processed foods, as 80 % of processed foods contain GMOs.  Unless a company states that they do not contain GMOs you can rested assured they most likely do.   Eat organic and local foods,  check out the local farmer's market and see what great natural foods you can get!!  Also, become a label reader!  It is amazing just how many kids products are corn or contain corn syrup (corn syrup we will discuss in the future). When eating out or elsewhere, try to choose a dish that doesn't contain corn and ask about the dressings and whether they contain soybean and/or canola oil.  Some great websites to check out for more information are: 
www.responsibletechnology.org
www.nongmoproject.org
www.gmwatch.org 

Educate your friends and family on GMOs!  We believe people want a choice and that the more they learn about the problems with GMOs  and the corporate greed that is driving their mainstream acceptance, the more people we will have standing up and demanding that GMOs be labeled so that consumers have a choice.  

It always amazes us how God's Word has been so relevant across the ages and into the present day.  It just shows the awesomeness of Our God.   In Genesis 1:11-12 it says: 
“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”
When God says something is good - you know that it's just fine the way it is.  We believe that even though humankind fell and sin came into the world, God's food is still the healthiest and nothing man invents in a lab will change that!!  This verse makes it clear that seeds of one kind are supposed to reproduce after THEIR kind.  Genetic information is supposed to stay within the species it was designed for.  This is God's plan and humans are messing it up by trying to play God.  

Can you improve upon what God has already perfected in his creation?  

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