Here's the Top Ten list of foods I try to always buy organic. This list consists of food with the highest pesticide residues:
1. Peaches
2. Strawberries
3. Canteloupe
4. Cherries
5. Apricots
6. Watermelon
7. Apples
8. Green Beans
9. Spinach
10. Corn
After reading in today's local paper about a child with a gene mutation that caused her life-long disability, I thought about the connection to the genetically modified food (GMOs) in our society, and the lack of governmental regulation around these large companies like Monstanto. Is there a connection?
GMOs are plants and animals that have had their genetic make up altered to exhibit traits that are not naturally theirs. GMOs are not natural. In nature, natural selection can occur, and bring out the most favorable traits from two different plants.
GM foods were first put on the market in the early 1990s. The most common modified foods are derived from soybeans, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil.
Did you know that big companies like to sell sterile seed, so the farmers keep buying from them? Monsanto genetically alters seeds to sell to US farmers and also farmers in third-world countries, threatening bio-diversity and food supplies around the world. The first year the seeds are bountiful, bringing in a beautiful harvest. The next year, they are sterile. Sterile seeds containing what are referred to as “terminator genes” were developed back in the 1990s. These genes would “terminate” the life cycle of the plant using Genetic Use Restriction Technologies or “GURT”. Since these genes just started becoming available in the 1990s we have no idea the long-term effects it will have on the health of our food, our soil, and our children.
GMOs should be eliminated from our society. Please help to avoid buying non-organic foods, and foods containing GMOs. Lately the price of organic food is almost the same as non-organic food. Even in these economic times, you can make a big difference. Your purchases count. Your voice counts. Go organic!
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