It's a strange time to be a foodie, isn't it?
Gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, hormone free, cruelty free, foods versus "food like" substances...
The list is long and pretty daunting and sometimes I don't know where to start.
Lately, there's been a lot of talk about genetically modified (GM) food. I don't pay much attention, really. Up to this point, I've never bought anything organic on purpose. Not that I have a problem with organic, I just didn't have the pocketbook power to learn more about it.
But I guess you can only stick your head in the sand for so long before the earth starts rumbling below it and you can't hide anymore.
I've been doing a little cursory research into what exactly GM food is, where it comes from, why there was a big honkin' fight over it in California (and one to follow soon in Washington), and what it could possibly be doing to my family and I.
I'm pretty sure I'll never know everything I need to...that would require a Ph.D. in chemistry that I just don't have. But I know more than I did yesterday. And I'll know more than I do today. I started this journey for knowledge after reading an article in this month's Mother Earth Living. From there I went down the rabbit hole of GMOs and I'll probably never come back.
Another resource was a Netflix gem I stumbled across called "Hungry for Change." It was hard to hear at points because my sons were locked in a death match over a lego, but what I was able to hear was pretty thought provoking. And scary. As hell...
The basics of GMO (as I've found it so far)
Let me state this disclaimer (again): I'm not a scientist. I'm not a lawyer. I'm not a farmer. I'm a mama. I'm a food eater. I'm a student of this all. I'm chronicling this as a journey of what I discover, not as a thesis of any sort.
Phew. Glad that's over.
GMO foods contain genetically modified organisms. They've been around for a couple decades and are, from what I've found, everywhere. Evvvverywhere. They can be found under the monikers genetically engineered (GE), transgenic, recombinant, gene-altered, bio-tech...it goes on.
Most cotton, corn, and soybeans grown in the U.S. are modified in someway...most likely to make them pesticide resiliant. Some estimates put the amount of GMO foods consumed by the average American in an average year to be about 190 pounds. (Does that seem like a lot? It did to me.)
Scientists take a gene for a characteristic they like from one plant (able to resist cold?) and place it in another plant's DNA. According to watchdog groups, its an imprecise science that even the scientists don't really have a handle on yet.
The risks? So far, in independent studies, GMO foods behave differently when consumed by lab rats. Side effects included stomach lesions. There's so much more to it than that and I encourage anyone with the time and interest to find the study in "The European Journal of Histochemistry." If you find it, pass it along, will ya?
Mother Earth Living quotes a Michael Pollan essay:
"These new crops are revolutionary enough to deserve patent protection and government support, yet at the same time the food made from them was no different than it ever was, so did not need to be labeled." Mother Earth Living offers a link to this and other reading materials at motherearthliving.com/GMOs.
In the next installation, I'll talk a little more about the major players and what's at stake (money?). And then? I'll talk about my own personal journey and how I'm shifting from one way of eating to a new, more conscious way. It's not immediate and it's not easy, but the more I learn, the more I think it's worth every ounce of effort.
...happy eating!...
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