The Case against GMO
Susan Brassard at the Livestrong website states: “The rise in autoimmune diseases, infertility, gastrointestinal problems, and chronic diseases may be associated with the introduction of genetically modified foods (GM). In a position paper by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, the authors ask all physicians to consider the role of GM foods in the nation’s health crisis and advise their patients to avoid all GM foods whenever possible. The Academy also recommends a moratorium on GM seeds and calls for immediate independent safety testing and the labeling of all food items containing genetically modified products.”
In 2018, The United States Department of Agriculture proposed new guidelines for labeling foods that contain genetically modified ingredients. Food makers are now required by federal law to use labels, starting in 2020. Companies producing foods with GMO ingredients have fought hard for decades against such labeling laws out of fear that it would deter consumers from buying their products.
But what exactly will these labels say? Instead of the stigmatized terms “G.M.O.’’ and “genetically engineered,” the new GMO guidelines propose labels that say “bioengineered” or “BE.” Food makers would be given a choice of three ways to disclose their methods, 1. spelling out the information, as in “contains a bioengineered food ingredient”; 2. using an icon (several logos evoking sun and smiles were proposed); or 3. affixing a QR code that directs consumers to a website with more information.
The new law simply states that the USDA will develop rules for mandatory labelling of bioengineered food. Here is the relevant definition in the law:
(1) The term ‘bioengineering’, and any similar term, as determined by the Secretary, with respect to a food, refers to a food —
(A) that contains genetic material that has been modified through in vitro recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) techniques; and
(B) for which the modification could not otherwise be obtained through conventional breeding or found in nature.
As consumers we may want to know that our food is “natural,” however, using this word is just substituting one misleading false dichotomy for another. You see, almost nothing we eat is as it occurred in nature prior to our tampering. In the delivering of food to supermarket shelves, there is a multitude of manufacturing techniques used, and drawing an arbitrary line somewhere makes no logical or scientific sense.
For example, there are thousands of crops on the market that are the creation of mutation breeding. Farmers use chemicals or radiation to promote mutations and then conduct a lot of trial and error to find the perfect mutation. Many neutral or potentially dangerous mutations are going to occur along the way as well, but using radioactivity to produce mutant crops is not considered genetic engineering and ironically is also acceptable as “organic.”
EXCERPT from The 7 Maxims for Soul Happiness
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