Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Just Say No to GMO's and Highly Processed Foods!

So today when I was thinking about what I wanted to share with you today my husband told me there is a video that I have to watch.  Turns out it is a Chipotle ad, and it is literally the most honest and inspiring video I have seen in a while.  Watch it here.  In just over 3 minutes it captures all that is wrong and scary in our food industry today.  I have taken the time to educate my self on what GMO's are and I know that they are not something that I want to eat or feed my precious child.  GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism.  What they (by they I mean "food" chemists) do is take genes from one organism and splice it with the genes of another, an example of how they do this is with corn and the Bt Toxin.  They put the Bt toxin in the seed of the corn and as it grows it has this dangerous toxin inside the food that you will eventually eat.  They do this to cut down on loss of corn from pests, however the job of Bt toxin is to rupture the stomach of the insects that eat it.  Monsanto claims that the toxin will be gone by the time it makes it to your stomach, hmm how can they be sure of that?  Also, studies have been done and the Bt toxin has been found in human stomachs.  The more you read about the topic the more frustrated you will become.  There is no regulation or safety testing on GMO foods in the US and there are numerous countries that have outright banned GMO foods.  Long story short, former Monsanto employees are now seated in government positions that are supposed to protect the people they serve, however these employees are in the pockets of Monsanto thus creating the "food" industry we have today.  The same goes for the factory farmed meat and poultry industry, but that is a whole other topic.

Here are the top 10 GMO foods to avoid:  
  1. Soy
  2. Corn
  3. Canola Oil 
  4. Cotton (Cotton seed oil)
  5. Milk 
  6. Sugar
  7. Aspartame
  8. Zucchini
  9. Yellow Squash
  10. Papaya
So now that you know a little more about what GMO's are what can you do to protect your families from these danger foods?
  1. Educate yourself more about GMO's.  The Institute for Responsible Technology as well as Organic Consumers Association are two awesome resources for information.  
  2. Buy organic whenever possible.  If you can't buy everything organic aim to at least buy the top 10 GMO foods organic and your meat, pork and poultry organic.  Legally GMO foods can't be in organic foods.
  3. Read your labels. Corn and soy are in tons of processed foods.  The Non-GMO Project is a third party verification system and if your food is labelled with the Non-GMO project seal you can know that it has been tested and verified.  Until GMO foods are labelled this is the best you can do to support this project and the companies that are going through the certification process.
  4. Cut out processed foods.  When you take these out of your diet you are eliminating most GMO containing foods.
  5. Don't eat at any fast food restaurants!  This is for your general health too!  You can bet your dollar menu dollar that all of these foods contain GMO's, hormones and other unmentionables.  I'm not sure about you but this "food" is so cheap for a reason.  Keep your kids as far away from this as possible.  I will be a happy mom if my daughter never eats any of this "food" and it will never be a treat.  Gross!
  6. Support labeling of GMO foods.  The best way to do this is vote with your dollars.  Refuse to purchase conventional foods that are choc full of GMO's and chemicals.  This sends a huge message. 
  7. Share your knowledge with others.  This is the best way to get the word out there and get these dangerous chemicals off the store shelves and out of our kids.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the video and GMO's.  This can be quite the controversial topic so lets keep it positive and relevant.  

How do you avoid GMO foods?  I would love to hear from you.