Kids reeding a food label. (photo: Beechers)
10 April 13
eeping
our children from harm in today’s chemically-saturated world is one of
the great challenges of modern parenting. The more I read the news, the
more I want to look for toddler-sized quarantine suits on Etsy, but the
most proactive way I can protect my daughter is to keep myself educated
on these issues - even if that means I get forehead wrinkles from
excessive worry. In addition to the health of my child, I fear for the
ecological health of the planet. Last time I checked, Earth is the only
place we have to live, and what kind of future am I providing for my
daughter if I am not cognizant of how my life, and the decisions of my
government, effect our environment? That is why every parent should be
aware of the Monsanto Protection Act and what it means for their family.
When President Obama signed the Monsanto Protection Act, many citizens were outraged by this blatant violation of the Constitution. By approving this act, Obama has allowed Monsanto to exist above the law,
since genetically modified seeds are now protected from any litigation
involving health risks. That is strange, right? If you were confident in
your product, why would you be concerned about lawsuits involving
health risks? You may wonder how this applies to you, considering you
don’t buy Monsanto-Oh’s for breakfast, but essentially, you are.
Monsanto’s genetically engineered corn, soy, wheat and beet crops have
infiltrated our entire food system, and you could be eating their products every day and not even realizing it.
Many people, including children, have developed deadly
allergies to peanuts and other food products. Imagine the trauma for a
child who has to deal with their mortality every time they eat - how
terrifying for the affected kids and their parents. According to PBS.org,
“Some critics of GM foods feel that the possibility exists that those
genetically modified food crops may unintentionally introduce a new
allergen - for example, a fish gene can be put into a plant…. " Although
I am fan of sushi, I don’t really think it is necessary to cross-breed
it with my strawberries - especially considering the potential adverse
reaction. PBS then goes on to explain, “Another potential hazard is the
possibility that bacteria in our guts could pick up antibiotic-resistant
genes found in many GM foodstuffs… in principle, it could exacerbate
the already worrisome spread of disease-causing bacteria that have
proven able to withstand our antibiotics."
Beyond frightening and unforeseen potential
consequences to human health, there are some serious ecological effects
we can’t afford to ignore. Traditionally, farmers around the world have
saved seeds in order to cultivate a variety of strands to help maintain
bio-diversity, particularly heirloom varieties, some of which may have
been developed hundreds of years ago or more. Monsanto requires farmers
to sign contracts on their seed that cannot legally be used the next
season, and therefore the farmers have to purchase new seed annually.
These GMO seeds are used only in monocrop farming
type operations, which are not environmentally friendly or sustainable
for their own reasons even without the GMOs, pesticides, and
petrochemical fertilizer. So when you drive cross-country, one-third of
the time you will be staring at corn and soy fields making you wish the
Children of the Corn will emerge and eat your eyeballs directly out of
your sockets. Massive fields with one crop, created from one seed,
become very susceptible to pests - hence the creation of pesticides. And
because there is no crop-rotation to replenish fields, the pesticides
often continue to build up over time.
I know organic is a bit more expensive,
but that is largely because organic farmers don’t receive the subsidies
that GM farmers do. It is not like organic farmers are blinged out in
diamonds because of all their profit from kale. They are barely scraping
by trying to compete in a marketplace dominated by agribusiness. And
think of it this way - until the 1940s the whole world ate organic all
the time. Because that was all there was. Of course this is a very
complicated issue because millions of people are dependent on GM crops
to survive, but as an individual with purchasing power, how you spend
your money will dictate where the market will start to lean. Supporting
local farmers and getting involved with CSA‘s
(community supported agriculture) will keep your costs down. And, of
course, the more people who buy food grown without GMOs, the more
companies will move in that direction.
It can be difficult to make an assessment for yourself
of the personal and environmental risks of genetically engineered
crops, because both the pro and con sides of the argument are very
impassioned. You can find massive amounts of research pointing you in
either direction, and that in and of itself should be a major warning
sign. That the long-term consequences of these products are not yet
understood means that we, the consumers, are essentially the test
subjects of a global experiment involving our entire food system. What
kind of responsible scientist uses humans as their guinea pigs? Not to
throw the mice and rats under the bus, but I would much prefer we test
on them for a few decades instead of using our children.
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