GMO’s are genetically modified (or engineered) organisms that have been altered in a way that does not occur naturally in our environment. Simply put, humans are producing the crops, not nature, the way they were intended to be produced. This is the kind of food I want to eat. NOT! The bad part is, GMO’s are in so much and we don’t even realize it! If it is not stated as nonGMO on the label, or organic, then you are eating food, or crap as I like to call it, that is either totally genetically modified or an ingredient has been genetically modified. If you want assurance that you are not eating GMOs the best bet is to buy foods that are certified organic. If it is organic it can not be a GMO or contain any GMOs in the product.

The top five genetically modified foods are…

1. Soy
2. Corn
3. Cotton
4. Canola
5. Sugar Beets

While the order of the top five shift from time to time, an average of 85-95% of these crops produced have been genetically modified. Now you may be thinking, well I don’t eat ANY soy. I eat corn on the cob in the summer, occasionally. I don’t bake with Canola oil. Sugar Beets? Who uses sugar beets? Okay, so lets think about this. Corn…corn is in like everything, corn is one big ole by product in a lot of crap. What is HFCS (High Fructose CORN Syrup) made from? CORN! What is corn starch made from? CORN! What is Dextrose made from? CORN! What do all these have in common? If you eat anything that comes out of a plant, not a growing plant in nature, a plant like a distribution plant, you are more than likely eating a product that contains some GMOs. The only way to know that you are not eating GMOs is if it has the nonGMO or Organic stamp on it. I know, it can get very confusing.

So, what about the Sugar Beet. If you follow me you know I HATE sugar and anything that has to do with sugar. Sugar is hidden under so many different names and guess what, most of them are A.) Derived from Corn or B.) They are just straight up genetically modified. Here again this just adds another layer of “badness” that the food industry is “feeding” us. Did you get the pun there? Haha! Sugar is bad, it is hidden under SO many different names and now you find out you are eating genetically modified sugar! Shew, just another reason to eat real food! Right?

Hmmm…Real Food, well if you go to the store and get some corn for that cookout this weekend and it is not organic, guess what…you are probably buying genetically modified corn. I know, you are like, well geez, what can I eat? I know everyone cannot afford EVERYTHING organic. I can’t! Therefore what my family eats the most of I try to purchase organic. I do want to point out a lot of times organic is not much more expensive and actually sometimes cheaper. You have to shop and compare. Also a great thing to do is purchase fresh fruits and vegetables when in season, from a local farmer that you trust or join a CSA and put things up so you have them all year round. You know, like they did in the good ole days.

Now…lets touch on dairy and meat just a bit. A cow eats feed that is genetically modified. Then gets shot up with hormones to make it grow bigger, faster. A cow gets sick. The cow gets antibiotics. Where does all this stuff go? Muscles, bloodstream, in their milk. Uuummm, do you know where I am going with this? Who eats the meat and drinks their milk? What are you eating and drinking? Yep, all that crap! I love this saying, “You are what I eat.” (If animals could talk).

I hope you have a better understanding of GMOs. This post could go on and on. From Monsanto (the world’s largest genetically modified producer) to the pesticides used on GMO’s. A REALLY good documentary to watch on GMOs is GMO/OMG. I learned a lot from just watching it.

Much Love,

Jennie

References nongmoproject.org, naturalnews.com, consumer reports.org