Our Community, Our Health: GMO OMG

http://seedfreedom.in/gallery/what-is-a-gmo/

Check out this GMO OMG movie trailer that talks about what GMOs are, how it affects us, and our health.

What are G.M.O. Organisms & What are G.M.O. Foods?

GMOs or Genetically Modified Organisms are "organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally". GMO Foods are Genetically Modified and contain Genetic Material from other species and are often designed to resist things like "pesticides, herbicides and viruses or insects that impact crop yield".

Some of the ways that Genetically Modified Organisms are introduced into our food are by "introducing viruses, which cause a resistance that makes them less susceptible to similar viruses that will impact crop yield". Another way in that Genetically Modified Organisms are included in foods are by "introducing genes from bacteria which leads to resistance from herbicides which has lead to less herbicides used".

What are some of the foods that are commonly modified?

Some examples of these plants include "tomatoes and cantaloupes that have modified ripening characteristics, soybeans and sugar beets that are resistant to herbicides, and corn and cotton plants with increased resistance to insect pests".

Why should you be concerned with Genetically Modified Organisms?

Some of the concerns with GMOs are that they "spread too many other crops and they are mutating and impacting foods that are categorized as whole foods". One thing that makes GMOs a grave concern is how they spread like fire through many other crop fields uncontested because of their resistance to common pesticides and other bacteria. Also, many health impacts of GMOs are untested and unknown, which is pretty frightening if you consider how GMOs are such a pervasive part of our food chain.

Recently in Oregon one of the well-known local impacts of GMOs is when farmers found a "GMO crop that had been banned because of its toxicity in their fields that couldn't be destroyed by traditional means so they had to burn it". Some other established concerns that have been voiced by the World Health Organization (2013) are "direct health effects (toxicity), tendencies to provoke allergic reaction (allergenicity), specific components with toxic properties, the stability of the inserted gene, nutritional impact and any unintended effects that could result from genetic modification.”

With all these concerns, do you really think any foods containing GMOs are safe?