GMOs, WTF

I am officially anti-GMOs.

GMOs, for those who do not know, are Genetically Modified Organisms, foods which have been altered on the DNA level to be frost resistant, stay fresher longer, or even be brighter in color. While most people don't know or care much about GMOs, thinking that they must be safe if the government lets them be sold in markets, there is a dark side to this agricultural revolution which cannot be ignored. These products are sold to us untested and unregulated, and it not only harms the lives of the farmers who rely on these crops, but it harms our health as well.

My biggest fear is of GMO corn and soybeans, which are in almost all packaged food sold today. With over 90% of all of America's soybeans the GM Round Up Ready variety sold by Monsanto and corn modified to be Round Up Ready and pesticide producing, I can only worry as to what that does to ones body in the long term. When plants are made to be Round Up Ready, they're made to be resistant to herbicides, which are made as strong as possible in order to kill anything that the farmer doesn't want to grow. But by putting that high amount of chemical toxins into our environment and ground, we're not only poisoning our land and water supply, but creating "superweeds" which will result in the formation of even stronger chemicals, harming us even further. These herbicides harm more than weeds, decimating frog populations, swallowtail butterflies, and ladybugs, all of which are helpful to local ecosystems by helping eat harmful insects and pollinate local greenery.

When plants are grown to produce their own pesticides, like corn and tomatoes, we have to wonder as to what that does to our own bodies when we eat these foods, as studies on animals show the prolonged ingestion of these GM foods produce liver damage and reproductive failure. These new proteins also cause new allergens to be produced in food, slowing immune systems and causing animals and people to become sick. Starlink corn, a GM corn bred for cattle consumption and producing known allergens, has been repeatedly found in processed foods like Taco Bell's taco shells and over 300 other products, resulting in frequent recalls which the food companies try to hide from the public. Studies in the UK, where GMOs are looked at more skeptically, have shown that food related allergies have risen 50% in the last few years, making one wonder as to how food modifications may have come into play.

Now that I've been appropriately traumatized about what I've been unknowingly eating, I'm determined to only eat foods that are not genetically modified. Luckily, I learned that if you look at the PLU code (price lookup number), it can tell you the basics about what it is you're eating. Granted, this is only for produce, but at least it's a start.

• 5-digit number, beginning with the #9 = organic.
• 5-digit number, beginning with the #8 = GMO or genetically modified food.
• 4-digit number means grown by conventional (code for chemical) means.

Happy trails, my friends!