Genetically Modified 

So let’s talk about GMO for a minute. What does it stand for? What is it? Why is everyone talking about it? Or not talking about it? Okay, first of all this article is not anything, but a mere toe dipping into the gigantic ocean sized puddle of a topic. Please do not take anything I say here as the wholehearted gospel truth, I am still in the life long process of learning and researching all there is to know about GMO.  I only want to cover the basics and plant an inception seed to spark your own ever-long quest of GMO research.

As I was saying: let’s cover the basics, GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. What that means is that scientists have genetically altered (or genetically engineered GE) the seeds of corn, soy, canola, cotton, papaya (in Hawaii), sugar beets, and a few more crops. They use methods that do not occur in nature to create the crop at hand. Okay, now that we know what it is, let's learn about some of the facts. Once a GM seed has contaminated a natural or non genetically engineered seed there is no going back to its natural state. It will forever be a GM seed. Now we can start to see a little bit of the problem. If GM seeds blow into a local farmer's field then this farmer can no longer grow anything other than GM crops. Yikes! Well, what’s wrong with GM crops, one might ask? Thank you for asking. Please keep reading.

The argument lies within whether or not GMOs are safe for human consumption. Major companies like Monsanto contest they are one hundred percent safe to consume for the whole family! They go on to say, the purpose of GMO is so that crops can grow faster and stronger throughout the winter months and can withstand the terrors of bugs, weeds, and pesticides. Therefore, producing more food to feed the whole world. That’s a good thing, right? Well, hold on. Let’s examine how we know for sure these crops are safe to consume. In my research I found that the American FDA has considered GMOs to be safe based on a study done by the companies that created GMO. This makes me wonder: why is it that countries like Australia, Japan, and almost all of Europe (http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/gmo-free-regions.html ) have tight restrictions on the sale of GMOs or more commonly found: banned the sale/production of GMOs altogether? 

Here’s my concern with it, scientific studies have been done all around the world that prove GMOs are potentially dangerous in the long run. I could site and explain just exaclt what those studies entail, but I will let you read the credited sources for yourself:

http://www.gmofreeusa.org/research/gmo-science-research/gmo-science-research-0001-0500/

So… what are you getting at Scarlett? Why are you going on this rant about GMOs? Well, it’s not that I want to preach about not eating GMOs, I just want my readers to be aware of what they put in their bodies. It’s our right to know that what we choose to eat is safe and healthy. A lot of my friends have been having a hard time getting pregnant. I can’t help, but feel that maybe GMOs have something to do with this. There are no studies as of yet that show the long term effect of GMO to the human body. However we can’t ignore the studies done on hamsters, rats, and cows. Yes, we are biologically and genetically different than these animals, but does that mean we just disregard the studies? I don’t want tell you how or what to eat, but is GMO the new thalidomide? We all know how that turned out, so please do the research and decided for yourself. If you feel safe eating GMOs then by all means, eat them. For myself and my family we choose not to based on the research we have conducted ourselves. To get more information about GMO here are few websites dedicated to help educate and answer any questions you may have:  

http://www.gmofreeusa.org/about-us/overview/

http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/what-is-gmo/

http://non-gmoreport.com/what-is-non-gmo-what-are-genetically-modified-foods/