Should GMO Foods Be Labeled? Cast Your vote!

How do you feel about eating genetically modified foods?  I don’t particularly want to! In fact the thought of eating foods  genetically engineered or modified foods makes me cringe in disgust.  But the chances are I’m eating them anyways and not knowing it.

Truth being is that genetically modified plants grown from seeds engineered in labs now provide much of the food we eat.  Most transgenic plant products,  such as soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil,  grown in the United States have been genetically modified to resist pesticides or insects.  Not to mention,  corn and soy are common food ingredients prevalent in the foods we eat.  Scared yet?  I know I am!  Think about it,  the breakfast cereal you have in your pantry more than likely contains a percentage of transgenic plant products, because the raw ingredients have been combined during processing with many different sources.

Why all the fuss?  There is many concerns raised about GM foods and the potential risks on how they may affect our environment, health, and overall economic well-being. For instance, according to the 1996 UCS-authored report, The Ecological Risks of Engineered Crops, genetically modified crops could result in resilient weeds and become resistant to herbicides which may lead to higher food prices, less crops, and raise overall farm costs.  Or,  crops engineered to produce viruses could assist in the creation of new, more lethal or widespread viruses.  This is just a tiny speculation of what can happen and how it might have devastating consequences that ripple through the ecosystem and economy.

As a mother of two growing children, my concern is the long-term health dangers of consuming GMO foods.  To me there isn’t enough research to affirm these man-made frankenstein foods are safe for anyone to consume. What if I’m feeding my sweet son and daughter something I believe is wholesome only to find out years down the  road it caused them cancer or they catch a deadly bacteria and it is resistant to antibiotics.  I know I couldn’t live with myself!  Information is far and few between and studies are lacking profound evidence on the safety or possible toxicity in genetically modified crops.

My heart goes out to the organic companies who are fighting the GMO battle.  They pride themselves on making safe and healthy products for consumers and are presently worried seeds are drifting from field to field and contaminating their pure crops.   I agree with George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley, who said “If you mess with nature there’s a side effect somewhere.”  History has proven this to be true over and over again.

The skinny is,  the Agriculture Department has approved three more genetically engineered crops in the past month, and the Food and Drug Administration could approve fast-growing genetically modified salmon for human consumption this year.  I listened to a show back in July 2010 featuring food expert and author of the world’s bestselling book on GM foods, Seeds of Deception, Jeffrey Smith.  He talked about genetically modified salmon being developed by AquaBounty Technologies ready to be put on your plate.  Then he talked about other studies on a similar salmon designed to have excessive growth hormones, so the fish grow to full size in approximately a year and a half instead of the usual three years.  The scientists did studies with those salmon and placed them in tanks of 50.  They monitored the behavior of the salmon and when there was enough food they behaved normally.  However, when the food was reduced the  “frankenfish” freaked out and started eating each other and killing each other off to get to the food.  The result lead to complete extinction within the tanks.  One of his worries was of coarse health dangers of eating the GMO salmon, but the other concern was if the salmon accidentally escaped into the ocean and there was a problem found with it, there’d be no way to “recall” it.  SCARY!!!

If the genetically modified salmon gets approval it will open up the floodgates for other genetically modified animals!  When does the madness stop?  There would be no controlling it.

Farthermost, I want to be warned of these food abominations so I can make informed decisions of whether or not to buy them.  I think that is my right as an American to choose to know what is in the food I put into my children’s, hubby’s and my body.  Foods that contain GMOs should be CLEARLY labeled and mandatory!

How do you feel about GMO food labeling?  As it stands now out of a total of 11,432 votes,  10,302 people agree with me that it’s an ethical issue– consumers should be informed so they can make a choice!  Cast your vote on MSN today: http://bit.ly/fTMqV8

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