Just Say No To GMO's

By Amber Niswonger

Most of us may not know what GMO stands for; it stands for Genetically Modified Organism. Mainly, I am going to tell you about genetically modified food, but there are many other things that are being genetically modified. One very scary instance I will just mention briefly, is the genetic modification of babies. If this is allowed to continue, you may be able to pick out your unborn child's eye color, hair color, etc. I don't know about you, but I want to give my children some of my traits, not some I have picked out for them to make them look perfect.

Chances are that if you walk into a grocery store today and purchase, for instance, a can of corn, it's going to be genetically modified. So what, how are genetically modified foods going to effect me, you wonder? Well, here is one terrible fact, GM foods are on our grocery shelves today, and none of them have been tested for long-term effects. Who's to say that in ten years we won't have a third arm growing or a new eyeball forming in our foreheads? Okay, I know that is a little extreme, but if GM foods haven't been tested who really knows?

A popular GM food is Bt corn. It sounds scientific (Scientific food? Yuck!) I know, but really it is pretty easy to understand. Bt is a bacteria used as a pesticide that is genetically engineered into corn to keep bugs off instead of spraying the corn with pesticides. Monarch butterflies have been eating this corn and are dying. Scientists say that even though this Bt corn is killing butterflies, it won't harm us. True, you probably won't die from eating a can of corn and butterflies are much smaller than we are, but over the years it has to cause some harm to your body. Why do you think cancer is at such a high rate right now?

Remember several years ago when Tryptophan was a popular prescription weight loss drug and several people died from taking it? Tryptophan was pulled from the market. What many people don't know is that the supplement form of Tryptophan was genetically modified. The natural form of Tryptophan has never hurt anyone.

So why you ask if GM foods are so bad do they continue to grow and use them? Big companies have bought the patents to these genetically modified foods. See you can't put a patent on regular corn, but you can on GM corn. So the big companies are making it hard on small farmers, they must buy their GM seeds or else. If we don't do something now, all our foods in the future may be genetically modified. Europe requires mandatory labeling of all genetically modified foods. So why can't we?

So what can you do? First of all, you can buy organic foods. Organic foods have all been grown without the use of pesticides or chemicals. Organic foods are guaranteed not to be genetically modified. They also taste better. If you don't believe me, try an organic banana sometime. Secondly, look for foods labeled ãNON-GMO. Third, you can write you local representatives about your concern on the issue, but be prepared to write two or three letters. I have already received several standard form letters (Blah, Blah, Blah). Look for information on this topic at thecampaign.com.

Hopefully, this article has helped to make you more aware of what genetically modified foods are. So I will leave you with this, if you happen to be walking through a potato field some night and see glow-in-the-dark potatoes, don't worry you're not going insane. This is just one more crazy genetically modified food (I swear I'm not making up the glow-in-the-dark potato thing, this is really happening). You just might take a second look at the potato salad next time your eating at grandma's house.