However, lately I've become concerned by the controlling GMO fear-mongers. Should we still be running around in fear or trying to listen to sound advice with legitimate data? I'm reminded of the quote: "where's the beef?" Meaning ... where's the proof?
Then, recently, someone made this GMO comment (below) which was sent to me by a friend of a friend. I thought it was a powerful, no-nonsense, common sense statement of facts. So much so, that I wanted to share it and yell hallelujah! It was made in retaliation to a comment made by his friend who was professing she could taste GMO in the foods she was eating because she was psychic (no comment - that's an entirely different blog). Anyway, this was an answer she got and as close to what I've been hearing off the universe for weeks.
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"You know that GMO and bioengineered are one and the same right? While we've been eating bioengineered foods since the beginning of time, GMO is the latest iteration of that trend. Organic doesn't mean healthy, organic doesn't mean safe, organic doesn't mean non GMO, organic doesn't mean pesticide free, organic doesn't mean toxic free. It's a sticker that what you're buying is from a known source ... Maybe! You can't taste, smell, feel or see GMO or bioengineered foods, because in some sense ALL food is modified. Soil, weather, air quality, seeds, the pollen on the breeze, solar radiation, meteorite dust, fumes from factories far away in China - they all play a part in what you eat. Eat diverse foods from a variety of sources in moderation, eat both local and global, and remember that stress kills more people than food. So chill!"
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In my research, I discovered a website that appears to be trying to get to the heart of the matter with facts not fiction. "Slightly tangentially, but worth calling out, in the comments on the MomsAcrossAmerica blog, the author of the entry makes the claim that “animals will NOT eat GMO corn even in the dead of winter.” Again if true, this would be rather remarkable information. But it looks to be one of those random Internet rumors “proved” by YouTube videos and the like. I will admit I cannot find any specific study proving that animals will eat GMO, but my hunch is that it’s because… they do. Its simply never come up as something to study. Feeding GMO to animals is part of the safety testing for GMO produce in the first place."
http://skeptoid.com/blog/2013/05/03/mercolawatchsupposed-report-comparing-gmo-and-non-gmo-corn/
Another website states at the end of their article: “Too often in the GM-food debate, generalizations and extremism lead to sterile public and political discourse that obscures key issues: what sorts of GM crops might bring true benefits to agriculture and consumers; how to avoid monopolization of farming choices; and what types of sustainable agriculture we want in the future,” Nature editors said last September. “Polarized debates, not GMOs, are the poison to be avoided.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/gmo-health-risks-what-scientific-evidence-says-1161099
Another website states at the end of their article: “Too often in the GM-food debate, generalizations and extremism lead to sterile public and political discourse that obscures key issues: what sorts of GM crops might bring true benefits to agriculture and consumers; how to avoid monopolization of farming choices; and what types of sustainable agriculture we want in the future,” Nature editors said last September. “Polarized debates, not GMOs, are the poison to be avoided.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/gmo-health-risks-what-scientific-evidence-says-1161099
Also, am I one of the seemingly few who ever wonders who's really controlling who and why? So many people don't do their own research and just perpetuate the things they hear ... even if it true or not. This makes me think of the phrase: don't drink the Kool-Aid. Doesn't anyone just sit quietly anymore and ask for the wisdom of the universe to guide them, or are they just pushed along by the dust storm of fervor?
Sure, I have been guilty of doing the same. Not as far as drinking the Kool-Aid but innocently perpetuating falsities. This is why I know how easily one can be hoodwinked or caught up into a storm of our own making. Possibly why I have a thing for trust ... or not trusting to be more exact.
I'm not a biology major but I do know, based on a lifetime of observation, that nature genetically modifies organic things naturally all the time; man is part of nature and has done so as well. A species can mate with another species and behold ... a new species ... possibly. We can splice two organic substances together and behold ... a new organic substance ... possibly. Many things of nature have been modified since the beginning of time. How did we become who we are today? We've been genetically modified (evolution) and will continue to do so due to our ever changing environment ... unless someone can modify that too.
I have seen things like this done many times in my life. I ate a lemon-orange fruit from a grafted lemon and orange tree that was good for cooking but too sour to eat. Good and bad in everything. It didn't kill me just because it was modified. I keep thinking of all the things I did growing up and wonder why I am still here. Compared to today's standards, this shouldn't be the case. But as my doctor told my mom when I was a child: please let her get dirty and acclimatize to her environment. It was his way of telling her that it would help with building up my immunities. It taught me not to fear my environment but to be aware of what I can and cannot do. Kind of like: what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.
Anyway, I realize that man modifying nature has been done for many reasons, but I never felt any of it was due to having a need to intentionally harm or kill people by wicked intent. Not everything is done for greed, but a need for survival can push some beyond what is acceptable to others' standards. Our paranoia can be laughable at times ... if it wasn't reminding the ones in the know of history repeating itself.
Yes, a need to be able to supply enough food to the multitude can have it's consequences, just like over population can. Control one area and it might take care of the other. Simple arithmetic.
As far as "organic food," as long as it is grown in the soil, food will pick up what is in the ground, water and air from our predecessors ... including arsenic (which I did a blog on already - Agendas: Fear Mongering Bullies), among other things, from fertilizers and pesticides ... used to control the ever invading pests wanting to attack them and make them unhealthy for us to eat.
When was the last time anyone bit into an apple and saw a worm? I did when I was twenty and I don't want to experience it again.
Why do we have laws to pick up our dog's feces? Because it got into our water supply and tainted it ... not counting it's a mess when stepped in. Once again our common sense failed so laws were needed to prove how we can get in the way of ourselves.
Common sense that should be screaming ... where's the hard core scientific proof that GMO is unhealthy for human consumption?
Sure, I have been guilty of doing the same. Not as far as drinking the Kool-Aid but innocently perpetuating falsities. This is why I know how easily one can be hoodwinked or caught up into a storm of our own making. Possibly why I have a thing for trust ... or not trusting to be more exact.
I'm not a biology major but I do know, based on a lifetime of observation, that nature genetically modifies organic things naturally all the time; man is part of nature and has done so as well. A species can mate with another species and behold ... a new species ... possibly. We can splice two organic substances together and behold ... a new organic substance ... possibly. Many things of nature have been modified since the beginning of time. How did we become who we are today? We've been genetically modified (evolution) and will continue to do so due to our ever changing environment ... unless someone can modify that too.
I have seen things like this done many times in my life. I ate a lemon-orange fruit from a grafted lemon and orange tree that was good for cooking but too sour to eat. Good and bad in everything. It didn't kill me just because it was modified. I keep thinking of all the things I did growing up and wonder why I am still here. Compared to today's standards, this shouldn't be the case. But as my doctor told my mom when I was a child: please let her get dirty and acclimatize to her environment. It was his way of telling her that it would help with building up my immunities. It taught me not to fear my environment but to be aware of what I can and cannot do. Kind of like: what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.
Anyway, I realize that man modifying nature has been done for many reasons, but I never felt any of it was due to having a need to intentionally harm or kill people by wicked intent. Not everything is done for greed, but a need for survival can push some beyond what is acceptable to others' standards. Our paranoia can be laughable at times ... if it wasn't reminding the ones in the know of history repeating itself.
Yes, a need to be able to supply enough food to the multitude can have it's consequences, just like over population can. Control one area and it might take care of the other. Simple arithmetic.
As far as "organic food," as long as it is grown in the soil, food will pick up what is in the ground, water and air from our predecessors ... including arsenic (which I did a blog on already - Agendas: Fear Mongering Bullies), among other things, from fertilizers and pesticides ... used to control the ever invading pests wanting to attack them and make them unhealthy for us to eat.
When was the last time anyone bit into an apple and saw a worm? I did when I was twenty and I don't want to experience it again.
Why do we have laws to pick up our dog's feces? Because it got into our water supply and tainted it ... not counting it's a mess when stepped in. Once again our common sense failed so laws were needed to prove how we can get in the way of ourselves.
Common sense that should be screaming ... where's the hard core scientific proof that GMO is unhealthy for human consumption?
After all, I am aware that every day things can create changes in our environment that we may not be aware of; like the dog feces, until someone in a lab tells us so, or a major epidemic occurs. We tend to slide through life until someone steps in to show us the err of our ways, yet is it? What is the real motive behind anyone's truth that is fed to us by the media? Is it motivated by another's hate or greed? How do we know unless it's thoroughly investigated by many scientific sources.
For instance, we are currently having issues with bacteria that is killing our orange crops. Will we just allow nature to let it happen, or prevent it, even if it takes some form of GMO to stop it and to see if some form of GMO started it. Nature is modifying oranges and man should just let them go extinct? Hopefully not! Well, unless whatever it takes will kill fauna and flora in the process. Time will tell if the orange crop will become extinct or not.
Yes, science can be imperfect too and can have its good and bad. We want to be able to trust our sources because we are all doing our best to survive. However, with every new change given to us, in the name of improvement, should everyone be so ready to condemn another's research just because they, or their ideas, don't fit in our thimble of expectations ... without at least allowing the tried and true methods of said research to speak for itself. All that can take time, and in order to alleviate the paranoia while waiting, just remember that every living species on this planet has been a guinea pig to change ... with or without our permission.
As an additional FYI, Michael Moss, author of "Salt, Sugar, Fat," said on a recent CNN interview, "the fact is, there are no studies, as yet, linking GMO to health problems."
There should be many independent studies before we start telling people to be paranoid. Independent doesn't mean FDA, before anyone point fingers. We should also invest time and studies in real problems going on today.
For instance, we are currently having issues with bacteria that is killing our orange crops. Will we just allow nature to let it happen, or prevent it, even if it takes some form of GMO to stop it and to see if some form of GMO started it. Nature is modifying oranges and man should just let them go extinct? Hopefully not! Well, unless whatever it takes will kill fauna and flora in the process. Time will tell if the orange crop will become extinct or not.
Here's an article about it, I'm sure there is more if anyone wants to research it..
"Incurable bacteria a worse threat than cold to citrus groves. Citrus greening has destroyed groves in the U.S., Brazil, Asia and Africa. Detected in Florida in 2005, it leaves fruit sour, malformed and unusable. Eventually, it kills the tree."
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-01-19-citrus-bacteria_N.htm
To continue, this GMO subject has gone from a small storm and turning into hurricane proportion without any, or limited, scientific data. It may even destroy what wasn't meant to be destroyed due to paranoia and hate. History will repeat itself if we don't get our thoughts under control, or ... does something really bad have to occur again to do it? Does burning witches at a stake ring a bell? Does the Spanish Inquisition ring a bell? Does nailing an innocent man to a cross ... ? Well, you get the picture. What side are we really fighting for and why?
Yes, there are those who are working on solutions to serious problems for our world, there are bound to be mistakes made ... we're only human. I'm not concerned about them; only the ones that may be trying to make a name for themselves and are yelling the loudest ... off with their heads! Because it could be mine, or yours, just for trying to do something that we feel is right ... not just for ourselves but for the ever increasing multitude.
"Incurable bacteria a worse threat than cold to citrus groves. Citrus greening has destroyed groves in the U.S., Brazil, Asia and Africa. Detected in Florida in 2005, it leaves fruit sour, malformed and unusable. Eventually, it kills the tree."
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-01-19-citrus-bacteria_N.htm
To continue, this GMO subject has gone from a small storm and turning into hurricane proportion without any, or limited, scientific data. It may even destroy what wasn't meant to be destroyed due to paranoia and hate. History will repeat itself if we don't get our thoughts under control, or ... does something really bad have to occur again to do it? Does burning witches at a stake ring a bell? Does the Spanish Inquisition ring a bell? Does nailing an innocent man to a cross ... ? Well, you get the picture. What side are we really fighting for and why?
Yes, there are those who are working on solutions to serious problems for our world, there are bound to be mistakes made ... we're only human. I'm not concerned about them; only the ones that may be trying to make a name for themselves and are yelling the loudest ... off with their heads! Because it could be mine, or yours, just for trying to do something that we feel is right ... not just for ourselves but for the ever increasing multitude.
I will also go on record as saying that I do have a problem with any monopoly, as companies like Monsanto has been accused of; I believe a certain amount of healthy competition is vital for growth and can keep those grandiose egos in check. Yet, the other side of the coin is the back stabbing and belittling in the climb for recognition. The unhealthy part of competition that can be harmful due to sabotaging of facts that could be saving lives ... while they're fighting amongst themselves ... or with us.
Makes me wonder if the real enemy is them ... or us?
In the meantime, while we are fighting over things that we feel are important to us, we could be inadvertently involved in a cover up of a truth that could save our life ... a loved one's life ... a civilization's life. Are we working together for the good of all or appeasing another's ego to bust a competitor down? To remove an obstacle in their path by a smoke screen of enormous proportion that we are swept up in, which kick our butts later when the real truth is uncovered.
Oh ... think not?
One thing I've learned in life is that as soon as we believe one thing that science or the media presents to the public, it can be like the weather ... wait long enough and it will change. I cannot tell you how many times that I've seen this, too. Today it's bad for us but tomorrow it's not and maybe the next day it will be bad again.
We can chose to be aware and do the best we can to survive life, but living in a paranoid fear based world is not the reality I wish to live in, because I've also learned that we are not meant to live forever in these bodies and ... as the saying goes ... if the right one don't get you the left one will. If that's the case, I might as well chose to be happy then miserable.
Maybe that's why some people choose to be hermits, so they don't have to listen to all the negativity of the world and can rely on intuition and instincts instead. What's our intuition and instinct saying? What's God/Universal Truth saying? Or ... are we being blinded by the storm of emotions?
Maybe that's why some people choose to be hermits, so they don't have to listen to all the negativity of the world and can rely on intuition and instincts instead. What's our intuition and instinct saying? What's God/Universal Truth saying? Or ... are we being blinded by the storm of emotions?
