Introducing Soapbox Sound Off. I want to make this a bi-monthly feature of my blog. To air some issues that are important to me. I would love to have readers chime in with comments, additions to my topic, and disagreements, but all in a polite way. I will present an issue and some added information for further reading if I have it. Readers are welcome to add to the information. I did start already with a post on Social Media last week. I plan to do this type of blog post bi-monthly on Wednesday.
Soap Box Sound Off: Are Frankenfoods Safe for Consumption?
I know my title is redundant and a no brainer, right? Something called “frankenfood” does not sound safe or healthy. I consider GMO foods and foods with a lot of chemical additives frankenfoods. Like Frankenstein’s monster they are something created by man that is turning out to be a monster. I receive various newsletters in my email. One is from the Organic Consumers Association. Many times I can not read all of their articles because I get overwhelmed with all the alarming news. I wanted to share the latest one I read. I have been concerned about GMOs for quite a while. GMO is an acronym for Genetically Modified Organisms or foods. I intuitively felt that eating something that was genetically tampered with may not be a good idea.
The link I am providing is to an article about genetically inserting pesticides into seeds. So when we eat the food it has some pesticide right inside of it. This article points out that the pesticide sprays being used now can not be washed off the food either. I did not realize that. I now want so much to eat as much organic as possible. The article mentions ways to fight against GMO and pesticides as consumers and talks about how the FDA has often abdicated its consumer protection role. There are so many GMOs, pesticides and other additives, that we are not told about, in our food now.
It is important that we all give some thought to this issue. It is a health issue for us, our families and the planet.
Here is the link to the article about GMOs and pesticides:
Consumer Self-Defense: 12 Ways to Drive GMOs and Roundup off the Market.
What do you think of GMOs and pesticide use in agriculture? Do you think GMOs and pesticides can have a harmful effect on humans and other species that share our planet?
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 
I cannot comment in any informed way on GM Foods Deborah. However, I can very highly recommend the film “Food Inc.” for anyone interested in contemporary mass production methods. The methods employed are quite shocking:
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Thanks for your comment Hariod and the additional information. I have heard of Food Inc. and have watched parts of it. Thank you for reminding me and sharing the link.
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The film is certainly an eye-opener in many respects, not least of all as regards Monsanto.
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Monsanto does seem to be a major player in all this especially in the US. They are also pushing GMO seed on other countries. They are not the only company producing pesticides though.
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I used to get such food newsletters, too. I did get over-whelmed, not just by what they were printing but by the tons of competing information on the same topics. How are you supposed to judge without being a biochemist? Even then… I figure the closer to real and unmessed with the better, but even then it depends, as you point out, on methods. Then, just when you decide you’ve read enough, and you will eat “this” food, you find out it is endangered or something. (Sea bass comes to mind.) So I can no longer discuss in great detail the pros & cons of such things. I have been less concerned with the GMO than I have been with the hormones and antibiotics, but maybe I shouldn’t have been.
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I know what you mean. It does get overwhelming when trying to do the right thing and eat the right things. I am not a purist and I do not do this perfectly by any means. I am trying to make some gradual changes in my food shopping habits. My regular local market does carry organic produce now. I think there has been this change because people are starting to ask for it. I think whatever little bit we do is an improvement.
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Great topic. my husband and I have been trying to eat as much “real” food as possible, but all the information does get overwhelming sometimes. Inspired by the European markets, we’ve been trying to go for the things which have the least ingredients, the most local and freshest foods, just in general trying to know where what we eat comes from. Of course it isn’t always possible, but we are making the effort because like you, intuition tells me these “messed with” foods just can’t be good for us. There was a bill here in Colorado to make it mandatory to label GMO foods, which sadly didn’t pass during the last election, but I hope they’ll keep trying.
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Thanks for your comment. This latest information in the newsletter I get about incorporating a chemical into the plants DNA to kill insects really got my attention. If there is a insecticide in a plant and even if we do not eat the plant directly and a cow or chicken eats it and we eat the cow or chicken we are still getting exposed to whatever it is. I do the same thing you do. I am trying to be aware of what is in my food and where it comes from.
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Scary stuff!
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Yes.
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