Chewing on GMOs

I'm teaching a class on GMOs next week and I've been organizing my research and thoughts in a way that hopefully won't cause everyone in the class to go comatose within the first five minutes. It's a hard sell. Not everyone is as obsessed interested in this topic as I am. But, what's new about that? No one ever accused me of having common interests.

So, since I'm trying not to be too verbose and technical, I'm weeding out (Ha! Weeding out. I'm a punny, punny girl) all the dribble and the numbers and the stats and trying to find the heart of the matter.

Here's the situation. A genetically modified organism is one in which a scientist type guy takes DNA from one thing and splices it into another. The DNA does not even have to be from the same species. For example, there is a scientist right now who has taken the gene from a fish that can resist freezing and spliced it into a tomato plant with the hope that his tomato plants can now resist freezing. The purpose of this technology is to build better plants... plants that can resist pesticides, pests, extreme temperatures, will last longer on the shelf, produce higher yields and so it goes.

Here's the problem. The process of genetic modification has not been adequately studied and the companies that are out to profit from the technology hold all the cards. That means there has been little to no objective testing on the safety of these foods. Even though there has been no testing, these foods have been in our food supply since the late 90s. The testing that has been done has shown an increased risk of cancer, organ damage, depressed immune system, and unexplained lesions in the digestive tracts of rats. Might warrant a closer look, no?

Here's the solution. Legislation needs to be enacted (We can pass that bogus health care bill but we can't get this? Classic.) that requires genetically modified foods to be labeled. Get this. Monsanto has successful sued some companies that have labeled their products as free from GMOs. Monsanto's position is that to label something as GMO-free implies that to have GMOs is bad. So, even companies that do not use GMOs can't necessarily freely label that fact even if they want to.

Also, MUCH more research free from corporate and government influence needs to happen en masse and pronto.

In the meantime, know that the main sources of GMOs are corn, soy, cotton and canola. These GMO ingredients make up 70% of all processed foods. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, does it not?

Buy organic. Organic products do not use GMOs. That's not always possible but do the best you can with what you have.

Are you still awake? Did you learn something? Add a PowerPoint and my infectious laughter plus about another hour and a half of this stuff and tell me if you'd be riveted.

Or maybe I'd rather not know. Ignorance is bliss... except when it comes to GMOs.