{"id":496,"date":"2013-05-23T13:16:45","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T17:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arnpriornews.wordpress.com\/?page_id=496"},"modified":"2013-05-23T13:16:45","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T17:16:45","slug":"gmo-horror-stories-copied-here","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/aerendel.ca\/IndieNews\/index.php\/gmo-horror-stories-copied-here\/","title":{"rendered":"GMO Horror Stories Copied Here:"},"content":{"rendered":"
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GMO \u2013 Heck\u00a0No!<\/a><\/h1>\n
Posted on April 30, 2013<\/a><\/div>\n
4<\/a><\/div>\n<\/header>\n

A couple posts ago<\/a> I talked a bit about how we have been changing our eating habits.\u00a0 Part of it is necessity as Poppy has some food sensitivities, and part of it is that Big Daddy and I are absolutely disgusted by the state of the food industry in our country.<\/p>\n

Let me back up a little.\u00a0 A few years ago, I was blessed to be able to work from home, and I started cooking dinner every night.\u00a0 Before that, I was a nervous cook, and admittedly not very good.\u00a0 But, since I was home there was no excuse to not get myself in gear and learn how to make some good meals.<\/p>\n

I always tried for easy, delicious, and cost effective.\u00a0 I am a good grocery shopper in the sense of knowing what things should cost, and stocking up during sales, etc.\u00a0 Our pantry is always well-stocked and we don\u2019t go hungry in our house.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, things changed.\u00a0 I learned about GMOs \u2013 Genetically Modified Organisms.\u00a0 GMOs are organisms\/seeds that have been modified at a molecular level to alter that organism\/seed for a specific purpose.\u00a0 In food, many seeds are genetically modified to be able to do such things as grow faster, produce more nutrients, and resist dying when sprayed with pesticides.\u00a0 Sounds like a great idea, right?<\/p>\n

Not so fast.\u00a0 I read an article about a farmer in Florida that lost his entire farm of livestock because the GMO grain that the animals were eating were causing the animals to be sterile.\u00a0 Another farmer in Germany lost 65 of his cattle that were eating GMO feed.\u00a0 Lab rats grow huge tumors when eating GMO corn.\u00a0 There are hundreds of stories like this out there.<\/p>\n

Not to mention this:<\/p>\n

\"Yikes!\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yikes!<\/p>\n

GMO corn, soybeans, sugar beets, soy, papaya, and several others are grown in the United States.\u00a0 What that means for you, is that almost every major food in our country contains GMO ingredients and you\u2019re eating it<\/em>.\u00a0 Breakfast cereal, granola bars, coffee creamer, anything with sugar (since many foods are made with sugar beets vs. sugar in our country) and hundreds of other products contain ingredients that are GMO, thus the term \u201cFrankenfood.\u201d<\/p>\n

You are probably shrugging your shoulders and thinking that you feel fine.\u00a0 These GMOs are not hurting you.\u00a0 You\u2019ve been eating them since the mid-90\u2032s and wouldn\u2019t you be sick by now?<\/p>\n

Well, chances are they ARE hurting you.\u00a0 Do you suffer from frequent indigestion?\u00a0 Joint pain?\u00a0 Stomach cramps, bloating, bowel troubles?\u00a0 Do you feel awful and have been to doctors and specialists because you never feel good, but they can\u2019t find anything wrong with you?\u00a0 How about cancer?<\/p>\n

All these things can be linked to eating a diet with a lot of GMO (processed food, fast food, non-organic food).<\/p>\n

After finding out about this, I started researching as much as I could about food, and where our food comes from.\u00a0 I read about pesticides, gardening, composting, and sustainable living.\u00a0 I watched movies (Food, Inc<\/a>., and YouTube videos).\u00a0 I spoke with friends that eat vegan.<\/p>\n

My conclusion is this.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to eat anything with GMO ingredients.\u00a0 I want food to be healthy and nourishing, and don\u2019t want to have to worry that the food we are eating is making our bodies sick, or my son\u2019s Autism worse, or my husband\u2019s kidney stones more frequent.<\/p>\n

So what am I doing to change all this?<\/p>\n

In the United States, there is no mandatory labeling law to say that foods contain GMO ingredients.\u00a0 There is legislation that has been introduced, and we\u2019ll have to wait to see what happens with that.\u00a0 In the meantime:<\/p>\n

1. I am buying foods listed on the \u201cNon-GMO Project<\/a>\u201d list.\u00a0 This is company that does third party verifications all the way to the seeds of the foods that are on the list.\u00a0 All ingredients must be GMO free in order to be listed.<\/p>\n

2. We are buying organic food.\u00a0\u00a0 I look for the green circle that says \u201cUSDA Organic<\/a>\u201d as this means that no GMO ingredients are allowed, and nothing synthetic can be used in the growing process.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 I ordered non-GMO seeds for my vegetable garden.\u00a0 This is where it all starts.\u00a0 If I buy the local box store seeds, there is a high probability that they are GMO seeds.\u00a0 Yes, this issue reaches that far that the very seeds you plant in your garden could be GMO \u2013 so be sure to check to see if your seeds are non-GMO!<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Support local farms that are organic.\u00a0 Shop at farm stands, co-ops, and farmer\u2019s markets but be sure that they use organic practices and non-GMO seeds and feed for their animals.<\/p>\n

In order to not feel overwhelmed, I have been converting over to organic food as things run out in the house.\u00a0 So, when my cereal (for example) ran out, I bought an organic equivalent.\u00a0 It is amazing how fast the conversion is happening, and I am proud of the food in our pantry now.<\/p>\n

Many people feel like it is expensive to eat organic, but I can tell you that there is a trade-off.\u00a0 All the money you are spending on pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter medicines, and doctor\u2019s visits will be saved as you have a healthier lifestyle.\u00a0 And honestly, I find myself eating less, because the food that is going into my body is more nourishing.\u00a0 I was surprised to find that my appetite is more satisfied than before, and I am snacking less.\u00a0 Give it a try!<\/p>\n

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