GMOs and the Fall of Americans' Health

Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs have been the hot topic of discussion in recent years. They have been integrated into our food system with little public awareness, and many Americans have been consuming them for years without giving them a second thought. GMOs are more affordable than their organic counterparts, making them readily available and accessible to lower- and middle-class families.

The Brief History of GMOs

Genetically Modified Organisms were first developed in the 1970s, but it wasn't until the 1990s that they began to appear in our food system. No major announcement was declared from the FDA, USDA, or EPA, and Americans began to consume them regularly. It wasn't until the 2000swhena small group of Americans began to raise concerns after discovering the types of external DNA that was crossed with crops for various purposes. This small minority had a persistent and loud voice which eventually waved over into a general consensus among health-conscious groups advocating for mandatory labeling of all foods that are genetically modified.

What is a GMO

First, let's be clear that there is a distinct difference between hybridized foods and genetically modified foods. Hybridization has been going on for decades and can involve cross-breeding two species to create a new food variety. Consider the plumcot, pluot, and even the popular grapefruit! Many of the foods we consume today have been hybridized over the years to achieve production, larger fruits, or more aesthetically pleasing appearances. For instance, wheat has been hybridized, resulting in a higher gluten content. This explains why many Americans who cannot tolerate wheat in the United States but can eat it in Europe, where the wheat has a lower gluten content. A significant number of foods available today are hybridized in some form. For example, orange carrots are hybridized from the purple carrots that we hardly see anymore. Some lettuce, brussels sprouts, tomatoes, and seedless fruits are hybridized. If it doesn't say seeds, there's a good chance it has been hybridized. I recommend purchasing as many non-hybridized foods as possible; however, this can be quite challenging and nearly impossible. Therefore, it is advisable to focus on eliminating GMOs instead.

GMOs are plants that have had foreign genes inserted into them. Sounds very similar to hybridization, but the inserted genes are not derived from other plants; instead, they are synthetic and chemically engineered. This modification enables GMO plants to resist pest infestations and allows farmers to apply herbicides without harming their crops. Here are some examples:

• BT Corn: Corn crossed with the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (BT).This modification is intended to combat insects that feed on corn, which can damage it for human consumption. When these pests ingest BT corn, their digestive systems quite literally explodes, leading to their death and thereby preventing further damage to the crop. While BT corn has been deemed "safe" for human consumption, there has been a notable increase indigestive issues among Americans, such as leaky gut syndrome. The correlation between the effects of BT corn on insects is also harmful to our digestion. There have also been studies done that BT corn is negatively impacting the monarch butterfly larvae mortality rate hence the reason why Mexico has banned BT corn for safety reasons.

• GMO soybeans are another doozy. It's genetically modified to withstand herbicides, allowing farmers to apply glyphosate (commonly known as Round Up) on their crops. Glyphosate is nearly impossible to wash off, so every time we consume soy (soybeans, soybean oil, soy sauce), we are also ingesting a pesticide. Pesticides are known to cause cancer and a variety of other health issues.

What Foods are Genetically Modified?

Here is a list of the most common GMOs we find in the United States. Some countries ban some or all GMOs for environmental and safety reasons.

• corn

• soybeans

• cotton

• zucchini

• canola oil

• sugar beats

• potatoes (to prevent sprouting and bruising)

• papaya

• pink pineapples

• Arctic apple variety

• more to come

  
  

That's a small list indeed but....this includes corn oil, HFCS and other corn sweeteners, corn flour, corn starch, soybeans, soybean oil, soy sauce, soy lecithin, table sugar, sugar in food, potatoes, french fries, potato starch and so on. So, most processed foods will have a GMO or two in them because our food is high in corn and sugar.

How to Avoid GMOs

Complete avoidance in the United States is nearly impossible so focus on eliminating them as much as you reasonably can.

Organic food MUST be GMO free. Non GMO food can be non-organic but organic must be non GMO. This means when you grab an organic item, you can rest assured it's non GMO without having to think much about it. One should avoid seed oils as much as possible anyway but stop cooking with canola and soybean oil immediately. Use olive oil, coconut oil or animal fat such as butter or lard instead. Buy Mexican grown zucchini and always buy organic sugar. Side note, if you are vegan, you should be buying organic sugar anyway as regular white and brown sugar is processed using bone char. Organic sugar does not use bone char to process the sugar.

Look for labels saying it's non GMO. There are now a couple groups that certify products and put their stamp of approval on them. One is the GMO project. If you see that, it's certified GMO free! If it says GMO free without a certification stamp on the package, it may or may not be, you decide. Certification is expensive and a smaller company may not be able to afford that stamp of approval. If it's a large company and it says GMO-free yet doesn't have a certified stamp on it, question the authenticity of their claim.

Trader Joe's claims that they don't use any GMOs in their foods. Whole Foods carries GMO products and Walmart has non GMO foods so really, the store doesn't matter, it's the product that does.

What Foods to Buy Organic?

My go-to organic only list I buy that I will touch on later is short but strict. I don't waiver from these:

• organic apples

• organic potatoes

• organic sugar

• organic zucchini OR zucchini grown in Mexico

  
  

I don't buy soybeans or canola and any food with cottonseed oil. It's difficult to purchase organic cotton all the time so I sadly have to let that one slide. I won't buy pink pineapple and we don't eat papaya in our house. I do buy other organic foods but the four above are a must and I will not buy them at all if the organic variety is sold out. This is a short list but it's an easy, simple start to your non GMO journey. These organic items are readily available at any store while other organic foods can sometimes be difficult to find and more expensive.

I truly believe that the more people who buy organic foods, the more the price will become reasonable, it will become more available and farmers will begin to make the switch as they see that there is a large market for non GMO foods. I've personally seen a lot of improvement over the last 10 years. It was near impossible to find non-GMO foods and now, everywhere I look, they are readily available, often out of stock on shelves! The prices have significantly decreased as well so keep buying and supporting healthy farming practices.