I was hanging out on the internet today, stalking the world, when I came across a link to this interesting article on my twitter feed.
I find it fascinating how across the rest of the civilized world, discussions about food systems are, if not completely honest, at least not blatantly skewed in favor of big production corporations. In the U.S. there was an initiative in California (Prop 37) this past election cycle that would have required “labeling of food sold to consumers made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways. Prohibits marketing such food, or other processed food, as ‘natural.’” (That was an excerpt of the wording taken directly from the ballot).
To me –and I am biased– that just seems like common sense. If a laboratory were to change the genetic structure of a food product, so that it would be immune to pesticides and toxic herbicides… I just have a hard time referring to something like that as “all natural.”
The main argument in favor of this labeling initiative was simply that the consumer has the right to know… nothing more sinister than that. (In other words, nobody was making a serious argument that Genetically Modified Foods –GMO’s- are inherently dangerous, the main argument was just for the right to know if you were purchasing a GMO.) When I am grocery shopping, I should have the right to choose between a tomato, and a tomato that has been genetically modified to be toxic to insects that eat it. Or, in the case of animals, I should have the right to know whether I am purchases salmon, or a frankenfish that was genetically designed to never shut off its growth hormone… but maybe I’m just being selfish… maybe I shouldn’t have that choice, maybe I should let giant corporations and the FDA make all of my health decisions…
The counter argument to Prop 37 was, “we have more money than you, so we are going to pump the television full of misleading advertising days before the election, in some cases blatantly lying to you, so that you will be afraid to vote for your right to basic information and labeling of food products.” Okay, so maybe I’m being a bit heavy on the sarcasm, but I’m not entirely wrong… The amount of money spent on advertising for prop 37 was $8,700,000, while the amount of money pumped into negative advertising advocating “No” on 37 was a whopping $45,600,000… Or a ratio of 5:1
So, when I came across this article today, and read about how Poland just nonchalantly banned even the growing up GMO foods (do they know something we don’t), while the U.S. can’t even manage to require giant food corporations to tell us when they are feeding us the crap… I was a bit saddened at the big picture, but equal parts grateful I don’t have to eat any of it; we grow our own non-gmo crops and feed all of our heritage breed animals (aka food) grain mixed from those “real” crops.
Sometimes it’s good to be a farmer.
Here in Hemlock, MI we live in a patch of woods surrounded by fields of corn, beans and sugar beets. I know almost all the soy and beets are GMO and would not be surprised if the corn and other beans are. You can tell when the farmers never weed the fields yet there are zero weeds. Makes we wonder what all the Roundup and other stuff is doing to us farm “neighbors”.
I don’t know who the farmer is in the fields around you, but there is a 99% chance that the corn is GMO. We had to look long and hard, and go out of our way to buy non-gmo seed… and then the crop yield is less per acre than the corporate frankenfood counterpart. So you have to have a farmer who is very specifically intending to grow non-gmo corn, otherwise, it is GMO, without a doubt.
I can tell you that there are farms in Hemlock that do not use GMO. They are the small independent “organic farmers. However, as a Wardin, my family (not me) does use GMO corn and soy bean stock, which is mainly what we grow, except for cattle feed.
It’s very interesting to see how different the U.S is compared to other countries. This is a great blog post, it has the perfect amount of information and I can hear your voice in the writing, you’re connecting to your readers. If you haven’t already you should check out the documentary “Food INC” it’s about our corporate controlled food industry.
I have most definitely watched the documentary Food Inc.! I even own a copy on blu-ray. A great recommendation, Victoria! Thank you.
Great post Levi. The idea of a frankenfish blows my mind. I liked the article you linked to about it. It amazes me that we even have discussions like this, because the right thing to do is obvious. Let us know what’s in the food! As you mentioned, the argument isn’t even about whether or not GMO’s can be sold. It’s about whether or not they tell us about them. It’s very eye opening. This is what happens when there is so much money floating around in politics. With a signature on one big check, big food industries can get away with anything.
Thank you for the comment, Brandon. I personally don’t like fish, or eat any sea food, really… So most of my friends find it odd that I would be angry about genetically modified salmon. My problem isn’t with the individual foods that have been modified; my problem is with the fact that it can be fed to me and my family without my knowledge. The stuff doesn’t even have to be labeled! It is nice to meet somebody who feels as passionately about this subject as I do.
You have a passionate, strong argument. You have obviously studied this very hard and know your subject well. I know only a very little about it and while I follow your reasoning, I admit I am old school and would like to see more pro-and-con discussion in there that would illuminate the subject more for me. That is just me. And as old as I am, I admit I’d like to see “proper language” only. Perhaps I’ll get used to this. You most definitely make your point. The presentation is overall very good, and I love that colorful picture of the rooster – well-placed. I could learn a lot from reading this.
Thank you for the feedback Anne. Over the course of time, and in future posts, I hope I can do a better job of illuminating the issues I am passionate about. I’m sorry if I offended you with any improper language; it definitely would have been completely unintentional.