Genetically Modified Foods - What Are They and Why Should We Be Concerned?

Genetically modified foods, also called GM foods, are animals or plants that are genetically modified by inserting DNA from another organism to produce an end product with certain desirable traits. The DNA, or gene, is taken from a different species than the one that it is being inserted into.

GM foods, are used to make foods resistant to herbicides, pesticides and insects. Also, they are used to prolong ripening time and increase yields. Some products are being "enriched' with added vitamins. Enriched products is another topic altogether. For this article, I'm going to stick with the controversies surrounding genetically modified foods.

Most of the benefits of GM foods are for everyone involved except the consumer. Producing GM foods is expensive, who pays for it? The consumer pays for the cost. Food prices have been increasing at alarming rates since the 1990's when GM foods were first introduced. We have been consuming them for 17 years. Most people don't even know these foods exist, let alone that they are consuming these foods every day. Most are not labeled as such. If you buy processed foods, you are consuming them, as processed food companies buy GM foods because they don't spoil as quickly.

There are two areas of concern known to human health. One is that allergic reactions to the GM foods could develop in certain individuals. The second one is that the bacteria in the human stomach and intestines could become resistant to antibiotics due to a marker gene used in certain GM foods that are consumed.

Do you think that the recent years of antibiotic resistance to certain bacteria has anything to do with the widely use of these? It is something to think about. Also, something else to think about, why are so many children today suffering from allergies?

Another area for concern is that when these GM plants and animals breed, they pass on the newly introduced genes to their offspring. What kind of plants and animals will develop generations later? How do we know that the genes that are introduced into these plants and animals are not being introduced into our own genes? We are what we eat. How do we know that it is safe to eat these foods? How do we know that modifying certain foods doesn't take away from their original nutritional value? These are many questions that have alternative health practitioners concerned, and so should we!

I believe God created everything we need on this earth for our survival and health. God created things how he intended them to be. I think genetically modified foods are harmful to human health in ways that haven't been discovered yet or proven.

As a consumer, we should have a choice whether to purchase GM foods or not to purchase them. We don't have a choice, because they are not marked or labeled as so. The only way to be sure that you are eating non-genetically modified food is if you purchase organic foods or home or locally grown foods. But sometimes that is not always possible.

There are other areas of concern with the use of GM foods that I have not covered. If you are interested in learning more about this subject, I have included some links that you might find helpful.

http://organicconsumers.com
http://www.psrast.org

Heather Mankey, Alternative Medicine Major

[http://www.cureremedies.net]

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Alternatives to GM Foods

In England, GM foods will always be associated with lies and deception. That's for a very good reason, because everything we have been told here about GM over the years is provably untrue. Take one example: we were told that GM crops were necessary for the good of the Third World. It would help eradicate hunger, it was said. Now we find out that the vast majority of GM crops in the world today are grown in North America. If GM type food is being developed for the benefit of the Third World, why is the First World deriving so much benefit from it first, before the others? Why on earth do the wheat growers of the US and Canadian prairies need seed that delivers higher yields? If GM is so important for Africa and Asia, why aren't they top priority instead? It beggars belief that GM is touted as the answer to world hunger but is busy being devoted mainly to feeding the fattest people on the planet, and not the needy and under-nourished.

Nobody is saying the scientists are lying. The men in white coats who invented the new way of growing crops no doubt had the best interests of humanity at heart. Unfortunately, their patents are in the hands of businessmen, people who struggle to produce a convincing picture of altruism. One example: GM seeds that are making it to Africa are being sold to the farmers there, sold in a market where farmers rarely deal in a cash economy, and, moreover, sold as First Generation hybrids, which means they are sterile. Local farmers are used to conserving seeds from one season to the next, to provide for the new crop. They are having to get used to a brand new system of selling all their harvest each year and saving money from the proceeds to buy next year's seed. It's a plan that ties the dirt poor farmer to the big seed companies - forever. There is no way the farmers can break out of the trap. Worse, they are being tempted to grow inappropriate crops: the rice farmers are not just being offered GM rice, but the whole range of GM plants. Farmers are switching to what might seem the most profitable product available, a short-term philosophy that ignores local need; local climate conditions; and local food supply.

Back in Britain, the GM bandwagon arrived in the 1990s. The population was told that GM crops would need to be 'tested' in our country. Why? Is the climate that different to the US, or the soil, or the agricultural methods? If GM foods are helping the hungry, why does prosperous England turn out to be the next area for colonisation on the list? Worse, the British public soon had to get used to the news that GM seeds were carried by the wind, and spread. We were promised that this wouldn't happen; we were told that these GM 'trial' beds would be isolated and protected. Rubbish. GM plants spread into areas where farmers didn't want them, and farmers who had consciously said they didn't want anything to do with the 'GM revolution' were finding their fields polluted by the new technology. It didn't end there. The GM companies then had the damn nerve to sue the victims for 'stealing' the GM crops, the invaders on their land, (which they hadn't asked for and didn't want) and were being awarded damages in the courts! In Canada, even more bizarrely, the GM companies were suing farmers for 'trespass' and said they were threatening their patents, and were being awarded not only the produce of their fields but their land as well. That was the last straw. If there's one thing that Englishmen hate, it's legalised robbery. It reminds them of the dust bowl of the 1930s in America, the tragedy that John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie chronicled so wonderfully, where farmers were swept off their land by caterpillar tractors, all perfectly legally and at the behest of rapacious banks and landlords.

There was more to come. The media got on the case and decided that GM crops represented 'Frankenstein foods'. No, it doesn't make any sense, but that didn't stop the campaign. The bogey of eating 'artificial' food was scary to the British public and they turned off the idea in droves. They stopped buying anything that even had a hint of GM about it. The GM industry hit back, and made sure that food labeling was no longer required to specify if packets of soya beans were GM or not. One week, labels might say, 'made from 50% GM crops', the next week they said nothing. The population was livid. Big Business had once again rigged the game, forcing politicians to kowtow to their call and outlaw information that might be detrimental to their sales. People weren't buying GM? The cynical response was not to tell people it was there. How's that for deception? Oh, did I mention it was all perfectly legal? That just made the angry people madder. They felt used, abused, and manipulated, and turned against GM companies.

The GM industry had one last trick up its sleeve. It recognised that a huge publicity campaign had been mounted against its most vociferous advocate, Monsanto, so it simply collapsed the company, dropped the name and started up again under another title. Bad move. If anything, this just convinced the doubters they were right. If the company was so unsure about sales that it could re-invent itself overnight, then what else was invented, spurious and untrue? The move proved one thing. If you critisise the GM giants, they cry 'Foul' and talk about the free market and consumer choice. If consumers then actually go ahead and choose, well, like choosing something that isn't in the big companies' interest, like buying their food, then they'll change food packing; change company names; and outlaw information. What happened to the Free Market? Oh, that's only good when you, the people, buy what the company wants to sell you. If you won't buy it, they'll rig the market. It won't be so darn 'free' then, but at least sales will hold up. So much for capitalists; they believe in capitalism, when it suits them. If it doesn't suit, they'll choose Big Government, every time.

Mike Scantlebury is one Internet Author who fears Frankenstein farmers. He lives in Manchester, England, the big city, but manages to grow his own veggies in his back yard and a small allotment. He's never had time for GM foods and reads the labels, every time. Hear what he has to say on other topics, see him on YouTube and MySpace.

Try [http://www.mikescantlebury.com]

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Untold Dangers Of GM (Genetically Modified) Foods

In virtually all tests done on laboratory rats given GM foods, infant mortality and reproductive disorders have followed. This coincides with incidences of low birth weight, infertility, and infant mortality escalating in the United States as GM food becomes part of every American diet.

Food Is Now Registered As A Pesticide

It might surprise you to know that when insects get a mouthful of GM Bt (Bacillius thuringiensis) corn or cotton, they also get a mouthful of a built-in toxin, which is actually being produced by every cell of the genetically altered plant.

Engineers have figured out a way to insert genes into the very DNA of the plant so that the plant itself becomes an insect killing pesticide. When the insect takes a bite out of the genetically altered plant, the poison splits open their stomach and kills them. The GM plants themselves are registered as pesticides by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Engineers claim that this Bt-toxin is proven safe due to its extensive use among farmers for insect control. The difference is, however, that in the case of GMO's (genetically modified organisms) engineers insert genes from the bacteria into the very DNA of the corn or cotton so that the plants themselves become the killing machines.

Please understand that Bt-toxin produced in GM plants is thousands of times more concentrated than than that which is sprayed on plants to control bug infestation and is designed to be more toxic. Also the spray can be washed off of the plant unlike the GM food which cannot be washed off since it is actually now a part of the cellular structure of the plant. But even though the genetically altered food is many times more harmful than the spray, please keep in mind that even the less concentrated bacterial spray has been shown to be extremely harmful.

GM Crops Kill Animals

Bt cotton and corn plants are responsible for the deaths of thousands of sheep, buffalo, cows, horses, and chickens. Post mortems clearly show irritation and black patches in intestines and livers of the animals that grazed on these plants.

Is it possible that humans can ingest these plants without the same health issues? Do you want to be the next guinea pig in the engineer's experimental lab which is taking place on farm fields all over America?

If you do not desire to be an experimental rat, stand up and say NO to GMO's on the shelves of your local grocer. If the engineers are so sure of the safety of these genetically modified plants then let them come forward along with their families and become the test rats in their own experiments. If they prove that these killing plants are actually safe for human consumption let them reap the rewards of their engineering, but if not, let their post mortems show us all why scientists should not be genetically altering food in order to make them living insecticides, and why they should not be foisting them on society while telling us that eating these plants is actually quite safe after all.

Healthy Vegetarian Choices For Life
Dedicated to the advancement of informed choices that will benefit our health, our environment, and our animal friends. Please visit my website at http://www.ourhealthforlife.com and look around awhile. I would very much appreciate comments concerning your reaction to what I have written as well as any input that might aid me in the task of making my site more helpful. I thank you in advance for your consideration.

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Differences Between GM Food And Normal Food?

GM food is genetically engineered food. It is also referred to as genetically engineered, gmo, or ge food.

The changes made to the plants or the seeds are done by scientists. These changes are made right to the DNA of organism thus altering the genetic blueprint. These altered plants are man's doing. They are not the result of evolution or 'survival of the fittest'. Their mutations can then spread to other plants contaminating them.

The most common modification is to make the plants more herbicide resistant. Initially the use of herbicides on fields with gm plants reduced. Then since approximately 2002, there has been a significant rise in the amount of herbicides used in production. It seems that the resistance had spread to the other plants as well. A surprising result for scientists.

The human genome website of the US government is excited about further developments. Currently research is being conducted to have bananas vaccinate us against hepatitis. Medicines are best prescribed by physicians who know and understand your health condition. What if your child were to eat a pharmaceutical banana?

Normal food would be food that does not have any genetic engineered ingredients. However, it is important to note that labeling is not mandatory of ge foods. And that it is estimated that 70% of processed foods in North America contain ge ingredients. The exact figures may not be determined because food manufacturers may not know when they are buying gm food ingredients.

So, the bottom line is that the best way to get the traditional normal food would be to buy organic. Another way to significantly reduce your exposure to gm food is to cut out processed foods from your diet.

Doris Temple created http://mom-going-organic-sensibly.com to fill the need for unbiased information. The Website provides information about organic food, products and healthy nutrition. Sign up for a free monthly email newsletter (ezine) to get the answers you need and keep updated: http://www.mom-going-organic-sensibly.com/ezine-signup.html

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The Most Common GMO Foods - 5 Common GMO Foods to Watch Out For

Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO's are when a genetic engineer moves genes from one organism to another. The idea is to make an organism, for example corn, grow and produce in a specific way. Most corn today has been genetically modified to grow faster, grow more per square inch, and to be immune to certain chemicals, bacteria, virus' and pesticides.

One main reason for genetically modifying corn, is so farmers can feed it to cattle, in order to make them grow faster, and get fatter. The faster and fatter the cows get, the sooner they can be put into the slaughter house for profit. Cows are meant to eat grass, so a diet heavy in corn, causes many health problems in cows, such as bloating, extreme digestive problems, and weak immune systems.

Other common foods that are genetically engineered are:

• Tomatoes - Are modified to be larger and also so they can be shipped while still green and ripen later. The premise was that tomatoes could be left to ripen on the vine and still have a long shelf life, thus allowing them to develop their full flavour. Normally, tomatoes are picked well before they are ripe and are then ripened artificially.

• Soy - Most Soy, even organic, is genetically modified. About half of the American soybean crop planted in 1999 carries a gene that makes it resistant to the herbicide (Roundup) used to control weeds.

• Potatoes - Modified to be larger and also in an attempt to prevent pests.

• Canola - GM for increased profits

• Salmon - The first GM animal to be approved for consumption. Will it end there?

Why Avoid GM Foods?

Because GM plants, such as soybean, corn, cottonseed, and canola, have had foreign genes forced into their DNA. The inserted genes come from species, such as bacteria and viruses, which have never been in the human food supply.

Who knows what they're putting in this stuff. Just be safe and make sure to buy Organic foods and stay away from GM foods.

GMO's and the Liver

A lot of my studies have been on the liver, and just how important they are to our bodies and good health. Our livers are responsible for so much that we absolutely must become more aware of how to keep it healthy.

Our livers break down all our foods, cleanses the toxins in our bodies, processes all of our sensory input, and is our heat-furnace. It's the only organ in the body that can regenerate.

Fluoride is extremely hard on our livers, which are already extremely over abused in our society. Eliminating GM foods can play an important role in helping to heal our livers.

Bonus Tip!

The best way to reverse the damages of GMO's [http://www.what-is-personal-growth.com/green-superfood.html], is by taking healing herbs in powder form. You can find high amounts in a quality, green super food powder to detox and heal the body and liver.

Sean Burrows loves to learn and discover new ways to improve the quality of peoples lives. He studies personal development and health rigorously, and shares his life's lessons, creative ideas, and healthy recipes through his Personal Growth Blog at [http://www.what-is-personal-growth.com]

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