Our generation is a guinea pig to genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
According to the Non-GMO Project, GMOs are in approximately 80 percent of conventionally processed food and more than 90 percent of the soy, cotton, canola, corn and sugar beets sold to United States consumers.
Genetically modified foods are banned in more than 60 developed nations, but in the U.S., GMOs are not even required to be labeled. We have a right to know what we are buying and eating, especially since GMOs are proven causes of many health problems in America, including increased cancer rates.
Genetically modified organisms are plants and animals created through biotechnological gene splicing techniques. The merging of DNA between different species creates unstable animal, bacterial and viral genes.
These genes cannot occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding, according to the Environmental Justice Network. More than 2,000 global studies show a correlation between GMOs and health problems for humans, as well as environmental damage from producing them.
The Non-GMO Project wrote on their website that more than 60 developed nations, including Australia, Japan and every country in the European Union have restricted or completely banned the production and sale of GMOs. America has always been a leader in advancements, yet we are unbelievably behind on the issue of GMOs and human safety.
Studies, for example, from the Institute for Responsible Technology, show a connection between GMOs and cancer rates.
An example proving the link between GMOs and cancer rates is the genetically engineered, recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). This hormone is banned in 101 countries, but is very prominent in U.S. dairy produce.
rBGH boosts milk production in cows, but comes with a significant risk. The presence of rBGH in the cow’s blood stimulates production of another hormone called Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1).
When cow’s milk is tainted with IGF-1 and is consumed by humans, it is shown by the Environmental Justice Network to accelerate cancer rates. IGF-1 cannot be destroyed in the pasteurization process and is therefore biologically active in humans. It often leads to breast, prostate and colon cancers.
Corporations that produce milk from rBGH cows are not required to label this milk in the U.S., so consumers most likely don’t know the risk of purchasing milk. According to a 2008 CBS News poll, 87 percent of U.S. consumers want GMOs to be labeled. So why aren’t they? If the American public is demanding it, shouldn’t it be addressed?
Unfortunately, the U.S. government has approved GMOs based on studies conducted by the same corporations who create and profit from GMOs.
For example, many of the GMO producing corporations have spent decades filling the USDA, FDA and the EPA with its own members. This allows them to withhold information from the public, which in turn lets them to hide whether the foods Americans purchase contain GMOs or not.
This is a violation of our rights to know the truth about what we put into our bodies.
GMOs not only harm our bodies; they harm our environment. Last year in the United States, a GMO herbicide-tolerant was created to control weeds, but is now said to have a major and uncertain impact on the environment, according to the USDA.
Some corporations that genetically modify organisms, such as Monsanto, have found ways to put provisions into the U.S. emergency budget bill that will exempt them from judicial review. This extremely unethical practice allows corporations to plant genetically modified seeds even if a court orders them to stop. Basically, they found a loophole of epic proportions.
These corporations will stop at nothing to be above the law, even if they harm consumers, local farmers and the environment in the process.
While it is important to limit GMOs on an individual, dietary basis, we also need to stop the government from restricting our rights to know the truth.
Eating organic and locally produced foods will improve your health, which could include lowering your risk for certain cancers and other diseases linked to GMOs.
It is particularly important to show a desire for more GMO-free options in Laramie because we only have a handful of local organic choices, such as Sweet Melissa’s and Big Hollow Food Co-op.
The U.S. government of needs to make laws to allow consumers to know the facts we deserve to know, instead of keeping us in the dark.
To encourage governmental support, reach out to local lawmakers and senate members and assert your right to be told the truth about what is in the products you buy.
Last year, Wyoming’s Senators voted against the proposed amendment to support the existing right of states to enact their own laws requiring the labeling of genetically engineered food, according to the Organic Consumers Association.
Let Wyoming Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso know what you think of their decision to side with big GMO corporations, rather than the health and well being of Wyoming citizens. Enzi can be reached at (202) 224-0359 and Barrasso at (202) 224-1724.
Each American citizen has a responsibility to help raise awareness of the harms GMOs have on human health. We must stop buying them until we reach a tipping point of consumer rejection.
This will create a market collapse for genetically modified products and will show U.S. corporations that we will not stand by their lawlessness and unethical practices.
Stop being a guinea pig for the moneymaking schemes of powerful U.S. corporations responsible for GMO production. We can fight them and we need to fight them.
It is our right to know what we are eating, and we must be relentless until our rights are protected.
