Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives
Jeffrey Smith
Since the mid 1990s Americans have taken part in a large experiment without their informed consent. During that time the number of Americans with at least three chronic ailments has almost doubled, infant mortality has gone way up, and the average life span has gone way down. Allergies and autoimmune illnesses have been climbing since 1996. Americans are getting sicker in general. Since the mid 1990s Americans have also been fed an increasing amount of unlabeled genetically modified food (GMO or Frankenfood). Non-believers in coincidence might suspect there is a connection.
The most commonly genetically altered foods so far are soy, corn, cotton and canola oil. Genetic engineers have produced spermicidal corn (good for population control) as well as attempted such stunts as mixing spider genes with goats in the hopes of milking goats for spider web protein to make bullet-proof vests. Mr. Smith assures us he is not making this up. “Tobacco science,” a term inspired by the methods of the tobacco companies, is being used by the biotech industry for their safety studies. They use the wrong control group, wrong detection methods, wrong statistics and short duration tests so cancer, birth defects and so on are not detected.
The FDA has claimed it had no information that GMOs are any different from natural foods. A 1998 lawsuit proved they lied about this claim… again. Why would they do that? Perhaps because one of the people in charge on and off at the FDA is Michael Taylor, former attorney and vice-president for Monsanto. Monsanto is one of the biggest names in GMO production. Of course, putting Taylor in charge of the FDA is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. University studies funded by Monsanto also can’t be trusted.
One of the more common motivations for developing genetically modified food is to make it resistant to weed killers like Roundup, also conveniently made by Monsanto. This is supposed to be a great deal for farmers who can get rid of weeds by just hosing down their crops with Roundup. They usually discover that it costs more than the old-fashioned way of doing things. It becomes even less of a great deal when the Roundup-resistant genes inserted into the crops insert themselves into the weeds and the whole scheme crumbles at the feet of the resulting super Frankenweeds. Birth-defect victims may also feel differently about what a great deal it is. Ditto those Franken-rodents who have hair growing inside their mouths. For farmers who now find Roundup to be weed feed rather than weed killer, they recommend another chemical called 2,4-D. This is a major ingredient of Agent Orange. What could possibly go wrong?
Researchers have connected GMOs to food allergies. Once allergic reactions develop they are not limited to just GMO foods, but to the natural versions of the foods as well. Eliminating GMO often resolves the problems. Aspartame is made from GMO products so it would be wise to avoid artificially sweetened Franken-junk as well. Major infant formula producers Gerber, Walmart, Enfamil, and Similac put a large percentage of Frankensoy in their formulas. Since there are no labeling requirements so far in the United States, avoiding GMOs is not as simple as reading the label. Even shopping organic is not an absolute guarantee. It should be, but there are cheaters out there. The best option, if you can do it, is to buy local from farmers you know.
This is a very good film that thoroughly covers all the issues. There is even a very reassuring note at the end informing us that no DNA was harmed in the making of this movie. The thumb is UP.
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2012.
🖨️ Print post
Leave a Reply