The Controversy Over GMO Is Very Different From the Controversy Over Vaccines
Last night, our family watched Genetic Roulette on Vimeo. Jeffrey M. Smith is the director, and the film is promoted by the Institute for Responsible Technology.
My husband and I talked about how the controversy over GMO looks a bit like the controversy over vaccines, with moms who claim that their kids have been harmed on one side and most experts on the other side. If you google the names of some writers of anti-GMO books, there are a lot of articles written by scientific authorities to discredit the anti-GMO writers. It borders on vitriol.
However, one tiny bit of news caught my attention: Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed healthcare organization in the United States, advised its members against consuming GMOs for health reasons. So it's not like the vaccine controversy at all, is it? Insurance companies are incredibly good at crunching numbers - they have to be - and the data is stacking up in a big way against consumption of GMOs because of the known deleterious effects on human health.
Growing up, we raised some farm animals on the acreage and had friends and relatives who raised animals for a living. So the testimony of farmers in the documentary really resonated with me. Farmers are business people who don't generally have time for the latest conspiracy theories; they believe what they see. So when a bunch of farmers start saying that their pigs have higher mortality rates when they consume genetically modified (GM) feed, more diarrhea, lowered reproduction, more birth defects, and that you can see abnormal inflammation in the stomachs of dead pigs due to the GM feed, but that all the surviving pigs got better when the farmer changed their diet to non-GM feed, then I would see that as a rather convincing experiment.
If it seems cruel and inhumane to feed animals a GM diet, then our families shouldn't have to eat this stuff either. The difficult part is that so many GM foods are not labeled, and it's not always easy to find certified organic products or products with a non-GMO label. This is going to require some extra expense and work and major changes, but if I ever need motivation, I just have to look at the horrible pictures in google image results from "GMO" + "birth defects" or "GMO" + "pig stomachs".
By the way, after avoiding reactive foods, processed foods, and most GMO foods, I am feeling better in the mornings. This could be good. Ciao!
My husband and I talked about how the controversy over GMO looks a bit like the controversy over vaccines, with moms who claim that their kids have been harmed on one side and most experts on the other side. If you google the names of some writers of anti-GMO books, there are a lot of articles written by scientific authorities to discredit the anti-GMO writers. It borders on vitriol.
However, one tiny bit of news caught my attention: Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed healthcare organization in the United States, advised its members against consuming GMOs for health reasons. So it's not like the vaccine controversy at all, is it? Insurance companies are incredibly good at crunching numbers - they have to be - and the data is stacking up in a big way against consumption of GMOs because of the known deleterious effects on human health.
Growing up, we raised some farm animals on the acreage and had friends and relatives who raised animals for a living. So the testimony of farmers in the documentary really resonated with me. Farmers are business people who don't generally have time for the latest conspiracy theories; they believe what they see. So when a bunch of farmers start saying that their pigs have higher mortality rates when they consume genetically modified (GM) feed, more diarrhea, lowered reproduction, more birth defects, and that you can see abnormal inflammation in the stomachs of dead pigs due to the GM feed, but that all the surviving pigs got better when the farmer changed their diet to non-GM feed, then I would see that as a rather convincing experiment.
Of all the domestic animals, the porcine digestive tract is the one most similar to a human GI tract, isn't that right? From my biology days in university, I also learned that rats have similar-to-human digestive and immune responses. Take a look at what happened when rats were fed GM products...
By the way, after avoiding reactive foods, processed foods, and most GMO foods, I am feeling better in the mornings. This could be good. Ciao!
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