Monday, February 7, 2011

Organic Food: Actually Organic, Genetically Modified or Factory Raised?

Let’s politely ask our large, local grocery stores to help us with this one.

Clear labeling and factual information about where and how our food is grown should not be such a struggle. It should be our right to choose what we eat.

The truth is, the companies that produce GM products and the pesticides they are engineered for, do not test for safety on humans, animals or the environment. However, the people that ARE researching GMO and pesticides are our Doctors and Professors, Universities and Medical Centers. WE NEED TO LISTEN TO THE PREOFESSOINALS.

The Organic Consumers Association presents that:

Up to 90% of U.S. soybeans, corn, cotton, canola, and sugar beets are now
genetically engineered and routinely inserted into human and animal foods.

Approximately 80% of current grocery food items contain GMOs; while
according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics, the majority of beef,
pork, poultry, dairy, and eggs come from AFOs (Animal Feeding Operations).

According to the US EPA 

Animal Feeding Operations (AFOs): are agricultural operations where animals are kept and raised in confined situations. AFOs congregate animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals, and production operations on a small land area. Feed is brought to the animals rather than the animals grazing or otherwise seeking feed in pastures, fields, or on rangeland.
Your operation is an AFO if:
• You confine animals for at least 45 days in a 12-month period, and
• There's no grass or other vegetation in the confinement area during the normal growing season
Genetically Modified Crops: Insect Resistance and Non-target Effects
However, the environmental benefits of these novel crops need to be balanced against their potential environmental harm. Therefore, unintended negative environmental impacts of Bt-crops need to be evaluated at ecologically relevant scales to ensure the environmental safety and benefits of this new technology. The U.S. EPA needs to continue to ensure the environmental safety of these crops as their use expands and new varieties of Bt-crops are commercialized.

So, although the US EPA website shows concern that the safety and effects of GMO should be tested and studied, they are not thus far even though many are currently grown and used.

Let’s strengthen the GRASS FED notion for healthier meats on every plate.

In former lean times politicians promised “a chicken in every pot;” those campaigning in the near future will do well to promise a lamb on every lawn, chicken in every lot.’
Backyard Livestock by Steven Thomas (1976) The Countryman Press

The most impressive fact that tells me it is time for us to take control over our food industry is older books. I am now finding, receiving and reading books from the 70s and 80’s that warned then about the problems and concerns Americans should have for our food and the way it is created. Although these books may not be new to many of you, they are cherished by me as relics of real Americans.

Let me quote from one of my newest library additions which is thoroughly researched and well put together.

    “The problem of producing sufficient food is complex and many-faceted. There are no easy solutions. However, it has become obvious that modern agribusiness with its impressive arsenal of insecticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, monstrous machinery and large, specialized farms is not the ultimate answer we once thought it was.
    The inability to produce and distribute adequate quantities of food is not the only shortcoming of agricultural technology. In many cases production methods are depleting soil fertility and polluting our land, water and air at a dangerous rate, the quality of some of its products is questionable and vast numbers of small famers are being strangled.”
Raising the Home Duck Flock by Dave Holderread 1978 Garden Way Publishing/Storey Communications, Inc. Printed in the US by Edwards Brother 1989

Mind you this was in 1978. Why didn’t we get the point then? The research mounting about large “specialized” corporations and the negative affects they are causing to us, our animals, our environment and the American reputation should no longer be ignored.


Although I’m sure I could convince you in person that pesticides are dangerous, genetically engineered food has just as shoddy testing and you should sign my petition, I’m going to have to rely on the internet once again for gathering some concerned citizens.

I can’t help but dream about a healthy and productive America.

Living the dream of a healthier tomorrow too?
Contact your grocery stores big and small. Start Here.
Sign my petition which is an online version of the Organic Consumers Association’s GMO & Factory Farm Truth-In-Labeling Petition


HAEMATO-BIOCHEMICAL AND IMMUNO-PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF CHRONIC TOXICITY WITH SYNTHETIC PYRETHROID, ORGANOPHOSPHATE AND CHLORINATED PESTICIDES IN BROILER CHICKS Garg U.K. et al., International Immunopharmacology, 4(13):1709-1722 (2004)


This study examined the results of low level pesticide exposure to broiler chicks. Results include atrophy/hypoplasia of the thymus and spleen. As well as hemoraging of the thymus. The results lead authors to believe that “the chronic exposure of chicks to small amount of synthetic pyrethroid (SP), organophosphate (OP) and chlorinated pesticides (CH) leads to deleterious effects on metabolism and immune system of birds.”

NICOTINOID AND PYRETHROID INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE IN HOUSEFLIES (DIPTERA: MUSCIDAE) COLLECTED FROM FLORIDA DAIRIES. Kaufman PE et al., Pest Management Science. 66(3):290-2944 (2010)


Populations of houseflies in Florida have been found to have substantial resistance to nicotinoid and pyrethroids, due to the overutilization of these insecticides. Resistance to pyrethroids is commonly found in Florida where a great deal of spraying occurs. According to the authors, “Imidacloprid resistance is emerging, and tolerance was observed to both imidacloprid and nithiazine.” These findings raise concern on the overuse of several insecticides in our dairy farms and concerns for residues in our milk.

LEVELS OF ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES RESIDUES IN DAIRY PRODUCTS IN KUMASI, GHANA Darko G. and Acquaah S.O. Chemosphere, 71(2):294-298 (2008)


This study finds pesticide residues in milk, cheese and yogurt of six communities in Kumasi, Ghana. This study suggests that an accumulation of pesticide residues may pose problems in humans and effective monitoring of residues in the environment is needed.

REPEATED DOSE 28-DAY ORAL TOXICITY STUDY IN WISTAR RATS WITH A MIXTURE OF FIVE PESTICIDES OFTEN FOUND AS RESIDUES IN FOOD: ALPHACYPERMETHRIN, BROMOPROPYLATE, CARBENDAZIM, CHLORPYRIFOS AND MANCOZEB Jacobsen H. et al., Food and Chemical Toxicology, 42(8):1269-1277 (2004)


The study examines the effects of five pesticides commonly found in our food. The study was conducted on a repeated 28 day oral dose cycle, finding toxicity in Wistar rats. The authors observed the following effects to the pesticide combinations as ingested by the rats: a series of considerable physical changes including: hypertrophy of central liver cells as well as increased weight, decreased thymus weight, and increased thyroid gland weight. The white blood cell count decreased, and “red blood cell count, haematocrite and haemoglobin concentration was significantly reduced.” The authors suggest that further studies should be made to determine effects of individual and combinations of pesticides.

DEATH OF THE BEES GMO CROPS AND THE DECLINE OF BEE COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA Brit Amos/Global Research Staff 25 March (2008)


Summary: This article states that there is obvious proof that the ingestion of GMO proteins is one of the major reasons behind colony collapse disorder in bees. This pertains to the digestive shutdown (inability to pass foreign genetic agricultural matter i.e. fecal) that is taking place within the honey bees. And there are some dramatic parallels with the difficulty human beings might be experiencing with a GMO diet that could be compromising not only a person's immune system as evidenced by a substantial rise in colon cancer.

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