Ryan and I just finished watching our third "Food" movie. The first two were Fresh and Food, Inc, which solidified our resolve to eat locally grown, organic foods and introduced us to the concept of GM foods--genetically modified foods. Tonight, we watched an older film (2004), The Future of Food.
Essentially, the Monsanto corporation, known as the producer of Agent Orange and other pesticides, has decided to inject genetically modified e-coli bacteria into foods to make them resistant to the Round Up pesticides that they produce. Then, they took out a patent on those foods, the most prominent of which are corn, soy, cotton, and canola. So, when the pollen from their GMO corn is blown on the wind into another farmer's field, that farmer's crop now belongs to Monsanto. Monsanto sues the farmer to either force him out of business or force him to use their seed.
The GM foods are outlawed in several countries around the world, and many countries won't even accept crops shipped from the US. Yet, our government continues to claim that these foods are not any different from other foods and does not require any research or regulation of them. Unfortunately, once the GM crops are introduced, it is almost impossible to get them out. Unless we eliminate these crops entirely and start fresh while we still have good seed, that is.
Not only is it imperative that we stop the GM foods from entering our bodies, but we need to let the government know that we do not want GM foods. Essentially, we need to work together to fight Monsanto and educate consumers in the US.
You can watch the Future of Food for free here: http://www.thefutureoffood.com/onlinevideo.html
I also joined the Center for Food Saftey here: http://truefoodnow.org/ If you click on the Action links to the right, you can send pre-composed e-mails to your elected officials.
Get informed. Buy local. Buy organic. Tell others. Together we can make a difference!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
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7 comments:
preach it girl!!!
I was wondering how Monsanto plans to keep plants alive once they introduce or release their "terminator" technology, meaning the plant won't produce after 1 season, so no seed saving. What happens when THOSE plants cross pollinate? Where will food come from then? I can't believe ANYONE let it get this far, let alone the hundreds of people that have to be responsible for GMO's getting this far.
Even so-come Lord Jesus!
Very informative - Thanks, Karen!
Kelly--
The terminator gene is pretty scary, and one of the reasons I would like to figure out how to save seeds.
Karen
All we did last year to save seeds is put them on a plate to dry and then into a labeled envelope. Is there more to it?
I have no idea! I see so many articles on how to save seeds that it seemed like it could be complicated. Some seeds are obvious (like peas, peppers). Maybe I am just missing something simple, but how do you get carrot/lettuce seeds???
Not sure about carrots, but with lettuce I just let it bolt and plow it under at the end of the growing season and it comes back on its own in the spring. With carrots you probably leave one or two in the ground and the seeds develop in the greens? Guess on my part. Oh wait-I remember reading about a kids project to grow carrots-you cut the top off and place it in a dish of water (or maybe it was dirt) and it is supposed to grown. Obviously that's not the most practical as it grows one carrot per carrot top, but something to consider. I know potatoes can be grown from cutting a potato into chunks and planting them.
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