2.4
July 20, 2009

Why don’t we like GMOs?

Make like Whole Foods & Just Say No to GMOs.

Hurrah, hurrah: Whole Foods has formally pledged its two house brands, 365 and Whole Foods, as members of The Non GMO Project. Not sure if that means all products Whole Foods are GMO-free.

Why don’t we like GMOs (genetically-modified organisms)? Because they’re a big agribusiness scam whereby agricultural companies can profit by selling you a problem, and then selling you an exclusive fix to said problem. Because God, or Mother Earth, has experimented for thousands of years, and our blind-eyed tinkering may create problems we can’t imagine. Because once GMOs exist, they spread irrevocably—making possible problems into everlasting problems for a food-stream upon which we’re entirely dependent. Because Michael Pollan knows more than all of us put together—and he and everyone else who knows and cares about food, real food, has lined up against ’em.

Why else don’t we like GMOs? Please comment, below.

Via WFM:

“From the moment GMOs were approved for use in the U.S., we recognized the need for transparency, but there was no definitive standard by which to evaluate or label products,” said Margaret Wittenberg, Whole Foods Market global vice president of quality standards. “We searched high and low for years for a way to do this and now, thankfully, the Non-GMO Project has answered that challenge by creating a standard and a practical system by which manufacturers may measure their products. At last, shoppers concerned about foods made with genetically modified ingredients will be able to make informed choices.”

According to the FDA, as much as 75 percent of processed food in the United States may contain components from genetically modified crops. Despite the abundance of products with genetically modified ingredients, a Pew Initiative study on Food and Biotechnology shows that 59 percent of Americans are unfamiliar with the issue of genetically modified ingredients in food.

“In 30 other countries around the world, including Australia, Japan and all of the nations in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production of GMOs, due to environmental impact and concerns about GMO safety,” said Megan Thompson, executive director of the Non-GMO Project.

While Federal law requires organic producers to comply with certain non-GMO requirements identified in the USDA organic standards, there is no standard for labeling GMOs in non-organic products.

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