the un-american food machine - part II
by Andrew Bosworth
Published: February 8, 2008
Read Part I of this article.
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Moral issues aside, genetically modified food is harmful to health. Rats fed only genetically modified potatoes do not live as long as rats fed normal food - and neither do their offspring. The most conclusive research linking GM food and short life span (and gruesome organ damage) was presented by Dr. Irina Yermakova at the Russian National Association for Genetic Security in 2005. The Russian newspaper Pravda then described the findings under this headline: “People eating genetically modified food may have rat-short lifespan.” i
Why do the animals die young? GM food produces a horror show of symptoms. The author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette, Jeffrey Smith, finds that “… animals treated with GM crops show stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, potentially precancerous cell growth, damaged and misshapen cells, inflamed kidneys, smaller brains and testicles, enlarged intestines, reduced digestive enzymes, higher blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates and higher offspring mortality, to name a few.”ii
Not surprisingly, the ill effects of GM food do not just appear in animals; they also are visible in humans (being animals as well). This was reported by the Institute for Responsible Technology:
“The huge jump in childhood food allergies in the US is in the news often, but most reports fail to consider a link to a recent radical change in America’s diet. Beginning in 1996, bacteria, virus and other genes have been artificially inserted to the DNA of soy, corn, cottonseed and canola plants. These unlabeled genetically-modified (GM) foods carry a risk of triggering life-threatening allergic reactions, and evidence collected over the past decade now suggests that they are contributing to higher allergy rates.”iii
Amazingly, the corporations producing frankenfoods, like Monsanto (a giant company with $7 billion in profits and 16,000 employees), once tried to pass them off as harmless, even though they not. Today, these corporations insist that such foods are actually good for you. For example, bio-engineers have inserted the DNA from an earthworm into pigs.iv The resulting “flesh” (perhaps “tumor” is more accurate) has high levels of Omega-3 Fatty Acids, which lowers the chances of developing cardiovascular disease. That’s right: Swine + Worms = Healthy Eating.
Fox News, ever eager to serve power, engaged in mass conditioning by introducing a franken-friendly story with this Orwellian subscript for Heart-Healthy Pork: “GOOD NEWS Mmm… BACON PORK MAY BE GOOD FOR YOU.” Another subscript then came on: “EATING PORK MAY SOON BE GOOD FOR YOUR HEART.”
Despite the considerable questions arising from tinkering with DNA (and double dipping from two species), the Food and Drug Administration approves this technology. It even refuses to call for mandatory labeling. Meantime, most Americans are troubled by GM food (in every survey), for reasons of health and religion.
Clearly, the FDA has broken its promise to the American people in the 1990s that GM food would always be labeled as such when a genetically scrambled tomato, the Flavr Savr, first appeared on supermarket shelves adorned with some kind of leafy happy sticker. Today, genetically modified food no longer requires a label.
It gets weirder. While the label “organic” is supposed to indicate 95% organic ingredients, the remaining 5% of non-organic ingredients are not supposed to be genetically modified. But this is apparently voluntary because there is no testing, and no enforcement, over the genetic status of that remaining 5%.v
Thus, in a roundabout, backdoor way, even genetically modified foods can appear in “organic” packages. Because genetically modified food will now include rice with human DNA, it is possible to engage in “organic cannibalism” - and to remain ignorant of that ritual, just like the New Yorkers in Soylent Green.
White wine or red?
Matamoros, Mexico: aaabos@gmail.com
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Read Part I of this article.
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i. People Eating Genetically Modified Food May Have Rat-Short Lifespan, Pravda. 27 October 2007.
ii. Smith, Jeffrey M. “Rice Industry: Keep Genetically Engineered Varieties in the Lab,” (October 2006): www.seedsofdeception.com.
iii. Institute for Responsible Technology, “Genetically Engineered Foods May Cause Rising Food Allergies,” Straight to the Source/ Jeffrey Smith, May 2007.
iv. Kolata, Gina, “Cloning May Lead to Healthy Pork,” New York Times, 27 march 2006.
v. Smith, Jeffrey M. “Minor Corrections to Seeds of Deception,” (October 2006): www.seedsofdeception.com.
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