GMO Labeling Law on the California Ballot — One Small Step for No GMO-Kind : Exclusive Renegade Health ArticleOver the next few days, you’ll hear a lot of news about a GMO labeling law being accepted on the California ballot in November 2012…
This means if the majority of Golden State voters are in favor of labeling GMO foods on the supermarket shelf at the end of this year, then all food manufacturers will have to disclose — on their packaging — that their product contains (or is) a genetically modified ingredient.
Since the public has been polled and is not in favor of eating GMO foods, this is good news for people who want to know what they’re eating, but a sticky situation for the food companies. Some polls say up to 90% of people said they would not eat a GMO food if they were given a choice. This means that labeling these foods, could cause people to spend their money on products that don’t contain these ingredients.
Bad news for those who profit on this technology — and have invested billions and billions of dollars into it.
But it’s hesitatingly-awesome news for you and I (since we want real food, as nature intended.)
I say hesitatingly-awesome, not only because I like making up words (which I really do), but because I consider this only one step — not a giant leap — in the process of getting your food labeled and exercising your freedom to know what the heck you’re eating — your continued action and support is needed.
Probably even more so than ever before.
Now the real fight begins…
There’s a lot of money invested in genetically modified foods — billions of dollars. There’s also a ton of expected profit — hundreds of years of profit — into the trillions of dollars.
Basically, in layman’s terms, they’ve found out that if you change the DNA of a plant and put your own creative (mutant) spin on it — genetic modification — you can patent it and profit from it. That’s what a GMO is.
If the food companies can control the patents on everything that we eat they can sit back and collect on licensing, the sale of seeds and any other way they can profit on controlling the food chain for generations.
It’s the ultimate business play. Make profit on something that everyone has to do. (Just wait until they find a way to profit on the air we breathe… it may be coming sooner than we think.)
So here’s the thing. Everything was going along fine for the food companies, until some “crazy” (labeled by the government and industry) scientists started to question how good these new, engineered foods are for the earth — and ultimately your health and wellbeing.
What they found was that is seemed more prudent — in the professional opinions of these scientists — to not unleash this technology around the globe before there was concrete science that proved they were completely safe for the environment and your own health.
Unfortunately, the food companies, decided to ignore these professional opinions, discredit these scientists and start to release these foods into the marketplace.
You see, they don’t want you or anyone else to think that GMO foods like corn, soy, canola, and others — with this mutant DNA — are any different than the food you’re eating now. It’s bad for business.
If they can show you that an ear of GMO corn looks just like an organically grown ear of corn, they’re pretty sure you won’t care what its DNA looks like. And if you don’t care, then they can still collect money on their patents and their seeds and associated products.
So now that a GMO labeling law is on the California ballot, it is in their best interest to “educate you” on why GMO foods are just the same — or better — than the food we’re eating now.
And, believe me, they’re going to put up a fight.
So right now, I want arm you with some ammunition (no, not guns or anything) that will help you understand what they will say and what it really means.
Here are the 4 “education points” they’ll use to try to convince you, your friends and your family that GMOs are OK and why you should not believe them at all.
1. GMOs are no different than the food you eat now.
First, like I already said, they want you to believe that GMO foods are exactly the same as the food that you’re already eating. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well, it must be a duck.
The truth is, the DNA, the inner workings of these foods has been altered to a degree that scientists are still quite unsure of what exactly these plants and foods will react in the environment and in your body. Some of them actually produce their own pesticides.
This kind of weird science is more like having a duck that has weird parts on the inside that may or may not carry out duck activities like swimming, flying or eating… what do ducks eat anyway? Bread?
2. There’s no science that says GMOs are harmful.
As a counter argument to the uncertainly of how these foods react in our world, the food industry will undoubtedly say, “we’ve spend billions of dollars on testing these foods and there’s no scientific evidence linking GMO foods to any health issues or environmental concerns.”
They always do this.
Basically, what this translates to is, “we’ve spent billions of dollars crafting studies that protect our investment.” Independent science on GMOs does exist and it’s not as favorable as the food industry would like you to think.
I guess it’s just human nature.
Let’s say you run a cigarette business. Isn’t in your best interest to make sure that no one connects your product to cancer? You bet.
3. GMOs can save the world.
If all else fails, it’s time to pull on your heartstrings.
Most bio-tech companies will tell you that genetically modified foods can save the world in one way or another. They usually mention starving children when they bring up this topic to make sure they get your attention.
The issue with this argument is that the majority of genetically modified foods being grown today are not being developed to help starving children. They are crops grown in the U.S. and around the world (where GMOs are not banned) being grown to produce their own pesticides, fatten up animals, make plant based plastics, and add filler into your food.
The starving children ploy is a pie-in-the-sky attempt to make you feel like you’re supporting something that is just a secondary — faux-humanitarian — focus of most of the food producers.
Also, a little darker to think about, all companies must turn a profit to survive, so if they’re thinking about helping starving children, they’ve also figured out a way to profit from them.
True humanitarianism is giving aid, not profiting from it and then using it as a PR move to get your support.
4. GMOs are the future of food.
Finally, the food companies will act as if you don’t have a choice, all the world has already accepted this new type of food and you’re the only one who hasn’t. “If you want to be a dirty old hippie and live like a caveman, fine, but get your Volkswagen bus out of everyone else’s way,” they’ll say.
If you think everyone else is already on board, then it makes sense to be on board too. The food and biotech companies will start to form advisory boards of prominent doctors and scientists, pay a celebrity or two and get a prominent politician to endorse genetically modified foods so you think they’re a-OK. You do trust politicians, doctors and celebrities, right?
But the truth is, there are many more people who want to know what is in our food. You’re one of the millions of people around the globe that cares and they’re just trying to win you over with their big PR firms and spin.
So ultimately, your job is to spread the world, whether you’re in California or Kazakhstan. Tell people that you want to know what’s in your food. It’s as simple as that.
Our job isn’t done here. It’s our responsibility to counter the spin and ultimately have control over what we feed our families. Some of these arguments above will assist you along the way.
Also, if you really want to help, since we need you now more than ever, here’s where you can go: http://www.LabelGMOs.org
On this site, you can sign up to get newsletters on GMOs, you can ask how you can donate your time, or you can donate money to the campaign.
As I said in the beginning, our jobs have just started. If we really care about our food, this may be the most important issue that we’ve been faced with in the last 50 years.
Your question of the day: What are you going to do?
Live Awesome!
Kev
ABOUT Kevin Gianni
Kevin Gianni is a health author, activist and blogger. He started seriously researching personal and preventative natural health therapies in 2002 when he was struck with the reality that cancer ran deep in his family and if he didn’t change the way he was living — he might go down that same path. Since then, he’s written and edited 6 books on the subject of natural health, diet and fitness. During this time, he’s constantly been humbled by what experts claim they know and what actually is true. This has led him to experiment with many diets and protocols — including vegan, raw food, fasting, medical treatments and more — to find out what is myth and what really works in the real world.
Kevin has also traveled around the world searching for the best protocols, foods, medicines and clinics around and bringing them to the readers of his blog RenegadeHealth.com — which is one of the most widely read natural health blogs in the world with hundreds of thousands of visitors a month from over 150 countries around the world.
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