Worried about GMOs?  Or just want to learn more about them?  Watch this film, now available on iTunes.  Have you seen the photos of the rats fed gmo corn that are full of tumors?  What will happen to us?  There is an urgency to this, we have to get gmos out of our food.  I know I'm singing to the choir, but you can watch it with those who aren't yet in the know. 

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Companies that side with Monsanto vs. the Good Guys

You might be surprised to learn who is backing Monsanto in trying to stop the 522 initiative to label GMOs.  A lot of companies supporting Monsanto are no surprise, Pepsi, Coke, Clorox--companies we know have zero interest in our health.  But it's the ones that we thought were looking out for us that are so disappointing.  The ones that sell organic food and promote health.  Companies we trusted.  Shame on them!  No more Lara Bars for us.  No more Alexia (love their organic french fries), no more Burts Bees, Santa Cruz Organic, and Horizon.  Moms buy this stuff for their families thinking they are making healthy choices, and it's a betrayal that these same companies don't even want us to know what's in our food.  Read more HERE and HERE.

On a positive note, look who's supporting 522:  Brad's Raw, Clif, Amy's, Annie's,  Coconut Bliss, Theo, Barleans, Tony's Coffee, Patagonia, and MORE.   This totally strengthens my loyalty to these brands and I'm grateful they're getting behind this.  If you're in Washington, please vote YES on 522.

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Vote YES on 522

Did you get your ballot yet?  I'm talking to you, Washingtonians.  Monstanto has dumped over 14 million dollars into defeating this initiative, we can't let that happen.  Who doesn't want to know what's in their food?  Who wants to eat frankenfood?  Nobody.  That's why Monsanto is trying so hard to stop this.  And they succeeded in California, with over 45 million dollars going toward stopping labeling.

Under 522, your food will be labeled, and you will know if you are eating genetically modified foods.  Starving Haitians had the wisdom to reject Monsanto's seeds, surely we can get together and at the very least get this stuff labeled.  Why it's not banned, as it is in so many other countries, is a disgrace.  Why don't we want to consume GMOs?  Have a look at these rats.

That's just for starters. We want and need bees, right?  Colony collapse disorder is heavily linked to GMOs and pesticides.  There is absolutely no scientific consensus that GMOs are safe, and I truly think it's a matter of common sense.  Do we want poisoned frankenfood or not?  At the very least, we should have the right to know what we're buying, right?  For more information, go HERE, and please vote YES on 522. 

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Stop Monsanto Protection Act

 In my inbox today, this from the OCA:

URGENT: House Passes Monsanto Protection Act. Ask Your Senators to Stop It!

On Friday, September 20, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the Continuing Resolution (H.J.RES.59), a bill to keep the government running through December 15. The bill will force a showdown with the Senate because it includes a provision to defund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.

But the Continuing Resolution is controversial for another reason. It extends the Monsanto Protection Act, officially referred to as the Farmers Assurance Provision, a law that gives biotech firms immunity from federal prosecution for illegally growing GMO crops.
Please call your Senators today and ask them to pass a clean version of the Continuing Resolution, one that doesn’t extend the Monsanto Protection Act.
You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected with your Senator. Or find individual senators’ phone numbers here.
You can say:
“I’m calling to ask the Senator to oppose the Farmers Assurance Provision, sometimes referred to as the Monsanto Protection Act, and to vote no on any bill, including the Continuing Resolution, which includes the provision.”
Background
The Monsanto Protection Act was first passed in March, when it was quietly and without debate slipped into the earlier version of the Continuing Resolution, a bill to fund the government through September 30. As Politico reporter David Rogers explained in his Monsanto Protection Act exposé, “Big Agriculture Flexes its Muscle,” the Monsanto-friendly rider was never voted on. Rogers, a seasoned political reporter, described how the Monsanto Protection Act became law “with little or no floor debate and in a period of turmoil.”

The backroom deal that made the Monsanto Protection Act law generated a public backlash. It was the subject of a Daily Show episode. And it helped spawn a worldwide March against Monsanto, reported on by the New York Times.

Because the Senate never voted on the Monsanto Protection Act, we don’t know where all of the senators stand on the issue. But here’s what we do know:
•    Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) conspired with Monsanto lobbyists to write the law.
•    Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), chair of the full Senate Appropriations Committee, publicly apologized for letting the Monsanto Protection Act slip through. But, she said, she had a responsibility to avoid a government shutdown.
•    Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), tried for a vote to repeal the Monsanto Protection Act during the Senate Farm Bill debate.
•    Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) blocked Merkley’s amendment.
•    Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D- Mich.) promised Merkley that the amendment wouldn’t be renewed without a vote.
Please call your senators today. Ask them to reject extending the Monsanto Protection Act and vote no on the Continuing Resolution unless this blatant giveaway to the biotech industry is removed.  Thank you!
-- Alexis and the team at OCA

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Prop 37 Backlash

As shocked and upset as I was to see the prop 37 fail, I do find it heartening that it exposed the dirty dealings of certain food companies to deceive their customers.  All those millions spent to pull the  wool over consumers' eyes has only added fuel to the fire and hopefully will serve to speed the process of gmo labeling. 

For the last ten years these underhanded companies have been getting away with murder--quite literally in my opinion--by selling food products containing gmos.  Companies I once trusted, like KNUDSEN, KASHI, HORIZON ORGANIC, SILK, ODWALLA, ALEXIA, CASCADIAN FARMS, LARABAR--how could they object to labeling??  Because they are owned by food giants who would then have to label their toxic food.  If you need a refresher on why gmos are tremendously dangerous, take a look at THIS.

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More Reasearch that GMOs and Bees Don't Mix

Food Feedom has a great article about how GMOs are endangering bees.  Chistof Potthof interviewed  bee researcher Dr. Hans-Hinrich Kaatz who offers some frightening yet not surprising insights as to the dangers of GMOs and the corruption of research.  Read more HERE.

Image Credit:  Foodfreedom

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The One Resolution I Wish Everyone Would Make

Okay I know I've posted a lot about New Year's Resolutions.  I just love them, I love making lists and goals and I guess I'm just nerdy that way.  I get excited that we all have this wonderful opportunity to set forth intention and go after our goals with a shiny new year in hand.  The last thing I shall say about this is that there is one resolution I wish everyone would make, and I believe this would change the world.

GO ORGANIC.  Just buy organic food, that's all.  This seems so simple and so intuitive to me that I cannot believe there is still the option--do you want your food with or without poison?  By purchasing organic food you are making a statement, you are voting, and you are insuring the most precious thing you have, your health and that of your family.  What is more important than that?

Not only is buying organic food benefiting you, it's doing something positive and necessary for the whole planet, people, and animals that live here.  Buying organic is protecting the farmers who often are forced to handle food laden with dangerous chemicals and suffer tremendous health consequences.  It's protecting our rivers, our oceans, our air quality.  It's voting against dangerous GMOs--when you buy organic, you buy GMO free.

"We can't afford it," is the excuse I hear most for why people don't buy organic.  This makes me a little crazy because the folks I hear this most from are people with bank accounts that I can only aspire to.  If I had to move my family into a one room efficiency apartment to be able to buy organic, I would, that's how important I think it is.  Of course, that is not necessary because organic food does Not cost that much more than conventional food and in some cases it's the same and even cheaper.  You just have to shop smart.  You buy what is in season, you buy in bulk, you buy local. Also, I firmly believe that you either pay now, or pay later in the form of hefty hospital bills and poor health.  You can't afford Not to buy organic.

Eating healthy is Not expensive!  There is nothing cheaper than beans and rice.  Throw in a little kale (which you can grow on a balcony year round for pennies) and you have yourself a hearty stick-to-your-ribs meal on the cheap.

The only reason not to eat organic is because it's not available.  I've been there before, living in a region where it was really hard to find.  If you are in this position, demand it.  Ask your grocer to carry it.  Be proactive, grow it, make it a priority.  For the last six years, I have eaten all organic food at home.  I have a major thing for Thai food and I know my take out is not organic, but as more and more people ask for it, it will become more and more available.

You can still eat whatever you want--cookies and junk food even, just make it organic and you are quantum leaps ahead. We are swimming in chemicals that are killing us and our planet.  If that sounds extreme, just have a look at the EWG and the ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION to get your passion ignited.  I believe that going organic is possibly the easiest and most powerful change people can make and it can start today.

I may be singing to the choir posting this here, but if anyone is reading this that has not made the switch, I hope you will consider it.  Good health to all in 2011!

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Non GMO Day Today and all Month

October is now National Non GMO month and today is Non GMO day. With the alarming spread of genetically modified foods and seeds, concerned retailers got together to create awareness of this crucial issue.

GMOs are created in a laboratory by combining genes from different plants, animals, viruses, bacteria and who knows what.   They are designed to tolerate heavy application of herbicides and pesticides or create their own. Have you heard of Roundup?  This is Monsanto's star pesticide, and the gmo plants withstand heavy doses of this very dangerous pesticide.  Roundup is known to  cause cell disruption even in very low amounts leading to a host of serious health risks.  You can find detailed studies with a quick google search and the chilling fact is that the dangers of Roundup have been known for years.

Monsanto is also responsible for engineering Terminator Seeds.  Seeds that produce plants with no viable seeds!  So you have to go back to them to get more seeds, the plants can't reproduce.  Destroying our food supply is not smart.  Animals won't eat these plants. Other countries don't allow GMOs.  It seems all common sense and reason goes out the window in the US where money is concerned.

For me, this is beyond bizarre.  That we are even having this discussion--it's madness.  The GMO issue reminds me of cartoons or comics I saw as a kid.  There was the mad scientist who had come up with a crazy way to control the masses or a major resource to Rule The World.  Luckily, Spiderman or some other benevolent force would foil the plan and save the day.  Well, the mad scientist is real and it's Monsanto, and there's no Spiderman to save the day.   The whole thing is surreal.

Approximately 80% of processed foods in American grocery stores contain GMOs.  And you don't even know it because they are not required to label their food.  This is yet another reason to buy ORGANIC FOODS ONLY.

Labeling GMO foods was in the works, but Mosanto, armed with millions in lobbying funds is not in favor of this.  Of course not, at least a few people would be turned off by frankenfood if they knew what they were eating.  The FDA recently stated that GMO foods do not need to be labeled with disclosure.

The Non-GMOP roject has come up with a new labeling system stating that the product is GMO free, with the "Non-GMO Project Verified" seal.  From what I understand, the FDA also opposed the notion of declaring foods GMO free, so I'm not sure how this will pan out.  Whole Foods Market is in the process of having their 365 brand certified by the Non-GMO Project, so maybe they have found a way around the FDA who clearly is not serving the interest of the people.

So far, only 300 retailers and co-ops are participating in the Non-GMO Project.  This seems like a low number to me, but I suspect by next year that number will be much bigger.  Corinne Shindelar, Independent Natural Food Retailers Assoc. CEO says, "We have a responsibility to consumers to ensure the integrity of our food system, and among shoppers who value safe, healthy food, there is a strong desire to avoid GMOs.  Non-GMO month is a fantastic opportunity to give people the information and non-GMO choices they are looking for."


Image Credit:  Uncyclopedia Commons

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Another Reason to Buy Organic

Finally, a study to state the obvious and yet another reason to buy organic. Organic food is free of GMOs, so if pesticides aren't enough to scare the crap out of you, there has finally been a study to confirm that indeed Frankenfood isn't such a great idea. How it isn't common sense that one probably shouldn't cross a chicken and a tomato and then eat it, I will never know, but Journal of Biological Science has published a study conducted by a group of international scientists, stating pesticides and GMOs make people sick.

This is all frustratingly obvious to many of us, but okay, good, now it's on paper officially (again). The study states, "The health crises may be more important than the international financial crisis because of the lack of transparency of the regulators." Since over three quarters of our non-organic food supply contains GMOs, (and there are no labels alerting you) I would say you're really taking your health in your hands eating this stuff, and that's reason enough to buy organic, pesticides aside. What kind of culture poisons its own food supply to make money? Don't support it! Buy organic!

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