Food Production Systems We indeed live in strange times, we have access to 3 different food production systems, all of which have serious flaws, some worse than others, but clearly, I have come to the conclusion that we can’t really trust any of them! “Organic” being a play on words, may be your best bet, but the choice is not as clear as u might think! Lets look at the three main food production systems we have available to us in the western world! GMO Crops: 60-70% of the food grown in the U.S. is GMO - genetically modified organism agriculture. This means that the plants’ DNA, take corn for example, have been altered to make it resistant to chemicals like Round Up, a chemical almost as harsh on plant life as the famous Agent Orange,.. both chemicals were developed by our best friend on the planet, Monsanto Corp. Round up is so great, it kills all other plants(except for a few super weeds that have developed resistance), but the intention was to make sure all the nutrients got to the corn, not to other plants. This whole plan to fight a war with nature has some major drawbacks, like: -round up ruins ground water -fertilizer ruins rivers and ground water as well, there’s -almost no real life left in these soils, the soil is dead because of the use of these killer chemicals. -the toxins in the corn or other GMO crops eat the stomach linings out of the stomachs of the animals that feed on it. -Jeffrey Smith, world authority on GMO crops states that its altering our genetic makeup and destroying our ability to digest our food. -the seed of GMO crops has a tendency to mix in with non-GMO crops, creating all sorts of legal problems for farmers that do not use GMO seed. -GMO food sources are not labelled, so when u buy processed or non-processed food in the US and Canada, u don’t know if its GMO or not. Only organic is guaranteed to be GMO free. Incidences of all disease, cancer, childhood illnesses and cancers, mental illnesses are all going up at alarming rates, now 50% of US citizens have cancer, its no wonder when u eat chemicals and GMO foods that our bodies are not capable of breaking down or eliminating. Along with the other 2 toxins I already mentioned, our bodies are clearly burdened and overwhelmed by toxins! I can’t forget the fact that bees are dieing, colony collapse disorder, due to residues of chemicals on the GMO crops, I believe the chemical is known as a neonicatinoid. Sounds like bees and humans are being effected in a similar manner, but we don’t normally describe this problem with the human population as a collapse disorder, but I think it has alarmingly similar characteristics. I could chat all day about GMO, its an obvious disaster for our food production, but do we see the similarities here, with the issues of chem spraying and nuclear power. It seems once again that the experts have let us down, they have ignored studies on animals that clearly show the problems associated with eating GMO food. Recent legislation approved in the US, states that companies like Monsanto don’t even need worry to about the FDA paperwork and delays anymore, they are free to develop more and more GMO derivatives, plant them, and its up to the FDA to test and then limit their use once its been proven problematic or unhealthy for consumption. Most top FDA officials are all former employees of Monsanto and other GMO companies. Yikes, the monkeys are running the Zoo folks, what the hell is new! Conclusion, GMO crops are a disaster that is getting worse, not better in the US! Almost all corn in the US is GMO and now all sugar beets are now GMO, that just happened recently. Sugar beets used to be 95% GMO, but the industry decided they might as well go 100%, probably due to cross contamination issues. Its hard to avoid contamination when crop % levels favour GMO by a wide margin. Europe is doing much better, in fact, they just banned most GMO crops, have labeling laws in most countries, but feed is still an issue, so animals can still be fed GMO crops in Europe. Canada is in between the 2, approximately 10% of food grown here is GMO, but due to a heavy import of US food sources, we might as well be in the same boat. If u eat processed foods, you are eating a ton of GMO, enough to create a wide spectrum of health issues for you and your children! If you choose Canadian local farmers, you have a much better chance of eating food that is non-GMO and much better for you. The same rule would apply in the US. Local farmers are a better choice, though not without their problems as we will see under the section dealing with Organic growing practices. Good Old Industrial Farming Techniques: Before GMO, we still had farmers being encouraged and subsidized to use fertilizers and herbicides to increase yields. These chemicals are absorbed in the food and have done almost as much damage to the environment as the chemicals that accompany GMO crops. Its been a natural regression and war on soil fertility. The so called “green revolution” has been the opposite in reality. Good, natural, vibrant soil full of micro organisms is the key to long term and sustainable agriculture. Variegated crop design vs mono cropping, the modus operendi of our day, is also a great strategy that allows for better crop yield and a more sustainable farming system. Permaculture is a powerful alternative to mono-cropping, I’ll be chatting about this a bit later under the solutions heading. Industrial agriculture is not GMO, but as I said, with the extent of GMO and no labeling, its easy to see why farmers might start growing GMO, the momentum is against them. I think subsidies would favour the GMO farmer, I’m guessing on this one, but it makes sense as any new production method in farming is usually heavily subsidized by governments all over the planet. As for the negative health effects, similar, but not quite as hazardous to your health,...but if u don’t know what u are eating, GMO is likely in your processed food as stated earlier. The Solution to GMO and Industrial Farming, ORGANIC - Perhaps, but not Always! Dear readers, organic is just a word, another lie, a cheap marketing ploy to encourage those of use who are health conscious to chose the more expensive Organic food sources. Problem is, if u take an hour or so and look up the regs that govern organic food production, u will see that it is better than Industrial Farming methodology, but certainly not organic. Here’s the guide for Organic farmers in Canada - organicagcentre.ca/Docs/Cdn_STds_Substances2006_e.pdf Its depressing to read, it allows for the use of artificial chemicals across the board, should natural control methods fail. I guess there’s a bit more paperwork involved, as u are supposed to report the use of these chemicals. You are inspected once a year, really, there’s so much room for abuse its not funny. The bottom line is, look at the organic produce folks, it looks perfect, anyone who grows veggies at home organically, sees that perfect looking produce is rare. The organic folk have succumbed to what I call the “money consciousness”, make money at all costs and leave your ethics for church on Sunday! Some smaller farmers are using variegated crop methods, its labour intensive and involves mixing and matching crops, adding other types of vegetation that may not be edible, but it does help control pests and fix nitrogen in the soil. Lots of crop rotation involved! My advise is to check out your local farmer, visit the farm and go with the farmer that uses variegated crop planting and reward him/her for their hard work, as this is old fashioned market gardening at its best! Its tough to farm in this manner, most of the work is done by hand, but its the way farming should be done in my opinion.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 02:41:11 +0000
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