IS THE SKY REALLY FALLING??? The GMO Food fear... Us humans, well some of us, are a nutty bunch. We choose fear over information and will consider anything that supports our fear proof positive that we are right to be fearful. A perfect example is the pit bull issue but we take on this habit of fear bred of misinformation confirmed by others who are also fearful on many different fronts. One of those fronts as of late has been the issue of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) foods. With so many of us choosing to eat healthier these days in an effort to have healthier bodies and thus far no doubt longer lives you cant go through hardly a day without someone posting on Facebook some sort of scare tactic style material against GMO foods. Unfortunately it seems as if we as a society would rather be frightened than informed and so the claims against Monsanto and other corporations who choose to go GMO is taken to heart by many and the fear goes on and on and on. Finally someone has taken the time to write an article that responds to the ten most common fears about GMO foods. While Im sure that the more paranoid among us will claim that the author of the article is being paid by Monsanto or some other big corporation I personally do not choose to go there and will trust until given a reason not to trust. Ms. Borel according to her bio seems to be just an ordinary person who is a science writer and has written for many publications as well as had a book published. So I have no reason to believe that shes on the payroll of Monsanto or anyone else who would benefit from her debunking the MYTHS out there surrounding GMO foods and their many horrific dangers!!! A link to the article in its entirety is below but I just wanted to touch the high points here in the hope that it will generate some interest to use the link, read the article and THINK FOR OURSELVES!!! 1. GMO is a radical techology: Virtually all of our food crops have been genetically modified in some way. 2. GMOs are too new for us to know if they are dangerous: Genetically engineered plants first appeared in the lab about 30 years ago and became a commercial product in 1994. Since then, more than 1,700 peer-reviewed safety studies have been published...the scientific consensus is that existing GMOs are no more or less risky than conventional crops. 3. Farmers cant replant genetically modified seeds: So-called terminator genes, which can make seeds sterile, never made it out of the patent office in the 1990s. Seed companies do require farmers to sign a agreements that prohibit replanting in order to assure annual sales, but Kent Bradford, a plant scientist at the University of California, Davis, says large-scale growers commercial growers typically dont save seeds anyway. 4. We dont need GMOs; there are other ways to feed the world: GMOs are just one tool to make sure the world is food-secure when we add two billion more people by 2050, says Pedro Sanchez, director of the Agriculture and Food Security Center at Columbia Universitys Earth Institute. Its not the only answer, and it is not essential, but it is certainly one good thing in our arsenal. 5. GMOs cause allergies, cancer and other health problems: One frequently cited study, published in 2012 by researchers from the University of Caen in France, claimed that one of Monsantos corn GMOs caused tumors in lab rats. But the study was widely discredited because of faulty test methods, and the journal retracted it in 2013. More recently, researchers from the University of Perugia in Italy published a review of 1,783 GMO safety tests; 770 examined the health impact on humans or animals. They found no evidence that the foods are dangerous. 6. All research on GMOs has been funded by big AG: This simply isnt true. Over the past decade, hundreds of independent researchers have published peer-reviewed safety studies. At least a dozen medical and scientific groups worldwide, including the World Health Organization and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, have stated that the GMOs currently approved for market are safe. These are just a few of the MYTHs debunked in this article. Ive seen every one of these concerns plastered all over Facebook numerous times and so many people who are jumping on board the sky is falling train. Would just like to see some folks thinking for themselves rather than following along the fear trail being paved by myths, misinformation and propaganda. popsci/article/science/core-truths-10-common-gmo-claims-debunked
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 19:00:16 +0000
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