October is National Non-GMO month. What are genetically modified foods? They are plants or seeds that have had their genetic makeup altereed so that they become more efficient. They are “designer plants” that either grow more quickly or are more disease resistant or produce vegetables that are uniform in shape or size or have a longer shelf life, and so on. That doesn’t sound so bad until you learn about the he process that makes this possible. Inserting a foreign gene into a plant is no easy task – its a hit-or-miss operation. As Andrew Kimbrell says in his excellent, Your Right To Know, it’s not a precise technology and that its a game of food-safety roulette, leaving companies hoping that the new food will not destabilize and become toxic.
Many genetically modified seed-engineers employ the Terminator Technology, which is designed to genetically switch-off a plant’s ability to germinate a second time. This requires farmers to buy new seeds every year and therefore is crippling farmers in developing nations.
There is no mandatory testing for the short and long-term toxicity of GMO foods, and this is what really concerns me the most. We are basically human guinea-pigs in a giant engaged in a giant experiment.
Did you know that more than eighty six percent of processed foods in the US contains genetically modified ingredients and that almost all conventional corn will have been genetically engineered?
An easy way to avoid most GMO foods is to buy only products with the USDA organic seal on them. The rules that earn a company this seal prohibit the use of GMO plants or ingredients – a great reason to buy organic.
What really bugs me is that I think we have a right to know. Right now there is no mandatory labeling, as there is in Europe. I think we 
have to the right to at least know and understand the ingredients that we’re eating. If you feel the same way as I do, let your voice be heard at The Truth In Labeling too.
Hi Sophie-
I’m a FIRM believer is non-GMO foods. As someone living with Cancer, I try to live as organically as possible, sticking to foods as locally as I can find them. I’m wondering though how I can tell the difference between GMO foods and non GMO foods? I thought my produce at my co-op was safe but I’ve since learned they actually sell some GMO crook necked squash. I know its not organic, but I thought it’d still be safe at my co-op. Suggestions? Advice?
Hey Kristin, just know that if anything is USDA certified, then it will NOT be GMO or contain GMO ingredients – that’s pretty much the only way you can tell. If the produce sticker is a four-digit number beginning with an 8, it means it’s GMO.