Our Contaminated World: Genetically Modified Madness

This is the first of three articles.

Among the variety of issues one should be aware of in today’s crazy, mixed up world is the increased manipulation and contamination of our air, food and water supply, as well as the continued pushing of often unnecessary and potentially dangerous prescription drugs on an unwitting population. This subject matter is intense, and though it has grown into a series of articles, they remain only a brief overview.

Why this is being done is a question that could take an entire book to answer, and even then, perhaps not to everyone’s satisfaction. I touched on why in my own book, to a certain extent. Why, is a question for the powers-that-be; the Oligarchy, which continues to allow such things to happen, regardless of any ‘change’ in administration. (At least so far as we can tell, to date.) Whether it’s being done on purpose, can be left up for discussion. Corporate greed run amok? Maybe. Satanic plot? Who knows. Subjects like “mind control” and “eugenics” make many people uncomfortable, though there has been plenty of evidence for both through the years.

GMOs, genetically modified organisms, are very controversial when it comes to food. Many claim they are for the benefit and betterment of humankind, because crops can be engineered to be resistant to weed killers or with more nutrients, and help improve and increase the food supply. On the whole, these are valid points. However one must reconsider when it becomes known that one company, Monsanto, controls nearly all of this technology to the point of engineering seeds to produce sterile crops which force farmers to purchase more seeds each season. The repercussions run deep; one tragic consequence is the thousands of farmers around the world who are committing suicide after having been forced to use Monsanto’s ‘Terminator’ seeds and seeing their farms fail. Suicide seeds indeed.

Additionally, there hasn’t been enough research to know for sure whether GM food poses any long-term health risks to humans. Rushing to allow them in our food supply – good luck finding a bag of corn chips at the grocery store without them nowadays – is questionable. The FDA does not require manufacturers to label their packaging with GMO warnings – only if a product does NOT contain any, one might see a non-GMO label, but they’re hard to find and you usually pay quite a bit more for them.

Estimates are that up to 70% of our manufactured food products contain GMOs, while in many other places around the world, including Europe, Japan, China and Australia, labeling is mandatory, and their foods therefore contain far less, though the controversy remains. In the news lately, British scientists condemn using children in GM food trials as unacceptable. As well, the European Union recently ruled that the public has a right to know where GM crops are located.

The state of Hawaii sees more than its fair share of modified crops. Last year, Scientific American published an article entitled, Genetically Modified Hawaii. Here on the Big Island, there has been quite a debate about whether to allow genetically modified coffee and taro, two treasured heirloom crops.

So far the ban has held, and a major reason for that leads to another problem with GM crops, which is the inevitable cross-fertilization. Eventually this presents legal challenges to neighboring farmers. It sounds nuts, but these non-participating farmers are being prosecuted for unknowingly yet illegally ‘cultivating’ patented seeds. Further, the controversial issue of GMOs invading wild crops has now been verified in Mexico: ‘Alien’ genes escape into wild corn‘. If it turned out GMOs in our food were killing us slowly, it would already be too late to turn back in many places around the world.

I’m not even going into the dangers of the chemicals which farmers have to use on Monsanto crops. There is enough information out there about GMOs and their potential dangers and injustices to write a series of books. But meanwhile check out the documentary film The World According to Monsanto (trailer). For a good overview and review go here.

GM proponents like to claim that crops can be engineered to survive during global warming. However, the following article, “Organic Farming Beats Genetically Engineered Corn as Response to Rising Global Temperatures,” discusses a new study published by Science. So it could be we’re not hearing the whole truth in terms of whose agenda GM foods are really serving. It would be easy to imagine the kind of power that will be wielded if the world’s food supply were controlled by one company (Monsanto, by the way, is also rumored to be funding the massive effort to store the world’s seeds in deep underground warehouses, “safe from global calamities”. See African Seed Bank Deposits Arrive in Norway, particularly the comments below.)

Part II – Our Contaminated World: Making Nature Illegal coming soon

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