It is pretty difficult today to be unaware of the term NON GMO. This is no longer a topic just covered in natural food publications; it is written about in mainstream newspapers and magazines and featured on mainstream television programs including one of my favourites, Dr. Oz, http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/gmo-foods-are-they-dangerous-your-health . This topic is on the mind of a growing population of consumers who want to make informed choices.
We have discussed the topic of NON GMO in other newsletters, but I thought that this week, I might focus on this in more detail. If you are not already familiar, there is a non profit organization called the NON GMO PROJECT which “is a non-profit organization committed to preserving and building sources of non-GMO products, educating consumers, and providing verified non-GMO choices”. I first discovered this project at a past Canadian Health and Food (CHFA) show in Toronto and it happened to be one of the busiest booths at the trade show. In what realistically is a short time; this organization has laid tremendous groundwork for what is to come. This website http://www.nongmoproject.org is full of information, so please do yourself a favour and read thru their WebPages to arm yourself with valuable information.
Foods have been genetically modified naturally and by man for centuries, but is this the same as the bio engineered foods today? What I call the ‘modern genetically modified bio engineered food industry’ is relatively young; it has affected the US food chain and third world countries on a very large scale. Due to the short life of Modern GMO food industry, it is impossible for us to have the results of long term studies to determine how damaging they are to human DNA which makes the human population the guinea pigs for products many of the generally population is not even aware of. What is even more sad is that genetically modified foods are far more cost effective, therefore, the mid to lower income consumer is almost forced to feed their families on this level of the food chain. Don’t misunderstand me in that there are lab tests underway and they are proving tumor growth and cancer development in rats. My question is ‘is it so necessary to introduce foods that we need to test on rats to determine if safe for humans?’ Am I naive in my way of thinking?
As many of the Vegmenufortheweek subscribers know, I work in the Food Industry and my focus is on natural foods but I work in food manufacturing that does include conventional products (as opposed to just organics and NON GMO). I see the costing on conventional products that may be and may not be GMO, but how am I to know which ones are without labelling? This is where the NON GMO Project will have tremendous impact if they are able to affect government for the demand of food labelling. This project is “the only third party verification and labeling for non-GMO food and products”*
One of the projects I am working on is associated with www.justfood.ca called Healthy Food for All. We are developing a pilot project that offers affordable options for the school and social programs in the city of Ottawa. What an eye opener this has been with the largest observation, that our governments have no idea what healthy foods cost. This observation is based solely on what budgets are given to these programs by government agencies.
In a past newsletter, I had written that I understood wheat to be one of the most genetically modified grains and I stand corrected. I have done further research and commercially growing GMO grains has been repeatedly rejected in the US and in Canada, the Wheat Board has rejected the possibilities so far.
Crops that popped up on the net as GMO include canola, corn, soy, papaya and sugar beets, lentils, potatoes, rice, squash and tomatoes. There are a couple of concerns for me in that our labels of foods that use these crops are still lacking the information consumers need to make informed decisions. Will we see GMO labels on foods that are? We know that the ethical producers who know that NON GMO labels are a key selling feature on the market will definitely take advantage of this label to attract customers. We can also choose organic foods whenever possible, but until this industry is more the norm than the exception, organic does not fit the budget for the masses.
Other informative sites to check out:
Please let us know how you feel about this topic, we would love to hear from you!
Happy Cooking,
Laurie & Lyndsay
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