Another Survey?

This is a comment on a recent article published in the LA Times on Thursday, July 7, 2016, titled

“ Bad GMO Policy”:

This is a study done by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which concluded that GMO’s are just as safe, if not safer than the non-GMO versions.

This time, I was able to find the study and read it (several times- still reading it over). The study starts off by saying that GMO’s have been studied and tested and found to be safe for decades! Then the study goes on to talk about roundup ready foods and how safe roundup is and how GMO foods are better for farmers than organic systems.

I like the study and the time and energy taken into this body of work. However, I do not see how they were able to conclude that

GMO’s are safe (they reasoned that no animals have gotten sick from eating it, and no humans have gotten sick either so it must be safe.) for humans and animals.

GMO’s are safe for the environment. Their studies prove that farmers using GMO’s have fewer pests and diseases on their farms.

While the study does not say that conventionally grown and organically grown have the same nutritional values, they certainly imply that.

They conclude that the general public is incorrect in their fears and assumptions about GMO’s and they should let scientists and farmers take care of business.
 

I do not see anywhere in the study, how they actually studied if GE foods were actually damaging human genes  (or animal genes) over time. They never say how long the study was. They do not give us the facts of this particular study on humans and animals.

The main problem this article has is the fact that businesses that produce and sell GE food do not want it labeled as such and are confident that the general public would then not buy it. I know that I would not buy any food that is made from GE food. GE food being anything that is outside of nature such as Roundup ready foods, or genes, of say a pig’ part of a plant? I agree that having a warning label means danger beware’ and why label it’ if it is safe? Well, it has not been proven to me to be safe, just like DDT was called safe for many years until it was not.

The study also states that there are no instances of GE overflow from conventional to organic farms, which is also incorrect. There are many studies which show just the opposite is occurring.

Altogether, I understand why the general public is leery of these studies especially if they come from well-established organizations such as the Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Studies are funny creatures because the saying “ you find what you look for”,  holds true here. If a study group like ASEM decides to do a study, you can make a pretty good bet, beforehand, what they findings would be. I also follow the money and see who pays for the study. I could not find funding sources for this study.

Also, and this is important, scientists and the general public, are on two different pages when it comes to their understanding of GMO’s and GE’s in particular.

The media is partly to blame also since they do not know the difference between GMO’s that have been around for centuries and GE’s which have only been around for a few decades and to say that GMO’s have been thoroughly studied for decades is only partially correct.

It is GE’s that have not been studies for decades! To truly see what eating round up ready foods or any other type of chemical that has been made part of the plant gene, how that affects humans, animals over time. Genetics is a slow process and this introduction to our food stream . may not show up immediately, but can and do have the potential to show up later and then to do extensive damage. Then it would be too late to say “oops.”

GE food needs studying over many decades under strict conditions, and this is not possible without violating someone’s rights to know what they are eating. I think it is wrong to let the general public become guiniea pigs in this.

I believe that the government should pass laws to govern these products; and to protect living beings and the environment from companies whose only goal is to sell more chemicals to a confused public. The government should instead use this technology to develop safe systems. not based on financial gains but world gain. One that benefits the whole, instead of the small part.

Another problem with GE foods is that it violates the rights of organic farmers and their 100% organic seeds as well as the Organic Certification system. I don’t just eat organic foods because I believe it is healthier for me. That is just one reason; another is that I believe in the organic system and how it relies on sustainability. In that, it makes things better and not worse over time. Organic farmers that actually use and follow the organic system, actually grow more and more nutritionally rich food,  while costing less and less and at the same time not damaging the environment with toxic waste runoff from their fertilizers, pesticides, etc.

So don’t be fooled into believing that everything is fine and a-ok with GE’s foods. Insist that scientist listen to doctors and look closely at GE foods and what potential to damage that can occur if not studied to include effects of say roundup on humans as well as on the whole biological system.

Any questions send me an email at andylopez@invisiblegardener.com

Love

andy Lopez

Invisible Gardener