Savvy consumers want the right to know what is in their food.
Please Join Me is Supporting Proposition 37 in California
by Kimberly Hartke
I had heard of the bio tech industry, but never knew what that meant until getting involved in the local food movement. At one time, I was the typical American consumer, using Monsanto’s Roundup in my garden (once I killed every blade of grass in my entire yard with the stuff, in order to “start over”).
But today, I try and pull every weed by hand, and try to avoid GMO ingredients in my food, and even go so far as to insist my farmers cease using GMO ingredients in their livestock feed.
What I have learned about these GMO ingredients has also led me to donate to support the campaign for Proposition 37, which is on the ballot this November. Proposition 37 will require GMO labeling in California.
And, we need your help to get it passed!
Monopoly Power Sought by Biotech Industry is Anti-American
First, why I avoid GMO’s.
Genetically modified organisms are created by the bio tech industry with an end goal of patenting all seeds and thus controlling the world’s food supply.The industry’s behavior to that end is despicable.
One leading bio tech firm files suit against innocent non-GMO farmers when GMO seeds are wind blown across a fence and contaminate neighboring fields. They work to drive seed saving companies out of business. They are buying up all the seed companies to try and control the market. They repeatedly put their corporate attorney into USDA political appointee positions to further their agenda and to rubber stamp their greed.
GMO’s are a Danger to Your Health
If that monopoly power doesn’t give you pause, perhaps the health consequences of GMO in the food supply, will.
Genetically modified organisms are designed to do two things. Allow farmers to use massive amounts of herbicides on their crops, without killing them. They are also modified to make seeds infertile and unable to reproduce, so that farmers can’t save seeds and must buy more each year.
GMO’s have been shown to cause infertility in animals that eat them, as well as organ damage. Could it be that the herbicide residue is still toxic to animals and humans (as, of course, we have not been genetically modified to tolerate them)? And, perhaps whatever makes the seeds sterile causes infertility in those who consume them? Not near enough research has been done on this.
What You Can Do to Help
Read Dr. Mercola’s excellent article today on the effort to stop Biotech firms from spreading these poisoned foods further into our food supply.
We have only 30 days to make sure that Proposition 37 is fairly considered by the citizens of California. If GMO Labeling is required there, it will be likely that the labeling will be available nationwide, particularly from national brands which would rather not go to the expense of special labels for just one state.
Donate to the Organic Consumers Fund campaign. The money will be spent on grassroots organizing, advertising. We are up against a $25 million dollar war chest put together by Bio tech and Big Food. Your donation will definitely help.
If you live in California, please get on the phone, educate your neighbors about GMOs. Let them know how vital their vote is. The rest of America is watching!
If you are on twitter, facebook or active in any organization, please use your influence on behalf of this campaign.
Kimberly Hartke is a featured blogger with RealFoodMedia.com, a blog network devoted to green living and true organic agriculture.
"Kimberly Hartke is the Guardian Angel of Small Farms and the Fund!"
So, for a number of reasons, when I determine that a particular product is currently made or has ever been made with GM ingredients, the entire corporation (not just the product or product line) is banned from my house for life. That’s my protocol. Problem is, my spouse continues to buy that stuff. So I need a label to better help my spouse, and eventually my kids when they start buying or choosing products at school.
As a Californian, I am so grateful that you are supporting this crucial initiative, which is important for the whole nation. If we win, despite being grossly outspent by Monsanto and its cohorts, the whole nation just might be able to avoid GMOs just by looking at a label. This could be the beginning of the end for GMOs, as most people do not want to buy them. If people stop buying foods containing GMOS, the food industry will stop using them. It is that simple.
There are additional reasons why stopping GMO development and further sales. The most important is genetic pollution. GMO technology inserts genes from sources which would never gain entry to crop gnomes if only mother nature ran things. Even hybridized crops prevent this sort of mixing. Take Bt corn as a further example. Crop pest control is difficult to manage when resistance develops. Bt as a standard insecticide is selective and does not kill natural enemies. Bt in a human or animal food crop brings a toxicant to organism which would never be exposed to its toxins. This creates opportunities for our immune systems to react, leading to inflamation. Bt toxins are proteinaceaous poisons damage insect and vertebrate gut tissues. This leads to leaky gut tissue which allows undigested materials into the blood stream. That is where the inflammation arises. Also, genes in foods like GMO corn and soybeans jump to gut flora species and convert them into toxin factories. So those who have been eating these foods for the last 15 years or so, have been getting some extra poison, without their knowledge.
I eat organic which does not have the same risks. I rather pay extra now then pay the doctors and insurance companies later.