Why we should say no to GMO

In this digital age, many children have probably never seen a farm (except in pictures or in the movies). They’ve never seen a carabao — holy cow! They’ve probably never scraped a knee climbing a mango tree or a coconut tree or fallen off one, or eaten a fruit fresh off a tree. They’ve never heard a maya bird sing. They’ve never bathed in a clean river. They’ve never chased the wind across lush green fields. They’ve never counted the stars in the sky or wished upon a falling star.

Now, here’s food for thought: Many children today do not know where their food comes from because “we’ve become so far removed from the sources of our food,” according to GMO expert Jeffrey M. Smith in his Weston A Price lecture. “Many children today do not even realize exactly where the various meats come from, for example. They’ve never set foot on a farm.”

Just think: “No thought is given to how milk and other products consumed every day are produced. Many assume that the food in the frozen food aisle is actually real food, not realizing they’re chockfull of unnatural additives, preservatives, colorings, and artificial flavorings.”

To thrive in today’s modern world, Smith prescribes a “return to natural eating habits and banishing genetically modified (GM) food products. Man was created to thrive on certain combinations of nutrients, readily available in our natural food sources. But the rise of modern food manufacturing completely changed man’s relationship to food.”

But by making healthier choices, consumers have the power to make a difference. Says Smith, “The market simply cannot afford not to pay attention once the tipping point of consumer demand has been reached. So by switching brands, slowly but surely the rejected brands must follow suit once they realize that using a certain ingredient has become a liability.”

Smith can’t stress this enough: The power to change the world is in the hands of consumers, not the manufacturers!

The problem is, GM products are not labeled. So, what do we do now? According to Smith’s organization www. ResponsibleTechnology.org, we must educate each other. For starters, along with the hodgepodge of must-do reminders we paste on our refrigerator door, we can add this: “Healthy eating starts with no GMO.”

In an advisory posted by health activist Dr. Joseph Mercola, he notes that Smith documents at least 65 serious health risks from GM products of all kinds, among which are: “Offspring of rats fed GM soy show a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce. Male mice fed GM soy have damaged young sperm cells. The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice have altered DNA functioning. Several US farmers have reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties. Investigators in India have documented fertility problems, abortions, premature births, and other serious health issues, including deaths, among buffaloes fed GM cottonseed products. Animals fed GM foods have developed bleeding stomachs, potentially precancerous cell growth, damaged organs and immune systems, kidney inflammation, problems with blood and liver cells, and unexplained deaths. Soy allergies have skyrocketed after the introduction of GM soy. Genes from GM crops transfer to human gut bacteria, which might transform your intestinal flora into a ‘living pesticide factory.’”

According to Smith’s research, since GMOs flooded the market, between 1994 and 2001, food-related illnesses have doubled. Aside from being allergenic, toxic, carcinogenic, and anti-nutritional, GMOs “may also create brand-new diseases that we’ve never seen before,” says Smith.

Last year, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) called for an immediate moratorium on GMOs and for physicians to “educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible, and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.”

Say no to GMO? Yes!

* * *

More green ideas

Dear Consumerline,

I would like to commend EcoWaste Coalition for their green wish list for the presidential candidates in the coming polls. I would like to add two more to the list for environmental action:

1. The government should initiate a sustained reforestration program throughout the country by compelling homeowners and developers to plant trees and ornamental plants around their properties.

2. The government should regulate charcoal making to control the cutting of trees, and it should require these people to have tree farms to supply their charcoal needs.

— Gilbert Bogacia 

 gbogacia@fastmail.fm

Dear Consumerline,

In the early 1990s, what is now the IT / business park in the northern district of Cebu City was then the Lahug airport and Club Filipino de Cebu. A lot of changes have happened since then. What used to be Lahug Airport is now a beehive of call centers, the Waterfront Hotel, and a restaurant row.

There was a demand for growth and development to spur economic activity in the province. Under the initiative of the former Governor Emilio Osmeña and Capt. Antonio Oppus, former general manager of MCIAA, these two pieces of property (Lahug airport and Club Filipino) were opened up to commerce, since they were not economical to the growth of the city and the government. As it is now, many businesses and employment opportunities have been benefiting thousands upon thousands of people and its multiplier effect has trickled down to the economy.

But today, progress has given rise to problems of sanitation and pollution, and we must take care of our environment.  I am running for councilor hoping to offer a solution to these problems. Included in my platform is the enforcement of the waste segregation program and lessening traffic by applying the law of attrition in the issuance of franchises, making LTFRB’s task to coordinate with highly urbanized cities mandatory. I believe my programs are doable.

— Timmy Osmena Oppus

* * *

We’d love to hear from you. E-mail us at ching_alano@yahoo.com.