These toxic foods have been banned in Europe for a decade! Yet in the United States, they aren’t even labeled so savvy consumers can make the decision for themselves. October is Non-GMO month. Thousands of volunteers and concerned citizens are banding together to try to raise awareness of this growing potential health risk.

What are GMO foods?

Genetically modifying foods is not the same as hybrid seeds or cross-breeding animals. You can cross a horse with a donkey to get a mule, but the mule is generally infertile. You cannot cross a pig with a potato – unless you genetically alter its DNA. Some of the absurd and ridiculous things that have been done to our “natural” foods are:

• arctic fish genes put into tomatoes, to make them resistant to frost
• jellyfish crossed into pig genes, so their noses glow in the dark
• spider genes crossed into goat DNA to make bullet-proof vests
• corn is genetically modified with bacteria to make it poisonous to insects
• soybeans genetically modified with bacteria to make them resistant to herbicides

Diabetes, Autism, and Allergies reach epidemic levels

But whether GMOs are harmful or not – something is definitely wrong in our society. Type II diabetes is reaching nearly epidemic levels, and younger and younger children are being diagnosed with what has often been called “adult onset diabetes”. This information isn’t being presented by some blogger with too much time on her hands, but by the American Diabetes Association, the World Health Organization, and Science Daily. Diabetes has risen 33% in the past decade. Guess what? So have genetically modified foods in our diet!

Another sudden epidemic – the rise in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In a ten-year period from 1993 to 2003, the rate of children in the United States diagnosed with Autism rose 657 percent! Some may argue that these numbers are inflated, because we have better methods of diagnosing autism, or because of higher public awareness. Physicians and educators agree that they are seeing more and more children thus afflicted. Could this again be related to the genetically altered foods in our diet?

What about the rise in peanut allergies? Several decades ago it was unheard of! Now, nearly every school has a policy for dealing with children suffering from severe, life-threatening food allergies, including gluten intolerance, milk allergy, strawberries, peanuts, even chocolate. The number of children diagnosed with peanut allergies is about 1 in 100 in the United States, yet virtually non-existent in Asia where the peanut is a major food source. Peanut allergies have doubled in the past ten years – right along with the rise in GMOs. Yet, researchers are trying to genetically modify a peanut that will be hypo-allergenic! Why don’t they just study why Asians don’t have peanut allergies? I’ll bet it is related to the fact Asians don’t consume the quantity of genetically modified food that are causing irreparable damage to our health.

How to avoid genetically altered food in your diet

Should you avoid all genetically modified foods in the future? Without proper labeling, it can be difficult. Until then, here are four tips to help you avoid these potentially harmful foods:

1) Buy organic. Certified organic foods cannot intentionally include any GMO ingredients
2) Look for “Non-GMO Project” verified seals
3) Avoid at-risk ingredients, including corn, soybeans, canola, and cottonseed
4) Buy products listed in the “Non-GMO Project” shopping guide

If just 5% of the American population would boycott genetically altered foods, grocery stores would stop stocking them, and ultimately, companies would stop producing them. We don’t need more government control to end this potentially devastating practice! We can use consumerism at its best. It worked in Europe.

Spread the word.

GMO FAQs

References:
The “Myth” of Autism
Is There Really an Autism Epidemic? Scientific American
The Peanut Allergy Epidemic by Dr. Daniel More
Institute for Responsible Technology

Photo Credits:
Boy with an Apple: by Larry Grubs

Vaccines May Be Linked to Autism

Many believe that the thimerosal preservative in some childhood vaccines was the culprit.  To this day, the CDC denies this, although thimerosal has been removed from most vaccines and now there is a decrease in new cases being reported.  They claim the decrease is too slight to have been a factor. 

Some claim that the rise in children diagnosed with autism is inflated, because schools now get federal funding for teaching austistic children.  Also, the criteria for this disorder have been altered, to include children who are just “a little bit autistic” as well as those whose symptoms are far more severe.

Symptoms of Austism in Young Children

Autistic Children Often Have Trouble With Social Interaction

One of my pet peeves is the baby carrier.  We’ve all seen them.  Many of us may have even used them.  You know what I’m talking about – the hard plastic seat with a handle.  Some are part of a car seat and stroller ensemble.  Some are just to carry your baby around in, to “make it easier” to carry your baby.  If autistic children don’t relate well to others, just maybe, could not touching your baby enough be at least partially responsible?

My heart goes out to parents with autistic children, and I truly do not mean to point fingers or place the blame on them.  Leo Kanner coined the term “refrigerator mother”, and claimed that although cold and indifferent mothering did not cause autism, it was certainly a factor in it.  His theory held for thirty years or so, and caused untold heartache and grief to unnumerable families.  Perhaps because autism seems to be partially genetic, the cold mothers Dr. Kanner referred to were themselves autistic? 

Researchers Agree Causes of Autism are At Least Partially Environmental

The controvertial discussion on the causes of autism agree that this disorder is part genetic and part environmental.  The risk that a child may be born with autism is higher for families with one child already diagnosed than for the general population.  But because some families with no history of autism can still have an autistic child, there must be other factors.  Could it be vaccines, food allergies, or environmental toxins? 

There are more questions than answers, and more research needs to be done.  There is a massive study going on right now, at the U.C. Davis M.I.N.D. institute.  Hopefully, once they discover the cause, they can also find a cure.  But until then, we are left wondering in the dark.

Back to my pet peeve.  Baby carriers.  I’ve seen parents hauling their infant around in those things all the time.  I’ve seen some babies with very oddly shaped, flat heads and wonder if extensive use of the baby carrier might be the culprit.   I see babies being taken out of the car in the carrier, brought into church, and they stay in the carrier all through the service.  If the baby fusses, a bottle or pacifier is stuck into his or her mouth.  They are not lifted and cuddled.  They are not held close to a parent’s chest, to feel the rhythmic beating of their heart.  If babies do not receive any eye contact from the parent, or form any special bond with the parent, how can they possibly develop normally?

Babies were meant to be held!   Mother chimpanzees and mother cats and mother dogs all carry their young.  They touch them.  They nurture them.  Parenting is more than paying the bills and scheduling dental visits.  We need to get back to the basics, and remember that it doesn’t matter if our child goes to the best preschool or makes it on the T-ball team.  The most important memory we can give our child is that he remembers being loved.

Photo Credits:
Top: photo by Pink Sherbet Photography
Middle: photo by Just Taken Pics