The Big Lie About GMOs
Yes, we’ve been lied to about GMOs… Here’s the truth you should know.
No doubt at some point over the past few years, you’ve heard something of the debate over GMOs (short for Genetically Modified Organisms, also known as genetically engineered crops). While consumers remain wary of GMOs in the food supply (surveys show that the majority of consumers would like foods containing GMOs to be clearly labeled), big agricultural producers and others continue to assure us that these genetically modified foods are “perfectly safe.”
However, research has recently revealed that this may very well be the big lie that many of us have feared it was. A recent article in the New York Times compared data from the United Nations on pesticide use and crop yield in the United States (which is a major user of genetic engineering technologies), versus Western Europe, which does not use GMOs.
What did they find?
“No discernible advantage in yields.”
That’s right, despite agricultural behemoth Monsanto’s mantra that genetically engineered crops are necessary because they “reduce pesticide use, increase yield and are key to feeding the world,” the opposite is actually true.
Not only do GE crops significantly increase the use of toxic chemicals in growing our food, but they produce no measurable benefit in terms of yield, while poisoning thousands of acres of land, not to mention our waterways, and the food on our table.
After all, when you stop and think about it, why would a company that produces and sells agricultural chemicals spend millions of dollars promoting crops that REDUCE pesticide use?? (Seriously, think about it…)
Here is more on the story, and the big lie we have been told about GMOs, from FoodRevolution.org:
…You can accuse Monsanto of many things, including myriad corporate crimes over many decades, but altruism is not one of them. As my organization and many others have scientifically demonstrated many times to a deaf media, the vast majority of GMOs are not designed to decrease herbicide use but to massively increase it.
More than 90% of US corn, soy, cotton, and sugar beets have been genetically engineered to withstand massive doses of the toxic herbicides these companies make, and profit from. Normally care has to be taken using herbicides because they kill not just weeds but anything green, including the crops they come into contact with. But with these herbicide tolerant crops large-scale operations can even conduct aerial spraying of their fields with these herbicides and the weeds die but the crops survive.
Because of GE crops, each year, more than 100 million more pounds of Roundup are used on America’s croplands each year. These toxic chemicals pollute our water and air, kill wildlife and native plants and threaten the very survival of the monarch butterfly and other species. In 2015, the World Health Organization’s research arm found that the active ingredient in Roundup is a “probable carcinogen.” So for Monsanto and the other chemical companies, genetically engineering crops is just another way to significantly increase profits. They sell the seeds and the poisons sprayed on those seeds. Great for their bottom line, terrible for the rest of us and the planet.
What about the Big Lie about increased yield and feeding the world? Well in 2009 the Union of Concerned Scientists published a definitive report called “Failure to Yield,” which made it clear that there was no significant yield increase with GE crops…
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Read more at FoodRevolution.org…
