Worldwide NO to GMO Saturday, May 25, 2013

                        

This Saturday, May 25, 2013, please come and join  a HUGE party for people who love their health. It’s a worldwide boycott of GMO giant the Monsanto Corporation to demand awareness around food labeling. Check your area for locations.

 The event is a non-partisan, multicultural, earth-loyal gathering of people showing up for food safety and for future generations. This gathering is a statement in support of sustainability.

 I’m writing this as a tribute to my mother’s family many of whom are farmers. Above is my great uncle holding me tightly. As you can see, he was a no nonsense kind of guy. I adored him. He  worked all his life growing crops and raising animals. Farmers have it tough. Farming is in one’s blood; people who work the land are not likely to move to the city and do IT jobs. Many are divided on the GMO issue.

 The FDA claims more time is needed to do studies. Hogwash. Those of us who are in the know don’t buy it. The results are in.

Here is what GMO foods do:

•    cause tumors
•    cause endocrine damage
•    resistant to antibiotics
•    halt normal seed saving techniques
•    cause genetic mutations
•    are carcinogenic-prostrate, liver, kidney failure

When you look up the definition of GMO you get a clinical sanitized explanation. You ask, what’s the big deal? The answer is: do you want tumors growing in your body? Do you want to feed  deadly toxins to your family?

Most of us take time to read the labels on the food we eat. However, organic is not going to necessarily save you right now.   The US and Canada are the only developed countries who refuse to label GMO foods. Europe has GMO labeling.

Just in: Vermont and Connecticut legislated for GMO labeling.

Around the world, people are learning to live sustainably and to care for each other and the earth. It’s the intelligent way. It’s the non-threatening way to exist.

 Remember all those nitrates  dumped into smoked meats? They were linked to cancer.  Remember the awareness about smoking? Linked to cancer. We are all the wiser now. Don’t smoke. We’re trying to be better, even if it means paying higher prices at times and suffering through changing our habits.

 Years from now, your grandchildren, if there are any, will thank you for your concern. Or maybe we will all be mutants running around with genetically modified brains and no ability to think clearly, write poetry or sing songs. We’ll be in cubicles, one step up from robots and answering to monsters instead of real people. It’s an Orwellian nightmare come to pass unless we decide to demand changes.

In the ’70’s concerned citizens legislated against a product containing dioxin  sprayed on roadsides all over the country to control weeds. Gallons and gallons of deadly Agent Orange,  leftover from Viet Nam silently filtered onto  school grounds, parks, and public buildings.   Known to contain 2,4,5 T and sold to unsuspecting customers, it causes birth defects and disease. It’s being sold right now in pretty ubiquitous plastic containers designed to fit neatly on your shelf.

 Children born to Vietnam Veterans exposed to dioxins had high levels of cleft palates. Vets themselves had high rates of stomach cancer.  Women exposed to dioxins unknowingly pass it to their children if breast-feeding. The Department of Fish and Game found  deer exposed to the dangerous chemical suffered  miscarriages and hemorhaging.

So how does  Agent Orange, Roundup, and all this relate to GMO?   The answer is Monsanto. Nothing new. It’s in our cheery morning cereal, the stuff we loved as kids. It’s about monolithic corporations designed to  thump the little guy. They don’t have to herd us up and beat us over the head. They just use toxins, cheap prices, and bullying.

All farmers are our friends; they feed us. We appreciate every one of them. But this deadly game is a no-win situation. There’s nothing wrong with making money either, but when it comes to poison, we say NO GMO. Demand labeling!

Sometimes a rose is not a rose, is not a rose.

© original art by Susan E Rowland black walnut carving

Show up on Saturday!