Wednesday

The True History of Genetically Modified Plants

Genetically engineered food is created when genes from one species has been combined with another, even when these combinations wouldn’t be possible in nature.[1] These genetically modified crops can either be herbicide-tolerant (they live even when sprayed with lots of heavy chemicals) or pesticide-producing (they have internal pesticides that kill bugs when they attempt to eat the crop).

A company called Novartis received approval to grow the first genetically engineered corn (Bt176) to be used for animal feed in the United States in 1995.[2]  Bt176 is an example of a pesticide-producing crop. Before introducing Bt176 to large numbers of animals, Novartis only conducted one feeding test on four cows for two weeks.[3]  One week into the test, one of the cows died due to electrolyte and mucosal issues. Because researchers weren’t able to find a scientific cause of death, the cow was simply removed from the study.

People should know that animal feeding trials such as this aren’t required prior to the release of a genetically modified organism. If they are done at all, they are often very small and conducted over a short period of time, like this one was.

Since 1995, farmers have fed Bt176 corn to their livestock for longer stretches of time with serious consequences, including fatigue, kidney and mucosal issues, inability to yield milk, irregular heart function, general abnormal behaviors, and even death.[4]

Genetically engineered plants such as Bt176 are created with properties that enable them to kill insects, so how can we expect that these properties can just be washed off before humans eat them? The simple answer is that they can’t be. When we eat Bt plants and genetically engineered foods, the pesticides and toxins are “not destroyed when passing through your digestive system, and…can bioaccumulate in your body.”[5]

With the current food labeling laws and requirements, it’s not always possible to know whether the food you’re ingesting is genetically modified or not. If you’d like to avoid these products and eat foods that are truly natural (not just marked “organic”), you can visit these websites for more information:

http://www.eatwellguide.org
https://www.farmmatch.com
http://www.localharvest.org/redlands-ca
http://www.westonaprice.org/get-involved/find-local-chapter/

Working to restore GOD’s perfect design in you!





[1] Dr. Mercola, “Investigation Reveals First Commercialized GMO Maize Was Toxic to Farm Animals.” February 9, 2016. <http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/02/09/gmo-maize-toxic-to-animals.aspx?e_cid=20160209Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20160209Z1&et_cid=DM97543&et_rid=1350229846>
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.

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