•Genetically engineered foods have led to higher rates of toxicity, allergies, antibiotic resistance, pest control problems, cancer and a variety of other health and environmental issues.
•Approximately 45% of corn and up to 85% of soybeans in the US are genetically engineered, and an estimated 70 - 75% of processed foods in the US contain genetically modified organisms (GMOS)
•The US does not require labeling of genetically modified foods, so you don't know what you might be ingesting without your knowledge. DEMAND the labeling of GMOS.
•Genetic engineering threatens biodiversity as "pure" plants are contaminated by GMOS through pollination (genetic drift). Biodiversity functions so that if one crop is wiped out by disease, others may still flourish. The homogenization of the food supply through genetic engineering has led to the development of "super" pests, disease and resultant crop failure and famine.
•Corporations in the biotech industry are interested in profits over feeding people good, safe food. Companies such as Monsanto and Novartis continue to develop new ways to ensure that farmers must buy more and more products from them each year, stripping small farmers of economic self-sufficiency. "Terminator technology" - genetically encoding a seed to be sterile - is an example of this.
For more information and to learn ways to get involved in stopping the genetic engineering of our food supply visit these websites:
www.greenpeace.org
www.safe-food.org
www.centerforfoodsafety.org
www.organicconsumers.org
www.thecampaign.org
www.gefoodalert.org
Another great resource is anything written by the author Vandana Shiva. Specifically
Stolen Harvest, Biopiracy and Monocultures of the Mind.
This information is printed on reusable canvas grocery bags which will be given as
the "goody" bag for the first 25 participants at the GIVE it up. MAKE it up. SWAP it up. event on Saturday Dec. 8th 10am - 4pm at Towson University's Center for the Arts.
No comments:
Post a Comment