Monsanto, GMOS and you. What does it all mean?

One of the biggest challenges today when talking about why the rates of food sensitivities and allergies, immune disorders, chronic illnesses and more have all dramatically increased over the last 20 or so years, is that people have little idea of what they’re consuming, and hows it’s affecting them. From hormones, chemically created oils, genetically modified/engineered foods, etc., the list of what we eat, and how its altered goes on and on. And sadly, most people have little idea of what they’re putting into their mouths and the effects it has on them. Why have the rates of allergies, ADD, ADHD and Autism increased so dramatically in conjunction with the onset of GMOs? Can I claim a correlation? Not definitively but there are plenty of resources that support the correlation belief, from allergies to auto-immune disorders, imbalanced hormones, thyroid disorders and more, chemicals used in our food supplies are slowly destroying us. Here’s a quote from Allergykids.com, founded by Robin O’Brien that speaks to the danger of chemical exposure in our children:

Because 70% of our immune system is found in our digestive tracts, the foods that we eat and the chemicals that they contain can have a significant impact on our health.

As these chemicals in foods work through a child’s digestive system, they can corrode his or her “pipes” in much the same way that chemical toxins corrode plumbing! This “chemical corrosion” of the digestive tract can leave a child vulnerable to a host of auto-immune disorders, including allergies, asthma, Celiac’s disease, cancer and other conditions.

Because of the risks that these chemicals may present, mothers in most developed countries are advised to avoid exposure to chemical toxins during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy given the role that these toxins play in the development of:

• autism
• allergies
• asthma
• ADHD
• gestational diabetes.

A mother’s exposure to pesticide during pregnancy has been linked to both:

• autism
• gestational diabetes (Source: Organic Center)

So who is Monsanto, how are they related to GMOs and what does it mean to us? Over the years, I’ve heard the name Monsanto, but didn’t truly understand the impact they have. With more than 11,000 patents, they are ensuring they will maintain control over the crop market by controlling the seeds. So, the same company that brought us Roundup and Roundup resistant seeds is poised to control our food supplies and the USDA refuses to get involved. In a nutshell, they sold herbicides and pesticides to the farmers. It worked – killed the weeds, but killed the crops too. So they developed a seed that was resistant to the effects of herbicides and pesticides (in fact, the seed has pesticide properties on its own), they patented it (with more than 11,000 patents) and made it so that the farmers had to buy their seeds in order to ensure their crops would survive. Click here to read more about Monsanto and GMOs and I encourage you to watch the video below – its a full length movie called The World According to Monsanto (FULL LENGTH)

So what can you do? Make informed decisions about what you eat, and probably more importantly, what your kids eat. Try to ensure that the food you eat comes in its natural, unprocessed or unrefined state as much as possible, and take it all slowly. If you try to ensure a life completely devoid of chemicals, contaminants and GMOs you will drive yourself crazy until the fight to ensure proper labeling is in place. For now, I suggest you focus on the small footprints towards the bigger picture.

For me, I started by cutting back on corn and eliminating all soy. I’m hoping to completely eliminate corn for my son too, but as he is already gluten free, corn has provided an alternative that makes eating out manageable. So while I search for alternatives to keep him safe and healthy, I will share those with you. For now, watch the movie below when you have some time and remember – small footprints towards the big picture!

Here’s to being informed and safe, one small choice at a time!

http://youtu.be/Rml_k005tsU