|
Hard to Swallow
Debunking the propaganda behind genetically modified foods
BY DIANE OLSON RUTTER
Catalyst
December 2003
Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating, by Jeffrey M. Smith. Yes! Books, 2003. www.seedsofdeception.com
Some books - The Jungle, Silent Spring, Our Stolen Future - start revolutions. Jeffrey M. Smith's Seeds of Deception, an expose on genetically engineered foods, should join these ranks. If you think I'm exaggerating, then you don't know as much about the genetic engineering of foods crops as you should.
On May 26,1992, following six years of now-legendary political maneuvering by agribusiness colossus Monsanto (the company that brought us Agent Orange, PCBs, terminator seeds, and the unholy matrimony of fish and fruit), the Bush Senior administration announced a policy that would unleash a multibillion dollar devil with the ability to - literally - destroy the world as we know it. It seems fitting now that potato flake Dan Quayle read the announcement: We will ensure that biotech products will receive the same oversight as other products, rather than being hampered by unnecessary regulation.
Eleven years later, 80% of the soy, 70% of the cotton, 60% of the canola and 38% of the corn grown in the United States is genetically modified, meaning that the gene of another plant, animal or bacteria has been cut out, modified and inserted into the DNA of that food crop. The majority of non-organic meat, eggs, dairy products, food additives, enzymes, flavorings and sweeteners also contain GMOs (genetically modified organisms), as do other crops, including zucchini, yellow squash and some tobacco.
Humans who ingest foods containing GMOs are swallowing antibiotic-resistant markers, herbicides, pesticides and heretofore unknown toxins, viruses and synthetic genes along with their cereal, veggie burger or tofu protein shake. Unfortunately, derivatives from two of the most common GM crops - soy and corn - are found in around 70% of all processed foods, making them extremely difficult (though not impossible) to avoid.
While GM tomatoes (which contained the genes of an Arctic flounder) and potatoes have been pulled off the market thanks to public outcry, GM wheat, rice, flax, sugar beets, salmon and dozens of other Frankencrops are waiting in the wings. According to Monsanto's master plan (crafted by the Arthur Anderson Consulting Group), the company intends to genetically modify and patent 100% of the commercial seed supply within the next 20 years. Their strategy: Flood the marketplace until the consumer has no choice but to buy their products.
That GM foods are not subject to any type of testing or oversight is scary enough, since there is subsequently no way to track health problems that might arise from the introduction of completely alien life forms into the human diet. Though in the case of Showa Denko's 1-tryptophan (a supplement commonly sold in health food stores as a treatment for insomnia, which killed 37 people, permanently and severely disabled 1,535, and temporarily disabled another 5,000), scientists were able to trace the problem back to the company's new GM "Strain V," thanks to the violence of the symptoms. And the fact that food (particularly soy) allergies, obesity, diabetes, lymphatic cancers and antibiotic resistance have all skyrocketed since GM products hit grocery store shelves is certainly disturbing. But what's most alarming is that the entire GM food industry is based on a scientific fallacy - and the companies know it - yet they persist in playing agricultural, environmental and nutritional Russian roulette.
As Smith explains, the old theory of genetics held that each gene is coded to produce one unique protein (proteins being the substances that confer genetic traits in all plants and animals). But in June 2000, scientists were shocked to discover that each gene produces many proteins, which means that not only is it impossible to pluck a single desirable trait from a gene, but there's also no way to predict what other genetic mandates may come along for the ride. Says Barry Commoner, senior scientist at the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems at Queens College, "The fact that one gene can give rise to multiple proteins... destroys the theoretical foundation of a multibillion-dollar industry."
Smith provides plenty of hard data to counter the patronizing propaganda spread by both the biotech industry and its buddy the U.S. government. Bush Jr.'s recent claim that the European Union has "blocked all new bio-crops because of unfounded, unscientific fears" is merely an ineloquent rephrasing of one of Monsanto's more outrageous advertising slogans: So you see, there really isn't much difference between foods made by Mother Nature and those made by man. What's artificial is the line drawn between them.
Fortunately, Smith also gives advice on how to avoid GM foods, and provides ideas for circumventing the GM machine (see sidebar). And it's this assertion, that we, as consumers, have the power to refuse GM products, that makes this book - and the entire issue - more than just another disaster-of-the-week. As Smith notes the last page: "It's our food. Safe eating."
Diane Olson Rutter is a Catalyst staff writer whose home-grown organic tomatoes contain no flounder genes. You can email her at catalystedit@earthlink.net.
Smith urges readers to petition school districts, grocery stores and restaurants to forgo GM products, and even supplies education materials (see www.seedsofdeception) to hand out to business owners and others who, consciously or unconsciously, promote or serve GM foods.
|
