How to shop non-GMO

Disclaimer: I didn't intend to write a book, but I got to researching this topic and am passionate about it and just couldn't keep all of this information to myself. If this overwhelms you, then at minimum - dowload, print and use the Non-GMO shopping guide to help you purchase brands that do NOT use GMOs in their ingredients. Or, to be safe and effective, buy organic. GMOs cannot be present in Organic Certified foods.

Shopping non-GMO is more difficult than you might think. GMOs are laced into much of our food supply. Even if the product itself is not made from genetically modified ingredients, many of the additives can be. For example: soy is present in most pre-packaged foods as a stabilizer and a filler. It is estimated by experts 96% of the soy crop in America is genetically modified. Start checking your labels, you will be surprised to see how often a soy product shows up. I challenge you to try to remove soy from your diet - try it for a week. Most things have soy in them, and those that don't are made in a factory where soy is present so they could theoretically be contaminated. Here is a list of "invisible GM ingredients", these ingredients are found in things you eat everyday - bread, Coca Cola, gold fish crackers, margarine, and the list goes on.

Monsanto has made large strides in an effort to achieve a monopoly on America's soy crop. Monsanto controls soy {almost} in it's entirety - 96%! They are not far behind with the GM corn crop, coming in at 80%. Guess who President Obama named Head of Agriculture when he took office? Now the company who is going after our food supply is "in-like-Flynn" with our President. And make no mistake, Monsanto IS going after our food supply. Monsanto's long term vision is monopoly. When one company controls food, one company controls the people - all people. Or, when one company closely linked with our government controls the food supply, the government controls the people. At that point in time, it won't matter if you're rich or poor, black or white. If you think I am blowing this out of proportion, allow me to point out that American soil is currently laiden with Monsanto's genetically modified soy, corn, cotton, sugar beets, canola and they are pushing hard to plant GM alfalfa.

(If you want more information on Monsanto, click here to visit the Organic Consumer Association's website)

What's the big deal with GMOs? Well, for starters it's not natural. This is not the way we were ever intended to eat. Our bodies were designed to eat an apple grown from the earth, not from the pocketbook of man. We don't fully understand the repercussions of consuming modified food. The first GM seed was planted in US soil in 1996, and only recently have people started talking about it. Only recently has it made it's way to headline news reports. We don't know what affect it's going to have on the human popluation, and yet Monsanto pushes forward with introducing new GM seeds into our food supply, with the backing of the USDA.

This is a great article from Mother Earth News, please take a few minutes to look it over and to take action to let President Obama and Head of Agriculture Tom Vilsak know that you will not tolerate un-labeled GMO products.

More excellent resources found at the Organic & Non-GMO Report.