By William Hernandez
Remember that old saying: You are what you eat?
With the new and unhealthy types of food concoctions created through genetic modification, it may be time students start rethinking that old cliche.
Thanks to ever-changing biological technology, it is now possible to take the genes of a tomato, and insert those genes into a zucchini (and vice versa) presumably to create a heartier zucchini that sells faster and turns a bigger profit.
Growers are seemingly more invested in the almighty dollar than producing nutritious goods for their consumer’s quality of life.
Naturopathic doctor and men’s health instructor Anthony M. Antonacci considers GMOs to be the product of a profit-driven system that is more concerned with money and capital-gains than consumer health.
“Many more of my patients are showing up with colon cancer and I can only attribute it to their poor diets,” Antonacci said.
“They’re eating a lot of soy, corn, canola and that’s all genetically modified because they put the pesticide directly into the seed when it’s planted so it’s Roundup ready.”
Roundup is a agricultural pesticide used by farmers to conserve fuel and improve crop stustainability.
The side effects and long-term health risks caused by GMOs are detrimental.
They can also alter students moods which can then interrupt their sense of concentration when studying.
Many mass-food distributors such as Monsanto, use genetic engineering for the sake of making more money by expanding the pace of production along with its size.
The downside to this is that the crop is genetically-modified with pesticides and Monsanto’s own herbicide Roundup.
This can attribute to a high risks of tumors, according to a study performed on rats by Dr. Gilles-Eric Seralini of University of Caen in France.
For example, in 1995, Monsanto genetically engineered a potato crop to fuel its production line and distribute it to their consumers like McDonalds.
According to online news-site Mother Jones, McDonalds actually told their fries supply to stop producing GE corn oil because of possible health hazards.
This is the same food-shark that was using (meat scraps mixed with ammonium hydroxide), “Pink Slime” to make their Big Macs.
Out of the 64 developed countries, the United States is the only one that doesn’t label food made with GMOs.
Capitalism is what this country was founded on, but Alexander Hamilton was not this cold-hearted.
In the 2012 election, California voters rejected Proposition 37 which would have made it mandatory for companies to label the products made with GMOs.
Prop. 37 was defeated by large corporations such as Monsanto, Pepsi Company, and General Mills that donated more than $45.6 million toward the “No on 37” campaign.
This is not your typical ballot initiative. It was a classic David versus Goliath feud with the public being the small underdog that came up just short.
One way to identify GM products is reading the ingredients section of food labels.
If there happens to be a whole bunch of chemical names that seem odd, chances are that it’s a GMO.
But research is critical. With our smartphones it’s very simple to look up “potassium benzoate” found in diet coke.
The unfortunate truth of produce sold at markets is that unless its been certified organic, there’s a high chance of the apple being a GM apple.
Though the food cost is pricier at Whole Foods than it would be at Ralphs, it’s certified to be quality and you know what you’re getting.
“There was a Coenzyme Q10 supplement from someone brought in that said it had soy. I guarantee that’s been genetically modified… I wouldn’t touch that product,” Antonacci said.
GMOs are slowly eating away at the consumer wallet, and next its biting into the public life span.