Who Gets Benefits for Genetically Modified Food? Large Companies Reap Benefits for Genetically Modified Food, but Average People are Left in the Dark on Side Effects
Large Companies Reap Benefits For Genetically Modified Food, But Average People Are Left in the Dark on Side Effects.
The benefits for genetically modified food go primarily to the companies who develop and patent the seeds for the plants that have been modified, shutting out traditional seed-keeping farmers and leaving consumers out of the loop entirely.
In fact, while the FDA and the US Patent Office have embraced genetically modified foods as permissible, the public has never been given a chance to vote on whether or not it’s a good idea to mess with the DNA of Mother Nature.
Think about that Americans have referendum votes on budgets, abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research, but no vote on what goes into their food.
Do people just not care what’s in the food they eat? How is that even possible, when it seems as though one half of the population is on a diet at any given moment?
Americans obsess over trans fats, saturated fats, MSG, carbs and protein… but not genetic engineering?
Actually, it’s not that Americans don’t care–its just that the companies touting the benefits for genetically modified food don’t want to hear their opinions.
When someone takes a camera and a microphone out to ask the American public about their feelings on genetically modified produce, the reaction is decidedly mixed and a little uncomfortable, which is a sharp change from the ”Everyone loves this!” myth perpetuated by the big firms and the government.
Inconclusive?
So, while the Bill Nye video ends on an inconclusive note, there is one unequivocal thing to take away from all this.
The benefits for genetically modified food are not widely understood, well-documented or openly debated in the public space. And as for cherry broccoli… doesn’t that sound creepy?
Now, growers like Monsanto want the public to believe that cherry broccoli would be a great thing if it would get people to eat their veggies. But what kind of nutritional value could something like that really have?
No wonder they don’t want genetically modified foods to be labeled! If consumers had any idea that the food they were putting in their mouths had been genetically modified, many would not buy it.
So lobbyists spend billions of dollars to ensure that Congress doesn’t require GM foods to be labeled as organic foods are at this time.
Try Reality
That’s the reality of the GM foods industry. The benefits for genetically modified food accrue mostly in the pockets of manufacturers and seed creators, while consumers are left wondering what’s in their foods.
With all this hidden genetic restructuring going on in the potatoes, watermelons, tomatoes and corn, is it any wonder that weird, inexplicable food allergies are prevalent in children?
As they say ”You are what you eat”, and eating FrankenFoods will change the human body in unpredictable ways.
The reality is that no company wants to fund studies of the GM foods that could show they are dangerous because it hurts their bottom line.
An Austrian group has show that GM foods lower reproductive capabilities, but that’s hardly newsworthy in America thanks to lobbyists control of the media.
However, paying attention to the sources of the foods eaten at home could make a big difference in citizen’s health and well-being.
Regardless of what the government and big agriculturalists want people to believe, stepping off the map with food should be avoided. Buy local. Plant seeds. Stay healthy.