Friday, April 17, 2015

GMO OMG

Last week I hired "GMO OMG" from the Video Store (yes it's still called the Video Store although they are going out of business fast like the drive in theaters I think.  Lucky for me ours seems to be still going strong).

I knew what this film would be about and on the one hand, I'm not surprized by it however, on the other hand you think OMG really!!!



Big corporations have power and money and basically get what they want by squashing out anyone who is not on their side.  I think when Jamie Oliver tried to get the School Canteens of America to serve real food and not frozen fast foods he was up against it as the companies who are in these systems make millions and therefore have a lot of money and power to try and keep it the way it's always been.

Monsanto is the GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) seed distributor.  Monsanto ran their own testing for 3 months on rats to see if the seeds are safe and therefore the report is not independent and of course it is in their best interests to have a glowing report.  Another fellow not associated with Monsanto spent 2 years testing the GMO seeds on rats and all the rats developed these huge tumors.  Naturally Monsanto shot down the results saying he didn't use the rats that they used (however he used exactly the same rats).  You see where all of this is going.

The other not surprizing thing but shocking thing is that some executives jump from company to politics and back again (it has a name but I can't recall) so they can get things moving through policies with the interests of the seed company seriously how is this okay is beyond me.

I was fascinated by the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the side of the mountain in Norway.

I, like the film maker, was shocked when his little son caught a trout upstream in nature that he figured would be GMO free but not so as the food these fish were fed was not GMO free and then they go and put the fish upstream in various places.  It makes it pretty hard when you think about it to try and eat GMO free.

We all can't be growing every piece of food item, running beef, sheep and chickens in our backyards but these GMO seeds are Round Up ready (or whatever the terminology was).  When the whole field of corn gets sprayed with round up to kill all other weeds naturally it goes onto the corn plant and while it won't kill or affect the corn plant (hence the GMO object)........guess what.....we as humans (well Americans) are eating food which has been sprayed with round up all over it.

I'm sure in Australia it's probably similar but don't quote me on that one.  It's great being educated on our food but when the fish is caught in a stream somewhere in it's natural environment and it is not GMO free.......where does one go from there.

There is just so much big business making money vs looking at the long term effects of peoples health.  It's a good movie, so get it out or see if your Library has a copy.  When will we learn that healthy people actually have less burden on society, doctors, hospitals etc. so isn't it in our best interests to start with food.

Has anyone else seen this documentary and what was your thoughts?

2 comments:

  1. I'm not sure if it was this documentary, but I've seen one just like it and it was fascinating. I find round up ready seeds fascinating and terrifying at the same time. I'm sure it can't be good to be eating food served up with a hefty serving of round up!

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  2. I saw this as well and wasn't surprised by much of the information as I've done a lot of research myself on the safety of these seeds. It's really hard to avoid the gm seeds as some, like corn, are pollinated by wind. The fish was the most surprising aspect of the movie but it shouldn't have come as a shock that our fish are compromised as well.

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