By Margie Kelly, Huffington Post
Most of the government-approved, made in the U.S.A. food we eat is poisoned. That may sound like a pitch for a sci-fi novel, but unless a growing body of research is all wrong, a tainted food supply is the reality here in America. Take genetically modified (GM) foods, for example, which are linked to a long list of health problems, from food allergies and cell damage in humans, to tumors, liver problems, sterility and high infant mortality rates in rats. If any of these studies are accurate, eating organic food is the only way to stay clean, because genetically modified foods are everywhere.
1. Corn: Corn is the No. 1 crop grown in the U.S. and nearly all of it — 88 percent — is genetically modified. In addition to being added to innumerable processed foods, genetically modified corn is a staple of animal feed.
2. Soy: 93 percent of soy is genetically modified. Soy is a staple of processed foods under various names including hydrogenated oils, lecithin, emulsifiers, tocopherol (a vitamin E supplement), and proteins.
Read more about dangers of GMOs
3. Cottonseed: According to the USDA, 94 percent of cotton grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. Cottonseeds are culled from cotton, and then used for vegetable oil, margarine, or shortening production, or frying foods, such as potato chips.
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4. Alfalfa: Farmers feed alfalfa to dairy cows, the source of milk, butter, yogurt, meat, and so much more. Alfalfa is the fourth largest crop grown in the U.S., behind corn, soybeans, and wheat (though there is no genetically engineered wheat on the market).
5. Papaya: 75 percent of the Hawaiian papaya crop is genetically modified to withstand the papaya ringspot virus.
6. Canola: About 90 percent of the U.S. canola crop is genetically modified. Canola oil is used in cooking, as well as biofuels. In North Dakota, genetically modified canola has been found growing far from any planted fields, raising questions about what will happen when “escaped” GE canola competes with wild plants.
7. Sugar Beets: More than half — 54 percent — of sugar sold in America comes from sugar beets. Genetically modified sugar beets account for 90 percent of the crop; however, that percentage is expected to increase after a USDA’s decision last year gave the green light to sugar beet planting before an environmental impact statement was completed.
This list of the Top Seven Genetically Modified Crops was created by Margie Kelly for The Huffington Post.
6 thoughts on “Top 7 Genetically Modified (GM) Crops”
There are many ways to get involved in the grassroots movement to label GMOs – you can start by visiting the Organic Consumers Association – http://www.organicconsumers.org – they have compiled a very large green/organic buying guide.
The list is a good start, for avoiding GMOs. Unfortunately, GMOs are so prevalent it’s nearly impossible to avoid them. Eating organic is good, but what about restaurants, pot-luck dinner parties, etc? We would have to stay home, grow our own organic food, and not eat anything else, to be 100% sure of no GMOs.
Besides doing our best to avoid, grow our own, support local organic farmers, and organic food companies, we must act to get legislation passed to ban or label GMOs, and to advocate with our dollars. We must act to demand stores carry organic, non-GMO labeled food (and to label GMO food). If more consumers demand non-GMO organic, farmers/food companies/stores/restaurants will meet our demands. Organic is expensive but cost will come down as demand goes up. Besides, money saved in sick-care costs balances it out. Organic food is higher in nutrients (with no toxins for our bodies to flush out), keeping us healthier, saving money in the long run.
I could say a lot more on this topic, it’s important to me. Just tell everyone you know to tell everyone they know, to avoid and advocate. I am not typically a “doom-sayer” but I honestly believe GMOs could cause the end of the human race. GMOs cause infertility in mice in just 3 generations. We’re already seeing a rise in infertility in humans and we’re only on the first generation.
Couple of notes: (1) Canola stands for Canadian Oil Low Acid — it’s genetically modified by design, is it not? It is a derivative of the rapeseed plant and was modified to (try to?) make it fit for human consumption. (2) According to cardiologist, William Davis M.D., author of The New York Times best seller, Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health, today’s wheat is a “stocky little high-yield plant, a distant relative of the wheat our mothers used to bake muffins, but genetically and biochemically light years removed from the wheat of just 40 years ago.
We have geneticists and agribusiness to thank for this transformation from four-and-a-half foot tall ‘amber waves of grain’ to the two-foot tall semi-dwarf genetic variant now sold to us in the guise of ‘healthy whole grains.’”
While I appreciate the information, I think GMO’s and crop alterations are more widespread than we care to know…
The only way to know if it is not genetically modified is to buy organic seeds and from there harvest seeds from each crop so that you know that they are not genetically modified. And yes it does include sweet corn. Great article.
I grow many of my own foods. Is there a way to know if the seeds I buy are from genetically modified crops?
Does that corn include sweetcorn as well as feed corn?
It would be helpful to list some of the guises under which corn appears (as was done with soy).
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