GMOs: The Walking Dead of the Food Industry

GMO: Genetically Modified Organisms engineered from DNA of different species of plant, animal, bacterial, and viral genes. [1]

- Global Area of GMO crops:170.1 million hectares [2] 

- Area of Alaska: 171.7 million hectares [3]

- 70 percentage of items in American food stores containing GMOs [4] 

- 0 percentage of items in American food stores containing GMOs prior to 1996 [5] 

- 50 nations (including all EU countries) restricting or banning GMO production/sales [6] 

- In the US: FDA ruled GMOs not significantly different from naturally occurring foods 

- Approval based on studies conducted by GMO manufacturers themselves [6] 

- 87 percentage of consumers who want foods containing GMOs to be labeled 

- 53 percentage of Americans who would refuse to buy genetically modified food 

- 80 percentage of conventionally processed food containing GMOs in the US - labeling not required 

- GMOs are manufactured for herbicide tolerance, particularly to glyphosate (RoundUp). Some negative effects: 

- Glyphosate builds up in the soil, contaminating it. [7] 

- Weeds resistant to glyphosate develop, spawning super weeds. [7] 

- 1 breed of weeds resistant to glyphosate (ryegrass found in Australia) prior to 2010

 - 6 US states where glyphosate-resistant weeds have been reported in the past three years [8] 

- 1500% increase in herbicide production since GMOs introduced [7] 

- Signing of "Monsanto Protection Act" prevents government restrictions on GMO food found to cause health risks [6] 

- One corn GMO type threatened to wipe out Monarch butterfly larvae by contaminating milkweed [8] 

- "None of the genetically modified food crops currently on the market offer benefits to consumers in terms of price, nutrition, or new products." Ucsusa.org [8] 

- Over 40 genetically modified crops are allowed to be sold in the US. [8] 

- GMOs make it possible for allergens in one food type to emerge in a completely different species. [8]

 - GMOs found to transfer genetically altered DNA into the DNA of bacteria living in the human stomach, reproducing indefinitely. [9] 

- GMOs can contaminate existing species being grown organically. [9] 

- GMO producers can actually sue farmers whose crops are infected by GMO contaminates for intellectual property theft. [9] 

- As evidenced by the percentage of crops containing GMOs, producers like Monsanto have a virtual monopoly on the US farming industry. [10]

Top foods containing GMOs

- Sugar Beets (95% of US crop) 

- Soy (94% of US crop) 

- Canola (90% of US crop) 

- Cotton (90% of US crop) 

- Corn (88% of US crop) [9]

Sources

[1] http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/what-is-gmo/ 

[2] http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/44/executivesummary/pdf/Brief%2044%20-%20Executive%20Summary%20-%20English.pdf 

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_area

[4] http://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelhennessey/2012/11/03/gmo-food-debate-in-the-national-spotlight/ 

[5] http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/02/gmo-farming-crops-more-popular-than-ever-world-charts

[6] http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/

[7] http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/health/gmo-toxicity-affects-animals-plants-and-soil-336742.html

[8] http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/genetic-engineering/environmental-effects-of.html#monarch

[9] http://www.naturalnews.com/038792_GMO_toxicity_digestion_cancer.html

[10] http://grist.org/food/monsanto-flirts-with-disaster-owns-the-world-anyway/