Parenting Monsanto……Keeping our children safe from harm in today's
chemically-saturated world is one of the great challenges of modern parenting, other than raising a young boy.....
The more I read the news, the more I want to look for toddler-sized quarantine
suits on Etsy, but the most proactive way I can protect my son is to keep
myself educated on these issues -- even if that means I get forehead wrinkles
from excessive worry. In addition to the health of my child, I fear for the
ecological health of the planet. Last time I checked, Earth is the only place
we have to live, and what kind of future am I providing for my son if I am not
cognizant of how my life and the decisions of my government effect our
environment? That is why every parent should be aware of the Monsanto
Protection Act and what it means for their family. When
President Obama signed the Monsanto Protection Act, many citizens were outraged
by this blatant violation of the Constitution. By approving this act, Obama has
allowed Monsanto to exist above
the law, since genetically modified seeds are now protected from
any litigation involving health risks. That is strange, right…? If you were
confident in your product, why would you be concerned about lawsuits involving
health risks…? You may wonder how this applies to you, considering you don't
buy Monsanto-Oh's for breakfast, but essentially, you are. 
Monsanto's
genetically engineered corn, soy, wheat and beet crops have infiltrated our entire food system,
and you are eating their products every day and not even realizing it... Many
people, including children, have developed deadly allergies to peanuts and other
food products. Imagine the trauma for a child who has to deal with their
mortality every time they eat -- how terrifying for the affected kids and their
parents... According to PBS.org, some
critics of GM foods feel that the possibility exists that those genetically
modified food crops may unintentionally introduce a new allergen -- for
example, a fish gene can be put into a plant.... Although I am fan of sushi, I
don't really think it is necessary to cross-breed it with my strawberries --
especially considering the potential adverse reaction. PBS then goes on to
explain, another potential hazard is the possibility that bacteria in our guts
could pick up antibiotic-resistant genes found in many GM foodstuffs... in
principle, it could exacerbate the already worrisome spread of disease-causing
bacteria that have proven able to withstand our antibiotics. Beyond frightening
and unforeseen potential consequences to human health, there are serious
ecological effects we can't afford to ignore. As well as patenting all its
seeds, Monsanto genetically engineered a suicide
gene for
each seed and they don't even offer them therapy or
xanax. Traditionally, farmers around the world have saved seeds in order to
cultivate a variety of strands to help maintain bio-diversity…. Monsanto now forces farmers to use one seed
that essentially kills itself so it cannot be used the next season, and
therefore the farmers have to purchase new seed annually. This one seed is
mass-produced in one location, resulting in mono-crop
farming. So when you drive cross-country (like I just did
several days ago), one-third of the time you will be staring at corn and soy
fields making you wish the Children of the Corn will emerge and eat your
eyeballs directly out of your sockets. Massive fields with one crop, created
from one seed, become very susceptible to pests -- hence the creation of
pesticides. And because there is no crop-rotation to replenish fields, the
pesticides often seep further into the ground. You want to know something fun
about pesticides….? A lot of them are made from Agent
Orange. Yeah…! That stuff we used as a chemical
weapon in the Vietnam War. Monsanto actually developed Agent
Orange for the U.S. Government, but since it had some left over, Monsanto
discovered the perfect market for it -- our food….! I know organic products are
annoyingly expensive,
but that is because organic farmers don't receive the subsidies that GM farmers
do. It is not like organic farmers are bling-bling in diamonds because of all
their profit from kale. They are barely scraping by trying to compete in a
marketplace dominated by agribusiness. And think of it this way -- until the
1940s the whole world ate organic all the time. Because that was all there was.
Of course this is a very complicated issue because millions of people are
dependent on GM crops to survive, but as an individual or chef with purchasing
power, how you spend your money will dictate where the market will start to
lean (lets sway this market). Supporting local farmers and getting involved
with Community Supported
Agriculture will keep your costs down, and the more people who
buy food grown without GMOs, the more companies will move in that direction. It
can be difficult to make an assessment for yourself of the personal and
environmental risks of genetically engineered crops, because both the pro and
con sides of the argument are very impassioned. You can find massive amounts of
research pointing you in either direction on this subject and that in and of
itself should be a major warning sign. That the long-term consequences of these
products are not yet understood means that we, the consumers, are essentially
the test subjects of a global experiment involving our entire food system. What
kind of responsible scientist uses humans as their guinea pigs…? Not to throw
the mice and rats under the bus, but I would much prefer we test on them for a
few decades before we use our children…. I have tried and have successfully
kept as many GMO products away from my son as possible…. He was raised on an
organic apple orchard in southern Maine for his first few years, that has
helped immensely in the direction of our food supply…
