WHAT is GMO?

The definition of GMO according to wikipedia is "an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. Transgenic organisms, a subset of GMOs, are organisms which have inserted DNA that originated in a different species."

Want an easier explanation?  Check out The Non-GMO Project, "GMOs (or “genetically modified organisms”) are organisms that have been created through the gene-splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods."

Also at The Non-GMO Project,
Are GMOs safe?
In 30 other countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production of GMOs, because they are not considered proven safe. In the U.S. on the other hand, the FDA approved commercial production of GMOs based on studies conducted by the companies who created them and profit from their sale. Many health-conscious shoppers find the lack of rigorous, independent, scientific examination on the impact of consuming GM foods to be cause for concern.

According to the USDA, in 2009, 93% of soy, 93% of cotton, and 86% of corn grown in the U.S. were GMO. It is estimated that over 90% of canola grown is GMO, and there are also commercially produced GM varieties of sugar beets, squash and Hawaiian Papaya. As a result, it is estimated that GMOs are now present in more than 80% of packaged products in the average U.S. or Canadian grocery store.

According to the Institute for Responsible Technology, a consumer safety organization, “Genetic engineers continually encounter unintended side effects – GM plants create toxins, react to weather differently, contain too much or too little nutrients, become diseased or malfunction and die. When foreign genes are inserted, dormant genes may be activated or the functioning of genes altered, creating new or unknown proteins, or increasing or decreasing the output of existing proteins inside the plant.  The effects of consuming these new combinations of proteins are unknown.”

The information provided above is only just the beggining.  Several years ago I began researching food and nutrition.  It's simple and easy with website like google, using words such as gmo, gmo food and gmo side effects.  It is AMAZING the information available and it's down right disturbing!  I've learned about rGBH and unsavory charactors within the business of GMO agriculture. Several studies that really caught my attention were about the increase of instances of cancer and the link to pesticides and gmo production and consumption.  You can find the article here.

In my garden I plant ONLY non-gmo, open-pollinated, organic seeds to ensure my families health and well-being.  I'm not taking any chances with franken-seeds!