October is Non-GMO Awareness Month. 89% Americans want clear labels for genetically modified foods..thousands march fr NYC to DC

(quote)

Protesters Demand Honest GMO Labels at Right 2 Know March
The Right to Know Where Food Comes From

[October 1, 2011] Starting today, thousands of Americans will march in protest from New York City all the way to Washington D.C. to demand clear, honest labeling of foods with genetically modified ingredients.

Genetically modified foods are subject to disclosure and labeling requirements in many countries, but currently, United States law does not require food producers to label genetically modified foods sold to consumers as genetically modified. The only way for consumers who prefer not to eat genetically modified foods to avoid GMOs is to buy produce only from farmers they know, carefully research the origins of the food they purchase, or limit themselves to buying only food that either been certified by the USDA as organic or has been voluntarily labeled by its manufacturer and certified by a third party as non-GMO.

The organizers of the Right 2 Know March hope to change that. In 2010, October was declared Non-GMO Awareness Month by the Non-GMO Project, and this year, from October 1st through October 16th, protesters will march through several cities across the northeast, stopping at key points along the way to hold local rallies with guest speakers. Their goal? To convince the U.S. government to listen to the strong majority of Americans - 89% according to a recent New York Times poll - who want foods that contain genetically modified ingredients labeled.

Food Safety Concerns and Genetically Modified Foods

The creators of genetically modified crops insist that there is no need to label genetically engineered foods because, they claim, GMO foods are just as safe as traditional crops. Monsanto, the biotech giant responsible for the creation of genetically modified Roundup-Ready soybeans and corn, claims on its "food safety" page, "Yes, food derived from authorized genetically-modified (GM) crops is as safe as conventional (non-GM-derived) food"”

But the truth is, genetically modified foods have not been tested in long-term clinical studies on humans. And GM plants do produce substances not contained in the original, non-GMO plants. Some GM crops, like Bt corn, have been engineered to produce insect-killing pesticides inside the plant. Though Bt, a natural pesticide derived from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis, has long been considered safe for humans when applied to the outside of crops (where it can presumably be washed off), scientists have not studied the long term effects of eating genetically modified corn with Bt proteins on the inside.

Two weeks ago on the MOMocrats.com Blog Talk Radio show, I interviewed a Right 2 Know March speaker, registered dietician and author Ashley Koff, who shared some of her professional knowledge about the safety of genetically modified foods. "Anyone can speculate whether or not they want to eat a plant that already has pesticides in its genetic makeup," says Koff, but in her work as a dietician, Koff advises her clients to avoid genetically modified foods. Which, according to Koff, is becoming more and more difficult: "About 95 to 97 percent of soybeans in the U.S. are genetically modified," she says. And more than 70 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. is also GMO. With this much unlabeled genetically modified food on the market, it’s nearly impossible for the average American to entirely avoid eating GM foods.

The Environmental Impact of GMOs

Beyond food safety concerns, many environmentalists worry about the potential ecological effects of genetically modified crops. Genetically modified crops have been shown to cross-breed with related wild plants, spreading modified genes through the ecosystem; overuse of Monsanto’s RoundUp, also known as glyphosate, the herbicide RoundUp Ready corn and soy were created to work in synergy with, has caused the evolution of glyphosate-resistant superweeds.

The use of patented, genetically modified food crops also promotes an extreme form of monoculture - the practice of growing vast swaths of nearly genetically identical plants again and again in the same place. Monoculture threatens ecosystems by sharply decreasing a region’s natural biodiversity and removing natural food sources for important crop pollinators like butterflies and bees; it also makes farmers highly susceptible to enormous losses in the event their crops are attacked by a new form of pest or disease.

In fact, the infamous Irish potato famine of the 1840s was caused in large part by widespread adoption of monoculture. At the time, farmers across Ireland overwhelming planted their fields with a single, popular variety of potato - in fact, nearly all the potatoes grown in Ireland in the 1840s were clones of a single original plant. When a new form of potato blight arrived in the country that Irish potatoes had no natural resistance to, the entire nation’s crop was destroyed, and no resistant varieties were readily available to replace it.

Industrial farmers in the United States seem to have forgotten this harsh history lesson.

Most Americans agree we have a right to know what’s in our food, and a right to choose safe, healthy food for our families and ourselves. And yet 80% of the packaged foods in America contain Genetically Engineered ingredients that have not been proven safe, and are not labeled.

Between October 1st and October 16th of this year, marchers from all across the country will be walking from New York City to the White House, in Washington DC, demanding labeling of all Genetically Engineered Foods, in what has come to be called the GMO Right2Know march.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) endanger our health, the environment, and our farmer’s livelihoods. For too long, biotechnology companie have lobbied against labeling products containing their patented plants - plants which are specially designed to be sprayed with cancer-causing weed-killers, and plants which produce pesticides in every one of their cells.

The GMO Right2Know March is the first of it’s kind in America, and will have daily events between its kickoff in New York City and its finale at the White House, in Washington, DC. Come for the knowledgeable speakers, fun presentations, camping, and much, much more...

These recent actions have created momentum to rally for the right to know about GMOs:
* The decisions by the USDA to approve genetically modified Round-Up Ready alfalfa seeds to be grown without restrictions.
* The court decision to hold Bayer responsible for the LibertyLink contamination of rice.
* The pre-emptive action by organic farmers and seed sellers to sue Monsanto for protection from patents on genetically modified seed.
* The growth of the U.S. organic industry to $28.6 billion in 2010
* The participation of hundreds of companies in the Non-GMO Project organizing of the March 26th Right to Know Rallies and the response of 68,478 letters to Congress asking for GMO Labeling.

October 2011 is Non-GMO Month!

What are GMO’s?
GMO’s or Genetically Modified Organisms are organisms 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.

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.

How common are GMOs?
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.

Non-GMO Month
Non-GMO Month was created by the Non-GMO Project in 2010 as a platform for raising awareness on the GMO issue. Citizens and organizations across North America are waking up to the failure of GMO technology, and discovering the risk GMOs pose to our health, our families, and our planet.

This October marks the second ever Non-GMO Month. The Non-GMO Project created Non-GMO Month last year as a platform for raising awareness about the GMO issue and the risks GMOs (genetically modified organisms) pose to our health and the environment.

A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is any plant, animal or microorganism that has has its genetic material altered using genetic engineering techniques.

The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization working to protect consumers’ right to make informed choices about whether or not to consume GMOs. They offer the only third-party verification and labeling for non-GMO food and products in the U.S.

So far this year, we’ve written quite a lot on the GMO issue. Back in January, I wrote an article titled, 5 Things I’d Like to See Happen This Year, which included my wish for the government "to lay some guidelines for the GMOs that have begun to enter our food supply"” Unfortunately, as the year progressed, we saw exactly the opposite happen, with the USDA seemingly on course to completely deregulate all new GMO crops... (read more)

(unquote)

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Right2Know March, and Non-GMO Project