Taking Action: GMO's, Pesticides, and Organic Foods

After reading several articles this weekend, I am acutely aware that I can no longer be silent. We have the power to push for change, and while I may be one small voice, I can use it to empower others. Hopefully, to empower you. The issue at hand here is our food supply. The food that is intended to nurture us is being messed with. This makes me angry, and to be truthful, a little afraid. Afraid because even though I make the choice to try and feed my family the healthiest food possible, I may not be able to get all the information I need to make those choices. If rules are changed and GMO's are allowed, unlabeled into our food supplies or into our organic products what we don't know really can hurt us. So, time to take some action. Here are a few things you can do (and I have already done):

1. Educate yourself!
Read and learn. Here are a few recent articles in the news about GMO's and pesticides:
http://healthimpactnews.com/2012/monsanto-guilty-of-chemical-poisoning-in-france/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/11/mark-kastel-on-agent-orange.aspx?e_cid=20120311_SNL_Art_1 (also includes a link to sign the organic food petition listed below)

This is an article about fertilizers that have contaminated a farming community's water supply and the expense of cleaning it up (and the toll this has taken on people's health).
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/13/10657809-farming-communities-facing-crisis-over-nitrate-pollution-study-says?fb_ref=.T19bd9Ld7KM.like&fb_source=profile_multiline

2. Know what you are buying.
How to tell if produce is conventional, GMO, or organic:
http://www.nutritiousfeast.com/2009/03/how-to-tell-if-fruit-or-vegetable-is.html

If you can't afford all organic, the EWG has a list of the dirty dozen- http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
Truth be told, I try to buy as much as I can organic, but that is not always possible or affordable. I also joined a local CSA, which I absolutely love. This is another way to support your local organic farmers. On a side note, all corn in the US is GMO, unless it is specifically labeled organic. 

If you want to support the EWG (Environmental Working Group) with a donation, great. But the information that is on the site is there and it is free. This is an amazing resource, not just for information on foods and pesticides but on safe body products and other environmental issues as well. As a consumer your dollar speaks the loudest. By choosing not to buy GMO's (or conventional) produce, and choosing organic instead (or at least non GMO) you are showing where your support is. If people don't buy it, eventually the store will not sell it.

3. Keep synthetics out of our organic foods.
 Sign the petition here. (Please). It takes 2 seconds of your time!
http://www.cornucopia.org/ban-bogus-synthetic-additives-in-organics/


4. What's in that package of food you are buying?
We all know that eating processed foods all the time takes a big toll on our health, but sometimes the packaging is just as dangerous as the food itself. There is a big push to remove BPA (a known carcinogen) from food packaging. Here's some more information on it: http://networkedblogs.com/uYhm0
 and
http://www.ewg.org/release/fda-decide-soon-whether-move-toward-bpa-food-packaging-ban

Here is one more petition to sign to get BPA out of food packaging. It takes less than a minute to sign, so please do and share this link widely!
http://action.ewg.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1965&tag=201203FDABPAActionEmail&utm_source=201203fdabpaemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=first-link&utm_campaign=toxi

This is a starter and these are 4 simple steps. I could go into healthy eating and making the choice to eat less processed foods, but that is a whole subject by itself. My own way of eating and how I feed my family have evolved dramatically since starting this blog. Then again, so has the whole world of gluten free eating.
So, get to it! You might be one small voice, but when we join together we become one loud voice. Let's make this a safer, healthier planet for everyone on it.