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For 5 years, I worked in the environment department of a company that last year paid significant money to stop GMO labeling. I spent time on test patches of farms and hearing ‘Round Up ready’ was just a normal part of the day. At the time I thought having crops that were ‘drought resistant’ due to alterations made in a lab was a good thing. Really that was all I knew about Round-Up and Monsanto and I didn’t know what a GMO was or that what I was seeing was the beginning of a global crisis.
I have come a long way since then in my understanding of GMO’s but unfortunately while the majority of people have heard of GMO’s, they have not taken the time to really know what they are and why they are bad for us and the environment. The entire topic is overwhelming and it is hard to know where to start to understand the issues and how to keep your family safe.
As a mother, I struggle with knowing that I am feeding my son something that contains GMO’s, but it is impossible to be 100% GMO free without the assistance of proper labeling. Without labeling, we are allowing corporations to decide what is in our food instead of being able to read a label and make the decision ourselves.
Until labeling of GMO food becomes mandatory, there are 5 easy things you can do to limit your exposure to GMO’s.
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How to Avoid GMO Food
- Vote with your dollars. Support the companies that are fighting for labeling of GMO’s. Do not buy from the companies that have paid to defeat GMO labeling.
- Take control of your food source by buying heirloom or organic seeds and planting your own garden. Get a couple friends to plant a garden too so you can trade produce!
- Go through your pantry and figure out what you buy that contains GMO’s. Come up with a plan to replace them with GMO free alternatives.
- Talk to the farmers at the local market to find out where their food is coming from. Ensure it is local and organic. At my local market the majority of produce isn’t even local but instead is being brought in from a food terminal over an hour away. For the winter months when access to local organic produce can be limited, join a Community Support Agriculture (CSA) that offers organic produce.
- Buy organic grass fed meat. The majority of corn in North America is GMO and the trend seems to be to feed cattle corn instead of grass in the beef industry. By buying organic grass fed meat you easily reduce the amount of GMO’s you are consuming.
What are your easy tips for someone to reduce exposure to GMO foods?
