The organic movement needs YOU to help spread awareness of organic agriculture vs. GMO

Sunday, April 10, 2016 by: Julie Wilson staff writer
Tags: organic movement, GMOs, sustainable agriculture

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(NaturalNews) Over the last 20 years, the agricultural industry has slowly and inconspicuously introduced genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to the world, dominating the market in just a few short years, while the majority of the public stays mostly uniformed.

Following Paul Berg's 1971 gene-splicing experiment, which resulted in the invention of man-made DNA, or rDNA, the GMO market took off, receiving little attention other from inside the science community.

In 1980, the first GMO patent was issued as the result of a court case between a genetics engineer at General Electric and the U.S. Patent Office. The case was settled 5-to-4, allowing the first patent on a living organism; in this case a bacterium genetically altered to eat crude oil.

Just two years later, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first GMO for human use, a bacterium made to produce human insulin. By 1994, GMOs had reached the dinner table as they entered U.S. grocery stores with the arrival of the GM tomato.

The roll-out of GMO technology was considered "revolutionary," yet Americans wouldn't begin to understand GMOs until 20+ years later

The ability to insert man-made DNA into other organisms was considered a "scientific breakthrough," one that received a Nobel Prize, as well as helped jumpstart what we know today as the biotech empire.

Despite GMOs being introduced more than 20 years ago, there are still folks out there who are completely clueless to as what a GMO is. This is astonishing considering that by 1999 more than 100 million acres across the world were planted with GMOs.

If GMOs are so great and lifesaving, then why didn't the public know about them sooner? The concept that eating organic and avoiding as much exposure to toxins as possible is the healthiest is relatively new in its popularity; however, the movement has skyrocketed in recent years (particularly the last year and a half).

The movement has skyrocketed not because the agriculture industry decided to come clean about the dangers associated with GMOs, but because public awareness has swept the nation thanks to new information regarding the adverse health and environmental impacts associated with GMO technology.

How YOU can help spread awareness about GMOs

Without the worldwide web, social media and online discussion forums such as Reddit, the public would likely STILL be in the dark about GMOs.

While we're currently winning the battle in terms of awareness, what we need now is some serious pushback from the consumer. It's time you and I demand that the food industry change its ways and stop keeping their ingredients a secret!

Learn as much as you can about GMOs, including both their health and environmental impacts, and start spreading the word! Use social media to share important news articles and discuss the issue with anyone that will listen. When informing others, be sure to do it in a manor that's polite and respectful, as your message will be received better.

Don't feel comfortable educating others? Direct them to well-informed food activists like Food Babe and Mike Adams (Natural News), who will provide endless amounts of information on why GMOs are ruining the planet.

Be on alert for GMO-labeling proposals in your area

Stay up-to-date on GMO-related news in your region, as new labeling laws continue to sweep the nation. If GMO-labeling is proposed in your community, be sure to contact your local representatives and tell them how you feel! This can be done either by a written letter, phone calls or even visits to their offices.

While it can seem intimidating at first, they are OUR representatives and here to listen to your voice. Just a few phone calls or visits to their offices can make a HUGE impact. When new laws are proposed, representatives are often bombarded by lobbyists, leaving them disconnected from the public's needs and wants. However, YOU can change all of this by making your voice heard.

You can also learn more and help spread public awareness by becoming a friend of the Cornucopia Institute's Facebook page and sharing it with friends and family. The Cornucopia Institute is a non-profit public interest group that "engages in educational activities supporting the ecological principles
and economic wisdom underlying sustainable and organic agriculture." Their Facebook page says, "Through research, advocacy, and economic development our goal is to
empower farmers - partnered with consumers - in support of ecologically
produced local, organic and authentic food."

Additional sources:

http://www.cornucopia.org

http://www.chemheritage.org

http://www.onegreenplanet.org

http://www.gmo-compass.org

http://gmo-awareness.com

http://www.nytimes.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.foodrising.org