The World Health Organization (WHO) has been receiving a rash of notices from breastfeeding mothers the past two years. In prior years there were 3-4 requests for testing annually.
Mother’s Day 2015 is coming to a close. It started for some of us with watching a television segment of Let It Rip on WJBK Fox 2 discussing breastfeeding in public and GMO foods. The show encouraged viewers to use the Twitter hashtag #LetItRip on commentary about the topic for the show hosts to review and share.
The @MAMdetroit twitter messages for an hour after the show continued using the #LetItRip tag. We’re very interested in getting word out about the March coming up May 23. Look on Twitter for the #MarchMay23 tag to find content from around the world.
If we consider why that uneasy feeling is in our gut, then look at what we’ve been eating and you’ll likely find corn and wheat are in what was recently consumed.
this image is from Lisa of Shades at bananapoop.com
Even soda pop has corn in it! You know… corn syrup, as a sweetener. Plus there might be some other chemical sweeteners, likely produced by the largest biotechnology company in the world – Monsanto.
Herbicides and Insecticides in Food
In 1996 the USDA approved Monsanto’s first genetically engineered seed for use. Biotechnology firms had figured out they can infuse the food we eat with genetic strings that kill insects and prevent invasive weeds. So the genetic substance of the food eaten has been modified, hence we have Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), sometimes known as Genetically Engineered (GE).
If you haven’t been paying attention to your food lately, biotechnology giants such as Monsanto thank you for that. Because behind your back, they’ve succeeded in replacing 93% of US corn with their patented insecticide-producing “frankencorn”.
The industry name for this is “Bt corn” and the insecticide is actually produced inside the plant, so it is impossible to wash it off. This is accomplished by inserting genes from the bacteria Bacillus Thuringiensis into the corn.
Up until now, scientists and multinational corporations such as Monsanto and DuPont have spent billions in lobbying, campaign donations and “testing” in an attempt to convince world governments that GMOs are safe. In the case of Bt corn, they stated the insecticide produced within the corn posed no danger to human health because it was broken down in the digestive system.
The effect for the insects is their stomachs explode when they ingest the plants. The entire plant is an insecticide.
How Much Genetically Engineered is Planted?
Here are some charts from the USDA tracking GE crops since the introduction in 1996.
Adoption of all biotech corn accounted for 93 percent of corn acreage in 2014.
Source: USDA
Its not just corn! As you can see from this chart other US crops are affected. If you can imagine this is what is happening around the world – the entire world’s food supply is affected.
Source USDA
What is Michigan Producing?
These charts were created from the data available for Michigan on Corn and Soybean crops.
GE corn produced in MichiganGE Soybean produced in Michigan