Much ado about something: the rise of GMOs in your food

I am a big proponent of reading labels.  I love digging into the small font on the back of the package to find out if and in what amounts the product contains HFCS, hydrogenated fat, protein, fiber, sodium, sugar, and ingredients I can neither spell nor pronounce.  It is empowering.  The corporations cannot fool the educated masses, right?  Not so fast.  Things have gotten a bit complicated in the past few years.  Due to advances in biotechnology, the products in your kitchen cabinet might contain ingredients that do not appear on any labels.  Yep, you guessed it ... GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are on the rise and what they mean for your health is not clear.  What is clear is that products containing GMOs should be labeled so the consumer can make educated purchasing decisions.

Monsanto is the pioneer behind the science of applying biotechnology to agriculture. Bovine Growth Hormone was the first major application of biotechnology to food production.  By the time BGH was approved by the FDA, Monsanto had moved on to its next project:  developing GMOs, specifically seeds genetically modified to resist the spraying of Monsanto's hugely profitable herbicide, Roundup.   

I started reading "The World According to Monsanto" earlier this year to learn more about GMOs and literally had to stop because I got so depressed.  Have you heard of Agent Orange?  How about PCBs?  Roundup?  Bovine Growth Hormone?  Yep, Monstanto invented all of them.  Not one or two of them, ALL of them. 

Monstanto is the leading producer of GMO seeds in the United States.  "Today, the vast majority of the nation's two primary crops grow from seeds genetically altered according to Monsanto company patents. Ninety-three percent of soybeans. Eighty percent of corn."  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/28/AR2009112802471.html?wprss=rss_print.  You might think this is not a problem in your life because you do not eat soybean or corn products.  Think again.  Soybeans, like corn that is turned into HFCS, is manufactured into a filler for many processed foods.  Soy protein isolates or textured soy protein are heavily used by the fast food and snack industries to extend profits.  In fact, the FDA estimates that 3 out of 4 processed foods in a typical United States supermarket contain GMO ingredients.

You can either thank or curse Monsanto for the huge proliferation of GMOs in our food system.  Some people (including big Agribusiness proponents), think GMOs are the answer to solving the problem of world hunger.  They allow farmers to grow more crops, faster and cheaper, in order to feed the world.  They may be right, but they are taking a huge gamble on our health in the process.  



It is not simply the fact that these products are genetically modified that is scary.  This is a relatively new science, and the pros and cons are still being weighed by scientists.  The scary part we are aware of is what these products are genetically modified for:  to withstand heavy doses of toxic herbicides and pesticides.  This means greater productivity and lower costs for farmers who use GMO seeds, and bigger profits for the companies who manufacture foods containing GMO corn and soy byproducts in their foods.  But what does it mean for your health?


No one really knows, and that in and of itself is scary.  Why are these untested GMOs in our food system?

Recent reports suggest that GMOs might not be as safe as Monsanto would like everyone to believe.  First,  a report in the International Journal of Biological Sciences links Monsanto's GMO corn to organ failure in rates.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html.  The study concludes:  "These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown."  Yikes.

Second, Monstanto's GMO seeds "have been genetically engineered to permit direct, 'over the top' application of the Monsanto [herbicides] allowing farmers to drench both their crops and crop land with herbicides so as to be able to kill nearby weeds (and any other green thing the herbicide touches) without killing the crops."  http://www.mindfully.org/GE/RRS-Yield-Drag.htm.  Yum-- that is exactly what I want my food to go through before I eat it:  an herbicide bath.  Equally troubling is the environmental damage caused by the heavy use of herbicides (see the previous post regarding HFCS for more information).

Third, scientific studies suggest that the rise of GMOs may be partially responsible for the huge increase in food allergies.  Ever wonder why there are so many soy allergies today?  You can thank GMOs for that.


Organ failure ... herbicide baths ...  food allergies.  Thanks Monsanto!

So what can I do to avoid GMOs and the proliferation of pesticides/herbicides in my food, you ask?  Great question.  There are a few things.  Your first option is to move to France.  France, along with several other European countries, have enacted bans on the cultivation of GMO crops. Moreover, products containing GMOs are required to have labels so French consumers can make informed purchasing choices.   In France, you can eat your heart out and not worry about GMOs in your food.  You can be confident that your nutella crepes are GMO free! 

If moving to France is not feasible at this time, do not fret.  There are a few things you can do to live GMO-free in the good ole USA.  First, there are several websites that will help you avoid GMOs: 

http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/tips-for-avoiding-gmos.html

http://www.examiner.com/organic-food-in-national/how-to-avoid-gmo-foods

http://mercola.fileburst.com/PDF/GMObrochure.pdf

These website provide great tips like buying foods that are certified organic.  While there is no guarantee that these products will be GMO free, they cannot intentionally contain GMOs.  In addition, by avoiding products containing the top-four GMO crops and byproducts (corn, soybean, canola, cottonseed), you will be making a good start.

And look for foods with a "Non-GMO" label. Currently, there are no laws that require labeling of foods with GMOs, but companies can voluntarily label products that do not contain GMOs.  Support these companies.

Next, take action. It is a travesty that Monsanto has been successful in convincing the government that GMO corn is no different from regular corn in its nutritional qualities and therefore needs no special label. Write to your local representative and ask them to support a GMO labeling legislation. Or put on your campaign hat and support efforts to add a GMO labeling law to the California ballot in November.  http://mercola.fileburst.com/PDF/GMObrochure.pdf.  Or if you live on the East Coast, you can participate in the upcoming Right2Know March.  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/right2know-march-announces-events-during-313-mile-walk-to-the-white-house-for-labeling-of-genetically-engineered-food-2011-09-19

Finally, consumers just like you have filed lawsuits challenging the labeling of GMO-containing products.  A class action against ConAgra for labeling its Wesson Oils as "100% natural" was filed recently in federal court.  Because, the suit alleges, Wesson Oils are made from GMO corn and soybeans, they are not "100% natural" and cannot be labeled as such.  Hopefully lawsuits like this will be successful and companies like ConAgra will be punished for deceptive and misleading labeling of products containing GMOs. 

You have the power to demand accurate labeling of products containing GMOs.  Exercise it. 

Go forth and eat well!

Liquid Satan: What's in your food?

Have you gone to the grocery store recently to buy bread?  Soup?  Crackers?  Cereal?  Salad dressing?  If you read the labels on many of these products, you will likely find they contain High Fructose Corn Syrup ("HFCS").  HFCS, dubbed by its detractors as "liquid satan," has become widely used by manufacturers as a sweetner in processed foods.  Good luck finding products without HFCS.  Liquid Satan is everywhere.  A recent report finds it in 40% of all food.  And now the Corn Refiners Association is trying to convince you that HFCS is actually healthy.   http://www.hulu.com/watch/223360/saturday-night-live-corn-syrup-commercial#http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Ffeed%2Fshow%2F77%2Fclips.  

How did the epidemic of HFCS begin and what does it mean for our health?  Our federal government, in its infinite wisdom, has an incredibly powerful role in determining what we eat.  Not only does the government recommend what we should eat and how much (recall the insipid food pyramid), it provides billions of dollars in subsidies to farmers each year, via the Farm Bill.  Five crops -- corn, cotton, rice wheat and soybeans -- account for 90% of all farm subsidies.  And we are not talking chump change.  Since 1995, $73.8 billion (that is “billion” with a “b”) in subsidies has been doled out to corn growers alone.

This farm welfare program has created a huge incentive for corn farmers to grow as much corn as possible in order to cash in on the subsidy program.  This desire to maximize profits, in turn, has led to an overabundance of cheap corn (because it is subsidized so heavily, it sells below the cost of production) that can be used as food for cattle, fuel for our cars (ethanol) and, through the marvels of modern chemistry, transformed into HFCS.  Food producers then hone in on HFCS for use in their products, leading to an epidemic of unhealthy, cheap processed foods.

This all begs the question, should we care about the prevalence of HFCS in our food?  The answer is a resounding yes, for the following reasons. 

First, corn subsidies make unhealthy processed foods the cheaper choice, as compared to fresh fruits, vegetables and processed foods without HFCS.  Food manufacturers have a huge incentive to add the highly subsidized HFCS to their products.  Its called profits.  Because we highly subsidize corn and place tariffs on sugar imports, HFCS is the less expensive choice for food manufacturers.  Ah, the power of the almighty dollar.  So next time you are comparing prices on products, consider that fact that products with HFCS are priced artificially low.

Second, because the prevalence of HFCS in processed foods makes it cheap, Americans are consuming more HFCS than ever, with serious health consequences.   Take a look at this lecture by Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Third, many manufacturers advertise their products containing HFCS as “all natural” or containing “100% natural ingredients" in an attempt (often successful) to convince the consumer to purchase the “healthy” product.  But is HFCS really “natural”?  The FDA says it is (thanks to the power of the Corn Refiners Association lobby).  I say anyone with half a brain can figure out that it is not.  Have you ever seen HFCS growing on a tree or in a field?  Nor have I.  But I have seen sugar cane and honeycombs.  Say "yes" to bees and "no" to HFCS!  

Fourth, growing all of this corn is not only resulting in the manufacture of unhealthy foods, it is causing serious damage to the environment.  Last year, following the BP oil spill, the San Francisco Chronicle reported:

“Each year, nitrogen used to fertilize corn … leaches from Midwest croplands into the Mississippi River and out into the gulf, where the fertilizer feeds giant algae blooms.  As the algae dies, it settles to the ocean floor and decays, consuming oxygen and suffocating marine life.  As to which is worse, the oil spill or the hypoxia, “it’s a really tough call,” said Nathaniel Ostrom, a zoologist at Michigan State University. “There’s no real answer to that question.”  http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-06/news/21939174_1_dead-zone-ethanol-production-oil-spill

Consider the environment the next time you decide whether or not to purchase a product containing HFCS.

To summarize, HFCS is bad for you, bad for the environment, and bad for the farmers and food manufacturers whose products are more expensive than the subsidized HFCS products.  What is the way out of this mess?  It is actually quite simple:  disincentivize the overproduction of environmentally damaging and nutritionally dubious crops like corn by reducing or eliminating subsidies, and instead increase incentives for farmers who grow organic fruit and vegetables and food producers who use natural ingredients.  Since this is not likely to occur in the near future, you will need to take matters into your own hands. Read labels and vote with your wallets.  Avoid ALL products containing HFCS and tell your school administrators and boards that you do not want any products containing HFCS in your children's school lunch programs.  Stay tuned for more information about school lunches in the next edition of Victus Aequitas.

Go forth and eat well!

If you want to read more about HFCS and the power of the government over our food system, here are some excellent books on the subject:

http://www.foodpolitics.com/food-politics-how-the-food-industry-influences-nutrition-and-health/

http://michaelpollan.com/books/the-omnivores-dilemma/

http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/schlosser-fast.html

http://www.amazon.com/End-Food-Paul-Roberts/dp/0618606238

Virginity, maple syrup and chickens

No, this is not a blog about Charlie Sheen’s dream date.

I knew if I put the word "virginity" in the title, I would have your attention.  So what the heck is "victus aequitas" and what does it have to do with virginity?  For the scholars in the audience, "victus aequitas" means, literally, “food justice.” You know how lawyers love to toss around fancy latin words in an attempt to sound smart!

So what does food justice have to do with virginity?  Before I explain, let me ask you a few questions.  Are you a parent who is trying to do the right thing and purchase healthy foods for yourself and your family?  Are you someone who is frustrated with the lack of corporate accountability in this world?  Perhaps you are just bored and came across a strangely-titled blog?  More likely, you are a friend, family member or colleague to whom I forwarded this blog and you are being very charitable by taking the time to read it.  Thank you.

Now I'll share a little bit about me.  Some of you know me as Isabel's mom, a title I've proudly worn for eight and one half years.  Many of you know me as the strawberry guy's wife.  Yes, here is a shout out to my amazing farmer husband who has turned us all into strawberry snobs. 

 And others might know me as a class action attorney who has been defending the rights of consumers for the past fifteen years.  Still others may recall that I might have had something to do with that legal dispute between the two founders of a small social networking site. 


This blog represents an attempt to combine my three passions in life: motherhood, food, and the law.  As the mother of a young daughter, I want to do everything I can to provide her with a healthy diet.  As the wife of an organic farmer, I want to support the farmers who are dedicating their lives to growing sustainable, organic products in this very tough economy.  As a lawyer, I want to see laws upheld and corporations held accountable for their conduct.  However, it has become crystal clear to me that many food manufacturers are engaged in deceptive advertising campaigns in an effort to take advantage of people who are trying to purchase healthy products.  Have you purchased products labeled as "organic", and wonder if they truly are?  How about "100% natural?"  Is it really?  As a mother, I am furious. As an attorney, I want to take action.

Here are just a few examples of companies who might be engaging in misleading advertising campaigns to convince you to buy their "healthy" products:

Is that organic milk you just bought really organic?  Maybe not.
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-25-dairy-giant-dean-foods-doesnt-really-get-organic

Does the water in my bottled water really come from a virgin (there is that word again) spring somewhere in South America?  Hmmm.
http://www.ewg.org/reports/BottledWater/Bottled-Water-Quality-Investigation

What is really in this chicken I am eating?  Antibiotics?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24956860/





Does 100% pure Vermont maple syrup have high fructose corn syrup in it? 
http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/organic/organic-food/organic-maple-syrup-basics/

Is the virginity of your olive oil in doubt?  Extra-virgin or some substandard olive oil?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2010/07/olive-oil-study-not-extra-virgin-mislabel-questions-standards.htmlstandards.html

See, I told you I would explain the relevance of virginity and food justice!

My goals in writing this blog are twofold.  My primary goal is education.  Don't automatically believe what is advertised on products.  Think about it.  Read labels.  Investigate.  Buy local.

Second, I want to hold these companies accountable.  They cannot continue taking your hard-earned money by deceptively advertising their products as something they are not.  This is where you can help.  Let me know if you are concerned that products you purchased may not be what they claim to be.  I  want to hear from you!  I am actively investigating several different areas and will continue to update this blog and seek your input.

Go forth and eat well!