What You Need To Know About A GMO...

You may have heard this term: "GMO" and wondered what it meant. To a passer by, one may not take interest, but like I said, this journey we are on is teaching us how to do our research. It's teaching us how to stop, think, and look at the back of the package we are about to purchase. It's teaching us to ask the question: "Where did this come from?" This is also what I want to bring an awareness to the world, especially the Church.

I wrote in a previous post called, "Taste Test" that, when it comes to food, we usually ingest whatever we have access to. Yet, when we shop for a new TV or the best kind of car, we do our research to find the best. Why isn't it this way with the products we put into our bodies which then go into our bloodstream? Okay, so what is a GMO?

Allow me to clarify, I am not a scientist, nor a doctor, nor am I a nutritionist. I am merely a consumer who is doing a little research and discovering things that could change my life for the better. The letters in GMO stand for: "Genetically Modified Organism."

In other words, it is an organism whose genetic material has been altered by genetic engineering. These techniques are also called Recombinant DNA Technology and they use DNA molecules from different sources. They are later combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. You are probably thinking, "Uh, that doesn't sound good," and you are right. It doesn't sound like I want that inside of my body!

Here's a good question: which would you prefer, real food or fake food? Easy, I want the real thing!!!! Of course, we all want the real thing. Yet, all across America today, we will be walking into grocery stores and picking out foods that we think are even good foods and instead will be ingesting quite a few genetically modified organisms without even knowing it. Ewww.

Wanna know what some of them are? Here are just a few that I found. There are different categories of GMOs and here is a list of "high-risk crops" and "low-risk crops":  What is a GMO?

Now the next question you are probably asking yourself is: "What can I eat?" or "What is a non GMO product?" This is my next quest because there is a ton of information. Here is a link and a list of non GMO products but remember, it's best that YOU do your own research on what to put into your body: The Non GMO Project

I will be writing more in the days to come on projects that you can find in your local community or Farmers Markets and am currently also on a search to find Non-GMO Farmers Markets and farmers who, not only grow organically, but their seeds have not been modified. In the mean time, here's what YOU can do. Keep doing the research. It also may be a good time to start growing your own garden. You can start small like a tomato plant or maybe some cucumbers. Anyone can do it!

The most important thing that is that you feel empowered. It's time for us to be stop being at the mercy of our grocery stores. It can appear that we have many choices when there really isn't. However, there is a choice that you, the CONSUMER, can make and that is to do something about it!! It's time to rise up and have a VOICE in this land. The more grocery stores hear that you want real, whole foods, the more they will succumb to selling better products. We want the real thing! Shout it from the top of the mountain!