The End of Choice

It boils down to this: any food not explicitly labelled organic probably has some GM contamination. It is too difficult to prevent cross-contamination between genetically modified crops and conventional crops, and almost all processed foods contain derivatives of GM corn and soybeans. Now that GM alfalfa has been approved, most meat will also be contaminated (though it was probably already, since most cattle and chicken feed in this country comes from GM corn and soy).

So, despite the fact that 85%-95% of those polled in this country said they want foods containing GMOs to be labelled as such, Monsanto and every major supermarket chain wants to avoid having to do that. The government is going along with them, despite the fact that we've said, explicitly, that we don't want to eat GMOs.

For the Good of the People

The message I'm getting from all this is that the government and big-ag (and all its supporters in the supply chain) are more than happy to lie to us, prevent us from even being able to make a choice, and force us to buy and consume products we don't want and are known to be detrimental to our health, just so that they can make a buck.

Our leaders are preying on us for their own benefit. Those sworn to represent our interests are taking advantage of our health for nothing more than a few bucks.

Wouldn't it be easier to simply make wholesome food? Then there would be no need for all this political slieght-of-hand. There would be no need to label anything, we'd be more than happy to buy the food, and food companies could make their money.

But, no. Instead, the food industrials wants to squeeze out every last penny. GM crops are indeed more profitable for their owners, because they can be copywritten, they cannot be replanted, and they require the use of herbicides conveniently made by the same company. And so these big companies will go to great lengths to enact legislation that makes their sadistic dreams possible.

We have a government that is more than happy to pass laws and allow practices that directly harm its citizenry. That right there is what is wrong with this country. I don't condone unjust wars in other countries, but when a government starts to take advantage of its own people, that is grounds for revolution. The fact that it is done quietly, with enough finesse pass unnoticed, just makes it more horrific.

Homegrown Terror

I should be clear that this is actually an atrocity and not simply an affront to higher ideals or eco-consciousness. Obesity, cancer, childhood allergies and asthma, crooked teeth, osteoporosis, diabetes, alzheimer's, parkinson's, MS; all of these have been linked to the increased incidence of chemicals in our foods. Alien proteins from GM crops are connected with the raft of childhood problems including ADHD. Childhood is supposed to be a time of bountiful health, but instead our kids are on as many medications as our elderly.

Our government is okay with this, because it makes money for the right people.

Our government is okay with trading our health for money. That is an atrocity in my mind. That is blatant sadism.

When this sort of thing happens in other countries, we refer to the rulers as oppressive tyrants. We feel sorry for the people of those countries, who apparently don't seem to know well enough to resist. Sometimes we invade those countries, ostensibly to liberate their people and show them what true freedom means.

A Personal Touch

As a personal trainer, I come face to face with people's health problems, the little things that make them feel unsafe about their bodies and make them feel inadequate. People come to me because their doctors have told them they need to lose weight or face serious health problems. They come to me because they don't feel confident in their own bodies.

I'll grant that there are plenty of reasons for people to have heath problems, but my experience suggests that it is what we put into our bodies that makes them healthy or unhealthy. And since our society has made it difficult to eat the right things, it is no wonder I see so many people at war with their bodies. Even the advice on eating the right things is generally wrong and misinformed.

This is not the way to take care of our people. It is not the way to take care of ourselves. Ultimately, we must take responsibility for our own health, because the longer we simply clamp our eyes shut and listen to the party line, the closer we come to completely losing all our choices. We have to exercise our choice in order to retain the right to use it.

The End of Choice

With the approval of GM alfalfa, our government is getting another step closer to taking away our right to choose whether we eat genetically modified crops of not. It is getting us closer to the day when we won't be able to choose to be healthy or not.

Exercise your choice while you still can. Buy organic, insist on local when possible, and stop giving in to convenience. Put your dollars where you want them to make a difference. If you can't afford it, ask yourself whether you can afford a world where there are zero healthy food options, where everything you eat moves you closer to an old age spent on life support. You might suddenly start questioning the necessity of your cable TV subscription, or your fifty unread magazines, or that luxury car that burns only high-grade gasoline. You might start to wonder if those $300+ you spend on clothes every month might be just enough to get you better quality food. You might also start to wonder if you'd have to spend so much on drugs, coffee, and doctor visits if you spent that money on clean, healthy, unprocessed food first.

Start asking these questions while you still can. Because the way things are going, the answers will soon be irrelevant.

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