Monsanto this, Monsanto that…
Have you heard of Monsanto? If not, you should read about them. They’ve been taking over our food supply for a while now. That apple you’re eating? Monsanto. That ear of sweet corn you just dipped in butter? Monsanto. The farmer down the road who just lost his farm, and the shirt off his back, for planting “patented” seeds when the wind happened to blow some of them onto his land from a farm further on down the road? Yeah, that’s Monsanto, too.
Aspartame, Agent Orange, DDT, PCBs, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Roundup? All Monsanto.
Monsanto is a chemical company that’s somehow gotten into our food supply. Essentially, they’ve created genetically modified crops that are more resistant to pesticides (their own pesticides, like Roundup). They then patent these GM seeds, and are able to sue farmers when these seeds end up on their land (whether it be via intentional planting, or the wind). And once a farmer’s supply of seeds is contaminated by a Monsanto seed, they can be sued for saving it to plant later. That’s a very basic explanation of what’s going on, but what they’re doing is making sure farmers must go to them each year to purchase new (read: genetically modified) seeds, and go to them to purchase the pesticides (toxic chemicals) that will keep these seeds going. Our food supply is poison before it is even grown, and is then fed a steady diet of Roundup before being used to manufacture everything from infant formula to Ritz crackers (probably; if a product is not labeled organic or non-gmo, it most likely has GM ingredients).
Monsanto claims they are a friend to the people by increasing the food supply, and creating heartier crops. Even though we don’t have a food shortage. Recently, through Section 735 from the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013, also known as the Monsanto Protection Act, the company has been given free reign by the government to keep doing what they’re doing, despite the health risks. Section 735 was “snuck in” to this Act, which was signed by President Obama, seemingly anonymously.
It seems we are in the middle of an episode of Batman. The Joker (Monsanto), donning a brightly colored gas mask alongside his agents at the FDA, has released a green gas into the air, turning the population into zombified versions of themselves. The people roam the supermarket with Joker-esque grins plastered across their faces, happily filling their carts with convenient boxes of GMO foods and enormous, perfect ears of corn. They then return home to shovel it gleefully into their mouths in front of the television, where the Joker fills their commercial breaks with enticing ads for more GMO food. They don’t even notice as he blatantly replaces the President and other elected officials with his own agents.
If Monsanto is our super villain, where is our super hero? Where is our Batman? Batman is just a man with lots of cool gadgets. We can all defeat this villain with social media and the choices we make. We need to shake off the green gas cloud and educate ourselves, make our voices heard. May 25th was March against Monsanto day. Thousands of people across the country gathered in protests. I thought about going…but it was easier not to. It’s always easier not to do something. My excuse that day was that I was just too busy, even though I was not even a half mile away from where a March was taking place. We had to meet friends who were in town for the weekend, we had to go get lunch, we had the kids with us. Stupid excuses. It would have been better to sit down with my daughter and make a huge “NO GMO” sign and march with my neighbors.
It was my daughter who got me thinking (again) about my food choices. As a diabetic, I’m always aware of the carb count of whatever I eat, but I tend to ignore the rest. One day, as I was pouring myself a tall glass of diet soda, she asked for some. My automatic mom reply was, “No, it’s not good for you.” I had read about aspartame causing ill effects in children, to the point of seizures and other ailments. There was no way I wanted my children eating it. Then she asked me why I was drinking it. Good question, kiddo, good question.
To be clear, there is nothing good about GMO, unless you’re a Monsanto executive. It’s not good for our food, our bodies, or our environment. Some have speculated it will lead to our extinction. Unless we stop it. Please share this post. Knowledge is power. Just like the insidious Monsanto patented seed, I hope it spreads, person to person, until it’s everywhere, and all eyes are opened to exactly who is controlling our food supply, and exactly what we are feeding our families when we choose not to say no to GMO.
by Julie Blue 