They are modifying genes in everything these days especially food ad we don’t even know it. Is it ok or is it another set up for disaster? Our food was ok before science got involved in it wasn’t it? Between the pesticides they spray on our food and the gene tossing inside the food are we in a space of chemical warfare on our kitchen table?

GMO’s Genetically Modified Organisms were introduced to the agricultural market in the 1990’s. Since then GMO’s crops have been planted on almost half a Billion acres of land globally. That is most of our farming territory. So what? Well GMO’s are created by the transfer of material from one species to another and their introduction to the food supply has created tremendous controversy. What do you think? There are issues from patenting lab created life forms to concerns if they are actually safe to consume. It has sparked protests around the world. Some European countries have banded genetically modified corn like Germany.

What is the future of our food? In Svalbard, Norway in the Arctic   Circle where there is nothing but snow and ice there exists the Global Seed Vault thankfully. In case there is a global catastrophe we have our last resort saved for replanting the earth. Built 400 feet under the earth and built to survive a nuclear attack is a place that collects seeds from all over the earth.  Cary Fowler is the founder of the Seed Vault. He has compiled over 13,000 years of agricultural history. There are a lot of seeds stored there. The idea was a way to put an end to the possibility of extinction. He is just trying to preserve options for the future because right now our options are dwindling.

The fear that our agricultural system might collapse seems like a far and distant possibility but we must take precautions to save all the gifts we were given here on earth in their natural and biological state.  For thousands of years farmers would save their own seeds. Today many farmers just buy their seeds from GMO manufacturers. In Homestead, Florida Dr. Major Goodman a corn breeder and a member of The National Academy of Sciences, believes that the widespread use of GMO seeds can be a disaster waiting to happen. It is also known as Transgenic Food. The same gene is already being used almost worldwide. So why is that a problem?

It is a problem in that should it be prone to get a new disease it can affect all of our food supply since it is the only genetic food being grown now. Variety has always been the spice of life. Would we want only one type of human just because it follows all our criteria? No. Diversity is safer and nicer. Now one disease could potentially wipe out all the corn in the world. Save those damn seeds please.  Today more than 90% of all corn and soy beans grown in America are genetically modified and just a few large companies control the world’s seeds. The biggest of all is Monsanto with Dow, DuPont, Bayer and Syngenta Over the last 20 years Monsanto that has a Research Center in St. Louis Missouri, has transformed from a chemical company known for making the devastating Agent Orange used during the Vietnam War to  becoming the largest agricultural seed company.

The opposite view and the reason to have large seed companies with GMO seeds is explained by Dr. Robert Fraley the Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto. He says that we have 7.2 Billion people today to feed. By the year 2050 the world’s population will increase to about 9 Billion people. That means that we have 35 years to practically double the food supply. We will need to produce more food than has ever been produced in the history of the earth. They are experimenting to create the plant with the best combination DNA. What made Monsanto famous was when they genetically modified their seeds. The scientists used bacteria to create abilities never seen before in a crop.

One trait allows the crop to have a protein so that when a bug starts to eat the plant it dies and falls off. The most profitable breakthrough was to modify the crops to be tolerant to pesticides. Tolerant to the most deadly pesticide called Round Up. Monsanto crops are now genetically engineered to be resistant to Round Up or GLYPHOSATE. This means that you can spray Monsanto plants directly with the weed killer and while the weeds around the corn will die the corn will live. Great for crops but what does it mean for us? Since Round Up tolerant crops were introduced in 1966, this most deadly Round Up product is being used more than ever.

Paraguay in South America now grows more soy beans than any other country in the world using Monsanto GMO seeds and Round Up pesticides. Because the seeds belong to Monsanto the farmers there are not allowed to replant the seeds from last year’s crops. Instead, they must buy new seeds every season. The problem is that now nature is fighting back. The weeds are becoming more resistant to the Round Up and new more deadly bugs are eating the so called resistant plants. CROPS ARE DYING and the economy has done away with any other source of seeds or pesticides to use. Stop fing with nature corporate America.

The past three years has been a decline in crops.  To combat the more resistant weeds and hungrier bugs the farmers are being forced to use even more poisonous pesticides on our food. Now Monsanto wants to add a more potent pesticide to GLYPHOSATE called DICAMBA. Why has farming become chemical warfare? 80% of the farmed land is owned by corporations. A small farmer can not even afford Monsanto’s super seeds. Paraguay had to increase its food imports by 300% because they don’t even have land to grow the food they need to eat. Hunger in Paraguay had doubled in the past decade. Monsanto’s claim was that they want to feed the world but in fact much of the world they have taken over is suffering from their highly experimental farms.

The fact that Monsanto’s worth as a company is more than the total worth of some of these poor countries makes it easy for a giant like it to just take over a land. Monsanto is also pushing people around in the United States government as well. Once you take control of the seeds out of the farmer’s hands they are just workers for someone else. Now the world health organization has declared that Round Up is a health hazard to humans. More evidence has come up that it causes cancer. Let’s hope we can get this nightmare under control before we all die from cancer from the only source of food being grown now.

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