Danger! Genetically Engineered (GE) Crops & Their Pesticides

I gave a lecture/cooking demonstration last night and one of the many topics we discussed was genetically engineered (GE) crops. Over 90 percent of the corn and soy grown in the United States is GE, and when we consider how much corn and soy is used in the production of processed foods and in the feeding of cattle, chickens and pigs, we start to understand the importance of this issue.

The altered crops don’t live in a bubble. Instead, they live in a bubble sprayed with pesticides that the crops have been engineered to tolerate. The giant chemical company Monsanto is the leader in the field and controls both the pesticide (Roundup) and the GE seeds (Roundup Ready). Glyphosate is the main active ingredient in Roundup and its dangers as an endocrine disruptor are becoming better understood.

Rodale News just published a great piece that serves as an important primer on GE crops and their associated pesticides. Follows is the first paragraph, but click here to read the entire (short) article. I highly recommend reading it and then forwarding the link to other moms, dads and concerned citizens. Knowledge is power!

"The scientific evidence piling up against Roundup, the best-selling weed killer for home and farm use, is starting to sound a bit sci-fi. The latest damaging evidence against this potent herbicide, once widely believed to be safe, comes from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which is now detecting glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, in streams, the air, and even rain."