GMOs 101: What’s really in our food?

GMO, GM (not General Mills!), and GE (and not General Electric!) are common buzz words that some people may be aware of, while others may not. For those who don’t know, GMO stands for genetically modified organism, and in this context the organism becomes food; GM stands for genetical modified; and GE stands for genetically engineered.  Common foods that are genetically modified include (but not limited to) soybeans, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil.   Even if you don’t eat any of these foods, food compounds derived from these crops are almost ubiquitous in our food system.  

Since genetically engineered crops were introduced in the U.S. in 1996, their use has grown significantly.  According to some global estimates, 25% of the 672 million acres used for cultivating crops was used to grow GM crops in 2003.  And of this 25%, two-thirds of these science experiments are grown in the United States. While masses of Europeans are placing pressure on their governments to label foods as GM, less than half of Americans even know that some of the foods that they eat are genetically engineered.  And depending on your diet, the mention of some above can easily turn into a majority!

Healthy Thanksgiving Delights

The Thanksgiving table is often filled with a variety of not-so-healthy treats, but it doesn’t have to be this way.  Depending on your family’s tradition, your menu might include turkey and dressing, ham, cranberry sauce, greens, string beans, macaroni and cheese, candied yams, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread and/or dinner rolls, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, and/or apple pie.  Below are some of these classics with a healthy twist as well as a few non-traditional menu items.  As you may recall from a previous entry, you can always start a new tradition of a healthier side dish (eh hem, three-bean salad anyone?).

Give Thanks

Aside from the elaborate spectacle of food at the dining room table, Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for what’s truly important in life (and if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, giving thanks certainly still applies!).  In this day and age, it’s often easy to get side tracked on what used to be a simple question.  What are you grateful for in your life?  Take a moment to reflect on your day, the past week, month, and year and think about what has given you motivation, hope, and positive perspectives.   Write down your honest answers, and know that this is what you you should be grateful for.  

The flat screen TVs, laptops, iPods and iPads, Blackberries, and other electronic gadgets--that fill up good portions of our present-day existence--have taken away from life’s true importance.  I shall call them human-interaction-detracting devices.  Although it may be easier for older generations to accomplish this goal as they may use less and less of these distractors, let Thanksgiving be a reminder to give thanks for your life’s true blessings.  Family, friends, great conversations, smiles, laughter, great health, and nourishing (real!) food for our bodies.

When I was volunteering in Trinidad this summer, the camp coordinators started each training session off right.  Each session began hand-in-hand (kumbaya-style!) with the camp counselors sharing what they were grateful for.  Depending on how your family and/or friends begin your Thanksgiving meal, follow the blessing/prayer with each person at the table saying why they give thanks. This is the true meaning of holiday.    

Navigating Thanksgiving

Less than a week from now, I will be close to stuffed like a turkey.  My rule on Thanksgiving Day is to eat what you like and with what--no guilt.  Depending on your background, Thanksgiving is one of the few times out of the year when you get your favorites all in one--cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes AND gravy, you name it.  So the point is to enjoy it, not feel guilty about it, and hold it dear as a time of fellowship with your loved ones--even if it’s centered around a meal that’s on average 3,000 calories strong.  I mentioned “depending on your background,” because I do know people who have Thanksgiving-esque dinners almost every Sunday.  If this is you and your family, perhaps you shouldn’t eat everything that's on the table.

Chemical Potpourri

Do you have many memories of 11th grade Chemistry class?  Rubber gloves, beakers, test tubes, dissolving various compounds in a host of solutions to produce chemical reactions...Well, this is the face of modern-day foods--laced with a host of chemicals used for preserving flavor, doctoring up taste or appearance, preventing spoilage, and packaging food.  While some unpronounceable food additives are fancy names for vitamins and minerals that we know of--for example, ferrous fumarate is iron, ascorbic acid is vitamin C, and riboflavin is vitamin B2, just to name a few--a lot of other added chemicals are not.  Look at the ingredient list of just about any pre-packaged, processed food and you will need to consult your old grammar school teacher for help with pronunciation.  Polyglycerol polyricinoleate, butylated hydroxyanisole, guanosine monophosphate, and propylene glycol alginate are just to name a few.  Sound deliciously appetizing don’t they? NOT!!!  

Although chemistry has been used in the production and preservation of foods for centuries, the level used today has grown to astronomical proportions, unreasonable in fact.  Analysis by the Pew Health Group, the health sector of a public policy non-profit, found that more than 10,000 chemicals are currently allowed in human food (see more).  The regulation (or lack there of!!) of these chemicals is alarming, scary, and angering (all in one!).