On a recent trip to South America I stayed on a beautiful, small island called Amantani, on Lake Titicaca.
I was bewildered by the large variety of each food, their amazing colours, sizes and shapes that I have NEVER seen before.
Their staple diet which comprises predominantly of corn, potato, quinoa and meat—all grown on the island—got me wondering about the nutritional content of their food. I cant be sure of course, but I would hope that genetically engineered foods, haven’t made it to the remote tiny island yet.
Our mono culture has cut off access to the huge variety of gorgeous foods out there and I wonder if that includes a lost rich nutritional array as well? This got me thinking not only about the lack of variety of our fruits and vegetables but also about genetically modified foods that have been set for our consumption for some time now.
We’ve been drip-fed the wonder stories of how fabulous GM foods are and how they’re not only the solution, but the saviour of our global food supply. I used to think that was great…until the holes started to appear.
There are more and more indicators that genetically modified plants have an impact on the environment and pose real threats to our long term health. Once you start scratching that polished surface, there are hundreds of studies and anomalies that just don’t add up when it comes to GM…conveniently ‘kept quiet’ it would seem.
Regardless of which side of GM the fence you’re on, there are things that are happening now that provide a scary peek into the future on our current trajectory.
Picture this if you will:
It is illegal to grow your own self seeded tomatoes in your veggie patch at home. Seem impossible?
If GM plants are the only ‘variety’ you can purchase, they generally will re-seed once, but will likely not be true to type, as in look or taste like the parent plant. After that they may be sterile and not reseed at all.
GM seed and plants are patented, so by purchasing a plant, you don’t own it but essentially only buy a license to grow it. If however it self seeds or you collect its seed and manage to grow a new plant from it—you are breaking the law as you don’t have the license to grow the new plant from said patented seed.
This baffling scenario is already happening in the USA where farmers are being sued into bankruptcy by monster-corporation Monsanto for as little as a GM seed blowing in the wind onto their property and it self seeding.
Is GM really about improving the world’s food supply? or is it merely a greedy attempt to control one of the basic needs of humanity? When you start to learn more it really becomes an unavoidable series of disturbing questions.
Just planting the seed...