10 Reasons to Eat Organic

The best reason for buying organic food is simply that it tastes extremely good but, undoubtedly, there are also sound health reasons for doing so.

It has been shown in some studies to have more vitamins and trace elements than conventionally-grown food and, of course, it will not have been treated with any noxious chemicals.

It is safe, nutritious, unadulterated food. It does not use artificial chemicals, pesticides and fertilizer.

It is environmentally friendly.

It is produced without GMO's, which are prohibited within the Soil Association Standards for Organic Food and Farming.

It places great emphasis on animal welfare.

It is produced without the routine use of antibiotics and growth-promoting drugs.

It reduces dependence on non-renewable resources.

There has not been a case of BSE in any herd which has been in full organic management since before 1985.

It relies on a modern and scientific understanding of ecology and soil science, while also depending on traditional methods of crop rotation to ensure fertility and weed and pest control.

Basic Facts About Genetically Engineered Foods

Genetic alterations of this magnitude have never occurred before in the 5 billion year history of life on our planet.

We have no idea what the long term effects of the release of GMO lab experiments into the field will be.

This kind of mass experimental feeding study on a human population has never been done before.

All the leading industrial countries in the world, except for the US and Canada, have opted out of a massive public GMO study. Europe, Japan and now Australia and New Zealand have either banned, or put severe restrictions on the import of any food or food ingredient that contains a GMO.

The genetic material from engineered crops can spread (genetic drift) to affect other plants and animals.

In Europe, the large biotech companies faced a major public backlash when they attempted to introduce American biotech products into the supermarkets.

The insertion of specific new genes into an organism is an imprecise and uncontrolled process that may influence biological functioning in unpredictable ways. "Genetically engineered crops may disrupt the ecosystem by reducing bio-diversity, damaging soil fertility, inducing the development of new pathogens, pests, and weeds." - Dr. John Fagan

The biotech industry is well aware that the North American public would reject any food labeled as genetically engineered. Industry polls have indicated that 80 to 95 percent of North Americans would reject these products if labeled.

US Government regulators are calling genetically engineered food "substantially equivalent" to natural food, but are not requiring substantial testing. Because the concept of "substantial equivalence" has no scientific dimensions, it cannot be used as a predictor of which genetically engineered foods will require substantial safety testing in animals, in humans and in the ecosystems of the planet.

Already, people have died. In 1989, Showa Denko K.K. marketed tryptophan that had been produced in genetically engineered bacteria as a nutritional supplement in the USA. When this product was placed on the market, it made thousands of consumers ill. Of these, 1,500 people were permanently disabled and 37 people died.

Scientists cannot answer the $64,000 question: If some time in the future we realize that the harm any one of the millions of GMO's pose is unacceptable, how do we recall it?
We don't have another planet to run the required scientific control tests on.

Nature always bats last. We humans can't circumvent 5 billion years of evolution with a clever new lab technique that promises to make a few people very, very rich.

Just Say "NO" to GMO's

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