If you enjoyed the Future of Food video I posted earlier this year, you'll want to invest an hour watching this in-depth interview conducted by the Massachusetts School of Law with director Deborah Koons Garcia about her alarming and enlightening 2004 documentary.
Garcia's interest in the science behind food and how it could be manipulated started very early as a teenager experimenting on mutating seeds and plants with radiation and chemicals.
Back then, there was no problem comparing untainted plants with mutated ones, Garcia says, as the latter were thicker, bigger and more deformed.
That long-ago experiment Garcia conducted made such a profound impression, she maintained her keen interest in agriculture -- opting then for organic foods over conventionally grown ones -- even as she studied filmmaking at the University of North Carolina.
Originally, the film was going to be about pesticides, until it took a completely different and important direction based on a tip from a fellow filmmaker and farmer about the blight of genetically modified (GM) foods, a crisis in the making about which many Americans feel lukewarm, at best.
There is now strong and solid evidence that some genetically modified (GM) foods have been linked to cancer in rats. The investigations of people like Deborah Koons Garcia and the groundbreaking Dr. Arpad Pusztai (who was suspended from his job, ordered to hand over all his data, and threatened with legal action if he spoke to anyone on the subject) are slowly but surely being confirmed and vindicated.
If you haven't yet seen the Future of Food, I would strongly encourage you to do so as it is clearly one of the best documentaries you will ever see. It will open your eyes to the truth that has been hidden from you for so long.
The GM blight taints some 70 percent of the foods you see at your corner grocery store, and getting rid of it is going to be a long fight. Possibly a little help from the U.S. court system will help Americans gain a little more time to get a little smarter about GM crops, but ultimately, preserving your health by avoiding these foods is in your own hands. Here are some steps you can take that will help you steer clear of them:
On Vital Votes, reader Lora from Orangevale, California says:
"This documentary should be mandatory for the entire human population. I urge you to join the 'Millions Against Monsanto' campaign. Also, review the Organic Consumers Association website ... "To me, [it] is highly un-democratic for GMO's to be entered into the food supply without at least labeling. We sure as hell didn't vote on the approval of this technology. The consumers will speak with a resounding 'NO to GMO' if these foods are labeled! I no longer purchase certain foods because of GMO contamination, such as papayas from Hawaii. This is a sad state of affairs for the entire world; our food supply is at stake here."
"This documentary should be mandatory for the entire human population. I urge you to join the 'Millions Against Monsanto' campaign. Also, review the Organic Consumers Association website ...
"To me, [it] is highly un-democratic for GMO's to be entered into the food supply without at least labeling. We sure as hell didn't vote on the approval of this technology.
The consumers will speak with a resounding 'NO to GMO' if these foods are labeled! I no longer purchase certain foods because of GMO contamination, such as papayas from Hawaii. This is a sad state of affairs for the entire world; our food supply is at stake here."
Other responses to this article can be viewed at Vital Votes, and you can add your own thoughts or vote on comments by first registering at Vital Votes.