I just learned that Whole Foods is requiring full labeling of GMO & GE foods. Before you say, “So, who the heck cares?” I realize that many very bright people and large institutions have declared genetically modified organisms, etc. to be very well regulated and well tested before they are allowed to reach the marketplace. The very few “Frankenstein Foods” that some claim to have been produced have never been sold to the public.
But I am one of the many that do not trust the same big business that brought us DDT, Thalidomide and PCBs and told us how safe and wonderful they were for many years. To me it seems that letting me know what I am buying should be an in alienable right. The fact that these large organizations spend huge sums to keep that from happening, smells bad.
Like many of you, I am quite aware that humans have tinkered with the genetic properties of plants and animals for thousands of years. Inventing new kinds of tomatoes, grapefruit, giant horses, miniature horses, strange looking dogs, wonder dogs, and so on. That sort of stuff didn’t scare me very much when I thought that’s what they meant by GMO. But when I learned that they took genes from bacteria and other totally unrelated creatures and splice them into common foods, etc. I got kind of nervous.
I strongly support the idea of wise food production. As long as it is well and truly wise! However, I believe many of the reports that I read about lying and adverse results in testing that has been covered up. There is clearly a sky is falling mentality with some people on both sides of the fence, but just labeled the damn stuff.
It is my understanding that GMO is largely banned in Europe, and completely banned in Turkey. Even animal feed cannot be from GMO crops and animal products that have been fed GMO crops are similarly banned. As far as I know they do allow tourists that have eaten GMO food to come in. But, I hope they watch them carefully.
So, below are the first few lines from the whole foods blurb on their website and below that is the link. I felt compelled to fill in the form on contact us and give them a giant ‘at a boy’/’at a girl’.
“Our goal at Whole Foods Market is to provide informed consumer choice with regard to genetically engineered ingredients (also known as GMOs or Genetically Modified Organisms). Clearly labeled products enable shoppers who want to avoid foods made with GMOs to do so. Accordingly, we have set a deadline that, by 2018, all products in our U.S. and Canadian stores must be labeled to indicate whether they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Whole Foods Market is the first national grocery chain to set a deadline for full GMO transparency.”
The full text is at
Dave
Alegria1976's Blog 
Me too: “That sort of stuff didn’t scare me very much when I thought that’s what they meant by GMO.” Then I learned that Monsanto is splicing the pesticides into the DNA of the seed: every cell in that plant: root, stem, leaf, seed, fruit, has the pesticide in it. You don’t even have the – admittedly laughable – option of washing the food before you eat it, to remove the spray. Add to that the cross-contamination into non-GMO crops. Add to that the fact that these plants can’t reproduce. We are killing ourselves.