"Waiter, I'll Have the Genetically-Modified Special of the Day!"

This article appeared in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press today, Thursday, September 23, 2010.  Yesterday there was a longer article about the new, genetically-modified, farm-raised salmon that is soon to appear in our grocery stores--unlabeled!  The USDA has decided it is safe to eat and that there is no need to label it as a genetically-modified food. 

Hmmm . . . anyone remember the USDA-inspected spinach, strawberries, peanut butter, hamburger--need I list any more?--that sickened and/or killed people across the United States?  Europeans have demanded that their governments label GMO's (genetically modified organisms) and cloned animals that end up in the food chain because they don't want to eat them!  Do you?

Every thinking American needs to rent the movie "Food, Inc."  We need to know what we are buying at the grocery store.  We need to stop trusting someone else to give us safe food.  We need to make sure for ourselves that what we eat and feed to our children is safe.  We sit by our children's sides when they are sick; we tuck them in bed at night;  we tell them to put on a jacket when it's cold out; we give them cell phones to stay in touch when they leave home.  Let's not abandon our parental responsibility to know what we're putting on their plates!

Here are a couple of websites to get you started reading about GMO's:

 http://www.foodincmovie.com/about-the-film.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism

http://www.saynotogmos.org/

http://biotech.about.com/od/faq/f/GMOs.htm

The following website contains a list of specific brands that contain genetically-modified ingredients, as well as whole foods that have been "genetically engineered and approved for commercial sales."

http://www.rense.com/politics6/gms.htm

I'm not trying to say that all GMO's are necessarily bad.  I AM trying to say that we need to be aware that we are eating them, and we need to make sure the government requires the producers to label them.   They have to let us know how much fat, salt, trans-fat, and carbohydrates are in their food--why not let us know when they've been genetically engineered?