Corn Corn Everywhere

When you buy corn at the store do you wonder if it is Genetically Modified (GM) or not? There are 2 types of corn, that which is GM and that which is not. Genetic modification refers to the direct alteration of genes. This is done for many reasons including disease and pest resistance, improved yield and even improved resistence to pesticides. For these same reasons people have been indirectly manipulating genes of produce and livestock for many many years. The difference is, with genetic engineering all of this can be done many times faster than with the traditional method of cross-pollenization. On the surface, this seems to be a great idea, especially with the introduction of ethanol into commercial fuels. With a little deeper look, we also see that what once seemed to be a very controlled experiment has become a plague to natural strains of corn. (I do recognize the controversy between this post and the state I live in) Since the US began growing GM corn in 1996, we have seen a massive spread of GM strains of DNA in corn as far away as Oaxaca Mexico (which claims to be the birthplace of maize) who put a moratorium on growing GM corn in 1997. Oaxaca is concerned that the introduction of laboratory hybridized corn will contaminate the last of the varieties of traditionally hybrizided seeds from the origin of the crop. If we could guarantee that each time a corn strain was directly modified that it would pollinate only its own variety that would be one thing but what has happened is that the many fields containing the many varieties of GM corn are cross-pollinating with those fields that are trying to keep traditional corn varieties alive making it nearly impossible to keep any variety completely free of GM. Whole Foods now says that in its continued effort to eliminate GM foods from its line of products it will not use any type of corn syrup as it is a "potential source of GMOs". Now, I have issues with corn syrup in general but that will have to be a topic for another day.

All of this GM talk is leading me to a more important topic. How do GM foods impact our health? A recent study done in Austria showed that over the course of 20 weeks lab mice that were fed a diet of 33% GM corn had reduced fertility rates. They had fewer litters, fewer total offspring and more females with no offspring at all when compared to their counter parts who were fed a diet containing 1/3 non-GM corn. The GM corn that these mice were fed was produced by the US's leading producer of GM corn, Monsanto. When I searched online for links to this study here in the US I found that it was not published in the mainstream media, only on sites with interest in organic concerns. Bill Freese, Science Policy Analyst at the Center for Food Safety says "It's no surprise to us that U.S. regulators did not catch this. None of our regulatory agencies require any long-term animal feeding trials before allowing genetically engineered crops on the market."

So, is that pop sweetened with high fructose corn syrup or that hamburger made with corn fed beef really going to cause reproductive problems? Only time will tell. Until then, make sure your opinion makes a difference. Tell your congressional leaders what you think of GM foods, make an effort to buy organic every once in awhile (organics can not contain GM genes), and continue to educate yourselves about what goes into your body.

Karen