Summer Waters ~ Savor Your Health

We are so delighted that the bans on GMO crops in Jackson and Josephine Counties passed.  This goes a long way to helping us avoid GMOs in our valley...but what about GMOs on our plates?  In this article, I will provide you with some tips for eating GMO free. 

It can be challenging for many folks to remove the GMOs from their meals.  But now is the time to pay attention to GMOs,  for your health, the health of your children, and the future of food in our country (since we vote with our dollars at the checkout line).  Even if all you feel able to do is to remove part of the GM foods in your diet, that is a big improvement, so here are some guidelines for making that improvement in your own life.
 
The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) and wise health practitioners recommend these tips to keep GM foods out of your body:
 
How to Avoid Genetically Modified Foods:

Buy Organic – Organic producers are not permitted to intentionally...

In my last article, I explored what GMO or Genetically Engineered (GE) foods actually are.  This past year both Jackson pased a GMO ban. This coming election, Josephine countiy in Oregon is seeking to pass a similar measures making their farms GMO free. These measures protect Rogue Valley family farmers from the GE pollen that is spread for miles by wind from neighboring farms, contaminating other non-GM crops.  This contamination by GM pollen affects both conventional and organic farm crops and in turn is a great concern for you and your families’ health.
 
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has asked physicians to advise patients to avoid GM foods.  I have been letting my patients know about the dangers of consuming GM foods for many years now and will continue to do so, especially since the evidence of detrimental health concerns continues to mount.  The AAEM reported that “Several animal studies indicate serious health risks...

Many of you reading this are already well informed on the issue of GMO’s. For those of you who are new to this issue, here is a nice summary from GMO Free Jackson County:

"Genetically modified organisms are created through manipulation of an organism's genes using recombinant DNA techniques. Genes from unrelated species are combined, such as a fish gene inserted into a tomato.  This can't happen naturally or through traditional breeding. Most GMO crops rely on increasingly toxic pesticides made by the same companies that produce the seeds. The terms genetically engineered, GE, and transgenic also refer to GMOs."

The issues involved with Genetically Modified (GM) crops are far reaching, to put it mildly.   I would encourage you to visit the Our Family Farms Coalition and the GMO Free Josephine County websites to learn more, and check back here frequently for other articles in this series.

Here is a summary of what I’ll...