Two Farms in So-Cal That Sell GMO-Free Corn

Summer is just around the corner — 20 days to be exact and that means barbecues and fresh corn on the cob. When I was a kid, my parents bought me a freshly barbecued corn on a stick when we went to the county fair. I’m sure the possibility that that corn could be hazardous to my health, never crossed their minds. Today,  90% of fresh corn is genetically modified but consumers do not know that because the corn is not labeled as such. In 2012 a French study was done to see if there were any adverse health affects from eating genetically modified corn (gmo). This is their conclusion written in the International Journal of Biological Sciences:

 

“…We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity. This can be due to the new pesticides (herbicide or insecticide) present specifically in each type of GM maize, although unintended metabolic effects due to the mutagenic properties of the GM transformation process cannot be excluded… Our analysis highlights that the kidneys and liver as particularly important on which to focus such research as there was a clear negative impact on the function of these organs in rats consuming GM maize varieties for just 90 days.”

 

 

I was shopping in Sprouts today and noticed that fresh corn is already for sale. I asked the produce manager if the corn was gmo and he said that “yes” it was and that they cannot find gmo-free corn anymore.  He also told me that they have not been able to find organic corn for the last two years. He blamed it on Ethanol.  I did some research about that and yes, farmers are planting gmo-corn crops to be used for Ethanol. Whether farmers  plant gmo-corn for fuel or for consumption, they do so because they have been told by a Monsanto salesman that their crops will produce larger yields, have less weeds and pests — what has actually happened is that farmers are now dealing with, “super weeds” and the disappearance of  monarch butterflies.  There are also reports that gmos have created “super worms” — so much for the promise of better yields.

 

Last year Wal-Mart  began selling Monsanto’s sweet corn variety containing the Bt pesticide. It was the first time, Monsanto marketed gmo corn as fresh produce, rather than an ingredient for processed foods. Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and General Mills refused to carry the corn. Shopping for fresh non-gmo corn can be problematic and it’s not something one can grow in their patio garden. Did you know that Bt  gmo corn is regulated by the EPA? That should give some nay-sayers some pause…food being regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency instead of the FDA? Its like having a pesticide and food all-in-one. Yum!

 

Monsanto is not the only bio-tech company selling Bt corn — Syngenta, a Swiss company was found guilty for killing cattle that were fed their gmo corn and then covered it up.

 

 

 

 

The good news is, I did find two local farms in Southern California that sell gmo-free produce, including corn. They both have produce stands where shoppers can buy a variety of fresh produce and fruit. Manassero Farms is located in Irvine, and De La Costa Farms is in Carlsbad and Encinitas.

 

If consumers want to know what they are eating they have to speak up when they are in the grocery store. Tell the manager to buy gmo-free produce and to label the processed foods on their shelves.  Apples are next on the list of gmo foods that will soon be in stores and they will all be unlabeled.  Lots of moms give their kids apples and apple juice — don’t you want to know which apples are gmo and which are not?  We cannot depend on the FDA to do their job, but we can speak with our wallets. Believe me, managers take notice of what their customers are buying. They tally those register receipts and at the end of the day — the foods that don’t sell are replaced with foods that do.

 

 

 

 


About Inge

Cancer survivor. Healthy organic food coach. Public speaker. If you have a story you want told, contact me at iscott.orangejuiceblog@gmail.com/