While most processed foods now contain genetically modified ingredients, GM produce has been considered off limits in recent years following the miserable failure of GM tomatoes and other vegetables in the 1990’s.
With consumers now “used” to genetically modified foods and seemingly rather complacent about the situation, Big Ag is testing the waters with “fresh” GM produce once again.
As early as this Fall, genetically modified sweet corn courtesy of Monsanto is expected to be available at a supermarket produce aisle near you.
It makes perfect sense for Monsanto to start it’s foray into GM produce with sweet corn given its death grip on the corn market – 60% within its control at last calculation.
Bill Freese, a science policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety, speculates that exposure to unprocessed GM foods may be even more dangerous than processed GM products.
“There’s a concern with these GE crops that we eat with minimal processing [like sweet corn]…we’re exposed to a lot more of whatever is in it versus a processed corn product,” warns Freese.
It is possible then for “fresh” GM produce to be paradoxically more dangerous than processed GM foods!
This is especially worrisome since the pervasive Bt toxin used in GM corn has been found in maternal and fetal blood samples and Mothers to Be are particularly motivated to eat fresh rather than processed foods. While the effects of the Bt toxin aren’t yet known, it certainly can’t be positive given that it disrupts the digestive process of insects eventually killing them.
Monsanto knows exactly what it is doing. Sweet corn is normally sold by the ear in big bins and does not lend itself well to branding with the Monsanto GM label.
Since retailers will have the choice whether or not to label the GM corn, this “blend in and don’t make waves” approach works to Monsanto’s advantage.
In other words, you can be sure that there won’t be any corn bins at the supermarket with the label “Monsanto GM corn” as this would be a huge negative for the campaign given Monsanto’s poor reputation with the public.
As Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, senior scientist at the Pesticide Action Network North American explains, “We [consumers] won’t know which corn is which.”
No doubt, this is exactly what Monsanto wants. Fast and easy consumer acceptance through ignorance. Stealth marketing at its finest.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
Source: Monsanto Plans to Sell Sweet Corn In Your Local Supermarket
The fact is that organic standards are continually threatened as the Big Food corporations have infiltrated the very groups that create and enforce the standards, and they work to protect their interests and pro-GMO agendas. So we have to be ever vigilant and write to our members of Congress and get involved.
See this short film on corruption within the Organic Trade Association:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_23325.cfm
also on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCK0MTS4mvI
Lets take this article in to all the store managers near us and ask them, no beg them, not to purchase any GMO fresh food. Maybe Monsanto won’t find any buyers for their products then. This is something that we can do to help protect those around us.
I am confused too. I thought all the corn in the supermarket was GMO if not organic. I can’t find organic corn anywhere, not even my farmer’s market. I haven’t eaten fresh corn since last summer when I took a chance. I guess I can keep bugging my senators about this, not that they are listening to me.
“Fresh” GM Produce — Coming Soon to a Supermarket Near You – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/9hwNUb9
I ask the produce manager or store manager….I am relying on their honesty!
Produce managers in grocery stores are clueless most of the time. They only know what they’re told and they can only say what they’re told to say. Most produce managers wouldn’t even be able to tell you where their seasonal local produce comes from or whether or not it’s been grown without pesticides. Some stores are not even allowed to carry local, in-season produce from local growers. But even still that says nothing about the original seeds used for planting, does it? We all are really left clueless in that regard. A position monsanto desires for us. Confusion is their best tool.
most “local” produce is purchased at “local” produce auctions. here in ohio that stuff is trucked in from all over when it’s not ready here, they have no way of knowing what they are buying.
Monopolist capitalists with no conscience. 🙁
A monopolist is not a capitalist! Capitalism and voting with our dollars is what is going to turn this around.
yea! Well said!
Then there are some ingredients, like the “similar to anti-freeze in your car” product that is so routinely added to ice cream these days that it’s not mandated that they list it under the ingredients! One with a bit of awareness cannot help but wonder if they are just trying to keep the masses ill and weak for their own benefit. 🙁
I’m confused. I thought our stores were already flooded with GM produce and that is why we needed to buy organic to be sure our food wasn’t GM??? My understanding is that certified organic food can not be GMO. However when I saw a label for non-GMO popcorn, I called and they said it wasn’t “guaranteed” non-GMO, but their seed suppliers told them it wasn’t GMO and that popcorn had not been affected yet. So confusing.
that’s because even if it is organic, the farmer cannot guarantee that it has not been contaminated! i talked to a local farmer about feed for his organically grown, pastured chickens–they still need to eat some feed–and he can’t guarantee that the grains are organic for this very reason–pollen from GM grains gets in the air and blows every and any where…contaminating his crops.
Correct. Most common produce items do not have stickers. But some (or all) carry it on the signs.
And I was not aware this was a voluntary program. One would think there would be regulations on that labeling (not that there’s much anywhere else) to force them to label the items correctly. Who knows.
(You should be able to see it on the nearby sign, even if it’s smallish, it’s usually there).