Certified GMO-free Emergency foods , Certified GMO-free foods , Dangers of genetically modified foods , Emergency Food , Emergency Food Supply , Risk of genetic modification - January 30, 2013

Why GMO-free Matters

What goes into the food you eat matters—especially if it’s food for your food storage. When you buy emergency food, you buy it with the aim of keeping your family safe and provided for in an emergency situation. It’s only logical then that you would make sure the emergency food you buy is actually safe and free of harmful ingredients.

Did you know that Legacy Premium food is the only emergency food on the market that is certified to be 100% free of genetically modified ingredients? Many of you know why being GMO-free is important, but if you are one of the many who are still in the dark about the risks of genetically modified food, here is a brief summary of the reservations many experts have about this increasingly common process.

Genetically modified foods are foods that contain organisms that have been changed from their natural state into an enhanced state with the goal of offering certain desired benefits. This enhancement is done either by taking genes out of an organism, like removing the genes from a plant that make it susceptible to drought, or adding genes from another organism into it, like adding in genes that give a food better nutritional stats. Sounds like a pretty miraculous and wonderful practice, doesn’t it? The big corporations who fund genetic modification of foods would like you to think so. However, there are some serious concerns in the scientific community about the safety of genetically modified foods. Specifically, many experts worry that we do not know enough about the effects of genetically modified foods and that there is not enough regulation over their creation and circulation into the mainstream food market.

So are GMO foods safe? Scientists don’t know. Some studies done have found that animals fed GMO-containing foods showed toxic and allergenic effects. Even if not all scientists agree on the effects GMOs can have, most of them agree that there is simply not enough research on the effects of GM food, and the testing that has been done is insufficient. Currently, GM food corporations hold the patents on the foods they create. As a result, most of the research that is done lies primarily in their hands. Understandably, GM companies are very careful about the results they share with the public.The fact that we don’t have evidence of GM foods’ safety and that regardless they are still being mass-produced and incorporated into the food market unrestrained and without regulation or labeling requirements is particularly alarming. Most people feel that without knowing more about GM foods, we should not be consuming them as thoughtlessly as we are.

Safety concerns aside, genetic modification of foods is also problematic ecologically. A big concern is that GM crops will spread and overtake or cross-pollinate with natural crops. Neither of these possibilities is good. If GM crops spread and overtook natural crops, farmers could suffer. If GM crops cross-pollinated with natural crops, the result could be new plants that we have no control over. In 2010, researchers at the University of Arkansas found genetically modified Franken-canola flowers (used to make canola oil) spreading all over the wild in North Dakota. In many cases, these new crops were resistant to herbicides. In other words, they were human-engineered superweeds. Without more research and monitoring, genetically modified crops pose a threat to biodiversity and the delicate ecological balance.

In addition to safety and ecological risks, there are also compelling economic reasons to avoid genetically modified foods. In some parts of the world, farmers are carrying an increasing financial burden because of their dependence on GM seeds. Because only a handful of companies control the GM seed market, it’s easier for these companies to take advantage of their monopoly. In the U.S. it has been reported that GM companies have limited selections of non-GMO seeds available and then raised the prices steeply on their GM seeds. It is also reported that GM seeds typically produce less and require more pesticides. Farmers shoulder these costs as well. Things can become risky when large corporations can patent and control the world’s food supply.

These safety, ecological, economic concerns are what the fuss is all about with genetically modified foods. Knowing what you know now, keep in mind that packaged foods and foods that are meant to have long shelf lives (like emergency foods) are prime suspects for containing genetically modified ingredients. Be aware of this when you are in the market for emergency foods. Also keep in mind that in the U.S. there are no requirements that GM foods be labelled as such. Legacy Premium emergency food is the only food in the industry that is certified to be 100% GMO-free.

You’re here because you want to protect your family. Make sure you are protecting them from unsafe food by storing emergency food that is free of potentially harmful genetically modified ingredients.

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