Dear Subscribers,

On September 13, 2012, I sent an email entitled GMO Gamble in which the first link was to the trailer to the film Genetic Roulette, produced by Jeffrey Smith. For the next few days, through February 3rd, you can see the entire film for free. There are two reasons that I would urge you to watch this film. The first is that your health, the health of those you love, including your pets, may depend on what you learn in this film and how you decide to apply this knowledge to your life.

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/posts/genetic-roulette-free-screening-vote-today/

The second is that after watching the film, you can add your vote to the many others who want this film to receive more attention. It already won the Solari Award for best film of 2012, but if it wins the top award from AwareGuide, more people will come to recognize the reason for ignoring the hype about eliminating hunger through technology and, as we know, knowledge can be transformational. If it goes on to receive an Oscar nomination, that would also raise awareness so please take this opportunity to watch and then vote. The link is wrong on the voting page. It should be:

http://transformationalmedia.com/index.php/articles/awards/item/366-2012best

Now, I will do something I rarely do and that is to list the foods that we know are likely to be genetically modified:

Soy
Corn
Cottonseed (for oil)
Canola (for oil)
Sugar beets (for sugar)
Papaya (Hawaiian and Chinese)
Zucchini
Yellow Crookneck Squash
Alfalfa (for hay)

This list appears about 70 minutes into the film.

The problem here is that this short list of foods manages to find its way into about 70% of all supermarket products.

Now, it's time for my mind to indulge in recollections from the past. My first job in the real world after grad school was on Wall Street. My boss was really big on Monsanto. I had a lot of doubts about the man and his "positions" because he epitomized mainstream fashion and left me feeling that there is no meaning in the work conducted by the multitude of banks and brokerage houses in the world of high finance. However, his desk was only a few feet away from mine so I overheard all the Monsanto babble for the two and half years I worked in this now utterly disreputable industry. It honestly wasn't difficult to see the handwriting on the "wall" back then but there were ostensibly a few regulations in the 60s. As we all know, this is no longer the case.

This was also the time of Thalidomide and when my boss took a long vacation during Vatican II, I was the one to pour over the investment options in case someone wanted to speculate on whether or not the Pope would approve birth control. I was horrified by what I read. It was perfectly obvious that the risks were known and ignored. Why do I mention this? The egregious company was Eli Lilly, the first company to market recombinant bovine growth hormone globally even though Monsanto beat Lilly in obtaining FDA approval in the U.S. However, just to keep everyone up-to-date, Monsanto sold its Prosilac rights to Lilly in 2008. The only purpose in mentioning this is to make the game of musical chairs very clear to those who are blessed to still be in possession of a little naïveté.

This monstrous hormone is also addressed in the film and this time I will not steal any thunder. Just watch and listen and learn. Even if you think you already know all this, you never know when the day will come when you desperately want to convince someone else to go organic, maybe your grandchild or his/her teacher or your friend with cancer. Did I say, watch the film? Please!

Now, I will do my usual and reserve some commentary until after more people have had a chance to watch the film. This said, I went grocery shopping today, first time out of the house since picking up a bug 8 days ago, but I looked at prices and was totally floored. The argument that industrialization of our food supply brings down costs is completely fallacious . . . and I will comment on this in the weeks and months to come because we can change the world if we always do what is in the best interest of survival.

For some time, I have almost stated my personal preference on organic versus wildcrafted. This is not an easy topic, but the primary advantage of organic certification is the authentication of the manner in which the product was produced. However, there are allowable practices that are not high on my list of ideal herb practices so I personally prefer ethically wildcrafted herbs to organic ones. The third option would be sustainably grown or sustainably harvested. Where imported herbs are concerned, all are subject to testing so residues of toxic metals, herbicides, insects, and unmentionables must be minimal to pass agricultural inspection. What we are not factoring into the equation is runoff from nearby farms or contamination of the ground water supply for who knows how many generations, perhaps thousands of years if we consider that artesian waters might consist of rain from such ancient times that our history books do not even mention the era. This is all important when you consider the heavy burden of toxins going into our soil. Organic plants can use water from whatever source is available but wildcrafted plants rely on rainfall which is in any event not worse than water used for irrigation since all plants are exposed to rain if outdoors. This is clearly an immense topic so think about it. We can discuss it later.

Meanwhile, I want to thank you for your interest in my posts. There have been a number of new subscribers recently. I appreciate your help in spreading the word.

Many blessings,

Ingrid

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2013

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