I just received this news release from a fellow board member of the Optometric Nutrition Society.
One May 19, 2009, The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) released its position paper on Genetically Modified foods stating that "GM foods pose a serious health risk" and calling for a moratorium on GM foods.
Citing several animal studies, the AAEM concludes "there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects" and that "GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health." The AAEM calls for:* A moratorium on GM food, implementation of immediate long term safety testing and labeling of GM food.
* Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community and the public to avoid GM foods. * Physicians to consider the role of GM foods in their patients' disease processes.
* More independent long term scientific studies to begin gathering data to investigate the role of GM foods on human health.
"Multiple animal studies have shown that GM foods cause damage to various organ systems in the body. With this mounting evidence, it is imperative to have a moratorium on GM foods for the safety of our patients' and the public's health," said Dr. Amy Dean, PR chair and Board Member of AAEM.
"Physicians are probably seeing the effects in their patients, but need to know how to ask the right questions," said Dr. Jennifer Armstrong, President of AAEM. "The most common foods in North America which are consumed that are GMO are corn, soy, canola, and cottonseed oil." The AAEM's position paper on Genetically Modified foods can be found at http:aaemonline.org/gmopost.html.
We recommend that everyone reading this blog take the time to read the AAEM's position paper on genetically modified foods. We can't possibly afford the disease consequences associated with new-to-nature-molecules that prove to be harmful - think hydrogenation and trans-fats.
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11 comments:
Europe stopped allowing trans-fats in foods years before we did and they are not faced with all of the diseases directly linked to excessive consumption of trans-fats used to give junk foods a longer shelf life.
Europeans have been protesting GM foods since the study in Nature showed that GM corn causes high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillers.
Let's at the very least demand that all GM foods be labeled as such so that we know what we are buying.
All GM foods should, at a minimum, be labeled so that we all have a choice. The foods I am concerned about (as these are the foods I personally eat) are; cantalopes, tomatoes, sugarbeets, and potatoes. These GM foods have "modified ripening characteristics" and "herbicide resistance characteristics"! It sounds as though these foods are indestructable. Are they produced by Tupperware? Also, what about our health? What extensive testing has been completed to assure all of us that introducing "these genes" into these plants will not cause life-threating allergies to many of those susceptible individuals such as myself. Let's all stand strong against this and support the way of Mother Nature.
On one hand, I like the idea and possibilities of GM foods because they offer dramatic promise for meeting global challenges, including poverty reduction.
I dislike them on the other hand because they may pose serious risks to human and environmental safety, and consumer choice.
But I dislike even more, the idea of a few companies controlling the intellectual property rights to the worlds food production. If we take our eye off this issue that could easily happen.
Is the money we are saving on genetically modified foods being spent on drugs to treat the diseases associated with empty calorie foods?
Do the math!
We are not saving money when we spend almost 20 percent of our tax dollars on health care and less than 10 percent of our income on food.
Healthcare reform needs to start with an under-the-hood look at our food supply.
Let's just get right into this subject since the predictions are that one third of our population will become diabetic by 2030.
Jim Hightower from the Texas Observer started warning folks over 30 years ago that 'bigger is not better' in his book, Eat Your Heart Out. Yet, supersized portions became the rage.
Rolling Stone serialized Eric Scholsser's research over ten years ago which became the film called Fast Food Nation - The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Yet, fast food companies now control the food supply.
We can't reform healthcare without reforming the food supply.
We have the power to change this through the way we feed our families and the way we spend our food dollars.
Our collective food choices can speak with a louder voice than the lobbists on the hill if we refuse to purchase any more empty calorie junk food.
We need to eat smaller amounts of higher quality food - more is almost never better.
I'm beginning to think our food supply is no safer than the money we bank or the money we put into stocks. What are the people doing who are paid with our tax dollars to keep our food and investments safe?
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