Scientific American is in Favor of GMOs, and Against their Labeling--My Opinion

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/CommunitySupport/SustainableTimes/images/gmo_comic.htm

In their September 2013 issue, Scientific American published an article (see: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=labels-for-gmo-foods-are-a-bad-idea&page=2 ) formally presenting their stance on the production and labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They posited that GMOs are a good thing for our food culture in North America, and that labeling of foods produced with genetically modified ingredients was unnecessary and superfluous.

In light of recent class discussions, I found myself considering the political ecology of GMOs and debating and developing my own personal opinions on GMO production and subsequent labeling. Since I grew up in a rural, agriculturally-based area I support the notion "No Farms, No Food". As an Environmental Studies major and nature lover I struggle with the use, overuse and even abuse of land for agricultural matters. It's an internal conflict, which calls into question many modern farming practices and techniques for me, GMOs being one of them.  

I began by considering a difference between GMOs and non-GMOs; it is a distinction which is quite often overlooked and misconstrued in our society. Non-GMO does not mean organic; non-GMOs are plants whose DNA has not been altered from its natural state. However, non-GMO crops may be sown and cultivated in a non-organic manner. 

With that said, certainly GMOs are beneficial to the economy. Scientific American (SA) states, "Because conventional crops often require more water and pesticides than GMOs do, the former are usually more expensive. Consequently, we would all have to pay a premium on non-GMO foods--and for a questionable return."Because non-GMO and organic crops cost more, the audience they would be available to is severely limited. If we were to rely solely on non-GMO or organic crops for our food demands, impoverished populations may lose access to fresh produce, and (further through the system) processed goods whose production relies on GMO crops--an unwanted cultural consequence. Additionally, the total amount of food crops that are able to be harvested from a given area is greater with GMOs than non-GMOs, a benefit for national farmers. On an international level, GMOs hold the potential to increase the quality of life in many developing nations, even save thousands of lives (see SA's discussion of Golden Rice). To me, culturally and economically, GMOs seem the most logical solution--this is a position I have always maintained and still do after reading this and other articles online. 

But then we come to the environmental impacts of GMOs. I feel this aspect was greatly overlooked in SA's discussion of their position on GMO production. GMOs demand more from the land than has ever been asked before (even if just by sheer volume grown per unit area). Mismanaged farm practices and overworked land can lead to a slew of detrimental results (though, this is not specific to just GMO farms). Biodiversity can be lost (sometimes permanently), and there are unacknowledged and not fully understood impacts on non-human species that are dependent on these (now genetically modified) plants. But alas, our ever growing population can not be sustained without the use of GMOs (not without radically changing our land use) and so morally I feel as if we have a commitment to or obligation to use GMOs.

The issue of labeling is one I have not considered, or at least to a lesser extent. I was young when the EU began to require the labeling of GMOs (circa 1997), and only slightly older when companies began to remove labels in fear of driving consumers off (1999). I have always taken for granted the fact that the processed food I do eat contains GMOs--my upbringing raised me knowing where my food came from and what that food entailed. The fact that I ate GMOs never bothered me. It's only recently, since studying food and food systems in our country, that I realize not everyone is as familiar with their food's background. I have come to terms with the fact that GMO is a daunting and unknown term to some and that it entails questionable repercussions in their minds, even though it may be basic to me and my acceptance of the food I eat. I take issue though, with the fact that SA, a reputable publication, assumes a negative stance on GMO labeling. Though I may be a proponent of GMOs, I would not push my viewpoint on others I support them in their decision to or not to eat GMOs. I feel as though we have a fundamental right to know what we are eating and drinking, a right which cannot be lessened by a scientist justifying that, in fact, GMOs are suitable for our consumption. Like all matters of significance in life, I would argue that people should be well-informed on a topic before taking a derisive stance one way or the other--and our food consumption is no different. People should research GMOs before being scared off by a label, or similarly, accepting it wholeheartedly.

A thought provoking article that got me thinking. Thoughts?           

The Origins of a Day's Food

Today, I decided to attempt tracking down where the food I consumed today came from. Specifically, since I have yet to eat dinner, I took a look at where my breakfast and my lunch originated and was grown.

Going into this, I really wasn't certain how far I would get. I was pretty confident that I could investigate and find out the distributors and manufactures of the food products, but where those manufacturers where obtaining their ingredients was another matter. So, let me preface this post by saying that I tried to look at this research into the origins of my food from the standpoint of not as someone who was trying to thoroughly delve into the workings of these companies and flesh out enough information to write a full-sized paper. Rather, I took the stance of an average American trying deciding for a day to put some extra effort into thinking and discovering where my food was coming from.

SO HERE WE GO!

Breakfast:

• 1 container of Chobani Greek Yogurt

I had known that Chobani's factory was in the Upstate New York area, but had no idea where it was specifically. Here's what some snooping around on the internet found:

Chobani is very public about its ingredients, nutritional facts, and other traits of their products on their websites; they get brownie points for that. However, there has been a lot of ruckus lately about Chobani using dairy from NY cows that were fed GMOs. Specifically, http://gmoinside.org/ had a few recent posts on their blog that called for action against Chobani's use of GMO-fed dairy cattle.

Personally, I don't have any qualms with ingesting food that involved GMOs in the making of them. It was, however, that if I was concerned with this issue, this information on the dairy cattle and the product they created was not available from them. Rather, I discovered it after blog posts made only in the past months.

Besides this debate of GMO feeding, I was not able to find any more information on where the dairy was coming from for the yogurt.

Lunch:

• 1 personal pizza from the Coop

NOTE: Please excuse the horrible lighting in this picture. It really makes this look unappetizing when in reality it was quite delicious.

Because this was a prepared food, the origins here were a little more complicated. Luckily, one of the wonderful workers at the Coop, Brett, went looking for the packaging for the cheese, dough, and tomatoes used in the pizza when I asked him for help. So, shout out to him for being fantastic! Here's what I gleaned from the packaging he showed me:

The cheese was from Great Lakes Cheese, Inc. I learned a lot about the company and the serves they provide in manufacturing and distributing cheese on a mass level. Mainly, their beautiful website consisted of information for potential buyers, pretty pictures, how they were one of the largest privately owned companies in the US, and blurbs about their devotion to creating a beautiful cheese product.... But nothing about their sources of dairy or how exactly the cheese I was eating was made.

The dough was a Rich's foodservice product. While trying to find out more about the product I was eating, I discovered just how gigantic of a company Rich's was. It produced breads, ice creams, coffees,  seafood, and just about everything in between. It was a little frightening just how wide the range of products were under one behemoth company. After some searching, I found a whole webpage devoted to the product I was consuming: http://richsfoodservice.com/products/pizza/pizza-dough-a-crust/fresh-n-ready-oven-rising-sheeted-pizza-dough/7q-fresh-n-ready-oven-rising-sheeted-pizza-dough/07386 It has nutritional facts and cooking instructions galore. Anything about where those ingredients were truly from? Nope. Nada.

Finally, the main ingredient in the sauce, tomatoes, came from a subset of ConAgra Foodservice, Angela Mia. Similar to Rich's, ConAgra was an absolutely huge corporation, acting as the umbrella company to multitudes of companies that I thought to be independent. Here's a list of said food companies: http://www.conagrafoods.com/our-food/brands Frankly, it's scary how many different access points this one company has into our daily consumption. I did find the Angela Mia tomato product on their site. Again, all the allergy and nutritional information I could want, but no sign of a source for their tomatoes.

After all of that searching, I learned a lot about the companies that supervised my food consumption. I really got more information about that company's "middleman" role in my food than I was looking for. However, I came up empty-handed as far as information on the actual origins of my food. Even with such little ingredients as yogurt, these companies provided me with virtually no knowledge as to what the beginnings of my food were.

Chia Seed Granola!

2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1/4 cup Organic Chia Seeds
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries (Craisins)
1/4 cup Honey
2 tbsp. Olive Oil (or vegetable oil)
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray.  In a mixing bowl, combine Oats and chia seeds.  In a separate container, combine honey, olive oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Pour the liquid into the dry mixture and mix until the oat and chia seed mixture are evenly coated.  It may be easier to hand mix, but be prepared to get sticky! Once the oats are evenly coated, transfer the mixture to your baking sheet and spread evenly.  Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, mixing halfway through the baking time.  Depending on how crunchy you like your granola, bake for up to an additional 20 minutes, once again mixing halfway through.  Remove from oven and let cool. Mix in dried cranberries and transfer to storage dish.  

You can personalize your granola however you like! Instead of dried cranberries, you could use other dried fruits such as coconut, pineapple, raisins, apples, etc.  The possibilities are endless!! You could also add nuts if you so desire, which can be toasted with the oats, or added afterwards.  







Recipe (as is) yields: 12 1/4 cup servings at 125 calories each.         

The Colombian National Farmers Strike

Colombia is currently seeing a strike by many poor farmers in protest of fair trade agreements with the United States, Canada, European Union, and more recently Israel. The agreement instituted an elimination of almost 70% of tariffs on US exports to foreign countries, flooding their markets with cheap agricultural products.

The National Farmers Strike, or the "Rebellion of the Ponchos" as it's being called, has spread to the streets of New York City, where one protester in a Huffington Post interview likened the Colombian people to a prostitute: "We have our legs completely spread open with free trade agreements with the E.U., Canada, the U.S., and Israel. So there is no protectionism that is currently protecting the Colombian economy right now."

The fear is that poor Colombian farmers will no longer be able to make a living on staple food products like milk, and corn due to trade agreements signed by their untrustworthy government officials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoKfHzKJKk

The video above shows Colombians who are asking  why they now import foreign products at the expense of Colombian farmers.

Colombia is a country that is rich with natural resources, including a huge amount of land devoted to agriculture; however, many poor farmers are no longer able to make money selling their goods due to the fair trade agreement which is designed to benefit foreign countries at the expense of the Colombian people.

Colombia needs to straighten out it's agricultural policies so that they allow farmers to receive fair prices for their products, without the market influence from huge over-producers like the United States.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/01/colombia-farmers-strike_n_3852284.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23892958

down on the farm, 2013

This week we visited Common Thread Community Farm for the first time, to meet the farmers and to get a brief tour of the farm.  Students begin work at the farm this week, so you might see some posts soon that reflect on their initial work days.  You might also see some complaints about the high heat and humidity that we have in Central NY today...

A Passion for Freshness and Pickles

In class, we discussed the interlocking features of food and culture, which has prompted me to reflect on my study of Japanese, as well as my time spent abroad living with a host family in the old capital, Kyoto. In doing so, I have indeed come to realize how food and the environment shape not only culture but one's world view, and will use this post to expand upon our class conversations and continue to rave about Japan. 

The Japanese are obsessed with freshness, perhaps because their diet includes many perishable marine produces. Even in America now, we know of sushi and sashimi, which must be eaten at its utmost freshest state. I mentioned earlier in class that there are hundreds of words denoting the plethora of fish that the Japanese eat - and these words are known by the average citizen, not just marine biologists. However, here is something more. Freshness is taken so seriously, that even words denoting specific times have evolved. The Japanese speak of, for example, rikka (the beginning of summer), shoka (early summer), natsu (summer), and bunka (late summer). Reflecting back, I never realized how clearly lifestyles also conform to this minute division of the seasons. In Kyoto, which is famous for its heat and humidity, when I stepped out of my host family's door on a hot June afternoon, my host mom exclaimed, "It is only shoka, why are you wearing shorts?!"

"Don't you think it is hot?"

"Even on warm days in June, we don't wear shorts because this part of the month is still shoka, not natsu," my host mom explained. 

The Japanese sensitivity to changes of season is of course, evident in their culinary practices. They prefer fish or vegetables that are not only in season, but are the first products of their respective seasons. According to my host mom, it is often said that eating the first products of the season adds seventy-five days to one's life.

Kyoto is famous for its pickles. Incorporated in almost every meal are nukamiso-zuke, fresh vegetables pickled in rice-bran paste. The recipe is simple, according to my host mom: pickle fresh vegetables in rice-bran paste, a mixture of 20 liters of rice bran, 7 liters of lukewarm water, and 3.5 liters of salt. My over 60 year old host mom makes the job look easy, as she has done it since she was a child. But when I stepped up to the plate, I underestimated the amount of patience and care pickling requires. The traditional way to stir the paste is by hand. If the paste does not reach every nook and cranny of the pickling bed, the paste will ferment and a foul odor develops. Thus stirring by hand ensures the bed is well aerated. Each type of vegetable, whether it be cabbage, cucumber, eggplant, or radish has a different pickling time, requiring careful time calculations. What is even more amazing is that a properly cared for pickling bed can last for over 100 years, as my host mom said she received hers from her mother when she married off.

A pickling bed requires so much time and effort that it is thought to symbolize housekeeping. A wife who properly stays home minding her chores is said to be nukamiso-kusai (to reek of salted rice-bran paste). My host mom is very proud of being nukamiso-kusai, and often criticizes the young women of our generation, who have lost this old tradition of pickling to modern and changing times. Pickles are still common to eat but they are often purchased at the supermarket now. However, I have eaten my host mother's pickles everyday for six months, and it really shows that homemade foods are just that much better.

The following are pictures of meals that my host mom had cooked for me (arrows are pointing to her pickles!):

Bill Clinton is a Vegan

I found this article regarding President Bill Clinton's dietary habits interesting. We spent a lot of time in class talking about what it would take to change the American food system. Directly tied to the American food system are peoples' dietary habits. For Clinton, it took a serious medical scare to catalyze dietary change. Hopefully the rest of us can find a less dangerous motivator for change.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/18/bill.clinton.diet.vegan/index.html