I first saw Jeffrey Smith speak in a small, cramped Holiday Inn ballroom in Clearwater Florida back in 2003. His brand new book Seeds of Deception (now a best seller) had recently been released and Jeffrey’s talk that night primarily revolved around describing to a wide eyed and horrified audience the insidious proliferation of genetically modified foods that had just begun to invade our food supply.
My friend Brenda was with me (we were early raw milk warriors together) and I remember so clearly sitting completely dumbfounded as Jeffrey thoroughly and precisely described the process by which genetically modified organisms are created in the lab and the internal damage they can wreak on humans and animals alike.
Jeffrey’s crusade to alert the world to the dangers of genetically modified foods has continued unabated since that evening and he has been instrumental in spearheading Proposition 37 to require the labeling of genetically modified foods that is on the ballot in California this November.
I was absolutely thrilled and honored to be a guest along with Jeffrey on Sean Croxton’s Underground Wellness radio show a couple of months ago as part of the Real Food Summit. I was even more excited to learn that Jeffrey will give the closing address at the Wise Traditions Conference November 9-11, 2012 in Santa Clara, California. Wild horses couldn’t keep me away. I hope to see some of you there too. Jeffrey is a compelling and eloquent speaker. You will not be disappointed if you make the effort to attend. The results of the Proposition 37 vote will be known at the time of Jeffrey’s talk that day, so hopefully it will turn out to be a raucous celebration of victory!
Jeffrey has recently released another stellar work, the documentary Genetic Roulette – The Gamble of Our Lives.
“The evidence presented in the film makes the best case yet for why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are linked to disorders such as allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, infertility, autism, and cancer, to name a few. One health practitioner, Mary Tobin, L.Ac., said the film “provides abundant evidence that eating a GMO-free diet is the single most important change Americans can make for their health.”
** You can view this important film for free for this week only: September 15-22, 2012. So, clear away 1 hour and 24 minutes from your busy schedule this week and sit down and watch it, preferably with your spouse and kids if you can. Our children need to know about this too as our actions today will most impact their generation.
Help Pass Proposition 37 to Require the Labeling of GM Foods With a Donation
Please, if you have the means, consider donating to the campaign to require the labeling of GM foods that is currently on the ballot for the November election in California. If California requires GM labeling by approving Proposition 37, the rest of the country will most likely follow suit so this California initiative has implications for us all!
It is shocking to me that in less than 10 years since the night I first heard Jeffrey speak about the dangers of GM foods, these frankenfoods have made their way into almost every processed food on the shelf. We must stop this NOW. Please watch the documentary and donate to this important cause for our children’s sake.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Hi Sarah – One thing that has confused me for a long time is when I see an organic chocolate bar which contains non organic soy lecithin, is it GMO soy? I thought if it was labelled organic it wasn’t allowed to contain any GMO foods but then I read many times that as long as it is 70 percent organic it may be labelled organic.
Those organic labels are tricky. If it is USDA organic then it has to be 95% organic from what I understand. You cannot have any GMO ingredients in a USDA Organic product even if they are part of the 5% that may not be organic.
Sarah – love all your blogs – I’m totally on your page 🙂
@Osvaldo Vino you just revealed your true nature! and it obviously ain’t pretty!. I get your point but absolutely agree with Sarah. But because she doesn’t agree with you, you “trash” her! – how low can someone go? Not very mature, not very spiritual, not the kind of energy we need here ! Pew !
Local farmers markets are great for local and fresh food, but all that wonderful sweet corn – GMO! It is up to the consumer to ask the farmer if they are using organic seed, if it is GMO Free, We can not assume local means GMO Free, you have to ask !
Cathy
Dear All, I just watched Jeffrey’s video on Mercola’s site… (narrated by Lisa Oz)
It is clearly intelligent and well presented. Not hysterical or off-putting.
Please watch, listen very carefully to the words spoken by all those interviewed.
These are reasonable people. I am thankful for those who are watching out
for the rest who refuse to know what they are putting nto their bodies..
I consider our bodies and planet earth, sacred. Please care…
We need to gain back some dignity by being self-reliant, responsible and honest.
Blessings to all who are on their way !
hi Sarah, i have a question…i typically buy organic produce from trader joes because i know it is not gmo…however, would a local farmers market’s produce (even though rarely labeled ‘organic’) be a better option since it is local? or will that type of produce generally be gmo also?
Fortunately, the local produce I’ve come across is not GMO even if not organic. A safe bet I think at least at this point in time.
Ok, I have no idea why the entire conversation between Sarah and Osvaldo from Facebook is not showing up here. I suggest everyone head over to Sarah’s Facebook page to check it out. Sarah, I have been a longtime reader of your blog and have always seen you as a reasonable, level-headed person. But I am absolutely disgusted at the the way you acted in this conversation. My husband is advocating personal responsibility, and you imply that he’s advocating a dictatorship??? Because he doesn’t want to vote for legislation that would deceive consumers into believing their food is GMO free? I’m sorry, but that’s crazy. The fact is, none of the people you are calling “enlightened” because they avoid GMOs have read the actual text of the proposition. All of the people I have personally spoken with are shocked to learn that restaurant and food bar food is exempt. These people are campaigning in support of Prop 37 because they believe it would label ALL GMOs! In fact, I have not spoken to a single person who knew that there were any exemptions. And these are people who are completely anti-GMO and strictly avoid them in their own diets. Had I not informed them, they would have gone about their business, eating at restaurants, having no idea that the food could theoretically be 100% GMO.
You might feel that you are saving your neighbors from themselves by supporting Prop 37. But what of all the folks who already avoid all GMOs and will end up eating far more than 5% GMOs when they eat out, just because they were led to believe that all GMOs are labeled in California? Do they not matter? I just feel that two wrongs don’t make a right. Does that mean I support a dictatorship? I seriously cannot believe you said that. After all, advocating for personal responsibility and NOT relying on the government to tell us what is true about health is about as far from a dictatorship as you can get. Care to explain your reasoning?
Your comparison of my husband’s position to those who think dairy cows should be 100% grass-fed is ludicrous. Maybe if the farmers were deceiving their customers into a false belief that their milk was 100% grass-fed, your comparison would make sense. For the record, both I and my husband are happy to drink milk from healthy cows that have eaten some grain.
Question: if you are so gung-ho about Prop 37, why are YOU not educating your readers about the pitfalls inherent in Prop 37? Or had you read the bill before you proclaimed your unwavering support for it? I have not heard a SINGLE word from any Prop 37 supporters about the exemptions. What gives? Why does everyone believe all GMOs would be labeled?
Laurel, this is a fine reply with good common sense !
Seemed tame enough to me. Just that people banty around terms: don’t take things literally….
I mean Sarah’s responses were tame enough: nothing to become offended about.
It takes FB awhile to send over the comments … it only happens a few times a day. The entire thread has posted now including all the obscenities that were hurled at me are included LOL.
If anyone is offended by Osvaldo’s obscenity laced rant, let me know. I will happily delete it but I thought folks should see it.
My comments were nothing but civil. Hard hitting? Yes, but I don’t soft shoe my approach, never have and never will – particularly when a patently false argument like “Prop 37 does not represent any progress” against the advancement of GM Foods is suggested. Such extreme and perfectionist types of views get you nowhere and will never be passed with our type of political system. Hence, my analogy of a dictatorship which was a very appropriate point given the discussion.
You may consider Prop 37 to be progress, but that is your opinion, not a fact. I am personally opposed to deception, and I do not feel that a deceptive proposition is progress at all. I cannot vote for something that would deceive consumers no matter how much lesser of the two evils it appears on the surface. At least right now people know they have to research it themselves if they care about avoiding GMOs. Ultimately it is no different than trans fat labeling. Do you feel that was progress too? That products can say “Trans Fat Free” yet still contain trans fats?
I stand by my assessment of your dictatorship comment. The idea that we could never pass a real bill to label all GMOs is absurd. After all, that is what everyone thinks they are voting for anyway, right? That is the whole reason why Prop 37 has so much support, because people believe they are voting to label all GMOs. I have not spoken with a single person who realized all GMOs would not be labeled. Everyone I have talked to has been shocked and outraged to learn about the exemptions. So I really don’t see why you feel it would take a dictatorship to do that. The support is already there.
Since you did not answer my question about whether or not you had read the bill (and why you haven’t mentioned the exemptions to your readers), I’m forced to conclude that either a) you did not read the bill before you endorsed Prop 37, or b) you read the bill and were aware of the exemptions, but failed to inform your readers about the true nature of the measure. Either of these is totally unacceptable in my opinion. And it is further unacceptable to continue to promote Prop 37 without telling people the full story. If you really started blogging to get people to think, you could at least give your readers all of the information so they can be sure their thinking is *informed*.
Part of the reason I am so upset to learn the truth about Prop 37 is that I donated money to the OCA to get this on the ballot, and I signed the petition too. I feel totally betrayed to learn that only some GMOs will be labeled, not all. Had I known that it would be some watered down BS, I never would have donated.
If Monsanto is paying attention (and I’m sure they are), they certainly will know how to pass any bill they want. All they have to do is fund the opposition, and everyone will say “We have to vote for it because Monsanto is against it, so it must mean progress.” I honestly think Monsanto realized there was a genuine grassroots movement to label all GMOs, so they co-opted it and watered down the proposition so it wouldn’t be such a threat to them. What else could they do? I mean, if they know the thing will pass (and I believe it will), would we really expect them to NOT try to co-opt the movement and steer it in a better direction for them? With Prop 37, things like Aspartame, which Monsanto owns, will still be in products that are not labeled GMO.
You define “progress” as “perfection”. They are very different and never possible in our democratic republic only in a dictatorship or some form of government where opposing opinions are squelched.
This bill is excellent progress in the right direction. Jeffrey Smith supports it and I greatly respect and trust his opinion as he is an uber expert in this topic for over a decade.
Yes, I find it offensive, but don’t pull it for me. I am not reading his posts now, unless he apologizes, which probably he won’t do.. Laurel, you and your husband are way too sensitive and should probably take a breath and realize that even when everyone doesn’t appear to agree, someone probably does and then you will have accomplished what you wanted. It is ok to disagree. I was giving serious thought to O’s comments and then he just ran off into the ditch.. learn from this. I appreciated your thoughts and now there are seeds planted, but don’t ever think that you are dead right on anything. Only God has that power.
@Osvaldo Well, I didn’t start blogging to make people comfortable. I did it to get people to think and saying Prop 37 isn’t progress is just plain false. Nice language by the way.
He just showed his true colors and ignorance with his language. Now, I’ve discounted everything he said. Good grief!
If Prop 37 wasn’t really progress, why are Monsanto and other big companies like Kelloggs spending millions to defeat it? Because they know it IS progress against GMOs.
Well you know what Sarah, fuck you, I was polite to you, I did not infer anything about you, I am not a dictator or supportive of dictators. I am advocating personal responsibility. So fuck off you mean spirited bitch. Way to piss off your readership with BS accusations and inferences of their character. No critical thinking allowed here obviously…
Huh? You just lost your argument, Os…….
Wow, just as I was beginning to think that your point was valid…you blew it, and at the same time..you made Sarah’s point CLEAR. Now, you have fallen into the 5% bracket with your hostile and rude response. Why did you do that? You were very articulate and seemingly intelligent and then you acted like a Cretan. Apologize and show that you are a real man, not just another “Sheriff of the Universe.” Critical thinking does NOT require everyone to agree; just be civilized when you don’t.