Celebrate Non-GMO Month!

Happy Non-GMO Month! Created by the Non-GMO Project (a US-based initiative to help consumers choose items produced without genetically modified organisms), this October marks the third annual Non-GMO Month. So today we’re blogging about some of the reasons to choose non-GMO foods.

Top 4 reasons to buy GMO-free

1. Our health: a new study linked genetically modified corn with a host of serious health problems in rodents, including tumours, as well as kidney and liver damage, leading to premature death.
2. Biodiversity: choosing heirloom varieties (which are non-GMO) rather than those typically found at the supermarket (which are grown for yield rather than nutrition or food security) helps preserve biodiversity. Biodiversity, in turn, helps protect us from future food shortages.
3. Farmer sovereignty: farmers can be punished for accidental cross-contamination—they can be sued if their crops are found to contain GMOs, even if these GMOs are the result of accidental and non-preventable drift from fields nearby.
4. Our environment: the long-term effects of GMOs on the environment are unknown and likely very harmful. The Non-GMO Project reports that the “use of toxic herbicides like Roundup has increased 15 times since GMOs were introduced. GMO crops are also responsible for the emergence of ‘super weeds’ and ‘super bugs:’ which can only be killed with ever more toxic poisons like 2,4-D (a major ingredient in Agent Orange).”

How to buy GMO-free
Check out our post from last year’s Non-GMO Month to find out how to choose GMO-free products.

Learn more
Find out more by visiting the Non-GMO Project website, or the Non-GMO Month homepage.