WAP Conference – The Politics of GMOs

I had planned to avoid political and governmental sessions at the conference due to my long professional history and continuing to deal with Farmers that Lie and The Great Egg Recall and the Little Farmer. Even with my avoidance intention, nothing was catching my eye at that conference time slot, so I wandered into Jeffrey Smith’s talk on GMOs. What an amazing guy.

Jeff Smith fights tirelessly and passionately for a GMO-free America. While I didn’t learn much new in his talk, he gave a compelling presentation. Being forced to look at the big picture of GMOs, which I hadn’t pondered in a long time and hadn’t fully understood (because I can only fight so many battles at one time), was frightening and inspiring. Jeff inspired by discussing how the tide against GMOs is growing and we need to keep fighting. You can learn about Jeff’s work and how you can help by visiting Responsible Technology.

One of the things that I learned during Jeff’s talk is that genetically modified corn turns the gut bacteria into pesticide factories that continue to poison us. An heirloom seed provider that I met later said that corn crops can pollinate each other from up to two miles away! Even the organic corn may not be organic for that reason. Until this summer, we almost completely stopped eating corn three years or so ago because of the GMO threat. This summer we enjoyed delicious corn on the cob from non-GMO seed. I even let a few bags of organic corn chips sneak in (even though store bought corn chips are often rancid due to the oxidation of oil). Corn causes inflammation of the body, but it is sooo good!

For a humorous and thoughtful look at corn, check out Michael Pollan's talk on corn. Be sure to hang in to the 10 minute mark when corn comes in, along with Michael’s reflections on the week he worked at Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm.