The Price of Convenience: GMOs, and Pesticides, and Additives! Oh my!

One of the biggest challenges with Science is that we are constantly learning more every day. When GMOs, and pesticides, and additives were introduced into our diets, it was believed that they were not harmful to our health. However, research is starting to show that they are more dangerous than we originally thought. But, there are two sides to every story, so in this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of GMOs, pesticides, and additives so you can decide what’s best for you and your family.

The Dreaded “Grey Area”

Sidenote: I want you to keep an open mind. Read the whole post before deciding what you believe to be right and wrong. I’ll try my best to provide you both sides of each topic while keeping my opinions to myself so that you can decide what to think for yourself.

I also want you to keep in mind that there is no perfect solution when it comes to our food supply. Our world is broken and falling apart more and more every day. Since there is not one specific way to eat and live, you’ll have to decide for yourself what to do.

But, be aware that every action has consequences, whether good or bad or both.

Also, keep in mind that consequences often aren’t seen until years later. You have a responsibility to be aware of the consequences of your actions as they show up. For each decision you make, you must be willing to accept the consequences for yourself and your family.

Let’s get to the pros and cons of GMOs, pesticides, and additives…

Convenience Comes at a Price

Convenience food, according to the dictionary, is food that is pre-prepared or requires little work to prepare. Most items in the grocery store are convenience foods. Though you still have to put effort into cooking fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat, you don’t have to put in the time, effort, and money to make, grow or take care of them.

There are many pros to buying convenience foods.

You can work in the corporate world instead of having to grow your own food. Also, you can buy foods prepared for you to save you time in the kitchen. You have access to a great variety of foods to meet your needs and wants. You also have the ability to make a quick run to the store for a missing ingredient

But, at what cost is convenience to us?

A saying that has resonated with me is from Once Upon a Time – magic comes at a price. I believe that convenience comes at a price. That price is GMOs, pesticides, and food additives.

Before Criticizing Farmers and Ranchers

I want you to know that I am a city girl. I don’t know what it takes to be a farmer. However, my husband is from a farming family and knows from personal experience what it takes to run a farm. Those of you who are farmers or ranchers, you understand the difficulties of providing food for the masses.

It’s a dangerous thing to judge someone’s choices without first putting yourself in their shoes.

For example, when my son was 3 months old, I took him out to get groceries. A woman at the store gave me this judgmental look and said, “It’s a little cold out.” She looked down at my son (who was wrapped in a warm blanket with a warm hat on by the way) and repeated it.

It was then that I realized that she was judging me by what she perceived the situation to be. But she didn’t know the full story. She didn’t know that we were out of groceries at home. Neither did she know that we were out in the morning so that my son wouldn’t be around more people who may have the flu. But, I couldn’t leave him in the car or leave him alone at home, yet we couldn’t not have food either. I made a judgment call. I took into consideration the risks and our needs and did what I believed to be best.

For those of you who don’t have personal experience with farming or ranching, we have to be careful not to judge our farmers and ranchers without first knowing their story.

We often hear dramatic stories from media about GMOs, pesticides, and additives and are quick to believe them. Then we tell farmers and ranchers that they need to do this or that. But that’s like the woman telling me how to do my job as a parent without taking into consideration my side of the story.

My husband told me that the farmers and ranchers are doing their best to meet high demands. So, let’s take a step back and look at the facts and listen to our farmers and ranchers, so we can work together to find the best solution.

Remember, there is no perfect solution, so there will be consequences no matter what choice is made.

Controversy #1: GMOs

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have received a bad rap over the years. GMOs are foods that have had their DNAs changed by inserting unnatural genes into theirs. Note, this is much different than the conventional plant breeding that has been done for thousands of years. The purpose of genetically modifying food is to force plants to have specific characteristics that wouldn’t naturally transfer through conventional breeding.

With this technology, GMOs help crops grow better in the climates they are planted. They also allow for a variety of foods at a reasonable price. Foods that have common allergens (peanuts, milk, etc.) can also be changed to be less allergic.

Did you know that papayas at one time had a virus that nearly wiped them out? The papaya seed was genetically modified with a vaccine against the virus to protect them. Thanks to GMOs, we can continue to enjoy them today.

GMOs also allow for nutrients to be added to foods to boost diets. Golden rice is a good example of this. In some developing countries, children are likely to have vision problems because their typical diet is low in vitamin A. If caught early enough, these problems are reversible. Golden rice was genetically modified to have vitamin A to help develop these children’s vision and prevent permanent blindness.

But, with the manipulation of nature comes consequences.

Several of the cons of GMOs include the potential creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and viruses, disruption of the consumer’s hormones, production of naturally occurring toxins, and need for chemicals (like pesticides) to protect the crops. Genetically modifying food can also cause nutrient imbalances that lead to deficiencies and or toxicities, as well as nutrients negatively interacting with other nutrients.

One big objection to GMOs is that they cause inflammation. Since GMOs have had their DNA changed, they produce proteins in the foods that aren’t recognized by our bodies. Because our bodies don’t recognize the proteins, our immune system attacks them. This, in turn, causes inflammation. This could be a cause of food intolerances and allergies we are seeing today.

I have listed several sources you can check out to learn more about GMOs at the bottom of this post. I recommend you look into the topic as well so that you can make sure that the risks are worth the benefits or not.

There is much more to be learned about the consequences of GMOs that we don’t quite understand yet. That being the case, you have to decide for yourself what is best for you and your family on this matter.

Controversy #2: Pesticides

Pesticides and herbicides are always a hot topic when it comes to our food supply. And rightfully so.

Pesticides and herbicides have been great at keeping weeds and insects away from crops. Since the demand is high for food and there are not very many farmers, pesticides and herbicides are commonly used to help meet the demand. As those who have gardens already know, it can be really difficult to keep pests and weeds away.

Ultimately, pesticides and herbicides allow for a better yield for farmers for less work. The better the yield, the more supply. The more supply, the lower the cost of food.

However, we are now seeing the high price for the convenience that pesticides and herbicides offer.

Certain pesticides and herbicides AT HIGH LEVELS can cause damage to the nervous system, irritation to the skin and eyes, cancer, and alterations to consumer’s hormones. These consequences are not clearly seen when small amounts of the chemicals are consumed. However, there is a growing concern that exposure to low amounts of these chemicals over a long period of time is actually just as dangerous as high amounts at one time.  

Something you should be aware of is that Round-up, the herbicide you probably use in your yard, has been clearly proven to cause non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In 2018 Monsanto, the maker of Round-up, lost their first lawsuit, with their second loss in earlier this year. With thousands of more lawsuits filed against them, the future is not looking good for Round-up.

There is a claim that the increase in the prevalence of food allergies in children mimics the increase in the use of glyphosate.

I set out to see for myself whether this is true or not.

I collected data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) on the prevalence of children under 18 years old with food allergies and skin rash or eczema in America. Also, I collected data from the United States Department of Agricultural (USDA) on the total use of glyphosate on soybeans, wheat, sorghum, cotton, corn, sweet corn, oats, and sugarbeets. These eight crops were chosen because the largest amounts of glyphosate is used on them.

Here is the graph that resulted from the data:

As you can see from the graph, there has been a huge increase in the use of glyphosate in America. I also want to draw attention to the unit for the use of glyphosate – millions of pounds. That means that in 2018 there were over 300 million pounds of glyphosate sprayed on the eight crops I listed above. Total glyphosate usage is larger than that, however, because I only collected the data on those eight crops.

Compared to the use of glyphosate, the percentages of children with food allergies and skin rashes or eczema is much smaller. However, the prevalence of food allergies doubled from 1997 to 2017. The prevalence of children with a skin rash or eczema has nearly doubled in that time, as well.

There are many factors that can be behind the increase in food allergies and skin rashes or eczema in children. Is glyphosate the main cause? Probably not. Is glyphosate involved in the increase? It very well could be.

Did you know that pesticides and herbicides are not solely in produce?

They are also in insect repellants, cleaning products, processed foods, and in some drinking water. Because they aren’t just in one or two foods, the amount of pesticides and herbicides that get in your body start to add up. So, eating multiple items that have small amounts of these chemicals in them add up to big amounts at the end of the day.

This is a tough situation because there is a need to get rid of pests and weeds. At the end of the day, though, you have to decide for yourself if the potential risks are worth the benefits of using pesticides and herbicides.

There is good news here. The EPA has banned several pesticides and herbicides and farmers are trying to use less toxic chemicals. Yet, how can we tell any chemical is safe when it takes years for consequences to be seen? This is where you have to make your own judgment call.

If you want to avoid buying food that has pesticides and herbicides…

Buy organic foods or grow your own. Read more about organic foods here.

Controversy #3: Food Additives

Food additives boost nutrient value and improve taste, texture, aroma, appearance, consistency, and shelf-life. Additives can be natural, like components from eggs and turmeric’s yellow color, or synthetic, like artificial colors and flavorings.

Additives are needed to prevent foods from going bad before we get them home from the store. Also, additives are used to make the foods more appealing. You’d probably prefer to eat a bright red tomato over a brown tomato. Whether you like it or not, appearance makes a difference in what you buy.

Note: food additives are approved by the FDA as safe, purposeful, and effective.

As for the potential harms of food additives, many additives have been correlated with health problems. (Note, correlation does not mean causation.) Health problems include a potential increase in cancer risk, the presence of toxic metals (lead, mercury, and arsenic), irritation and sensitivities to the additives, and inflammation. Most of the health problems linked with food additives are not seen to be lethal, which is why many additives linked to health symptoms are not banned. Of the additives that have been proven more lethal, like BPA, the FDA has banned them from most products.

If you want to limit additives in your diet…

Cut out processed foods like chips, cookies, and even lunch meats. You can look at the list of ingredients on the nutrition label if you’re unsure about an item. Don’t buy foods that have unfamiliar ingredients in them because they’re most likely synthetic. Read more about the chemicals in your food and what you can do about it here.

GMOs, Pesticides, and Additives: Taking it All in

I want to leave you with this important point… We, humans, do not know every consequence of our actions and often won’t know until many years later. There will be consequences when we change how something is naturally designed to work. Nature has a unique balance that we do not understand, so messing with that balance will only cause us problems in the future.

That being said, you have two options here. You can either ignore all of this and keep eating whatever you want, regardless of the health problems you’re having. Or, you can try to limit your exposure to unnatural foods and toxic chemicals to make the best of your health. 

If you choose the second option, you can read more about eating for your best health here.

I don’t want to scare you with all this.

Just remember that the potential harms here are similar to the potential harms of anything you put in or on your body. Convenience comes at a price, and it’s a price you have to be willing to pay.

This is why it is so important that you are aware of the pros and cons of GMOs, Pesticides, and Additives. You are responsible to discern what’s best for you and your family. But, you need the whole story to do so. Don’t just believe what I say, or what the media says. Look for yourself and be confident in your decision.

I’ve provided a list below that I used to write this post. Read up on GMOs, pesticides, and additives because you need to know not only what you’re eating, but what you’re feeding your family too…

 

GMOs:

• GMOs vs. Conventional vs. Organic
• Are GMO’s bad?
• Factors influencing U.S. consumer support for genetic modification to prevent crop disease
• A mutant of the major apple allergen, Mal d 1, demonstrating hypo-allergenicity in the target organ
• Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects
• How GMOs differ from conventional methods
• When is genetic modification socially acceptable?
• The allergenicity of genetically modified foods from genetically engineered crops: A narrative and systematic

Pesticides:

• Health effects of agricultural pesticides
• Food and Pesticides
• Pesticides Exposure
• The Statistics for Pesticides
• Pesticide Residues in Food
• National Health Interview Survey’s Summary Health Statistics
• United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Chemical Use Program

Food Additives:

• The Natural and Synthetic Nature of Food Additives
• Color Additives: FDA’s Regulatory Process and Historical Perspectives
• Food additive safety: A review of toxicologic and regulatory issues
• Food Additives: Friends or Foes?
• Factsheet for Food Additives
• GRAS-Fed Americans: Sick of Lax Regulation of Food Additives