GMOs, Biotech and Investigating Your Food

I am an Illinois Farm Families blogger and receive compensation in exchange for my posts. All opinions and discussion starters are my own!

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Later this month, I have a unique opportunity to head down to St. Louis, Missouri with Illinois Farm Families to ask questions of one of the most controversial companies in the news at the moment – Monsanto. This agriculture juggernaut has been revolutionizing farming, but not without a cultural cost with people questioning methods, business practices and ethics.

As I’ve talked about several times throughout the past year, learning more about the food you feed your family is of utmost importance to your overall health and wellness. I’m excited to share in the coming weeks about my experience and to work to ask the tough questions.

Recently, I posted the question to my Facebook friends to see what they would ask Monsanto if they had the chance. Keep in mind that the opinions are vast, but the sentiment is a decent reflection of the general public. You can see where the controversy lies and the pressing things that people would really like to know.

Who do you own in the government?

Is your mom proud of you? (I laughed)

While I understand the need for higher yield crops, did they consider the long term impact on the environment or the health of the consumers?

Who in the FDA is in their pocket?

Do they feel any responsibility for the health issues they’ve caused or the ones coming down the pipeline?

Are they purposely trying to kill off all the bees and end 75% of the food we eat?

How could you? Do you even have a soul? Why are you poisoning us?

Why is food not really food anymore?

How is what you are doing truly benefitting us as a human race?

Do you eat your own “food”?

If your GMO food is so safe, what’s the harm in just labeling it so consumers have a choice?

What is their plan for long term sustainability?

Is there a plan to change their practices regarding relationships with organic and independent farmers?

Do they have a plan to create more transparent consumer communication?

 Do you have a find set up for the inevitable medical law suits that arise from people dying?

Who does all your bidding in the U.S. government?

Newest research out is that glyphosate (roundup) has been linked to cancer and also linked to autism. Why are you still using this product? If BT corn makes insects stomachs and inerds explode what is it doing to our guts?

 If the DNA is being altered in the seeds is our DNA being altered by ingesting the altered food? Why is the rest of the world banning GMOs and not the US?

As you can see, the questions ran the gamut from the crazy to the hilarious to the serious inquiries. Most importantly in this conversation is to keep an open mind, bring your listening ears and your hard questions. Talk with others and figure out where you stand, but being knowledgeable is key – especially prior to making blanket statements.

What kinds of questions would you have for Monsanto if you had their attention?