"When the Earth didn't have a name. Peaceful and loving" -- Jean Houston
I had the privilege of being born in a rural area of the mountain tops of Jalisco, Mexico. Where I could roam free with the neighbor's watching over me, and the sun, stars, and moon being my compass. If I was hungry I would climb a pomegranate tree, or a guava tree to eat some refreshing fruit. There's one cow that you would see alive in the morning taken to the butcher shop, and that was the same cow everyone ate that day. People grow their vegetables in their front yard or home and go door by door selling them, if not to vendors.
Then the migration to the Unites States occurred.
My high senses knew the food was different. Not in a refreshing way, in a way I could not explain or figure out.The satisfaction of eating was not met, and the same enthusiasm for eating was not the same.
As a child I wouldn't eat, due to this change.
I couldn't communicate as to why I didn't want to eat, because I didn't know how to get through what I tasted, and how I felt from it. Time passed and I refused to eat at Chicago Public schools, the food was beyond fake to my liking. Eating the apples, fresh fruit and milk only. The America-born kids I went to school with wondered as to why I wouldn't eat the pizza, burger or PBJ sandwich. Then I would rush home and devour my mother's cooking, being fresh boiled beans, pico de gallo (cilantro, lime, onion, avocado and tomato) and some kind of steak or chicken.
You see being an immigrant in a huge city, with low income in the family, your options are very scarce when it comes to anything. I had no clue organic food existed or wouldn't for years to come. Then came my first job, at 15. I worked with my siblings in a fancy Chicago suburb in which Whole Foods existed.
The taste buds from my childhood awakened, my enthusiasm for eating bolted out of me.
So I wondered what was in that food I refused to eat.
That is genetically modified food, also known as GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Due to "human growth population" a company that produced deadly chemicals for the Vietnam War switched over to making chemicals for food. Adding ways to prevent weeds from over taking crops, and pests from damaging the crops. While enhancing the food production, to feed more humans worldwide.
The chemically-infused seeds and chemicals used to grow these seeds all stay in the crops, soil, and air. You can find their toxic chemicals in breast milk or urine.
It doesn't stop there, these chemicals vary from food, to vaccines, therapies, and animals. Livestock are fed these genetically modified foods as well. And these chemicals are getting stronger since the pest and weeds have become resilient to the chemicals. The main targets are kids since their immune system and bodies are not as strong as adults.
There are over 60 countries worldwide, all of Europe, Japan, Australia and Russia who have banned GMOs, because their farmers and civilians didn't like the toxicity and monopoly these GMOs came with. For example you have to purchase the genetically modified seeds every year from Monsanto (one of the companies) instead of taking the seeds from the actual fruits and vegetables and saving them for the following year, as it can be done.
Here in America the top 6 GMO producers own the world's seeds, pesticide and biotechnology industries. While they make sure to keep us consuming their creations with compassionate propaganda. They spread their GMO foods in hospitals, schools, jails, and super markets.
States have tried to pass bills that mandate labeling GMOs, so people have a say over if they wish to purchase foods as such or organic. Resulting in the GMO companies threating to sue states, entire states! Vermont being one of them.
There are currently millions worldwide working on GMO labeling and affordable organic food.
I am one of these millions, and my priority is to bring organic food to minority neighborhoods, to schools, to a coffee shop, and even a gas station. If you wish to seek more information as to how you can avoid GMOs in your food, you can check out nongmoproject.org, for further explanation on GMOs.
There are also small stores that are mainly organic or big stores that offer organic foods, one of them being Whole Foods. I recommend googling your area for such stores.
Some ideas of what I have done are -- go to your local food market and request organic food, ask restaurants if they can provide organic food as well, write emails to your favorite people (Oprah, Beyoncé, Shakira, or Angelina Jolie) for support in your concerns, and look around your community to see if there are organic gardens or foundations supporting organic food. And most of all inform your loved ones.
A great woman once mentored me, saying
"Be conscious of what you spend your money on, it is your choice as to what you consume." Sean Corn
Thank you