Thursday, November 1, 2012

Battling GMO's

Genetically Modified Organism's have been in the news lately. California is trying to get them labeled (crossing my fingers they do), and there are petitions going around in many states tyring to get them labeled as well. The Non-GMO Project has tons of information that is well worth reading.

Reasons to avoid gmo's.
  1. They have never had standard testing done to see if they are safe for human consumption
  2. They have been shown to be harmful in animal studies
  3. Most gmo's are paired with an herbicide that is linked to several health problems
  4. The future consequences of gmo's are not yet known
  5. Monsanto control's 90% of genetically engineered crops. It's never good for one person/company to have complete power over our food.
  6. Those that produce gmo's threaten farmers and silence scientists, because they don't want the truth about them to come out
  7. Farms can be safe and sustainable without gmo's.
I thought I had created a gmo free kitchen. When shopping I buy locally grown and organic as much as possible. I've been avoiding any companies that have given money to support gmo's. It's pretty easy to remember the big brand names, but it can be harder to remember the "natural" brand names that are owned by these larger companies.

It may only contain peanuts but it is owned by Smuckers....

The other day I saw a jar of Adams peanut butter in my fridge. It's labeled as all natural and the only ingredient is peanuts. Out of curiosity I emailed Adams to find out if they use or support gmo's. Here was their response:

"In recent years, agricultural science has developed and grown crops using modern biotechnology techniques in an effort to produce a higher quality, more economical and dependable food supply. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have determined that existing “biotech” foods are safe and do not differ in any meaningful way from other food.

Due to the expanding use of biotechnology by farmers and the commingling of ingredients in storage and shipment, it is possible that some of our products may contain ingredients derived from biotechnology. We believe that safety is an important issue. We support continued evaluation of the best methods to assure safety and we encourage discussion by all interested parties with respect to developing appropriate means to assess its risks and benefits. We also support a more rigorous and transparent regulatory process. Internally, we utilize a cross-functional team to monitor and evaluate developments in biotechnology and advise senior management of the impact to Adams®.

You can be assured that we will continue to manufacture the safe and high quality products you have come to expect. If you should have further questions or need additional information, please visit us at www.adamspeanutbutter.com.

Yeah....a simple yes or no would have sufficed. Nothing like getting the ol' run around. I went and looked at the jar again and down at the bottom I saw that it is owned by Smuckers. This is a large company that has given money to support that gmos don't get labeled. Time fore me to find a better peanut butter company, Yikes!!

When I called CB's Nuts and asked them if they use gmo's I was answered with a simple no. Then I was invited me to come to their store and sign a petition to get gmo's labeled. This is the kind of company I want and will support. Another plus is that they are located here in Washington.

CB,s Nuts. Local and made without gmo's! 
*Note: I took this photo from google images.*


5 comments:

Belkycita said...

Hey! guess what I did right before I read this post?
I made peanut butter!! I thought it was crazy that right after I would see this post.
For us PB is really expensive because it is imported and the kind that is local, which is half the price is full of weird stuff that scares me even before reading teh label. Raw peanuts, on the other hand, are "cheap"
So I got two cups of them, roasted them in the oven, then put them in the food processor with a vanilla bean, for 5 minutes at the time, giving them time to seat in between mixing so it could release it's oils and get really creamy.
It was SO yummy!!
Wish I could share some with you :-)

Kathryn M said...

That sounds delicious!! I think I will have to try your method. Vanilla bean peanut butter, you should patent it!

Nichelle said...

Just when I thought I understood the whole GMO thing! I hope and pray that we get labels soon!! Until then, definitely changing up my peanut butter...that is one of my staple foods!!! Thanks for this info! :)

JenA :) said...

Kirkland peanut butter us made from valencia peanuts.... Which I believe are non-gmo

David said...

Thank you for this article! I am never buying Adams again.