Having learned much about the negative effects of GMO, Sabrina & I are careful about what we feed our children here in Bali. The strawberry you can see above in the hands of my daughter Luna is not GMO.
Monsanto & Soy Beans
It has been common knowledge for some time now that soy beans around the world are almost all GMO.
Monsanto control a whopping 90% of soy bean production after creating a high yielding disease resistant crop, patented to ensure it would be illegal for farmers to do anything else but keep on buying their GMO seeds from them year after year.
It's doesn't take much digging to see how Monsanto have proven themselves to be more interested in optimising profit than feeding people with quality food.
The cases are numerous and Monsanto is fast becoming a name associated with something quite dark and evil.
WHAT IS A GMO?
A genetically modified organism is something which has been developed in a laboratory setting. When creating a GMO the genetic material from one species is forced into the DNA of an unrelated plant or animal.
Doesn't sound very natural hey!
But it sure sounds good for business.
The Edamame Bean
For two years my whole family here in Bali have been eating these tasty green beans on a daily basis. We buy them either from the village market or the basic supermarket in Ubud. And they usually look something like this...
Once prepared they look like this:
To me they didn't much look like my perception of a dried soy bean which you can see here.
Intentional misleading?
In the entire two years of eating these tasty green beans here in Bali I have never once seen a single label to indicate they are GMO soy beans. Here they are simply referred to as Edamame. But what they actually are is immature soybeans in the pod. And it seems strange to me that they have been given a different name, just because they are not dried in the way soy beans are dried. A dried banana is still a banana right???
And I find myself wondering if this is intentional, given that the world is waking up to the problem with soy.
The resulting skin problems
Both my children have been suffering with ongoing skin problems for almost a year now and for the first time today the penny dropped as to why this might be. No doctor here has been able to explain the random outbursts of spots and skin irritation.
You can see Esteban's back a few months ago, just after a severe outbreak.
We imagined it was to do with the heat and humidity but now that I am reading about the effects of eating GMO food, I am not so sure.
The spots would come and go all over his body despite our best efforts to resolve the problem... but the one thing we didn't change was his vegan diet.
So, you can be sure edamame is off the menu from now on!
And I will keep you informed if this solves the skin problems.
Here is a list of the main GMO foods to avoid:
- Corn
- Soy
- Milk
- Rice
- Tomato
- Beets
- Potato
- Canola Oil
- Papaya
- Yellow Squash
as stated on the Food Matters site here
In conclusion
Skin irritation is just the beginning of a long list of problems now associated with the consumption of GMO.
Lack of education
I am sorry to say that there is a huge lack of education or plain and simple poverty here. And no effort on the part of the government to help people understand what is happening to their food... and now the chemical filled rivers and rice field waterways in which they wash themselves.
Pesticides are another part of this problem and again, the source is the same. Monsanto.
The FDA
Even the FDA admit the possible side effects:
possible side effects: organ damage, immune reactions, allergies, sterility, birth defects, skin conditions (including acne and eczema), increased cancer risks, accelerated aging and other symptoms. It is difficult to study long-term effects from GMOs, since they have not been on the market for a very long time; they were first introduced in 1996. However, there are more and more health issues appearing that are possibly linked to GMOs. source
The eco community in which I live are dedicated to producing organic food and teaching the locals how to do the same. Ultimately these very poor village folk will be able to sell their organic crops for more! But people here are just very stuck in their traditional ways and change take time & persistence to implement.
Especially when most of the poor children are being brainwashed ever day by the endless TV commercials advertising colourfully packaged foods which more closely resemble poison than nutrition, to those of us who understand.
Lesson learned
I take full responsibility for this oversight and ultimately lack of research into what I was feeding my children. I made an assumption that the bean was one of the healthiest things my children were eating.
Won't be making this mistake again!
Stay vigilant parents!
We all want the best for our children right, so let's do what is so clearly the most natural thing to do. Let's grow our own food using natural feeds and enjoy the high nutrition, life extending, disease protecting nutrition it gives us.
Blessing from Bali everyone. Soon we will be in the South of France where there will be a whole new selection of fruit & vegetables to choose from and I am pretty certain there will be no more skin problems for the kids.
- All non original photo sources can be found by clicking on the image
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I think not all genetically modified foods are harmful to us. I read a book about this recently. But I agree that most of these products should not be included in the list of baby food. It can save health and life for our children! Our shops are full of artificial food, filled with harmful chemicals. I try to buy food from residents of villages selling food from their own garden. This is not for everyone and is not always available, but this is for me a partial solution to this problem.
It's all quite simple: If it comes in a box, it's probably not good for you... if you pick it or kill it then it probably is...
Perfect! And fresh is always best :)
100% agree with you. Some GMO aren't harmful to the health. and baby food should be kept natural at best.
For sure. Baby food is very important to keep as organic as possible. Their little bodies are more susceptible to the chemicals than ours.
You are spot on. Buying local is not only supporting the community but more likely to be quality - as it wasn't mass produced.
Though many of these locals are starting to turn to Monsanto seeds and pesticides now. They have little choice sometimes.
Good stuff Sam. While I don't hold the exact same views on GMOs, I do think it's 100% important to know where your food comes from, how it's grown, and the potential effects of it on the body. That's why I try to grow it all myself!
~ Kevin
That's the best way for sure. Then you know with certainty what was used to grow it. And there is a certain satisfaction to the growing/harvest cycle. Like our natural instincts calling to us...
THIS IS HOW IT IS MEANT TO BE :) 🌱
100% DUDE!
Good link
http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416
Thanks for the link! Will check now...
Easy to grow inside
I have microgreens
Shoots
Baby greens
Herbs
Watercress
Fenugreek
All with one light on a timer
300 watt full spectrum LED
Yup, I do a TON of microgreens. Used to sell them commercially. One of my favorite types of plants to grow! You should try sunflowers :)
Do they get fungus/moldy really easily ?
Yes. You must use H2O2 (food-grade hydrogen peroxide) to disinfect everything before you plant, and make sure humidity isn't too high and airflow is good!
Cool thanks :)
I got my first few pine berries this week (white strawberries)
Also have aloe going
pine berries? They sound amazing. Never heard of white strawberries.
Aloe grows all over the place here ;)
Useful for so many things.
Just tagged you a a blog I did with celery
I thinks it's a cool picture
Sam, this is great information. I've read both sides of the argument and fall somewhere down the middle. I agree with @halcyondaze, the true way to know what goes into your body is to grow the food yourself. Even in Los Angeles without land, I still have a hydroponic tower and a raised bed to grow all the kale, beets, tomatoes, and other goodies my body needs to be strong. Have you shown your kids how to grow any veggies yet?
Good man. I used to have a hydroponic tower too. And a whole bunch of hydroponic trays and water tanks with all the gadgets to check PH and CF. So much fun!
I've not started these lessons yet but for sure it's coming. They're only little :)
I've tried to explain how it all works but don't think it's going in. They do know where bananas come from though! Mostly coz of the monkeys round here trying to steal them all the time!
In time it'll all soak in. They are lucky to have a father who cares about their health and well-being from such an early age. I need to visit Bali, it sounds like a dream! I'll be over in Malysia and Singapore in a few months, maybe I can take a detour.
Sigh, if only we had higher standards of what is allowed in our food here in the US. Even with regulations in place, many countries are finding ways to fool our tests that detect additives in our food. As the tech advances, so do their schemes. Even the restrictions and regulations on what is considered organic farming has become more lax.
I heard that. And the craziest part of all is that the word organic basically just means... NORMAL!
Corporation rule has no interest in our health. Unless it benefits them in some way... like with Big Pharma.
Not SOY good ;)
Don't forget glyphosate is now find to be contaminated in vaccines
Most likely because of the soy peptone broth
This crap fuels Autism
http://kinseimindbody.com/synergistic-destruction-how-vaccines-and-gmos-converge-to-fuel-autism-and-neurodegenerative-conditions/
Interesting. Didn't know about this one. Thanks!
Knowledge is power.
Monsanto is SUCH a case. It easily fits all criteria for the "evil company" cliché. But really, ALL.
I'm very much into Paleo, but in the zone i live it is actually quite difficult to be completely sure abot what you are really eating in a given moment.
Agreed. So hard to know for sure. Especially here in Asia. Even the farmers don't seem to know!
That fast food kid looks like a giant newborn baby. Scary!!
haha! Tell me about it. There are kids many who look like this here in Bali.
And they are considered healthy if they are fat!!!!
well, if GMO concerns you then your best bet is to eat organic.
That's what we were trying to do! Just didn't realise this yummy soft green bean was GMO soy till now.
As i said. Lesson learned.
If you dig around a little the list of GMO foods is not that long, mostly grains and soy. They mostly modify them to be able to accept Roundup without dying so they can hose down the fields with Roundup, my theory is that is where the trouble comes from, probably the genetic modification does not cause harm but consuming all the roundup they spray on those crops is likely carcinogenic and does God knows what else.
Yes, mostly grains and soy. Though I understand many varieties of Papaya (another of my faves!) have gone GMO.
You could well be right about the Roundup connection. Though messing with nature is never going to end well...
Soy is poison anyhow, men and buys should not eat it at all, it has endogenous hormones that mimic estrogen
And yet there are so many people now who drink soy milk as a 'healthy alternative' to cow milk!
Thanks for the info
The beans look so good! Safe travels to France! :)
They taste so good too! It's such a shame they had to go and mess with their genetics!!!!
Oh i heard about the effect of gmos, I have a friend who has a little boy with atopic dermatitis probably because of that... it's so hard both for her and the baby! Hope your kids will be fine in France. take care of u and your family dear @samstonehill
Yes, it may well be related. I wonder how many people around the world are going through the same thing?
Thanks for your well wishing :)
Love and light back to you 🌄
Good info
thanks
really informative
Could you please tell me one thing ?
Upvoted and following ty
Thanks. Have followed u back ;)
I have an autoimmune disease called Hashimotos Thyroiditis. I think there is a good possibility that I developed it as a result of the food I was eating and it’s effect on my body.
This is a curious post. I wonder how much GMOs played a role in my development of Hashimotos. If I had been eating different, would be life not be ao medication-dependent now?
My mom's partner has been a farmer all his life and for the past few years he has been growing soybeans. I asked him once and he said something about how he has to comply with certain rules and that includes buying specific seeds. My guess is that they are GMO. He doesn't seem to really care much, because he has to pay his bills, but I feel it's like this for most farmers. They don't really care too much about what they are making. It's not that they lack compassion, it's just that they don't know any better and just agree with whatever rules are in place to maintain their work.
In India GMOs have not done well. Gmos comes with lots of promises. But if you as farmers in India they will tell you how they were looted frm GMOs. GMOs promises more production per acres.. initially it will give good yields buy GMos need fertilizers and pesticides time to time. These gmos are made in labs under controlled conditions.. so if any climatic changes on farm can result in damages to crops... So on farm the use of fertilizers and pesticides have increased every year on the name of heavy production promises by gmos companies... These same companies will make seeds, fertilizers and pesticides... Year on year gmo productions have gone down in india. Cost of production has gone up. Losses have increased.
Now come the health part.. when u have to put so much of fertilizers and pesticides to gmo crops it is obvious the chmical residues will end up in our food.. over time when we consumes gmo food these chemical residues cause all sorts of chronic and dangerous diseases in our body...
Be carefull of the gmos these are only benefiting biotech companies and pharma companies and doctos.. consumers and farmers are the net sufferers in terms of health amd money.
What a shame, as they are delicious. Also sad to see Papayas on that list. We definitely need to be mindful of where our food comes from. Here in the Alpujarras, we are blessed with a lot of small scale organic stuff. Still have to be very wary though, as Spain is one of the EU countries most tolerant to GM.
Nature is perfect in it's imperfection with the capability to infinitely adapt, grow, and evolve!
GMO's might potentially have potential... as lots of people argue, and I guess I can't really say for that even though I personally love and prefer natures design.
However, the main current GMO problem is that it is extremely corrupted, as it's focused to be designed to resist and receive as much poison as possible! While simultaneously destroying all the land it's cultivated on as well as the land around it, contaminating and wasting everything!
Not even mentioning all the money being passed under the table... OR the Monsanto and FDA interconnections...
Another excuse often used, especially by manufacturers (like Monsanto), which personally feels like the most clear sign of their fishy business (not just because they inject sea animals DNA into their products, haha), is that they say;
There is essentially "no difference" between GMO and non-GMO ... However they really say and emphasize that "they have the same nutritional value" which is nothing more than just silly word play... BECAUSE, when ANY organism can't reproduce and it's seeds are infertile/sterile, that is an obvious sign of poor health... since that is one of, if not, the most essential part in the cycle of nature and life…!
this is all the business of big pharma companies and some countries. First they produce viruses/diseases then medicines to cure them, then medicine to cure side-effect of medicines. for example cure for swine-flu was produced before 2-3 years from virus. So to sell the medicine the virus was produced and was spread in country whose economy was the raising. The country was targeted, & then they have to purchase medicine from this BIG country. And loose there economy. We can also see example of Brazil how one neighbouring country gave them obesity through food. GMO