GMOs and Starvation

We have the right to (choose what we) eat

Ah, GMOs. You are the issue du jour. I am reminded about how we need to fight the big nasty companies trying to force feed us GMOs every morning when I step in my shower. Thanks Dr. Bronner’s. I also mistakenly clicked a support link one time saying I like the idea of knowing what I’m eating and now I get an email most every day to tell me about the new atrocity that Monsanto is doing in the food world.

(I’m too lazy to click the unsubscribe link)

I get it, you want to eat healthy, and you don’t think we should be messing with stuff that manages to grow on its own anyways. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

I buy organics when I can, try to get stuff locally so I know that it’s pretty clean and healthy, and I know which brands/foods are pretty much guaranteed to be GMO and I avoid them. I do all of this because I know it improves my health and makes me feel better. So understand that and remember it as you read on.

A thought hit me this morning as I was rereading the soap bottle in the shower: what a privilege it is to have a debate about this. We have so much food in our country that we can debate about whether it should be genetically altered or not. As someone who is right smack in the middle of adopting from a not so well off country in Africa, I’m reminded that not everyone has this situation.

I walk into a grocery store and see an apple. I begin to question whether it is organic, local, and non-GMO before I decide to purchase it or not. Other places around the world (and sometimes even here in the U.S.) a different person may see that same apple and question whether it will taste as good as the last time they had an apple, when was the last time they had an apple, or even can I afford this apple.

Just a few weeks ago our country coordinator from our adoption agency was told that one of the orphanages she was planning to visit had had five children pass away. These children didn’t die because of violence. They didn’t die because of a disease. They died because there was not enough food in the orphanage for all the kids that were there and they starved.

That breaks my heart.

Remember that as you continue to debate the necessity of GMOs. Remember that there are people around the world who could care less about the genetic makeup of their food as long as it is in their belly and that belly is full. Remember that as we debate the right to (choose what we) eat, that many people are fighting for the simple RIGHT TO EAT.

Do you want to make a difference? Here are some organizations working to make a change.

One Percent for Humanity: http://www.onepercentforhumanity.org/

Oxfam: http://www.oxfam.org/

Blood:Water Mission: http://www.bloodwatermission.com/

Amazima: http://amazima.org/

Compassion International: http://www.compassion.com/

Food for the Hungry: https://fh.org/

There are hundreds if not thousands more; these are a few that I am familiar with.