Food Fight: GMOs and the Future of the American Diet

The Big Island and Kauai are well referenced in this manuscript as ground zero for expressions of power, greed, politics and corruption while toxic pesticides, GMO's, and big agri seed production exploit indigenous cultures and populations. Rancorous legal battles remain at the center of contentious arguments and appeals that have not yet been exhausted.Autumn Ness is a local activist who recently declared, " Overshadowing all the issues is the fact that the corporations have hijacked every level of our government." The corporations are Monsanto, Syngenta, Dupont, Dow, Bayer and BASF.Are GMO's safe? After turning the pages of Food Fight the reader will no doubt be well endowed with sufficient information to answer that question with great authority. But Food Fight is not just about GMO's; peripheral related issues consume many chapters.On page 273 of Food Fight author McKay Jenkins perhaps summarizes best the theme and importance of these chapters where he writes,"... biotech is propping up systems that are already unraveling. Think of the dead zones in the water, the loss of topsoil, the health of our bodies..."The American diet is composed mostly of processed foods made from two plants: corn and soybeans, almost all from engineered processes. Geneticists have wheat in the waiting and it is ready to roll. Americans choose from 40,000 products every day much of it provided by our boundless appetite for meat and dairy products. Nine billion cows, hogs, chickens, and turkeys raised for food in the U.S. eat GM grains. This is all apart from pesticides and agrochemicals that reflect 300,000 poisonings annually in the U.S. of humans to which we should add the deaths of 70 million birds. Industrial feedlots now exist in the shadows of nine billion animal slaughters every year.Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurological issues have all jumped dramatically in concert with the amount of glyphosate applied to food crops; one-quarter of Americans now suffer from chronic diseases.Finally, this from a student of English professor, author Jenkins: "Eating microwaved chicken nuggets from the nearest fast-food joint seems less appealing once you have tended an organic garden plot surrounded by friendships developed with a flock of charismatic hens who trail alongsideas you weed a bed of potatoes."The author concludes that not all genetic engineering is undesirable or negative; it holds great promise and great peril. Most recent concerns center on the herbicide Glyphosate, a ubiquitous toxin that is found in many products from soy sauce to breast milk with links to cancer, kidney, and liver disease plus metabolic function. Observers recently saw a 49 fold increase in this herbicide on corn grain residue and a 2,000 fold increase in alfalfa grown for animal feed.On the promise score card will come drought resistant grains, cows without horns, pigs without testes, and chickens producing only female egg-layers. Calves will no longer have horns that are burned off and piglets will no longer endure castration.

Borrowed it from library for a course. Ended up devouring the whole book. Probably the best in-depth investigative journalism writing, representing a comprehensive view on GMO or food issue in general.

I wish it were read by every concerned human being and passed around the campfire

Well written. listened to it on Audible then bought the hardcover for research. The author presents both sides of the story well. At first you are not sure which way he leans (I am adamantly against GMO's), but in the end you learn. Really opens your eyes on a deeper level about the GMO debate and what is happening, the dangers. I never knew Hawaii was ground zero for all these bad companies testing their GMO's and chemicals. And I hope that Hawaii wins its battle to take back their islands and get rid of what is destroying paradise and contributing to huge problems in America's food supply. Say NO to GMO's.

Everyone should read this book.