Washington State Votes to Label GMO Foods
November 06, 2013
Story at-a-glance
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On November 5, Washington State voted on a law to label
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically engineered
(GE) foods
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To take control of your health, you need to address your diet.
Processed foods are one of the primary drivers of chronic
disease, so switching from processed foods to natural (ideally
organic) whole foods is the first step
-
Planting your own “Victory Garden” can go a long way toward
healthier eating, and in the long run, it can provide incentive
for industry-wide change, and a return to a diet of real food,
for everyone, everywhere
-
Regardless of the season, where you live, and how much space you
have, you can grow your own food. one of the simplest and most
inexpensive alternatives is to grow sprouts
-
Whatever veggies you have left over you can easily ferment,
which will provide you with superior, nutritious foods
year-round
By Dr. Mercola
On November 5, residents of Washington State voted on a law to
label genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically
engineered (GE) foods. It will take a few more days before we know
the results, but regardless of the vote tally we are winning the
very tough battle against the chemical and junk food companies.
I want to personally thank everyone in Washington State who cast
their vote for the people's initiative 522, "The People's Right to
Know Genetically Engineered Food Act" and those who actually helped
in the campaign.
The momentum gained is a remarkable victory in itself, achieved
in the face of enormous resistance from multi-billion dollar food
and biotech corporations—which, by the way, tried to hide their
identities from voters by laundering their campaign donations
through a “brand defense” account created by the Grocery
Manufacturers Association of America (GMA).
It didn’t work, however. The GMA was sued by the state Attorney
General for violating the state’s campaign disclosure laws, and
within days, the
identities of the companies paying to defeat I-522 were
released.
Not surprisingly, the list contained the usual suspects. Pepsi,
Coke, and Nestle—authorities of junk food and primary purveyors of
chronic disease—were the top funders trying to hide their stance to
avoid backlash from the customers they deceive.
'Victory Gardens'—A Step Toward Fixing a Broken System
One of my most consistent messages through the years has been
that, in order to take control of your health, you need to address
your diet. Processed foods are one of the primary drivers of chronic
disease, so switching from processed foods to natural (ideally
organic) whole foods is the first step.
Seeing how the food industry as a whole has no incentive
whatsoever to sell and market whole foods, I’ve long promoted the
idea of procuring your foods from local farms, farmers markets and
coop’s.
Another strategy, which I believe is a step toward fixing this
broken food system—especially if done en masse—is to grow your own
fruits and vegetables.
The idea of planting War Gardens or Victory Gardens goes back to
World War I and II, and was advertised as a way for patriots to make
a difference on the homefront. The National War Garden Commission
was launched in early 1917 by a wealthy American timberman, and this
simple strategy proved to be life saving during both wars.
To combat food shortages, citizens were encouraged to plant
Victory Gardens to supply themselves and their neighbors with fresh
produce. During the Second World War, an estimated 20 million
Americans answered the call to action, planting over five million
gardens on private and public land, producing up to 10 million tons
of fresh produce annually.
This amount equaled that of all commercial production of
vegetables, and by the end of World War II, the food produced by
private citizens exceeded $1.2 billion. In Great Britain, the
success of the US campaign spurred Britons to follow suit. There,
private gardens ended up being the source of about 40 percent of the
nation’s vegetables.
At present, the “war” we fight is the war against a food industry
that over the last 60 years has surrendered its morals and abandoned
its original mission to produce and sell safe, healthy nutritious
foods. Chemical agriculture and the junk food industry have hit
rock bottom, purposely addicting and marketing to kids while
deceiving consumers about the real long term safety of their
'foods'.
Despite obstacles, including agricultural subsidies that favor
production of processed foods and junky snacks, I believe the
current situation can change if enough people understand
some simple truths about what makes for a healthy diet, which I
detail in my free
Optimized
Nutrition Plan. The foundational premise of any
health-promoting diet is whole food, and the greater the portion
consumed raw, the better.
Planting your own Victory Garden can go a long way toward
healthier eating, and in the long run, it can provide incentive for
industry-wide change, and a return to a diet of real food,
for everyone, everywhere. One of the best ways to put your toe into
the water in this process is to start growing spouts for your salad,
as I discuss below.
Can You Grow Fresh Food in the Winter? Sure You Can!
Growing your own food has many rewards, from providing you with
fresher, uncontaminated produce and cutting your grocery bill, to
increasing your sense of well being and slashing your risk of
depression.
In fact, according to a recent survey for Gardeners World
magazine,1
80 percent of gardeners reported being “happy” and satisfied with
their lives, compared to 67 percent of non-gardeners. And the more
time spent in the garden, the higher their satisfaction scores—87
percent of those who tend to their gardens for more than six hours a
week reported feeling happy, compared to those spending less time in
their gardens.
But how do you grow your own food during winter months? And what
if you don’t have a lot of space? Don’t worry. You can
grow healthful food year-round, even in small spaces! While you
could certainly grow an outdoor
winter garden, using cold frames, one of the simplest and most
inexpensive alternatives is to
grow sprouts.
As an added boon, they offer rapid rewards. Unlike a conventional
vegetable garden, you’ll have food ready for harvest in about a
week! Best of all, you can sprout seeds indoors in any season, which
means you can eat fresh raw nutritious food year-round. In fact,
sprouts are among the most nutrient-dense foods out there.
Depending on the sprout, the nutrient content can increase as much
as 30 times the original value within just a few days of sprouting.
Topping the list are sunflower seed and pea sprouts, which are
typically about 30 times more nutritious than organic vegetables.
Both also provide very high quality protein. Sunflower- and pea
sprouts are among my own favorites.
Broccoli sprouts, known for their anti-cancer activity, are
another excellent choice.
Sprouts are a perfect complement to
fermented vegetables which are also easy and inexpensive to make
at home, from scratch. My primary meal of the day typically consists
of about half a pound of sunflower sprouts, four ounces of fermented
vegetables, half a large red pepper, several tablespoons of raw
organic butter, some red onion, a whole avocado and about three
ounces of wild Alaskan salmon or organic, pastured chicken.
Planning Your Victory Garden
If you’re tight on space, I’d recommend getting Alex Mitchell’s
book, The Edible Balcony, in which she details how to grow
fresh produce in small spaces. Filled with beautiful color
photographs throughout, the book helps you determine what might work
best for you, depending on your space and location, and guides you
through the design basics. There are ingenious solutions for
virtually every problem you might encounter.
For example, instead of flowers, window boxes can hold herbs,
greens, radishes, scallions, bush beans, strawberries, chard, and
chiles. You can also maximize your horizontal space by adding
hanging planters and wall-mounted planters. Just start small, and as
you get the hang of it, add another container of something else.
Before you know it, large portions of your meals could come straight
from your own edible garden.
Whether you’re working with planters or have a large enough yard
to dig up a garden patch, you can get a nice head-start by growing
seedlings. Once the danger of spring frost has passed, you can
transplant them into your garden.
Growing seedlings, which can take between four and 12 weeks to
sprout, will allow you to harvest your vegetables four to six weeks
earlier than had you planted the seeds directly outdoors. This can
also be particularly useful in areas where the growing season is
short.
Regardless of what fruits or veggies you’re growing, I recommend
using fresh heirloom seeds. The ones I sell in my online store are
from
Baker Creek Seed Company, which specializes in traditional
heirloom seeds from the 19th Century and is dedicated to promoting
and preserving both traditional agriculture practices and culinary
heritage.
Personally, I garden both indoors and outdoors. As I mentioned
previously,
sprouts are one of my favorite indoor, year-round, tight-space
crops, as they provide such great nutrition. For more tips on
starting your own garden—whether large or small, indoors or outside,
for winter or spring—please see my previous articles on the
following topics. To browse through all the gardening
articles on my site, see my
Organic Gardening page:
It’s Time to Celebrate—and Continue the Movement!
It thrills me to be able to replace my typical call to action
with a big THANK YOU! Know that your
involvement, your financial donations, and your outreach to educate
friends and family is finally coming to fruition.
Last year, we lost the vote in California’s Prop. 37 by the
narrowest of margins. However, the Prop 37 campaign created massive
awareness across the US, awakening millions of Americans to the
issues surrounding GMO’s. With mounting evidence of harm, food
companies and biotech companies can no longer be allowed to hide
such ingredients. You have the right to know what you’re feeding
your family.
This is a major step toward correcting the problems within the
food industry. But we can do more. Planting “Victory Gardens”
across the nation will help support a growing movement toward a
saner, healthier America. I encourage you to join us, and grow some
food of your own. If you have a surplus, give some to your
neighbors. Also remember you can ferment your veggies, which will
provide you with superior, nutritious foods during the winter
months. This is how your ancestors used to feed themselves, and it’s
time to revive some of this crucial knowledge about food.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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