If your family is anything like mine, we try to make an effort to eat fruits and vegetables throughout the day to stay healthy.
The problem that I discovered with grocery store produce is that much of it may have been genetically modified.
Even worse stores are not required to tell you if the fruits and vegetables you are buying have been genetically modified.
The new buzz word in the industry with anything that comes from a farm including fruits, vegetables, milk and meat is GMO or genetically modified organism.
The first question you may have is why grocery store produce would be genetically modified to begin with.
The reason is simple.
Science has allowed big commercial farms to grow produce bigger, faster, resistant to drought, insects and disease.
This may seem great at first glance.
However, the process of creating these genetically modified foods is at the center of much controversy these days.
A simple search of GMO or genetically modified organism will bring up a huge amount of information about all the terrible side effects that are being researched.
Keep in mind that the much of the science on the harmful side effects is new because GMOs have not been around that long.
The big commercial farms and grocery stores fight to discredit these findings because they don't want consumers to know about these potentially life threatening side effects.
Here are the top 4 problems that GMOs cause.
Keep in mind that there may be hundreds if not thousands of potential long term side effects.
But here are the big ones: 1) Have you ever noticed that a lot more kids these days seem to have life threatening food allergies? Three kids have had to move away from my daughter at the lunch table this year.
I always pack her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and strawberries.
Two of the kids who like to sit by her are allergic to peanuts and the other one is allergic to strawberries.
Also, it seems that a lot more kids have Asthma today as well.
According to the IRT many animal studies have been done to show that new proteins created by GMOs may be the culprit.
2) Food can be engineered to produce its own toxins.
One new way scientists have created pest control is by engineering vegetables like corn to produce its own pesticide.
Bugs bite into the corn and they die.
Studies have been done that show these plants produce these toxins 100 times more concentrated than chemicals used to spray on these plants.
Just think about that the next time you open a can of corn or eat something with corn syrup in it! I know, not very pleasant.
3) GMOs have been linked to cancer.
The premise is simple, genetic modification is used to make organisms grow bigger and faster.
There are many studies that focus on how these organisms get into the human body and create all kinds of problems.
These organisms get into the human body and help create tumors which grow bigger and faster as well.
Keep in mind that many of the studies I have read are newer and don't contain enough data yet.
But my thought is why take the chance with my family's health.
4) Birth Defects - Many animal studies have been done on this subject.
From cows to rats who were fed genetically altered soy.
Scientist have shown that these animal experience lower birth rates and higher birth defects.
This puts women and young children at an especially high risk.
THE SOLUTION It is very easy to grow your own fruits and vegetables at home.
You can grow fresh produce during the summer and freeze or can it for the winter.
Even cutting back on the amount of produce you need to buy from the store can reduce your exposure to GMOs or save you a small fortune if you choose to buy organic produce.
I prefer an aquaponic garden.
It is simple and easy to set up.
It is easy enough that anyone can do it.
It is also much easier to maintain than a traditional garden because there is no weeding, digging, using manure, and constant work involved.
This is a great project for the whole family especially children.
The best part of all is how extremely low maintenance it is once you have it set up and running unlike a traditional garden!