No-GMO Blog Challenge

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A couple weeks ago, we were talking about the research that reveals that genetically modified crops contain pesticide residues. If we consume the pesticide residues, a whole host of health complications may arise, such as irritable bowel syndrome, fatigue, headaches, lethargy, and skin complaints including acne and eczema.

The top 3 GM crops are corn, soybeans and cotton. And canola is up there, too. But did you know chocolate chips may contain GM ingredients? Yes, chocolate chips! That surprised me. Perhaps you weren’t surprised, but I was!

If you will do these two things, you can pretty much assure that your family will not be consuming GM foods:

1. buy or grow organic foods.
2. make all foods from scratch, using the above ingredients.

As Magda pointed out earlier, organic is by definition non-GMO.

Some people may think that purchasing organic is too expensive. Well, it can be and here’s what can break your bank: shopping at a health food store, with high prices and small packages. On the other hand, a natural food warehouse or buying club co-op can offer high-quality foods in bulk quantities to save a significant amount of money. People may split quantities with others if they don’t want to acquire the large quantities, yet still benefit from the lower price. We could even all be a little choosier in what we bring home. Perhaps there are foods we can do without, in order to purchase some others for a higher price.

The purpose of this post is to spread the word about the No-GMO Blog Challenge and also to encourage everyone who reads here to join the challenge by committing to not eating GMO for at least 30 days (but why stop there?).  If you want to commit to this, leave a comment below and let all of us know. Also, please share your tips for how you plan to do this, or how you’ve already gotten there. What have you learned? Then visit the No-GMO Blog Challenge to hear from others across the web who are joining the challenge.

Now, what I’m going to say next is just by way of encouragement to you. I have no other motive. You can get to the point where you’re not eating GM foods. In fact, many of the GNOWFGLINS™ readers are already there, I know. Good for you!

My family is an example of this. We do not worry about consuming GM foods, because we don’t buy anything that could possibly be GM. And we are not spending much more money to do so. Our family’s food budget — prior to eating healthfully as we do now — used to be only a little lower than it is now. Back then, we consumed the Standard American Diet’s processed foods almost exclusively (and remember the children were smaller and ate less). Now we spend a small amount more, yet consume more food (kids are bigger) and just about every food item is as high quality as it can get, with almost all the produce being local and in season.

We’ve chosen not to purchase imported fruit — no bananas or coconuts or pineapples or mangoes anymore. Our fruit must be local or at least from within Oregon or Washington (regional). Our veggies are either homegrown sprouts, or from a local organic farm, or from friends, or from Azure Standard’s farm in Oregon. Our beef comes from a local rancher — we buy 1/2 grass-fed cow once per year and stock the freezer. This year, though, we stumbled into raising our own grass-fed beef (we hope he’ll taste as good as we’re used to eating!). Our chickens, eggs, and turkeys come from a local farm. Most all our pantry items — grains, beans, nuts, seeds, chocolate, oils, vinegars — come from Hummingbird Wholesale in Eugene, OR. And then a very few things — herbs, spices, raw goat cheddar cheese, and some produce — come from Azure Standard. Everything is as high-quality as possible. Our bank is not broken and nothing is GM.

I realize that every region has its particular challenges for obtaining food. Perhaps in the comments below, you will also share the area of the world in which you live, and the particular challenges you face there.

Visit the No-GMO Blog Challenge for more information and to participate in the challenge yourself.