For awhile now I’ve been wondering if GMO food can carry an organic label. The recent edition of Vegetarian Times actually addressed this concern. The bottom-line is no GMO’s cannot be labelled organic. This is good news. Lobbyists are always trying to get our government to shift the definition of labels and I’m always concerned about what big business is really getting away with.

GMO’s are genetically modified organisms specifically altered by human science. GMOs are made using techniques that alter the molecular or cell structure of an organism with methods that are not possible under natural conditions. For instance humans have modified the soybean to be able to thrive while growing in soil covered in the weed killer Roundup. Corn is another crop that has been hugely affected by GMO’s. If you noticed pretty much all process food contains either soy or corn product if not both.

The good news per Vegetarian Times is that USDA regulations ban the use of organic labeling for GMO foods. If organic farmers want to produce new varieties of a crop they must do so by old-fashioned hybridization techniques. This is good news for us consumers. For more information about GMO free shopping please look here: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/CampaignforHealthierEatinginAmerica/index.cfm

One other interesting thing about organic labels. For an organic dairy farmer to keep their organic label they must not use any drugs what so ever on their cows. This means that if a cow has a simple udder infection rather than be treated she is sent to slaughter. Many organic dairy cows die at ridiculously young ages due to this. I get the point and necessity for organic labeling but there’s got to be a better overall method to this madness. For now I think I’ll stick to cruelty free organic rice milk.



Vegetarilin on Facebook Have a peaceful day, Lin