Q2: How is GMO food made and what is all this about bacteria, viruses, and the risk of unintended gene transfer?
A 2: First, on how GMO's are made: Right now while the link in this paragraph is still good, watch a clip from 'The Future of Food' where you will see, hear, understand, and very likely be creeped-out by how GMO's are made using bacteria and viruses because there's nothing here that would make a person feel comfortable. If you want to go right into the 5 minute summary of the GMO creation process, jump to 25 minutes in. Honestly- watch this short clip now, then come back because if you see this you will understand so much. Later, watch the whole thing with some organic popcorn because its a big, bright, feature-film in addition to being a good documentary. Since posting this link, I've discovered the creator Deborah Koons Garcia's 'Get Involved' tab which we at this site will be going through to find more friends soon.
Second: on bacterial DNA- this is just one of the health risks- there are more below. I gave links to an original study and summary on the first month we did this site before we had anything else in the Updates section in May. Eat food>digest> bacteria in small intestines mutate to include active GMO DNA that codes for insecticide> which could turn your gut into a chemical factory for as long as that colony survives inside. Its just one study. There haven't been any human trials besides this one! But if 3 of 7 people they looked at had these things inside them that they could find (current technology can't find many of the bacterium types yet), isn't that worth doing more studies? Why hasn't that happened? Why haven't there been other human studies? Good grief. I'll be honest- I've eaten plenty of foods that cause serious health problems. Once I read about this, I'd sooner eat hatching alien-spider eggs than another Genetically Modified (a.k.a. Violated) Organism. It has the most creepiness to it, but its not the worst. If you want a preview of what you're about to find, how about: cancer, birth defects, damage to just about any internal organ, infertility and allergies?
There are some dangers listed in this website here and there, but we mostly provide links to other people's science and education tools because they do it full time and keep up with it all. The best place to start is the webstite for IRT- the Institute for Responsible Technology, at www.responsibletechnology.org. We talk to Sara at their office regularly. She is very supportive of the site and will send people here if they need a hand making their non-GMO diet happen. She even asked for our little store-front sticker. :) IRT's site's main purpose is to make the most current health risk information available as soon as the scientists publish. We can show you many of the original studies as well because I have access. I have copyright rules to abide by so please contact us individually for those requests if you've found a study you'd like to read so we can share this with you correctly. Also have a look at April Scott's web editorials on food safety including GMOs. She's clear and passionate- fighting this battle for all of us- and she cites her sources and provides a full context so it doesn't matter how much you already know or don't know to enjoy her frank and inspiring articles.
As we say many times here on this site because it is so important to us, Ernie had his life-long crippling hay fever and chronic heartburn go away after a month of switching diets so not only are you avoiding health problems but you may find you are experiencing better health. As you also likely have read somewhere on here already, our goal is not to convert people to stop eating GMO's but to provide resources for those who already are trying not to eat them. Since GMO's are unlabeled, and we're in a climate of deregulation and bullying attempts to censor consumer concerns, knowing the science and seeing the inherent danger with the technology (that is haphazardly played with out in the open air and land and in our food) will help you in your quest. Its unfortunate but you will have to defend your position on this personal health choice to friends and strangers OR tell them that 'yes, you are eating GMO's' and "yes, (product X) does have GMO's in it" all the darned time. At least until you've started shopping and eating at the right places and educated your immediate circle. After that's taken care of it's so much easier!
If you want to discuss the technology, the irresponsibility, and the dangers of genetically engineered food, or anything else about GMO's and/or this site, please write to us at mail@gmofreeportland.com. Usually we will see your email instantly and respond immediately because we're connected through a Smartphone. We'll always write back to your emails. If you want to text, talk on the phone, or meet over a GMO free lunch or Fair-Trade coffee, we can do that too- just say the word. This is our cause- it is the focus of the donation of our time and money to others. Heck, we don't mind if you're just too busy to look over our site yourself and would rather have us tell you what you want to know one-on-one. It's ok- not everyone has time to research this stuff- but everyone has a right to non-GMO food! Our outreach goes beyond this website.