We are what we eat

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Why Other Countries Are Scared of GMOs and We're Not

It's in a majority of the processed foods that we eat in the form of high fructose corn syrup or soy. GMOs have a scary monopoly over our food system and we have yet to know the full extent of the problems that will come in the future. So why aren't Americans more skeptical? Well, to start off, pricey marketing hides these unhealthy foods in very pretty wrapping paper. The Corn Refiners Association released a $30 million marketing campaign that claims that high fructose corn syrup has the "same natural sweeteners as table sugar and honey." But in reality most corn is grown as a monoculture and large monocultures are usually genetically modified. Not to mention the health risks associated with high fructose corn syrup.


Additionally, we aren't as culturally connected to our food as Italians, French, and other cultures. We are instead, more connected to science than that of food. It's for this reason that we view food as the enemy. A substance that makes us fat, rather than what it should be, nutrient dense and meant to sustain us. Instead science (though I'm not saying science doesn't have its place) has taken over the food system. Instead of listening to what our bodies need and eating all whole foods to supply ourselves with nutrients, we choose processed junk that makes scientific claims to be enhanced with calcium, protein, and vitamins. Stripping foods of nutrients and then trying to add them back into foods does not a healthy body make. And the mega-corporations that have taken over our food industry make purchasing high quality whole foods more and more difficult.

The first reason - advertising - is what really gets me thinking. We are so weak when it comes to media. We fall for the ads, we go crazy for the latest story about some pop star, we rush home to watch American Idol. Our lives are run by ads and consumerism. We eat what they tell us will make us stronger, thinner, stronger... We eat on the run because we can't get off that treadmill of work harder to make more money to buy more and more. It's time to simplify. Time to slow down. Time to think about what we are eating, how we are living, what is most important.