Know your food

This Blog Action Day, Say No To GMOs & Factory Farming

Let's link together two food and environmental issues getting some much needed light shone upon them this October: 1) labeling of genetically modified food -- currently mandated in the EU and many other nations, but not in the United States; and, 2) factory farming -- behind the 20% rise in global meat consumption over the past decade, and an utter disaster for both animal welfare and the environment as a whole.
Even though the US produces the greatest number of GMO crops in the world (94% of soybeans, 90% of cotton, and 80% grown in the US are genetically modified), this fact is, I'd argue, deliberately hidden from the public by the companies developing and promoting these crops. Claiming that genetically modified crops are no different than conventional bred hybrid crops, companies like Monsanto have actively lobbied to prevent labeling of GM foods in the US -- even though a CBS News poll has shown that 87% of Americans want GMO ingredients labeled. No doubt part of the reason for the opposition to labeling is related to another stat coming from the same poll: 53% of Americans would not buy genetically modified food if they knew that's what it was.
It all comes down to control and commodification of nature. GM seeds can be patented; conventionally-bred seeds cannot.
Factory farming comes from the same disrespect of nature and disregard for our fellow conscious, living beings with which we share Earth.

Not only a disrespect of nature but a complete disrespect of our own bodies.

Know what you are eating - how it was grown - how it was picked...