Cotton is everywhere; our clothes, cotton balls, swabs and pads, feminine products, dish and bath towels, curtains, yarn, place-mats, hats, bedding, quilts.....and on and on.  Cotton is a versatile and useful product. It's easy to care for and the softness, can't forget that. GMO cotton, however, has a some scary secrets.
​

94% of the cotton grown in the US is genetically modified. Worldwide it is grown on over 70 million acres! What kind of affect does this have on the farmers?

In India, the second largest producer of cotton, farmers are committing suicide at alarming rates. 200, 000 thousand farmers have committed suicide since 1997. The problem began when the World Bank forced India to open up their seed sector. Farmers had always saved their seeds, bred them using traditional methods. Saving the seeds, improving their qualities each year. When the seed sector opened up and giant agri businesses like Monsanto and Cargill came in they were promised higher yields and more profit.

You all know that we invested in new, breeder quality chickens earlier this spring.  We searched the country high and low for birds that were not only breeder quality but also that they have been raised and selected for egg and meat production and fed a non-GMO diet. ​

We often hear that glyphosate is bad for us, harmful to our health, but what exactly are the health problems that it causes? The majority of crops that are genetically modified are modified in such a way so that they can be sprayed with glyphosate and not be harmed.  If glyphosate were to be sprayed on any other plant is would shrivel up and die. It is both an insecticide and herbicide. Not only is it sprayed on GMO crops but it is also sprayed on conventionally grown non-GMO grains and legumes a few weeks before harvest to desiccate or dry out the grain/legume (it kills them) to speed up the harvesting process. It is the most highly used herbicide/insecticide with almost 300 million pounds being sprayed on crops every year.[1]  Glyphosate is linked to many health problems but I'm going to focus two today. Think of them as two more reasons to choose organic in all areas of your life. Not just what you eat but what personal care products you use, the cleaning products you choose and the clothes you wear (96% of the cotton grown in the US in 2016 was genetically modified). Keep in mind that glyphosate was found in 60 to 100% of water and air samples taken over a two year course.[2} It is coming at us in every direction. The most effective way to put an end to this is by making responsible choices with the products we buy and educating the people around us so that they can do the same.

A little confused right now? Yeah, it is crazy but true. Yesterday my husband was reading the news and found an article about a spill of thousands of Skittles. The spilled Skittles were from a  truck load of Skittles destined for a cattle farm. Now if that sounds absurd listen to this; they say it is completely healthy for the cows. So you see, it is not healthy for us to eat loads of candy and sweets but cows, cows are a different story. Although they were created to eat grasses, they are perfectly healthy when fed truck loads of Skittles and other candies. Hmmm. ​

So you have been doing the non-Gmo thing for awhile now. You did the research and have found that the health, environmental, and moral risks are just too high. You're learning to read the labels and you are feeling pretty good about how far you have come. That's great! What a long way you have come. Now it  is time to step it up a notch.

I found this article on Yahoo today. Glyphosate, the most highly used herbicide (it's actually an insecticide as well) in the world has somehow been able to skip EPA regulations that other pesticides and herbicides have to pass. Consumer food products are routinely tested for residue of pesticides and herbicides. This includes all types of food not just produce. But for all the years glyphosate has been in use, foods have never been tested for glyphosate residue until now. Hmmmmm. Monsanto makes $5 billion a year from the sales of glyphosate and glyphosate products. Of course they don't want food to be tested for this known carcinogen because it is so heavily used that it's in everything! They have gone so far to protect their profit from this poison that they now have there former lawyer, Micheal Taylor, working in the FDA. and not just any spot in the FDA, he is the Food safety Czar, the Deputy Commissioner for Foods. But don't worry folks there is no conflict of interest here?