GMO OMG Explores Real Food Problems

Were you aware that 90% of sugar beets, 91% of soy, 90% of canola, and 88% of cotton is genetically modified? And that in 1860, 56% of the workforce were farmers but that number has drastically shrunk to 2%? And that many countries besides the United States have banned GMOs? These are just some of the facts revealed in the documentary GMO OMG.

gmosLast week, I was invited by Nature’s Path Organic to attend a private screening and panel discussion in New York. The documentary seeks to tell the hidden truths in the food supply about how giant chemical companies are creating (or have created) an agricultural and cultural crisis. With his wife and three children in tow, director, writer, and editor Jeremy Seifert embarks on a journey that compels them to ask “Are we even eating real food anymore?”

GMOs foods are genetically modified organisms have had their DNA altered artificially in a lab by genes from bacteria, viruses, plants, or animals that otherwise would not be found in nature. The “purpose” of introducing these foreign genes are to enhance growth, increase resistance to pests, or increase nutritional value. Some of the prevailing issues are that GMO crops rely on a toxic combination of pesticides that I believe seep into the seeds, soil, and produce toxic effects in our bodies. The increased amount of autoimmune diseases, allergies, and mental disorders are no coincidence and coincide with the increased use and implementation of GMO foods.

GMO OMG explores the systematic corporate takeover and potential loss of humanity’s most precious and ancient inheritance: seeds. Director Jeremy Seifert investigates how loss of seed diversity and corresponding laboratory assisted genetic alteration of food affects his young children, the health of our planet, and freedom of choice everywhere. GMO OMG follows one family’s struggle to live and eat without participating in an unhealthy, unjust, and destructive food system. In GMO OMG, the encroaching darkness of unknown health and environmental risks, chemical toxins, and food monopoly meets with the light of a growing global movement to take back what we have lost. Has the global food system been irrevocably hijacked?

Now how does a company that makes cereal get involved with the film?
Via Nature’s Path –

Committed to organics and the triple bottom line (where everything is not only financially viable bu socially responsible and environmentally sustainable), Nature’s Path has always been opposed to the use of genetically modified organisms in any food, and has a strict Non-GMO policy for all of our products and packaging…

Through this film we hope to educate people about how the genetic engineering of our food supply disrupts our agricultural heritage putting food, people, and planet at great risk. Now is the time to create change in our food system, and this fiercely independent, quirkily beautiful organic cereal company is listen to the people and helping to lead the way.

gmoomg documentary inviteGMO OMG is a great introduction for anyone who wants to know more about GMOs and even if you are familiar with GMOs, you will certainly learn something new as I did. It tells a story of a family looking to balance their new found knowledge and keeping their family culture intact without disrupting “normal” life.

Watching this film reminded me of my trip last year to Des Moines,, Iowa last year with the Soybean Association. I hope in the new future to fully download my experience and the multitude of thoughts I had from that trip and to share with you all.

GMO OMG opens on September 13th at Cinema Village in NYC and other screenings are taking place nationwide. Visit GMO OMG for more information.

The trailer:

GMO OMG Explores Real Food Problems Header

Are you familiar with GMOs? How do you feel about GMOs? Would you be interested in seeing the documentary? Let me know and leave a comment!

YGL

YGL staff