Deepak Chopra LIVE on GM Alfalfa

The Center for Food Safety sits down with Deepak Chopra to discuss the dangers and the reality of today's genetically modified food situation.

Here is the recorded event found on the Center for Food Safety's website.

Below is the original embedded livestream from deepakhomebase. Deepak Chopra has a number of events running on his livestream, so if you are interested in seeing what it's up to right now, then check it out!

Watch live streaming video from deepakhomebase at livestream.com

Taking Action

In this blog I have written a lot about food choices I have made personally, what I have learned about the food industry through some media at my fingertips (books, movies, web sites, et cetera), but I am not sure I have written enough about taking action.

I was born in 1976, I was a child of the eighties, took on high school and college in the nineties and stepped into my career on the cusp of the new millennium. I will not venture to say that the society around me was not steeped in great changes, amazing innovations and sweeping culture shifts, however, I do believe something really quite important might have been missing and maybe still is. Where is this generation's sense of power?

I learned of the battles my grandparents and great grandparents went through to become Americans, I learned of women getting the right to vote, the battle over prohibition, the civil rights movement - I learned all of these things not only from my teachers, but from my family - they lived in these times, they made things happen. They embraced the American spirit and took action when things needed changing - they sat-in, or marched, or petitioned or rallied - and the powers that be had to listen because the actions and the voices of the many were cacophonous.That is the American way to make change, that is how we take action -we the people get organized and speak our piece loud enough to be heard. We, as Americans, have the right to speak of our discontent and work in a civil manner to make things better. I sometimes fear that branching out into the world wide web has ripped out our grass-roots.

I would like to plant some grass seeds with my blog and help out some organizations that I think are doing a fantastic job of getting the word out in terms of saving our sustenance. It is high time we gather together as our American rights allow us to to fight what I believe to be the great battle of my generation: the people vs. Big Business.

• Food & Water Watch - This is my #1 go to source for news related to my sustenance. I have added their RSS feed to this blog for their "Take Action" page so you can check in on whatever particular court case, petition or issue needs your support at the moment. If you do nothing else, join their mailing list.
• Natural Resources Defense Council (NDRC) - An environmental group that also has a large "Take Action" section of their web site to keep you up to date on their current cases and issues being brought before congress.
• Certified Humane - I am always popping this site up on my iPhone on the way to the grocery store to make sure I am buying the right brand eggs and chicken because, along with their "Take Action" section they also have a nice link for you to "Find Stores" around you that sell "Certified Humane" products.
• The Center for Food Safety - Another great site I have written about before (this is where we got our shopping list for avoiding GMOs!), that has the "True Food Network" which is always looking for more support for their causes in the great food fight.

*Note: all of these sites have facebook pages as well, if that simplifies your screen time.

Here's the deal... at some point we are all going to have to admit that something has gone horribly wrong with our food selections. The food I am exposed to when shopping is not the same that my mother or grandmothers were exposed to - we can blame video games, computers, television and whatever other screen time you can add up for the increasing obesity rates in this country, but that is only ONE PIECE to this puzzle - we should not allow agribusiness to  shield our eyes from the truth for the sakes of their pockets! It is time to take action. It is time to become more knowledgeable. It is time to stop accepting and start QUESTIONING so we can LEARN the TRUTH.

P.S. - If you have a favorite "taking action" site you'd like me to know about, please add it in the comments section! Thanks!

Avoiding GMOs - There's a Guide!!

I don't know how I missed this before in all of my web-trolling about food, but, today, while researching phytoremediation research (the study of plants fighting toxins and bad things in the air, the soil and, basically anywhere in the environment - yes, yes - I am home SICK AGAIN!) I, somehow, fell upon The Center for Food Safety which is simply amazing! On the home page of the site is

• the latest news in the food safety fight, as well as 
• a link for you to join the "True Food Network" in order to stay connected with their doings - I, of course, signed up!

Along the top of the page are a number of tabs (all of which I have not yet explored), one of which I simply could not ignore: "Non-GMO's Shoppers' Guide". Here is a snippet of their description of the guide:

After a long wait, we are pleased to announce the arrival of our updated, portable pocket shoppers’ guide to help you find and avoid GE ingredients wherever you shop. Our guide gives you valuable information on common GE ingredients, brands to look for, and look out for, and common sense tips to keep you in the know.

[UPDATE (3/30/2011): There's an APP for that now! The guide has bee made into a mobile phone application for iPhone and Android phnes as well.]

The guide is well-organized and has a "Non-GMO" and a "May Contain GMO" listing for each category. It also has, at the end of the guide, a list of "Invisible GM Ingredients" - those ingredients that may have been created using some GM product. All-in-all, I think this is a handy reference for anyone that is concerned about genetically modified food (as I am!!!), but should, as it all should be, be taken with a grain of salt. The sad, true fact is that the GMOs are out there growing and, as all of us who saw (or read) Jurassic Park know, "Life finds a way." I say this in response to the sobering "special note" found at the end of the guide:

SPECIAL NOTE: This guide was compiled based on company statements, not genetic testing. Any product labeled as Non- GMO indicates that it’s manufacturing process is designed to avoid GMOs, but consumers should be aware that GM contamination is possible due to natural pollen movement, weather events, seed contamination, or human error. Hence there is no guarantee such products are 100% free of GMOs.

...and so I am left wondering: are there or will there ever be any products free of GMOs? Terrifying thought.