On August 17th, Houston Real Food Nutrition is hosting a showing of Genetic Roulette The Gamble of Our Lives, which was produced by the Institute for Responsible Technology. Following the movie there will be a discussion of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and a question and answer session.  If you want to learn more about GMOs–What are they?  How are they engineered?  What are the potential health risks?–please join us to watch the film and ask questions following the movie.

Genetically engineered crops, commonly called GMOs, have invaded our food supply to the extent that “The Grocery Manufacturers of America estimated in 2003 that 70–75% of all processed foods in the U.S. contained a GM ingredient.” [source]  I’m sure that percentage has grown in the last 10 years!

Many American crops are already almost all GMO–88% of corn, 93% of soy, 94% of cotton (cottonseed oil), 95% of sugar beets, and 90% of canola. Most processed foods contain at least one of these GMO ingredients unless the product is labeled organic or Non-GMO Project.

GMO foods grow from seeds engineered by the same chemical companies who are also well-known for developing products like Agent Orange, DDT, PCBs, Roundup, and rBST.  Do we really want our food to be a product of chemical company labs?

You may want to avoid GMO foods, but it can be difficult to do that since the U.S. does not require labeling, even though 91% of Americans say they want GMO foods labeled.  49 countries already require labeling.  Do you want to know what’s in your food?

Guest panelist, Angela Chandler, will be participating in the discussion following the film.  Angela is a Texas Master Gardener and former President of the Harris County Master Gardener Association.  She has a small organic garden, a flock of Buff Orpington chickens, and an experimental nursery.

Jeanette Pearson of Partners in Paleo is graciously providing the location for the showing.  Although we will not have a full meal for this meeting, Jeanette will provide snacks, probably vegetables and fruits.  The cost for providing the location and snacks is $5.00 per person, payable to Partners in Paleo.  Jeanette will probably have other items for sale at additional cost.  [Her paleo cakes are super delicious!]

The movie will be shown at 3:30 pm.  Please join us for an informative meeting about GMOs and delicious snacks from Partners in Paleo.  To learn more about the meeting and to sign up, go to Houston Real Food Nutrition.

You might also want to read these related Real Food Houston posts:

Study finds significant new evidence that GMOs can cause harm
Eating genetically engineered corn causes obesity
Study finds that GE toxins damage human cells
Glyphosate is already in our food, air, and water: What is it and why should we care?
It’s Not Pretty Behind the Biotech Veil, an Interview with Howard Vlieger
What Does Genetically Engineered (or GMO) Mean?