United States Grows More GM Crops Than Any Other Country

United States Grows More GM Crops Than Any Other Country
Posted by Dr. Mercola | September 10 2003 | 2,392 views

The United States has planted more GM crops than any other country each year since 1996, when GM crops were first made available commercially. The United States grows two-thirds of all biotechnology crops on over 96 million acres.
From 1996 to 2002 there was a 20-fold increase in the area allotted to GM foods in the United States, which is the fastest growth rate of any country.
GM foods grown in the United States include corn, cotton, soybeans, canola, squash and papaya.
Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology
August, 2003

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It’s bad enough that the United States allows GM crops to be grown at all, and it is even worse that we grow two-thirds of GM crops worldwide.
Many respectable scientists are concerned about, and nearly all of Europe has strong opposition to, this technology.
Consuming genetically modified foods is like participating in a giant experiment. There is no telling what the consequences of using these genetically modified foods will be because these products have never existed before now.
It seems clear that these altered foods are capable of producing changes in humans. Already, investigators have found that rats fed genetically modified potatoes had an increased thickening in the lining of their stomach and intestine and a weakening of their immune system.
Further, some scientists want to put vaccines into plants without any real knowledge of what effects this unnatural addition will have on human health, or the health of our planet.
What these scientists have failed to fully appreciate is that once these genetically modified plants are growing it is physically impossible to prevent them from pollinating other plants, thereby contaminating them with these new proteins, of which we do not know the long-term consequences.
The absurdity of the entire process is mind-boggling. These scientists are willing to sacrifice the country’s food supply by adding vaccines, which do not even work in the first place, to plants.
If this continues, our grandchildren may not have access to any non-genetically modified food, and the health of our society may continue to rapidly decline.
One of the keys to health is good food. Although most of us don't choose to do so, we can still purchase real, unaltered food in this country. Sadly, the future does not appear to provide this option.
For now, your best bet is to try to purchase organic foods that do not contain GM ingredients. However, this will likely become increasingly difficult as the amount of GM crops in the United States increases and cross-pollination of GM crops with organic crops becomes inevitable.
Related Articles:
GM Crops Raise Price of Organic Food
Why Genetically Modified Crops Can Devastate Health
Prominent Scientists Form Group to Counter GM Food
The Dangers of Genetic Engineering
Europeans More Resistant to Genetically Modified Foods
All Organic Seeds Now Appear to Be Contaminated With Genetically Modified Crops
Source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/09/10/gm-crops-part-eight.aspx