The New GMOs: More Chemicals, More Dangerous

Monsanto recently announced plans to start selling a new GMO product to farmers as early as the 2014 growing season. Due to the increased resistant to the chemical glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, scientists have been working on an alternative chemical weedkiller. The new Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans are genetically engineered to withstand sprayings of not just the Roundup weedkiller, but also dicamba, which works by disrupting a plants’ hormonal system and causes them to grow in abnormal ways that usually lead to death. (Dicamba is a developmental toxin.) According to the Institute for Science in Society (ISIS), “dicamba is actually an old herbicide that served alongside “agent orange” in Vietnam, and has been resurrected as an environmentally friendly chemical through the magic of public relations. ”  It is similar in structure and mode to 2,4-D, a major component of Agent Orange, and has the highest soil mobility of over 40 evaluated herbicides, which leads to increased water contamination.  Dicamba can also drift for miles and has caused millions in damages to Midwestern growers who have suffered crop losses due to herbicide drift onto their farms. The environmental and health risks Dicama will inevitably create are upsetting and frightening. Avoid these toxic chemicals by buying organic and supporting local, organic farms whenever possible.

Healthy Food Served Here

This logo may soon be making its debut on the menu of one your favorite restaurant. The new system is called SPE, short for sanitas per escam (Latin for “health through food”) and stresses not only using local, seasonal ingredients but also combining them in ways that maximize their nutritional value. While browsing meal options, look out for the SPE logo, which will indicate the more healthy food options. Our team of experts assures you that it is good for you. Those experts, brought together by the vision of Mr. Verstraeten, the Belgian entrepreneur behind Rouge Tomate, a Michelin-starred restaurant on East 60th Street, will offer something that a lot of top chefs might not necessarily see as part of their job: a scientific guarantee. Their stamp will let you know that each dish is dense with nutrients — vitamins, minerals, antioxidants — and low in salt and “bad fats.” In appetizers and main courses, you won’t find any cream or butter. As one promotional document puts it, “SPE dishes contain more of what you need and less of what you don’t.”

 More than 1,500 New Yorkers Rally Against Fracking at Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State Address

Click to view more photos