Your Guide to GMOs 2.0

Last week, we signed a petition sent to the National Organic Standards Board (you can still sign here!) urging them to explicitly remove ‘genetically engineering and gene editing techniques’ from the standards for ‘Organic’ because certain highly processed foods still have GMOs without labeling to let us know! The law currently exempts “high fructose corn syrup, GMO beet sugar, purified oils and some artificial flavors and spices, because the identifiable engineered DNA is degraded or removed”, said Dr. Michael Hansen, senior scientist at the Consumers Union. Now, most of us know or are familiar with the health risks associated with consuming such highly processed, sweetened foods, including diabetes, obesity, cancer and a wide range of other digestive ailments, but what we don’t know (and what scientists are still unclear about) is the long-term effects of consuming genetically engineered foods consistently over the course of your entire life. I believe this is a huge problem! Corporate money continues to saturate the organic industry, to keep profits high and effectively ‘healthwash‘ their products, while sacrificing the public’s best interest!!! Learn more about GMOs 2.0 and read this guide here to make more informed decisions next time you’re at the store.

Sweet or No Sweets

Speaking of artificial sweeteners, the controversy about whether they’re better than sugar itself is still up for debate, considering some recent studies about the cancer-causing effects of aspartame, and other artificial sweeteners. Specifically, there are serious concerns about the harmful effects of artificial sweeteners on the body’s metabolic and endocrine systems, according to health experts and scientists. That is why the Soda Tax makes me so crazy! The idea of taxing only full sugar soda and not artificially sweetened soda, encourages people to drink artificially sweetened soda, which I think is even worse for them! Why not tax all soda?

Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in NYC

In a recently published book, Beyond the Kale, co-authors Nevin Cohen and Kristin Reynolds assert that urban agriculture has the vast potential to achieve social and environmental change. In their recent presentation of Beyond the Kale at CUNY, special guests and founders of the community-based organization Brooklyn Rescue Mission discussed out loud the ways in which they focus explicitly on dismantling oppressive systems by addressing issues of food justice, community health and economic hardship in their Bed-Stuy community.

“Through in-depth interviews and public forums with some of New York City’s most prominent urban agriculture activists and supporters, Cohen and Reynolds illustrate how some urban farmers and gardeners not only grow healthy food for their communities, but also use their activities and spaces to disrupt the dynamics of power and privilege that perpetuate inequity.” -The City University of New York School of Public Health

Since it’s conception, the book has stirred academics and scholars to aim for more collaboration with community leaders and activists to collectively close the gap in urban agriculture literature that has loosely prioritized the voices of people of color and women which is necessary for truly shifting the current paradigm.