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Talking About Organic Food and Hybridized Food On Fox News Channel with Supermodel Carol Alt

(TO WATCH THE SEGMENT, CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW)

This past weekend, I was on A Healthy You & Carol Alt on Fox News Channel. On last month’s show, Carol Alt and I discussed the health risks of GMOs and the lack of GMO-labeling in U.S.

In this most recent show, we talked about organic food. Two of the main topics that we covered were the superior nutrition that organic provides, and the difference between hybridized food (allowed in organic food) and genetically-engineered food (not allowed in organic).

SUPERIOR NUTRITION

As I mention in the segment below, organic does not allow toxic pesticides to be used and provides superior nutrition.

I cite two independent studies that back up this claim – the one conducted at Washington State University on organic strawberries and the other from the University of Barcelona on organic tomatoes.

HYBRIDIZED FOOD vs. GENETICALLY-ENGINEERED FOOD

Many GMO-apologists will tell you that that there is no difference between genetically-engineered food and hybridized food.

This is absolutely not the case.

As ratified by over 160 countries around the world, the Cartagena Protocol of Biosafety has made it clear that GMOs are different than hybridized food.

The Cartagena Protocol says that:

The term `biotechnology’ refers to any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for a specific use.

Biotechnology, in the form of traditional fermentation techniques, has been used for decades to make bread, cheese or beer. It has also been the basis of traditional animal and plant breeding techniques, such as hybridization and the selection of plants and animals with specific characteristics to create, for example, crops which produce higher yields of grain.

The difference with modern biotechnology is that researchers can now take a single gene from a plant or animal cell and insert it in another plant or animal cell to give it a desired characteristic, such as a plant that is resistant to a specific pest or disease.

In the Biosafety Protocol, modern biotechnology means the application of:

1. In vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles, or

2. Fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family,

that overcome natural physiological reproductive or recombination barriers and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection. (see Article 3)

It goes on to say that….

A Living Modified Organism (LMO) is defined in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety as any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology. The Protocol also defines the terms ‘living organism’ and ‘modern biotechnology’ (see Article 3). In everyday usage LMOs are usually considered to be the same as GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), but definitions and interpretations of the term GMO vary widely.

 Common LMOs include agricultural crops that have been genetically modified for greater productivity or for resistance to pests or diseases. Examples of modified crops include tomatoes, cassava, corn, cotton and soybeans.

Over time, food has changed because farmers, for whatever reason, wanted to have different varieties or species and needed these hybridized varieties to fight off pests or to achieve higher yields. So, they bred different types of wheat, corn, or other plants. As a result, the food that we eat today is often not the same food that existed hundreds of years ago. This is one reason why many hardcore raw foodists won’t eat bananas – because they say this fruit has been too hybridized.

Needless to say, creating hybridized food has been going on for centuries and is allowed in organics.

Below is my second segment with Carol Alt and please watch her fantastic health show on Fox News Channel on Saturdays at 4PM EST. She is talking about some incredibly important health topics that no other mainstream media programs will discuss.

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livingmaxwell: a guide to organic food & drink