I hope the gardeners out there got a chance to watch CSI Miami tonight.
The episode was about the deaths of two youngsters who ate contaminated vegetables at a restaurant. The culprit was traced back to, guess what? Genetically engineered corn. The show touched on a lot of hot topics: Genetically engineered seeds, farmers losing their land when the genetically engineered produce cross pollinated with their produce, contaminated animal feces contaminating the soil, the food safety issue, Big Brother (Monsanto?) taking “calculated risks” with us consumers.
I saw the CSI episode after coming from the grocery store and thinking $3 for a bag of organic onions was expensive when the non-organic onions cost $1.29. I’m having much more respect for organic produce. I’m having even much more appreciation for the fact that I like gardening, I like to grow my own food, and I hope that the eyes of the public were opened by tonight’s episode of CSI and that it encourages everybody to grow a little of their own.
Happy Gardening!!!
Cheryl's Garden Goodies 
Liisa said,
October 19, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Wow! I’m sorry I missed it. I know first hand what “processed” foods can do. My husband became very ill over the last few years. At 54 he was in constant pain. The doctors could only tell us it was an autoimmune disease. I was not satisfied with this answer. We stopped eating all “processed” foods. I buy organic when ever possible and in my mind it is money well spent when I see my husband living without pain. Also, a book you might enjoy if you have not already read it…”Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s a great read and touches on Monsanto and what is happening to our framers.
gardengoodies said,
October 20, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Liisa-Sorry your husband had that problem, but glad you guys figured out a solution. Thanks for the book reference. I just put a hold on it at the library.
engineeredgarden said,
October 20, 2009 at 8:40 am
That’s interesting, Cheryl. Ya know, if Monsanto doesn’t quit playing with seeds, there will be no vegetables as we currently know. It’s like they’re trying to play God or something.
gardengoodies said,
October 20, 2009 at 9:53 pm
EG-It’s so scary in so many ways. I’ve “heard” people saying that some farmers are finding alternatives to the GM seeds because of the expense of not being able to save their own seeds. I hope there’s some truth in it.
Kate said,
October 20, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Cheryl – you have to watch “The Future of Food” – it’s a GREAT movie about what’s going on with our food today. I think you can get it on Netflix if you have that… I’m pretty sure that’s where we got it from. Here is the website and there’s a great trailer to watch too: http://www.thefutureoffood.com/ You’ll think twice about everything you eat after watching it!!!
gardengoodies said,
October 20, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Kate-I’m not a Netflix subscriber, but after watching the trailer I’m going to take the time to find the movie. I couldn’t get the link you provided to work, but I saw a trailer on Youtube (it was probably the same one). Herbicides made from neurotoxins and then we eat the food. More scary stuff.
Kate said,
October 21, 2009 at 6:06 am
Cheryl – yeah, once you look into it you’ll be appauled and saddened by what’s going on in the agricultural world. Monsanto is as evil a company as they come. In the movie Monsanto has their GM seed fields next to “regular” fields of corn owned by farmers. When the Monsanto seeds end up cross-pollinating into the “regular” corn fields, Monsanto sues the farmer for stealing their patent and the farmer loses their fields, their home and their livelihood. It’s horrible.
If we could afford to buy organic or at least buy local all the time, we would. But sadly we can’t. I will buy some organic/local things, but the great majority is not. They say money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does buy safer food.
gardengoodies said,
October 21, 2009 at 7:15 am
Kate-They hit on that too in the CSI episode: the patented GM corn in Farmer A’s field cross pollinated with the regular corn in Farmer B’s field, so now the seed company sues Farmer B for patent infringement. That’s another example of them playing God by allowing somebody to patent a living organism.
I guess I’m looking forward to watching the movie. I may be afraid to eat anything afterwards though.
Melissa (Mrs.Ruiz) said,
October 24, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Wow I hate that I missed this episode! Even more so I hate that I have allowed myself to eat so many processed foods especially after hearing about Liisa’s husband!! I think your right in the fact that there really does need to be more human awareness to the things we eat as well as the things we should take time to grow =) I think I’ll look into the book liisa recommended. While I know this may sound odd that I would just switch you just happened to tip my decision, my starting point was when some lady hit me in the Mc Donalds line ..I think it’s a sign for me to change 🙂
gardengoodies said,
November 6, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I just remembered somebody did an experiment with some fries from Mc-You-Know-Who. When all the other food in the experiment turned moldy, the fries looked just like they did when they came out of the fryer. Wonder what kind of preservatives we’re ingesting.
Toni (WyomingMom) said,
October 31, 2009 at 7:08 pm
That engineered corn scares me!!!!
gardengoodies said,
November 6, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Hi, Toni:
Corn products get into us through so many sources. I’m reading a book right now, and they mention some of the products you wouldn’t think of as coming from corn: High fructose corn syrup (okay, that one isn’t really hidden, but it’s in everything), and they mentioned letithin, citric acid, maltodextrin, sorbitol and xanthan gum. Then you’ve got the engineered corn being made into feed for the animals.
Be scared…be very, very scared.