Last updated on April 1, 2019
Actually, a case can be made that they do.
In a February 27 article, Fox News highlights a new study from the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability about staple crop production in the United States midwest. With keywords such as agrobiodiversity, genetic modification, intellectual property and crops, it doesn’t take too long to figure out that what we’re taking about here are acres of corn and soybeans being subsidized by the Federal government in the American heartland.
Despite other pressing issues that genetically engineered crops bring to the table that are not the topic of this blog post – such as mass spraying of pesticides, mono-cropping and mandatory labeling, to name just a few – the fact that corn and soy are heavily subsidized by the government, and are then used as ingredients in the overwhelming majority of processed foods that we eat absolutely does serve as a contributing factor to the scourge of obesity in this country.
With 88% of the corn in this country genetically modified to either withstand the mass-spraying of pesticides such as glyphosate (Roundup), or contain the pesticide Bt in its DNA, if you eat processed food, or anything with corn syrup, chances are overwhelming that you’re eating GMOs. Consider the following quote about high fructose corn syrup from my book, GMOs: What You Need To Know.
“This substance has been linked to the scourges of obesity and type 2 diabetes that plague our society.(4) Shockingly, according to the USDA website outlining the myriad usages for corn, “(g)overnment programs have been instrumental in the development of…HFCS.”(5) All for the expansion of the American corn market.”
Furthermore, if you
“…eat processed foods, like cookies, cakes or ice cream…Read the label: if it’s not an organic product, and if it contains corn starch (modified food starch), corn flour, corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), you can almost assume that it was made with genetically engineered corn.” (Copyright © 2014 Michele Jacobson, CCN. All rights reserved.)
Can GMOs contribute to weight gain? Since studies show that high fructose corn syrup has been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes, and high fructose corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn – horrifyingly, subsidized by the government – then, yes, I would say they can.
Fox News, I would say you got my attention this time.
