Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers

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Summary: I wish there was more information......
Review: As far as it goes, GENTICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS is an excellent book. My only complaint is that the research to date on this topic is pathetic. Of course this is exactly what Ronnie Cummings says. For whatever reason, the Clinton administration and the current administration don't seem to be overly concerned about what is happening to our food supply. The amazing thing is that most GMOs hit the market in the past 10 years. If you weren't paying attention in the 1990s, you need to know that you probably were not alone. The bottom line is that the food you are eating today is not what we ate as recently as 15 years ago.

We all heard about the Monarch butterflies and the bovine growth hormone, but most of us had no idea just how many organisms--plants and animals--had been altered and were now part of the food chain. Cummins book describes just what we missed and although he writes somewhat provocatively, much of what he has to say is being said by others. In fact, the Monsanto potato has been discussed in many books and articles. Fortunately, big businesses like McDonald's are beginning to pay attention.

Since the government can't or won't act, bringing about a difference will be up to the public. You can vote with your food dollars. Although you may not be ready to go completely organic (you really should for your health's sake) you can at least avoid the worst kinds of foods. The bottom line is that we really don't know what GMOs will do to the human body. I for one am not ready to be an experimental subject and I certainly don't want children to become subjects either. Read this book and act.

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Summary: If You Eat, You Must Read This Book
Review: Forget the feel-good hype that advertisers, marketing types, and "bioscientists" are trying to make you believe: an untested, unknown, and uncontrollable technology has been released into our food supply, and we will be living with the consequences for generations to come. Corporate agriculture holds the farmer and consumer hostage in the never-ending quest for ever-greater profits. The research conducted by so-called bioscientists is shoddy and sparse, and what has been done to farmers in America and abroad is sickening. Particularly alarming is the lack of data on long-term ingestion of these products, especially in children. Cummins and Lilliston provide information on how to determine whether products contain GE ingredients and how to avoid GE-tainted food. Ways to get involved--at the very least we should be loudly insisting that these products be labeled--are provided as well. If you think tobacco companies are dishonest and greedy, wait until you read about corporate agriculture. If you eat, you must read this book.

Rating:
Summary: If You Eat, You Must Read This Book
Review: Forget the feel-good hype that advertisers, marketing types, and "bioscientists" are trying to make you believe: an untested, unknown, and uncontrollable technology has been released into our food supply, and we will be living with the consequences for generations to come. Corporate agriculture holds the farmer and consumer hostage in the never-ending quest for ever-greater profits. The research conducted by so-called bioscientists is shoddy and sparse, and what has been done to farmers in America and abroad is sickening. Particularly alarming is the lack of data on long-term ingestion of these products, especially in children. Cummins and Lilliston provide information on how to determine whether products contain GE ingredients and how to avoid GE-tainted food. Ways to get involved--at the very least we should be loudly insisting that these products be labeled--are provided as well. If you think tobacco companies are dishonest and greedy, wait until you read about corporate agriculture. If you eat, you must read this book.

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Summary: A Book that Needed to be Written
Review: I knew instinctively that I was against GE foods, and absolutely in favor of mandatory labeling of GE foods, but I did not know the actual facts behind the argument against GE foods. This book lays out those facts clearly. The authors make no attempt to hide the fact that they are against GE foods, but they do not let their bias get in the way of their reporting of the facts. There's no ranting and raving or kook-talk going on here. True, there are not enough facts to go around on this issue, but what few *independent* studies have been done have produced alarming results. The book also does an excellent job of illustrating how so many other countries around the world have absolutely rejected GE foods. The costs paid by the American farmer are also discussed. And there is a ton of consumer-related info. If you eat food, you need this book.

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Summary: Don't Go to The Grocery Store Again Till You Read This Book
Review: I was thrilled to find Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston's book Genetically Engineered Food - A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers. It sets the record straight regarding this vast experiment that we are all being subjected to and lets us know how we can protect ourselves and our families.

Thank you Cummins and Lilliston for standing up and speaking the truth about our food supply. Now I don't feel so alone in this "brave new world."

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Summary: YOU SHOULD NOT PAY TO BE POISONED!
Review: The new book Genetically Engineered Food, A Self Defense Guide for Consumers, carefully lays out the history of genetic engineering of food (which is alarmingly short),moves into the current practices and lays out clear (and easy) recomendations for what we can do. Genetic engineering of food splices genes from another plant or animal or bacteria into yet another plant. According to David Suziki, a Canadian Geneticist,"once these new forms have become established in our surroundings they can replicate, change, spread; there may be no turning back...... Since GM foods are now in our diet, we have become experimental subjects without our choice." This is not science fiction, this is at your local supermarket and you are are eating it.

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Summary: Genetically Engineered food: A survivors guide
Review: This book educates us in what the food industry seems to be trying so hard to hide. I want desperately to know what I put into my body and that seems harder and harder to find out. I don't like the idea of the cycle of life and the natural food chain being altered. That is what this book tells us about. The fda seems to want us not to know. The fact is we don't know how this manufactured, genetically changed food is going to effect us and before we start irreversable damage we better know what it is we are doing. Cause and effect. Read the book.

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Summary: A Resourceful Book
Review: This is a wonderful, resourceful book that captured my attention as I read all about genetically engineered food and the companies that deal with them.

I particularly liked the resources found in the back, ranging from the CSA's to listings of Organic Seed Companies. I also appreciated reading about the names of companies that do not produce genetically engineered food. Excellent!

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Summary: Taking the Offense with "GE Food: A Self Defense Guide"
Review: This new book on the dangers of genetically engineered or modified foods is a great lay persons' guide through the scientific jargon and concepts of genetic engineering or modification. Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston have helped readers to become citizen scientists and to be prepared to answer and discuss the many issues surrounding the genetic engineering of our food systems.

Whether you are preparing for a meeting with an elected official about food and technology policies, or meeting with your chapter of the PTA, this handbook will place facts and figures at your fingertips.

They begin their story with the basics of genetic engineering agricultural biotechnology and weave through the health and ecological risks associated with this techology. But this book is not just about the risks and social and ethical hazards modern societies face with genetic engineering.

The book offers practical information about what genetically modified food products and ingredients one should avoid, and the companies who make them. In presenting information about the regulatory processes in the United States and other parts of the world, Cummins and Lilliston give us all the necessary information to bring to bear on government officials and agencies to act for the public good. There are also tips about calling and writing to companies that produce or distribute ge foods. In fact, the movement to regulate ge/gm foods may have its greatest impact upon these companies who are very sensitive to public opinion and the marketability of these new products.

Besides recommendations for avoiding ge foods, their vision includes acting and shopping with a purpose. The last chapter, where to find out more, is worth the price alone as an invaluable resource for educating and agitating in your community.

"Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers" offers the kind of information and inspiration for us all to come back to the table of plenty by seeing a sustainable food system that re-unites consumers and producers. Get to know the farmers in your area and grow your own.

If you care about what you eat and who is growing our food, this easy to read book will help you develop a better understanding of the issues and what you can do about them.