GM Sugar and Hershey Co.
Posted by Grey on September 8, 2008
I’ve spent much of the day doing research. Ok, really I have been procrastinating but my form of procrastinating tends to yield something useful. So far today I have learned about the importance of iodine in the diet (Americans are woefully deficient, nother post later), have written the FDA to ask them not to irradiate spinach and lettuce (you can do that here ), have decided that I’m going to spend thousands of dollars that I’ll pull from my ass somewhere to become a Naturopathic doctor and have spent many more hours looking at Hershey Co.
See, back in January when I wrote in here about GM Sugar Beets being planted, it was known that Hershey wasn’t too happy with the idea, stating that consumer surveys indicated that people were reluctant to purchase foods containing GM ingredients. That got me to go over to their website to see if they had anything on there about it, since the beets are harvested by now and will soon be all over in our food without us knowing, thanks to lax labeling laws in this country that state GM foods do not need to be labeled.
There wasn’t anything on their site, so I called them. The representative I spoke with was polite, but she knew nothing about GM sugar beets and wasn’t able to contact someone who did know. More, she added, apparently nobody else seems to be calling about it because there’s nothing on their “boards” about it so the reps can answer the question if it comes up.
So I settled deeper into my computer chair and wrote the company a letter. I’d like it in writing if they are not going to use GM sugar. Besides, how am I to do my holiday baking this year if I don’t know what’s in my chocolate chips? Or in Hershey’s kisses - I love those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey’s Kiss on top, don’t you?
Later in my wandering I came across this:
Consumers in Brazil can now eat Hershey’s Kisses™ without fear of GM contamination. Unfortunately, that is not the case for U.S. consumers. Several weeks ago, Hershey’s in Brazil announced that it will not use genetically modified ingredients in the products it makes in Brazil, but it remains silent about its plans in the U.S.
U.S. farmers planted GM sugar beet crops for the first time this year. These Roundup Ready® GM sugar beets are genetically altered to resist Monsanto’s toxic weed killer, Roundup, and its active ingredient, glyphosate. But here’s the scary part:
When the USDA first approved the planting of GE sugar beets in 1998, the EPA also increased the maximum allowable residues of glyphosate on the beet roots (from which sugar is extracted) by a staggering 5,000%! This EPA policy change was made at the request of Monsanto, producer of GM sugar beet seeds.
What this means for consumers is that the more GM ingredients permitted in our foods, the greater the likelihood that we are ingesting more toxic chemicals. What’s worse is that there will be no way to know if we’re eating GM beet sugar once it hits the market, which could happen as early as next year, because GM ingredients are NOT labeled.
In 2001, Hershey’s announced that it would not use GM beet sugar, but the company has been noticeably silent on the issue ever since. A double standard is not likely to prevail in the U.S., where members like you have sent more than a hundred thousand letters to food companies asking them to publicly refuse to use GM sugar in their products through www.DontPlantGMOSugarbeets.org
I have visited the above site, but since I’ve already written the company once today, it may seem a little like *crazy person* for me to write them a second time with the above information. Volunteers, anyone? Please?
Processing broccoli for the winter months
Posted by oots on August 7, 2008
I know it’s a bit early to start thinking about winter, but now is the time to take advantage of all of the abundant local produce available in the summer months. Freezing fresh, local broccoli is the best way to capture its tastiest form and enjoy all winter long.
This video produced by friend Alison Arian’s for the South Anchorage Farmers’ Market offers step-by-step instruction. Visit their website and search broccoli for lots of delicious and healthy recipes!
Custom Illustration by the fabulous Andre at