by Melissa Diane Smith

American consumers have reached a new level of creating a tipping point of consumer rejection against genetically modified foods, says leading non-GMO advocate and Genetic Roulette movie producer Jeffrey M. Smith.

Several events the past few months and particularly the past few weeks have synergistically worked to catapult the non-GMO consumer movement to another level and push more and more food companies toward non-GMO foods.

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I was honored and thrilled to give the rallying speech before the March Against Monsanto in Tucson on May 25, 2013. It was an unprecedented worldwide event with more than 2 million people protesting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the GM seed company Monsanto in more than 400 cities throughout the United States and more than 50 other countries. Tucson was one of the cities that participated, and between 500 and 1,000 people marched in the Tucson march – a great turnout for a very hot day in Southern Arizona!

The crowd was wonderful and enthusiastic, and numerous people asked me to post what I said so they could remember it and absorb the information I covered at their leisure. Thanks to James F. Palka/PlanetaryImages.com (PlanetaryImages.com) for this photo of me at the event and to Sean Herman for  the photo at the end of this post. You can view other pictures of the Tucson March Against Monsanto here.

By popular request, here’s the speech I gave.

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The numbers of people learning about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in a wide variety of foods and choosing to shop and eat non-GMO point to such a growing movement that the largest natural foods retailer took notice and recently made a groundbreaking announcement concerning GMOs. The statement was so big that there was quite a bit of coverage from print and TV media outlets, including a local Tucson TV station who interviewed me (see video below).

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Do you want to hear a good overview of key points I have covered in all of the books I have written? Take an hour to listen to this podcast. Holistic-oriented nutrition counselor Erin Chamerlik interviewed me on her Get Better Wellness podcast on BlogTalkRadio, and we had a great conversation.

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As part of Non-GMO Month, I answered questions about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), why we should care about them, and the events and activities of the GMO Free Project of Tucson for an interview in the October edition of Natural Awakenings magazine. You can read the interview in “The Right to Know about What We Grow.”

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by Melissa Diane Smith

Ninety percent of Americans want foods that are genetically modified labeled. Yet efforts to pass GMO (genetically modified organism) labeling bills in 20 different states have been unsuccessful, either because politicians have been making the decisions or because corporations that make genetically modified seeds such as Monsanto have threatened to sue states such as Vermont if they passed the bills. In other words, what the American people want hasn’t been carried out so far.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

If you haven’t paid much attention to genetically modified foods so far, perhaps the horrifying results of the first long-term animal study on GMOs will get you to take notice and opt out of the feeding experiment we all unknowingly have been in.

A lifetime diet containing Roundup-tolerant genetically modified (GM) corn, or Roundup weedkiller at levels currently considered safe, can cause tumors and multiple organ damage and lead to premature death in laboratory rats, according to research published online in September in the scientific journal Food and Chemical Toxicology.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

Growing and eating genetically modified foods simply isn’t sustainable for us or for life on this planet. I’m happy to report that many sustainably oriented businesses and organizations in Tucson have reached the same conclusion and have joined with me and the GMO Free Project of Tucson for a joint public education effort in Tucson during October.

Protecting our health and the planet’s health, and overcoming both the increase in numerous chronic illnesses since the mid-1990s and how corporations are controlling more and more of our seed and food these days, are key topics that will be addressed in a coordinated campaign of GMO education events by the GMO Free Project of Tucson, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture, the Envision Tucson Sustainable Festival, and Tucson Food Day, during the month of October, which is Non-GMO Month. Local Tucson businesses including Wellness First, New Life Health Centers, The Tasteful Kitchen, and Native Seeds/SEARCH are sponsors. As Director of Education and Speaker for the GMO Free Project of Tucson, I will be involved in and speaking at each of the following events.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

If you’ve ever wondered why a whole series of chronic illnesses have increased over the past twenty years, or why you or your kids have allergies, inflammatory diseases, or gastrointestinal problems that your parents and grandparents didn’t have, don’t miss Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives, a just-released, groundbreaking documentary on the drastic yet largely unknown change that has occurred in our food: the introduction and pervasive spread of genetically engineered (also known as genetically modified) foods.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

Three years ago when Dr. Rodney Ford, who has 35 years of experience working with children with food allergy and intolerances and is known as “Dr. Gluten,” came to Tucson and visited with me, I knew we were on the same page and spoke the same language.

I had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Ford again just recently about his new book Gluten: ZERO Global that warns that gluten causes universal harm, and again, I had the same feeling. It’s so great to talk with not only a good friend, but a like-minded practitioner who cares more about helping his patients than maintaining the status quo in medicine. Dr. Ford also is an insightful researcher and has pulled together an incredible amount of research that led him to his breakthrough conclusion that gluten is bad for us all.

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