Want more proof that Monsanto’s demise is imminent? In a recently published Nielsen study of 30,000 consumers, 80 percent of respondents said they would pay more for foods that indicate a degree of healthfulness, such as those labeled ‘Non-GMO.’ Do we really need more proof that people are turning their backs on biotech-altered poison crops?
This doesn’t mean that people actually trust the ‘Non-GMO’ food label, and unless it has been verified, they shouldn’t. Even brands like Cheerios have stated that their product doesn’t contain GMO, but how can we be certain? Furthermore, foods like Xochitl tortilla chips were marketed as GMO-free, but were found to contain GM corn through an investigation by Consumer Reports.
Even though 61 percent of food buyers said they thought it was ‘very’ or ‘moderately’ important to purchase foods with a non-GMO label, exceeded only perhaps by the importance of avoiding foods with high-fructose corn syrup, most of them reported not knowing which labels to trust since there are multiple ways that companies claim non-GMO status on their food packaging.
Organic product sales were tremendous last year, and are expected to continue with their stratospheric rise. Sales of non-GMO products exceeded $10 billion last year, according to Nielsen. Certified Non-GMO label sales grew by over $8 billion last year, and are also expected to continue their upward trend. The Nutrition Business Journal released a report stating that organic food sales in the US were expected to reach $35 billion this year.
Obviously, these numbers beg the question – why are biotech companies trying so hard to grow genetically modified food that no one wants to buy? According to Investopedia, the simple concept of supply and demand is turned on its head.
“Supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental concepts of economics and it is the backbone of a market economy. Demand refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. The quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price; the relationship between price and quantity demanded is known as the demand relationship. Supply represents how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price. The correlation between price and how much of a good or service is supplied to the market is known as the supply relationship. Price, therefore, is a reflection of supply and demand.”
Why, when jobs are so hard to come by and our economy is in the toilet, are we importing organic foods by the truckload to meet demand, unless our government has been infiltrated by interests that do not support the hard-working farmers and families of this country? $1.4 billion worth of organic food is in question.
According to the US Department of Agriculture:
“The value of U.S. organic exports that are tracked—mostly fruits and vegetables was $537 million in 2013 (see the ERS table on Organic Trade , “exports” tab). Top U.S. organic exports (in value) in 2013 were apples, lettuce, and grapes. Exports to Canada and Mexico accounted for 83 percent of the value of tracked U.S. organic exports in 2013, although the United States exported organic products to over 80 countries. Japan, Taiwan, and Australia were also among the top trade partners.”
This country has the capacity to grow ALL organic food that could supply not only domestic needs, but also export as well.
I’ll give you one guess as to what (or whom) stands in the way.
Monsanto asks on their website:
“What’s the best way to increase the production of healthy, nutrient-dense food, while simultaneously reducing the amount of land, water and energy required? To truly address the challenges we face, multiple approaches are needed.”
That question has already been answered. We produce enough food in this world to feed 10 and a half billion people, according to a study from McGill University (however the same study falsely states that organic crop yields are outperformed by GM crops when they are almost comparable).
Why are people still starving, then? Maybe because some of that food is hurting us if it isn’t causing us to starve from malnutrition. Quantity doesn’t necessarily equal quality. Poverty and inequality are what need to be solved – and it won’t be done with GMOs.
As long as people keep demanding organic, the demand will rise. Other countries have banned GMOs, while some Americans still think Monsanto is a carpet cleaning company. Hopefully awareness revolving around GMOs and Monsanto will boom enough for the mass population to recognize what these things really are.
A study released by Rutgers University in 2013 found that more than half (53 percent) of Americans report that they know ‘very little’ or ‘nothing at all’ about genetically modified (GM) foods, and one in four (25 percent) say they have never heard of them.
Even with the media attention resulting from recent ballot initiatives in California (Proposition 37) and Washington State (Initiative 522) and legislative actions in at least 20 other states that would require labeling of GM foods, the Rutgers study found that only about a quarter (26 percent) of Americans realize that current regulations do not require GM products to be labeled.
This is alarming since almost every single American you ask, at about any age, could tell you which celebrity is smeared across every MSM internet page – but they don’t know what a genetically modified organism is. This is just something that needs to change.
Nonetheless, we are asking for healthy food in greater numbers, and someone will provide it – whether it will be our own organic farmers remains to be seen.
Additional Sources:
Featured image credit: CNN
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