Knowing When to Say When

No, this is not an article about drinking and driving. It is about common sense and respect for nature. Big business has for years poisoned our food and water supplies with all sorts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the name of “progress.” It was really just a determined few who managed to preserve any meaning to the word “organic.”

Over the last decade we sat back and allowed Genetically Modified Organisms to contaminate nearly all major staples of grains and vegetables. When scientists started mixing genes of fish with tomatoes, they not only threatened the existence of every vegetarian, but everyone who believes in eating food the way nature intended it.

But now, scientists are stepping across an ethical line. The FDA just released a draft risk assessment stating “that meat and milk from clones and their offspring are as safe as food we eat every day.” Ian Wilmut (the scientist who produced Dolly, the famous cloned sheep, in 1997) warned that even small imbalances in a clone’s hormone, protein or fat levels could compromise the safety of its milk or meat.

Some consumer groups argue that the government should at least require such food to carry special labels. Others complain the foods have not been proven safe. But as we have already seen with the FDA’s rubber stamp of GMO foods, special labels or truly objective studies will not do much to protect you from the possible dangers of eating products from cloned animals.

Livestock cloning raises numerous health and ethical concerns. Over 99 percent of cloning attempts fail. Thus there is an obvious increase in animal cruelty, as the process involves needless suffering of the surrogate mothers, along with the deformed and sick offspring that often result. But even among the “successful” clones, cloned animals that are born have more health problems and higher mortality rates than sexually reproduced animals.

While Down to Earth customers obviously will not have to worry about buying meat from cloned animals at our stores, milk from cloned cows could eventually end up in some of our dairy products. But milk from cloned cows could not be labeled organic. So, given that the FDA will probably not be labeling products containing cloned animal ingredients, buying organic may be the only way to avoid it.

It is not too late for you to make a difference. The FDA is accepting public comments for 90 days. Find out more from https://www.fda.gov.

Footnotes

For more information and to find out how you can help visit the Center for Food Safety’s website at: www.centerforfoodsafety.org/