By Katalina Lawrence 
Staff Writer 

Students at CSUSM have the right to know what they are consuming, and building awareness of GMO’s implications can save lives.

As a young person I live life on the go, just like many of my peers. When you are a college student it is hard to focus on every little detail on the things that we eat. There are so many other things that we are concerned about so, the focus we have on what is in the foods we eat is slim to none. It is often times pushed to the side.

I first heard about GMO’s back when Monsanto won California’s proposition 37 bill. A genetically modified organism is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. After that election I was introduced to a world that was hidden from us by big corporations and our own government. There is a reason why things such as cancer and autism has become so prevalent in the past few years. We are putting toxins in our bodies every day; millions of people don’t even know it.

There are three types of GMOs that we all need to be aware of. GMOs are not placed inside the foods that we eat. It is put in the seeds that are used to make all the foods that we eat. Many GMOs also contain something called glyphosate, which is a weed killer that can be extremely damaging to humans. It poisons our healthy bacteria, and goes into our bloodstream causing neurological damage. GMOs also contain promoters with proteins that wake up genes and bacterias in our bodies that do not need to be woken up. Our bodies are biologically made to heal itself even without vaccines, however the effects of GMOs weaken our system and make our bodies open to tons of germs and diseases. If we do not give out bodies what they need, it will not be able to fight off and heal. The food industry is always looking for new technologies to make food fast, last longer and inexpensive but, every efficiency leads to another problem.

The government is here to protect us but, in this circumstance they are killing us. 50,000 FDA food inspections were made in 1972 and only 9,164 were made in 2006. Our very own regulatory agencies are being controlled by the very own companies that they should be scrutinizing. At one point the head of the FDA was also the late President of America’s Food Processors Association. There is a revolving door of people controlling our regulatory agencies and they are putting our nation’s health at risk for money.The FDA does not conduct any first-hand checks on the chemicals that are put into our food. We are clearly seen as lab rats not human beings.

This problem is a perfect example of a David and Goliath scenario. We have small groups of people in this country fighting against our own government and large corporations to try and stop this degrading system. I am writing to all student at CSUSM to join the fight. There are small things that we can do everyday to help turn things around.

First, let’s start the conversation. Spread the word and put forth the effort to educate yourself and others on this important issue. Start to become more aware of the foods that you eat and pay attention to labels. You might be very surprised to find out what might be in your favorite snack foods.We all have fast paced lifestyles so, fast food is an easy alternative. But try going to a joint that is known for using real foods, such as In n’ Out and Chipotle. Going organic is the best solution and making small steps everyday will help us all get to where we need to be.

Let’s kick these big corporations to the curb and spread the word CSUSM!