Thank you, Dr. Henry, for that paper on toxic GM-effects on goats. Corn & soybean & canola & cottonseed are genetically modified, the Republic Magazine stated that other grains are safe: "Other than corn, no GM grains are sold on the market. Look for 100-percent wheat pasta, couscous, rice, quinoa, oats, barley, sorghum, and dried beans (except soybeans). Most GM ingredients are products made from the “Big Four:” corn, soybeans, canola, and cottonseed. Sugar beets and 50% of Hawaii papaya are genetically modified." **** from Straw: That's why I buy sugar-cane products, rather than sugar made from beets. I fed my kid those Pepperidge Farm cookies (made from cottonseed oil) and she broke out in rashes and scratched herself bloody. I ate those cookies and had the worst hayfever: runny nose & sneezing. Went shopping yesterday: They had strawberries for $2.50 versus organic strawberries for $3.45. I sniffed both: the organic strawberries was more fragrant, versus the regular with a slight chemical scent. After sniffing both for several times, my nose was in pain (I stuck my nose too close). I realized that it's the pesticides sprayed on that inflamed my nose. My nose burned for hours afterwards Two years ago I tasted grape at the store, and had a tummy ache. Strawberries is known for the most pesticides I'm very sadden by UK’s Daily Mail report that an estimated 125,000 farmers in India have committed suicide because of crop failure and massive debt since planting GM seeds. Recent Center for Human Rights and Global Justice report: "Indian farmers bought genetically modified Bollgard Bt cotton seeds from the Gates Foundation-backed Monsanto corporation ... 85 percent of cotton grown in India being Monsanto-controlled Bt cotton by 2009. However, the seeds were expensive, and spiralling prices (coupled with planting restrictions from the multinationals selling the seeds) led farmers to hefty loans. Almost 300,000 cotton workers have committed suicide to date, some of them by drinking the same insecticides they were sold by multinationals." From Straw: Years ago I watched a documentary film "Seeds of deception" where Mexican agriculture scientists voiced concern with GM seeds corrupting the bio-diversity of local seeds, which are well-adapted to drought and adverse local conditions. Dr. Frank Lipman, from http://www.drfranklipman.com/basic-questions-on-gmos/ stated, "The major benefit of all commercial GMO’s is that they are bred to either tolerate direct application of herbicides and/or have the ability to produce their own pesticides. They have not been bred to increase yield, become drought tolerant, improve nutrition or to have any other benefit to the consumer. So at present they have no health benefit, their benefits are purely economic." *** From Straw: It's about power, money, and control. Politics and economic factors are factors, besides ill health. The vindictive dirt-throwing, defamation attacks against international scientists, and bullying tactics of big corporations made me more sick than the ill-effects of GM-foods. We are saved from our wheat being genetically-modified, thanks to the farmers voicing concerns that our wheat can't be exported, if genetically modified. More from Dr. Lipman: "In Europe, over 175 regions and over 4500 municipalities have declared themselves GM-free zones. And in 2009, Germany along with France, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Austria, Poland and Romania banned Monsanto’s MON 810 GM corn because of its documented dangers to biodiversity and human health. Additionally, states in Australia, regions in New Zealand and Brazil and the countries like Venezuela, Zambia, Sudan, Angola and others, all want to be GM-free.The balanced reporting of the press in Europe of the dangers of GMO’s made a significant contribution to the decision to reject GMO’s. Below link is a detailed list from Republic Magazine on which foods are GM-tainted: Here is a link that might be useful: List of GM foods vs. non-GM This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sat, Mar 1, 14 at 15:06

Thanks for the link Annie, I checked it out, and as of the date of that article, Seminis did sell to Territorial and Johnny's as well as Fedco. It could be that a couple of the brassicas I just bought from Fedco, as well as the Lollo Rosa lettuce from Burpee could have come from Seminis. I will have to call the companies and check. A short snippet from the article Annie posted: " Taking spinach into his own hands: Nash Huber doesnâÂÂt want to get stuck depending on a hybrid that might get dropped by a mega-company owner on a whim. He also doesnâÂÂt want to lose any of the vigor, disease resistance, etc. that hybrid has provided. So Nash is working on dehybridizing �" breeding an open-pollinated spinach that is well adapted to his needs. (pictured: Huber, left; Matthew Dillon, right) Posted February 22, 2005: The news of MonsantoâÂÂs agreement to purchase Seminis has received little attention from the media other than the financial pages and a few seed industry and anti-globalization web sites. But then again, why should it? How many consumers �" of food or seed �" have even heard of Seminis? And yet, as Seminis spinmeister Gary Koppenjan said, âÂÂIf you've had a salad, you've had a Seminis product." It is estimated that Seminis controls 40 percent of the U.S. vegetable seed market and 20 percent of the world market�"supplying the genetics for 55 percent of the lettuce on U.S. supermarket shelves, 75 percent of the tomatoes, and 85 percent of the peppers, with strong holdings in beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, broccoli, cabbage, spinach and peas. The companyâÂÂs biggest revenue source comes from tomato and peppers seeds, followed by cucumbers and beans. In large part, these numbers reflect usage of Seminis varieties within large industrial production geared towards supermarkets, but Seminis seeds are also widely used by regional conventional and organic farmers as well as market and home gardeners. JohnnyâÂÂs, Territorial, Fedco, NicholâÂÂs, Rupp, Osborne, Snow, and Stokes are among the dozens of commercial and garden seed catalogs that carry the more than 3,500 varieties that comprise Seminisâ offerings. This includes dozens of All-American Selections and an increasing number of varieties licensed to third parties for certified organic seed production. The brand-name companies under Seminis (such as Petoseed) have developed, released, produced and distributed varieties common to the market farmer and even home gardener. These include Big Beef, Sweet Baby Girl and Early Girl Tomatoes; Simpsons Elite and Red Sails Lettuces; Red Knight and King Arthur Peppers; Gold Rush and Blackjack Zucchinis; Stars & Stripes Melon; and Bush Delicata and Early Butternut squashes (see sidebar for other popular varieties)." So home gardeners DO have to check their seed, these are very popular varieties though the article is NOT saying that these...

I live the Virgin diet every day. It should be called the Virgin Lifestyle. This is a good diet for people with intolerances and who have a very difficult time losing weight, but it's great for everyone I think because it makes complete sense and is super natural. It's a ten-week plan to lose weight and discover intolerances. Take out 7 foods for three weeks then reintroduce them one at a time for the next seven weeks. Below I've explained the reasons for taking out these 7 foods. Gluten: contains lectins that bind to insulin, which creates insulin resistance and can make your blood sugars rise, making it hard to lose weight. Gluten is also an inflammatory. Soy: a phyto-estrogen, a plant source of the hormone estrogen. It's also heavily genetically modified. Dairy: like gluten, acts as an isulin resistant. It's nearly impossible to find hormone-free milk. So, hormones and rising blood sugar=acne and fat. There are studies out there that show countries with the highest dairy consumption have the highest levels of osteoporosis. On the contrary, countries that rely on calcium rich foods have a much lower rate of osteoporosis. I've read that the pasturization process of milk breaks down the protein that allows our bodies to absorb the calcium. I believe all this but there is still a huge debate about it. Corn: inflammatory and a high-glycemic food Peanuts: inflammatory and high in lectins. Eggs: inflammatory. If you have sensitivity to corn and soy, eggs might affect you because the chickens are probably fed corn and soy. I have a huge intolerance to fat so another reason eggs bother me. Sugar: we all know that's bad! And don't be fooled by agave necter...higher in fructose than high fructose corn syrup. I'm 5'8 and was 148 lbs. I'm now 135 and holding. In two weeks, my injured knee from subluxation over a year before wasn't hurting and felt stronger. My ankles reduced by 1/2 inch, something I thought was genetic but I guess was just excess fluid. I never really had bad acne, but what I did have cleared up and my blackheads reduced significantly. Also, my menstrual cycle went from seven days to three. My head felt clearer and I had more energy. I rarely have wind or bloated belly as well. The cellulite on my legs reduced by about 50%. I made a point to not exercise the first three weeks to see how effective just changing my diet was. ALL these changes happened without exercise, though of course after the three weeks I went back to yoga. I don't think everyone needs to cut out all of these foods. I also know some people won't have as many changes as I did. But I don't see how it will hurt to try, just to see what changes might happen to you! I think JJ knows what she's talking about. In regards to sticking to it, I cheat every once in a while but I usually feel so bad when I do that I find myself cheating a lot less. Good luck!

How true! I try to provide something nice to eat for guests with particular needs, and when I'm a guest, I try to eat what's in front of me, if it won't kill me. The last thing I want to do is cause a stir or make a hostess who has worked hard to make a nice table uncomfortable. I talk about food allergies a lot more here than I do IRL, partly to bring it into the conversation. OTOH, I've learned that going along with the Thai idea, and just finding the one thing on the menu that doesn't have fish or coconut can also upset one's companions, who would rather have gone elsewhere if they knew I was allergic. Those are the same people who really didn't want to go anywhere but Thai, so I guess you can't win for losing, but either way, I try not to make a big deal of it. Re the OP, I forgot to say: I don't do fake food. I'm happy to eat a seitan burger which tastes like seitan. I was at a very fancy, very pricey Vegan restaurant once where everything was named for its non-vegan counterparts. Some of it was very good--especially a cashew "cheese" which wasn't cheeselike at all (unlike, for instance, the almond milk "cheese" slices, or soy cheddar, that's cheap at the grocery store, which is fairly cheeselike if you squint and don't try to melt it. I don't like those, but at least they're actually cheeselike, whereas the good stuff at the restaurant was shaped like a round of goat cheese, but a gray cashew color, and the consistency and texture of margarine, though it tasted fantastic). OTOH, they had an abysmal sticky wad of congealed mess that they called "risotto" which was nothing at all like a proper risotto. You can make risotto with just water and a little seasoning--vegan to the max--let alone what could be done with a good veggie stock, so it's not the veganness of it that made it bad but the utter incomprehension of the cook as to what it was supposed to be, trying too hard to make a "vegan" version. (Hint: If you have to add cream or cheese to your risotto to make it "creamy", you're doing it wrong. It's the shed starch that gives it it's signature texture.) I love Buffalo cauliflower "wings" aren't trying to be chicken. At one local vegan place, they're fantastic. Much better than Buffalo chicken wings, IMHO. But while the pieces are cut to a similar size as wing pieces, that's the only resemblance to their chicken counterparts. They look and taste like cauliflower. The exception to all this is one little hole in the wall place which serves the vegan analogs of popular dishes in the traditional style of their homeland. I think it's Thailand. That vicinity for sure. They use soy products and TVP, and do call things "chicken" and other meats, and the flavor is reminiscent of those things, though the whole menu is vegan. They have the benefit of cultural knowledge and practice making their dishes good, rather than just someone who cares more about what he's not eating than what it tastes like throwing together a few bits and calling it "meaty". Of course, one also gets a lot of lovely vegetables which are the stars, rather than the TVP, and one is less demanding of a cheap lunch joint than a fancy dancy schmancy restaurant. So, no, I'm not making pretend foods at home, since I can barely tolerate them out. :) And I'm not buying fancy ingredients for them. Better to liven them up with real food flavors like onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, mustard, soy sauce, hot sauce, pickles, etc. OTOH, if you want to try, why not? You'll never know until you try!