Vocabulary Lesson

I know I know nobody likes vocabulary lessons but this one is very important! I promise there will not be a test!

So everyday at the grocery store, in the news and in general conversation we are bombarded with terms we might not know the meaning of and rather than seem foolish we may pretend to know what they mean ( I am guilty of this!). However, it is very important to know these terms so we are not taken advantage of or buying things we don't understand.

First off I would like to explain Hybrids. Hybrids are a good thing. the easiest way to define them is to use an example.....if you have kids....they are hybrids. ( two sets of genes coming together to make something different from the originals) It has been scientifically proven that hybrids are very useful, they have something called "hybrid vigor" where the best of each individual is presented in the offspring. In the food world you will run into hybrids in the grocery store. Pluots for example are a tasty fruit which is a hybrid of a plum and an apricot. Some apple varieties  are also hybrids.

Next lets tackle Organic. Most of us know what organic is but lets make sure. For something to be grown and marketed as organic it must go through a lengthy certification process by the federal government. The farmer may not  use any synthetic pesticides or herbicides! But DO NOT BE FOOLED......herbicides and pesticides are still used on organically grown food.....they are just "natural". And in no way can something organic be genetically modified! ( keep reading to find out about GMOs)

Now one of the most confusing things I run across is when a food is labeled..." all Natural". ( ok my problem with this is ....isn't all food natural? I mean it comes from nature...therefore it is "natural" right??) I like to refer to this labeling as a marketing ploy. My reasoning behind this is....the food is not organic....synthetic pest management techniques are still being used ....the only thing I can conjure up is that the food is not genetically modified....thus it is "natural".

This leads me to "Grain Fed" meat products. Most all commercially produced animals are grain fed. The conundrum lies in what grains they are fed. They grains may be organic or regular. As a consumer you must read the packaging very carefully. ( most organically grain fed animal products are kept in their own little section at the grocery store)

Be careful not to get grain fed confused with grass fed. Grass fed means that the animal's diet consists of grass....this grass may or may not be organic...so once again we must read the label carefully.

Alright....this is a debate I try to avoid but we must talk about it..... Genetically Modified Organisms. ( GMOs)  What does this mean.....well in simple terms the "organism" is literally shot with certain genes to acquire certain attributes. That doesn't seem to simple huh? OK an example to clarify....I think most of us have heard of round-up ready crops ( this means that the crops can be sprayed with the herbicide round-up and they will not die) well how does this work? A kernel of corn is injected with a gene from the herbicide....so when the herbicide is sprayed on the corn the corn is resistant to the affects of the herbicide...this is like a human getting a flu shot....we are injected with the a weakened form of the flu so antibodies are built up with in our body so we don't get the flu. Have I confused you yet???
         SO the debate lies in.... are GMOs good for us or bad for us???
I have not come to a conclusion on this. There are good points and bad points.
     The good:
           less herbicides and pesticides can be used on crops
           things like vitamins can be injected into foods to make them more nutritious
           the cost of growing can be less because of not having to use so many chemicals
     The Bad: 
           GMO seeds are expensive for the farmer
           There are patents on these seeds so only certain companies can make them
           Will there be any long-term side affects to humans from eating them 
( this is just a small list.....I don't think I could it everything into one blog!)

So what are we to do? How do we decide what to feed our families? The best advice I can offer is to be informed. I wish we could have an expert with us while grocery shopping to let us know about all the products but I guess that is not realistic so we have to become our own experts. And spread the word....let people know the differences between all the terms listed above. ( I have run into some people that think red peppers are GMOs because they are red and not green but after a simple explanation, they changed their opinion) With more knowledge we can make better choices.  I hope I have provided some of that knowledge in this blog! Please give me your comments and questions below!