A few months ago, I went around the world for work. In 2 weeks time I visited London, Frankfurt, Paris, Singapore and Tokyo. What a great adventure. Now I’ve been to Europe and all of those 3 european cities a few times before. I have even spent a few days in Singapore as well. Tokyo was a new one to me.
Tokyo was a great experience. Not because of the flashing lights, Shibuya crossing, Harajuku district, the gadgets galore, the train and subway system. It was the food. In Canada not far from where I live is the “Tomato capital of Canada”. They grow more tomatoes than anywhere else. I’ve had my fair share. But they suck. Tasteless. Modified so that they can be sprayed by pesticides, and not perish. Modified so that you can get greater yields. The downside is the taste is gone. But when you are processing the food, that’s not such a big deal, as you can always add artificial flavoring right? In Tokyo, I ate a few tomatoes, and never in my life did I enjoy one as much as I did there.
It wasn’t just the tomatoes. All the fruit I ate was awesome. The meat spectacular. And of course the sushi was to die for.
Why?
GMOs. Also known as Genetically Modified Organisms. Japan does not allow GMOs in their crops. Japan, with it’s bustling metropolis, and massive population density, says fuck you to getting more yields with fewer fields. Of all first world countries, Canada is the least dense in terms of population. USA isn’t far behind. North America is the least dense continent in the world, and is home to some of the most fertile land in the world, yet we still insist on cutting agriculture jobs and get greater yields from fewer fields.
The company that makes the majority of the GMO crops, is also the same company that makes roundup and agent orange. It’s a chemical company.
If I told you to grow some crops in your backyard, spray them with roundup, then eat them 3 days later would you do it? Guess what, you already do, and so do I… and so did Chase.
Autism rates in North America are through the roof when compared to other countries. Yes Autism still strikes in Japan, but the rates are of orders of magnitude lower than what we get in North America. I’m not saying GMOs are the cause of Autism, but I am saying they are a massive contributor to it.
Recently we have been seeing a growing trend toward healthy eating. This doesn’t mean being a vegan, in fact I find being a vegan is unhealthy. Organic food is what I’m talking about. You may have noticed more and more organic foods at your grocer. You may have also passed them by because of their higher price tag. I don’t blame you, I was one of them. Today that’s changed. I don’t buy everything organic, but foods that Chase favors, we try to buy organic as much as possible.
As these foods gain in popularity their price will also go down. Next time you go grocery shopping, buy something organic. Spend $2 more than you normally would, and get something. Eat it and be thankful of that better taste you just got. The more of us who do, the greater the demand for organic foods, the more needs to be produced, and the quantities of scale kick in to drive the price down.
To the people that say we need GMOs so we can sustain the greater population of the world. Here’s my middle finger… sit and fucking spin.
If Japan can do it, with a population density more than 100 times greater than North American, we can do it as well. I know other areas in the world are also looking at banning GMOs. Italy is one of them. Already banned in some regions, they are looking at doing it country wide. Oh and if you were wondering, autism rates in Italy are very low as well. Some farmers that used to grow GMO only crops, and recently moved back to organic, have used the money saved by buying cheaper seeds (GMOs are also patented) to hire more workers. These workers tend to the fields the old fashion way, pulling weeds, and killing insect colonies by hand. Their yields are the same or greater, but because the quality of the crops are higher, they can also command a higher price per bushel.
It’s time we take the lazy out of farming, and return to a much healthier style of living.