I was recently at a grocery store and was told by an acquaintance to buy the corn because it was on sale. When I pointed out it wasn’t organic she made a face. So then I mentioned if it’s not organic it’s GMO corn. She made another face. I said “genetically modified organisms” to clarify. She made another face and declared “well I’ve been eating it my whole life and I’m fine!” and trotted away. Had I the chance…and attitude…I would have said “no, no you haven’t had it your whole life.” GMOs are as recent as the 80s and only began to widely be used in the mid 90s.
What are GMO’s? GMO stands for genetically modified organisms(eeew sounds sciency). Basically it’s science’s way of making what we already eat better. Better for who? Better in what way? Well for one thing to keep more bugs away GMO crops are used by farmers. The two most popular GMO crops are corn and soy. So what’s wrong with that? Well in several studies when these foods were fed to mice and cows the animals suffered disease. Namely liver and kidney disease. Infertility is another potential side effect. Impotence another possible effect, that’s right guys, IMPOTENCE. Even if studies had not been done, I prefer to be a guinea pig while the verdict is out. There are plenty of hungry and eager Americans raising their hand to volunteer their health. I know it’s not possible for many people to eat 100% organic 100% of the time…I haven’t reached that ability yet. But the least we can do, once educated is avoid food that comes close to not being….well food. If you read more about GMO’s you’ll learn they can get a gene from anywhere and insert it into anything. Tomatoes with pig genes anyone???
I suggest you read up on it on your own, so you know your stance. I heard the word GMO thrown around for a long time and didn’t really associate much with it. Then I watched this:
It doesn’t have a lot of frills, very “textbooky” about the way it explains the history of GMOs. After watching this even if I didn’t care about GMOs or my health, I wouldn’t want to support Monsanto. A huge, dirty, and conniving company.
Let’s celebrate the fact that we still have access to organic non-gmo corn with a recipe. Of course you can enjoy corn fresh off the cob, which is what we did at my cousin’s organic farm. As you can see I’m quite serious about the whole operation. I smiled once I bit into it. : ) Yuuum.
But if you prefer to be more creative with your corn here’s a lovely looking recipe I got from http://goneraw.com/recipe/sweet-and-spicy-corn-chips
2c corn nibs (I thawed frozen corn, but you could just cut directly off the cob too)
1 small zucchini (~6″ – the zucchinis at loblaws are so tiny right now!)
1 jalapeno pepper (small, de-seeded)
2 cloves garlic, derooted
1/4tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (you can leave this out if you don’t want it to be too spicy.)
1/4c flax, ground
Preparation:
Throw everything but flax in a food processor, process until smooth-ish. Add flax and either mix in food processor or by hand if you’re feeling ambitious (I wasn’t).
Cover dehydrator trays with paraflex sheets and spread the corn chip batter evenly with a spoon. Dehydrate at 105 F for 1.5-2 hours, turn over onto mesh trays. Use a knife to score the shape of the chips and continue dehydrating overnight. Store in airtight containers.
NOTE: Makes two trays. I made my chips super thin, under a clearly misguided understanding of how thick corn chips are. And it barely made two trays in my dehydrator. So, you may want to increase the ingredients and make them a bit thicker, especially if you’re going to do a nacho plate thing and pile stuff on top of them. Mmmm nachos….
Well, I’m off to enjoy life.
Renee