In our Mnemonics for the ?Clean 15? ? Or, ?Conventional? Produce That Tests Lowest for Residual Pesticides blog post last week, we put an asterisk next to "sweet corn" and took it off our list of foods to eat. Even though sweet corn tests relatively low for pesticides, Pure Jeevan still feels the vegetable isn't a safe choice for a healthy diet. There are primarily two reasons for our decision to completely remove corn from our diets. First, of all the vegetables that have undergone genetic modification (GM), GM corn is one that has been proven to cross-pollinate with non-GM corn. Second, since corn is so plentiful and easy to grow, it has been modified to become all sorts of flavors, sweeteners, fillers, etc., in food products and many individuals have developed sensitivities to it.

We're not here to debate the GM issue. There is enough scientific proof that it is causing harm to our bodies (and to those of other living creatures as well as the natural environment) that you'll be able to research the issue if you're either not convinced or have only just now learned that GM crops are not healthy. I'll include a few links, below, for anyone wanting to learn more about the harms of GM foods and why we should avoid them. As for corn, even organic corn can no longer be guaranteed to be truly organic. Even though some are reporting that the incidences of GM corn crops cross-contaminating organic corn crops are rather low, it is still happening. Since we choose to never consume GM products in our home, we do not consume any sweet corn (so far, blue/purple corn seems to be free of cross-contamination; you can find some wonderful purple corn products at Natural Zing) or products made from it. The harmful effects of GM products on the body are not fully known, but for the ones that are already known we are not willing to take a chance that we're not truly getting organic corn when it's labeled as such. So, no more corn for us.

For anyone wondering, the cross-contamination issue doesn't stop with corn. It can, and does, happen with many (if not all) the GM crops being produced. Years ago I discovered some online documents by a Hawaiian farm organization that were discussing the problem of GM papaya crossing over into the organic papaya farms, how the GM crops were not producing as promised, and how there didn't seem to be a way to turn back and undo the GM contamination that was occurring. In the documents, it clearly stated that in the near future it would be nearly impossible to find papaya grown in Hawaii that wasn't contaminated. I wish I would have saved those documents at the time, but I didn't know I'd someday be sharing all that I learn with others. I simply made a mental note to not eat papaya. If you're interested in learning more about it, begin searching the Internet and I'm sure you'll come across even more than I did at the time. Today, there is even more available online for us to learn from (just be careful to check the sources of the information you're reviewing--and if there's a study being done, find out who is paying for the study before you trust what is being shared).

But, back to corn. Even if cross-contamination of the crops wasn't happening, it's still not the best choice for most people to consume. In the United States, we have taken our ability to inexpensively grow corn and turned a simple vegetable into one of the most widely used food products in the history of mankind. Corn, in one form or another, is part of just about every food product being sold in America. It's mostly showing up in the form of corn syrup and is found in cereals, energy drinks, soda, jelly, fast food products, bread, and canned, bottled, and packaged foods that are eaten for their time-saving convenience and great tastes. If someone is eating the Standard American Diet, they are ingesting such large quantities of corn and corn products that their bodies are struggling with the excess sugar and sensitivities brought about by the overconsumption of corn.

The vast majority of individuals in America are unknowingly being fed excessive amounts of corn products. Many have no idea that what they consider "food" isn't really what the body needs to remain healthy. It's sad that so many individuals are not understanding that whole foods are the only true foods our bodies can use for energy and healing. Of course, someone eating a whole food diet wouldn't have to worry about excess corn in their diets. But, they may still want to avoid sweet corn if they are concerned about GM contamination. In our opinion, corn isn't a safe food to consume (and neither is most papaya). What are your thoughts?

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Below are some links for anyone wanting to further explore some of what we've talked about in this blog post:

* Organic Consumers Association Corn Information.

* Natural News Corn Information.

* Cross Pollination from GM Corn.

* Toxins from GM "food" found in human blood.

* Information about GM-corn organ damage from a December 2009 study published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences.